Little nugget is off for another boy scout activity so Jelloman and I will have three entire hours worth of Me Time ahead of us. To my incredible surprise (almost to the point of falling onto the floor), she asked if we could enjoy a decent lunch during little guy’s absence. That’s something I haven’t heard for years! Since it was a last-minute request, I knew there were likely very few options left.
I rang up a couple of restaurants that offer decent lunch and not surprisingly, most of them were already fully booked. But I was surprised to learn that one of my targets still has availability this late.
Restaurant Petrus at Island Shangrila was the only restaurant with availability to accommodate us. It’s been a while since Jelloman and I last paid a visit together. One thing we both agreed was the fact that the French fine-dining institution badly needed a facelift.
There were two types of butter being served up this afternoon. An unsalted one and a salted one which has been infused with yuzu. Pretty nice to go with the brioche.
Both of us settled for the three-course lunch and it didn't take long for our amuse bouche to arrive. While I was expecting my cheese gruyère to arrive any minute (which was normally the case on a weekday), they threw me a curveball instead with a trio of small nibbles.
We got the ball rolling with this foie gras mousse cone that came with a hint of cherry.
A crispy roll with runny cheese.
And finally, pickled pumpkin tart providing some lovely acidity.
Oblique prawn, yuzu – I elected to start things off with something from the sea. The oblique prawn carpaccio, atop a layer of fresh prawns and jelly made with prawn coral, was finished off nicely with some acidity from the yuzu sauce. Not a bad start at all.
Bouchon Mussels, cous cous, spinach, lemon Beurre – The other starter was Bouchon mussels from France, served on a tower of baby spinach and cous cous, and matched with a lemony Beurre sauce for a powerful finish.
Boston lobster, soft-boiled egg, garlic jus – My choice of main course was a no-brainer for me since it involved one of my favorite ingredients, lobster (preferably Brittany lobster though).
Buried underneath the soft-boiled egg, asparagus purée and lobster bisque emulsion were slices of delicately cooked Boston lobster. They were really meaty and full of flavors (from the emulsion). But was lobster and asparagus a good match? I am not entirely sure.
Japanese Amadai, bell pepper, fish maw – Jelloman had the seared amadai from Japan.
The amadai fish which was beautifully cooked, was interestedly paired with confit bell pepper and fish maw. The accompanying sauce was also made with fish maw so not surprisingly, there was some gelatin texture that came along with it.
Like I said, this was an interesting experiment especially their tackling of fish maw in French cuisine and I wasn't quite sure how to describe the complexity of the flavors other than that it's a little bit weird (especially with the bell pepper).
70% Chocolate, vanilla sauce – Having recently tasted a chocolate dessert with similar ingredients at Gaddi's, I have to say that this really paled in comparison. The base of chocolate brownie cake made with 70% chocolate was a little uninspiring but we've got some milk chocolate mousse, a chocolate tuile and gold foil on top to make it slightly more exciting. I thought the savory-sweet vanilla sauce provided the lone bright spot to an otherwise disappointing dessert for me to wrap up the meal.
Raspberry, peach, mango – Another pretty simple creation here with a mix of exotic flavors. You can't go wrong with mango sorbet, meringue peach cream and peach compote (Was there raspberry coulis in the middle that I missed?).
Some chocolates and truffle as petite fours.
Two forgettable experience in a roll for me and Jelloman obviously wasn't impressive with the outcome as well after not dining here for perhaps a decade (?). Let's hope it won't take another decade for her to decide coming back for another visit.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$Address: 56/F, Island Shangri-La Hong Kong, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 2820-8590
Website: Link
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:30pm - 11:00pm daily
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