h one

we closed out august with a visit to h one at ifc, with cyy and our friends d and h. harlan g's perhaps the most successful restauranteur in town since the turn of the century and h one, located on the podium floor of ifc, is his latest venture. that has brought up our expectation a little bit, but then, with his portfolio thinning up so rapidly in the last few years (he grew from a single outlet to five restaurants and a bar!), we sorta know what we are getting into.


this evening we picked the 5-course tasting menu - that's what we came for anyway in the first place so this is a no-brainer. it came with a starter, soup, pasta, choice of entree (fish or beef) and dessert. overall, the food's decent, portion's nice, nothing too creative or out of the line, but then nothing worth the "woos" and "wahs" either... sorta like when you are in a 7-inning stretch and up 3-nothing, all you want to do is to avoid doing anything stupid, throw some fastballs here and there, and close out the match.

i personally like the appetizer of salmon tartar with caviar - it's a simple dish but i just like it. can't complain about the rest but nothing to praise particularly either. i picked the oven-roasted sea bass as entree but i heard some good comments of the grilled beef that cyy and d picked. i continued to crave for a full-bodied chardonnay - don't know why - so the chassagne montrachet's just perfect for me.

the menu's grandly named "ultimate dining experience", or the tasting menu as you may say, but to us, it's more like a very expensive "AB餐" with sorta everything being thrown in a set. but considered the price, the location, the decor, and the amount of food we got, it still turned out to be a decent deal and a good evening out for us. one of those "been there done that" places - and again, you can't fairly comment on a restaurant til you actually tried it. think we will return? that's hard to say.

august 1, m at the fringe. august 31, h one. what a way to start and end a month, and i am ready to kiss summer goodbye any time now - just can't stand the heat anymore.

and oh, what's supposed to be a dinner for four turned into a long table with nine people... well, that's just another story. it's a small world after all.

details:
when? august 31 2007
where? h one, ifc
menu highlights? wild salmon tartar, caviar and chopped organic egg salad
drinks? verget chassagne montrachet pimont 2004