Anniversary lunch @ 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong

Hubby and I celebrated 13 years of marriage last month. 13 years! We celebrated in part with a delicious lunch at 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, a fine-dining Italian restaurant we first visited last year for dinner. The restaurant had a different atmosphere during the day, a more relaxed and laid back vibe, but the service was as attentive and the food as amazing as at dinner time. Our reservation was rather last minute, made the day before, and I was told there were no tables available, so I accepted the bar seating in the lounge. However when we arrived a little past 1pm, we were pleasantly surprised when we were shown to a table right by the window! We were presented with three menus, the a-la-carte, the Degustation 8½, and the Lunch 8½. Never one to shy from any degustation menu, hubby chose the Degustation 8½ (HK$1480), which contained five courses of deliciousness. The Lunch 8½ was more modestly priced at HK$480, for two courses, with a choice from three options for both courses, and an optional dessert or cheese course for an additional HK$100. The food were beautifully presented and had amazing flavours. Once again, an excellent experience at 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana.

Looks different in the daylight:

Delicious bread sticks, wafers and fresh focaccia, with fragrant organic extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar:

Amuse bouche of chilled sweet melon soup with melon balls and a slice of Iberico ham, a classic and safe pairing:

First course of the degustation menu, Marinated Tuna Tartare with citrus tofu emulsion and royal oscietra caviar. The tuna was smooth and silky, and the citrus tofu emulsion was a pleasant accompaniment:

For my first course, I chose the Marinated Snapper Tartare with seasonal salad, citrus oregano dressing and oscietra caviar. I loved the sliced fennel salad - the crunchy texture and aniseed flavour nicely complemented the tartare and salty caviar:

Second round of rye-type bread, warm and fresh out of the oven, and full of flavour:

We also enjoyed some delicious cocktails (HK$150 each) - Prelude (Plantation 2003 dark rum with passionfruit) for hubby, and the Negroni for myself:

Degustation second course was the Brittany Blue Lobster with braised matsutake salad and lobster jus. This was so rich in the umami fragrance of the ocean and the earthy flavours of the matsutake:

Truffle shaving right by our table for hubby's next course:

Third degustation course was Homemade Tagliolini, with butter, parmesan and "Melanosporum" black truffle fondue. Pasta doesn't get any better than this! It was simply adorned to allow each ingredient to shine:

Hubby's fourth course was the Short rib and beef tenderloin with whipped potato, red wine and plum sauce. The short rib had rich marbling with buttery flavours, and the tenderloin was tender and juicy:

My second course was Amberjack with clams, tomato and orange emulsion, and Jerusalem artichoke salad. I enjoyed the large juicy flakes, and the citrus emulsion brightened up the dish appropriately:

A surprise treat, our waiter whipped up Limoncello Sorbet right by our table:

It was so satisfying watching him serve up the sorbet:

I loved it! What a great palate cleanser before dessert:

Hubby's choice of dessert was a good one: Hazelnut and Chocolate - hazelnut crunch with warm chocolate mousse and hazelnut gelato. It tasted so good:

My dessert was the Tiramisu with mascarpone cream, coffee meringue and marsala gelato affogato. Enjoyed alongside another cocktail we shared, the Chocolate Martini:

Neither of us are fans of tiramisu (something about soggy cake, but ever since that awesome tiramisu we had in Venice six years ago, we've been searching for something like it. This was the closest version to that one (with a much more aesthetically pleasing presentation):

Petit fours! I love these cute little freebies at the end of the meal at fine dining restaurants, and I was sad to see many tables ignoring these gorgeous little bites:

Our waitress came by with a huge box of chocolates that were made in the kitchen, and basically told us to have as much as we wanted. And we would have, if we weren't already so full! I picked two pieces, and hubby tried a piece of all the types. So delicious:

8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana
Shop 202
2nd Floor, Alexandra House
16-20 Chater Road
Central, Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2537 8859

