My good friend N is a huge fan of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. He is a foodie and has been raving to me about his many dining experiences at L’Atelier (especially the one in Las Vegas). So, when N told me that he chanced upon L’Atelier at The Landmark in Hong Kong and would like to invite me for dinner, I said YES before he could finish his sentence. I was stoked. First of all, I’ve never been to any restaurants by Joel Robuchon. Secondly, I wanted to find out what N has been telling me about—the open kitchen, the well-orchestrated kitchen crew, the impeccable culinary creations and most of all, the overall dining experience.
(Michelin Hong Kong gives 2 stars to L’Atelier recently.)
The tasting menu is priced at HK$1450 (about US$190) per person plus tax. I won’t go into the details of describing each dish and the tastes because it was simply impossible to describe such sublime dishes with justice. Every single dish served that night was a perfect execution of culinary art, with tastes so refined and sophisticated and ultimately satisfying. After each serving, I thought I’d had the best but the following dish exceeded the previous one and blew it right out of the water. That pretty much summed up my dining experience that night…(read more about my favorite dishes after the jump)
My favorite dish was “chestnut soup in a celery broth with smoked bacon and foie gras.” I am not a big fan of foie gras–most likely because I’ve never had a real good one until L’Atelier–but now I understand why foie gras is one of the most sought-after fine foods. It was so tender and tasted so light that I utterly enjoyed every essence of it. The sea scallops in conchiglioni with caviar was also a winner. I savored every single dish with great appreciation.
The highlight of the night was when the restaurant manager brought out a plate full of white truffles. The aroma and exotic smell of the white truffles perfumed our seating area that N couldn’t pass up but ordered us some for our mashed potatoes. Needless to say, we scraped the mashed potatoes to the very last bits…only wished that we had more.
All in all though, I can only say “WOW” to L’Atelier, or as N always puts it—PHENOMENAL.
L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Shop 401, 4/F, The Landmark
15 Queen’s Road
Central , Hong Kong
(852) 2166-9088
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