ONLY Eating in 3 Michelin Star Restaurants For 24 HOURS!
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- Опубликовано: 18 май 2024
- Today, we have a rare opportunity, to visit 3 restaurants in 24 hours. Each has a different cuisine, using a different approach, from a different culture. But they all have three things in common. 3 Michelin stars. So in this episode, I will only eat at 3 Michelin star restaurants for 24 hours in Hong Kong.
I will visit these restaurants in Hong Kong:
- 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana (Italian Cuisine)
- Forum (Chinese, Cantonese cuisine)
- TaVie (Japanese/French Cuisine)
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Instagram - / alexandertheguest
My name is Alexander. I’m the co-owner of a ONE Michelin star restaurant, and I’m on a mission - to find inspiration in gastronomy. I love fine dining, good wine and sharing what I know with other people.
Check out my restaurant:
/ 42restaurant
“I tried things I will probably never try again.” What a brilliant and diplomatic line. I love such candor.
At least he tried em right?
I once tried an Avangarde menu at a 3* in Barcalona and one dish was this seaweed that had been freezedried or something as "snow" on something else.
It was way too salty and salty like saltwater - Only dish on a Michelin I've had to taste and simply let sit, it was not pleasant, but I would always try anything in such a setting as the "challenge my mind" is part of what I pay for, I feel.
I think for most Chinese, good service is unintrusive service. Most locals that dine in Forum will not appreciate a nosy server that comes up to their table after every course and chatting up a storm. They'll find it annoying. It's just a difference in culture.
Also I'm pretty sure the course menu is just there to appease foreigners like Alex. Most of the clientele will prefer to order ala carte as per chinese culture. Plus most of the business during the day probably deals with Dim Sum and ala carte orders anyway, so the day shift staff might not be used to serving course meals. I'm guessing that the night staff might provide better service in that regard.
Yeah this is what I was thinking as well watching this. I get it's simply culture clash and preferences but I felt like the staff of Forum did a completely fine service. Maybe not michelin 3 star worthy, but still perfectly fine. Most people in china would rather converse with their companions/family rather than the wait staff like in western fine dining. And yeah, I've never been to any chinese restaurant fine dining or not that wasn't a la carte based. And I've been to a few michelin star chinese restaurants before. Was kind of hoping Alex would've ordered more dim sum considering he was at a cantonese restaurant in hong kong. They for sure had that michelin 3 star course menu for foreigners. I even took a quick peek at the other course menus forum has and they were all much more "simple" like one would usually expect at a cantonese restaurant.
That being said, the appetizers/cold dishes at forum surprised me with just nuts and sauces. All the fine dining chinese restaurants I've been to had much more variety and actual food involved. At the very least they usually serve some pickled vegetables. And for a 3 star restaurant the service at Forum seemed a bit off, I still remember being at a 2 star restaurant and maybe seeing the server refill my glass of tea like 1-2 times. Considering I drank just about a whole pot and a half of tea during the several hours my family and I were there, it was really impressive how they managed to keep my glass filled to the brim and I almost never noticed them come by.
@@Fen_Fox I totally agree with your comments. My experience in Chinese fine dining is that it is typically a social affair with the food presented on the lazy susan in the middle of the table for all to share the finest dishes. The record number of dishes I have ever experienced was at a dinner for 10 in Shanghai where the hosts ordered 42 different dishes, all wonderful. They included much of what Alex didn't like, such as sea cucumber, abalone, birds nest and sharks fin. The service was impeccable, but not in your face.
@@Fen_Fox the nuts and sauces were not really appetizers -- well I guess the nuts were, but the sauces are actually for people to add to their dim sum dishes
Yeah, I studied in China and it's as @oatrickneale7378 says. If you go to some mid to high end or just michelin level resaurants, dishes are served to share, a huge amount/variety of dishes. Right before my graduation some of my wealthy chinese friends invited me and we went to a high end traditional restaurant. While the first 15 minutes were spent eating, the the rest were spent talking, snacking on whatever you want on the table and drinking A LOT. Some of these guys had ordered so much that drinks ended up costing 200,000 (like 25,000 dollars). Compared to the dishes which were definitely expensive (40+ dishes) cost around 8,000 dollars. Basically, it was more about the drinks and social aspect rather than the food. While the food was great and I discovered many new favorites I was too busy drinking and talking to really care much. The servers were really respectful and professional but nothing like Maaemo or other western michelin restaurants.
so? If its not for you its not for you. There are no excuses.
