I can't think of a better way to kick off the weekend than with champagne brunch at Zuma, my new favourite brunch in Hong Kong. Given all the rave reviews I've heard of this place, my expectations were naturally high and Zuma did not disappoint.
For $550, you'll get a buffet + main course + free flowing Perrier Jouet, bellinis and sakes. Not a bad deal considering the above sans alcohol costs $428.
The buffet portion of the brunch was outstanding. There was a good selection of hot items (including chicken karaage and grilled wings), some salads, and of course, a lot of sashimi. I enjoyed the sweet prawn sashimi and hamachi the most, but the maki rolls were also perfectly constructed with just the right ratio of fish to rice (the soft shell crab roll stole the show!). The oysters were some of the freshest I've tasted, though you really had to pounce on them as they disappeared within moments of being brought out.
Some of the plates we had:
The mains didn't fare quite as well but we were sufficiently stuffed from the buffet that it really didn't matter. You could choose from five different dishes, including sirloin steak, miso-marinated chicken, tempura, grilled salmon, and udon.
Two of us ordered the sirloin steak, which turned out to be too chewy and overly char-grilled for my liking. The picture above is the better of the two but still was a little tough for medium rare. Only the pieces in the middle were okay. The flavour was good though, as were the mushrooms on the side.
Udon noodles were left virtually untouched - probably shouldn't have ordered carbs on top of all the buffet items! The spices were...interesting and the noodles cooked to a perfect, bouncy consistency but it was just a little too foreign for my taste buds!
Tempura apparently was decent, though I didn't try any as I'm not a big fan of the dish.
Then came dessert... a huge platter of cakes, ice cream and fruit. It even looked healthy! :) I remember being blown away the first time I ordered one of these over dinner and was really looking forward to their signature Zuma molten chocolate cake. Unfortunately, the platter we received didn't have my favourite cake but it's probably for the best as it would've been far too heavy for brunch. I did enjoy the strawberry ice cream and the raspberry cake to the right. Around the back there was also an amazing blueberry cheesecake which I happily devoured.
My sister noticed that Denise Keller, veteran MTV VJ / model / face of MasterCard / host of Discovery Travel & Living's Passage to Malaysia / H's crush, was sitting around the corner from us. After about thirty minutes of convincing H to go take a picture with her, he finally worked up the courage to get this:
Sweet ending to a perfect brunch. I highly recommend checking it out - it's great value for the amount and quality of food you get, the service is top notch, and who can say no to Perrier Jouet?
---
Zuma
5/F, The Landmark
12-16 Des Voeux Road Central
