Shining from the Dark Alchemy

20th June, 2015 (Sat)

It was one promotion from a HK food magazine which drove a lot of readers booking Alchemy’s newly launched weekend Brunch in end of May. 

That dishes were created by Chef Pascal Breant and a 8-course brunch at only $268, who would not come for a try? 

I was too late to secure a seat on a Saturday in mid-June; actually it would be S’ birthday. 

The manager confirmed that bookings were full and I just couldn’t imagine all seats could have gone within a day after the magazine write-up has published online. 

Desperate about which restaurant I should be bringing S to…But it was after two days that the manager called again and exceptionally opened its library area for us to have enjoy the brunch!

(Thanks Jackie;>)

A bit not easy to climb up stairs from Central MTR to the restaurant under sunny hot weather. 

We finally arrived at the very ebony black restaurant entrance and reached the first floor.

Turning to right was the Alchemy in the dark restaurant; while on the left was the lounge where you could feel the immensely layback tune of life: bookshelves, antique sofas, wooden floors shining with natural sunlight and a decent cozy bar were all that you need for a relaxing Saturday. 

Jackie nicely escorted us to a window seat (instead of library area after her rearrangement). It was the only table far away from other family / cocktail tables and we liked it! 

The brunch menu every weekend could have slight difference, and this week we have this. 

Bread (4/5)

A trunk of small hot baguette was served to start off today’s brunch. Looked cute and up to standard with crunchy crust and soft bread interior.   

South Pacific Oyster with ginger and spring onion (3/5)

I would never judge oyster by its size because there could always be fantastic character even for a tiny oyster. Unfortunately this oyster was too light in taste. The spring onion and ginger paste at the same time was a tad too salty and dominated the flavor. Sadly.

Homemade smoked salmon with lemon mayonnaise, cherry tomato and smoked eel (4.5/5)

Happy that this dish washed away the negative impression from oyster. This actually was one of the best dishes we would recommend. S adored the homemade smoked salmon so much as the smokiness was just right – not too salty and enhanced the salmon flavor with long aftertaste. The tender smoked eel was also impressive to complement with the lemon mayonnaise and salmon nicely.  

Octopus Carpaccio with roasted pepper and olive oil (3.5/5)

Unfortunately I missed this photo. Simple but delicious, with enough saltiness and oiliness to soak the octopus carpaccio. Rich in taste but at the same time fresh enough!

 

Duck Terrine & Savoy cabbage with crispy saffron risotto  (3.5/5)

The terrine with cooked cabbage layered on was soso. It might be due to my terrible impression on cooked cabbage. Interestingly however the risotto in deep fried croquette got me. So lovely to pull the cheesy linings out after cracking off the croquette! I especially loved the beautiful orange color and slight sourness infused by saffron. 

Crispy Polenta with Quail Egg, Carabineros Red Prawn (4.5/5)

“Carabineros” in Spanish means police; and the stunning scarlet color of this prawn resembles the uniform color of Spanish custom police. Many restaurants desire so much of this prawn for it is full of robust and delicious flavors, especially from its head. Enticingly the prawn was wrapped with a layer of red oil, the flesh was juicy and tangy; and it lingered some time with subtle ocean freshness and sweetness that a prawn should have. The prawn head was full of tomalley and that was just heavenly sweet and flavorful. The summer truffle slice though not that strong flavor was definitely a star to the quail egg. It was my first time to try polenta and the texture was just soso to me though. But overall a very nice kick if I consider it as our main.

Seared Scallop with spinach puree and Australian Truffle with lemon mayo (3.5/5)

Thanks for having another dish with Truffle slice! The scallop was up to standard, just seared the outer layer and the interior was still soft and silky. The lemon mayo was a bit too fatty to season the scallop though.

Roasted Veal Tenderloin with artichoke, asparagus, baby potato and madeira jus (3.5/5)

A soso dish to us as the tenderloin was not soft and tender as it was supposed to be.

