Salisterra perches atop Upper House and replaces Café Gray Deluxe which closed its doors earlier this spring. The name of the restaurant literally means salt and earth in Latin, and alludes to flavors of the coast along the Mediterranean. The head chef is American born, UK-raised, Japanese-British chef Jun Tanaka, a somewhat well-known TV personality in the UK for Channel 4’s Cooking show, among other food shows.
The restaurant is a beautiful space with ample sunlight and a view of the Victoria Harbour. It is a gorgeous restaurant, although it certainly doesn’t remind me of the mediterranean. The whole place is a little too hotel-like, too upscale, and perhaps also too commercial for that.
It looked to us as though the menu selection was a halfway house between full dining and café-style bites with global favourites and a mediterranean touch. You could have scrambled tofu and Hainanese chicken rice all the way to Bolognese rigatoni and eggs benedict. We felt the brunch menu was a bit limiting but were fortunately given an all-day dining menu with some proper dishes like the chargrilled Angus rib-eye which, other than over-doneness (we requested 30% doneness but got medium), was excellent. Hospitality is warm and professional.
Food Rundown
Chargrilled Rib-eye of Angus Beef, 360g, $680
The Angus was well above our expectations for a café-like restaurant—the marbling was beautiful and even and gave the cut a consistent and tender texture. The natural flavours and juices of the beef were moreish. It also comes with a ravigote sauce that added a tangy flavor to the Angus. Quite nice for a contrast. The only downside was the overcooking.
Steamed Baby Turbot, $265
Superbly tender and well-seasoned with a buttery sauce and briny mussels. The broad beans and cucumber add colour and pack some crunch. Overall a delicious dish.
Buckwheat Crêpe, $155
Somehow I was expecting a galette but on second thought I suppose this was crêpe made with buckwheat flour, which disappointed me a little but in any case was a nice little dish for what it was. The portion of raclette in this was super generous and there were also courgettes inside. The only complaint is the excess of salt on the egg yolk which made the dish way too salty for us to finish.
Salisterra
49/F, The Upper House, Admiralty, HK
$$, Western, Fusion
stickystories 