So we’ve been to the Central Night Market, checked out the cute little shops at PMQ and here comes the latest addition to the blooming restaurant scene – VASCO FINE DINING. We all heard about the hype of this new project of Chef Paolo Casagrande and Tony Cheng of Drawing Room since earlier of the year and it’s finally opened on 29th July. The restaurant is still in its soft-opening stage and limited seats are offered each night.
Many thanks to VASCO for the invitation. They promised a romantic date night and lived up to it.
The lift opens up to a nicely decorated reception area on the 6th Floor. This is also the floor where its sister- restaurant, ISONO EATERY AND BAR, is located. ISONO is a more casual and relaxed dining space offering Mediterranean dishes while VASCO, a few steps up on the 7th Floor, is the fine dining area.
Contrast to the loft-style interior of ISONO, VASCO’s decor is chic and classy. It is an intimate dining space which sits around 50. They also have a cool private room suspended between the two floors for a round table of 8 people, and another private room with a long dining table for a larger group of 12.
For dinner, they offer two tasting menus – Chef Tasting Menu and a Seasonal Tasting Menu, which offer different combinations of their signature dishes. A la carte options are also available and offer dishes not available on the tasting menu.
We opted for the Chef Tasting Menu with Classic Wine Pairing (6 glasses). For wine lovers, there is also a Premium Wine Pairing option with 12 glasses!
We were first greeted with pre-dinner snacks, then THREE types of carefully selected Olive Oil and FIVE types of butter to go with the bread.
We LOVE the cute sticks of butter – flavours from left to right : Original, Mushroom, Tomato, Spinach and Beetroot.
Two dishes were offered for Amuse Bouche – Gazpacho and a piece of cod throat in cream sauce, paired with a glass of Cava. Trust me, they tasted better than they look!
Our first dish, Trout tartare with Orange, curd cucumber and trout caviar was such a delightful dish with the freshness of the trout. Perfectly paired with a glass of champagne.
Then it was Roasted Foie-gras, nori and duck consomé infused with citronella, horseradish and hazelnut salt. Instead of a sauce which is usually presented with foie gras, they poured duck consomé over the roasted foie-gras when the dish was served. The combination was surprisingly good. The dish was also served with a glass of Gewürztraminer – I was rather surprised they have it on the wine pairing list, I always love the unique lychee and floral note of the wine.
Followed by the signature dish, Red Palamos prawns and sea urchins on a seabed with crustacean mayonnaise, and this immediately became one of the favourite dishes of the year! The presentation of the dish was beautiful. The red shrimp was cooked to perfection- still half transparent. The dots of orange sauce were the essence from the shrimp head, which highlighted the taste of the shrimp. Sea urchin was fresh and matched with the palate. Impeccable dish of freshness.
Farmhouse egg yolk with potato & mozzarella foam, cured Iberian pork jowl, basil and pimento d’Espelette is another signature dish. Creative combination, but wasn’t as impressive as the last dish.
Both Low-temparature cooked turbot settled on onion & Paprika marmalade, with braised endives, claims and octopus and Roast French pigeon, pork and dry tomato stewed, apple cream and liver toast were nicely cooked. You would appreciate the chef’s techniques in handling these dishes. Honestly I never really liked pigeon but this may be one of the best. The fish was served with a glass of Chablis and then the pigeon with a glass of Rioja. The Rioja nicely enhanced the taste of the pigeon as well.
Finally…dessert time!
On the left it’s an olive oil sponge cake and frozen ice cream, with rice and cardamom essence soup poured over it. It helped clear the palate before the final dessert – chocolate leaf with apricot jelly and frozen coffee.
The petite fours were placed in this interesting glass jar – with madeleines, macarons and raspberry jelly, as well as hazelnut truffles in a separate container. By this time we were enjoying the Muscat which ended our meal on a high note.
We were very impressed with the overall quality of food and service at VASCO. The unexpected and interesting flavours brought by the food and the paired wine continued to amaze me throughout the dinner. You would see that the chefs have given a lot of thought behind every single dish.
The Chef Tasting Menu (8 courses) priced at $1180 is worth every single penny. The Seasonal Tasting Menu (5 courses) costs $880. A la carte main courses range from $300-600. With the exceptional quality of the meal and the ambience they offer, VASCO could definitely be your next to-go place for special occasions.
We definitely see ourselves going back again sometime soon. We also look forward to try their 3-course lunch menu which also features some of their signature dishes.
Treat yourself to a Spanish indulgence sometime!
Vasco Fine Dining, 7/F Block B, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong, http://www.isono-vasco.com.hk
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