Peter Verey

Lung King Heen is renowned for their dim sum but I must admit I haven’t been there for lunch for around a decade . In any case with evening seating infinitely easier to book I thought I would give dinner a try .

First things first is the service , easily the friendliest and best service I have had in a Cantonese restaurant in HK. Smooth, assured and very confident FOH team . Hats off …

As for the food , played it very conservatively with the ordering so didn’t really given the kitchen a chance to wow, but everything that did arrive hit the spot .

First , excellent suckling pig skin which really elevated when lightly dipped in sugar , it’s not a move I usually prefer but in this case the pork and sugar was truly a 1+1=3 scenario .

Stir fried pork belly with loofah and black fungus was a very tasty stir fry, the belly thinly sliced and overall the dish had terrific textures.

Roast chicken was kindly deboned and very well cooked , it did lack some of the fatty lusciousness you can find in local NT chicken but I suggest that was by design.

A veggie dish to wrap things up with braised tofu and morels being a soignee combo .

Nice to have a chilled dessert on a hot night , coconut cream with aloe Vera and green bean . Hella refreshing. Less

@cailbruich is headed up by Lorna McNee , the first female chef to obtain a Michelin ⭐️ in Scotland .

tuna tartare, Isle of Wight tomato , perthshire strawberry, elderflower - this is a brilliant start to the meal , fresh and floral , the dish is dominated by the tomato and strawberry broth, the tuna adds texture and mouthfeel , an excellent combination.

west coast lobster, carrot XO - lobster meat and bisque combined with a carrot XO sauce , enjoyed the XO , nice touch

hand-rolled cavatelli pasta
hen of the woods, peas, black summer truffle

Just not a fan of summer truffles , they don’t bring much to this dish , this one felt like a bit of misstep , too similar to a midweek mushroom pasta that you may whip up at home . It killed the momentum of the menu .

peterhead cod
courgette, clams, hispi cabbage, dashi

Nicely poached cod , salty clams , really enjoyed the dashi which was flavoured with vanilla and lemongrass

vendée heritage poussin
alsace bacon, baby gem caesar, jus gras

The poussin came with a farce of poussin trim and lardo, once again the sauce stole the show with an amalgamation of two jus gras ( a light one with lemon thyme and a dark one with apple cider )

cashel blue
apple tarte fine, apricot, frangipane

Lovely cheese but the tarte fine was a little lost

lavender honey
lemon, bergamot, olive oil

This one is a cracking dessert , balanced flavours, honey not overly sweet and beautiful presentation

valrhona caraibe 66% chocolate dulcey, vanilla, praline

Final dessert also terrific, a take on a snickers is not new but this one focused on the caramel notes more so than chocolate. Less

Glasgow has two ⭐️ Michelin restaurants, and I was super impressed with the Chefs table experience @unalomebygc last night .

Contemporary food with a backbone of French sauces, all well crafted , and service from FOH and the chefs was terrific .

Cured Royal bream , avocado , horseradish , sorrel and sea lettuce sauce started off the 9 course meal , this was vibrant and acidic and matched with a terrific finger lakes Riesling , a buzzy first dish that hit the mark

Scarlet prawn - raw and in kataifi pastry , with Isle of Wight tomatoes , dashi custard, prawn consommé
was a good transition towards heavier dishes , the consommé and fried pastry is well matched .

Chargrilled Langoustine with
Miso Hollandaise - Buckwheat - Egg Yolk- the caramelised Miso and buckwheat crisp really tie this dish together , echoing the char on the langoustine .

Roasted Veal Sweetbread , Asparagus
Girolles - Walnut - Vin Juane

This one is a certified banger , beautifully cooked sweetbread , absolutely luscious sauce , matched with a quality aged sherry , this dish is a core memory .

John Dory is topped with a light scallop and crab curried mousse , Fennel - Green Asparagus - Brown Butter. Not a show stopper but a nice balanced plate .

Saddle of roe deer , Beetroot - Raspberry - Confit Potato, sauce bordelaise . Found the raspberry ketchup overly sweet and powerful but the Sauce bordelaise was terrific .

An excellent primarily British cheese board followed, had a terrific salty goat cheese , a blue made by the bass guitarist from Blur , and a cheddar made from the milk of only 4 cows .

Strawberry mousse , rhubarb and rose parfait was light and bright .

As was the Lime parfait and pistachio-
Oakchurch Farm Raspberries - Mint finale , however both desserts were plated similarly and shared many textures making it hard for them to stand out . Less

Enjoyed @restaurant_alliance when I visited in 2022 so was keen to get back , delicate and well executed dishes where vegetables tend to drive the flavour profile .

