Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Personalized Classic Dining

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

Hugo's at Hyatt Regency Hong Kong is an institution. There aren't many places left in Hong Kong that present traditional European cuisine with all the pomp and circumstance around it. Waiters are smartly dressed and even though the restaurant has moved to K11, decoration from the old place are present here including antique rifles and ceramic jugs. The Christofle silverware is still used and even the silverware trolleys are still around for meatcarvings at the table. This is definitely old school dining at its best.


The restaurant now presents its Chef's Table, where diners can enjoy a personalised menu matched with wines and get to meet Hugo's head chef Richard Sawyer, who can be shy, but is very passionate about his food once you get him talking.

But he had to slip back into the kitchen to prepare our dinner that consisted of six courses -- and look after the regular dining guests as well.
For starters the green crab and avocado salad with citrus and herb dressing was topped with caviar and it was so artistically presented plate I felt bad wrecking it! But it was delicious and refreshing with the fresh crab meat and peeled grapefruit and oranges.

The sommelier was very clever to match two dishes with one wine and in this case it was the Gruner Veltiner Spiegel 2008 from Austria.

It also held up to the clam chowder and sauteed scallops, cauliflower puree and smoked duck ham. The soup was not too rich but still had some creaminess in it, with a perfectly cooked meaty scallop in it and flavoured with a thin slice of duck ham.

Next was the hot and cold foie gras, fresh black truffle, fig and honey. One piece was the panfried foie gras, again prepared just right, and the other was like a pate, each bite richer than the other. I'm sure my arteries appreciated the decadence. The dish was garnished with fresh fig and the Hungarian Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos 2005 was a wonderful match for this dish, the sweetness carrying the foie gras flavour wonderfully.

Things got a bit lighter in the next main, panfried fillet of French turbot that sat on a bed of sliced potatoes, and topped with a poached oyster, again perfectly executed. This was definitely seafood heaven. The seafood dish was paired with Condrieu Terrasses de L'Empire 2007 from Rhone, France.

The final main course was the grilled Charlois beef tenderloin, but this was cooked a tad too tough for me, but towards the centre was very juicy and tender. It was topped with asparagus, and on the side was an open lobster "ravioli" with the skin made of celaric. These meaty ingredients were matched with Malbec 2004.


After we loosened our belts we were treated to a wonderfully sweet finish of white and dark chocolate mille feuille, but actually it was layers of white and dark chocolate that was sinfully delicious with some raspberries. The dessert was paired with Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 2005.

Oh but that wasn't all -- chocolate pops covered in chocolate were served in dry ice that were delectable... if only my stomach could take one more!

So if you're looking to celebrate a special occasion with up to seven of your best friends, check out the Chef's Table for a dinner like no other. It's priced at HK$1,288 per person with wines at an extra cost.

Hugo's
Lobby Level
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong
18 Hanoi Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
3721 7733
www.tsimshatsui.hyatt.com

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