Hong Kong, a city of maximum convenience, and if that convenience happens to extend to a taste of one of Europe’s most hotly contested food capitals, France, so be it. Tartine brings a small but mighty taste of it to Hong Kong’s Soho district, setting up cosy shop in Lyndhurst Terrace’s commercial development, The Mood.
Touting itself as a gourmet all-day dining venue serving ‘fluid, healthy and authentic’ dishes, Tartine is the brainchild of the Michelin-starred chef behind the city’s other restaurants Upper Modern Bistro and ON Dining, Philippe Orrico. Simply inspired by the French way of preparing food and adding comforts of home and a familiarity to its menu. Orrico has found an attractive gap in Hong Kong’s culinary market, one of elegantly put together comfort food.
The bar area at Tartine
A popular lunch haunt and equally low-key yet, thanks to the French-fusion influence, dressed up way to dine come sundown, Tartine offers soaring views of Soho above ground and vino selection which will also take you to dizzying heights thanks to a smart collaboration with local wine purveyors Pont des Arts.
The interiors at Tartine
When Glass made our way to Tartine’s after a short trip midway up the Central Escalator System we chose to dine on the bar level of the two story establishment. This provided us with a nice amount of natural light and allowed us to enjoy our tasty lunchtime titbits around luxe accents of marble and copper fittings, with flowing greenery surrounding us.
Big eye tuna tartar
Black truffle sandwiches
First on our lunch menus, which as the name Tartine would suggest, hinges itself on tartines – a very French garnished open-faced sandwich for those less inclined – was appetisers. These consisted of pork rillettes and tuna carpaccio with ponzu cream and white truffle oil, which allowed our taste buds to feel their way with some simple savoury flavours before getting onto the heavier stuff.
Pork rillettes du man
A selection of tartines
It was then time to indulge in the main event, the tartines. Combinations of seasonal quality produce, locally sourced when possible, which we dabbled in included lobster and homemade béchamel, duck confit, caramelised onion, orange and mint and goat cheese, roasted fig, parma ham, aged balsamic and honey. While these feels like a tall order for even the most adventurous midday diner, these are put to you as buffet-style options.
Highlights included the parma ham dashed with smoky honey, given a fresh, fruity punch with the roasted pig. The homemade béchamel with lobster shined through especially well also, with the béchamel becoming the perfect soothing accompaniment to the rustic toasts sometimes overpowering bite.
Nutella loaf dessert
As much as the fully-loaded tartines stole the show, desserts are also one of Tartine’s strongest points. This is something which they clearly aren’t afraid to suggest with the daring creations we were presented with. To finish up we opted for the Nutella loaf dessert, topped by a sinful explosion of marshmallow, roasted nuts and playful sprinkles as well as its winter berry equivalent on sweet bread. This balanced out the ferocity of all the flavours consumed by giving us the opportunity to finally give our palettes a rest with some sugary treats appeased by the cool, refreshing tartness of blueberries and cranberries.
Certainly tickling our taste-buds, Tartine has really done all it’s can to emerge as slice of something else for Hong Kong. It’s ‘let them eat cake’ concept brings a culinary abandon to a city so swept up by convenience, it sometimes lacks in the proof being in the pudding. But if it’s a little quirk you want with your quality, this is certainly the place for you.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Tartine
Opening Times: Mon-Fri: 09:00 – 23:00, Sat: 12:00 – 23:00, Sun: 12:00 – 16:00
Tartine can be found on Facebook