Café Causette

Date: 18th Sep 2010

Cafe Causette @ Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong 

Cafe Causette has been on my wish-list for some time. I've been wanting to visit for their a la carte menu (only been here for tea), and to my luck my mother was in Central for lunch. 

Upon ordering, a fresh and very warm sour dough was promptly served, and I loved it. Crusty and crunchy exterior, hot and extremely soft inside....lovely! 

Cafe Causette has a pretty extensive international menu, with so many things I wanted to try.... Finally, the three of us decided on the following. 

Hainan Chicken Rice (breast or thigh available) $208

Chicken breast sitting on pak choy, chicken flavoured rice, chicken soup, condiments

The chicken here was quite disappointing for the three of us. Surprisingly, the chicken did retain the natural taste of chicken, but the breast meat was unbelievably tough, incomparable to what I tasted in Singapore. Perhaps chicken thigh would be a better choice? 

The rice was not oily but was flavourful, which I appreciated, and the soup was mild and had quite a bit of chicken essence - yummy =) 

Phad Thai ($188)

Rice noodles, prawns, tofu

Phad Thai here was quite moist and not oily, i.e. more liquid was used to fry this noodle dish. The prawns were huge and juicy, and the rectangular pieces of tofu and strings of egg and spring onions made for a colourful dish. G and my ma thought this was too 'wet', but I personally like fried noodles with a bit of gravy, so this was good. Most importantly, the seasoning was balanced - savoury, and only the slightest hint of sugar. 

Barbeque Spiced Cod ($188)

Pearl barley risotto, maple cucumber dressing

The natural flavour of cod is unbeatable in this dish. This is one of the few cod dishes I've had where the seasoning of the fish (in this case a mixture of spices) did not mask the natural flavours of the cod. It was done so that the brown top had a crisp texture, whilst the middle was cooked perfectly - flaked well and was smooth.... yumm! The cod sat on top of a barley risotto which had barley substituting arborio rice, and an abundance of pine nuts for a variation of texture. Again it was seasoned very well, and I can't find any faults for this dish. 

Save for the dry chicken breast, and very moist phad thai (can be good or bad depending on your taste), I had a very enjoyable lunch, and couldn't find space to order their lovely cappuccino....maybe next time! 

Cafe Causette is usually full on weekends, so for lunch you simply have to try your luck as they don't take reservations. Alternatively, there's Clipper Lounge which does allow reservations. 

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

Cafe Causette

1/F, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 5 Connaught Road,

Central 

Tel: +852 2825 4005