Dessert (3/5)

Dessert was again soso, except the Varlhona lollipop which was had smooth ganache in the middle. 

Creatively the chef used half of a kiwifruit as a stand for candle for the birthday boy. And the candle was surprisingly on super big fire!

Overall, the brunch was very comprehensive with versatile ingredients and cooking style which made it super high CP value. Though the seasonings and cooking time could be controlled more accurately.


Alchemy Restaurant & Lounge
中環亞畢諾道16號地下 
Tel: 6821 2801
星期二至五: 12:00-02:00
星期六: 11:30-02:00
星期日: 11:30-18:00
星期一休息 
http://www.alchemy-concept.com/lounge/home 

Be passionate to passionfruits

I love passionfruit. Back to the year when I was in secondary school Form 4 or 5, the time that I was always hanging around with friends at different places, I accidentally met this special fruit at GREAT – the supermarket at Pacific Place in Admiralty. So curious about its real flavor as a fruit rather than as a flavoring in commercial products, I bought several very beautiful, turgid and round Australian passionfruits. But it turned out to be far too sour to be eaten raw.

Another time when I was in Oliver of Prince Building, one staff helped and suggested that ripe passionfruits should be those which ridiculously have their skin dried and wrinkled, like a collapsed and dehydrated fruit. It was that instant when we finally realized that Passionfruit had this little secret, and it would only reveal its best sweetest juices to you if you know it well enough.

Recent days when I shopped at Citysuper, I saw these very special passionfruits from Columbia - Curuba and Granadilla.

Curuba, also named as banana passionfruit, resembles so much a real king banana.
But it was softer in texture, and was ripe when it was fully yellow in color.
I was expecting a hint of banana flavor in this fruit, but it actually has none. It tasted super sour and even bitter; and the fruit pulps were quite dry indeed even it was ripe.

Granadilla was also another kind of passionfruit at Columbia which possesses a round and strong orange shell.
Unlike the usual citrus flavors, the pulps were sweet like pear juice, without any tart flavors!
It’s lighter and more watery, but at the same time, not a characteristic passionfruit which has very zesty aromas.

溫馨 - 嚐囍煲仔飯

2016年1月2日 冬

新一年先在這裡祝大家新年快樂！
踏入2016年，在這美好的新年假期下，
和S來個港島遊，並到訪了S說過很多很多次想吃的煲仔飯店。
雖然這個冬天不太冷，但為一試馳名的煲仔飯暴走到西環，其實也是一種浪漫。

『坤記』馳名，差不多每篇介紹西環的飲食文章，她都佔一席。
不過S 卻希望到訪『嚐囍』，想先試試街坊生意多的餐廳。
不確定新年這些公眾假期餐廳會否營業，我們在當日下午大概四點多撥個電話去。
奇怪的是餐廳主動問我們有否需要訂位？！
反正沒所謂，我們也就預訂了 6:15pm 兩位。

餐廳6時正開店，我們6:10pm到達。
非常誇張的是，鋪面也不少，有起碼廿張大大小小的抬，
居然已經九成滿!
那一刻就明白來『嚐囍』要訂位的重要性‧‧‧

 

