I haven’t seen my buddy V since we got together for his birthday celebration late last year. Rumors had it that he was taking a hiatus in Beautiful British Columbia—killing time while watching the lowly Canucks on TV — but it turned out to be just gossip after all 😆😆.
He’s been back in town for some time, and early this month he pinged me to ask when I’d be free for a gathering near my birthday.
After agreeing on a date, he’s been keeping the location secret until the week before our dinner. To my pleasant surprise, it was a place I have never visited before.
Located on the 24th floor of New World Tower in Central, HKGTA Town Club is a members-only club spanning over 18,000 square feet, designed as an urban oasis. It features a lounge, a Japanese restaurant, a French restaurant, private rooms, and more. Our dinner venue was Chez Nous, an intimate and cozy French restaurant right in the heart of the premise.
On a Tuesday night, Central was pretty quiet and so was the club.
We enjoyed some snacks while we went over the food and drink menu.
Of course, we toasted to good health, and I’m genuinely grateful for another year of (well… decent) health, happiness, and peace.
Escargots de Bourgogne — We started things off with some sautéed snails from France. These were drizzled with garlic purée, shallot sauce, and brioche crumbs. Absolutely lovely dish to whet our appetite for the night.
Pâté en croûte — This was kind of my idea and it worked out alright. The meat pie featuring a mix of meats, foie gras, and more was reasonably good, although the crust was a bit too hard for this old man with bad teeth. As usual, it came with cornichons and fruit chutney.
Bar grillé — For the main course, I went with the grilled seabass, which turned out to be an excellent choice.
I love the rich and flavorful beurre blanc with turnip, zucchini, spinach, and shellfish. A perfect complement to the mildly flavored seabass.
Whole yellow chicken — V ordered a whole yellow chicken for us to share. The beautifully cooked yellow chicken was succulent and spot on. The vin jaune sauce equally rich and intense as the one from the grilled seabass, came with mussels, chorizo, morel mushrooms and broad beans.
That said, I thought there was a little too much richness in the dish. The only downside from an otherwise delicious offering.
Hazelnut Mille-feuille — V and I shared one dessert together — a made-to-order Mille-Feuille with hazelnut praline cream, pear compote, and pear sorbet. The pear definitely did its job in balancing the sweetness and richness of the dessert.
I’m truly blessed to get the chance to see some of my besties during the week of my birthday. Even St Paul was in town (for family matters), and we managed to squeeze in a lovely meal at Caprice. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for more for this year's birthday.
Food Rating: 6.9/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 24/F, 16-18 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2132-6688
Opening Hours: 12:30pm - 2:30pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Sat)
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