This will be my last installment of my food adventures in Hong Kong. This is my last entry because I'm saving the best for the last. I was excited to go to L'Atelier Du Joel Robuchon ever since I missed that opportunity while I was in Tokyo last year.

L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon Hong Kong is opened pretty recently in November 2006. This adds another one of a culinary gem to the Asian cuisine scene. Robuchon was named the chef of the 20th century – by the French guidebook Gault-Millau. He has earned a total of 17 Michelin stars in his restaurants all over the world including Paris and LA. You could understand why I was dying (well, almost) to eat at the L'Atelier.


I made a reservation for lunch. L'Atlier du Joel Robuchon, Hong Kong, had the L'Atelier's signature counter seating that surrounds an open-concept kitchen. The restaurant is decked in stylish and minimalist red, black, and chrome. The shiny classic black marble, dark wooden furniture, black leather counter seats is contrasted against the red and chrome. Neatly stacked bell peppers of yellow, red and green adds a playful touch. An artfully-perfect balance! Just like his food, as I soon begin to discover.

The service staff were friendly and they had good knowledge about the food served at the restaurant. This is something that I didn't expect as I have heard about snobbish service at the L'Ateliers. They were able passionate about their food which impressed me greatly.

We took the tasting lunch menu which consisted of a 3 course meal. We were first served with amuse bouche in a shot glass. It was simple but palatable. The base was made up of tomato compote, the middle was soft-cream cheese flavoured with chives topped with freshly tossed croutons. Simple to make, few ingredients used. This gives the phrase- "Less is more" a new angle.

The first dish I had was the thinly sliced veal with capers and tuna sauce. This reminded me of the beef carpaccio with tuna sauce that I had at Garibaldi. I have to say this is better though. This is thinnly sliced veal, cooked to medium-rare. The texture is much better than the carpaccio. The capers added the sharp twang of unique saltiness to the creamy tuna sauce.

For my mains, I ordered the cubed lamb fillet served with an interesting Asian-inspired sauce. Initially, I was rather apprehensive when I first tasted the sauce. It's rather liquidy in nature and it is probably made from star anise, cumin and curry spices. The lamb itself was nicely seared to the right doneness. I find it hard to describe the taste of this dish but it's a combination that I have not tasted or expected. The side dish was a light-version of the curry rice. Influence from India but incoporated with western technique.

Dessert was fantastic. There wasn't much choices so between us, we ordered the Chocolate mousse on banana cake served with vanilla ice cream and a cream cheese soup served with mango sherbet ice cream.

I definitely like the cream cheese soup better. I think even people who are not huge fans of cheese would love this one too. The soup isn't overpowering in flavour since cream cheese is a very light cheese. The mango sherbet lent the dish an intensive and powering flavour and gave this dish its "Oomph" factor. Dill and cream cheese will never be too far from each other even in desserts as proven in this case. Basically, this dish gets full marks for the great balance of its texture (the smooth, liquidy texture of the cream cheese soup, with the coarse texture from the sherbet), taste ( creamy, intense, sweet, tangy flavours all in a bite), the colours is just like the warmth of summer.

I also tried the chocolate dessert. It's really good as well though I'm not a big fan of pure chocolate desserts. The mousse was rich and decadent. What's interesting though is that it rests on a thin layer of banana sponge cake. The quality dark chocolate slices and the vanilla bean ice cream made this dessert a delightful eat though it's pretty heavy I must say.

Indeed, the my expierence at L'Atelier lived up to its name of the "Atelier" which means artiste workshop in French. Lunch was a delightful affair as we were presented with beautiful palate of colours and shapes. The food was up to mark and it was the best meal I had in Hong Kong. I'll definitely recommend anyone to dine there not just for the food but the whole experience.

The experience

The basket of freshly baked bread from the bakery

Pan seared scallop on ratatouille and olive oil


Thinly sliced veal with capers and tuna sauce


Cubed lamb fillet with Asian-inspired sauce


Pan-fried sea-bass on aubergine

Cream cheese soup with mango sherbet

The decadent chocolate mousse

Lovely macarons that came with the tea

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L'Atelier Du Joel Robuchon

Shop 401, 4th Floor, The Landmark,
15 Queen’s Road Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2166 90000