Chef @chefvickycheng had been the hottest name in HK F&B for a while now , even when I visited Paris earlier this year Bruno Verjus was absolutely raving about him .
So I was well overdue for a first taste of his food , rather than kick things off at Wing , I thought starting at Vea would be a good introduction.
A very impressive meal it was , the dance of Chinese and French ingredients and techniques interplayed beautifully , every dish was thoughtful and delicious . Love the restaurant long counter set up as well .
The first dish of the night may have been my favourite.
Shima Aji and cucumber were both served as carpaccio and tartare , and dressed with longan juice and chive oil . Savoury and sweet , this reminded me of childhood cold cucumber soup , absolutely visually striking as well .
Brittany blue lobster was touched with only a whisper of heat , and combined with local squid , snap peas and snow cabbage , terrific again .
Sea cucumber is stuffed with a Tiger prawn farce but thankfully the farce keeps a lot of texture , served with a light crustacean broth and then augmented with sprays of aged yellow wine . This one hits all the senses .
A surprisingly thick cross section of Rough Scale Flounder was topped with a stuffed zucchini flower ( miss seeing this on menus ) , and served with tiny Bo-Kak mussels , these little seasonal gems are barely the size of a pinky nail but they make their presence felt !
Before the main course , a little comfort food . Yunnan matsutake mushrooms are prepared in a variety of textures and well matched to congee .
French pigeon is perfectly grilled and paired with carrot, apricot and five spice , all these flavour profiles are firm friends . Bulletproof dish .
We ease into dessert with a simply stunning piece of fruit , end of season Nagano peach is the floral sweet flavour that you wish all peaches would be , simply served with a dollop of jasmine infused cream , the dual floral notes soothe and inspire.
Final course is a petit bateau of Tarte Tatin camouflaged by fresh slices of Granny Smith apples .
Accompanied with burrata ice cream as well as apple and Chinese celery ice cream.
Terrific meal !!
