Monster meringue: 9kg baked Alaska a star of Hong Kong hotel buffet
Diners at the Conrad’s Garden Cafe are summoned with a xylophone to witness the nightly flambéing of its baked Alaska. On busy nights they can demolish two of the 9kg sugar domes
It must be Hong Kong’s biggest baked Alaska: a 9kg dome topped with fresh meringue to which diners are ceremoniously summoned with a xylophone to witness its nightly dousing in alcohol and setting alight. Beneath the meringue are three layers of different ice cream flavours on a cookie crust. Talk about indulgent.
The outsize dessert makes its appearance each evening at the dessert station of the Garden Cafe of the Conrad Hong Kong hotel in Admiralty. On busy nights diners manage to get through two of them.
That’s not all the revamped Cafe buffet has to offer. The highlight is a 25kg yellowfin tuna displayed at the entrance, from which sashimi is sliced each evening from 7.30pm onwards. You can’t get fresher than that.
Meanwhile, upstairs at the Pacific Bar on the 8th floor is a Wine & Cheese Library, where guests can have a glass or two of wine with some cheeses, and learn more about both at monthly events.
There are some 30 cheeses from Italy and France from which to choose – and if you can’t decide, staff are on hand to help narrow down your choices. This month there’s a focus on Australian cheeses, to coincide with celebrity chef Luke Mangan taking over at Brasserie on the Eighth, which runs until October 23.
Guests can sample a variety of cheeses from HK$160 and pair them with wines at HK$95 per glass with help from sommelier Julien Peros.
To sample the sashimi, baked Alaska and everything else the Garden Cafe buffet has to offer will cost you HK$588 from Monday to Thursday (and HK$378 per child guest), and HK$638 from Friday to Sunday (children HK$398).
Garden Café, Lower Lobby Level, Conrad Hong Kong, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty. Tel: 2822 8890