X-treme Chinese dinner @ Bo Innovation, Hong Kong

A couple of months ago, hubby got quite spoiled with an extended period of celebrating his birthday. It's not even a big milestone birthday, like an 18th or a 21st or a 30th! He wasn't one to complain, and I don't blame him! He celebrated with his friends, with me, with the kids, and then finally with his aunt and uncle who loves to spoil us. And wow, this dinner at Bo Innovation did not disappoint! (And to top off the night, they brought us to Ophelia, which is indeed something to experience at least once in Hong Kong! It's hot and cool and awesome all at once - words just don't do it justice. These in-laws of mine are more trendy than me!) The last time we were at Bo Innovation was more than three years ago, when I was in my ninth month of pregnancy with our second child, and we loved our first experience with molecular gastronomy. Quite a lot has changed in the last three years - the restaurant is now in a completely different room (but same building), with a rather unique, modern and almost eccentric style for its interior. Service was top-notch and faultless, and staff were attentive and discerning without being intrusive. The food was elaborate and extravagantly presented, and there were many dishes. Only two menu options were available: The Red Menu (HK$2100 per person) offered 11-courses of food with one course having a choice from three options; and The Blue Menu (HK$2500 per person) offering 14 dishes. There were some overlap of courses, and the dishes in the following photos were in both menus, unless specified. If you're looking for a unique take on Hong Kong Chinese food for a special occasion, Bo Innovation is highly recommended. Here are some of the photos of the food we ate that night.

Interesting wall mural depicting a wide variety of themes related to Hong Kong:

A cool, chic and modern space:

Hubby's first drink of the night - the Black Devil cocktail (HK$150), a mix of Havana Club Anejo 7 Anos, Creme Cacao Brown, Frangelico Grand Marnier, fresh-brewed espresso and chocolate bitters:

Even the wet towels were presented in a fancy way:

As our waitstaff poured water on the towels, they grew and expanded surrounded in a mist:

The first course was titled Child's Play, consisting of bite-sized pieces of popular HK dishes served on a colourful Go Board. They were tasty little morsels!

Dim Sum Extreme - a smoked quail egg nestled in a crispy fried taro shell and topped with caviar:

The famous 'xiao long bao', a sphere of delicious pork broth that captures the essence of the Shanghainese soup dumplings, without the meat and flour wrapper. This was as good as how I remembered it:

The third dish was the Aberdeen Floaters, featuring spot prawn. This was sweet and juicy:

Part two of Aberdeen Floaters was the dried shrimp "har mi" vermicelli and pickled fuzzy melon:

The Ode to the Dragon was unique to the Blue Menu, an oyster tofu with black garlic sauce:

Hubby's second drink for the night was the Bo Fashion (HK$150), with Maker's Mark Bourbon Whiskey, homemade dried mandarin peel syrup and Angostura bitters:

Bamboo Matrix was foie gras with "chu yeh ching" miso and green apple, served with charred bamboo mantau (not pictured). This was decadent, only a small portion but more than enough for me. The slice of apple helped cut through the richness, and I wished there were more apple!:

60000 A Year was a chili crab that was included in the Blue Menu but an optional extra to the Red Menu (for an additional HK$180). Cutely presented like baby food in a jar, and eaten with child's cutlery. The chili crab was delicious:

Postnatal Fancy with "pat chun" sweetened vinegar and tomato; the ginger, cucumber and dill carbonated ice cream were added in at the table (see picture below) for added special effect:

It was delicious, and I savoured every drop of the sweet, sour and savoury vinegar sauce:

Classic Upgrade was a twist to the traditional Cantonese steamed fish - wild black cod with iberico ham, shimeji mushroom, dried mandarin peel and yuzu. The flavours were kept simple to allow the beauty of black cod to shine:

The Imperial Beggars Banquet - Brittany blue lobster and sea urchin with hawthorn berry, green peppercorn and pineapple.
The lobster was beautiful, as were the sea urchin, but the accompanying ingredients seemed dysjunctive. Still an enjoyable dish:

Qing Cocktail of "mou tai", calamansi and egg white. This was a boozy sip with a citrus flavour:

Back on the Street was unique to the Blue Menu, with A3 Saga-gyu beef, black ruffle, "cheung fun" and soy sauce. A nice take on the ubiquitous street food:

The A3 Saga-gyu beef also featured in one of the three choices for the final course of the Red Menu (with a supplement of HK$450 per 4 oz), but presented in a different way to the Back on the Street course of the Blue Menu. The A3 Saga-gyu beef was well-marbled and full of flavour, and served on top of black truffle cheung fun, soy sauce and taro:

