Celebrating 2 birthdays & the purchase of a bachelorette pad - in style at Pierre (Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong). Over the years, I have grown to like Pierre Gagnaire's cooking style, but one of my main issues with it still remains the "satellite" principle, where many of the dishes come as a larger one accompanied with a few "peripheral" ones. I am an (extremely) slow eater, and I like to chew on each mouthful for some time to analyse the flavours the best I can, and get the most of them - which at any Gagnaire restaurant would mean I would get through maybe 2 of the dishes while they're still (luke)warm-ish if I'm lucky, and then eat the rest cold. Sorry Pierrot, I can't swallow good food that fast...
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Beurre Bordier with smoked sea salt and with piment d'Espelette |
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| Amuse-bouche: Mascarpone & redcurrant jelly |
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| Amuse-bouche: Mascarpone & redcurrant jelly we welcomed this AB with jaded looks on our faces (like - how common can you get) and promptly revised judgement at the first (and unfortunately only) bite - the mascarpone was very creamy and so intensely milky it would have been a gorgeous dessert on its own. And as always, I am having a thought for the poor commis who peeled and de-seeded the redcurrants... |
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Amuse-bouche: Vegetable spring roll & coriander tartare sauce delicate spring roll, fresh coriander flavour, awesome sauce |
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More amuse-bouche: sweet meringue & spicy avocado cream, Guinness jelly powdered with pain d'épices, sablé biscuit, ginger cookie |
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Even more amuse-bouche: Apple & onion chutney this was nicely caramelised and had an intense curry flavour to it |
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Les légumes: mint cream peas, parmesan water, green and white asparagus with pistachio the addition of tiny celery dice ruined this otherwise delicious dish - it overpowered even the mint in the cream peas :-( |
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| Les légumes: onions petals salad, rhubarb and poivrade artichoke, emulsified lemon olive oil My guest & I were both pretty sure some shaved fennel sneaked into this dish... very delish but I did not really see the point of the petals sprinkle on this dish (and a few others...) |
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| Les légumes: gnocchi with sorrel, pear, pomelo and celeriac The gnocchi were plump and moist - simply gorgeous |
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Les légumes: mascarpone & cucumber terrine, liquorice & morel tart We could not taste the liquorice at all in the tart but the morels were very fragrant and creamy - delicious. The cucumber & mascarpone terrine was a bit of a surprise as it was not mentioned on the menu - it was gorgeous. The mascarpone had an intense milk flavour and the cucumber layers were so intensely "cucumbery" that it left us wondering how you extract so much flavour out of such a watery veggie... what a garden veggie party! |
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| La France by Pierre Gagnaire - Marseille (cod aïoli, snail, seasonal vegetable) this was very very good. I'm a huge cod fan, and anything containing garlic always hits the right spot with me *ribbit*. I also loved the way this dish was presented, and how it very nicely caught the light... a very photogenic composition :-) |
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| La France by Pierre Gagnaire: Bayonne (piperade, ham & stuffed squid) The squid was stuffed with a mix of flame-grilled peppers and cheese (very delish). The piperade was just heaven - very intense and fondant bell peppers, with a smoky paprika aroma - it was almost like a savoury bell peppers jam. |
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| La France by Pierre Gagnaire: Nantua (chicken quenelle, Saint-Jacques, yabbies sauce) The yabbies sauce was very intense, almost of a rouille consistency and texture but minus the spicyness. The olives added a nice touch of acidity to the dish. Pretty good stuff. |
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| Chorizo and honey jelly The honey was very floral, and worked very well with the chorizo. Clearly something I will try to make at home... |
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| La France by Pierre Gagnaire: Reims (Champagne granité, mango/papaya velouté) I am adamant there was no mango whatsoever in this velouté!! ... but... the papaya was very aromatic. The sweetness of the fruit worked quite well with the sligthly acidic champagne granité - very nicely done. |
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L'agneau: roasted lamb with fragrant spices, Stilleto eggplant marmalade and yes, before you ask, the lamb was obviously sous-vide... all this pinkness was very moving :-) - I can't even begin to describe how gorgeous this dish was, that was the hit of the evening for me! |
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| L'agneau: crunchy vegetables, green harissa |
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| L'agneau: lamb fricassée with plums this was lamb compote lol - the meat was totally fondant and the tangy taste of the plums worked perfectly with the slow-cooked, almost caramelised meat. I could have had seconds & thirds of this!! |
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L'agneau: saffron wheat semolina, manchego shavings |
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| "surprise" B-Day dessert (papaya & passionfruit smoothie) - very fruity & refreshing |
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9 Conduit Street: light pistachio mousseline with cachaça granité, cucumber and green mango, parsley, coriander and aragula "financier" with Galia melon soup I have rather poor tastebuds BUT I am pretty sure they substituted granny smith apple for the green mango and papaya for the Galia melon in this dish... the result was still pretty amazing though (with Gagnaire, you just need to get used to having ginger cookies as appetizers and aragula in your dessert I suppose...) |
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9 Conduit Street: parsley, coriander and aragula "financier" with Galia melon soup very unsure about this one...the texture of the "financier" was perfectly buttery (as it should be) but somehow the herbs concoction did not work for me. oh well... |
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Eau de rose: more papaya soup, bitter almond milk jelly, candied lemon verbena, marzipan cream, roast white peach with lemon paste, mascarpone & redcurrant jelly |
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Eau de rose: rose water, lychee & glace royale almost like turkish delight sherbet - very arty & delicate presentation, one of the winners of the evening |
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