A pea/creme fraiche and caviar tart got things off to a clean start , peas are on every menu right now and they are terrific .

Langoustine was engulfed with a kohlrabi mousse of terrific structure with strands of shiso leaf .

White asparagus had some very unlikely plate mates but this combination was terrific . Asparagus , almonds , dried apricot and passion fruit sauce . I expected the sauce to be very sweet but it was only just perfumed with passion fruit . Creative and successful dish

John Dory and celeriac are great match , with a little chive and samphire garnish for piquancy.

One of the best Foie Gras dishes that I can remember having followed , foie gras , turnip ,chive and duck broth. Soft and comforting and amazingly light .

A well cooked pigeon breast was simply complimented by cabbage and pigeon jus. Classic

A small cheese board was a nice side step on the way to dessert .

Finally a Croustillant , ganache and sorbet of chocolate wrapped up a lovely meal . Less

Lucas Carton was one of the iconic addresses in French gastronomy when the late Alain Sederens helmed the restaurant from 1985 to 2013 . He was the first chef to offer a wine pairing , he trained and influenced current 3 Michelin star icons Alain Passard and Christian Le Squer and late in his tenure he eschewed luxury ingredients instead preferring to make magic from humble produce , he was ground breaking in many respects .

These days Lucas Carton is owned by the Pommery champagne house and Chef Hugo Bourny is on the right track towards restoring the restaurant’s prestige standing .

The meal started with a bright and textural Langoustine carpaccio, smoked cream, bergamot gel , tapioca crisp and oscetra caviar . A nice dish where every ingredient played its role .

Leek was the star of the 2nd course , it appeared as caramelised, puréed and as a broth. Raw sea bream and a hint of ginger were the only complimentary additions.

Monkfish loin was lightly smoked then aged for 5 days before getting a quick sear , a moat of hawthorn and miso broth and a lively cabbage and horseradish slaw assured this was a light dish where once again every flavour profile stood out .

My favourite course was beef tenderloin which had been cured in Konbu and Bonito flakes , this semi cooked the protein and if only needed a little more heat to reach a rare but firm texture , akin to perfectly cooked pigeon . It was an intriguing and well executed preparation . Alongside was celeriac purée and sea bean bearnaise .

A dessert with various textures of grapefruit accented with kerala peppercorns rounded out a very pleasing lunch Less

Revisiting a restaurant where you have had previously had an outstanding meal can be a little nerve wracking , if the experience doesn’t match your memories you can feel disappointed.
Thankfully this has little chance of occurring with return visits to @bruno_verjus Table restaurant .

Great produce , cerebral flavour combinations, terrific cuisson , it’s a case study of refined simplicity, oh and the work of the saucier is phenomenal!

Every meal starts with “Le couleur du Jour “ , an artistic composition of the days best vegetables. Beetroot was humming today , and also loved the okra .

A trio of seafood bites follows, an Utah beach oyster paired with wild herbs, Whelks with ginger and turmeric, and my favourite a tart shell filled with taramasalata and clams .

A handsome asparagus spear is served with a quenelle of caviar and all that is left to do is to spike it into the vivid green seaweed moussayon.

Vol- au - Vent gets pimped up with langoustine, morels and white asparagus , classics do shine !

The signature lobster was perhaps better this time than previously, raw lobster is bathed with a butter perfumed with roast lobster shells , this neither cooks nor leaves the lobster completely raw, it’s a culinary limbo which results on a very tender and beautiful product, little bursts of artichoke contrast beautifully with the sweet crustacean.

A soup duo maintains the harmony , eggplant with brown butter and herb soup .

Turbot is gently roasted, and served with an astonishing sauce made from grey shrimp and langoustine shells.

Guinea fowl is paired with morels , spinach and another terrific jus . It’s the kind of jus where you may think the reduction has been taken too far , yet it’s delightfully sticky and compliments the dish perfectly.

Cheese from Bernard Antony is served with a beautifully dressed green salad , and paired with a terrific house vermouth suggested by super somm Agnese Morandi.

A quartet of bites for dessert , the star is the tart that is being copied all over the world , chocolate, caper, caviar . A perfect praline ice cream, a sweet strawberry and pea tart and finally an excellent olive oil madeleine.

A memorable night ! Less

I have cooked from Jean Francois Piege cookbooks for the last 15 years but last night was the first occasion to actually eat his food .
Chef Piege has held Michelin ⭐️ ⭐️ for the last 19 years across 3 different restaurants and is also a judge on France ‘s Top Chef ( way better than the US version) .
4 tasting menus are available, all themed around a Tour of France with each dish created with ingredients from a single region.
Dishes was generally quite light but some bitter notes and aggressive combinations meant the food was certainly not shy .

