Small bites of heaven

Ocean trout tataki [Photo provided to China Daily]

Ribeye [Photo provided to China Daily]

The latest venture of star restaurateur David Laris features a tasting menu well worth nibbling through, Donna Mah reports in Hong Kong.

On the first page of the menu at newly opened Laris Contemporary Dining, Australian chef David Laris invites diners to "enjoy, indulge, breath, relax, imagine, love and always live to eat". We were looking forward to doing all of these things.

Readers may know Laris from his Web-based show, Dining with David and Sarah, where he chats with his co-host as he cooks and she explains what he is doing in Mandarin.

The menu at his eponymous restaurant has a section that intrigued me called "pre-starters", which were described as "smaller delights" to add as an additional course, or as a smaller starter to leave room for dessert.

I enjoyed reading what was on offer and pointed out to my dining companion that house-smoked oysters were listed.

I love smoked oysters, but my dining companion is not a fan. This is possibly because he has witnessed me eating smoked oysters straight from the can. What can I say? I was hungry. In his world, only fresh oysters are edible. He also doesn't like the dried Chinese oysters, and yes, I love them.

We opted to order the tasting menu as Laris says it is "the perfect way to experience the essence of the kitchen". It sounded good to us.

The tasting menu is designed for the entire table and is composed of eight courses, including an amuse bouche - which turned out to be a smoked oyster. That made me happy, and my dining companion enjoyed it as well.

Presented under a cover glass with white smoke swirling around inside, the oyster was served with smoky bacon and a mayo-based sauce. The hint of smoke, the rich creaminess of the oyster and the small crispy bits combined to create a delightful snack.

The dishes that followed were not as dramatic in presentation as the oyster but no less interesting. There was textural intrigue with the pickles in the Iberico ham and compressed melon dish, and spicy saltiness in the XO sauce used to make the trout tataki dish. This popular Chinese condiment's intense seafood flavors complemented the mild flavor of the soft fresh trout well.

Our main dishes were pigeon stuffed with foie gras, Japanese pumpkin, port-braised prunes and apple - and char-grilled New Zealand ribeye, triple-fried potatoes, truffle butter, morel mushrooms and vinegar spray.

As there are two mains per person, each portion was about half the size of a full portion from the a la carte menu.

The sweetness from the pumpkin, prunes and apple blended well with the meaty richness of the tender pigeon and foie gras. The triple-fried potatoes were spritzed with vinegar at the table and the aroma reminded us of fish and chips. This was a beautiful take on steak frites.

The smallish dessert of carrot cake, coffee crumble, chocolate ganache and cardamon anglaise with a sprinkle of sea salt added just enough sweetness at the end of the meal to leave us sated but not stuffed.

The tasting menu is HK$788 ($102) plus a 10 percent service charge per person.

Contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.