Feature Restaurant: Petite Oyster

44 Sai Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.

This month’s feature restaurant is Petite Oyster, a relatively new gastronomic experience to Sheung Wan. The shop was formerly an antique store that has been totally refitted. As a result it is one of the few restaurants feature a high ceiling on a relatively peaceful street.

We started with three entrees, the charcuterie plate, oyster and steak tartare and foie gras. The charcuterie plate was well presented and with the popular combination of salami, jambon and cure prime meat cuts, which was quickly devour by the diners. In particular the choice of a wooden board as a serving platter was something that not many restaurants would not bother to do.

The searing was just right for the foie gras, it maintained the moist texture when you cut into it. Peter certainly knows what he is doing here. This was yet again another popular dish and there just wasn’t enough to go around a table of 7.

The steak and oyster tartare was delicious and fresh. The surprising factor was the oyster flavor dominated the beef leading to a non-beef eating diner to try the dish. I thought a dash more tobasco would have spruced up the flavors a little more.

The Warm Mushroom Entree combined the flavors of the grilled mushrooms with the cucumber, onions and tomatoes along with a tangy dressing. I guess with all that meat and seafood, we needed a healthy dish! 😉

The pasta was perfectly cooked for the Seafood Tagliatelle. The seafood was fresh and thickness of the sauce was just right to wrap around the pasta. Unfortunately the dish had a tad too much salt.

This is possibly the best French Onion Soup I had so far in Hong Kong (I know its a big claim, it was really really good!). The soup was full of flavor and onion sweet. The sliced baguette and gruyere cheese was grilled to perfection. And no MSG!

The Oyster platter really lived up to its name. Peter picked Irish Rock and Gillardeau for the table. The oysters were fresh, as if it was shucked on the spot and sea sweet. A dash of lemon juice spruced up the flavor of the oysters.

On to the first of the main courses, the lamb rack with balsamic sauce was a good pair, with the the sweet and sour balsamic partially offsetting the slightly heavy flavor of the lamb. The garlic was well grilled which spiced up each piece of lamb we had.

We ordered Cote de Boeuf, Medium Rare and we had 1kg of it! The beef was cooked exactly as we ordered medium rare though from the second photo it could “sat” a while longer. The gravy was provided added flavor to that wonderful piece of meat. Again the grill garlic added flavor to the meat.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Rating:
Will I go back? Definitely, you must try it out too!

Date: March 2013
Food: Slight teething issues, almost there.
Service: The staff was very courteous (Thank-you Peter, Chef and Alan, Partner for the great experience.), unfortunately the serving time was a bit too long as the table started to get restless towards the end.  I probably put it down to teething problems associated with a new restaurant.
Ambience: Casual and comfortable, nice high ceiling.
Pricing category: Treat, HK$300+ per head