44 Staunton Street, SoHo
Tel: 2803 7808
Open: 11am-11.30pm
Cuisine: French
Price: about HK$400 without drinks and the service charge.
Ambience: the ground floor of the two-storey space opens onto Staunton Street. The interior has pale green walls, mirrors and old French movie posters.
Pros: the dish descriptions were so tempting that it was difficult to decide on our meal.
Cons: the service. Our waiter and waitress wore those earphones allowing them to communicate with the kitchen, but it's at the expense of the customer: when we talked to them, we were never sure if they were focusing on us or on what was being said through the earphone. We had to ask for the daily specials - they didn't automatically tell us about them. Potted rabbit and crab rillettes with sweet onion compote (HK$108) had a texture that was too smooth and creamy. The flavour was quite bland: we couldn't taste rabbit (which is mild) or crab. The snail risotto with crispy bacon and garlic cream (HK$98) lacked the cohesive creaminess that comes from the rice and broth being cooked together slowly - it tasted as if the ingredients had been cooked separately and mixed at the last minute.
Recommended dishes: both our main courses were elevated by the excellent sauces. Pan-fried langoustines with sliced asparagus and lobster sauce (HK$198) showcased the kitchen's skills. The langoustines were fat, meaty and succulent (one was slightly undercooked for my guest, so I ate it) and the sauce was light in texture but rich in flavour. The same thing with the sauce diable in my main course of seafood coquillette (small, curved macaroni) with grilled pork belly (HK$188) - the sauce made the dish. The pork belly was nice and fatty, but the mussels were overcooked so the meat inside the shells was shrivelled. For dessert, the apples in the tarte tatin were nicely caramelised but the pastry was soggy. Strawberry tart with pistachio ice cream (HK$78) had a delicate crust, surprisingly sweet strawberries and was topped with a refreshing wasabi-lime granit?