Organic "Long Jiang" Chicken was also one of the three choices for the final course of the Red Menu. I loved the fragrant and flavourful "Bo" chicken rice, and the roulade-style chicken was stuffed with golden pin and shiitake mushrooms:

Hubby's third (but not final) drink of the night - Snowing Plum, a mix of Bacardi Silver Rum, KuwiHuaChen, fresh lime and plum powder. I think this one was my favourite of the three cocktails he ordered, because it was light and sweet and fruity:

The Chicken Bowl in the Blue Menu also featured "Bo" chicken rice, which was simply garnished with dried abalone:

Everything Lotus was also another dish unique to the Blue Menu, featuring all parts of the lotus - the seed, root, leaf,
flower and lily bub. It was refreshing and light, a great way to end the long meal and cleanse the palate for the sweets:

Red Menu dessert was simply titled Coconut, and was a colourful ensemble of coconut sugar, dessicated coconut chocolate, pina colada, cherry and pandan avocado:

Blue Menu dessert was called No Shark Fin, made with mango, coconut and grapefruit. A refreshing dessert:

Eight Treasures was the title of the petit fours presented to us right at the end, featuring walnut, dried mandarin peel,
dragon eye (longan), osmanthus, jujubue, pandan, wolfberry and rose in tiny bites of sweets, cakes, chocolates and pastries:

[The prices quoted above do not include the 10% service charge.]

Bo Innovation
Shop 8, 1st Floor
J Residence
(Private lift entrance on Ship Street)
60 Johnston Rd
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Tel. +852 2850 8371

Impeccable French @ L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon, Hong Kong

Hubby had his birthday recently, turning yet another year older and wiser. He celebrated all weekend long, with his friends on Friday night, with me on Saturday night and then with the kids on Sunday. His aunt and uncle also took us out for an amazing night out the following Saturday, so I could say that he celebrated his birthday for over one week! For our dinner date, he requested our favourite French restaurant, L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon. We've been here so many times, and the experience never fails to impress. It remains our favourite L'ATELIER out of the three we've been to (yes, even more than the Paris one!). Hubby went for the Menu Découverte (Discovery Menu, HK$2080) which contained no less than 8 courses. I ordered two dishes, and we shared everything.

First time sitting on this side of the bar in the five years we've dined at this restaurant:

The Orange Moon Cocktail (HK$150) was so delicious and so easy to drink:

Amuse Bouche of fried shrimp and gazpacho with an avocado cream:

First course of Menu Découverte: King crab and avocado cannelloni with Imperial caviar:

Burrata cheese with avocado slices and spicy tomato coulis (HK$290). Delicious!

Second course of Menu Découverte: White asparagus with sea urchin:

Third course of Menu Découverte: Pan-fried duck foie gras with cherry confit and crunchy almonds:

Spiced eggplant confit (HK$240) with curry flavored vegetable puree. This was tasty for a vegetarian dish, but not one of the best dishes that night:

Fourth course of Menu Découverte: Fine scampi bouillon with petit raviolis and green peas, just before the bouillon was poured on:

The scampi bouillon was my favourite dish out of the Menu Découverte. It was vibrant with the flavours of the sea, and the scampi was so fresh and juicy and tasty:

Fifth course of Menu Découverte: Crispy amadai fillet with carrot mousse and lemongrass emulsion. Beautifully presented,
and tasted great, but I felt this was the most ordinary dish out of the eight courses:

Sixth course of Menu Découverte: Free-range quail with foie gras, served with mashed potato. This sounded ordinary, but it was amazing. The quail was juicy and tender, perfectly matched with the famous mashed potato that was generously topped with shavings of black truffle:

First dessert of Menu Découverte. At this stage I was a little distracted with the birthday singing that happened with the serving of dessert, and I can't remember exactly what this dessert was. Only that it was not too heavy, the perfect way to end an 8-course meal:

Second dessert of the Menu Découverte was a boozy one that hubby really enjoyed:

Not pictured are the fantastic bread basket served at the beginning and the delicious petit fours at the end. And the delicious complimentary cake that is always given to the ladies at the end of the meal to take home. L'ATELIER remains a good and reliable choice for special occasions.

[The prices above do not include the 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