Upper Modern Bistro | Hong Kong

Rating: ❤❤❤


Upper Modern Bistro serves casual French bistro dishes and tapas with an Asian twist while using ingredients from all over the world. Having heard great things about the restaurant from various sources, I arranged a dinner here one night when a friend wanted to meet up. Even though I called on the day of, I managed to secure a reservation for 9:30pm on a Saturday night. When we showed up however, we still had a wait a while for the people to vacate our table but the staff was quite apologetic about that. While we were waiting, I had the chance to take in the artsy and chic decor - especially with the petal-like ceiling which is supposed to pay homage to the chef's love for eggs. The atmosphere was bustling and energetic at the bar in front while the dining area in the back managed to have a pocket of peacefulness.
Pieces of warm baguette were placed on our table in this cute little sack along with butter. They were great to eat and nibble on as the flavor and texture were decent.
Bites
Octopus & Potato Salad ($98) - the mustard vinaigrette sauce made all the difference in this dish. I love the slight hint of spiciness while the octopus was tender enough. [4/5]

Mini Veal Burgers ($148) - this was one of the better dishes of the night. The veal patty was juicy and flavorful while the mushroom puree created from truffle and foie gras was simply delectable! [4.5/5]
Starters
Fish Market Ceviche ($138) - this dish turned out to be quite similar to the octopus & potato salad as it contained octopus and guacamole. Unfortunately, there was not much citrus or tart flavors to the seafood as one would come to expect from a ceviche. Actually there was not much flavors at all. [2.5/5]

Mains
Roasted Half Spring Chicken ($328) - paired with truffle jus, the chicken was smelled heavenly while the meat was succulent and well-flavored. The portions were a bit tiny though for the high price tag. [4/5]


Mushroom Tagliatelle, 63° Egg ($188) - it seems that most chic restaurants have a 6x°C egg dish nowadays. Sprinkled with cheese and parma ham, the pasta was cooked nicely while maintaining a slightly hard texture. Even though the liquid yolk from the 63° egg provided an additional layer of taste and texture, the flavors of the pasta itself were just average at best. [3.5/5]

Desserts
Warm Chocolate Cake ($128) - the desserts proved to be even more disappointing. The warm chocolate cake tasted like microwave brownies while the coffee ice cream was an afterthough and not integrated into the dessert. [3/5]



Lychee Soup ($88) - the lychee soup sounded interesting on paper but turned out to be a mistake. Imagine scoops of sorbet melting in the sun, and the melted sugar water is exactly what you get in this dessert. It's really not something you would want to drink. [1/5]
Verdict - between the 3 of us, the tab came out to $400 per person without any drinks - which was actually quite pricey for the quality of the food we got. Some dishes were alright but overall lacked consistency and I was generally not impressed with the flavors here. There are much better places for casual French bistro food around.

Upper Modern Bistro
6-14 Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan
2517 0977
http://www.upper-bistro.com/

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