Reviews

• 

  打開法國窗口，看到什麼？

  Gourmet KC | Feb 22 2011

  無論你是否同意香港是否一個國際大都會，這裡也是個精彩的美食之地。至少米芝蓮在進入大陸任何一個地方之前，也先來登陸香港。而作為這樣的一個城市，先不論食物質素，中下價的食肆數量是夠多的，但論高級食肆，數目就偏少。單論高級的法國餐廳，舊年只加入一間CÉPAGE，今年又加入一間，就是這裡。
  
  其實這裡跟CÉPAGE也不是全沒關係，只因這裡的餐廳顧問 ~ Justin Quek。這個名字由Les Amis開始，一直到現時的Whisk及現在的The French Window，也是行中的名氣輩。Justin作為餐廳顧問，伙拍年僅23歲的大廚Mickael le Calvez，效果是什麼樣的？也令人期待。找了一個周五晚上，來試試這裡的廚師推介菜單。
  
  餐單分八道菜及五道菜的選擇，價錢分別是1280及780，而當中的菜色選擇也不盡相同，為了能完全的試勻廚師的推介菜色，就每人吃一邊吧。
  
  侍酒師John過來打招呼，由從前的Spoon到CÉPAGE到這裡，也可真的說是見慣見熟了。選了支Marcel Deiss的99年Grand Cru，很好喝跟是晚輕鬆的氣氛也很配合。
  
  說真的，吃了兩個廚師推介的餐單，感覺上是毫不特別。如做成千層糕狀的黑魚籽煙三文魚烤餅（Salmon club Blinis, Lemon Cream, Caviar）賣相滿分，吃起來卻不見突出。生牛肉薄切配松露鵝肝（Beef Carpaccio Rosstgny）也是這裡的招牌菜之一，卻給濃味的鵝肝醬主導一切。安格斯牛柳韃靼配烤薄餅（Angus Super Prime Beef Tartare, Pizzeta ）味道更是令人失望的。
  
  可能米芝蓮人來吃，會有不同的表現或招呼，強如Caprice，在招待一般客人，也會失之交臂。吃過這一晚，我覺得在香港這裡也可以是CÉPAGE的級數。但如果在外國，就算是東京或大板而言，是應該不能擠身頂級之列。

  • How much did you spend?
    1300
  • Overall Rating
    OK
  • Food 4
  • Service 8
  • Ambiance 8
  • Price 2

• 

  Ordinary

  EdEats | Jun 20 2010

  It seemed befitting that a pre-Sex & the City 2 dinner should be the kind the Carrie and Mr. Big are used to. So reservations at The French Window were made.
  
  It was my first time, and the transformation from Lumiere, a noisier place blending Sichuan and Brazilian drinks and food, to The French Window, a much quieter ambience but still with great views of the harbor, was pretty impressive. And traversing the long, dark corridor to get in lent some sense of arrival, since the restaurant is in a mall, albeit a fancy upmarket one.
  
  Service was trained, friendly but not impeccable. The switch from Cantonese to English and back was a little odd. Perhaps it was us, since our table spoke both interchangeably. And sometimes, the interruption of table conversation wasn't all too smooth.
  
  
  
  The bread basket or glass in this case was an impressive start. We tried virtually every single variety and liked to loved all of them. The cheese/onion twist and wheat baguettes were both particularly impressive.
  
  
  
  Of our amuse bouche trio, we liked the mushroom cappuccino best. Not overly creamy, with a aromatic fragrance of the mushrooms coming through clearly but not pungently so. We sipped every last bit from the tiny glass. The other 2 - salmon terrine and liver mouse crostini were passable but ordinary.
  
  
  
  The pan-seared foie gras with rhubarb and carrot confit, xeres sauce was delicious. Well seared to a crisp on the outside to seal the creaminess within. While the sauce was good, I didn't think the rhubarb and carrot combo worked. One was way too tart, and the other was a little too blah to lend itself to anything. The innovation didn't work for me and they would have done well to stick to something safer like apricots to do the piece of liver justice.
  
  
  
  The seasonal fish, Bouillabaise style was a nice variety of snapper, sea bream, seared scallop and shrimp with potatoes and carrots. The fish stew (not poured in picture yet) was full of sea-goodness although not amazing - I've had better. Snapper was very well done although the same could not be said for the sea bream, which was a little overcooked and fishy. Overall, not bad if eaten with the stew but the seafood on its own could have been fresher. Especially with my recent experience at Gattopardo (http://edeats.blogspot.com/2010/05/singapore-gattopardo.html), the Bouillabaise here definitely paled in comparison.
  
  
  
  The other main course which I tried was the M9 Wagyu tenderloin, stuffed tomatoes, ratatouille, vinegar sauce was again, good but not great. The cut of beef was not well marbled and the separation of beef and fat was too obvious, making some parts tough and others too greasy. A little disappointing especially for the price. A similarly priced dish at Steik World Meats (http://edeats.blogspot.com/2010/04/hong-kong-steik-world-meats.html) got me a much better cut and taste. The accompanying stuffed tomatoes with ratatouille in vinegar sauce was also too blah.
  
