The Mirror (Hong Kong)

A former apprentice to Alain Ducasse, Jeremy Biasiol is now the man behind The Mirror and I dare say it is quite an exciting restaurant which I would love to return soon if I can get a table that is. It is rather unfair to relate Jeremy with Alain Ducasse because he now has his own styles and approaches to traditional French cuisine. I think I can only say he was strongly inspired by Alain to become who he is right now. Looking at him behind the open kitchen in this rather homey and cozy setting, one can see his passion and dedication in cooking. He checks on his guests every now and then to control the pacing. I was observing him after my starter and he thought I was waiting impatiently so he looked at me and called onto the wait-staff by saying  快脆 (Faai3 ceoi3) in Cantonese which translates to "hurry up!" to serve us the mains. He even came out at the end of the night to chat with all guests and ask for comments and feedback. A very nice touch indeed!



Just in case I did not mention, do call ahead to book, please. One of the key reasons for the relative long wait list is that they do not turn table, only one reservation per table per night. The bread platter was cute but apparently the breads were outsourced due to the size of their kitchen. If you are wondering, they were from La Rose Noire. No complaints especially when the two of us shared ... 2.5 platters of them.

Frog legs with thin garlic cream and watercress sauce. A rather traditional dish not easily seen in Hong Kong's French restaurants. The meat was quite bland in flavor but it was the garlic cream and watercress sauce that made the world of differences. I personally prefer to see the bone-in for those frog legs so I can use my fingers to eat them. :)

Mirror Salad with winter vegetables and black truffle vinaigrette was a very refreshing dish. The presentation was splendid, simply presented with drizzle of truffle vinaigrette. Sometimes simplicity is the best. But  I do wonder why it was served after the frog leg, perhaps to somehow cleanse our taste buds?

The Chestnuts velouté with baby herbs and roast chestnuts soup was one of mixed feelings. Velouté is one of the 4 mother sauces in French cuisine (the other three are Tomato, mayonnaise, and hollandaise). Simply put, it was a tough sauce to make! The soup itself was thick and creamy with a surprisingly strong chestnuts aroma      that filled my sense of smell as it was poured. I said mixed feelings because I am not a big fan of chestnuts but I still cleaned the bowl quite clean! It was the creaminess that truly impressed me.

The Mirror Signature Menu allows a choice of one mains but I opted for the choice where I select both available mains! A little rub on my stomach told me that it was do-able! Huge Scallops it was for the Scallops lightly roast with cauliflower and tomatoes confites. The sauce was a cauliflower puree if I recalled correctly because it was quite flavorful and creamy!!! As for the scallops, one of the three was slightly over cooked due to the uneven size I assumed. (for those interested, it was quite hard to take a picture with such a long rectangular plate, really have to play around with it. I usually look around to see what other ppl ordered and see how presentation would look like so I can plan ahead to minimized the time required when served.)

My second main for French pork tenderloin with caramelized applies and Jerusalem artichokes (together with blood sausages on the side). Wonderfully prepared! One thing worth pointing out though was how one of them was slightly over cooked, likely due to the uneven size of the piece of meat perhaps. The juicer one was ... Slurp! (I am addicted in using this word ... it is so simple yet so ... direct in expressing my reaction of the dish). Nonetheless, the texture of the two pieces of meat was quite ... different due to their sizes and cooking time, I think Jeremy should look into that. The blood sausages were something either one hates or loves, really hard to force someone to like it. Just for the record, I heart blood sausages but someday  my heart will disagree!

Dessert was Mint Chocolate Cake "Mirror Style." Not certain why it was called Mirror Style, perhaps because everything seemed so symmetrical? (or simply because the place is named Mirror?) Anyhow, it was minty and very chocolate but did not really excite me as much compared with the previous few dishes.

We did have a nice meal and enjoyed the whole experience. From our brief chat with Jeremy, we know that he is aiming to create a venue that provides classic French dishes in a casual atmosphere hence the contemporary decor and dining tables without any table clothes. He wanted to give diners the feeling of home when they enter this restaurant and leave with a smile on their faces. There were some misses like the overcooked scallops but I departed with a big smile.


Likes: 

• Frog legs with thin garlic cream and watercress sauce - if the legs were bone-in it would be better for my own liking. 
• Chestnuts velouté with baby herbs and roast chestnuts soup

Dislikes:

• Scallops lightly roast with cauliflower and tomatoes confites - sweet from the freshness of the scallops but unevenly cooked among the 3 due to uneven size perhaps. 

Avg Spending: HKD 498 (5 courses) or HKD 598 (6 courses) per person as of 18 Dec 2010.

The Mirror
6/F, Tiffan Tower,
199 Wanchai Road, Wan Chai
Tel: + 852 2573 7288
http://themirror.hk/




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