Lobster Bar & Grill at Shangri-la Hong Kong

(SWIPE FOR MORE PICS) Before @carydocherty took charge of Lobster Bar, it was almost a forgotten brand and not on the radar of any serious local foodies.

But Cary has successful revived the restaurant by improving on different aspects, from the menu items to small details such as the bread basket and butter (see the last 3 pics for after and before)

He brought back many British classic dishes and also continuously added some new creations.

Now Lobster Bar is always full house especially at lunch, customers who follow food scene closely or just a family out from brunch.

Chefs like Cary are really role models for young chefs these days. He doesn’t make food that will get him to Michelin or 50 Best. He makes food that is purely tasty with no BS and no gimmick. He cooks food that everybody wants to eat because it is delicious and everyone comes out happy. And his food is made with lots of passion, years of practice that perfect the recipes.

I wrote in my story the other day, I really hope young chefs can focus on elevating their cooking skills and improving their food rather than doing noisy PR. Show more respect to the kitchen which includes utensils, knives, tablewares etc; wear proper clothes as attire is part of chef’s pride; obviously respect people who work for you or work with you as well as every customer who walks in to the restaurant. Please let your food speak for yourself, not your flamboyance, so people will take you seriously. And Cary is exactly the kind of chef with food that speaks loud with pride

#littlemeg_best2021 #littlemeg_best2020
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#littlemeg_hk #littlemeg_lobsterbarHK #lobsterbarhk #food #lobsterbar #foodstagram #foodies #foodpics #instafood #instagramers #yummy #amazing #gourmet #iphonesia #photooftheday #bestoftheday #igdaily #theartofplating #gastronogram #gastroart @theartofplating @gastroart @gastronogram #gourmeffe @gourmeffe @lobsterbarhk #chef #pride #delicious #food #noBS Less

Some of the other appetizers I had at Lobster Bar before: Pic 1: Cured Salmon - Citrus cured salmon, ratte potato, pickled shallots, croutons, preserved lemon, herb emulsion, citrus dressing

Pic 2-4: Crab toast (posted before) and Mushroom toast - braised morels, beef dripping toasted brioche, mushroom purée, honey puree, pesto

Pic 5: Asparagus with grapefruit hollandaise

Awesome array of the classics but elevated, both in the execution and in the ways that Cary adding his own touches. You will be impressed by how he treats all these common ingredients. Definitely not just like everywhere else 😍😍😍

#littlemeg_best2021 #littlemeg_best2020
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#littlemeg_hk #littlemeg_lobsterbarHK #lobsterbarhk #food #lobsterbar #foodstagram #foodies #foodpics #instafood #instagramers #yummy #amazing #gourmet #iphonesia #photooftheday #bestoftheday #igdaily #theartofplating #gastronogram #gastroart @theartofplating @gastroart @gastronogram #gourmeffe @gourmeffe @lobsterbarhk @islandshangrila #crab #mayo #toast#caviar #mushroom #salmon #asparagus Less

(SWIPE FOR MORE PICS) Lobster and Sweetbread Vol Au Vent @[instagram] Lobster Bar, Hong Kong.
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If you know me you know I love all sorts of savory and sweet pastry creations - pithivier, tourte, en croûte, any pies. How could I resist when I saw @carydocherty ‘s stories on this lobster and sweetbread vol au vent, which also had one of my favorite offals, sweetbreads?

Poached lobster and sweetbreads pan fried in foaming butter with thyme and garlic piled on top of a mountain of vegetables and morel mushrooms filled inside the puff pastry box.

A Nantua sauce using lobster instead of crayfish and less cream than the traditional version was poured table side. We were lucky enough to have this before the black truffle season ended, and it was further elevated with a generous blanket of black truffle shaving. 🤯🤯🤯 It is definitely my type of most decadent food.

You can hear the shattering sound every time when the knife hits the pastry. 🤯

I realize food at this level of deliciousness does not come any easy when Cary explained the dish to me. Besides lobster and sweetbreads, each of the vegetables need to be cooked individually : carrots and baby artichokes (separately) are cooked sous vide with chicken stock, butter, salt, thyme and garlic, and pan fried to serve.

Those super delicious morels probably take the most time and effort. They are first pan fried and reduced with white wine until dry; then chicken stock is added, reduced until dry, and repeated several times until the mushrooms are tender, then a touch of beef jus and a few dashes of Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar followed by butter and shallot confit. Phew〜

Cary may add wild garlic and sugar snap peas at the end, getting the essence of the garlic and keeping the crunchiness of the peas.

When he was describing these to me, he mentioned with a sense of nostalgia that the morel cookery was taught by Chef @chefclaresmyth in the past at Gordon Ramsay in London.

This is serious french cooking at the finest level :pastry, sauce, seafood, offals, vegetables and mushroom - my favorite dish by Cary with a heavenly and sinful taste (I already had this 5 times 😌) Less