  Overall, a decent enough ambience to take business partners or dates, but it won't be a place I'd be rushing back to soon. For the price, there are better food options. Even the same Miramar Group's Whisk (http://edeats.blogspot.com/2010/03/hong-kong-whisk.html) at the Mira Hotel, I thought, was way better value and taste. We weren't inspired enough to have dessert but if the petit fours were anything to go by, we may not have missed much.
  
  For the original post, visit edeats.blogspot.com

  • How much did you spend?
    $850 per person
  • Overall Rating
    OK
  • Food 7
  • Service 7
  • Ambiance 8
  • Price 5

• 

  Delicious!

  Princess | Feb 4 2010

  Service - not good enough!
  
  Atmosphere - the dining area is a long way from the entrance at ifc so one walks through a corridor before reaching the table. The carpet and the wooden panels on the walls are too out of place. The wooden panels give the feeling of a farm house, and this is certainly no farm house. The other walls are too bare and look undone. Private room at the back looks great for large groups though. At lunch the view is nice but doesn't match the setting of the restaurant. Should be better at dinner.
  
  Food - delicious and top notch presentation. Pumpkin soup was a bit sloppy to drink because of the use of the cognac glass but that also keeps it warm. Tremendous steak tartar. The lamb was tender and flavorful.

  • How much did you spend?
    700
  • Overall Rating
    Good
  • Food 8
  • Service 6
  • Ambiance 7
  • Price 5

• 

  Needs more promotion

  Birdie Golf | Jan 15 2010

  We went on the second day they opened - Dec 7th and tried the five course Dégustation menu ($780). $600 extra adds wine paired with each course, but we opted for bringing our own bottle - paying $350 corkage.
  
  The grilled scallop with cep mushroom was very fresh and juicy, but the most impressive was the pan seared lamb. Served inside a hollow wire tube of Maxim's potatoes, the presentation was stunning.
  
  Food was excellent, no real teething problems, but surprisingly the restaurant was quite empty. As a part of the Miramar Group, they should be very experienced in promoting such a venue. Hope that this will improve over time...soon.
  
  More details and photos at http://birdiegolfblog.com/review-the-french-window-hong-kong/

  • How much did you spend?
    ~$1,000/person
  • Food 9
  • Service 8
  • Ambiance 8
  • Price 1

• 

  Early Days

  foodieben | Dec 30 2009

  Only just opened and still finding its feet, would be my view of French Window. The signature lamb dish was excellent, the beef carpaccio indulgent and delish. The rest of the dishes OK. Beautiful decor, good wine list.

  • How much did you spend?
    1, 500
  • Food 7
  • Service 7
  • Ambiance 8
  • Price 4

• 

  frosty window

  Peech | Dec 28 2009

  The amuse bouche was served before we sat down for dinner. I believe it was French ham that was very fatty and yummy - I was too busy chatting with friends as the waiter was mumbling something.
  
  Beef carpaccio rossigny - very thin layers of foie gras were staggered between the beef, and everything was just oh-my-gawd-it-melted-in-my-mouth... Was it beef that I just ate? Coz it was so buttery I thought it was pata negra... A very, very good start to the meal.
  
  Potato tower, black truffle - classic combo of creamy mashed potato with the amazing fragrance of black truffles and truffle oil. The shells of the towers were done very nicely. This is one dish that makes me want to have lots of mash...and that doesn't happen very often.
  
  Creamy polenta, black trumpets - not that I'm complaining but... isn't this a little similar to the one we had just finished? Anyway, the polenta was super creamy and runny, and very, very delishhh. I wasted no time lapping it up, and would have picked up the plate to lick the bottom clean had I been in different company. After all, we were in the private room and out of view of the public...
  
  Roasted pigeon, beetroot confit, spiced red wine sauce - I think this is actually à la royale. The flavors were certainly very heavy, with lots of spices typical of the winter season. The pigeon meat that was stuffed into the skin was done very nicely - still red in the center and juicy. But I think the spices were a bit too much for me and I struggled to finish the meat. I was more than happy to take the bite-sized beetroot, though.
  
  Cheese selection : aged Comté, Brebis des Pyrénées - the Comté was pretty young and tasted fresh with sweet grass flavors. The Brebis was actually pretty hard.
  
  While I thought the meal in general was pretty good, and liked just about everything I had on our special menu, the story was quite different outside. A few of the wives of MNSC members decided to come and have dinner in the main dining, ordering à la carte. They were less than impressed with the food. I did have a bite of the steak tartare and didn't think very much of it.
  
  Worst of all, the staff was apparently rude to the wives. When one of them tried to choose a selection from the cheese trolley, one waiter apparently barked and told her she could only choose a maximum of three. WTF?! When was the last time a top-tier (or pretending to me top-tier) restaurant tried to be cheap with me on the cheese? Most places would only be too happy for me to take a bit of everything. You won't find me returning with this kind of attitude.
  
  original blogpost with pictures and wine notes: http://chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com/2009/12/frosty-window.html

  • How much did you spend?
    2000+
  • Food 8
  • Service 6
  • Ambiance 8
  • Price 5