Where To Eat

Over the past five years or so, the one consistent factor with regard to Pierre, the fine-dining restaurant of Mandarin Oriental, Hongkong, is that the food has, always, been, at best, mediocre – at worst, absolute rubbish. 

On Wednesday, March 17, 2016, TARGET (泰達財經) returned to Pierre in order to learn whether or not things had changed. 

They have not! 

One is still served rubbish, dressed up in French-language names. 

This medium cannot understand the reason that many well-heeled, Chinese patronise this pretentious food outlet unless it is due to the fact that it is a quiet place to hold an impromptu business talk or, in the case of tai-tais, to swap the scandal stories of the day, such as who is sleeping with whom. 

This medium can confirm that there was a European cook present at Pierre, at least during the hours of 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm – because he was wandering round the restaurant the entire time.
Which raises the question: Who was doing the cooking in the kitchen? 

On the afternoon of TARGET’s visit, this is that which was ordered for three people: 

First Course 

Pâté en Croûte << 4 meats >>, Mustard Ice Cream, Walnuts Pickles 

Marinated Mackerel and Grilled Octopus,
Brown Shrimps Jelly, Shizo Paste and Butter Milk-Lime Granita 

Foie Gras Soup with Amontillado, Gambas/Grapefruit 

Second Course 

Scallops with Zezette Broth, Paris Mushroom/Mange-Tout 

Leg of Lamb with Fenugrec, Slow Steam Piquillos/Chorizo/Spinach/Blond Raisins/Eggplant, Parsnip Paste 

Grilled Heart of Rib-Eye, Roquefort Sauce, Sweet Potatoes Croquette 

Third Course 

Rhubarb Tart, Yogurt Ice Cream 

The Food 

The First Courses 

The only thing that had any taste in this dish, at all, was the fat. 

The waiter was asked as to what were the meats that went into this dish. He answered that he did not know. 

So much for the expertise of the serving staff. 

As for the marinated mackerel, etc, it was, in fact, just a light salad, containing bits of this and that. 

As with the pâté, it, too, had no discernible flavour. 

As for the foie gras soup, it may have been tasty, at one time, during its preparation, but the lukewarm liquid that was poured over the blob of something, lying at the bottom of a soup bowl, tasted, if anything, of ‘dishwater’. 

Unbelievably, all of the first courses had one thing in common: They were, in a word, dreadful. 

The Second Courses 

It took about 30 minutes for the Second Courses to arrive after the dishes of the First Courses had been taken away – and that was only after TARGET had enquired as to the reason for the extremely slow service. 

After all, this was supposed to be the advertised ‘Express Lunch’. 

Of the three Second Courses, the best was the scallops. 

The scallops had been sautéed and could not be criticised.  

But, as for the few slices of the leg of lamb, extraordinarily, the meat was completely insipid. 

This reviewer pondered whether or not the lamb had been boiled. 

When the waiter was asked about the lamb, he said, proudly, that the meat was from France and that it was ‘from a baby lamb’. 

(TARGET has, always, been left to believe that the meat of a lamb must not be more than six months old. Thus, what in the world is a French ‘baby lamb’?) 

As for the other, terribly overcooked green things that accompanied the paper-thin, six thumb slices of lamb, hidden underneath the vegetables, this reviewer had no idea as to what they were (or had been) because, just like the meat, they had no discernible flavour. 

Turning to the rib-eye steak course, the meat, too, was completely insipid.

TARGET had requested the steak to be well done.  

It came rare! 

When the waiter was asked as to the reason that the steak had no flavour and that it was rare instead of well done, he said that the meat was from Australia – and ‘that is the taste of this meat’. 

He did not answer the question as to the reason that the meat had been cooked rare. 

The Service 

 As with the food, the service was very poor. 

As an example of the poor service, when this medium asked for a cup of coffee and a cup of lemon tea, while the dirty dishes were being taken away, it took the best part of 15 minutes for the tea and coffer to arrive. 

And it only arrived after this reviewer had threatened to cancel the order and ‘just bring us the bill.’ 

Further, when the coffee and tea did arrive, they were, both, lukewarm! 

For the two-course ‘Express Lunch’, the bill was $HK498 per person.  

In this medium’s opinion, at $HK498 per person, it is a rip-off. 

Senior Management of Mandarin Oriental will be happy to hear that TARGET will not be returning to Pierre. 

It is said that there is no such thing as a single complaint from a restaurant’s guest because that guest will pass on his experience to many of this friends; and, it is a certainty that that guest will never permit any of his/her family to eat at an establishment, such as Pierre.