Thursday, January 7, 2010

Bonheur in Hong Kong

Dinner at Bonheur was simply a gastronomic delight – both to the eye and palate. Reservations are essential in this restaurant as their seating capacity is probably limited to no more than 50 (I think) and given their popularity, showing up unannounced will lead to being turned away. I had called them up a week earlier and reconfirmed our reservations when we got into town.

The voyage starts with Tim Leung, the owner, describing the night’s menu - they only serve set menus with limited options for each course. Naturally, I had informed them ahead that I was vegan. YM and I chose the 3-course platter as based on his previous experience, the 4-course meal can be overwhelming. Since I’m not a big eater or a huge fan of soups, this suited me perfectly; in fact I was worried about finishing even the 3-course meal and had repeatedly told our server to inform the chef to control the portions.

I was tipped off by YM that the bread was uber good and it was, especially when dipped in olive oil. Our dinner menu on 30 December 2009:

Appetizer
  • Asparagus salad tossed in balsamic vinegar – a clean refreshing taste
  • Crabmeat in porcini sauce




Main course
  • Spaghetti aglio oglio with mushrooms – it was unlike any other aglio oglio I had before but I can’t muster the words to describe it except to say it’s part fusion of stir fried noodles and Italian
  • Pork ribs on a bed of mashed potatoes and long slim french beans



Dessert
  • Apple tartin with vanilla ice cream (I ditched the latter) – a thin crisp crepe with apple slices on top; I didn’t think this was as outstanding as the appetizer and main course
  • Chocolate souffle - this was a piece of genius! Warm chocolate sauce to be added to the belly of the souffle bowl










Photo log of our culinary adventure in Hong Kong:

Dinner at Che with Stephen on our first night.







Breakfast



Tea at Xi Yan


Claypot dinner in Sheung Wan



Dim Sum in Central





Bean curd at the airport before our flight

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