14 Courses

I am fully prepared for a long (and satisfying) evening when I sat down at Amber for a taste of their 2-day collaboration event between Chef Richard Ekkebus and the Dutch-Indonesian guest chef Syrco Bakker in late October. 

Eight Slices Tasting Menu

We have had tasting menus of different themes before but I believe this is the first time we have a "Menu Degustazione" around pizzas. We made the booking as soon as we heard the Pizza Bar on 58th at Mandarin Oriental Tokyo is doing a popup at Landmark Mandarin and very happy that we did - soon enough it was booked out. 

Second in a Row

I had a few sushi meals in the same month, but none better than the one at Sushi Shikon. The missus requested eating at this place as the official celebration dinner - same as what we did last year - so there it was for the second in a row. 

It's All About The Season

I love the sense of exclusivity when we walked into Kappo Rin at Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong for our dinner. With the dining restriction still in place, the counter-only restaurant specialized in Japanese kappou cuisine could only seat two groups at a time, so we only shared the long counter with another couple in front of the chefs working behind the open kitchen the entire evening. 

Last Day of Freedom

It just seems appropriate that I commemorate my last day of freedom (for a while – at least that’s the plan) with a lush breakfast at the Landmark Mandarin. Among many places that offer decent, proper breakfast in town, Somm at Landmark Mandarin stood out as the venue with a cozy and sleek ambiance with food and drink slightly different than the others. 

Pre-Christmas Brunch

We never need any excuse to eat out any day, any time of the week, but we thought we would have our little pre-Christmas celebration over at the Sunday brunch at Landmark Mandarin Oriental in early December. I always enjoy the ambiance of MO Bar during the day, which felt like a little oasis right next to the busiest street in town and inside the busiest shopping mall, and even better was the Christmas decorations that’s already set up weeks ago bringing a sense of joyous mood.

United We (Fine) Dine

From our experience normally it does take a new restaurant team between 3-6 months to get around their feet with their culinary direction, so I did come with rather high expectation for our dinner at Amber, my second visit after they re-opened almost one year ago after renovation and transformation, and we were eager to check out the latest menu by Chef Richard Ekkebus.

Three-Star Sushi Lunch

It took us almost 3 months to finally have time to eat at Sushi Shikon, after I told Chef Kaki-san that I was planning to visit him and his restaurant at the new location when we saw each other in Macau in December. With the cozy sushi-ya making Landmark Mandarin Oriental its new home since late last year and retained its Michelin 3-stars in this year’s guide, we dropped by for lunch one Saturday a couple weeks ago.

First of the Decade

Thought we would treat ourselves to a serious breakfast to kick-start the new year and decade. I have always wanted to try the morning menu at the new Somm at Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Central, so I made a booking to go check it out on January 1.

A Restaurant By Sommeliers

It’s been quite a transformation at Landmark Mandarin Oriental ever since the original Amber was closed for renovation six months ago. They literally re-built Amber from ground up with a new kitchen, a new dining area and a new dining concept, and in addition, three other new restaurants opened up on that floor. And I went to try out one of them called Somm one afternoon.

End of an Era

"The End of an Era" was the feeling most of us shared when a group of us walked in to the private dining room of Amber at Landmark Mandarin Oriental for a special dinner recently. The Michelin-starred restaurant (and a prominent feature of Hong Kong’s fine-dining scene) would close for a few months to undergo a facelift and transformation, and before that, in their final week, they were hosting a series of "farewell dinner" featuring signature dishes from each of the 14 years of “Amber 1.0”, as its chef Richard Ekkebus called it.

Sequel to a Bar Pop-up

We have to keep reminding ourselves it's not Friday just yet when we were sipping drinks at MO Bar at the Landmark Mandarin the week before the Christmas long weekend. The New York City-based speakeasy bar PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) is taking up permanent residence at the hotel soon but before that, they hosted one last pop-up at MO Bar for a preview of what they are going to offer.

