Hong Kong: Je me doutais bien que Josephine allait adorer 8 et 1/2

Apparently the only 3-Michelin-starred Italian restaurant outside Italy, and probably why the long waiting list for a reservation (3-4 weeks); lucky enough, I managed to get a table using the name of Francois Simon, merci, Monsieur! You are always the best!
Unlike Amber, the tasting menu here looks more promising than the rather simply structured a la carte, pretty civilized contains 3 starters and 1 main, plus a desert. Nice! I love it when the chefs are trying to help with decision-making!

The amuse bouche – Mozzarella mousse with half an olive, tomato and one basil leave was a light and delightful begin, score!
The first course, crab and Calvisius Elite Caviar – quite a nice mix of fine ingredients – crab, caviar, greens and tomato jelly – was very pleasant, but didn’t seem to have the ambition to impress. Similar went the lobster with white asparagus, very tasty, but not too much to remember.

But the Homemade Tagliolini – cover by large pieces of black truffles, did definitely made its claim. The tagliolini was cooked with butter and parmesan only, so the taste was rather simple but solid, and went just fantastic with the gentle flavour of the truffles. It can, perhaps, beat any pasta dishes I’ve just had in my 7 days trip in Bologna last autumn…
The main course was a choice between Colorado rack of lamb (with artichoke puree, black olive and lamb juice) and Tajima short rib & beef tenderloin (with red wine and plum sauce, whipped potato). Luckily, I picked the short rib & beef – the short rib tasted sensational – so tender and juicy that’s almost melting in the mouth, perfectly flavoured, perfectly prepared; while the tenderloin was not so much a star compared to the short rib….. The lamb rack, on the other hand, was a handsome-looking dish but didn’t seem to deliver the expectation it carried visually…

In the end, the Petit fours (or three) and the hazelnut chocolate bar (orange ricotta ice-cream, Sacher biscuit) confirmed again my impression that, pastry in many fine restaurants in Hong Kong being generally not comparable with its European fellows – or is that the Asian touch that I’m not yet totally in league with? I’m not certain, maybe there are people who do like over-sweetened jelly or over-perfumed plum dressings… However, when I want to indulge myself with sweetness in Hong Kong, I know, at least, the Salon Robuchon will not disappoint.
Not to be too picky, but the staff here did seem to be busy running around, so we helped them by pouring our 2005er Chateau Pape Clement (we brought along) and 1996 Chateau
Haut-Brion (we ordered there) out of the long and fancy Riedel decanter by ourselves most of the time, not exactly easy, but manageable.
In general, it’s a good restaurant, features a bar area too, providing solid food up to European standard; but as I had to make a reservation under Francois’ name to cut in the waiting list, not sure if I’ll ever be able to manage another reservation to come again…
Price: HK$ 1,388 per person for tasting menu (can be ordered for one person too).
Address: Shop 202, Landmark Alexandra, 18 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong. +852 2537 8859