Over the past ten years, TATE Dining Room has gained a worldwide reputation with an innovative style of cuisine that fuses Hong Kong’s familiar homegrown flavours with refined French techniques. The decade-long journey of evolution began from TATE Dining Room’s first standalone restaurant on SoHo’s Elgin Street to its exciting new chapter on Sheung Wan’s Hollywood Road.
From winning the title of Asia’s Best Female Chef voted by World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2015 to the restaurant acquiring one, then two Michelin stars in 2021, and then ushering in the dawn of a new empire consisting of TATE Dining Room, MORA, Date by TATE and most recently, AN Soy, chef-proprietor Vicky Lau has made an indelible mark on Hong Kong’s culinary scene. Then & Now celebrates the evolution of both the chef and cuisine at TATE Dining Room, showcasing the restaurant’s most popular – and most formative – dishes over the years in an exclusive anniversary tasting menu.
“Seeing and living the evolution of TATE Dining Room over the past ten years and being able to grow alongside it, has been the most rewarding experience of my career. I am grateful for every milestone, and look forward to the next ten years and more,” says chef Vicky Lau. “Thank you to my wonderful team, for sticking together, persevering through the most challenging times, and coming out stronger every time. Thank you to our guests, whose support over the years helped us to achieve our dreams.”
This September, 2-MICHELIN-starred TATE Dining Room will kick off ten-year anniversary celebrations with a new tasting menu that highlights a milestone dish from the years since opening. Serving from Thursday, 8th September onwards, the limited-time anniversary menu will be available for lunch on Fridays to Saturdays and for dinner on Tuesdays to Saturdays. TATE Dining Room 10th Anniversary Menu will be priced at HK$2,480+10% per guest for dinner and HK$1,480+10% for lunch, with an additional HK$780 + 10% for a 3-glass wine pairing, HK$1,080+10% for a 6-glass wine pairing or HK$1,480+10% for an 8-glass wine pairing.
TATE Dining Room’s 10th-anniversary menu begins with a selection of AMUSE BOUCHE, featuring Century Egg Mimosa created first in 2018 for a special Champagne event at the restaurant. The egg, which is naturally alkaline from its preservation process, provides a flawless pairing with tart and bubbly Champagne. The first chapter, ODE TO CRAB, highlights a dish that was conceived back in 2015 to pay tribute to the local seafood. The highly popular Hong Kong flower crab is paired with Green Crab bisque mousse, topped with luscious oscietra caviar. The combination of caviar and seaweed creates a harmonious range of flavours from the sea, enlivening the palate for the courses to come.
ODE TO SEAWEED is a more recent crowd-favourite creation from 2020, featuring fettuccine-style cuttlefish noodles with creamy blue seaweed sauce. One of chef Vicky’s favourite textures in seafood, the cuttlefish used here, is fresh and sashimi-grade. The cuttlefish is warmed to 50 degrees Celsius, the optimal temperature for intensifying textures slightly and releasing its exquisite aroma. Dried squid powder and crispy silver fish add an extra dimension of texture and visual appeal.
The third chapter, ODE TO FISH, indulges chef Vicky’s love for Chinese-style deep-fried fish paired with broth. First served in 2014, the dish includes pearlescent-fleshed turbot wrapped in crispy kataifi pastry with fruit tomato, served with a traditional Hong Kong-style abalone sauce. Next is the ODE TO KUMQUAT, a twist on the original dish from 2017 that used cold scallop. Now, the dish has been altered to feature instead a warm, concentrated scallop espuma with aged and salted kumquat Grenobloise-style sauce. The savoury complexity of the sauce is offset by the addition of rice crisps, that give a fun and nutty crunch. The delicate creation is served on a special plate designed by local ceramic artist Christina Liu (@christinaliuceramics).
Chef Vicky always believed that every tasting menu should have at least one comfort dish. ODE TO NOODLE features a dish that amassed a cult following from its debut in 2014, making a comeback for the anniversary menu. For this version of the dish, hand-made chilli tagliolini is served with lobster broth, Sakura ebi and Shaoxing wine foam for a truly moreish bite. The next course, ODE TO TOFU, is a throwback to the peak of the pandemic in 2020 when the dish was first created, followed by the launch of restaurant MORA. While many elements can make a dish, texture plays the most major role in chef Vicky’s cuisine. Her attention was drawn to the versatile ingredient of tofu, which most people might find bland or boring. Chef Vicky made it her mission to prove them otherwise. This dish marries the common ingredient of tofu with luxurious black truffle and flavourful caramelised tofu essence, while herbs lighten the mouthfeel.
From 2016, chef Vicky brings back ODE TO SCALLION GINGER, which elevates the classic Cantonese pairing of scallion, ginger, and lobster. Using prized blue lobster from Brittany, the succulent lobster meat is served in a scallion ginger cream and with a homemade lobster oyster sauce that is served table-side. The other choice of the main course is ODE TO PIGEON, featuring the beloved pigeon dish from 2018. A homage to the local cooking technique of steaming pigeon, steamed pigeon breast is served with fermented mustard green, chicken stuffing and sauce salmis, and is finished with an aromatic dusting of Chinese five-spice powder.
For a refreshing palate cleanser, guests will enjoy frozen grape with High Mountain green tea custard that first appeared on the Ode to Tea menu in 2021. The first dessert, ODE TO THE SUN, is a nostalgic creation from 2013 that features a sugar dome filled yoghurt meringue and soft vanilla ice cream, topped with a fresh fruit sauce blending passion fruit, mango, banana and pineapple. The sweetness is offset by the sharpness of the fruits’ natural acidity, bringing to mind the feeling of the intensity of the sun.
The meal concludes with ZEN GARDEN, one of TATE Dining Room’s most memorable dessert experiences from its early days in 2014. The aesthetic edible garden filled with mignardise temptations was originally served on a plate, however, this time, will be served in TATE’s signature mignardise chinoiserie trolley.
TATE DINING ROOM SPECIAL 10TH ANNIVERSARY MENU
PETIT SALE
Amuse Bouche
ODE TO CRAB
Flower crab with ocean mousse and caviar oscietra in crispy cone
ODE TO SEAWEED
Cuttlefish noodles with creamy fresh blue seaweed and crispy silver fish
ODE TO FISH
Kadaifi wrapped turbot with fruit tomato and sauce abalone
ODE TO KUMQUAT
Warm Hokkaido scallop accompanied by aged kumquat Grenobloise-style sauce
ODE TO NOODLES
Handmade chilli tagliolini with lobster broth, Sakura ebi, and Shaoxing wine foam
ODE TO SCALLION GINGER
Blue lobster with scallion ginger cream, lobster oyster sauce
ODE TO PIGEON
Breast of pigeon with fermented mustard green and chicken stuffing, sauce salmis
High Mountain Green Tea Custard with Frozen Grape
ODE TO THE SUN
Fresh mango with vanilla ice cream in yoghurt meringue and sauce exotic
ZEN GARDEN
Mignardise Temptations
For reservations and bookings at TATE Dining Room, please contact 2555-2172 or email info@tate.com.hk. For more updates on TATE’s 10th Anniversary, please visit www.tate.com.hk
