A Cristal clear evening

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It has been months since that relaxing Friday lunch at Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic, and once again an invitation came from B Bestie - for dinner this time. The vibe would be totally different at night, and with memories of how the room is decorated, I worried whether my camera would get enough light in the romantic setting to deliver good photos.

I need not have worried. The restaurant has these light stands ready to make sure diners can see what they're eating, and for anyone wanting to showcase the dishes on social media to have all the help they need.

Different kind of Night Vibes

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Monsieur Jamin has been talking about doing a massive Champagne night, which he decided to call 夜檳紛 after the laughable campaign Night Vibes Hong Kong (香港夜繽紛) by the Hong Kong government. Our friend had amassed a collection of Champagne which are rare by virtue of their small productions, and being the teetotaler that he is, needed a few more mouths to be able to taste through the collection. I requested Mrs Film Buff's attendance so that Foursheets would have someone to talk to during the long session, and eventually we grew to a group of 13.

Dinner arrangements were made at Tempura Tenon (天ぷら 天穩), a place whose cuisine a few friends had praised for some time. I have been really curious, as Chef Wing's work at his former establishment also got great reviews from friends. There is, of course, a dearth of decent tempura restaurants in Hong Kong, and I have long given up hope of having nice tempura in town. So I was kinda excited about the food at dinner.

Cold chawanmushi (冷やし茶碗蒸し) - the custard was actually made with corn, together with both white and yellow corn on top. Very sweet and refreshing.

The preview

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I had been helping Ms. Hurricane plan her big party, as she needed an "in" with Restaurant Petrus. Well... The Chef Who Tries to Kill Me always whines that I don't love him, that I only love Hairy Legs... blah blah... so I took the opportunity to introduce Ms. Hurricane to him. It is totally reasonable that my friend needed a "taste test" before committing to hosting her big party at the restaurant, so we came for a preview tonight.

I was the first to be seated, and since my lunch wasn't that filling, I had arrived with stomach growling. I mentioned to The Chef Who Tries to Kill Me that "I hesitate to tell you that I'm hungry..." because, well, saying those things in his presence has consequences. I also advised him to keep things reasonable on account of my friend, and he promised to "let us off easy."

I was pleasantly surprised to see Nicolas in the house, as he had just joined the team mere weeks earlier. I felt instantly at ease having a familiar face look after us.

Most of the dishes tonight would come from the current "Summer Dinner" menu, with the addition of a special dish designed to match the wines which would be opened at the upcoming party. I was brimming with excitement and couldn't wait for the food to arrive.

We started with a series of nibbles:

Truffle and beef tartare tart - we've got some acidity with the tartare along with some crunchy shallots. I could taste the umami and flavors of the sea from the tart shell thanks to the presence of kelp.

Don't let them decant your wine

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The Compatriot is making a rare overnight stop in town so he could have dinner with me, and asked for Cantonese food. We could hit one of our regular haunts for that, but I decided to try something different. Having been stuffed with lots of goodies at a lunch organized by a VVIP last year, I have been wanting to return to Flower Drum (鋒膳) on my own. I finally got around to that tonight.

My friend wanted to try more dishes, so we opted for the Omakase menu. Not the more expensive one, because that includes shark's fin that I wouldn't touch. Yesterday I saw the boss put up a post on social media about a special dish, and I was hoping that it would show up on our menu tonight.

We start with antipasto platter (三喜碟), which wasn't actually a platter but three different starters:

South African abalone with Bannou negi (南非鮑魚配萬能蔥) - the chilled abalone was fine, and came with some condiment that seemed to resemble 薑蓉, except in addition to spring onions, ginger, and sesame oil there were also fine bits of Chinese ham. The sauce made with Bannou negi (万能ねぎ) purée, though, was not that great as it left a bitter aftertaste.

Metropol memories

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I'm overcome with sadness. After 35 years, our friend's family has made the difficult decision to close down Metropol Restaurant (名都酒樓). While business has recovered from the tough years of 2019 through the Covid pandemic, the family is sitting on unrealized gains on the restaurant space and that math just ain't gonna get better. The restaurant's coming closure before the end of September has been announced, and owners and staff can be proud of the institution that together they have built - hence the use of the term 光榮結業.

While I cannot pinpoint the exact date I first dined here, it would probably have been within the first week or two of me arriving in Hong Kong at the end of May 1995. My office was in Pacific Place then, and it was a regular affair to go to lunch at Metropol whenever visitors from other offices arrived in Hong Kong. What I didn't realize until years later is that the restaurant - part of the Heichinrou (聘珍樓) group which started in Yokohama more than 140 years ago - is owned by the family of an alumnus of my high school in Tokyo.

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The space is large, able to host banquets of 100 tables with at least 10 diners per table. Lunch here is alwas a boisterous affair, as the place would be buzzing for a few hours - building up gradually from 8 a.m. when their breakfast service begins. For our visitors from outside Hong Kong, it's a real culture shock and quite an experience.