Chez Patrick, Soho, Hong Kong

It's been a fortnight of non-stop eating. I don't know whether it's because I've started this Food & Dining Blog that's led to want to try out new places, or the eating that's leading to all these posts on this site.

Another foodie girlfriend had organised dinner with a few of mates on Tues evening at a fairly new place called "Chez Patrick" in Soho. I'd never heard of the place but was excited to be continuing my eating frenzy by trying out another restaurant.

Food: This little place serves beautiful nouvelle french food in a small cosy white washed restaurant. I was a little surprised by the small size of the menu: one can either opt for 3 or 4 courses choosing from the selection of appetizer, mains, cheese plate and dessert.

Once I saw the foei gras on the appetizer on the menu, my heart was set. I know I know, I just don't seem to be able to resist this melt in the mouth decadent dish whenever it appears in the menu. Its a dish where I actually really appreciate it when the restaurants are not particularly creative with it. Just serve me the (hopefully A grade) foie gras, pan fried with a bit of salt and pepper with the inside still pink and soft, served with cooked[apple/pear/fig/any other fruit] with a drizzle of sweet and tangy/balasmic sauce. That's exactly how Chez Patrick served the foie gras (good grade - soft with none of those stringy bits), and I loved it. My girlfriend opted for frog legs with a garlic and fennel sauce which she thought was not too bad.

The mains came with three choices: duck, fish or veal. I immediately dismissed the fish, having had it for lunch that day. I was tempted to opt for the veal which came with the foie gras raviolli but decided it might be overkill to have foie gras for both lunch and dinner. Instead, I ordered the duck breast with "munster" sauce. Now I have to admit, I love my brie, cheddar and parmesan and that new olive cheese the deli lady recommended to me a few weeks ago, but my knowledge of cheese ends just about there! Upon our query, the waitress replied that it's a "strong smelling" cheese ... hence cheese lovers would really enjoy this dish.

When my main came, I was a little taken a back by the drowning of my duck breast in a pungent cheese sauce. On the bright side, the dish came with some very cute little "marbles" of squash, zuchinni and other vegs and a delicious potato gratin. I'm not sure I made opted for the poorer choice after trying my girlfriend's veal, which was a little on the tough side.

Service: On the whole, I wasn't really impressed by the service. Chef Patrick did the lovely by coming out to say hello to us personally, but the service from the waiters was not up to par. I felt a slight sense of nose in the air from the waiters. But more specific gripes include: Given our obvious lack of familiarity with the munter cheese, I would have expected the waitress to give more warning. The waiter also did not understand the difference between ice-cream or sorbet. Perhaps I am being a little harsh but when I'm paying this much for the food, I tend to expect more! That said, a new place always takes some time to settle down ... I wouldn't write it off complete yet.

Ambience: This restaurant is located in Peel Street Soho, just past Hollywood Road. Although it's filled with white, white doors, white walls, white dining chairs, the lighting, paintings and furnishings give the restaurant a very cosy feel.

Price: Pricey, $499 for 3 courses (including a small pre-dinner taster). The owners of the Malaysian restaurant were much amused when they asked about my views on the

Rating: 3 stars (yes NN, I agree with you!)

Ingredients, Wanchai, Hong Kong

(Note: Ingredients has now closed down)

I was going to take a girlfriend to Le Fleur (see below) but by the time I called them this morning they were fully booked. So we walked up Wing Fung street and stumbled upon the newly opened Ingredients, having moved over from their previous private kitchen spot in Gough Street, Sheung Wan. I've done a fair bit of gourmet eating & travel with this girlfriend of mine so I knew I was in good company to try out Ingredient's reincarnation.

Upon entry we noticed a ground floor dining area, but we were led to the lift and taken to the 1st floor, where there was a larger dining area, all in dark wood panels, high back chairs in dark brown leather, and gleaming white tablecloth. Very suave. Though in my mind I was thinking ... they must have made a real killing at the private kitchen!!

Food: I was relieved to find that the food is still as delicious as before. Steph selected a roasted lamb which rested on potato mash topped with a bit of soft roasted tomatoes from the lunch set menu, to be followed by dessert. I opted for the a la carte "fish of the day" which was a lovely pan fried garoupa steak, served with two small halves of roasted potatoes, and lovely fresh sauce including tiny pieces of chopped pineapple pieces which contrasted particularly well.

