Le Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon: Go-To-Feel-Good

Somewhere in the year or so that I’ve been back, Le Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon became my HK Island side go-to-feel-good place. The pastries, sandwiches, and the to-die-for coffee bring to mind all those happy times I’ve spent wide-eyed in front of Bouchon Bakery in New York. The fact that it’s housed in the same building as Harvey Nichols, and is right next to The Landmark MO is also automatic brownie points. But more importantly, it’s become my go-to spot because, well, I’m just a poor writer and can’t afford eating in the main Robuchon dining room on most days.

(Macarons: hellooooo there)

After all, who am I to say no to Michelin star winning macarons that go for $8 a pop? Or perfect mousse-topped cakes or crumbly crusted tarts at $30-something? OK fine, their coffee is a bit steep at $40/small paper cup… but their coffee is also five times better than anyone else’s, so I guess it balances out.

It also helps that, aside from the stunning sweets, the Salon does a beautiful selection of eat-in dishes. Not too long ago, over a session of Saturday brunch girly gossip, I sold my soul to the salmon fillet marinated in sake and mirin with miso sauce ($190). The fish was so soft and buttery—a perfect canvas for the Japanese marinade. But what made me love more was the accompanying vat of Robuchon’s famed mashed potato purée. It was rich, velvety and oh-so-buttery. B-e-a-utiful.

(Sake-mirin salmon: sorry for the shaky hands)

(King crab jelly layered with tomato coulis and avocado cream: summer flavored!)

I’ve had a fair share of other stellar eats at the Salon. Another stand-out is the king crab jelly layered with tomato coulis and avocado cream ($90). The smooth, summer-flavored layered mixture paired so well with the tiny croutons floating atop the avocado cream. Cap any Le Salon meal off with a few macarons, a cup of black coffee and there you have ample reason to love the place too.

FOOD: 4.5/5
SERVICE: 4.5/5
ATMOSPHERE: 3.5/5

LE SALON DE THÉ DO JOËL ROBUCHON ($$)
Shop 315, 3/F
The Landmark
16 Des Voeux Road Central
Central
2166-9000
www.robuchon.hk

Charcoal Egg Waffles Cart: A Brown Paper Bag

Last week, walking back from a busy restaurant shoot, we came across something that I personally haven’t seen in a long time – an egg waffles cart with a charcoal heater. Old school. And though I had just finished a fatty Middle Eastern lunch not too long ago, with the delicious eggy pastry aroma wafting through the air, how could I resist?

(Proud Cart Owner)

I plunked down a ten while the friendly, chatty man poured a stream of egg batter from his Heineken plastic jug into the pasty mould. Not even two minutes later, there it was – a fresh piece of golden eggy waffles, à la nostalgic Hong Kong style. Crispy on the outside and warm and pillowy on the insides… sigh. Those ten bucks worth of little domes of deliciousness in a brown paper bag were, without a doubt, a very satisfying step back in time.


FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 5/5
ATMOSPHERE: N/A

Charcoal Egg Waffles Cart ($)
Around 3-4pm
Near Ladders Street/Bridges Street Intersection

Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon: Still Like Old Times

When we were young, we used to all sit at Connaught Garden and stay and gossip about all sorts of random stuff over cups of hot coffee and a spread of food. Then the Star Ferry moved somewhere else, the coffee shop people we used to say “Hi” to all left. And we all grew up and moved away.

Back to present day.

Earlier this week, I decided to take full advantage of the beautiful pre-freezing cold weather by deciding to make it “picnic lunch day.” And wanting to relive the lovely days I spent in Central Park with Bouchon Bakery’s delicious goodies in hand, I hopped on a cab to The Landmark (by the way, loving the Christmas décor!) and escalatored up to Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon for my picnic provisions.

(Flakey Almond Croissant)

After perusing the offerings at the salon, I settled for two cups of hot coffee ($40 each), a salmon and dill quiche ($32) and chicken mushroom quiche ($32), an earl grey tea cake ($40), on the friendly server’s recommendation, and a small almond croissant ($17). All to go. They wrapped everything neatly into a beautiful red paper bag and off I was, toting Robuchon goods in one hand, a hot coffee in the other and tottering my way to meet the Nelson at the old spot.

And things haven’t changed. Well, save the time constraint, Kenj being still in Australia, and that Robuchon coffee is about twice as expensive as Starbucks (which is already twice as expensive as any other place). We still mindlessly gossiped about unimportant things which were important to us though, and we still had a good time. As for the food – the quiches had a nice crumbly crust but alas, should have asked them to reheat it (duh, me). But the sweets were so delish. The earl gray cake made us fall in love with it a little, with its delicate sweetness and subtle layering of textures. And my almond croissant? Very flakey on the outside and nutty sweet on the inside. Still can’t compare to that Godsend of a croissant from Bouchon Bakery, NYC though but that REALLY set the bar and this is a close enough second for me. I was happy.

(Earl grey tea cake: our new love)

Too bad they didn’t have too much of a selection left by the time I got there. I was actually aching to try the crabmeat with avocado and tomato confit. And maybe I’ll try the sandwiches next time… or better yet, make a meal out of their pastries and desserts :) Ah well, to be honest though, it’s all about the feeling. It’s about sitting there, being happy, and feeling young again.

(An impromptu picnic)

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

Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon ($$)
Shop 315, 3/F
The Landmark
16 Des Voeux Road Central
Central
2166-9000
www.robuchon.hk

Bowl Burger: When They Won't Shut Up Behind You

(Burger: The road to get to you was painful)

Wednesday lunch place was supposed to be my choice and I suggested checking out that shiny new Chinese joint that just opened up near the office. Was supposed to be a good plan. But all our way down, I had – not one, but TWO annoying voices behind me going:

“Are we there yet?” “Ohmigawd this is SO far.” “Are we walking to the…omg is this the MTR station?!” “How much further is this place?” “Oh great, look at all these people. Now we’re going to have to wait.” “Don’t tell me you’re lost.” “You’re lost aren’t you?”

I was so disconcerted by these two annoying non-shutter-uppers that I lost all sense of direction, my brain only being able to think: “SHADDUP! SHADDUP! SHADDUPPPPP!” but half exhausted by their sea of complaints, I gave in on my search for the new Chinese place and instead, we dove into the shoebox-sized Bowl Burger on Mercer for a bit o’ beef and carbs.

…which reminds me, I haven’t actually had a fast-food beef burger since moving back to Hong Kong (I had one of ‘em Four Seasons burgers a while ago but, good as it was, it’s just really not the same thing). Weird. We placed our orders and obnoxiously hovered over two just-finishing-up diners with our “we’re waiting for your table, so hurry” expressions.

I went with the #2 single patty beef burger set ($42) with drinks and paper bag of fries. I had read before that the burgers here are all handmade using 100% ground US beef, so I was actually pretty excited to give it a try. True enough, the burgers were perfectly juicy with a good bit of bite. Could’ve been grilled just a little more (I like ‘em kinda charred) but still, would have to say that it was a pretty well-rounded burger overall. Good sauce, good flavor, and none of that ridiculous overflow of unnecessary fillings (my burger pet peeve). The burger was a hefty portion too, though nothing that the food champion in me couldn’t down in its entirety.

(Fries: a paper bag of warm deliciousness)

And special mention goes out to their fries. Leaning towards the thick-cut variety, with perfectly, pillowy-soft potato innards and a hot, crunchy, exterior… I loved. Time permitting, I would’ve downed the whole bag…and gotten another. But time did not permit. Next time then…

So yes, the trip down to lunch was annoying. But the food was good. And on the way back, I had an errand to run so I took a separate, SILENT and PEACEFUL route back to the office. So I guess it ended up being still quite a pleasant afternoon.

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 3/5
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5

BOWL BURGER ($)
25 Mercer Street
Sheung Wan
3118-0676

Monsieur Chatté: You Can't Always Get What You Want (But You Get What You Need)

I had a very idyllic plan for today.

Type away at the office (klack klack klack). And then…
1) Grab lunch-to-go from somewhere close.
2) Fill up on cookie cutters and colored sugars.
3) Maybe pick up a bunch of flowers?
Skip back to the office.

Well, one out of three isn’t a bad run. I made my much-delayed stop at the rustic red French specialty foods store, Monsieur Chatté. I LOVE the bakery smell that fills the place. And the bottles of wine amidst jars of jams, and boxes of biscuits next to cartons of candy. How lovely.

I picked up a Provence veggie baguette sandwich ($38), filled with thin slices of grilled eggplant, zucchini, peppers, carrots and fresh arugula. I ticked off the first thing on my to-do list. Stopped by Pantry Magic on my way back and realized they didn’t have anything I wanted. Disappointing – I wanted to have a giant shopping extravaganza a la Surfas in LA. No dice on number two. Walked by a flower stall but realized I still didn’t have a vase. Cross off number three.

Well, things don’t always go according to plan. At least I had my veggie sandwich… that’s good enough for today.

Monsieur Chatté ($)
121 Bonham Strand
Sheung Wan
3105-8077
http://www.mrchatte.com.hk