SOMM At Mandarin Oriental (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After six months of work in the making, Chef Richard Ekkebus' Amber 2.0 was finally unveiled in May. Apart from a new and exciting menu that's staying completely away from dairy and gluten, the dining room was also revamped into a more casual space. There's more. The re-organization of space has created a brand new concept, some call the old Amber named SOMM, a casual French neo-bistro sharing Amber's same address.



On top of the neo-bistro fare, SOMM also boasts more than 1,000 labels from all over the world.



For someone like me who doesn't like to waste time studying the a la carte menu, the "Weekend Sommeliers' Lunch" menu was perfect (3 courses $538 - starter, main+dessert or 4 courses $608 - snack, starter, main+dessert). I was a little full after my breakfast at The Mandarin Cake Shop so I went with the 3-course set without the snack.



Taking a page out of our local cha chaan teng (traditional tea restaurants), all the cutlery and napkins are hidden inside a drawer underneath the table. How cool is that?



We started things off with some homemade bread.



Not bad. At this point, I realized that Chef May Chow of Little Bao fame has just entered the dining room of SOMM and seated right next to us.



Hokkaido scallops, razor clams, sea lettuce and Kyuri condiment - Raw scallop carpaccio and razor clams were served on the shell (scallop) with kombu, diced cucumber and shallots. 



Judging from the sweetness of the scallops and razor clams, they have to be top notch ingredients so something versatile like kombu was the perfect catalyst (along with some lemon juice) to bring out the sweetness of our shellfish even more.



Tasmanian salmon confit, Ikura and vinegared rice cream - I have seen pictures of this dish everywhere from online magazine to SOMM's official website so I'm guessing it's some sort of house specialty!? 

Again the seasoning of the dish was very very light and it came primarily from the umami-rich salmon roes. The vinegared rice cream was a nice touch. I had a similar dish in Kyoto where they used vinegared sushi rice to make some kind of purée or cream as a dipping sauce. The concept was very similar yielding equally great results.



Madai, green flat bean coulis, pickled onions and horseradish - My main course was pan-fried madai fish which was slightly overcooked. The green flat bean coulis was a surprise addition providing the dish with some clean flavors to work with while the pickled onions and horseradish generated some extra kick. Very decent (except the overcook).



Veal “Wiener Schnitzel”, baked new potatoes - We were told that this was a very popular dish with very high demand at SOMM. From what we've seen from our neighbors, I could tell it's of high demand too.



The deep-fried veal cutlet was pretty tender and juicy but I actually enjoyed the baked new potatoes which have been dusted with onions, bacon and garden herbs even more.



Raspberry 1000-Feuilles and whipped pepperberry ganache - Mille feuille is always a crowd pleaser. This was topped with fresh raspberries, strawberry sorbet and whipped pepperberry ganache.



Abinao chocolate soufflé with cacao sorbet - I can't recall how long it's been since I last had a traditional soufflé but it had to be ages.



I was so happy that I picked this over the mille feuille. It was light and airy, almost like marshmallow with deep chocolate flavors (thanks to the layer of chocolate ganache and cocoa nibs on top). If there's ever a perfect chocolate soufflé, you're looking at it now.



For a restaurant dubbed as Amber's sister restaurant, I was certainly expecting more than what I've seen this afternoon. While all the dishes tasted reasonably good, they lacked the refinement, sophistication and artistry I was anticipating from a Neo-French bistro (something along the line of Belon perhaps?), especially for a MO establishment.





Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 7/F, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2132-0055
Website: www.mandarinoriental.com/hong-kong/the-landmark/fine-dining/restaurants/sake/somm

Bakehouse Wanchai (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I had a brief opening this afternoon that allowed me to sneak out to get some sweet treats from Bakehouse, one of my favorite bakery shop in town (I'm sure it's the favorite of many who work in Wanchai too). While I was there to get my sourdough egg tarts last time around, I had a glimpse of this pistachio donut ($38) but I wasn't interested at the time.

I decided to bring one home today but that looked like a bad idea now. All the sugar seemed to have melted (thanks to the nasty heat) and it's not nearly as fluffy as it was when it was still sitting there on top of the display counter. Perhaps I should have eaten it at the spot.

Personally, I thought the donut itself was fine. The pistachio flavored custard cream? Not so much. I expected a lot more stronger flavor from the pistachio but judging from the light green color, well.....

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: G14 Tai Wong Street East, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Website: https://bakehouse.hk/

Lim Kee Bing Sutt 廉記冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I have a training session this morning that starts at 10am which gives me around half an hour for a full breakfast. That's really nice. I wish all our training could start at 10am (not the usual 9am start).

Located just a stone's throw from Lee Tung Avenue in Wanchai, Lim Kee Bing Sutt (廉記冰室) has been a very popular breakfast and lunch spot since its opening about a year ago. I have always wanted to give it go but I hate restaurants with long lineup. And I have never seen Lim Kee without a lineup until this morning.

I thought people would be wary of the name "Lim Kee" as it sounded like ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong) in Cantonese. We all know what it means to be having coffee at ICAC but obviously, that didn't bother most of us.

I missed having freshly baked pineapple buns! That smells so good. Hopefully this and the super strong pantyhose milk tea had enough to keep me awake throughout the training.

Price: $$$
Address: G/F, 13 Spring Garden Lane, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Tel: +852 3468-2971
Opening Hours: 7:00am - 10:30pm daily