It seems that Sunday brunch is becoming more and more popular in Hong Kong, and with a slew of restaurants and hotels recently introducing brunch it is now a highly competitive market. One of the most recent additions is the return of The Bostonian's Sunday Brunch. 

Known for its sustainable seafood, fantastic oysters and quality produce it was a no-brainer for me to try The Bostonian's brunch, which includes a buffet style selection of breakfast/brunch fare and appetisers, a choice of main, and a choice of dessert, for only $328 per person.

Seafood Start

I grew up in an area that has some of the best oysters in Australia so it was not a difficult choice as where to begin grazing. The selection of three oysters (Corrandel NZ, Goose Point US, Smoky Bay AUS) were being freshly shucked and the restaurant had cleverly selected these for taste variety, some were salty or creamy, while others were slightly sweet or fruity or a combination of two tastes. When we approached one of the oysters being shucked was so fresh it was literally moving in the shell and I knew I was in for a treat. 

Packed with flavour these were some of the freshest oysters I have eaten in Hong Kong, and I have tried them at places too numerous to remember - so good I had to come back for seconds and had I focused (been greedy) could have come back for thirds. The quality of these oysters had me feeling that for the price of the brunch if that is all I could have eaten I still would have seen it as good value.

Now I know that many of you don't like fresh oysters (and I forgive you) so I continue on...in keeping with the seafood vibe we next moved on to the cold cooked seafood selection. We went for the half lobster with roe, king crab legs, and prawns. Sadly the taste did not match the appearance and we found the seafood to be watery and lacking flavour, and the lobster was tough and chewy. The crab had great texture and hints of its potential. I was surprised by this and so after the brunch I contacted the hotel. The official response was that they had also had several other comments and so the chef had followed up. It seems that the supplier they were using was not handling the produce with the respect it deserves and due to the way it had been stored while being transported the seafood was left watery. The hotel has since changed its supplier. 

The restaurant is also known for its smoked salmon and four varieties were on offer - beetroot, Sichuan pepper, dill, and house smoked - all were excellent. 

Other cold choices included sushi, sashimi, a salad bar, and small plates of Asian dishes - all of which we didn't try, and a range of charcuterie (the Parma ham was a winner) and four excellent cheeses with appropriate accompaniments.

Decadent Bites

Next we went for some of the more traditional hot brunch items, which included French Toast, Waffles, Scrambled Eggs with Salmon, and Mushroom, Taleggio and Thyme Tart, as well as two varieties of cooked oysters. At this point I should mention that items change regularly although certain popular items will be available each week. What I liked about the hot items was the presentation, with individual servings in small ramekins creating a sense of just-cooked. It also allows you to eat more without feeling guilty.

Knowing that I still had the foie gras cooking station, main and dessert to come I only tried a couple of the dishes. Of note were the eggs - fluffy, creamy, and buttery, paired with sensational salmon. The sensory memory of this dish still vivid after several weeks. 

Another must-try was the Rougie foie gras. Pan-fried a la minute, served on toast, with fig jam and slow-roasted onion as accompaniments. As a food writer I am a bit over the whole foie gras thing, but this foie gras just might change my mind. The superior quality was evident in the taste and the deft cooking meant it was firm on the outside, flavourful, rich and tender inside, with the fantastic figs cutting the richness and the toast providing texture and balance. My dining companion was enraptured and persuaded me to share a second helping.

Rotating Mains

The menu for the six mains changes each week. Choices available on the Sunday we visited included: Roast of The Day (lamb rack), Grilled Rib Eye, Roast of Lamb, Salmon with Mussel Tortellini, Truffle and Parmesan Cream Pasta, and Guinea Fowl and Morel Pie. My dining partner ordered the roast of the day and I had my heart set on the pie, but so had a lot of other diners and by the time we ordered mains (note to self - order mains earlier) were sold out. I really wasn't sure what to have, I didn't want meat as we were sharing, and I wasn't in the mood for pasta, so I went off menu. For an additional $230 diners can have a Half Boston Lobster cooked simply with a choice of cooking methods...but the wonderful staff could see that I was wanting something different so I ended up having the The Contemporary Thermidor - whole lobster with peas, broad beans, truffle shavings and pecorino cream, from the a la carte menu. As this review is about the brunch I won't go into too much detail about the lobster other than to say it was superb and perfectly cooked. A modern interpretation of a classic dish and the quality of the lobster was obvious with some of the biggest, juiciest claws I have seen.

The mains have been modified in size, which is a good thing, because there is a lot of food to consume so it was nice to see a smaller than normal serving, however I felt that we had been misled by the description "Roast of the Day". For me a Sunday Roast means a roasted meat - which we had, but it also means roast vegetables, or at least roast potatoes...and gravy. Instead the only roasted veg were a few cherry tomatoes, other vegetables were a quenelle of mashed potato, steamed beans, and corn, and no gravy. I know that I am being critical of description and not the food but it wasn't what we had expected, which can (and did) impact the experience of the dish. The lamb itself was tender and tasty.

I Will Be Back

For dessert there were four choices. We had the Valrhona Bitter Chocolate Tiramisu Gold Leaf, Vanilla Bean Cappuccino and the Taste of Strawberry - cheese cake, sorbet, pannacotta, compote. The tiramisu was nice and quite mousse-like, it was chocolate and chocolate is always a good way to end a meal. The strawberry dessert was visually appealing, the sorbet was good but the other elements lacked strawberry flavour until you added a little of the compote which was intense and the saving element of the dish.

I really enjoyed The Bostonian's brunch and for the combination of quality, variety, and price...and those oysters...I will certainly be back. I would suggest that an option to pay extra to include free-flow bubbles be added as the majority of other hotels around The Langham do and as I said Sunday brunch has become a competitive market.

The brunch is served from 12 noon until 3pm.

Service and Ambience

Like previous visits to The Bostonian we found the service to be faultless, attentive and friendly. Vincent in particular shone with his jolly demeanour and eclectic wine pairings that worked. He added to our overall experience, bringing a little sunshine inside.

The Bostonian has a certain elegance with its wide table spacing, warm tones and art work on the walls, yet at the same time it is a relaxed space...and I love the booths. A fresh rose on each table a nice touch.

Postscript: A return brunch on 15 August: cold seafood was much better, with good texture and flavour. All three mains sampled were excellent, especially the duck.

Images: images 1, 2 non-brunch reference only; 3, 4 brunch reference only; 6 author's image