Food review: Dinner@Brasserie on the Eight, HK

Has been awhile since I blogged about food though I have been going eating like a piglet...Since I had some time tonite, decided to load some reviews of the recent places we had dined in for my man's birthday.

The first place we went to was Brasserie on the Eight@ Conrad, serving French Cusine. There was a moment of panick and flurry of furious phone buttons pressing because for some reason when I tried to call Brasserie a week ago in advance, it was the front desk who had picked up and directed me to the cafe instead. I didnt realise till the staff called to confirm on the actual day at 5pm for the 730pm dinner reservation. It was a stroke of luck that I caught her said cafe in the midst of her rambling and mumbling...that i realised the earthshattering mistake. Thankfully they still managed to slot me in...in case you think the place was empty when we got there, it wasnt. It was full house...so that was why I said I was damn lucky! It would be horrible to inform my man "Sorry love, it's leftover braised pork and stirfry veges from last nite for your birthday coz the hotel screwed up and booked me under their cafe..." We could laugh abt it now but it sure wasnt funny at that precise moment!

Anycase, after we were nicely settled down and browsing through the menu, I was pleasantly surprised at the food options. The choices sounded lovely from head to toe. I have never had a menu that I had wanted to try almost everything listed before. It was like a menu of classic all time favorites from duck confits, to grilled meats to seafood and lamb. I didnt know which to pick and which to forgo! To me this is a mighty feat in itself because I am fussy and I dont like to choose things if it sounded like I wont like the cooking style or if it has nasties like cheese and stuff in it.

In the end, I went with the Crab and Lobster fried cakes while my partner selected the signature Alaskan crabmeat Salad for our starters. For main, I opted for lamb rack while my man got the grilled steak.

 The Alaskan Crab Salad with sundried tomatoes

 My very meaty kingcrab lobster crabcakes.

When I cut it in halves, u could see nothing but mouthful of meat!

While waiting, we were served some crackers something looking like ham paste like tasting dip. It looked like canned cat food to be honest...so it tasted better than it looked....

Looking like cat food dip 

The starters did not disappoint. I absolutely loved my crab cakes while I thought my partner's salad was excellent too! However in terms of full punch flavor, I think the point goes to mine. The quail egg in his dish was alittle weird and out of place in the lot.

For the main, my lamb rack was cooked perfectly and it was in good portion size that filled me up just right. Not some teeny weeny lousy small pieces but something that actually was filling is a good indicator that some chefs do realise that portions and good cooking is what keeps customer coming back. Pretty or well decorated plates doesnt.

My husband's steak was unfortunately a little more cooked than he liked. He asked for medium rare and he got something closer to medium - to medium well. We didnt return it because we didnt want to wait for another 40mins for the main to arrive.

While waiting, we were looking around at other guests and noticed this couple seated at the far end being really stupid. When i say stupid, I mean being anti-social with each other. For the full 2.5 hours we were there, they were both playing with their iphone and ipad respectively the WHOLE time, barely talking.

Even as they were talking or saying something to each other, their eyes never left their devices. Even when they were eating, they were still playing with their devices. SERIOUSLY DUDES, why come to fine dining and not have a good time together? Isnt it cheaper and better if you stayed at home and cook some instant noodles? Afterall, you guys are not even really spending time with each other. I just dont get some people... what could be soooo darn important that both parties couldnt just let go of their phone and actually have a proper conversation with each other since you already taken the time and effort to be here with each other? It amazed me sometimes the stupidity of some couples...So the next time round you are tempted to take out your damn phone to play with the games or apps while having dinner with friends or family, think again. Dont be as silly as the couple above.

Anyway, back to food.
The dessert I had was the supposedly trio choc. I said supposedly because I had requested not to have the white choc and opted for 2 choc pudding instead. The choc pudding tasted more like brownie really which works perfectly for me. My man had the rum cocount which was ok but not mind blowing. Their mains is defintely more of their forte and they need brushing up on their desserts.

All in all a very lovely meal though service was abit lacking. I had specifically told them it was a birthday dinner and to write a happy birthday thing on the dessert but it was NOT done. No one even realised the mistake until I went up to the staff and told them their oversight. They tried to make it up later presenting the conrad bear with a candle. Still, I was already alittle let down.

The waiting time was also on the "longer" than usual being that there are only 4 chefs in the kitchen but for the great taste and quality, I have no problem in that.

The whole meal's damage was HK$1870 including a glass of dessert wine at $120. So I thought it was a rather reasonable fine dining meal for 2, considering the quality of the food.

Now the defining question.
Would I be back?
Definitely.