The Press Room: Lunch of the Food Champion

I was totally in “Food Champion” mode during Friday lunch at the newly-renovated Press Room. I like the place, with its high ceiling, chalkboard menus (brownie points right there), and casual bistro vibe. It felt like I was taking a lunch break in Chelsea, NY…sigh, if only….

As for the food, I was struggling between the lobster and avocado sandwich and the eggs benedict at first…that is, until the server brought over the chalkboard set lunch menu ($132). A three-course lunch? Done deal. Started off with a simple, light frisée salad with a light balsamic dressing. Standard stuff so nothing to write home about, save the lovely servingware that immediately caught my eye (I’m a huge sucker for nice plates and bowls and stuff like that). The salad did put me in an Autumn-alert mood though, and I found myself looking ahead to frisée mixed in with walnuts and grilled, warm peaches. Can’t wait.

(Frisée salad: would be better if Autumned up)

I went with the beef tenderloin for my main course and, let me just say that I definitely made the right choice. The meat was smoky and slightly charred on the outside, but a lovely, juicy pink on the inside. It was drizzled with a balanced gravy sauce that went extremely well with the vegetables. I loved the rustic presentation of the whole thing, especially the skin-on potatoes on the side, which turned out to be, surprisingly enough, the best part of the whole dish, beating out even the delicious tenderloin. Its slight sweet tinge won me over and I polished off the whole plate.

(Beef tenderloin: take 1)

(Close-up shot of the lovely, juicy, deliciousness)

I had the brownie with chocolate ice cream to end. The brownie was served in a little glass pot, sitting on top a small pool of vanilla sauce. Dense enough, though not as sticky and chewy as THE perfect brownie, with lovely chunks of walnut bits, the chocolately cake went beautifully with the choco ice cream. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate brownie OR chocolate ice cream (don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like these two things or anything…I’d just usually rather something else) and I had wanted to try The Press Room’s lemon tart instead but it was not a set lunch option. Given that though, I happily lapped up every last bit of my brownie à la mode. So yes, it was good.

(Brownie with ice cream: pot of choc)

I was very proud of my food eating abilities. Especially since I was the only one on our table who went with the three-courser. Whee for me and to a satisfying lunch.

FOOD: 3.5/5
SERVICE: 3.75/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4/5

THE PRESS ROOM ($$$/$$$$)
108 Hollywood Road
Sheung Wan
2525-3444
www.thepressroom.com.hk