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Discreetly tucked away on the 5th floor along the busy streets at Sheung Wan, I must say this was a hidden gem. Apparently, they endeavour to promote traditional Asian tea ceremonies with a modern touch. With no lack of appropriate interior decorative items and a corner specializing on proper tea-drinking ceremony, I would highly recommend it to tea-drinkers.

Despite having visited the eatery twice, I had yet to sit down proper for a tea-session as they are closed quite early in the evening at just after 7pm. What lured me back for a second visit was the hospitality offered on my first visit. The staffs were accommodative to my requests, friendly and attentive to my needs. They even went on to pack my box of green tea cakes and wrapped it up like a gift with some fresh flowers upon knowing that it was a surprise for my other half.

Green tea 'Yo-Yo'



'Yo-yo' is an Australian-invented biscuit' tasting somewhat like cookie and shortbread. The crisp surface complemented the moist inside which crumbled nicely in the mouth. The icing on the cake with each bite was the rich green tea cream sandwiched between the cookies. It tasted fresh, natural and the sweetness was to our liking, enough just to please and not satiate. For those expecting a strong matcha punch, then you might find it slightly lacking yet.

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This is the second part of our review of our food test at Maison Eric Kayser, as part of a follow-up to the first write-up.

Notable famous for their confectionery, it would be a sin not to try some of Eric Kayser's signatures.

The classic croissant was available for free tasting when we visited and we decided to try some. Well, we did not leave the bakery with any in the bag, so go figure. The croissant was not as fluffy as the ones tried in Singapore with less pockets of air. Despite it being crisp, it was not as crusty as the first version.

Brioche



This was about the best thing we departed from the bakery. The surface of the brioche was crisp and emitted a fragrant aroma of well-baked pastry. The crystalline sugar pieces on the top of the brioche gave the extra crunch and a slight tinge of sweetness to complement the texture of the soft and fluffy bread on the inside. It was pretty irresistible and it was not long before we realized that we had munched down half the big brioche!

The much awaited Maison Eric Kayser finally arrived in Hong Kong! After trying it for the first time at its grand opening at Scotts Square in Singapore, we visited Harbour City filled with anticipation! Please click here and here shall you be interested in the 1st and 2nd review of our visits to Maison Kayser at Singapore.

The layout of Maison Eric Kayser in Hong Kong was slightly different from the one in Singapore as the bakery section was separated from the restaurant. The critique will however be spanned over this and the following blog entry and we will be focusing on the food served at the restaurant for now!

*The set dinner comes with a starter, main and dessert and is priced according to the choice of your main course. The grilled king prawn main course was priced at $208 while the grilled 10oz US rib-eyed steak at $258, excluding 10% service charge to be levied upon the bill.

Seasoned tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella with pesto served with olive ciabatta




Upon arrival, the presentation already won me over. The spectrum of colours from the bell peppers gave a warm feeling. The olive ciabatta was crisp with uniform toast lines to give an extra touch to layout. The buffalo mozzarella was a type of cheese made from the milk of the domestic water buffalo. The richness of the buffalo milk could be tasted from the first bite, though it was subtle and did not satiate one's appetite. The pesto dabbed at the sides of the plate helped to balance the flavours in the starter dish and it had a good consistency like that of double cream.

Just a quick tidbit for those interested in buffalo milk, the richness of it makes it highly suitable for processing cheese with a ratio of 5kg of buffalo milk to produce 1kg of cheese as opposed to 8kg of cow milk. Producing 1kg of butter requires 14kg of cow milk as compared with 10kg of buffalo milk.

Wild mushroom and black truffle cappuccino soup

This soup tasted better than it actually looked. The fresh aroma of the black truffles stirred in the air upon the plate being served. I was rather skeptical about ordering this for I believed that it would taste more like a mushroom soup. To my surprise, I was pleasantly wrong for the balance of flavours was prime and with each spoonful, one could taste the freshness of the mushrooms and the black truffle. The added cream when evenly blended gave the soup viscosity and richness. It was a true delight where one would not stop at the first spoonful. On hindsight, I struggled to taste any element of caffeine in this 'cappuccino' soup.

Grilled king prawn and tomatoes salsa with garden vegetable rice



The sheer size of the tiger prawns served would leave some in awe. Honestly, I regard king prawns more of a decorative item to impress diners at the table and I was right on this instance. The prawns had that distinct 'grilled' flavour to it but the meat of the king prawn tasted relatively dull and languid. The rice tasted too raw for our liking though some might enjoy the varied texture.


Lemon tart




With referral to my second visit to Maison Kayser in Singapore, I was largely impressed with their version of lemon tart and thought I would reminisce the taste once more in Hong Kong. It was unfortunately quite a letdown. The base of the tart was hard but lacked flavour. The lemon curd carried a relatively strong lemon flavour to it, but in comparison to the version tried in Singapore, this required improvement. It was also too dense for my liking, and when slicing through the tart, it felt like slicing through a slice of cheesecake.

The second critique to this was the presentation of the tart in relation to the lemon and strawberry jam lines drawn across the plate. The plating was completely off alignment and this was a disappointment considering how they aced it with the starters and main.


It would also be worth noting that all diners would be served complimentary bread by the restaurant. They included the signature bread from Maison Eric Kayser.



I would reserve my critique on their confectionery for the next entry, so please stay tuned!


The service was good coupled with a relatively quiet and cosy ambiance. For the bill-conscious diners, do note that you could opt for plain tap water instead of a bottle of still or sparkling water, which was offered at the very first instance upon seating. The menu could and should be improved upon for the limited choices available as it was when we visited was not very inviting despite the good quality of food served.

Spoilt for choice when it comes to dining options at the Hysan Place, we finally settled for light Vietnamese cuisine. With seating along the corridors of the shopping mall and inside the restaurant, we opted for the latter to allow more space and quiet moments to catch up.

Soft shell crab rice paper roll - $78/-

The batter for the soft shell crab was fried to a golden brown crisp, giving each bite a delightful crunch. The rice paper roll was thin and not overly sticky and managed to hold the sliced vegetables perfectly intact. Despite so, I must say I have had better versions of such crispy soft shell crab elsewhere.

May we take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year! Wishing each and every of our fellow faithful readers and visitors the best of health and success in their endeavours. Let us pray that 2013 will be a blissful year, rid of all calamities where peace shall prevail.