Lobster Bar and Grill (Hong Kong)

Slurp! Slurp! and Slurp! ...  Such a simple word to describe my meal at Lobster Bar. Thanks to H who organized this dinner, I had the great pleasure to meet the person behind the food blog Slurp! which I got addicted to reading lately. The meal started with a long chat on food and related topics along with live Jazz from the band nearby which started around 8pm. I have been to the Lobster Bar quite a few times but only for drinks, it was my very first time to give their food a try. I have heard mixed reviews on this place but that did not deter me from trying myself. I really enjoyed the setting which was not overly pretentious (perhaps due to the slightly uncomfortable chairs) and the live band playing nearby. I should have ordered myself some whisky as well!


After some bread, it was time for the Mussels in White wine sauce. (the other option was lemongrass instead of white wine, I think I will try that next time since I am a big fan of lemongrass!) I just love the pot they were served in! Sorry for the piece of broken shell right in the middle of the mussel in the center of the picture! Anyhow, mussels were just right both in size and texture; the sauce was rich in flavors but wished it to be slightly more creamy if possible. It was still good that I had to dip the reminding of my roll into the sauce. Actually, I did something quite ... embarrassing, I drank the the sauce by the spoonful at the end. If that wasn't a good indication that I loved the sauce, perhaps I should drink right of the pot?

While I was still enjoying the aftertaste of the white wine sauce that kept on lingering in my mouth, our salad was served. The Poached Boston Lobster, caramelized Mango, shiso cress and herb salad was extremely refreshing to a point that it cleansed my taste buds. The sliced lobsters, while simply poached, were ... very sweet on their own. The mango bits on the other hand were rather sour or at least those I had, but they revitalized my taste bud and appetite for the better.

Initially I was confused by the look of this dish and how Warm duck liver and Suckling pig tartine can go together. At least it was something new to me. Just one single bite of all layers put me into a pleasure coma. For a whole 20 seconds or so, I was blacked out from the mix of flavors as well as combination of textures. My eyes were rolled up and I was making weird noises such as humm or ummmm or even yu-ummm. Another bite together with the fig created another series of wonderful climaxes sensations.

Before I can recover from the food coma caused by the warm duck liver, the Boston Lobster prepared in traditional Thermidor was served. Can my heart handle so many ... climaxes? I put my heart and stomach to test!  I honestly has no idea what Lobster Thermidor consist of, I just know the word Thermidor (based on the word thermal) has its origin in French and it translates to the 11th month of the French Republic Calendar which is during the Summer time (July - Aug) when the "heat" is the strongest. Can this means baked? A quick search online (hello wiki! ... ) shows that: "Lobster Thermidor was created in 1894 by Marie's, a Paris restaurant near the theatre Comédie Française, to honour the opening of the play Thermidor by Victorien Sardou." According to several sources, Lobster Thermidor traditionally consisted of a creamy mixture of lobster meat stirred in plenty of hot butter, egg yolk, cognac and together with diced carrots, celery, onion. To finish the lobster would be out into the oven to have a oven-browned cheese crust (Swiss or Parmesan can do). Alright, enough with the boring stuff and get to the food! Creamy and meaty at the same time, I really wished that I can have more all to myself! If it was not for the shell, I could have licked it clean, but I had to keep my manners!

S and H was so well-mannered that they used the fork and knife to eat the Lobster Thermidor, I used a spoon to scoop as much as possible instead ... haha ... yet another embarrassing moment!

The Dove Sole (Grilled) was ... extremely boring and unexcited compared with the rest of the items, not to mention it was rather overcooked as well. I feel bored to talk about this dish as well but it was decent and tasty I guess, yes, I used the LAZY word "tasty" because I an in lost of words at the moment.

Likes:

• Warm duck liver and Suckling pig tartine - the combination of flavors and textures was great! 
• Lobster Thermidor - creamy and meaty at the same time. Rich flavors that make you ask for more! 

Dislikes: 

• Grilled Dove Sole slightly overcooked. 
• Mussels with white wine sauce can be slightly more creamy

Avg Spending: Above HKD 500 per person

Lobster Bar and Grill 
6/F, Island Shangri-La Hong Kong,
Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty
Tel: 2820 8560




View Larger Map