Hong Kong is not just for shopping. In fact, shopping is no longer a priority when I go to Hong Kong because everything seems so expensive now. For me, Hong Kong is really all about FOOD.
During Daphne Paez’s and my trip to Hong Kong, we were invited to a wonderful lunch by Wendy of The Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay. How can anyone who’s been to Hong Kong not know The Excelsior Hotel? It’s a Hong Kong institution!! 🙂
During my earlier days of traveling on my own pre-blogging days, I’d stay at The Excelsior if they’re not full (because they almost always are) because the hotel really has the best location– Causeway Bay is where you can find shops open until very late in the night. And The Excelsior is in the middle of it all– a few steps away from Sogo and from those late night food joints that I’d frequent 🙂
I was honestly not even aware then that Excelsior was part of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel family until Mandarin Manila’s Erika told me about it. No wonder Excelsior Hotel’s service was always impeccable.
Daphne and I lunched with Wendy at Tott’s and Roof Terrace at the top floor of the Excelsior Hotel.
If you happen to be in Causeway Bay and would like to have a few drinks, Tott’s is really the best place for it– the place has a very hip but laid back atmosphere, plus the view of the harbour is unparalleled.
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| It had just rained! |
Tott’s has an outdoor terrace!
James Williams, the head chef of Tott’s, came out to greet us.
The meal we were about to have already sounded unbelievably good when Chef James was describing it to us. I know not to expect when it comes to food, but hah, I had expectations after his introduction.
Daphne ordered this refreshing berry shake (which I later regret not ordering, but no worries, I am coming back to Tott’s for this on my next HK trip)
We had flaky pesto bread which was delicious (I’m a big fan of flaky pastry)
Pumpkin soup with fresh shrimp
An unusual pairing. The soup had a hint of curry, was thick and rich, and had a nice, nutty after taste. It was not like a lot of pumpkin soups that I have had. So it was really rather unique and worth trying.
Apart from the salmon, forgive me for not being able to tell you exactly what this was– the filling was delicious *I think it was seasoned crab meat* and was rolled up in a thin egg crepe. (confession: I wolfed this all down so fast I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask Wendy what this was again)
The piece de resistance of our lunch (I died and went to food heaven with this): DUCK!
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| Liver, Breast, Duck Leg Meat, and Duck Egg |
The “view” from the other side of the plate 🙂 It looked too good not to have multiple angle shots 🙂
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| Look at that dish. Killer good!! |
Duck skin crackling, Foie Gras, Magret de Canard, Confit de Canard, and Oeuf de Canard.
If I have been missing French food because I can’t seem to find good quality duck anywhere else, I was in for a treat at Tott’s. This definitely transported me back to one of my favorite French restaurants when I took my first bite of the Magret de Canard. Tott’s has propelled itself on top of my “must- eat” restaurants in Hong Kong.
The dessert couldn’t have been more perfect after the very rich entreé. The jelly was sweet and tart, and very refreshing. Combined with the cream and the meringue sticks, it was the perfect end to an unforgettably strong lunch.
I would come back to Tott’s for dinner, for this exact same meal in a heartbeat!
For more information about The Excelsior Hotel, Hong Kong, please do visit the Mandarin Oriental website
P.S. Special thanks to Wendy of Excelsior Hotel, and to Charisse and Erika of Mandarin Oriental Manila!
x
TheBagHag is on vacation this weekend,
it’s TheFoodHag blogging 🙂