Three-star Sushi Popup

I got into a major sushi crave after my sushi lunch at in Taipei just a couple of days ago – that meal was decent but I felt like something was missing – so you could imagine me jumping up and down getting all excited when I received an email from the PR team at Landmark Mandarin Oriental asking whether I was free to join some of their media friends for lunch at the Sushi Gyoten pop-up happening at their hotel. "Hell yeah of course", I replied almost immediately (of course I did it in a slightly more dignified manner), and that's before I frantically pushed aside everything on my original schedule – I did have a busy guytai life you know, even the lunch fell on my two weeks of work break.

Bar within a Bar - Evening Drink at High Five Pop-up

Last Saturday a bunch of us made a booking to drink at the pop-up bar of the Tokyo-based Bar High Five, who is taking up temporary residence at MO Bar at Landmark Mandarin Oriental for 2 months (til end of October). You got to admit there's a certain charm about a classic Japanese bar – polished interior, excellent selection of liquors, well-dressed bartender, hand-carved ice, impeccably professional techniques and focus – okay at least that was my impression based on my embarrassingly limited knowledge on this subject.

Early Saturday Breakfast

I am probably one of the few in town who prefer the ambiance of MO Bar inside Landmark Mandarin Oriental during the day rather than at night. While most prefer hanging out at the trendy bar with the party-going, seen-and-be-seen crowd with DJ music in the background every evening from dusk til dawn, I actually like the quieter day-time setting, chilling and relaxing on the leather couches with mild sunshine beaming in through the window looking out to the busy Central streets.

Another Pop-up Bar at Landmark Mandarin

I hardly know anything of the latest in the dining and drinking scene in New York City these days, but I was told PDT (Please Don't Tell) is some big shot in East Village many considered to be the best speakeasy bar in town, if not the world. After a few stints of pop-up appearances around the world, they recently stopped by Hong Kong to take up a 3-week-long residence at MO Bar of Landmark Mandarin Oriental, and I went on one of the earlier evenings to check it out.

The Number 4

Just as we returned from a weekend away in Singapore where we had a memorable pop-up meal from one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, we received an email promoting yet another dinner event, this time in Hong Kong at Landmark Mandarin Oriental featuring the top restaurant in Latin America.

I got to be honest here - before the event, I have not heard of Chef Virgilio Martinez nor his restaurant Central in Lima, Peru. True it's voted top on the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurant and is number 4 in this year's world ranking, something that should be in my radar naturally you would expect, but I guess Lima just sounded too far away for me to pay any serious attention to. But that's exactly why I was particularly interested in this dinner event, because otherwise it may be hard to try his food in the foreseeable future.

Eating and Drinking at a Popup Bar

Of course, there were numerous occasions that we are more than willing to go the distance to try out the best restaurants, cafes or bars in far away places, but it's also nice when some of them come to you instead, saving us all the hassles. A few days ago I was at MO Bar at Landmark Mandarin Oriental, checking out the food and drink at a popup by the visiting gang from Employees Only, a speakeasy-style bar/restaurant in New York City's West Village, which is now ranked one of the world's best.

Amber's Weekend Wine Lunch

We realized we haven't come to Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental often enough recently, despite having very high regards of the restaurant and being an admirer of Chef Richard Ekkebus' cooking, striking that delicate balance between classic French cuisine and innovative, Asian-inspired ingredients and techniques. So when our friends asked us to join them for lunch on a recent Saturday, we didn't hesitate to say yes and even pushed aside a few other things on our schedule to make it possible.

Remarkable Night at Amber

I just realized I am in a dry spell lately as far as blogging is concerned... not that there aren't any remarkable things happening recently worth reflecting on or sharing, especially as far as eating's concerned, so I decided to bring them all on in one go...

Going back and forth several times and a few tweets to Chef Ekkebus later, we landed back at Amber on our 6th wedding anniversary on this Saturday night in December, and we love it!