來這裡當然吃有名的煲仔飯，我們各點了一個。

『嚐囍』的餐牌裡 除了煲仔飯外，小菜款式也是琳瑯滿目。
價錢分分鐘比廟街便宜，一大夥人來吃一餐一定很豐富。
我們對面正是幾台大抬 上的小菜都很吸引呢。

看過『嚐囍』背景，原來是由『坤記』前師傅開店坐鎮。
利用上一條長條炭爐，烤煮十個一字排開的煲仔飯，
差不多熟透的煲仔飯會疊在上高 用餘溫煮熟。


等了大概15分鐘，兩個熱烘烘的煲仔飯終於到了‧‧‧

先說煲仔飯的靈魂 ─ 白飯豉油。
這裡用上泰國米，飯能夠煮到一顆顆粒粒分明；
口感有嚼勁偏軟，不會死硬 而且飯香很甜美。

豉油相信是加了冰糖，讓清爽的甜味更明顯；
還有一些蔥香，最後會滲出少許薑的辣味。
這個豉油味道層次很豐富，很惹味！

黃鱔煲仔飯 $72 (5/5)
白鱔黃鱔都有供應，但S選擇了黃鱔，聽說黃鱔較稀有。

其實當兩個飯蓋一打開之時，
黃鱔飯的鱔香真的大搶鋒頭，加上香噴噴的飯香，
我們已經忍不住要起筷！

這裡的煲仔飯用料很足！配料都完全蓋過了白飯！
有異於平常見到的火鍋白鱔肉，
黃鱔肉的確是黃黃的，肉質也比較柔軟；
魚味更比白鱔濃郁，白飯都吸收了鱔的油分，
就算未加豉油都已經好香‧‧‧正!

臘腸滑雞飯 $70 (5/5)
雖然這煲飯香味未夠黃鱔的出眾，但吃罷臘腸的味道原來藏在飯裡頭，
少許雞油滲到飯中，微微的臘腸甜及香香的油飯，很美味！

最精彩的是飯焦可以原個拔起，烤得金黃色的模樣。
我們倆都對飯焦沒太大興趣，但這次卻讓我們完全改觀‧‧‧
用鐵匙輕輕一挫，飯焦「噗」一聲清脆的裂開。
一嚼之下，飯焦不太黏牙，而且很清爽不油膩，
加上惹味的豉油，我們一口接一口很快就KO這兩個煲仔飯！
(不過黃鱔飯的飯焦有可能是因為我們太遲起飯焦而有點燶)

為了煲仔飯走到西環，這次我和S都覺得很值得。

和S 靜靜地分享著兩個煲仔飯，

舌尖上的飯熱燙得美味，心裡藏著這份小小的溫馨。

嚐囍煲仔小菜

西環北街25號地下 (堅尼地城地鐵站B出口)

Tel: 2819 6190

星期一至日: 10:00-15:00, 18:00-23:00

穿梭於壽司之神的世界

2015年11月12日 秋

上一次暑假來元朗遊玩，感覺樸素但十分美好，

那次過後便對元朗的餐廳多加留意。

和Simply研究，究竟我們的紀念日在哪兒吃一頓飯好。

從我們的喜愛餐單中，最後決定到 S經常提及的 [壽司の神] 來一頓午飯，

順道到元朗再來個一日遊。

我們訂了位，一點半準時到達。等了五分鐘多就安排入座了。

店面其實面積不大，只能勉強放2-3張四人枱；

另外圍著開放式廚房的，有大概10個counter 位。

而樓面只有一位女同事，服務周到，而且點單上餐等都安排得很精明能幹:>。

最喜愛研究廚藝刀功的我們當然選了counter位置！

這裡跟日本的料理店一樣，師傅就跟客人隔著一個工作枱而已，客人能近距離地一覽無遺整個備料及烹調的過程。

而這次為我們打點這頓午餐的是 Gavin龍師傅。

看一看menu，我們想也沒有想 就點了Omakase ($450)。

最豐富並且吃師傅最推介最時令的食材。

點單後，我和S都已經目不轉睛地看著三位師傅備料。

精彩的程度真的像小朋友看電視一樣，一邊吃飯一邊看，絕不會移開視線。

前菜來了：茶碗蒸 (3.5/5)

表面光滑的蒸蛋內的材料豐富，有冬菇、水菜、蝦、及大大顆的帶子等。

味道偏淡，並且蒸蛋裡還是有一點點泡泡，口感因而未夠嫩滑，

不過整體是不過不失的。

原個番茄沙拉(3.5/5)

要剝番茄皮剝得好看，必先將其微微燙過。

燙得過多會令番茄肉面層熟透，有明顯的沙粒並且有一些網紋；燙得太少卻剝不了皮。

這裡的番茄剝得很漂亮，與酸汁及京蔥碎同吃也很開胃。

唯偶爾京蔥碎會滲出微微苦味。

蟹肉沙拉 (4/5)

