Receiving that acceptance letter from Columbia was truly one of the happiest moments of my life and my dear H treated me for lunch at Bo Innovation to celebrate this great milestone :) When H heard that I have never tried Bo Innovation he exclaimed that it was unacceptable since I was such a big foodie... I guess it is a little shocking that I have never been at all. I have always heard about it and have seen pictures of the peculiar cuisine.
Bo Innovation is headed by the "Demon Chef" Alvin Leung who branded his cooking as "X-Treme Chinese Cuisine". The aim of his cooking is to break down traditional Chinese food and reinvents it so that diners experience them in a different and novel way. One of his infamous dishes is a edible condom made out of konjac and kappa to raise awareness on AIDS (not saying condoms are a traditional Chinese dish... but just that he is pretty creative).
 |
| There is another less indulgent lunch menu but since we were celebrating we decided to go all out :)! |
 |
| DEAD GARDEN - morel, caterpillar fungus, green onion, lime This dish was incredibly similar to the one I had at BCN and it was quite a enjoyable start to the meal. The "mud" was crunchy, strong flavored, and went very well with green foam underneath. The morel mushrooms were also fried to crispy slithers and had a strong earthy flavor. |
 |
| SABA - sesame, ponzu cloud, ginger, parfum de Hong Kong This was definitely my least favorite dish of the meal. The saba (mackerel) was overwhelmingly fishy and pungent and the ponzu cloud was not acidic enough to balance out this unappealing taste. I actually commented that this was terrible while H said it was not THAT bad. |
 |
| MOLECULAR - "xiao long bao" This is one of Bo Innovations signature dishes and I can definitely appreciate the creativity and thought that was put into the development of this dish. I love eating xiao long baos and was eager to see what Chef Alvin Leung did to reinvent this dish. When you bite into this, the thin skin pops quite significantly and you feel the rush of the juice flow into your mouth (sounds kind of gross haha), the initial pop may be slightly surprisingly as I initially thought the skin was less taunt so that the mouth feel would be more similar to that of a glutinous rice sweet dumpling. The sensation was quite interesting and worth a try but I do prefer the traditional xiao long bao. |
 |
| HAR MI - "lo mein", chili, kaniko H told me that this is his favorite dish whenever he comes here so I was really excited to try. This dish really was quite enjoyable and while it was simple it really let the flavors shine through. The noodles were form and covered with the fragrant sauce. The color was also quite lovely with the bright orange noodles sprinkled with some bright green scallions. You are also given a pot of the "har mi" (dried shrimp) oil with chili in case you felt that the noodles were not seasoned strongly enough. I highly recommend that you add more of this oil as it really does make the dish pop. |
 |
| COD - saffron miso, sauternes, seaweed This dish was an ideal example of the perfect interplay of textures and how important it is to get all components of the dish into each bite. The cod was cooked to melt in your mouth perfection and the gelatinous layer on the top provided a smooth texture while the seaweed was light and crunchy. Although the textures worked very well together, the flavor was a bit too one dimensional and was overall quite sweet. H also commented on how the saffron aroma was a tad artificial. |
 |
| FOIE GRAS - "mui choy" Yum yum yum the fat greedy child within me is always overjoyed whenever a thick fatty piece of foie is plopped in front of me. For some this piece may be too rich and filling (even I was a tad full) but regardless I still finished all of it. I thought the "mui choy" (pickled vegetable) chip was quite nice as it provided a nice crispy element to the dish. The foie was seared well and had a rich buttery flavor. The ice cream is also mui choy flavored and was much too salty. I think it was a interesting combination but the fattiness of the foie along with the saltiness of the ice cream was a bit too much. It would be better if a lighter ice cream was served. The combination of the hot foie and the cold ice cream was also peculiar/weird, you decide. But regardless of this, I still love foie gras in the end :D |
 |
| SAGA-GYU BEEF - black truffle, soy, "cheung fun" YUM, this dish was truly lip smacking good. H and I knowingly looked at each other with very satisfied expressions. The beef was fatty, tender, and flavorful. The truffle cheung fun was also a genius fusion of traditional Chinese cuisine with western flavors. A little heavy yes, but so freaking good. This photo is also ultimate food porn! Thank god this was a small portion or else I would probably become a cow. |
 |
| DESSERT - lime macaron, chocolate mouse, lemon curd mousse It was smart that the desserts were small since we were quite full after this meal. I was initially scared that I won't be full since the first few dishes were small but as the dishes got heavier I realized I would be more than satiated. The lime macaron was sub-par but this is due to personal preference as I don't care for most things lime. The chocolate mousse was yummy and rich with some nice sprinkling of crunchy bits and chocolate balls. Although I did make the annoying comment of how it looks like poop which made H be less than eager to finish his chocolate mousse haha! The best of the three was definitely the lemon curd mousse with a lovely tangy lemon zing and creamy smooth texture. |
The meal was definitely very interesting and I think that everyone should try Bo Innovation at least once. I would not say that taste wise it was mind-blowing as I do enjoy more traditional cooking but I admire his creativity. I think that Bo Innovation is more about the experience and the appreciation of the idea and intention of the dish rather than the actual taste. Some dish were very delicious such as the noodles and the beef. Once again thank you H for such an exciting meal :)
Bo Innovation
J Residence
60 Johnston Road
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
No comments:
Post a Comment