Located on the first floor of the newly revamped Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hue is a modern Australian casual fine-dining restaurant brought to us by Woolly Pig group who’s also behind modern European bistro Madame S’ate and Californian BBQ house Big Sur.
The harbour view is obviously the big selling point here but I was far more interested in their food menu instead. A meat and seafood centric menu with interesting combinations of ingredients, what’s there not to like?
And we have Madame Taekwondo with us all the way from Portland.
Some of us were calling for the local authorities to cut down those damn trees which had been hampering our view of Victoria Harbour all night long! I think we all had too much to drink already and we haven’t even had our starter yet!
We were not particularly hungry so instead of going for starter, main and dessert, we simply ordered a number of dishes to share among us.
Hamachi ($185) - Pretty much an unanimous choice from all of us. This was served with fresh pomelo, ginger and sea banana while a subtle kombu dressing did some pretty nice work behind the scene. Although some of us thought the kombu dressing tasted a bit like the sweet soy from Chinese-style steamed fish, I thought it was a reasonably good addition to the dish. A nice start for me but not all of us.
Grilled Octopus ($185) - The slices of octopus were first poached and then finished on the grill coming out with nice charred marks. I love the soft, bouncy texture. The bed of saffron and fennel risoni (or orzo, a type of short-cut pasta shaped like a large grain of rice) drew mixed reviews from the grand jury for its buttery flavors (I thought it tasted OK but way too much butter) but it was again another solid dish with a lovely combination of strong flavors.
Pigeon ($190) - The beautifully cooked pepper-glazed breast complemented by a deliciously intense pigeon jus, was perfectly juicy, moist and tender. It was superbly matched with creamy white rice purée and chopped shiitakes to balance out the richness of the pigeon.
Very splendid cooking. Easily the best dish from our trio of starters and likely the best of the night.
Aged duck breast ($360) - The aged duck breast was pretty tender but not nearly moist enough (I know it's been aged but...). Matching the savory duck with the sweetness of quince purée and black garlic sauce was a nice touch.
Spanish Mackerel ($350) - We were joking that this looked like a homemade Chinese dish with the steamed Spanish mackerel served on a bed of sliced abalone and poached winter melon. Surprisingly (not a pleasant one), the crustacean dashi did very little to enhance the flavors of the fish.
'7-Bone' Wagyu steak ($450) - While the pigeon was done to absolute perfection (medium), the same cannot be said about the Australian wagyu. It was way under-cooked and in spite of a decent smoked bone marrow sauce and some nice roasted onions, it couldn't save the dish from being the worst dish of the night.
After an excellent trio of starters, things started to regress with our mains. Not that it completely fell off a cliff but the difference was noticeable enough to the untrained palates of ours. But was it a complete disaster? Far from it. In fact, I am already planning to come back, this time likely on an afternoon where we can actually enjoy the view.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 1/F, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui / Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3500-5888
Website: https://huedining.com.hk/
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 11:00pm Daily
Post a Comment
Please tell us what you think