L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon

My writeup for this piece is ridiculous overdue and I apologize to those who have been waiting for it. What so special about this review? It was my very first tweetup (twitter meet-up) and I was lucky enough to be invited on this special occasion / luncheon held at the L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon!!!!! It was nice to put names to faces (total of 8 twitters!) and chat with each other (instead of typing). I reckon that with the advance of technology, we can do almost everything online and communicate without speaking a single word; but such method just lacked the warm human touch! Having face-to-face interactions remain an act that can help create a certain bond among individuals and nothing so far in my opinion can replace the importance of verbal & face-to-face communication. Would like to take this opportunity to say that it was my pleasure in meeting all of you who attended! (@Fernandogros, @coffeemeow, @e_ting, @CNNGo, @SamStevensHK and @anjkan) The meal was wonderful but it was the company that made the meal an amazing one!



The bread basket at all outlets of Robuchon is simplest the best in town! (at least so far in my own experience). I was overly captivated by the bread that I started right away, consuming the various kinds of bread provided and forgot about taking pictures!! I guess I now have another great excuse to come back soon! @Fernadogros ordered for us the Tirant 1998 - Rotllan Torra (Priorat) which was slightly sweet on the palate with hints of oak flavor if I recall correctly.



The set lunch menu came with various choices of starters and main courses. It started with the Amuse Bouche which was custard like and carried a warm smoothing sensation to the palate. A great way to start the meal indeed!



The Salmon tartare with shiso flower and toasts that followed was amazing. I rather use the word amazing to describe food but I really liked the dish, and it was that good! In addition to the finely diced salmon, they added fish roes, tiny capers and finely chopped onions (I think) to the tartare, giving it a mix of mushy, soft and crunchy textures in every single bite! The exploding fish roes elevated the whole sensation. Sound exaggerating? Not really to be honest, if you like salmon tartare and thought you have tried very good one before, I am sorry, you better give this one a try ASAP!



@Ferandogros ordered the Pan-seared scallops with pasta 'fregula" and lobster emulsion which looked just great! From his comments, it tasted good as well. I should have snatched one from him when I had the chance!!! Argh!



As for main, I ordered the Braised Pork cheeks with Couscous and broccoli bouillon. The texture of it was surprisingly soft and mushy! I know mushy is not a common word to use to describe pork but it was and reminded me of wagyu beef kind of mushy that almost melted in my mouth. The bouillon on the other hand was rather light in flavors, a bit stronger would be wonderful.



@Ferandogros who sat beside me ordered the Diced lamb fillet on the sizzling plate with asparagus and comte cheese. How it tasted? @Ferandogros was pretty quite while enjoying his lamb so I bet it was be speechlessly good? :)



@SamStevensHK helped me take this picture of her dish which was the Lightly cooked cod fillet with eggplant and aromatic verjus. Argh!! ... I should have taken the picture of the Oxtail confit with red wine sauce and celeriac puree because those who ordered were very pleased with the dish!



For dessert (or my second main course I like to call it sometimes), I ordered the Cinnamon cream custard with caramelized apple and green apple sorbet. The presentation took my heart already! The custard was light so to let the caramelize apple flavors to dominate. The green apple sorbet would cleanse your palate, ready for the next spoonful of caramelized apples!



I was very disappointed ... that the meal was coming to an end so soon! To my pleasant surprise, there were more to come: Macarons and concentrated jellies. :) Soft and not overly sweet, a wonderful way to complete such a wonderful meal!



It was indeed a wonderful lunch and special thanks to @Fernandogros who helped organized it. Let's do another tweetup soon!!!

Likes:

• Excellent bread basket! Yet to find one that can beat it! (Please let me know if you do!) Did I mention I love their Almond Croissant as well?
  
• The pork cheek was very soft, mushy to be exact. A good way to describe the texture would be to compare it with Wagyu beef texture.

Dislikes:

• The broccoli bouillon was a bit light in my opinion.

Avg Spending: Above HKD 500 per head (with wine) / without wine around HKD 300 - 500.

L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon
Shop 315 & 401, The Landmark, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2166 9000
http://www.robuchon.hk


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