St George Cheese Dinner with Glenlivet Whiskies, at 1881 Heritage House – (Hong Kong}

Chef Philippe Orrico previously headed the kitchen at Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurant in Hong Kong,  perched on top of the Mandarin Oriental hotel.   I have always been an admirer of Philippe for his creativity!   Michelin Starred St George is where you will find him nowadays and his food is always a stroke of genius.  Chef Orrico is going to attempt to impress us tonight but it won’t be a straight forward task as we will be pairing all the Cheesy foods with the Glenlivet whiskies. The Chef and team handled it fairly well in the end.  We also drank some rarer whiskies arriving from Scotland,  which are yet about to be introduced into Hong Kong officially but will be soon.

 

Long Dining tables at St George tonight..
There’s a lot of very well respected Wine and Whisky experts,
also some Food Writers and Critics.  Also my blogger friends !
I liked the atmosphere already..

Glenlivet Excellence ‘12 Years’ -
A New product with a slightly fruitier note,
When served in the Dram glass with a tulip pattern, it really opens them up.







Speyside Mineral Water -
All the way from Speyside, literally next door to the Glenlivet Speyside Whisky distillery, but operating under 2 different companies.  This was brought in just to pair with their Speyside whiskies.  Naturally the smartest choice available.

Darren is THE Whisky Guy,
who flew in from Scotland and knows everything about Alcohol - 







The St George Michelin Starred Chef –
Phillippe Orrico.  Who headed the Pierre kitchen before. 
A big talent.








Butter with Sea Salt,
with Bread Basket -
I found the bread basket a little bit localised soft.
The butter seemed a little weak.  But overall it was good enough.







Strathisla 12 Years from Speyside -
A product which is currently not for sale in HK,
but will be marketed more soon.







Roquefort & Dried Fruits Terrine,  Green Salad with Black Truffle and Melba Toast -
This was simply amazing!  I noticed not everyone finished this as it was strongish,  but I personally thought this was brilliant,  at least the French Roquefort cheese was pronounced in flavour,  and it worked really well with the fruits!  This was probably my best overall favourite dish.  ~  12/10






Longmorn 16 Years,  Some people liked this Whisky the best
Roasted Spätzle Pasta with Smoked Bacon, Lingzhi Mushrooms & Black Truffle -
I distinctly remembered writing about a blog when Chef Phillippe was still working in Pierre HK,  that the Lin Chi/Lingzhi mushroom he uses is not a Lingzhi but in Japanese is more relatable with a Shimeji, Kinoko or Enoki.  Call me being stubborn and the chef might have been misled by the supplier, even if I see similar in supermarkets,  but this is definitely not really Lin Chi mushrooms in Chinese terms such as Ganoderma Lucidum.  But back to the food,  the scrambled eggs and yet another black truffle influence was nicely done,  nicely coating the Spätzle pasta and the bacon was thick and tasty.  Really liked this dish on taste.   ~  8/10

 

 

Longmorn 16 Years.
Atlantic Cod Fillet, Aged Comte Slices, Romaine Lettuce Confit Grapes & Walnuts -
The fish was super tender and for Atlantic Cod,  was even more tender than the 1-3 days miso soaked Japanese versions.  I liked the textural contrast with the romaine lettuce and the grapes.  I really liked the balance,  but thought the fish was amazingly too tender!  Don’t know how it became so buttery soft for an Atlantic Cod.    ~  8/10







With Glenlivet 18 Years.   Many’s Favourite, I think I liked the Aberlour 18 y.o. still -
Scottish Beef Cheek Gentle Cooked for 12 Hours, 
Roasted Potatoes with Bleu de Gex, splitted French Beans -
I am more of a constructive person than being always critical ,  but I found the Beef Cheek just like the above Atlantice Cod too be too slow-cooked soft,  to the point it was Too Good to be True tender!! :)  The potatoes with the Bleu de Gex blue cheese sauce with the beef jus and everything else were done superbly balanced!  The meat was just too soft for me..    Overall very good but getting a little ambitious in it’s aims?? ~  8/10







Glenlivet 21 Years,
L’epoisse Cheese with Croutons
L’espoisse is famous for being banned on French trains, whether that is only an urban myth or not,  but at least I have heard about it.  I have had this cheese so many times, sigh,  I have got to say the story is exaggerated a bit.    It is not as smelly as people think even at it’s peak in France and even when I ate this at Caprice it was quite muted compared to the norm.   It is quite balanced and I like it for what it is, it is smelly yes but I could name other cheeses at their primmest states which really stinks more arrrghh…   This one was really well done in general.  ~  10/10








L’Ecossais -
Chocolate Cremeux layered with Whisky and Caramel Parfait,  Crispy feuilletine -
Quite traditionally French.  The cremeux wasn’t that apparent with the said whisky spike.  The advertised feuilletine was more chocolate like in layers.  I really liked this,  but it probably deviated a bit from what it was advertised as on paper though.   ~  7/10  

Glenlivet 25 Years,
with Petits Fours -
The sweetish Glenlivet vintage was rounded.  The Petits Fours more interesting as they were petite tiny.    I liked the marshmallows, pate de fruits the most.  The twisted marshmallows were fun but tasted quite sweetened albeit cutish,  we kind of expected them to have more characters.  But overall this was punching above it’s weight, just needing more taste balance especially compared to the European counterparts!  ~  8/10

Espresso -
Whatever goes.  I can’t explain the same to everyone repetitively.
Coffee is an art in itself.  It is not about always winning by egotism.  Looking from the other perspective, it is more about knowing where your own weaknesses lie and discover where you can improve too!  That is the final winning formula in life as always !   Excuse me with my coffees nowadays.  The 2nd cup was much greater than the 1st cup provided, sorry for being a nerd about coffee.  I used to make coffee myself for customers..

Price:   Meal was by Invitation for Cheese Dinner and Glenlivet Whiskies.  Many thanks for a real French Cheese based meal!
Ease of Access:   4/5  (near MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station)

Address: 尖沙咀廣東道2A Hullett House 地下
G/F, Main Building, 1881 Heritage, Hullett House, 2A Canton Road , Tsim Sha Tsui
Ph: 3988 0220