L'Atelier de JR HK - a "workshop" with 3-star for > 10 years

[Bu Pun Su]

Considered as one of the greatest chefs, Joel Robuchon made an innovation in the early 00’s when he came back from retirement and decided to ‘simplify’ the formal and glamorous French fine dining with what’s now known as L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. There are more than 10 L’Ateliers these days around the globe. The setting is more like a sushi counter in which a more direct interaction between the staffs (including chefs) and customers are ‘encouraged’. I am a fan of JR cuisine and have been to many of his more formal restaurants – probably it’s the main reason why I often didn’t bother to dine at the L’Atelier since the price points are not that much different. However, in March this year, I visited my 2^nd Atelier JR in Hong Kong … it was on a Sunday evening, relatively quiet. This place has been in operation for more than a decade and managed to also hold the 3-star awards this long, so I think it’s deserved a visit.

 

In any Robuchon dining places (both the JR resto and Atelier), the venerable chef has always emphasized on the consistent of high level experience especially on the food. The expectation is that his fans around the world would be able to savor the langoustine ravioli whether in HK or in Las Vegas the same way that’s delicious executed with high precision, you got the point. Not sure it’s a good or bad thing, the dishes in any Robuchon restaurants around the world are very similar, half of them generally the same, although the ingredients are locals if possible. It was a late Winter / early Spring season and I opted for the discovery menu. To my surprise, I have not tasted half of the items listed – I liked trying new dishes. Some dishes I truly enjoyed were:

-perfectly seared Hokkaido scallop was sweet and a bit raw inside. It was beautifully complimented by slices of the earthy Perigord truffle, musky and rather intense truffle coulis, as well as creamy + savory pumpkin sauce

-carefully prepared soft-boiled egg with its bright runny yolk was in harmony with earthy and pungent shavings of Tuber melanosporum and crisp sticky rice cake. The parmesan, a little lemon juice and spinach provided accents to this delicious dish. A “simple” dish that let the black truffles to shine

 

JR dishes do not usually blow me away; they’re just reliable and tasty. For instance,

-the grilled Maine lobster was savory with good texture; enhanced by the creamy and piquant bisque made of lobster jus and saffron

-Black cod was flaky and flavorful after having been marinated in the miso and served with the Malabar pepper sauce as well as coconut emulsion

We could see Robuchon’s cooking was very international: influenced by Asian (mainly Japanese) + in terms of the ingredients used. The rest of the dishes were fine … but not as good as the four mentioned here

 

In addition to the L’Atelier, Robuchon in the Landmark has a more elegant dining rooms named Le Jardin, which was closed as there were a few private events during my visit. Only half of the seats at the bar was filled, so the attention and pacing of the food was prompt. Chef de cuisine and the restaurant manager diligently monitored the diners and made attempt to have some chats – relaxing, convivial and fun. The design of the restaurant might not be opulent, but stylish dominated by red and black color. Despite these (casual stuffs), I found the food here was performed at high level, not necessarily inferior to the Robuchon Macau. They also cooked several dishes that’re exactly the same. Overall, I received what I expected: a satisfying meal with good wine, professional service delivered in a pleasant ‘bar’ in which I could see the live action of the open kitchen. Michelin 3-star? Well, it’s too generous IMHO; 2-star would be more suitable. That being said I hope here and many other Robuchon restaurants could still perform at high level in the future – I could not think of better ways for his teams & staffs to honor him after the legendary chef leaving this mortal world for good earlier this month

 

More detailed review: https://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2018/08/latelier-de-joel-robuchon-hong-kong.html

Meal photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/sets/72157694247412190/with/43900718062/