Revisit: Birthday dinner @ L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Hong Kong

I celebrated my birthday last month, and it was a no-brainer choice to go to my fave French restaurant in Hong Kong. The last time we were here was exactly a year ago, also on my birthday. I've had my hands full and far too busy to look for new restaurants to try, and L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon was an easy, fail-safe option. The service is always top-notch, the ambience is always perfectly balanced between comfortable and fine dining, and the food is always excellent. I realised that this is only our fourth visit to this place, averaging less than one visit a year! If only we can afford - time and money - for more frequent visits.

I always enjoy Robuchon's bread baskets:

Amuse bouche was foie gras royale with artichoke foam on the left, and crispy ball with pork, onion and artichoke. Delicious bite-sized morsels to whet our appetites:

Since it was already past 8 and much too late for a hefty meal, we decided against ordering the set courses, choosing instead to order three dishes each from the Small Tasting Portions menu. Three was enough to fill me up! The food was perfect, but service was a little slower due to the fact that most of the other diners were already wrapping up their meals while we were only getting started.

Hokkaido scallop with green curry and coriander sauce, squid ink farfalle (HK$220). The curry flavour was a surprise on the palate, but it was mild enough not to overwhelm the gentle flavours of the moist scallops:

King crab and avocado cannelloni with Imperial caviar (HK$390). Interesting and unusual presentation, the avocado paired well with the king crab and caviar:

Black cod with Malabar black pepper sauce, Chinese cabbage and coconut emulsion (HK$240). Black cod is always a good choice, and this wasn't our first time having this one:

Sea urchin in a lobster jelly, topped with cauliflower cream (HK$270). Lovely presentation, great play of texture and flavours with the jelly, creamy sea urchin:

Braised Wagyu beef cheek with miso, seasonal baby vegetables (HK$290). Tender beef with delicious miso sauce:

Kagoshima beef and foie gras burgers with lightly caramelized bell peppers (HK$320). This is an item we always order, for good reason:

If you haven't yet been to L'Atelier, make sure you give it a try!

[Prices quoted above do not include 10% service charge.]

L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon
Shop 315 & 401
The Landmark
15 Queen's Road Central
Central
Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2166 9000
Online reservations available at Robuchon's website