Brunch is a cut above the rest

Updated: 2013-05-13 10:03

By Xu Junqian ( China Daily)

Brunch is a cut above the rest While the latter, consisting of Wagyu beef broth with black truffles, root vegetables and puff pastry crust, has a more famous origin, the former stands out with its delicate and light flavor.

Among the 11 main dishes - yes, 11, prepared tableside by the chef - there is what chef Rappl calls "the highlight of the meal": the Blackmore Wagyu beef with black pepper jus and XO sauce.

The award-winning Australian premium quality beef, boasting the purest bloodline that traces back more than 70 years, not only has a surprising juiciness and tenderness thanks to the skillful pan-searing but also an intense flavor that lingers on the palate.

Other dishes include the steamed star grouper with superior soy, butter poached Boston lobster with chervil butter sauce, foie gras deglazed with Spanish sherry vinegar and port wine, and hand sliced black hoof ham - my personal favorite after the beef, as the chestnut-fed Spanish ham tastes pleasantly sweet.

For dessert, the Swedish pastissier - a very cordial gentleman whose desserts, you simply cannot refuse - prepares freshly made tiramisu with truffles and chocolate, marinated seasonal berries with marsala sabayon, and freshly baked raspberry souffle.

Despite having lost my sweet tooth many years ago, I strongly recommend you try all three, which are definitely the creme de la creme of desserts. If your appetite fails you, pick the tiramisu that has the Valrhona chocolate, the French fine chocolate known as one of the "foods to try before you die".

I kept trying to tell the pastry chef to put aside my portion of the tiramisu, but after gobbling up everything on my plate, I couldn't help but go to the chef, abashedly, and ask for another spoonful of the best tiramisu I've ever had. Twice.