After a series of amuses , we kicked off with Dandelion ravioli with a bouillon of dandelion stems and roots, this was the first example of bitter notes dominant in the sauce , the ravioli had terrific texture and some sweetness. Bold start .

White asparagus was prepared with a buckwheat zabaglione and sea bass bottarga , the asparagus was barely cooked with plenty of crunch remaining, this again gave slightly bitter vegetal notes .

A great lobster dish followed, garnished with cauliflower, seaweed and a green tea sauce . The seaweed stole the show with that comforting deep saline flavour .

The bread course was a chick pea pie , with a whipped preparation named Fontainebleau ( an unsweetened Chantilly) which was delicious .

A puck of wild sea bass is well cooked and perfumed with a powder made of dehydrated aged fish skin . A vivid green caper leaf sauce was my favourite sauce of the meal .

A visit to the kitchen followed to have a chat to Chef Piege and to have a delicious bite of chilled caramelised Roscoff onion and Grossane olive paste , this combination absolutely melted on the palate .

A well cooked chicken breast came served with a “salinity of Tuna” sauce which was once again very bold in flavour , various vegetable preparations gave the dish balance .

A great duo of Brie , including two year aged brown Brie followed and set us up for dessert .

The highlight of which was a lovely classical Blanc a manger - a signature dish here . Less

Founded in 1902 as a companion establishment to the permanent Circus venue next door , @leclownbar rose to prominence in the last decade , on the back of the skills of 2 terrific Asian chefs . Initially Sota Atsumi generated a ton of buzz and 4 years ago the baton was passed to Korean chef Jung Yonghoon and it remains an essential place to visit in Paris.

Bistronomie and natural wine is a great duo, the wine list is diverse with around 340 options. The food is ultra satisfying and the vibe is terrific in a small space with a blend of tourists and locals with plenty of character.

Started off with juicy white asparagus , cress and caviar - simple preparation but having asparagus served near the source rather than being transported to Asia really shone through here .

The Veal Sweetbreads is a Clown bar signature , served with a smoked eel sauce and morels , this is a beautiful dish . This did however confirm my suspicion that Yunnan morels are superior to their French relatives which was pretty interesting.

A lovely cheese plate to round out the wine and the meal , a great start to a fortnight in Paris . Less

A very pleasant seasonal menu at Pearl Dragon which touched on the main Cantonese ingredients, techniques and condiments without reinventing the wheel .

Dish of the day was Steamed yellow croaker with a fragrant scallion and ginger paste , morels stuffed with shrimp and brown rice sheets . All perfectly balanced .

Meal kicked off with the ubiquitous trio of appetisers , favourite of which was the drunken Botan ebi in Hua Diao wine , this dish really popped .

A lovely double boiled quail soup had excellent seasoning and depth of flavour .

Wagyu beef with onion and black garlic is on most fine dining menus in town and this was fine , it’s just not a dish that really excites .
This was served in tandem with steamed chicken on steamed spinach and chicken broth , very simple and this dish was faultless and satisfying.

Carbs entered the arena with spinach noodles served alongside Boston lobster in black bean sauce , the stir fry was very good but not sure if it really complimented the noodles .

Dessert ended things on a very high note , a carved organic pumpkin was the best for an excellent milk pudding with black truffle . Carving out some of the pumpkin with each spoonful of pudding made for a terrific pairing . Less

Weekend brunch at Louise is a fun and fairly festive affair .
The free range NT Roast chicken is the star of the show , juicy with tasty yellow fat and very tasty skin , it also carries the hallmark rotisserie flavour profile ( there should be a name for this like there is for wok hei ).
It’s served with a green salad and Japanese rice claypot enriched with chicken skin and chives .

Prior to this the meal starts with a generous quintet of starters . A fresh pea and avocado soup with horseradish cream, Croque Louise - a decadent take on the Croque Monsieur , an excellent pork terrine punctured with foie gras , thick slices of smoked trout on blini , the only letdown was a lobster roll where the lobster was barely visible to the eye or the tastebuds with spiked mayo being the only discernible flavour .

The middle course is one the house signatures, cold angel hair pasta with seaweed , black truffle and caviar . The caviar adds saltiness to offset the umami but I would have liked an additional note of acid .

Dessert on this occasion is a family style serving of Ile Flottante with a choice of custard and toppings , perfectly fine , just happens to be my least preferred traditional French dessert . Less