Restaurant Noi (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

A couple weeks ago, Michelin announced its annual list of starred restaurants for Hong Kong and Macau, and there were a few clear winners there including Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic, which I had the pleasure of visiting before Chinese New Year. But I thought the biggest winner this year has to be Restaurant Noi who further cemented its place as an elite force in the city's fine dining scene by capturing its second star in just its second year of existence. Not too shabby huh?

Since I have never been to Noi personally, I decided to pick up my phone and make a reservation. Finding a partner-in-crime was easy. As Jelloman hasn't done much fine dining of late, she was all too happy to push little nugget aside and join me on a date.

I have requested two seats at the counter table thinking we would be joined by others; but to my pleasant surprise, we got the entire table all to ourselves. 

The man behind Noi ("us" in Italian) is celebrated Argentinian chef Paulo Airaudo best known for his Michelin-starred restaurant Amelia in Basque Country of Spain, which also has its Hong Kong outpost at Harbour City. At age 18, he left his hometown chasing a dream and ended up working all over the world, from Mexico and Peru to Europe where he worked at some of the most prestigious kitchens like Arzak in San Sebastián, The Fat Duck in London and Magnolia in Italy. Noi, his Asian flagship, serves a brand of contemporary Italian cuisine which is highly ingredient-driven. As some would say, if you enjoy eating seafood, this is the place to be!

I like the way that they cut the chase and go straight to the first cold starter after showing us the ingredients from our tasting menu.

Teardrop peas, black abalone – The tasting menu was kicked off by a few cold starters with the first one featuring grilled teardrop peas and firefly squids, served in a black abalone consommé. The peas provided a burst of refreshing flavors to start off the meal but there was a tad too much saltiness in the consommé for me.

Sicilian tuna, "Kaviari" Kristal caviar – The tried-and-true combination of toro-grade tuna tartare, dashi jelly (made with tomato, shiso and kombu) and Kristal caviar worked beautifully together. 

It’s my first experience with tuna from Sicily Italy and I thought based on the incredibly velvety texture, I won’t have noticed the difference between this and the top graded toro from Japan. The wasabi cream hidden in the middle did a great job adding some extra kick to the mix.

Norwegian scallop, champagne, walnuts – There were some really nice smoky flavors from the scallop.

The champagne sauce, I thought was pretty intense, but it meshed well with the walnut oil and hint of lemon for a well-rounded finish.

Shima aji, blood clams, turnip – Following two dishes with strong flavors, we were due for something refreshing and soothing to the palate.

This was exactly what the doctor ordered. Slices of shima aji were matched with Japanese turnip, blood clams and Okinawan sea grapes, finished off elegantly by the freshness of tomato water essence.

Hokkaido red uni, king crab, Iberico pork consommé – The chawanmushi topped with red uni from Hokkaido, king crab meat and herbs, was completed by a good pour of black pork consommé. This reminded me a little of the chawanmushi I had at Logy a few months ago. A very similar type of consommé with some herby and grassy notes which I wasn’t a very big fan of.

Bread – Just when they were serving up the lobster dish, our server brought along their homemade brioche which was really pillowy and fluffy. The bread was accompanied by a sea salt butter which was very light, and extra virgin olive oil from Florence. Of course, I preferred dipping the brioche into the flavorful sauce from the lobster dish. That was a very good match.

Scottish blue lobster, Hokkaido pumpkin, Nduja calabrese – The dish that I’ve been secretly looking forward to. I have seen it from different sources in the social media including the press release from the Michelin guys so I took it as a hint that it’s a signature dish.

With the Hokkaido pumpkin purée and beurre blanc in the backdrop, the grilled Scottish blu lobster looked as if it was sitting firmly on top of a sunny side up egg.

The blu lobster was impeccably executed with a nice, springy texture. The pumpkin and beurre blanc added some creamy texture to the lobster and Japanese puff rice brought some lovely crunch to the dish. A very enjoyable seafood dish.

Japanese wagyu, asparagus, beetroot – The A5 wagyu was well-marbled, perhaps a little too well-marbled for me as I always wanted more meat to chew on and this slice of fillet quickly melt in my mouth. I did enjoy the company of Italian green asparagus, pearl onions and beetroot purée.

Pasta alla chitarra, gambero di mazara, vin Jaune – The al dente pasta was beautifully done with small chunks of raw red prawns on top. A slightly cheesy vin jaune sauce delivered the final finishing touch.

Our palate cleanser was shiso ice-cream with sea salt, olive oil and vinegar. The savory-sweet flavor along with some fruity acidity really helped to get our palates ready.

The Flan, Hokkaido sweet potato – The first dessert was a light and delicate flan made with sweet potato from Hokkaido and caramel ganache. 

"Kaviari" Oscietra caviar, XO Rum gelato and mole – It was followed by the second dessert, a scoop of homemade rum gelato served with the Mexican mole sauce. The housemade mole sauce added with grilled banana to tone down the spicy notes, was meshing well with the rum and saltiness of the caviar. A well-balanced dessert with very complex flavors.

Some petite fours, including a fresh strawberry and melon dusted with mint powder, both served on ice.

Lemon pie.

A "Star War" themed Whiskey gum.

It was a memorable two-hour journey from start to finish. I like the way that you were set up at the counter table. Watching the chefs go to work, smelling the fragrance from the open kitchen (mostly from the charcoal grill) and having the privacy/space for the two of us, it was almost like private dining. Some of the dishes were innovative and for a seafood lover like me, the seafood-laden menu was quite a treat. Dessert provided a few more highlights and instagrammable moments for us. Needless to say, we will be happy to come back to Noi anytime.

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$$$

Address: 5/F, Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3196-8768

Opening Hours: 6:00pm - 11:00pm (Mon - Sun), 12:00pm - 3:00pm (Sat - Sun)