Odea, Hong Kong’s newest French restaurant, may have a great culinary philosophy but will need some self-reflection if it wants to last the distance in the city’s fickle dining scene.
What’s the Concept?
French restaurant Odea is one of three new restaurants that have opened at Hong Kong’s FWD House 1881, the former Marine Police Headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui. The eateries – Odea, The Steak Room (opening this month), and The Queen – are operated by experienced dining group Lubuds, with chef Calvin Choi, formerly executive sous chef at the InterContinental Hong Kong, at the helm of both western concepts.
Odea promises a ‘modern French dining experience’, serving brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. In a recent interview we did with Calvin Choi, the chef talked about his ‘clean and healthy’ approach to the menus at Odea and his commitment to breaking with common misconceptions of French cuisine. We put those principles to the test when we visited to sample Odea’s tasting menu.
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First Impressions
There’s no doubt that 1881 is one of the city’s most beautiful venues; wreathed by landscaped gardens, the former police station boasts timeless colonial architecture that extends into the space occupied by Odea, which features soaring ceilings, cool whitewashed walls, gleaming teak accents, towering mirrors, ceiling fans, and shuttered windows. We were guided to a table, one of approximately 12, in the main dining room, which was more than half full. Diners who prefer great views with their meal can also take one of the tables on the patio (the space was closed on our visit due to a corporate event).
First Bites
There are two options; 8 courses for HK$880 per person, and 10 courses for HK$1,180.
The meal began with a bread basket with mini baguettes, cheese sticks, and sun-dried tomato focaccia, which was paired with a light and fragrant raw honey flower with olive oil and sea salt. This was followed by an amuse-bouche of wafer-thin Parmesan crackers with champagne jelly. The bites were a solid punch of elegant flavours – both sweet and tangy – but would have been better presented on the table rather than served horderves-style on top of a silver tray of egg-sized recesses filled with various spices.
From here the Tasting Menu proper began with a curious addition – a very Italian Burrata with fresh cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and tomato concentrate. While it’s curious that a tasting menu at a ‘modern French’ restaurant would begin with an iconically southern Italy dish, the tomatoes three ways offered a great contrast in textures, with their sweetness complementing the silkiness of the cheese perfectly. All good so far.
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The cheese was followed by red prawn carpaccio with citrus jelly. While the prawns were rather firm, their flavour was pronounced, a sign of good seafood. My only niggle would be that the grapefruit was very tart – even for grapefruit – which overpowered the prawns if both ingredients made it into the same bite.
Then Things Got a Little Weird…
I can’t remember the last time I had a tasting menu that had two carpaccio dishes in a row. While the Porterhouse beef carpaccio looked sound enough upon arrival, it lacked flavour and looked as if it had been made in advance, a suspicion that was justified when the fresh horseradish that was supposed to be grated on top by the wait staff was replaced (before the dish was served) with a dollop of something that tasted like sour cream. The result was overly-chilled beef slices, an abundance of salt, and an absence of the punchy head of the horseradish which would have really brought the dish together.
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Organic wild mushroom soup with black truffle oil followed and while the soup had a great texture and a rich, earthy flavour that warmed the soul, the truffle was completely lost.
Then Things Got Trippy…
After the soup there was a long pause in service, I suspect because the kitchen was struggling with the corporate group that was dining in one of House 1881’s many venue spaces (perhaps the beef carpaccio was been destined for those tables?) By the time the “New Orleans Style” crab cakes (again, this is a modern French restaurant, not Hooters) arrived, they had obviously been sitting around for a while. The result was soggy, stodgy portions lacking any hint of Cajun spice and served with an old school iceberg wedge.
Next up was Chinese Yellow Wine Duck Foie Gras, a dish that made me look around to ensure I hadn’t mistakenly entered The Queen – House 1881’s new Chinese restaurant – by accident. It’s another bold departure from Odea’s modern French concept and while the rice wine does work, accentuating the sweetness of the charred corn puree, it was actually the liver, which was pale, undercooked, and gelatinous, that fell short.
Something a Little More Substantial…
After a refreshingly sweet yet perfectly balanced strawberry granita, we were served the mains, Japanese beef for me, and cod for my dining partner.
While the steamed bamboo and pumpkin lacked any real contribution, the cod was beautifully cooked, the silky, tender flesh falling apart to the touch and elevated by hints of a sweet miso marinade. No innovation, nothing particularly modern, but still, a great piece of fish.
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The beef was an equally luxurious cut, a marbled piece of Japanese sirloin served with green asparagus and onion coulis. Cooked in the Japanese style, it would not have looked out of place on an omakase menu but again left us wondering what exactly Odea was all about. While the steak, which perfectly cooked with a rich beef jus, it pined for something that could cut through the marbling and balance the intense richness.
The final dish, slow-cooked cheesecake with yogurt sorbet, was probably the best of the bunch, the cake deliciously rich, perfectly offset by the tangy sorbet, and impressively plated beneath a vibrant pink candy dome.
Conclusion
I have no doubt that Calvin Choi is a talented chef and one who will shake off the years at the InterCon and come into his creative own given time. However, a tasting menu is supposed to be where chefs challenge conventions, illustrate their art, inspire diners, and test palates. Instead, at Odea, it’s a narrative of confusion and thematic inconsistency that fails to showcase its quality ingredients or display any of the imagination that we’re sure chef is more than capable of. While service was a little hit and miss, dishes that captivated, inspired, and surprised would have meant we’d have spent more time discussing the food and less time wondering where it was.
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