蟹肉份量豐富，沙拉菜亦新鮮。

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龍師傅於我們吃前菜的時候，在我們倆的桌上預備了一隻長碟作上菜之用。

他先在S的碟子上放醃菜(牛蒡、蒜頭、黃瓜)、薑花絲、小芽菜及海苔，再往我這邊放。唯獨放了醃牛蒡後，師傅看看我一眼，就突然將所有配菜的擺位都轉了反方向。

那時我就知道，他留意到我是左撇子。

其實想說很久，和一位相識已久的老友記都是左撇子。

並不是要標奇立異，只是我們由小時候開始，

就明白社會上很多設施都只能方便右撇子，特別是餐飲上的用具。

曾經買過一本有關日本餐桌禮儀的書，看著禮儀書上要左手拿碗右手拿筷子的規則，

到現在我仍然會疑問，究竟左撇子是否跟著禮儀書逆著方向做就好。

龍師傅那天這微小又細心的安排，實在讓人倍感窩心。

亦讓我對於日本桌上嚴肅的餐桌禮儀，放下了一點緊張。

在烹調海鮮的世界裡，我仍是一個初學者。

很多疑問有時候也不敢直問師傅，

偶爾會先問S 意見，剛巧就在吃配菜時，

我咬咬S耳朵：這種菜我好像未曾吃過，但香味很強很熟悉‧‧‧

龍師傅一口答了：是薑花 (師傅可是有順風耳)

那麼乾脆有什麼問題就不厭其煩問師傅好了，哈哈！

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午市的廚師發辦，包括：三款刺身、七貫壽司、一個迷你三色丼/手卷、最後會有煮物、味噌湯及甜品。

刺身：

野生油甘魚 (4/5)

野生的魚肉會比平時養殖的血紅色。

雖然油脂不多，但魚味相當濃郁；肉質亦比養殖的結實，而且口感清爽。

響螺 (5/5)

處理響螺刺身繁複，眼見龍師傅要將一個不規則的螺頭切片，十分講究經驗。

不過龍師傅想沒有想，就手起刀落就輕易切完一片一片的刺身，

並以青檸及新鮮即磨的岩鹽點綴。

我們已經急不及待，放進口一嘗鮮味。果然刺身非常爽脆，愈嚼愈甜！

不過最讓我們驚喜的，是青檸及岩鹽的味道融入了響螺當中，

沒有搶過風頭，為響螺提鮮。

不得不讚的是，龍師傅下調味下得很準，非常準。

要是我們沒有眼看師傅的準備過程，大概我們不會想到有用上這兩種調味。

秋刀魚 (4/5)

S說過，秋刀魚魚腥味較重，要作刺身不容易。

而師傅這次就用上最經典不過的薑蔥醬油與刺身作伴。

秋刀魚濃味而膠質較豐富的魚身，配上咸香的醬油，味道濃郁。

刺身過後，就上壽司了 。

左口魚 (3/5)

平常跟姐姐最喜歡吃火灸左口魚邊壽司，因為燒過的魚邊油香滿溢 。

這次一試左口魚壽司，想不到竟然口感清新，並沒有明顯的油香 。

肉質爽彈，但味道較淡。

日本紅衫魚 (3.5/5)

港式蒸紅衫魚就吃得多，紅衫魚壽司也是我們的第一次嘗試。

看過@香港武滕鶴榮先生的食評後，才知道原來這也叫糸撚鯛，是日本中的高級魚。

第一口味道雖然同樣較淡，不過魚肉微微的鮮甜隨之而來。很有趣。

金目鯛 (4/5) 

常常在電視聽到金目鯛一字，但就未曾真正嘗過。

魚身被輕輕燒過令魚脂輕輕融化，油香及肉汁亦隨之變得豐富。

喜歡金目鯛有型的紅皮，也是其特徵之一。

牡丹蝦 (5/5)

