L'Autre Pied

L'Autre Pied, Marylebone

I did hesitate before I clicked the ‘Buy It Now’ button on the Groupon website. I know that (I really do) if something seems too good to be true, it probably is...  but in the end I did it - I purchased the deal ‘Seven Course Tasting Menu For Two’ for £62 at L'Autre Pied. Being the sister restaurant of the well-reviewed Pied à Terre, and given its Michelin starred status, what could possibly go wrong?

I was not really expecting a full seven course tasting menu for the price we paid. The menu is listed on the restaurant’s website, and consists of canapés, starter, a fish course, a meat course, cheese, pre-dessert and dessert. The menu was obviously tailor-made for the offer, but we still expected some fine quality food.

Unfortunately the evening was not off to a good start. We were asked to show the voucher as soon as we were led to our table, even though it had been verified more than once over their booking system, emails and phone calls. To add further irritation before the meal even began, we were reminded that service would be charged based on the full menu price (this condition was included in the terms and conditions of the deal, which we had to pre-agree before the purchase).

Here is the ‘Autumn Tasting Menu’...

Canapés

Jerusalem artichoke velouté, burnt roscoff onion, toasted hazelnuts, rocket oil

The canapés were ‘mushroom beignets’, served with some sort of mayo on the side. The deep fried dough was crispy but the greasy brown sauce was off putting. There were a couple of onion slices and some nuts in the soup, together it tasted like a dish that the chef had made up on the spot and given a fancy name.

Pan fried cod, fennel and ginger puree, smoked garlic, red pepper oil

Roasted breast of guinea fowl, salsify puree, curly kale, crushed kohlrabi, thyme and walnut jus

I could not be more disappointed by the fish course. On the menu, the ginger, garlic and red pepper combination sounded like a twist on Chinese flavours, which should have been colourful and fragrant, but it lacked seasoning. It actually brought back memories of monotonous university lectures...  yes, it was that bad. The fowl was slightly better, at least it was seasoned. The salsify puree did not work for me, it was already congealed on the plate when it arrived, an indication that the dish had been sitting around for a while.

Farm house cheese with fig and orange compote

The cheese course was the ‘highlight’ of the meal. We could not believe what we saw - one tiny slice of cheese to share, stabbed by four sesame crackers, and served with a lump of chutney. I did not expect a whole cheese board, but I certainly did not expect that! The menu online did say ‘cheeseS’ instead of cheese, was it too much to ask to have a portion each? I asked the waitress ‘Is this for both of us?’. ‘Yes’. ‘It’s not enough for two people’. She then told us it was a very nice cheese, I said ‘I’m sure it’s nice but we expect a portion each’. She struggled to carry on the conversation and then left our table.

Pre dessert

Baked vanilla cheesecake, apple foam, sunflower seeds, peach sorbet

I did not take note of the pre-dessert as I was still in shock, but I do remember it was the most enjoyable course we had that night.  How ironic? There was no sign of the sunflower seeds in the main dessert, although the peach sorbet was delightful.

We finished our meal in under an hour and a half. Each course was served immediately after the last one, and on a couple of occasions we could actually see the next course waiting while we were still eating the current one. The staff generally seemed uninterested, they mumbled the name of the dishes course by course, as if they were trained to talk to customers using sentences from a telemarketing manual.

We did not drink so the bill came to just under £20, which including the pre-paid amount added up to £41 per head. Ignoring the stingy cheese course, it was really a four small plate menu with a couple of extras thrown in. Based on what we had, the amount we paid was not extortionate, but I would be a lot happier if the food lived up to its reputation, instead of wasting an hour and a half of my life eating bland food in this uninspired place.

L'Autre Pied

Ming Court - Hong Kong

Ming Court, Mong Kok

Mong Kok is well known for its red light district, street food and outdoor market. Who would think that the Langham Hotel group would open a hotel in this area? Not only has the Langham Place Hotel become one of the landmarks this side of the harbour, its contemporary Chinese restaurant Ming Court has been awarded two Michelin stars for three consecutive years. Two Michelin stars means ‘Excellent cuisine, worth a detour’, and to me Ming Court is definitely worth a detour.

The restaurant is made up of two main dining areas - Ming Sun and Ming Moon. They are both decorated with Chinese fine arts, and walls of Ming Dynasty pottery replicas. In addition to the regular menu, there is also a section of award-winning and signature dishes, featuring some unexpected ingredients such as truffles and cheese. Ming Court is also well known for its extensive selection of wine, and there are more than three hundred bottles of wine stored in the 'Ming Cellar'. Each of the featured dish has a recommended wine, which is rarely seen in a Chinese restaurant.

Moving on to the food...

Stir fried fresh prawns with egg white – A good plate of Chinese fried egg has to be fresh and silky smooth ’嫩滑’, which is hard to achieve using a wok. The chef in Ming Court has showcased this skill in this signature dish. The prawns were shelled, and lightly fried with part of the egg white. The remaining egg white was gently cooked to form several snowy layers, before being placed on top of the prawns to form a wobbly mountain. The prawn heads were deep fried to provide an intense flavour from the brown meat, which was a big contrast to the subtle taste of the eggs and prawns. I loved the idea of the crispy Shiso leaves, where the citrus flavour and saltiness brought the whole dish together beautifully.

Braised flaming Japanese Kurobuta pork loin in red wine sauce – Although I am not sure how much the flame contributed to the taste, it was certainly an impressive display. The main ingredient, Kurobuta pork, was of high quality and extremely tender. It is uncommon to use red wine in Chinese cuisine, but the chef has brilliantly brought this into the sauce to give depth of flavour. It was relatively sweet compared to a western red wine reduction.

Stir fried minced pigeon and pine nuts, served with lettuce - A twist on the common ‘lettuce wrap’.

Braised sliced giant garoupa with wheat gluten in sweet bean sauce - The meaty garoupa was caramelised on the outside before being braised with the wheat gluten in the sweet bean sauce. The gluten was elastic and tasted a bit like tofu, soaking up all the essence of the sauce. It was heavenly.

Award winning fried rice with silky chicken and dried scallops in Shao Xing wine - Silky chicken is normally used in making Chinese soup, which claims to help maintain good health because of the higher protein content compared to a normal chicken. The fragrance from the dried scallops, together with a hint of Shao Xing wine, made this a perfect end to the meal.

Ming Court is a fine dining restaurant featuring modern Cantonese cuisine at its best. There are no noodle making performances, no beautiful sea view, just magnificent cooking with quality ingredients.

This is the last Hong Kong post of 2011. I have a back log of London restaurants to cover before the end of this year, so I am putting the rest of the Hong Kong posts (mainly Japanese restaurants) on hold. Please see here to read what I have covered so far.

明閣 Ming Court