Bistro Dining on Staunton Street

Food and travel guest blogger hkLifestyleGeek gives us her next scoop on fantastic restaurants around town and travel tips. Contact her at hklifestylegeek@hkfashiongeek.com 

La Marmite is a new restaurant that recently opened along Staunton Street and it's a charming place that opens up to the street where passers by can check out the people inside, and vice versa. As a result the atmosphere is very Parisian, complete with large French posters on the pistachio-coloured walls. Tres chic, non? And to complement the decor, the eatery aims to give as authentic French bistro dishes as possible, and the food is magnifique... perhaps because of all the butter in it!

Executive chef Renaud Marin presents traditional French dishes -- some retaining the classic taste, others with a slight twist. Some of the starters on the menu can be shared, such as the foie gras creme brule that comes with sour dough toast and salad (HK$148). It's a large, rich portion for one, but sinfully delicious. It's a smooth spread that's perfect with the toast and thankfully comes with refreshing greens to balance things out.

Another worth splitting is the potted smoke salmon and capers rillette that also comes with the toast and salad (HK$98). This appetiser is perfect for warm temperatures, as it's light and tasty.

Classic die-hards can have the six Bourgogne snails in parsley and garlic butter (HK$98). I haven't quite mastered securing the snails in those clamps, so if you have any tips, please pass them along...

For mains I highly recommend the whiting fish with caper with crushed new potatoes (HK$178). The fish flakes easily against the fork and is delicious. The sweetness of the fish contrasts with the sourness of the capers for an interesting combination. And then who can resist some roughly mashed potatoes underneath?

A heavier dish is the rabbit and foie gras in a pie (HK$228) that comes with mesclun salad. The pastry is made from scratch by Marin and he proudly adds this was one of the first few dishes he made in culinary school. The flavours again are rich and full, best shared or for one looking for a hearty meal.

The vegetables 'Bagna Cauda' (HK$188) should be shared, as it's basically sliced raw vegetables such as celery, cucumber, carrots and radishes that are dipped in a rich anchovy truffle cream sauce.

Make sure you save room for dessert -- the Paris Brest (HK$78) is a traditional Parisian almond pastry with a creamy almond filling topped with sliced almonds, while the apple and Calvados tarte tatin (HK$78) comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The wine list is mainly French bien sur, and includes bottles exclusively from 10 French boutique wineries.

So there's no excuse not to check out La Marmite -- it's a great taste of France. Bon appetit!

La Marmite
46 Staunton Street
SoHo
2803 7808
www.aqua.com.hk


Disclosure: Aqua is a client of FashionGeek’s day job. Photos taken when FashionGeek went to try the food. All views are presented by guest blogger LifestyleGeek