Bâtard (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

One itch I've been wanting to scratch is Bâtard, which happens to be one of the hardest tables to book in recent memory. I was fortunate enough to have secured a table twice but both times, I had to do a last-minute cancellation due to various illness. I am hoping the third time will be a charm today.

I didn't realize that Bâtard is located inside The Fine Wine Experience, a retail shop that offers one of the largest selection of fine wines in the city. I had to walk back and forth a few times before finally locating the entrance of the restaurant.

This was what I was talking about, their wide variety of fine wines from different regions. Of course, I wasn't here for the wine. I'm here for the modern French dishes that had every foodie in town talking.

Born and raised in Singapore, young head chef Aven Lau brings an impressive resume to the helm, having worked under Julien Royer at Odette in Singapore before coming to Hong Kong to work alongside chef Daniel Calvert at Belon and chef Edward Voon at Le Pan.

Beef tartare Cannelloni – The crispy cannelloni was stuffed with beef tartare seasoned with olive oil and finished off nicely with fresh chives and what I thought was feta cheese. A pretty nice start to the meal.

A slice of homemade sourdough bread was served at this point while I waited for my starter to show up.

Mushroom chawanmushi – My second amuse bouche was mushroom flavored chawanmushi, or Japanese steamed egg custard with French button mushrooms. The texture of the steamed egg was somewhat softer than our typical chawanmushi. 

Raviolo, squid, crustacean sauce – I like the crustacean sauce made with sea urchin and olive oil. 

But less successful was the raviolo stuffed with squid mousse. There wasn't a whole lot of contrasting textures and flavors inside the raviolo. Very one-dimensional and not much surprise there. (Could have added some diced squid for the bite?).

Signature roast yellow chicken, warm pilaf rice – I was hoping that monkfish en croute would be today's main course but after reading from the menu posted on their website earlier, I knew that wasn't going to be the case.

The roast yellow chicken was indeed wonderfully prepared and not surprisingly, pretty tasty especially the crispy skin.

The rice pilaf cooked in chicken oil and flavored with ginger and lemongrass, was I thought a little heavy-handed with seasoning. But from what I've heard from my neighbours, everybody seemed to be enjoying it. I did agree that it's a pretty delicious dish but as a fan of French cuisine, I would rather have a French dish than a Chinese/Asian one coming out of a presumably French kitchen.

Before dessert, I was offered a small cup of mint tea to clean up my palate.

Fresh baked madeleines – Like most restaurants serving refined French comfort food, the sweet end would come courtesy of these freshly baked madeleines. 

After waiting for more than a year for this booking (with two cancellations in between), I was a little disappointed to be brutally honest. I got that Bâtard's French bistro food was supposed to be simple, unpretentious and delicious. Today's meal checked all those boxes but there was zero wow factor from any of my dishes today that would bring me back for more. One of Asia's best restaurants huh?

 

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Portion A of Shop E1 & E2, G/F, Viking Court, 165-166 Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sai Ying Pun

Tel: +852 2318-1802

Website: www.batardhk.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:00pm (Fri - Sun), 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sun)

S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 82nd (2022)