With lofty aspirations of blending history, culture and intellectuality, the Palais de Chine’s La Rotisserie wears its pretensions well.
From the glittering chandeliers, swathes of royal purple, blue and crimson velvet and mirrored ceilings to the blue and white porcelain, tapestries and function rooms named after Descartes, Voltaire, Rousseau and Pascal, not to mention the food, the old East-meets-West trope is here creatively revisited, elevating a well-trodden concept through tastefully flamboyant decor and innovative cooking.
While a French classical theme dominates the interior design — antique rocking horse, dark wood paneling, brass taps and basins, carved wood eagle lectern, parquet de Versailles flooring — the menu melds Asian and European influences together in dishes that are more than the sum of their parts.
If last month’s Bastille Day five-course menu (NT$2,500 per person) is anything to go by, the chefs at La Rotisserie are adept at concocting unusual flavor combinations using fine ingredients, yet know when to exercise self-restraint.
The glace of king crab with mango and coriander could have been a recipe for disaster. But the fruit, just the right side of ripe, added a delicate tartness to the sweet crabmeat.
Unlike many restaurants that emphasize luxurious ingredients at the expense of balance, the ballotine of guinea fowl with foie gras and truffle potatoes played down the rich butteriness of the liver and pungency of the fungi so neither stood head and shoulders above the other ingredients.
One of the kitchen’s three ovens is heated by an acacia wood fire that imparts a delicate, almost imperceptible smoky flavor to grilled meats, such as the rib eye steak. Attention to detail runs to the condiments, which include black lava salt from Hawaii, a combination of sea salt and volcanic charcoal that is not only a stunning color, but packs a complex flavor that adds depth to the meat’s smoky notes.
For dessert, the grapefruit terrine with macadamia crumble and vanilla ice cream, a bright and cheery way to finish, comes highly recommended.
The restaurant also serves an all-you-can-eat buffet, which, compared with its peers, is good value for money. The usual selection of cheeses, cold cuts, sandwiches, sashimi, Movenpick ice cream, creme brulee and cheesecake is NT$680 for lunch and NT$880 for dinner, excluding 10 percent service charge.
An indication of the thought that goes into the buffet is the fresh Taiwan-grown wasabi served with the sashimi, which is much milder and more subtle than the paint-stripper variety commonly found in sushi franchises.
Owned by L’Hotel de Chine Group (雲朗觀光), which operates four other hotel brands — Maison de Chine (兆品酒店), Chateau de Chine (翰品酒店), Fleur de Chine (雲品酒店) and Chinatrust Hotels (中信旅館系統) — Palais de Chine Hotel (君品酒店) has 286 guest rooms and suites, which run from NT$11,000 to NT$150,000 per night.
From today through Sunday, La Rotisserie is serving a Father’s Day menu. The lunch semi-buffet edition is NT$1,380 plus 10 percent service charge, which includes salad bar, oxtail soup with summer vegetables, butter baked half lobster with creamed spinach and dessert from the buffet. The dinner semi-buffet menu is NT$1,880 plus 10 percent service charge and includes roast sea bream fillet with clam sauce, rib eye steak and Maine lobster.
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