I dined at a michelling star restaurant in Hong Kong where they served bird nest in brown soup, and it was the best tasting soup I've ever had. Also Canton cuisine actually pairs really well with Champagne and red Burgundy to cut the grease. In term of service, as long as no Cantonese grandma yelling at you in the restaurant, that's already Michelin-star caliber in Hong Kong.
Lmfao underrated comment. So true.
chinese grandma yelling is a sign of superiority :)
reminds me of how we got yelled by chinese aunty because we took too long choosing our menu hahaha
the testers ignoring staff and interior is an inclusivity measure. Stars are explicitly meant to be achievable for any price level and any context of cuisine. Of course there is a limit to how bad service can be or how shady the location before it will affect the experience of the food
This is just partly right... it heavily depends in whih country you are, cause the cultural differences make a huge impact on the stars... a place like Forum for example would never reach 3 stars in UK, france, Germany or Us but it does in Hong Kong cause the impact this man made was so intense there... same is for places like Paul Bocuses restaurants in France, they have their three stars even when they are way below the modern standard of 3 stars, but the cultural impact is so big. But for example in Europe its impossible as a new restaurant to get stars without an exceptional service
@@davidnau2626 you are probably right, but I'm not happy about it. You could argue that this is part of the Chef knowing their audience. The "cultural impact" however is bs. I don't doubt you that it is like you say, but tradition is not a quality in itself
@@LarsEckert_Molimo I agree with you there... but otherwise 3 Star restaurants like Forum wouldn`t exist... look at his episode with Arpere by Alain Passard, a culinary genius of course but not up to date... compare him with Madame Pic or Epicure in Paris which is all modern french cuisine with a lot more finesse and attention to detail... but Alain Passard,like Bocuse restaurants will hold his 3 stars forever cause of tradition and impact... or look at hill street noodles in Singapore 1 star noodle soup or the 3 star sushi places in Japan, such places would never gain stars in Europe, the food is great but the cultural impact isn`t there.
For me thats sad too, cause in my opinion it waters down the worth of stars, cause 3 stars all around the world mean completly different things depending on the country and the culture, so its no fix and solid foundation to rate and compare restaurants on international level, especially this "worth a stop, worth a detour and worth an own journy" I know places like Disfrutar with 2 stars which are way more worth traveling then 3 star restaurants like Bocuse, Passard or Forum.
@@davidnau2626 just to update you, disfrutar is 3 stars and there is only 1 3 star sushi places in japan, and its not because of tradition and impact. its because most top sushi places are so hard to get into they either dont qualify for the michelin star or dont need/want it in the first place.
@@Alsry1 They got the third michelinstar two months ago and I was talking about last year when I went there in September... and yes official there is just Harutaka in Tokyo as a pure 3 star Sushi restaurant but most others classic japanese 3 stars like Kikunoi Honten, Hyotei or Makimura include a lot of sushi into their menus, and also a lot of Sashimi or Kaiseki... which again show the great impact of of tradition on michelin stars... and btw I never said its cause of traditin that sushiplaces don`t have stars... so I don`t understand what your second part means...of course its hard to get places there and yes you can decide not to be part of the whole michelin world... but the fact that restaurants like Forum, Harutaka and Alain Passard get 3 stars because of their traditional value is still there
Thank you @alexandertheguest
The Double Breasted Suit that Antonello from 8 1/2 is wearing is Made in Naples, Italy.
Made by Dal Duca Sartoria Italiana precisely.
We have had the pleasure of dressing up Antonello since 2015. He is a great friend and you just made our day with your appreciation. Grazie
Bellissimoooo !!!
Loving This 😎😎😎
Can i get ur contacts or address? Thank you
It is a handsome suit.
@marcellopignatelli6783 i only clicked the video , after getting my cursor over the thumbnail it started to show a short preview with Antonello in his suit - i could immediately see the quality of the suit , tailoring , fabric - had to check out the video just because of this ! 👍
Gifting a bottle of a 1000 euros is a different level of wealth
broke boy
@@bawseeeee602well a lot of people in the world cannot afford a 1000 euro bottle of wine
@@Nesot all of that is true and i dont even like Krug CdM! lol
@@bawseeeee602 Usually guys like you calling others poor are actually the poorest people in sight, both metaphorically and literally.
In the old days we would call that a bribe :)
My parents are from HK and I grew up Chinese American. I respect Alexander being honest with his feelings while understanding that there can be a difference in our taste and culture in terms of food and service, and appreciate him still trying these delicacies. Thank you for sharing!
he didnt have a bottle of brut, imagine a 3 michelin meal without alcohol with every course.. its like a massage without happy ............
