Boozey Brunch Series: French Window

Unlimited food and free flow booze all before 6 pm (well in our case we stayed til 8), how can anyone not love boozey brunch?! I've tried Zuma and Blue Butcher and while both of those were excellent (watch out for these reviews!), I am always willing to try out new options. I recently found this excellent list of boozey brunches in HK and S and I decided to try them all and make the reviews into a Brunch Series on this blog.

French Window has had mixed reviews and while I thought the brunch was decent, I don't think I would be returning. The entrance was abnormally long and when I finally reached the hostess, I found out that they made a mistake with my booking and booked next week instead of the day I actually requested! Thankfully some people flaked on us last minute so it was just S and I therefore they were able to give us a table right away albeit the mistake. Service overall was polite but not attentive enough, I had to ask the waiter to refill my glass of champagne almost every single time which made me feel like a raging alcoholic. I believe that keeping a guest's glass full at all times is a very important aspect of good service and this should definitely be a point to keep in mind when training wait staff.

Food quality was decent. The brunch was set up so that there was a all you can eat cheese station, appetizers, seafood spread, and dessert buffet. You can then select your main course ala carte style.

One of many many glasses

So so Amuse Bouche, the scallop was slathered with this thick gloopy sauce which resulted in a less than appealing presentation as you can see

Decent selection of cheeses. Would be nice if there were more condiments such as dried fruit and different types of crackers

Raclette Potatoes
S and I LOVED these raclette potatoes. The flavor of raclette was perfect with the crispy potatoes and they came out fresh and bubbling in generous pots.

Riso au tourteaux crabe et sauce mariniere
S actually forgot that we had a main course and was shoving her face with appetizers and raclette potatoes haha! I usually would gravitate towards the sirloin but I was also getting rather stuffed at this point. This dish was made quite well, it was al dente and the amount of crab was just right. The cream sauce was not too heavy and complemented the sweetness of the crab. If it was not so full I would probably eat more of it.

These were a little sneaky as they were actually dunked in alcohol!

The appetizer selection could be slightly more vast, there were mostly cold cuts, pate/spreads, and smoked salmon. The quality of the seafood could be improved, the oysters were not very fresh and one actually was very fishy. The size of the crab claws was quite impressive and the flavor was fine but bits of it were a tad mushy.

The main courses were made well therefore I may come back for lunch someday!

Another extra note is that the booze isn't champagne but lucien albrecht cremant d'alsace brut, which is supposedly the best sparkling wine in France outside of Champagne.

Overall, the experience was enjoyable but I have definitely had better boozey buffets in Hong Kong. On to the next!

French Window

Shop 3101

Podium Level 3

IFC Mall

Central

Hong Kong