龍師傅在雪櫃找了找，拿出一個膠袋來，說：這是新鮮從日本運來的牡丹蝦。

師傅純熟的剝掉蝦殻除腸，並小心翼翼地將蝦肚上的淡藍色蝦子留起。

蝦頭怎樣處理呢？原以為會原隻蝦頭上。

怎料師傅將蝦膏腦隨刮出並伴入醬油，淋上蝦肉及蝦子上。這個醬汁簡直是精華所在！

一嘗之下，超豐富的膠質，蝦醬及蝦肉極鮮甜的味道爆發在舌頭，

蝦醬的豐腴更待在口中不散‧‧‧超美味！大愛！

鮮北寄貝 (3.5/5)

龍師傅在握壽司時大力一打，讓北寄貝變成了翅膀般漂亮的形狀，屹立在壽司飯上。

北寄貝非常爽彈，不過大概是牡丹蝦太甜美的關係，

北寄貝壽司的味道反而比下去。

大TORO (4.5/5)

這裡的大TORO 油香並不是超豐富，但魚香反而比平日吃的大TORO明顯。

綿軟的口感及油花帶出的膠質，跟師傅的醬油及壽司飯配合得很好！香濃美味！

海膽軍艦 (5/5)

龍師傅製作這件軍艦時手腳很快！

不過下海膽的份量同時亦很慷慨！！！
海膽粒粒分明，顆顆都是鮮燈色，非常吸引。

師傅說：「不要等朋友的呀！先吃！」

我一口就放了軍艦入口。
喔‧‧‧紫菜超脆，一咬就瞬間爆；
海膽超級鮮甜，在口中很輕易就融化了‧‧‧

一問之下，原來是北海道的馬糞海膽喔！超喜歡！

品嘗完以上的壽司，我們肚子仍然有很大的戰鬥空間。

我們想也沒有想就選了三色丼，還希望別太迷你 (笑)。

迷你三色丼 (海膽、三文魚子、蔥吞拿魚腩)  (5.5/5!!!)

我們總覺得師傅聽到我們的對話。
師傅先在飯上鋪好一大份蔥吞拿魚腩。

眼見師傅又再次打開藏著海膽的木盒，我們非常非常雀躍！

跟S 一直緊張的瞪著師傅，一匙一匙超慷概的在放海膽，

然後又將一大匙的三文魚子撒到壽司飯上，
喔！開心死了！！但還是要保持儀態‧‧‧

師傅笑咪咪的遞上刺身飯，我們已經急不及待將脹波波的魚子放進口中。

魚子非常鮮脆，味道是偏向甜的，
超鮮甜的海膽及郁香滿溢的蔥吞拿魚腩好creamy，又甜又香！
配上醋酸的壽司飯就剛剛好‧‧‧超幸福！

又有細心的一點：龍師傅製作我們倆的刺身飯時，給男孩子的份量會多一點的。

不過‧‧‧其實我也有個男人胃，這個龍師傅失了預算，哈哈。

來到這裡，壽司的部分就完成了。

接下來是煮物、味噌湯 及 甜品。

是日的煮物是燒牛柳粒 (2.5/5)

可惜，牛柳粒燒得過了火，肉質都哽了；

而味噌湯亦是普通；

甜品也是不過不失的芝麻及抹茶雪糕 (3/5)

不過抹茶雪糕來到的時候已經開始融化了。

龍師傅問我們是否第一次入元朗，

雖然不是，但我們也只是來過一兩次。

的確要從九龍區來元朗，要不是有特定的活動也不會驀然走來。

不過，最後龍師傅的小邀請，要我們再來一試這裡的晚餐，我們相信我們肯定會回來！

『壽司の神』， 一個像在這個現實世代中活靈活現的天使，

在這短短兩小時中將我們轉移到這個十分有趣的壽司世界，

帶領我們在揮舞的刀、柔軟的手握技術中穿梭，讓我們看著師傅繪畫這場美麗得令人感動的おまかせ。

壽司の神
元朗馬田路安寧大廈20-30B七號地舖
Tel: 2178 3163

星期一至日: 12:00-15:00; 18:00-23:00

The Golden Roof

14th August, 2015 Summer

It was his big love to bring me here. Not focusing much on Spanish cuisine, I had actually heard nothing about this restaurant, until it became my birthday lunch place.

