Japanese cuisine gives people an impression of beautiful presentation and high quality ingredients. The other characteristics of Japanese traditional cuisine, especially in Kaiseki, are that the meals consist of several small plates, and every dish is well-plated, and color coordinated, which give a harmonious vibe to the eyes and the palates! Modern French cuisine (or nouvelle cuisine) has adopted this approach; high quality ingredients and elegantly represented in small portions. Ta vie in Hong Kong is one of the examples.
As most of the Chinese cuisine restaurants are closed during the Chinese New Year, I successfully persuaded my parents to give Ta Vie a try! The name “Ta Vie” means ‘your life’ in French, and it means ‘journey’ in Japanese. The combination of these two words and the French-Japanese sensibility sum up chef Hideaki Sato’s cuisine perfectly .
Before the opening of Ta Vie, Chef Sato worked at the three-Michelin-star Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo, then moved to Hong Kong for Tenku Ryugin, which has received two-Michelin-star soon after its opening. Same for his own restaurant. Ta Vie is ranked at No. 33 on 2017 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, as well as awarded with two Michelin stars on the Michelin Guide Hong Kong & Macau Edition 2017, and No. 16 in 2018!
Ta Vie is a tasting-menu-only restaurant. Dinner is an 8-course meal, and lunch was more concise, which was a 5-course tasting menu. Like most of the fine dining restaurants, you get to choose to have flat or sparkling water (sorry, no tap/regular water here). If you choose sparkling, it’ll be the S. Pellegrino that you see everywhere. However, we went for flat (I was expecting just to be regular tap water), they brought this zen-looking bottle water, and explained that the water is from Japan. Honestly, it was just water… Perhaps on a sweeter note, but let’s face it, it’s just like any regular water.
The first presentation of the dish was not only impressive, but it also “wow”-ed my parents (it’s rare to please the parents!). It was the crab house sandwich, which underneath the crab-shaped crispy buckwheat crêpe, there is the Zuwai crab salad. The dollop on the side is a miso sauce. The crab salad looks creamy, yet it was light and quite a refreshing start!
Along with the crab salad, they also brought up their house made bread and cultured butter – one of their signatures! Chef Sato uses the technique of making Nukazuke (a variety of vegetables marinated in lactic acid fermented rice bran) to ferment the flour, and makes the sourdough bread! The bread uses wheat flour “Kitanokaori”, and dark rye flour, which both are sourced from Hokkaido, Japan. Moreover, the butter is Ta Vie’s pride and joy of the kitchen! The cultured butter is freshly made in the kitchen every day, and served within 24 hours. It was light and creamy! I always say that the starter bread can forecast the meals, and for sure, it was a good start!
No words to describe my love for sea urchin! This is the house-made pasta with “Aonori” fresh seaweed sauce, and topped with premium uni. First, the pasta with seaweed sauce was a great combo. Both are light and silky, easily slurp into the mouth without much efforts! There are various types of sea urchin, and these were sweet!!! I wished there could’ve been more!
This is the “civet” braised abalone with abalone shell. The entire presentation mocked the actual shape of abalone, which the “shell” is made with puff pastry! “Civet” is actually a culinary technique in French cuisine that’s used to prepare game meats. The stew-liked sauce is cooked with cognac, offals, and spices until thicken, and chef Sato added a bit of abalone to enhance the sweetness, and served with the refreshing mushrooms, which layered up the tastes!
Next up, my dad had the Wagyu “minute” steak with burnt onion and Onsen egg, served with Japanese whisky sauce. Not like the regular thick steak, these were served in thin slices, and the preparation was inspired by sukiyaki (a Japanese dish that is prepared and served in the nabemono ( Japanese hot pot) style).
Since I don’t eat beef, I have requested in advance to replace this course with other food. The chicken was very tender and juicy, yet the skin was crisp! The shao xing sauce elevated the sweetness of the chicken!
The dessert – “Reminiscing in winter child’s play” – made with creme d’Ange and mandarin sorbet under “Kamakura” snow igloo.
The restaurant manager was overly joyed when introducing this! It was a great refreshing ending! The candy glass dome was as thin as a paper, and cracked with just a gentle hit from the spoon. Normally, I’m not a fan of orange-flavored dessert, but this one was perfect!
Coffee or tea is included in the set lunch, which arrives with yet another dessert! They use Indonesian coffee, which is bold and nutty, paired with a portion of chocolate lime pudding. It was silky, and the zesty citrus notes downplay the bitter chocolate!
My mom and I opted the Golden Oolong tea from Taiwan, and it was paired with the walnut meringue. It was the combination made in heaven! The tea was finely brewed without any bitterness. The sweet aftertaste from the tea, and the nuttiness of the meringue – perfect ending.
Overall, the experience was unforgettable! Each dish was executed flawlessly. We didn’t feel like the quality diminishes just because the price was a better bet during lunch. The manager and the staff were very friendly, and the service was impeccable, just like how Japanese do it! The flavors are precise and clean, not too complicated that will provoke uncomfortable sensations. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to visit again when I’m in Hong Kong!
Ta Vie 旅
2/F, The Pottinger, 74 Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2668 6488 (Reservation recommended)
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