MAISON EIGHT @ New Heights Of Style & Luxury

At the penthouse of the 8 Observatory Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Maison Eight is one of the many new establishments to hang out and be seen. This fashionably lavish, sky-high destination brings the best of French cuisine, celebrity cocktails, champagne and parties under one roof as well as the tireless Victoria harbor view. By mylifestylenews.

As you walk through the hand-stamped Italian leather doors, the elaborate ceiling aligned with crystal ball chandeliers creates a more dramatic ambience to The Ballroom, a modern reinvention of the classic pillarless and spacious ballroom style with coach built detailing and its very own terrace. Live jazz performances are on towards the weekend nights where you dance while enjoying the vistas of the city skyline.

The 8,000 sqf space Masion Eight also brought in Salvatore, the first cocktail bar in Asia by The Maestro, world-renowned bartender Salvatore Calabrese. Headed by his protégé and his right hand man, Fabien Marcault, Salvatore bar menu are reknown for its unusual twists on the classics and the new unique creations inspired by the flavours to be found on this continent.



We were offered two of his signature cocktails Grace which is an elegant, long, refreshing drink with excellent flavor matching and a great texture by using Grey Goose Pear Vodka, fresh pear juice, fresh lemon juice, honey syrup, lemongrass and fresh mint.



Bunny Bubbles is the drink that the Maestro believes tone day will be as iconic as the Bunny Girls who inspired it. With the concoction of Benedictine Liqueur, fresh raspberry and pomegranate juice and Jacques Picard champagne, it is delightful!



The Ballroom Patio is ideal for signature cocktails crafted by The Maestro, world-renowned bartender Salvatore Calabrese.

Beside the in-house fine dining restaurants in Kowloon deluxe hotels, Tsim Sha Tsui is really lacking of a feel-good free standing fine dining restaurant for diners to enjoy a more classy and elegant evening.

Esmé, the intimate French dining room elegantly designed with a French flair references the contemporary fine dining Four Season Restaurant in New York is now an addition to the neighborhood for those who appreciate culinary classics and innovative seasonal dishes.

The airy and romantic luminous French Walnut-paneled walls alike leads you the world’s first Bollinger Champagne Room, LE CLUB 1829. The lush private room is a vintage inspired and is adjacent to the house wine cellar which boasts over 2,300 bottles, all in suede-lined wine racks, including a complete collection of all the cuveé and key vintages of this distinguished brand. All four concepts come together beautifully and makes ‘Maison’ for all.

As we are quite partial to French cuisine yet a newly launched dining room is always the cause for excitement. Heading the culinary team is Executive Chef, Joe Chan who has over 28 years of experience at world-renowned hotels including Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong and Hotel du Centenaire that scored a 2 Michelin star restaurant. The menu in Maison Eight takes a classic approach to French cuisine with a pinch of inspiration from his travels. It was the main reason for our visit and Chef Chan didn’t disappoint.

The menu is classically inspired and has some authentic favourites that we could not resist. Our culinary adventure began with an Amuse Bouché of smoked eel on a black chip made with cocoa. Tiny it may have been, but it was oozing flavor and pricked our taste buds for what was to come.



Les ENTREES made it difficult for us to figure out our navigation of the menu, but we settled on Pink Roasted Pigeon Salad with Candied Endives and Lettuce Leaves along with Sauteed Wood Mushrooms, Croutons, Chives and Madeira Juice.



Wow was an adjective that sprang to mind on the first taste of both dishes. It was as if we were transported to a French forest with such honest, juicy and delectable palate. The level of cooking clearly focused on letting the quality ingredients speak for themselves and Chef Chan clearly did!



We tried something from each section of the menu and now that the anticipation is killing, next comes the two triumphant soups from the Les SOUPES selection– Mussels Cream Soup with Saffron and Onion Broth with Melted Cheese, Air-dried Ham French Toast.



Both were absolutely spot on and incredibly flavoursome and no doubt it is one of the best French Onion Broth we have had in the region recently.



From Les PLATS we opted for three dishes to truly understand further what else Chef Chan would surprise us. Pan Seared Bresse Chicken with Morels, Vintage Pork Sauce; Omega 3 Pork Chop from Finland where it is fully certified to meet such a technical title with apple, fennel compote, cider vinegar glaze and a Scottish Salmon and Garoupa Souffle with Noilly Prat Sauce and Tomato Fleuron. We were delighted with what was served in every possible way. The chicken was stunning in flavor and superbly cooked, with the mushrooms and sauce adding richer flavor on top of the rich meat, it was tender and juicy.



The pork was very lean with a firm texture but not hard as expected and full of flavor, with the apple and fennel are the perfect accompaniments. The salmon was equally superb and you think it is impossible to get it wrong and so right with the sweetest and tender texture.



From AVEC (side dishes), we chose Potato Chips with Aioli, chives and sour cream, butter and bacon and Broccoli with Cashews and Chives. Even these two side order can’t get your hands off them. Simply delicious!

 The Au GRILL section also offer some delights, particularly the Grilled Veal Cutlet stuffed with Mozzarella, Basil and Semi-Dried Tomato. We found it hard to ignore such a classic dish with sweet, tender meat and the stuffing was adding a certain piquancy without overpowering the meat flavours.



Even a small mouth full pre-dessert figs tartelette are carefully crafted and presented

You won’t say know to French dessert, from Les DESSERTS selection, we didn’t want anything overly sweet, so we paired an Almond Cake with orange syrup and Ice Parfait raspberry with almond and oat biscuit. One should never under-estimate the simplicity of an almond cake or a parfait and both had so many high notes that all we can say is try them for yourselves and you will be transported to dessert heaven. We hadn’t given another thought to food when our tea and coffee was accompanied with Petit Fours – Blueberry cheesecake and Oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies – which just proved again that sweet things are never to be denied at Esmé as they won’t stop delighting their guests.

The menu seems to be a triumph with every dish we sampled and it is clear that Chef Chan has a firm and assured grip on all things authentically French.

The Assistant General Manager, Guillaume Places also ensured that our wine pairings would not follow the usual course of expected wines, so we enjoyed Bollinger Rose Champagne, Muscadet, Chinese Chardonnay, Bourgogne, Mondeuse and another bubbly champagne Jacques Picard for dessert. We could not fault one dish or ingredient for its authenticity and deliciousness all night. What an inventive array of flavours.

While we have yet to experience all other concepts offers but at this point, through the experience we had, Maison Eight truly seems to be a ‘Maison’ for all. At the core concept quality interior design and the timeless La French Cuisine, this new fashionable establishment can best be described as a luxury hotel without rooms but great hospitality and food & beverages as well as entertainment under one roof. Opened just more than 4 weeks, Maison Eight has a great potential to pamper all wine and dine connoisseurs.

Tried & Tested:

Location: 3.5/5

Design & Decor: 4/5

Food & Beverage: 5/5

Service: 4.5/5

Value For Money: 4/5

Experience: 4.5/5

Highlights:

Esmé French Fine Dining

MAISON EIGHT

8, Observatory Road

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2388 8160

Reviews are based on actual day of visit and experience. mylifestylenews reserves the right of final decision in case of any disputes. All images are photographed by mylifestylenews team without any photoshop enhancement and are the property owned by mylifestylenews unless otherwise stated.