Located at one level above Isono from the same restaurant group, Vasco is a Spanish (with a little French fusion) fine-dining place by Drawing Concepts.

The reception shares the same as Isono, and servers will guide you through stairs to eventually a rooftop with a greenhouse-like setting, and guests are the one to be pampered at this place.

This natural and clean environment instantly transformed into a golden interior design with dark wooden floorings and antique furniture when we entered. We were brought to a sofa seat which was quite spacious, at least not locating us too close to the adjacent table.

Lunch menu could be ordered in 2, 3 or 4 courses ($349, $389 and $558 respectively, plus 10% SC)

**Good to have a glance at the lunch menu online as they changed the dishes every month*.
 Sometimes you may get yourself indulged further by adding extra black truffle at $99 supplement, or a selection of cheese as a dessert at $49 supplement.

Vasco did have a very strong gastronomic sense in terms of the whole menu design. The ingredients could be so interestingly and creatively paired up, which you could never aware that their flavor profiles could that intriguingly match together. You would never be disappointed if you like something different.

Hors d'Oeuvres (5/5): What a nice start to have them kick start our tasting journey.

i)Jumbo green olive stuffed with Campari cream and olive caviar
I am a big fan of green olives but it’s always hard to find big sized green olive in HK, only chance you could find is in GREAT or those that have been prepacked in jars.

The olive burst with a lot of juices and it went so well with the olive caviar which smoothened the mouthfeel. I couldn’t taste much of Campari though but I believe it did contributed to this juiciness somehow.

ii)Fish cracker with bell pepper sauce

A soso finger food but the cracker was crispy enough.

iii)Pickle with salmon roe

Salmon roe was fresh to go with sweet pickles! Crunchy enough with sweet-and-sour.

iv)Curry infused caramelized pistachio

Manager highlighted this to us and explained that the nuts are intentionally packed in this small plastic bag for preventing from losing its special curry infused aroma. The bouquet was actually intense in the mouth with some caramelized flavors.

Amuse bouche (4/5): King Crab Meat, bell pepper, Black garlic ice cream and dried black garlic crunches

It was our very first time to try the black garlic ice cream! Interestingly sour at first and with some toasted bread flavor, the black garlic did paired well with the juicy crab meat.

Pain (5/5):

Very rarely would a fine-dining restaurant served only a single kind of bread. And I think Vasco did because they wanted to put their emphasis on their premium olive oil and butter.

Their homemade sourdough however was also deliciously right on the mark. Right when you tore a piece out, the steam came all over! It was really really a hot enough bread which you wouldn’t get it cold even when you finished.

Butter from Bordier: (From the left) Beetroot, Spinach, Tomato, Mushroom and Original salted
Girls would always be impressed with colorful dish! I particularly love the tomato and mushroom flavor as their characteristic flavor were more pronounced and intense. The original salted butter was amazing too, it was really silky and soft when spreading at your hot sourdough.

Olive oil Brand (Origin): Flavor like 

(From the left)

Oro Bailen (Spain): Green banana;

Mas Auró (Spain): Artichoke;

Santa Oliva (Spain):Almond;

Olivares del Derramador (Spain); Ripe tomato;

Terre Bormane Citrino (Italy): 30% Lemon Juice

Servers actually asked about our preference but we finally decided to have all five to try! All 5 olive oils did share one same attribute , they were all very complex in flavors yet so rich and elegant in bouquet.