With the memory of leaving the restaurant as two very satisfied customers on Valentine's Day still living vividly in mind, it seems to be an obvious choice for us to return for another celebration. After arriving promptly at 7:30pm (okay that's not true - we were late), we were seated near the entrance of the elegant yet lively dining room - and in my opinion the more quiet and comfortable section away from the crowd and the kitchen. I love the setting of this place actually - chic decor, well-designed space with tables organized sparse enough that you don't feel intruded yet close enough that you can take a peek at what other people are eating and don't feel you are sitting in a room by yourselves.

The menu left us with a very simple decision - everything in the degustation menu sounds enticing so we spent no time settling on it without even bothered to look at the a la carte options. We are very eager to see what the best the chef has to offer us through the creation of his signature dishes on the menu. Ian our sommelier was very helpful in making our wine selection a straight-forward exercise too. Being my favorite wine region along with Ian's affirmation, picking a Chablis is a no-brainer and glad it worked well with most courses on the menu.

We started with the familiar amuse bouche of foie gras lollipop and iberian pork croquette. We loved the lollipop when we first had it in February, and we still do this time, even though the amusement bit has faltered somewhat with the second try, naturally.

Chef Ekkebus' signature appetizer dish - hokkaido sea urchin served in a lobster jell-o with cauliflower mousse, caviar and crispy seaweed waffles - is easily the one dish that made a lasting impression on us tonight and rightfully so - the presentation is impeccable - it's served in a shell of sea urchin with fine layers of delectable colors inside; the combination of classic regional flavors - uni from Hokkaido - and modern techniques is simply flawless, and the delicate taste and texture are divine - we felt like we are tasting the essence from the sea as the sea urchin roe and lobster jelly along with the caviar's "swimming" in our mouths. CYY mentioned the dish reminded her of the equally adorable "oyster and pearl" that we had in a small yet significant culinary outpost in Yountville a couple years ago, which I totally agreed. I can't say this is fusion, but the chef certainly took full advantage of regional ingredients for this unique and spectacular dish. An absolutely genius creation, I must say.

We also love the melt-in-your-mouth and intense-flavored waghu beef with the main serving oven-roasted and served in its own jus, and in comparison, the second serving - short ribs braised with passion fruit-glazed root vegetables - is just okay (to me, I don't even mind doing it without the second serving altogether) It's so soft and tender that I don't even need to force my knife through. Once again, he made use of regional ingredients - in this case the exquisite Kagoshima beef - and cooked to perfection. I like the light yet flavorful texture of langoustine and foie gras dish, but the scallop's a tad bit overcooked to my liking, which left a slightly rubbery taste on the surface as a result. Nonetheless I think the combination of toasted brioche mousseline and kabocha squash that was served with the scallops an interesting one.

Other courses in the menu included salmon that's cooked to pinpoint accuracy, presented in a somewhat playfully manner with a crust of squid ink-dyed bread crumbs (pretending to be a roast beef tenderloin) and worked in harmony with avocado puree and apple "rolls" on the side, as well as a more-than-decent selection of cheeses wheeled in on a cart after our beef main course.

After a surprising treat of champagne - courtesy of the very man behind the kitchen - we moved onto something sweet. The first dessert of vacherin "coque" with blood orange yoghurt inside was refreshing and did its job of cleansing our palate (and I also like its neat and clean presentation), and by contrast, the chocolate souffle and cocoa sorbet which followed is a rich and comforting winter dessert that is equally enjoyable.

It is a memorable evening to us no matter what but a fine meal like this certainly added a nice touch to it. How appropriate to celebrate our time together with something that we enjoyed doing together most - going on a culinary adventure that is. Will we go back soon? You bet. I am already looking forward to its spring menu coming out in mid-January.

details:

when? December 4 2010
where? Amber, at Landmark Mandarin Oriental
occasion? 6th wedding anniversary
menu highlights? Hokkaido Sea Urchin, in a lobster jell-o with cauliflower, caviar and crispy seaweed waffles
drinks?
Chablis Premier Cru "Fourchaume" 2008, Bouchard Pere et Fils
Krug Grande Cuvee NV