Soaking up the Sunday harbour views at KITCHEN's Splendid Sunset Chasers Brunch. By Carolynne Dear.
Harbour views at W Hotel Hong Kong's KITCHEN dining space.
Following a week of quarantine it was delightful to be sitting in W Hotel Hong Kong on a Sunday lunchtime sipping a chilled glass of champagne.
The TST-located hotel’s KITCHEN restaurant has always served a tasty brunch, but with recently arrived executive chef Jeffrey Siew at the helm, the dining space has now launched a sumptuous ‘Splendid Sunset Chasers’ Brunch’. I was delighted to be included at a media preview.
Seated next to the huge windows watching busy boats slip through Victoria Harbour’s container port under a sapphire sky with a glass of Veuve Clicquot to hand certainly helped dim the memory of seven days in a locked hotel room and countless Covid tests.
Executive chef Jeffrey Siew putting the final touches to the dessert buffet.
Siew enthusiastically walked us through the extensive buffet offerings. There’s a wide variety of seafood, from crab to lobster to all manner of shellfish, plenty of jet fresh oysters and some beautifully plump prawns. Salads, sashimi and sushi followed (don’t miss the beetroot cured salmon) and the oyster champagne and vodka chasers were a fun touch.
There was a tasty selection of dim sum, all washed down with generous champagne pours, and then it was time to tackle the hot buffet options.
A chef with a carving knife laboured behind an enormous lychee wood-smoked tomahawk; the lamb cuts and pork ribs were also delicious. I tried my best with the tasty flaky baked masala chicken rice en croute, but by this stage I was starting to flag. A rest was needed before tackling the dessert buffet.
Loading up the sushi counter.
Respite came in the form of a live cooking demonstration in the dining area, an event introduced by Siew to add a little drama to proceedings. We watched as a chef put the 'flambé' into a huge foie gras and beef sandwich with a blow torch; the sandwich was then efficiently cut up and served to diners. He was later followed by a pastry chef expertly piping light-as-a-feather green tea mousse over lychees.
Given the abundance of food, the brunch is perhaps superfluously supplemented by an ‘add-ons’ menu, offering a variety of egg-based breakfast dishes, waffles, pancakes, crepes and French toast, Japanese Hot Spring Eggs with caviar and lobster bisque and Chicken Sausage Wrap with fried egg and lettuce.
Siew’s extended dessert runway is a piece de resistance, stretching almost the full length of the buffet serving area. We loaded our plates with cakes, pastries and creamy dan tat, a yummy welcome back to Hong Kong.
I’m a sucker for a glass of Veuve, but if you want to move away from champagne, the fun can be dialled-up further still with bottomless cocktails from the Tanqueray cocktail trolley.
The kids haven’t been forgotten (after all, a brunch is a big ask for youngsters to sit through). Once they’ve had their fill, they can scamper off and enjoy the Summer Kids’ Playroom with a game console and face painting, which should keep them happily entertained while adults enjoy another glass of bubbles while soaking up the sunshine and the bustling harbour views.
Splendid Sunset Chasers Brunch, 11.30am to 2.30pm, Sunday, KITCHEN, W Hotel Hong Kong, 1 Austin Road, West Kowloon Station, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
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