Krug x Mushroom burger

Last month when I was invited to an evening showcasing this year's Krug x Mushroom pairing, one of the things I tasted was the mushroom burger at Beef and Liberty.  At the time we were given a list of promotional dishes, pricing, and schedule.  The program for Beef and Liberty wasn't due to start for another month, so I had to patiently wait until I returned from Korea.

The promotion actually started last night, but since I was out for a wine dinner I couldn't reschedule, tonight was the earliest opportunity for me to take advantage of the offer.  And since Uwe is an old friend, I was gonna do what I can to support him.  So Hello Kitty and I booked ourselves a table, and pre-booked the Champagne and burger combo.

We start with some padron peppers first.  These are always fun to eat, since it's kinda like playing Russian roulette but with less severe consequences.  None of these were spicy tonight...

We were then ready for the main event.  For the low, low price of HKD 1,388, one can get a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée plus two mushroom and truffle burgers.  As anyone who knows the retail price of Krug Grande Cuvée will tell you, that's a damn good bargain!

Once again I got to bite into a burger made with porcini, maitake, and truffle. We also had French duck, a pan-fried duck egg with runny yolk, crispy crackling, and hollandaise sauce. Tonight, however, the execution was a little off in the kitchen.  The shrooms weren't seasoned so they tasted a little bland.  It's not often that I reach for the salt shaker, but I felt it was necessary tonight.

The other problem was that the burger just got too messy to eat.  As tasty as it was, the pieces of mushroom slipped out from between the two halves of the bun a little too easily.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 164éme édition - the new edition has just been released recently.  This was leaner, more austere, less rounded and ripe, with higher acidity compared to the 163éme.  Usually Krug GC is my preferred Krug on any given day, but I must say I'm not a fan of this one... yet.