Petrus - ♕♕♕♕♕

  A second meal at Petrus HK in late 2010 gave me slightly more surprises, such is the way a Haute Cuisine meal set-up with it's constant changes of menu items can wreak havoc on your fair evaluation of the restaurant's true potential.   As mentioned before, the accuracy of my ratings for all Haute meals are only as good as the last meal ~ things change constantly in upper-end French dining venues, unlike most Chinese dining experiences!   From having Michelin 2 Stars in 2010 to being dropped to 1 Star status in the 2011 guide, Petrus suffered quite the opposite fate to Pierre, which managed to gain itself another star!  Petrus on the other hand serves more traditional French food and is much closer to most starred restaurants in France, albeit sometimes with a twist as designed by Chef de cuisine Frederic Chabbert...  

Grand Dining Hall -

One of the most romantic spaces and view in HK.  Absolutely adorable.

6 Types of Salt -

Some would think this is totally unnecessary and over the top, but for salt-monsters such as myself I really appreciate this extra effort.  The waitstaff even recommend which dish might pair better with which salt.  The herbs salt is fun, the flakey sea salt are a must on seafood.  But its the Himalayan pink salt which  carries the most sophistication, whereas the Smoked Salt is fun and the Red Burgundy salt works the best on things like rich red meat...

A glass of White Wine - 

From France, but I cannot recall what I ordered anymore!

Bordier Hand-Churned Butter and Seaweed Butter -

You wouldn't expect anything less now, would you?  Not that I really think this is the best butter in the world, but at least they took the effort in sourcing them!

3 Types of Bread -

Great start indeed.  The different yet similar textures of all of these gave an interesting contrast..

Foie Gras En Terrine Aux Dates et Citron Confit -

Served with a toast and the Dates jam paired with nuts and sesame.  The Foie Gras was excellent, strong yet smooth, I've got to say the version here is better than served at 2 Stars Amber by far.  Lovely starter - but where are the amuse bouche ?   ~  9/10

Bouillon de Chataigne et de Faisan -

Chestnut and wild pheasant bouillon was a nice autumn/wintery soup, cooked to perfection and quite balanced between the chestnuts and gamey bird.  Presentation a bit boring however ~  7/10

French Red Wine -

Forgotten again what I'd ordered as recommended by sommelier,

it was just too relaxing to take note of everything on the day...

Ravioli de Jarret de Veau, Marmalade de Legumes -

An interesting mix between a veal ravioli and a sweetish beans marmalade.  Was this good?  Let me tell you this - it might sound simple, but it was executed well enough to compete with a similar dish in a 3 Star restaurant in Paris.   Was it a stroke of a genius?  hardly.... It was mostly, only about execution in the end   ~  8/10 

Envives au Jambon Blanc et Truffe d'Automne -

Braised endives were wrapped in white ham and served in a cream sauce, topped with some half decent fragrant Autumn Truffles, the latter better than the ones we received at 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo.  A dish that is simple but cannot be easily faulted.  Exciting?  Nope.   Lovely?  Yes  ~  8/10

Cabillaud Roti, Creme de Chataigne et Nage a la Truffe Blanche -

Roast North Atlantic Cod is paired with Chestnut Cream and White Truffle perfumed nage.  The white truffle isn't very intense to be honest, but the fish was cooked perfectly with a medium centre and crispy skin (without being fishy, which is hard to achieve with medium-rare cod).  This dish surprised me because the overall balance was very good, especially realising that chestnut cream is not usually a great partner to fish, but here it works brilliantly ~  9/10

Canard et Civet Farci de Foie Gras, Ravioli de Celeri et Chataigne -
The duck meat with stuffed foie gras are steamed together, but turned out a little too dry and was the only disastrous dish of the day.  A trio of open ravioli using celery and chestnuts with a very good reduction sauce made up somehow, but still not enough to lubricate the dryness.  Recipe could have been exemplary, but let down by execution ~  6/10 

Aged Cheese Board by both Bernard Antony and Philipe Olivier - 

Sphere Chocolat Creme Mascarpone, Aux Zestes D'Orange, Gelee de Lait a la Canelle -

Chocolate sphere with mascarpone cheese, orange zest and a cinnamon milk jelly was more about presentation than the taste in my opinion.  This wasn't even made by the Petrus kitchen itself but came from the central pastry kitchen of Shangri-La (how do I know?  I have my own sources of information :P).  Not bad, but not exceptional ~  6.5/10

Earl Grey Teas and Coffee -

Not bad at all, acceptable ~  7/10

Petits Fours -

Petrus petits fours have changed a lot from the previous visit.  I much prefer the older and authentic style of oven baked goods.  On this visit, it was mostly about colorful candies and fruit pates, and the best piece was the Mozart of salted caramel cake, also available downstairs at both The Lounge as well as the Island Gourmet cake shop. What were they thinking here?  ~  4/10

Overall -
A very decent place with authentic French recipes added with twists here and there to enhance and impress, but without being annoyingly too avant garde.  This is exactly the type of restaurant which I enjoy dining at, and perhaps this also reflects my overall personality and approach in life.  This visit was definitely closer to Michelin 2 Stars than 1 Star -  hope that they can keep it up, and may be they'll regain that extra star pretty soon 1 day.

Price: $448 + 10% Per Person, Plus Dessert at $60
Lunch Score: ★★★★★☆

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun -  07:00am -10:00am, 12:30pm - 14:30pm, 18:30pm - 22:30pm

Address: 金鐘金鐘道88號太古廣場2座港島香格里拉酒店56樓

56/F, Island Shangri-La Hong Kong, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty

Phone: 2820 8590