HK: Bo Innovation (June 2012): Chef’s Table

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HK: Bo Innovation (June 2012): Chef’s Table

June 28, 2012 Victor Leave a comment Go to comments

Author: Victor
Restaurant: Bo Innovation
Exec Chef: Alvin Leung

Date: June 28, 2012
Chef’s Table Menu

Notes:
-I had lost my iPhone 4 a few days earlier in Lan Kwai Fong after going drinking, so I used my friend’s iPad to take these pictures. (SAD TIMES.)
-We sat at the Chef’s Table, which is just kind of a “bar” area that sits next to the open part of the kitchen. The seating makes it really easy to talk to Chef Leung and the rest of the staff during the meal!
-There’s only one menu available to those who sit at the Chef’s Table: the Chef’s Table Menu.

Info about Bo Innovation:
-Chef Leung is a Hong Kong chef who is trying to really pioneer Chinese cooking. He’ll recreate popular Hong Kong and Chinese dishes using more modern flavor combinations and techniques, and it’s nice to see and try the dishes he comes up with. His dishes can definitely make you think about the different things you can do with Chinese food.
-He has some successes and some failures. The food itself wasn’t really THAT amazing and could be improved.
-I definitely didn’t regret going, though. From a modernist-cuisine point of view, I definitely enjoyed the meal. It’s nice to see a chef take some risks on, apply modern techniques to, and reinterpret traditional Hong Kong and Chinese foods and flavor combinations.

Food:

Bread: Bo Innovation version of Gai Dan Zai (“egg puff waffle”).

Bo’s version has ham, which added a new element of flavor and texture to the gai dan zai.

1.
OYSTER
spring onion, lime, ginger ice, seaweed

2.
CAVIAR
smoked quail egg, crispy taro

This was amazing. It was basically a fancy version of “wu gok”, but eating this just made me so happy. I had an instant foodgasm after a bite. The caviar and quail egg are so rich and delicious, but the overall flavor is still familiar—eating it still brought memories of eating “wu gok”.

3.
HAMACHI
sesame, ponzu cloud, ginger, parfum de hong kong

When they first brought this course out, there was a lot of smoke coming out. It was supposed to smell like the harbor of Hong Kong. (The whole course tried to play upon the Hong Kong harbor theme.)

4.
FOIE GRAS
“mui choy”

5.
HAR MI
“lo mein”, chili, kaniko

6.
TOMATO
pat chun vinegar, fermented chinese olives “lam kok”

7.
MOLECULAR
“xiao long bao” (“soup dumpling”)

Whoo-hoo! Spherification of xiaolongbao!

8.
LOBSTER
star-anise butter, corn, chanterelles

The star-anise butter was the star of this dish, and the chanterelles added a layer of mushroom yumminess to the overall favor profile.

9.
BUBBLE TEA
mango, hawthorn, chilli

This was meant to be a quick refresher before the next course.

10.
SAGA-GYU BEEF
truffled tendon, daikon, spiced consommé, chinese chive

This was basically a fancy version of beef noodle soup. (Admittedly, it was still delicious. The tendon was amazing. Aaaaand writing this makes me want to eat beef tendon right now, so I’m going to stop…)

11.
ORGANIC “LONG KIANG” CHICKEN
baby carrot, charred spring onion,
pencil asparagus, sand ginger cream,
7 years-aged acquerello rice, yellow chicken stock

The chicken was good, but what made the course REALLY good (and REALLY rich) was the rice with chicken stock.

They gave us a big bowl of this stuff! I didn’t finish it, though. It was super rich, and I felt guilty about eating it (fat from the chicken stock and empty carbs from the white rice—BAD).

12.
“Sex on the Beach”

“This unique dish features a sweet edible condom, made by dipping a cigar tube into a kappa and konjac mixture. Using a pipette, Alvin then squeezed a few drops of a honey and Yunnan ham mixture. The ‘condom’ was then placed onto powdered shiitake mushrooms, made to look like sand. . . . Though many might find this dish distasteful, Alvin says it’s all for a good cause aiming to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. Priced at HK$68, this dish will go towards AIDS Concern in HK.”
(http://hk.lifestyleasia.com/en/features/wine-and-dine/sex-on-the-beach-bo-innovation-alvin-leung-hong-kong-4284/)

kekekeke. The pic should speak for itself. (It actually was really tasty!)

13.
MEMORIES OF CHA CHIAN TENG
french toast, condensed milk, peanut butter and jam,
corn syrup, ying yang

This dish is meant to recreate popular foods and drinks in “cha chian teng” (“tea food hall”); these are basically the popular cafés in Hong Kong where people drink tea or coffee and eat toast, omelettes, and so on.

This is the “ying yang”, which is Bo’s version of yuanyang, a popular Hong Kong beverage that is a mix of coffee and milk tea.