Sky-High 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

Ozone on the 118th floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong is a great venue to impress guests in the evening with its jaw-dropping view, and now it also serves up gourmet brunch on Sundays from noon to 3pm. For HK$888 with free-flowing Veuve Clicquot Champagne (or HK$1,888 with free-flowing vintage 2002 Dom Perignon Champagne and 10g of Hybrid caviar) you can enjoy an extensive selection of appetisers, select a main course and then sample a variety of desserts all while enjoying the amazing view, subject to weather conditions of course.

The day we went was overcast from the ground floor, but when we got up to the highest floor in Hong Kong, all we could see were clouds below us and Hong Kong island was shrouded in the fog, kind of like a modern Chinese painting. Meanwhile we were surrounded by an amazing clear blue sky. But surely our stomachs were calling for a panoramic taste of the brunch and so we promptly checked out the goods.

One side of the room has a tempting seafood selection. There's freshly shucked oysters, poached prawns, lobsters and king crab legs and mussels that were all very delicious. We also enjoyed trying the sushi and sashimi selection that included tuna, salmon, octopus and yellowtail.

Then we went to the other side of the dining area where the desserts and other starters were. If you must be decadent -- and why not -- you're at the Ritz -- you can have pan-fried foie gras cooked right in front of you at the cooking station, as well as savoury beef cubes teppanyaki style that were melt-in-the-mouth juicy.

The tricky thing about this buffet is that everything's in small portions so you think it's good for a taste, thus encouraging you to sample more. We liked the small cups of soup, and on the day we went there was cream of asparagus and miso. There was also a heavenly-smelling chawanmushi, or steamed egg custard with pieces of lobster topped with truffle. So good!

If that wasn't enough, each diner is entitled to a mini Wagyu beef burger that was lip-smacking good as well as a kind of spring roll.

And this was all before the main course.

Oh did we mention cocktails?

A trolley will come by your table and create a bespoke bloody Mary, complete with a wide range of ingredients to suit all tastes. Then if that's not enough, another one will arrive and like a scientist's experiment, the barman will concoct some lethal mini martinis complete with liquid nitrogen and garnished with a sprig of sage or rosemary.

Now that you're just about full and well lubricated, there are still the mains and desserts to follow. Some of the options include tandoori salmon with saffron basmati rice and papadom; roasted black cod with ponzu caramel, seaweed crust and walnut; and tempura prawns udon noodles.

We chose the black cod and were not disappointed. The fish was cooked perfectly, flaking off the fork and was very tasty with the ponzu caramel sauce. It came with a grilled cherry tomato, carrots and asparagus as well as rice.

But you can't be too full yet -- there's still some desserts to go through!

An intriguing one is the frozen lollipop made in front of you. Three blobs of raspberry, mango and chocolate are placed on a frozen plate with a stick and then after a few minutes you have your lollipop, but it is devoured none too soon because it makes you feel like a kid again.

For some opulence for your skin, try the vanilla creme with bird's nest, or how about the mini mango pudding, baked warm chocolate tart, pandan creme brulee, blueberry cheesecake or mini lemon and lime tartlets.

Did we mention there's also a cheese selection too?

There's many to choose from, ranging from hard to soft, including cow and goat cheeses.

And when you have brunch at Ozone you can get 15 percent off a treatment at The Ritz-Carlton Spa by ESPA. So the next time you have brunch there, schedule a spa treatment in the afternoon and your Sunday will definitely end on a high note.

Ozone
118/F, The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
International Commerce Centre
1 Austin Road West
Kowloon
2263 2263
www.ritzcarlton.com