Rating: ★★★★☆

Address: 9B Ship Street, Wan Chai 灣仔船街9B號

Telephone: 2528 5068

https://www.akrame.com.hk/

https://www.waterjuicery.com.hk/

The French always seem to add a touch of elegance to otherwise ordinary things. Take restaurant Akrame for example – this small restaurant’s décor cannot be more simplistic, yet dining here, you can almost feel the finesse in the air.

The menu is designed by Chef Akrame Benallal, who operates several renowned restaurants in Paris, and the restaurant is opened by tycoon and restaurateur Peter Lam, who also owns other highly successful restaurants in Hong Kong, including Michelin 3-starred 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo.

As Chef Akrame is in town from 10-12 March, a group of us visit the restaurant to try his innovative tasting menu which is not paired with wines, but with cold-pressed blended juices from his juicery brand Water Juicery.

The dinner menu comes in 3 options: 4 courses at $788 per head with juice paring at $198, 6 courses at $998 per head with juice pairing at $268 and 8 courses at $1,298 per head with juice pairing at $348. I am really excited to try out this new concept, which definitely shows off Chef Akrame’s refined skills in flavour combinations.

We are swiftly presented with some beautiful amuse-bouche.

(1) The first course is the soft boiled egg with mushroom and pecan nuts. Flavours are simple but excellently balanced, with the pecan nuts adding a pleasant crunch.

The dish is paired with Digestaid, a refreshing juice blend of pineapple, white cabbage, ginger and mint. The ginger and mint in the juice match very well with the dish!

(2) Next, the sea bream with turnip, saffron and black rice is one of my favourite dishes at dinner. The fish is exquisitely tender and juicy, but it is the black rice, flavour-packed with a good bite, which forms a most beautiful match with the fish.

The pairing juice is C-Green, with parsley, spinach, kale and apple. Not only is this juice nutrients-packed, it is very tasty too!

(3) We get a choice of main course and my pick is the lobster with beetroot, blackberry and seaweed. This dish is prepared tableside, with the lobster freshly cooked in a simmering soup in a glass teapot.

The lobster is fresh with a fabulously bouncy texture, but the portion is on the small side given that this is the main course of a 4-course dinner. The pairing juice is Orange Pour, a blend of pomegranate, orange, apple and carrot. I adore the sweet, refreshing flavour of pomegranates in this juice.

We enjoy a small palate cleanser before the desserts.

(4) I am not 100% full yet, but this works out perfectly as there are 3 desserts to be served! The milk chocolate custard with Tonka milk mousse is a most delightful combination of attractive flavours, and the black chocolate tube with Tarragon ice cream is wondrously crispy and delicious.

The mango with pistachio cream and coconut ice cream is my favourite, but I may very well be biased because I simply adore any dessert with mango or coconut in it (you can see some of my favourite mango/ coconut desserts here, here and here)!

The petit fours come in the form of a tasty chocolate bar!