The risotto-like rice is cooked in ginger and chicken stock with wood ear for added texture. The chicken comes rolled and wrapped in crispy skin, that’s reminiscent of the bacon-wrapped chicken, an old Chinese-restaurant staple. Next up is the Organic Chicken, straight off the Bo Innovation menu, albeit made from nine years aged Arborio rice instead of his usual Acquerello.
Of course, going by the appreciative ooh and aahs around the table, we are in a minority of one and this is a very well received plate! The vegetarians, meanwhile, have a relatively cool course as they get to sample the Ice Tomato the non-vegetarians had earlier. We aren’t comfortable with a huge kick of chilli so although we love some elements that come with the locally-sourced lobster, we find the spice levels in the Sichuan hollandaise and the Bo chilli sauce a bit too fiery for our palate and slightly overwhelming for the sweet lobster flesh. In contrast, the vegetarian offering of Woba, Chef Alvin’s take on traditional leftover burnt rice, has instead, crispy puffed rice, sugar snap peas and corn in a sluggish Shanghainese pickling butter sauce. Sometimes the surprise star of a Michelin-star meal is an ingredient that isn’t one of the usual suspects. The lightly braised green pepper and hints of yuzu add zing, while the salty and umami shaved slivers of karasumi (cured mullet roe that’s often called the poor man’s caviar) take it to another level of delish. The fish course is fantastic, the sea bass flaking delicately as the deep flavours of black garlic and black bean roll around the mouth languorously. The morel mushroom ‘soil’ and the slender enoki, fried and treated with liquid nitrogen, that make it look like those soak-the-legume school projects, give the dish a flavourful funkiness that’s offset by the green onion and lime and the smooth avocado mousse.
#Paltalk 8.3 x treme patch Patch#
The Dead Garden that the vegetarians receive with no such fanfare looks like a messy mud patch from hell but tastes heavenly. The bowl is presented with a puff of pageantry and everyone gets busy with their smartphone cameras. The next course is exciting, with the non-vegetarians being served Ice Tomato, which melds the tartness of dehydrated heirloom tomatoes, Chinese herbs and vinegar with the creaminess of cottage cheese the final taste not dissimilar from our all-time favourite salad, the watermelon and feta. But then again, we’re suckers for the earthy-metallic taste of truffle in anything! The vegetarians agree their black truffle crispy taro is delicious, while the vegetarian spring roll and dumpling aren’t as stand out. The best of the trio, we all declare is the Truffle Har Kau. As good as the flavours are, we think that this Xiao Long Bao doesn’t quite seem to be the molecular bao spherification that made Chef Alvin famous. The crunchiness and fresh accents of the Chicken Pesto Spring Roll are a good contrast to the juicy and intense Sichuan Lamb Xiao Long Bao.
What arrives instead, is a rather tame-looking dim sum trio. Now that’s truly X-treme! We’re a trifle disappointed and also rather relieved that we won’t be receiving the platter scattered with shiitake mushroom ‘sand’ and an ostensibly used and discarded pink condom made of tapioca and yam, injected with a white mixture made of honey and ham, artfully tossed over it. Everyone was doing soil he decided to go several steps ahead and donate the proceeds to an AIDS charity. That’s the dish that first put him in the global limelight. We wonder what’s in store for us as we take a peek at the menu. And that’s what his tattoo says too, to remind him to be naughty, laughs the Demon Chef. He tells us his cooking is all about being a ‘playful spirit’, a Daemon in Greek, when it comes to food creation. His take on Chinese food combines heritage recipes with modern ingredients and molecular gastronomy. And when we hear a raised voice while we’re sipping wine and having a jabber with our dining companions, it only adds to the aura around this self-taught chef whose Hong Kong-restaurant Bo Innovation has three coveted Michelin stars, while his Bo London had also earned one soon after it opened. Chef Alvin Leung stands out in his chef blacks and stylish shades amongst a sea of white. We spy him in the show kitchen when we enter the stunning Spices restaurant.
When you hear ‘Demon Chef’ and ‘X-treme Chinese Cuisine’ in the same sentence from the people at the JW Marriott Juhu, you’re bound to feel a tad nervy as you’re heading there to sample his daringly different dinner.
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