I would like to call Private Kitchen as Below-the-Line restaurants, because most of them are running well based on the clients' recommendation in their own networks. Normally those restaurants have very limited seats; they don't expect a crowd and they do reservation only. It might be the bad news to the eaters who are always craving good dining concepts.
Want to try private kitchen?
Here you go, one of 'below-the-line' restaurants in Causeway.
Dining environment, atmosphere and overall service paired with the cuisine the private kitchen restaurant has, is quite important when we are selecting a good one. Les Saveurs, simply by the name, you know it's French cuisine. Small entrance, very hidden location in a commercial building, is my first impression of it. Then I was impressed a lot by their very-French decoration on the dining table, romantic candles and flowers everywhere and the night-view of busy traffic in Causeway Bay with a layer of water drops on the window.
They have a open kitchen separated as cold and hot cooking working stations. The Chef, Eric, came back from French cooking study and was working for some high-end hotel restaurants in Hong Kong, such as Amber. French cuisine in an Asian innovation with right ingredients in a reasonable cost, is the basic idea of Les Saveurs. There are three private rooms for reservation, both lunch and dinner, and even to go by your own is served well by the 'kitchen' team. Most of the clients are serving with the set Lunch & Dinner menu which will be adjusted every month with the seasonal ingredients available in the market. Of course, you can raise personal preference or requirement upon your reservation placement, and that is exactly the advantage of dining in a private kitchen.
The Bread Basket and Welcome Appetizer was quite rich. We had normal French baguette, soft milky bun and basil bread; among the three I liked little bun the most for its softness, freshness and milky flavor, while baguette is too soft.
Scallop Carpaccio
Hokkaido Scallop carpaccio, celery fennel cucumber, passion fruit & lime dressing.
It wooed us by its pure white looking, while I would suggest plate in another color. Back to the taste, the smooth scallop was just slipping into my throat, leaving its light sweetness and sea aroma on my tongue. The dressing of herbs was perfectly matching to the seafood taste for an earthy balance, while I would expect more fruity and freshness from passion fruit and lime.
Fresh smoked salmon
42°C fresh smoked salmon, smoked caviar, cucumber apple salad, pistou
This is the only dish that Les Saveurs keeps on the menu all the time. The signature dish impressed us since it showed up with a full dome of smoke. Inside, there was a round thick piece of orange smoked salmon sliced beautifully with light fat strips, which turned out to be very tender and fatty in taste. Normal French caviar was used for dressing up the fresh salmon with a little smoky flavor instead of overtaking it.
Mushroom Tea
Mushroom consomme, Poached morel porcini, spinach
Throughout the whole set dinner menu, it is the only dish in Asian culinary way. French and Asian mushroom are both taken for the 'Tea' while the presentation and flavoring is more Japanese. The taste, in general, is not outstanding in my memory.
Roasted Pigeon
Roasted pigeon breast & confit leg, spinach, cherry, hazelnut oil salad
A traditional and popular French dish cooked in two ways with different parts of pigeon. 68° slow-cooked pigeon leg was definitely mouth-moisturising in its savory juicy way. I could tell the slight sweet taste hidden in the thin slices of pigeon leg. Pigeon breast was pan-fried which without the comparison to the slow-cooked pigeon leg, I would be over-satisfied.
ilberico pork rack
Roasted Pork Rack, potato gnocchi blue cheese cream sauce, cherry tomato confit port wine sauce
Using Spanish iberico pork, sliced with middle-thickness and roasted to just maple brown on the edge. To me, the almond-shape cheese ball was much more flavorsome, for its elastic and cheesy texture with a balanced sweetness and sourness in taste.
Almond panna cotta
Almond panna cotta mango pure, roaster almond yuzu sorbet
Coming to the dessert, they offered a very-summer sweet with yuzu sorbet which immediately freshened our mouth. It was like a two-tier dessert; firstly taking out the after-taste of main courses with fresh sorbet, then leading you to the creamier and sweeter dessert with mango pure and creamier panna cotta (Italian dessert made with double cream).
France cheese platter ($88 extra per person)
7 different cheese and condiments
From harder & lighter to softer & stronger, we were taking cheeses in a Z-line. Among the first 3 hard cheeses, I loved the 3rd one more for its firmer and slightly smoked flavor. However, those lovely melting cheeses were my 'true love'. I was quite enjoying the last two cheeses, both of them in a beautiful green and blue 'prints'.
Coffee or Tea
Not a British dinner in Western Cuisine, we were exceptionally having tea that time instead of a cup of digest-coffee. Why? It was the red box of 'Comptoir Francais du Thé'. What I choose, was 'African Dream' with a rich floral flavor and a little tropical fruity.
* $788 per person plus 10% service charge
* Lunch & Dinner Reservation Only
HSBC Credit Card Promotion: A complimentary house red or white wine valued $88 upon spending on dinner set menu per bill.
10/F, Universal House
229-230 Gloucester Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
+852 2116 8883
Booking@LesSav.com
Tue to Sun. 11.30am - 11.30pm
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Les Saveurs Private Kitchen
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