Café Gray

Café Gray Deluxe
L49 The Upper House Pacific Place,
88 Queensway, Admiralty
(852) 3968-1106

This entry is dedicated to my dear cousin, Jennifer Lee, who used to work as a chef at the renowned Café Gray in New York City. Situated on the 49th floor of the Upper House in Admiralty is Café Gray Deluxe, an eatery with chic decor, gorgeous view, and delicious food. Chef Gray Kunz launched this second incarnation of Café Gray in Asia...this time in Hong Kong!

The restaurant has a central dining room and an elongated open kitchen on the left, and a beautiful bar with a stunning view of the Hong Kong skyline located on the right. While being seated, I noticed that the table arrangement was kind of tight, which was slightly distracting because I could hear our neighbors' conversations. However, I had to remind myself that I was in Asia - space is limited! While we chose our courses for the night, we were given complimentary sour dough with bread dip made of yogurt and drizzled with olive oil. Interesting combo, but the yogurt didn't provide much taste. Next, we had our soup: Crab Bisque and crabmeat vinaigrette and Chicken Soup with foie gras. The crab bisque was rich and slightly sweet - which I liked. The crab meat on the side was also a nice refreshing addition. On the other hand, the chicken soup w/ foie gras was a little too bland and light...it had no "wow factor" to it. Even the floating foie gras didn't do it for me :-/

Onto our main course: I had the sliced Baby Lamb while my companion had Cafe Gray's House Special Steak. While many upscale restaurants are known to give teeny tiny portions, this was not true in our case because oh my god were the servings huge!!! The steak was good enough for two people and the lamb was piled up on the plate like a mini hill. This brings me to my next topic: food presentation. I thought the presentation of our food could've been plated better. I understand that there's only so much you can do with a slab of meat, but the slices of lamb could've been put together better rather than looking like it was "thrown" in the middle of the plate. We were satisfied with the taste of our dishes, though. The lamb was very tender and wasn't gamey, and the steak had a burst of flavors to it - exotic! Would recommend both dishes.

The dessert was standard in taste. I especially liked the sorbet with berries and champagne. I'm a big sucker when it comes to unique decorations and/or interesting combinations. My chocolate molton cake topped with caramel ice-cream was very "normal" - but I'm glad the cake was soft, chewy, and moist. It's always a let-down when chocolate cake is served dry and crumbly. Lastly, complimentary chocolates were served at the end of the meal. I only had enough stomach for one piece of chocolate as I was too full after the meal. *Note: the chocolate chunks are great substitutes for sugar (in coffee) :)

Overall, I had a great time at Café Gray Deluxe. Is it comparable to NY version? I highly doubt it..the service and "eliteness" are not quite there yet but we have to keep in mind that this establishment is geared more towards "casual fine dining". Wearing jeans is OK as long as you have a nice top to go with it.

Overall: 3.5/5