I fell in love with Oro Bailen and Citrino. Both of them were of very strong flavor. Oro Bailen gave really grassy green banana taste; While the Citrino provided my first ever experience in tasting sour citrus olive oil. They were all so fresh.

Amuse bouche: Croissant with Iberico ham (4/5)

The manager recommended so much to us that this croissant must be consumed hot. We got a bite and that enduringly umami smell of fatty ham exploded in our mouth. Croissant itself was soft, moist but with crispy layers. Fantastic.

Asparagus curd with Mediterranean prawns, crunchy sweetcorn and a touch of spice (5/5)

Have you tried Mediterranean sashimi? This was my very first time to try red prawn sashimi. The plate decoration was really enchanting and the prawns were like swimming in a special “white ocean” – the Asparagus curd. The prawn was incredibly sweet and fresh, I could say this has been the best prawn sashimi (if not counting Scampi in AUS) I ever tried. Topped with the asparagus curd, the sweetness between vegetable and fish just doubled together so harmoniously. A very nice tickle to appetite!

Fregola risotto style with sea urchin, mussels and crustacean mayonnaise (3.5/5)

Fregola is a dot shaped pasta very common in North Africa, getting this special pasta cooked like risotto seemed interesting to us. The Fregola was slightly larger in size than we expected and was wrapped with reddish orange crustacean sauce. Mussels were small in size but juicy. To me, cooking sea urchin could hardly give a very pronounced flavor as it is to be eaten fresh. This dish could not get over of this barrier because additionally the crustacean sauce was so muscular to cover other ingredients. It was a bit not easy to finish the dish.

Fresh strawberries with shiso sorbet and yoghurt sponge (5/5)

I was very amazed by Vasco’s dessert creations with their inspiring and innovative ingredients. My another first trial to shiso sorbet also happened in Vasco. The sorbet gave a sense of sweetness like mint gum but at the same time brought forward the crispiness of Shiso. No doubt to be enjoyed in summer together with fresh strawberries and the fluffy yoghurt sponge. Very clean and refreshing to my palate indeed! 

Petit-Four: Hazelnut powder candy, caramel chocolate and Financier (4/5)

Out stomach were already so filled up when we finished the 3 courses (and all amuse bouche and breads). However, the petit four was just so beautiful that you could never resist it.

I was very much impressed with the hazelnut powder candy (wrapped in candy paper) as it was surprisingly creamy and infused with Nutella-like aroma which recalled so much my childhood memories.

Caramel chocolate was also smooth with moderate sweetness, while financier was a bit dry but eggy enough.

The climax of the day arrived when server brought me a birthday card with my name written; and an instant camera to capture this sweet moment. So thankful that my boy brought me here and arranged this little surprise.

Finally for Tea/Coffee, just knew that Vasco has a mixed Chamomile and Lavender tea. That was super super relaxing and lay-back when having a zip after this comprehensive lunch. Nice one :>

Service at Vasco was professional. Servers and Managers all around you are so humble and eager to help as always; they are also very experienced about the whole menu. I did enjoy the spacious setting in Vasco. There could actually be rooms for more tables but instead they make use of elegant furniture (and many are nice sofa) to setup each corner for best experience.

Just one thing that caused slight nuisance was the bumping noise whenever people walked on the wooden floor. Not sure but it was so obvious that I could always feel people coming back and forth.

To mention about “fine-dining”, I just keep one ruler to all: From the start to the very end, every served items should show passion. And I am so much impressed with this lunch because Vasco handles every detail carefully, from finger foods to butter; and from the furniture they used for dining and to the utensils they have prepared for you in washroom.

P.S. When browsing the webpage of Drawing Concepts, just recognized that one of the managers here was from my favorite restaurant in the past – Messina. Hope to meet him again in my next visit. :>


Vasco Spanish Fine Dining
中環鴨巴甸街35號PMQ元創方 Hollywood 7樓H701-H708號舖
Tel: 2156 0888
星期一至六: 12:00-15:00, 19:00-00:00; 星期日休息
www.vasco.com.hk