Les Papilles (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

2020 has most certainly been a lost year for the F&B industry. In the local market, it's a year featuring very few interesting new openings and far too many heart-breaking closures. I was hoping things could turn around towards the end of the year and while I was going through November's new restaurant openings from the social media, I suddenly spotted Les Papilles, a modern French bistro on trendy Tang Lung Street in Causeway Bay.

 
Les Papilles’ kitchen is led by Executive Chef Jeff Chan, who cut his teeth at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, followed by stints at Pastis, Aqua Group, Pourcel brothers' Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier and back to Hong Kong, for the now-defunct St. George at Hullett House, working alongside one of my favorite chefs Philippe Orrico. That (a Philippe Orrico protége?) got me all excited. In fact, I got so hyped that I decided to pick up the phone and get myself a table for tonight (I miss Chef Orrico and his cuisine so much!).

Literally meaning “taste buds” in French, the 20-seater Les Papilles takes up a long and narrow space in the middle of all the Japanese and Korean eateries on Tang Lung Street. The small French bistro serves a small a la carte menu and there’s also a tasting menu ($695) for those interested in checking out Chef Chan’s signature dishes. It was the tasting menu that I ended up ordering for myself tonight.

 
Things started off slowly with a small amuse bouche, a rolled salami, dressed like a bouquet with chopped olive and mint leaf in the middle.

 
The first starter of the tasting menu was one of the restaurant’s signature dish, king crab meat served with celeriac foam (more like a purée). The dish was complemented nicely by some savory kick from the lobster oil with the finely diced apple providing some extra bite.

But the crab meat, which has been marinated and blended with spring onion, was a tad too rich in seasoning taking some of its natural sweetness away.

Chef Chan's smoked salmon was next. The salmon fillet was lightly smoked with apple wood, giving it a nice, aromatic touch. It was topped with a layer of umami-rich French caviar.

This stood in stark contrast to the previous dish which was a bit heavy-handed with its seasoning. Here, the seasoning was very very light even with the salt from the caviar. The small vinegared apple cucumber roll and avocado purée also did very little to balance the flavors of the dish.

Moving on, I was presented with butternut pumpkin soup next.

The silky smooth pumpkin soup was matched with a pan-seared scallop and some assorted mushrooms.

Fairly decent but I thought the scallop could benefit from a bit more time on the frying pan (where's the perfect golden brown color?).

For main course, I decided to take my chance on their steak bavette, which according to my server, was another signature dish from the chef. 

The French steak was pretty tender and rich in flavor, working well with the homemade Montpellier butter.

I know it's bistro food so it's not supposed to have a super fancy presentation but this simple garnish of mushroom and truffled mash could use a bit more work.

Didn't realize it was already time for dessert. It was a simple creme brulee with fresh blueberries on top. Thank goodness it wasn't something cheesy.

Finally, a small homemade financier to end this French journey.

I was obviously missing Chef Orrico and his hearty cuisine too much that I set my expectation way too high coming in. This was by no means a disappointing meal but it wasn't anything close to what I was expecting. The influence from Chef Orrico I was hoping to see from some of these dishes was nowhere to be found so that alone was already a major letdown for me.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F 44 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 3114-2389

Website: www.lespapilleshk.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 12:00am (Mon - Sat)