[kmhtkmhtkmht]

Just back after a lengthy Brunch at Intercontinental: Harbourside; absolutely vast selection, but the crowd genuinely felt pretty "common", a far cry that the Conrad Nicholini/Brasserie Crowd that is drawn. Acknowledged that Intercontinental is far bigger in both choice and capacity, but Conrad just feels better...

Compulsory 10% Service Charge too...

[Boris]

Whats more important a review of the eaters or a review of the eats?

As a portly man who loves his food I know what I was looking for when I opened this posting.

Shame.

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

A comprehensive review of the food: Arrived, thirsty. Very thirsty. Offered up Champagne immediately upon seating (Moet and Chandon, Non-Vintage), chilled appropriately and in the appropriate vessel, freshly poured, a flute.

Commenced my "inspection" of what was on offer - and what a vast array indeed! The length of the buffet was the size of two MTR cars, starting with a Seafood Bar, a "Action Bar" (what was written) serving Roasted Cuts, Buffet Capsules, Pasta Station, Foie Gras Station, a Chinese Food area with mini-steaming baskets serving dimsum, a noodle station, followed by a bread station serving all types of fresh bread (excellent) and the Dessert area rivaling that of Tiffins.

Dinner Time Now... BrB

[PDLM]

What does it cost? And real Foie Gras or did it mean just fried goose/duck liver? And is the Moët freeflowing (unlimited)?

[Boris]

What was the quality like?
The taste ?
X out of 10 rating?
Rated against its rivals on varying levels ?
VFM against its rivals?

All this will activate my taste buds and if of a satisfactory level, open my wallet !

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

Originally Posted by PDLM

What does it cost? And real Foie Gras or did it mean just fried goose/duck liver? And is the Moët freeflowing (unlimited)?

$618: Each.

My table of two came to a grand total of $1359.60, $123.60 of which is a mandatory 10% service charge.

The "Foie Gras" was indeed Fried Goose Liver, surely it's the same thing? In any event, Nicholinis Sunday Brunch does this far better, the bread at the Intercontinetal accompanying the "Foie Gras" was stale, very very peculiar considering just a few steps away was a "Fresh Bread area" with actually quite magnificent specimens.

Moet, was indeed unlimited, as was Coffee and Tea, was surprised when they gave me a whole pot of Coffee...

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

Quality: as was mentioned in an older post, I subconciously was looking for "skimping" and cutting corners but this was not obvious, nor evident: they really provided quite good quality goods, there was even a guy whose job description purely was to stand there and shuck oysters, of which I remember there was three types one could choose. The Sushi Bar also had anything you could possibly want, but the entire Seafood area was not paid much heed by myself as the "Royal Garden Incident" of late is still in my mind, and the suspects were indeed Seafood.

Taste: In line with my eccentricity, my favorite part of the entire experience was the Poppadoms. Odd, but they were exceptional, the Curry sauce accompanying this (and meant for the Dosa's and Roti's) was excellent, very hot. The general proficiency of the cook food was excellent, despite your usual Pasta options of Penne etc., they had some more interesting shapes also to accompany the various sauces. The Noodle station which I regretably did not utilise, had fresh Seafood one could tell the Chef to add... Looked incredibly appetising but I just wasn't in the Mood.

Rating: For a Buffet, I'd give it a 10 out of 10, I was going to give it a 9.5 but can't really justify taking away points for the crowd, what really impressed me was at the "Action" Carving Station, there was Tandoori Chicken! (Amongst all the other traditional cuts)... Overall, very well thought out. Very well.

Rivals: with the sheer size and huge array of choice, it bests even Nicholini, but perhaps my repeated references to this competitor is unfair - after this period of reflection, I can conclude that Intercontinental has the BEST BUFFET in Hong Kong.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by kmhtkmhtkmht

The "Foie Gras" was indeed Fried Goose Liver, surely it's the same thing?

No. All foie gras is goose (or duck) liver, but not all goose liver is foie gras.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras

[kmhtkmhtkmht]

In any event, the liver was not a draw, nor an advocating point; at any given buffet, the liver is sliced so thinly that the optimal "pink" centre is unacheivable, therefore inferior. Liver get's boring after a slice anyways... And they Grilled it at Intercontinental, a 4/10... 2.5/10 if including the stale bread accompanying it.

[PDLM]

I'm afraid you have obviously never tasted foie gras.