for the love of good food...: Derby Restaurant

Monday 13 December 2010

Derby Restaurant

Derby Restaurant @ Hong Kong Jockey Club

Back in November, we visited Derby Restaurant for a birthday celebration. They were featuring white truffles on their menu by their new chef Eyck Zimmer... so I was all the more excited.

"wheat baguette"

A waiter came around to let us pick our choice of bread.... out of the four kinds I picked this disappointing and overly chewy baguette.

Amuse bouche - "Pigeon Leg"

Served on top of a red sauce, which was hard to distinguish because of its lack of flavour. Very oily as well.

First - "Scrambled Eggs" with brioche (photo below)

white truffles from Alba are in season, so naturally we had some to go with eggs! These were scrambled very well, slightly runny, soft and fluffy with chives. It was very good on top of the brioche toast and would be a perfect base for truffles, except they weren't as pungent or aromatic as I hoped they would be.... a little did not go a long way indeed!

"scrambled eggs" take 2.

"toasted brioche"

"lobster bisque"

with its ravioli (lobster) and tarragon cream

there was way too much alcohol which actually burnt my throat a little. Either the alcohol was simmered long enough to 'burn-off', or just too much was added! Bisque was also very thin and lacked the lobster aroma and flavours...disappointing.

Palate cleanser "cassis sorbet" or "granite"

This, was a well made granite! it achieved its purpose, cold, grape-like and refreshing. Not too sweet nor sour either.

"Butter poached Boston Lobster"

served with peas, carrots, pilaf rice (pictured below), and a 'Sauce Neptune'

The lobster was poached medium well so its meat was still slippery and quite tender nothing like the over-cooked chewy or over-boiled mush you get at buffets and whatnot.

The butter poached crustacean was, despite its name, not buttery, but sweet, succulent and oh-so-yumm! The 'Sauce Neptune' was really a seafood sauce scented with coriander (not the herb but the spice).

This dish was one where its accompaniments truly matched the star, from the peas and Indian rice to the coriander-scented seafood sauce. The coriander seeds definitely gave it some Indian flair and was a very enjoyable dish.

"aromatic pilaf rice"

"curry crusted monk fish"

with pickled melon, sautéed romaine hearts, coconut essence

This fish never made it into our stomachs fully, but was sent back to the kitchen, for good reason. The romaine was interesting but fiarly bland, The coconut essence was actually coconut foam... too light in flavour. The melons were hardly pickled, but just diced and got quite lost in the plate.

But those weren't the reasons why it failed. It was the 'star', the monkfish, which was chewy, overcooked and the crust was not crispy as the description had promised. It was masked by salt and a little curry spice on the skin part, and was so overcooked it was chew and tough.... whilst monkfish is meaty and firm, it shouldn't be rough, dry and chewy.... after all its known as the 'poor man's lobster'. We were suggested to order something else in place to avoid disappointment.

"pan fried U.S. beef tenderloin"

with horseradish pommes mousseline, baby carrots, kenya beans, sauce bordelaise

This dish was cooked to a perfect medium well, red, but with no trace of blood and incredibly tender... hmm.. i don't think I've had tenderloin this good recently.

The pommes mousseline aka mash potatoes were incredibly rich and creamy too, though I think a little too thin in consistency? But since potatoes aren't my favourite thing in the the world I shouldn't say more.

"slow cooked dover sole fillet"

bed of crushed potatoes, shredded cucumbers, oyster beignet, caviar, champagne foam

Sounds like a lot...and it probably was. The fish was again, disappointing but we didn't have the heart to tell the super-nice Manager again. At least it was edible this time...

Sole is meant to be a soft fish which flakes easily when cooked just right, but this was again over cooked and the fillet had even curled upwards. But I mean, at least the fish knife went through the flesh unlike the monkfish above. It was also overdosed on salt, which I still felt when dessert came round. The saving grace of this dish was probably the lovely oyster beignet which made even the non-oyster-eater in me enjoy it. Crispy and yum on its own with the caviar.

"tiramisu birthday cake"

was complimentary after they found out it was my ma's birthday, but we had no intention to celebrate formally... we were just here for dinner! our guess is that they found an alert when they ran the membership card through their machine? was a good thing most diners had left by now or ma would've been embarrassed..!

anyway, this small gesture was very much appreciated, and the cake itself was actually very decent (but then again HKJC's cakes have always been reasonably good) and very light.