Ambience: Gone is the quaint little private kitchen, Ingredients looks poised to take over the serious world of restaurant dining, and looks like they might just do well.

Service: Not bad. Transition from private kitchen to restaurant seems to have been quite smooth, with the assistance of a manager/head waiter who knows all the right things to do leading the rest of the less experienced waiters.

Price: Not cheap, at $215 for 2 course set lunch, $260 for 3 courses. A little on the pricey side though, the open steak sandwich was around $160, as was the laksa. But then I rather they keep the price and quality up, cos that's what you're really there for.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Later we were informed that this little empire is due to open their 2nd floor and the roof terrace in a month or two's time. Hmm, looks like a nice little spot to organise a birthday party or two!

23 Wing Fung Street, Wanchai, HK. Tel: 2544 5133
www.ingredients.com.hk

Antipasto pasta

I used to make grilled vegetables a lot in my old pad back in Melbourne. The vegs were all so big and fleshy and fresh ... eggplant, capsicums, zucchini, huge portobello mushies. Tried it for the first time today, but decided to put my George Foreman griller to use instead. The result? Hmm not bad!

Pasta,
originally uploaded by choccis.

Start with:

• 1 red capsicum
• 1 green capscium
• 2 rashers bacon
• 1 eggplant
• 1/2 onion
• 1 can peeled whole tomatoes
• good lug of olive oil (around 1 cup)
• good lug of vinega (around 1/2 cup)
• salt & pepper
• 100 gm spagetti or fettucine pasta

1. Mix olive oil (reserve 1 tablespoon) with olive oil and salt * pepper to taste.

2. Core and cut the capsicum into quarters.

3. Slice eggplant into 1 cm pieces.

4. Marinate eggplant and capsicum with olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixture for about 10 mins.

5. Place on hot grill and grill until skin of capsicum is blistery, and grill the eggplants until there are dark grill lines on eggplant, which is soft (and not crispy).

6. Cut capsicum and eggplants into large chunks and reserve.

7. Slice bacon and onion into thin strips.

8. Pan fry onion for a couple of minutes, then add the bacon, frying both until onion is slightly browned.

9. Add cans of tomatoes and tomato paste.

10. Add sugar to taste.

11. Boil pasta with ½ tablespoon of olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt until al dente. Drain and leave aside.

12. Add sauce to pasta, toss with grilled vegetables.

13. Serve.

Refectory, Soho, Hong Kong

(Note: this restaurant has since closed down! Boo hoo)

Modern British Cuisine.

Surprisingly delicious "british cuisine". The first time I checked out Refectory was with a girlfriend on a 2-4-1 Monday dinner night. Its great being able to try out new restaurants knowing its only half the damage on the hip pocket if turns out to be a disaster. This restaurant is tucked away on Graham Street - probably fitting up to 40 people in the small cozy restaurant.

First off, we were served with fresh hot bread rolls from the oven. My gf and I decided to opt for the appetizer size mussels to share. Large, fresh, succulent mussels, cooked in a creamly white wine and shallots sauce. Delicious. We mopped up the rest of the sauce with the dinner rolls.

So far so good. Our mains of suckling pig and seared cured salmon were also surprisingly good. We were amazed to be served with three large cuts of suckling pig, soft moist tender meat, all topped with a light crunchy crispy skin. It was complimented with a gravy sauce, ratoutille and spinach, and some roast potatoes that tasted slightly caramelized. The generous piece of cured salmon was slightly seared with a soft uncooked centre, my gf thought it was a little on the "fishy" side but I thought it was quite delicious with the pan fried bacon & leek side. Between the two, I'd have to pick the suckling pig though!

The restaurant impressed me so much that I thought it was worthy a second visit. My experience has been that the second visit to a favoured restaurant never quite matches up to the first ... I suppose the first is always an exploration, and once the high expectation is set the second is critical analysis of the food and service.

So we recommended it for a dinner for the same Friday night with some friends. As usual, the 2nd visit was just not quite the same. We ordered the mussels to share, but gone were the "succulent", delicious mussels, they were replaced with tiny little ones which made us think that Monday (day of our first visit) is the market day! To my relief, the suckling pig was just as good, and the salmon seemed to keep everyone happy. I picked the Australian rib-eye as my main and it was on the chewy side.

For dessert, we opted for the sorbet and "burnt creme" with berries (creme brulee), nothing spectactular but both nice solid ends to our meal.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars