Chez Moi

There were much buzz about this little private French kitchen hiding somewhere in CWB but why all the buzz? A few of us were here to find out on this lovely evening. There were no hanging signs near the building entrance so it took us a while to find this place. All you will find the little sign on the door, smaller than you would expect. There were nothing overly fancy in the dining area with tables spaciously arranged. The ceiling fan added a touch of colonial atmosphere to the whole decor.



The menu for this evening has several options and we picked one of each so we can try all of them among ourselves. Oh please note that they don;t serve wines here so bring your own bottles with zero corkage fee. Before our appetizer were served, we were given a basket of garlic bread fresh from the oven based on the crisp texture and the wonderful garlic aroma.



(1) Sauteed French Live Mussel with White wine garlic sauce
It was just too salty in general, too much garlic were used. The mussels were unevenly cooked as shown by the several shells which remained closed. There were several broken shells and there were sand in some of them. The sand part was a big No-No for me!



(2) Pan-seared Goose Liver and sliced Caramel Apple with Port white sauce
The size of the Goose Liver Foie Gras was huge! It was too thick in my opinion. There was a thin layer of crystals on the surface, likely a result of potato starch being used to prevent the overcooking of the piece. I personally don't like to crunchy surface. I really appreciate the effort they put into the cooking it (esp the addition of potato starch) but a thinner slice would do the trick right? Plus, the huge piece did not have much flavor to it anyhow. Bigger is not always better.

(Thanks for the smogsblog's clarification, it is indeed a common mistake to describe goose or duck liver as foie gras. I made the same mistake as well. The term foie gras should only be used for goose or duck liver that has been specially fattened typically through gavage (force-feeding) corn.)



(3) Fisherman's Seafood Soup
The flavor was very strong and rich, closer to a seafood bisque. There were plenty of seafood ingredients inside such as diced shrimps, fish and mussels (with sand!!). Good that the next item was the Sherbet so I can clean my palettes.



(4) Homemade Sherbet
Good timing to lighten up my palettes before the main dishes were served.



(5) Grilled Australian Wagyu Rib Eye Steak with Red Wine Sauce
The steak was very nicely done, med rare as we ordered. Flavor of the sauce was adequate not to overtake the beef flavor. The meat was quite tender indeed. Not bad at all.



(6) Grilled US Lamb T-Bone steak with Mashed Vegetables
No surprises here unfortunately. Meat was tender but a bit overcooked to my liking. I still prefer my rack of lamb over lamb T-bone steak.



(7) Pan-fried Cod with Macadamia Nuts Better Sauce
The cod was alright, not as "fishy oily" as I expected it. The sweet potato mash was a nice touch. I actually liked the sauce and it went quite well with lightly flavored fish in general.



(8) Bread Butter Pudding with Ice Cream
That was not a bread pudding at all in my opinion. It was so tough that it was more like a loaf cake instead. Very disappointing.



(9) Japanese Pumpkin Cheesecake
Another very ordinary serving in my opinion. It was the soft kind of cheesecake but the flavors was a bit weak.



To be honest, at this price range, the dishes being served were above average. The chef and his team put in a lot of effort in my humble opinion to provide the guests a wonderful dining experience at this private establishment. A simple use of the potato starch to prevent overcooking the goose liver Foie Gras was a nice touch indeed. It was more a personal thing regarding the dislikes below but I think they do have to work on the minor details such as broken mussels shells and sand within.

Likes:

• A very cozy and homely environment for a casual yet delicate dining experience
• Pan-fried Cod

Dislikes:

• Sauteed French Live Mussel with White wine garlic sauce - too salty, unevenly cooked mussels, broken shells
• Bread Butter Pudding with Ice Cream - too tough, more like loaf cake to me

Avg Spending: HKD 300 - 500 per person

Chez Moi
3/F, 17 Yun Ping Road, CWB
Tel: 2881 1929


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