Agent-I and I have been talking about meeting up for dinner for months and after a couple of postponements, we finally agreed on a number of days that would work for the both of two. Problem? We couldn't find a table at any of our shortlisted restaurants for the next 2 months. Just when I thought we were going to postpone again, she got a surprise call from Mono saying that they have a table for us tonight, thanks to a last-minute cancelation.
I have always wanted to come back to Mono after my first and only visit on their opening week. But for the last couple of months, it was impossible to get in any fine-dining restaurants in the city, Mono included. I am guessing "revenge spending" on good food is really in full swing now.
We were so eager to find out about tonight's tasting menu.
As soon as we finished ordering, our server came over to show us a basket of mashua, a sort-of bell-shaped root vegetable from Peru which has been cultivated and used for Peruvian dishes for over 1,500 years. The locals use them for everything, even desserts!
Of course there was a reason why she showed us the mashua cuz they were featured in our amuse bouche.
Underneath the thin slices of mashua were sea urchin (yes!) and clams, finished off nicely with some chili dust. Not bad.
We didn't have to wait very long to see one of Chef Chaneton's signature dishes - Gamba Rojas, his famous red prawns. This was a refined version of what I had in their opening week. The Spanish red prawns, very lightly cooked, was matched with tiger milk, a crustacean jelly made primarily with the prawn's head and coral, and diced yam (Latin American version of it anyways). The bouncy and crunchy texture of the prawns were complemented brilliantly by the lovely acidity of the tiger milk (lime) and there was the extra spicy kick to tie everything up delightfully.
Yes, it was nice to get this right out of the gate. Very nice start.
The second dish of the tasting menu was variations of green peas with Mexican nopal (some sort of cactus) beautifully topped with Imperial caviar. I like the clean flavors of the green peas and the crunch was really nice but there was nothing to back it up. I thought, even the salt from the caviar didn't do enough of a job to elevate the flavors of the dish.
At this point, we were presented with the restaurant's signature sourdough bread, housemade daily with 3 types of quinoa and served with some of the finest olive oil.
Very very pillowy. I think I can really sleep on it...
Bread was followed immediately by Blue lobster from Brittany, which was superbly cooked. It was paired with chayote purée, a relatively light lobster sauce and finished with a sprinkle of kari gosse (French curry powder). Not bad.
Next up was Roscoff onion that was cooked to absolute perfection. The exterior of the onion was almost completely caramelized while the centre was still soft and moist. There was obviously a reason why Roscoff onion, best known for its sweet and unique flavor, was such a prized ingredient. Combining with black sesame, mushroom and shallot cream, it gave the dish great depth of flavors. (My favorite dish of the night there).
Following the onion dish, our server brought over a trolley and started preparing a mole sauce from table side. There were a total of 65 ingredients from the original recipe of the sauce but they trimmed it down to 21 ingredients including spices, aubergine purée, chocolate, nuts and activated charcoal, and chili paste.
The dark colored sauce ready to be served with our next dish.
Here French morel mushroom was stuffed with foie gras and minced chicken, and served with buckwheat, pork cracking and a pool of the mole sauce that was just freshly made. A very delicate dish with a nice mix of exciting flavors and textures.
Our fish course is none other than the house specialty, Chef Chaneton's aged monkfish. While Agent-I and I were a little disappointed with the small portion we got (it's about a third of what we used to get), we were certainly not disappointed with the meatiness of the fish fillet at all.
The second serving came in a traditional Mexican infladita (street food snack) with monkfish mousse (made with meat from its head and tail) as filling, topped nicely with the same Béarnaise sauce.
Our meat course was Racan pigeon, which was interestingly paired with chimichurri sauce made with parsley and fresh oregano. But what I didn't like the part with the yuca and pigeon breast on top (upper right corner of the dish).
There was a second serving of the pigeon, the leg which was stuffed with pigeon mousse and matched with capers and chili. I thought this was almost better than the pigeon breast.
After what tasted like buckwheat tea (it was a beverage by the name of Mate cocido) following our pigeon dish, we were ready for our palate cleanser.
Cucumber sorbet, clementine, mint leaf and some crispy flakes (chocolate).
In case you didn't know, Mono does their own chocolate from fresh cocoa beans. Both of us were really looking forward to tonight's chocolate dessert and it definitely didn't disappoint. Chocolate cream with rosemary ice-cream and Sicilian olive oil served under a chocolate web. Simple but very very tasty thanks to the richness of the chocolate.
I thought we were done in the dessert department but it ain't over until the fat lady sings.
It's almost two months since I turned 25 but I didn't get to celebrate it with Agent-I at the time so she made sure that I got my birthday wish tonight.
Creamy tonka bean mousse with chocolate ganache and cocoa nibs. That's a combination that never let us down. Sweet but not too sweet. Love the silky tonka bean mousse in the middle that meshed so well with the bitterness of the chocolate.
Another sweet bite to end the meal on a sweet note.
Many thanks to my foodie friend for the very nice treat. It's a couple of months after my birthday but I could always wait for amazing food like these.
Website: www.mono.hk
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 9:30pm (Mon - Sat)
.JPG "Restaurant Almacita (Valence, FRANCE) - Very friendly South American casual dining gastro bar in centre of Valence Old Town")
.JPG "Restaurant Almacita (Valence, FRANCE) - Very friendly South American casual dining gastro bar in centre of Valence Old Town")
.JPG "Restaurant Almacita (Valence, FRANCE) - Very friendly South American casual dining gastro bar in centre of Valence Old Town")