Having spent 20 of my formative years in Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore), the differences between the European and Asian dining experiences can be vast and, critically, targeted to local tastes and customs. Rest assured that highly prized dishes can get a hell of a lot funkier in that part of the world.
I am pleased that the Michelin guide takes cultural differences into consideration when it judges restaurants in different regions of the world. It would be a sin if they went in applying European standards.
There are countless wealthy Asians who might not enjoy the experience in many European or American three star restaurants.
I would be happy with either short and long format. I love all of this content and completely respect and understand your opinions. Hats off and thank you!
Shout out to Ben for that $1000 bottle super cool.
1000 is a good prize for 2004 krug CdM. But yeah Alex is moving in a diffewrent place.
I prefer the per-restaurant format. And eating bird spit… definitely interesting!
It’s an asian thing, I think. They usually put them in small bottle in my country tho.
Bird’s nest is actually really tasty
@@LeMagnifiqueDoubleAgent-cj4zo I've heard it has a... kind of vanilla taste?
@@SeanStrife, I think that’s a fair comparison. The last time I had it was in a soup with ‘dragon eyes’ and goji berries so overall had a bit of a fruity-vanilla taste and I think some of the sugar was coming from the bird’s nest
I think eating bird spit doesn't seem that strange considering most of the people have no problem eating eggs
Coming from South China/Hong Kong myself I can say that we're not used to being given attention by the staff like most western restaurants. The atmosphere at Forum looks like a typical restaurant where families (of often 5+ members) spend time with each other, and we would not be expecting to interact much with waiters and bussers anyway. As long as our orders arrive on time without issues the service is 10/10
That's a crucial point. If I went to a serious fine dining Cantonese restaurant, where servers were around me like a fine dining French restaurant, part of me would wonder if the restaurant was being watered down to appease Western tastes, and I was paying a markup for that.
Casually topping all other "Only eat X in 24h" videos 😂👍
Outside of the bird's nest soup, Forum's dishes look like traditional items Cantonese people would eat quite often, say at casual weekly gatherings. Everything they serve could likely be found at another Cantonese restaurant next door, which also mean it's probably harder to compare and gauge the quality of the dishes if someone grew up with a vastly different palate. Definitely not the standard Michelin restaurant
Great vid as always; the long format is nice
The honesty is what causes me to keep watching these. It's invaluable, makes all the difference in the world
This is like surviving in the woods for 24h but for rich people
Otto e Mezzo Bombana Hong Kong , a piece of history worldwide.. incredible place! Thank you Alexander
i really appreciate the 'not to my taste' approach.
I laughed my (censored) off to see Alex so out of his comfort zone at Forum, that is the most quintessential Chinese service you can get. 85-90% of the time in a traditional Chinese restaurant, the service dont do the talking, the food will do it for them.
9:22 hah, the condiments is the most fancy I have ever seen, most of the time, u will get soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chilli, thats it.
LOL exactly what I was thinking
@@keras_ I don't want to get f***ed by youtube 😂
The problem with some restaurants is that expensively sourced things to eat (I use the word food with reservation) does not make the ingredients palatable or healthy. They simply are able to charge a lot because of them.
Honestly wish restaurants in the west were like that. Too many restaurants seem to focus more on the service instead of the food
Your pronunciation of Italian words is impeccable!! Such a great video as always!
Wow a very full episode. Some interesting dishes, but some that really must be a culture thing🤣. All and all 24 hours with a lot of impressions. I love your enthousiasm.
Yeah, the bird snot and fish bladder really sounded gross. And I've eaten quite a lot of interesting food in China.
About that... avoid "drunken shrimp", the gallbladder of snakes and cold dishes in general (they're sprayed with insecticides to make sure the flies stay away)
Amazing video! It's also really cool that you pause to explain some things like the criteria for Michelin stars or how a wine gets corked, I like showing these videos to my Mom and she didn't know some of these things.
Thank you for the video, Alexander & team! I liked the longer format.
Another great offering. I would probably prefer the one video/one restaurant format. I like that you give an honest critique of each restaurant as it makes your opinion more credible.
Love your vids from Hong Kong, great you enjoyed your time here :)
I congratulate your open mindness when trying different restaurants. Also, find it fascinating how every restaurant and food is presented with positive remarks and constructive criticism. Keep up the great job.
I also didn't have a good experience with Forum. I ate there in 2018, when they had only 2 stars. Some dishes arrived overcooked, fortunately the service was kind enough to take them off my bill. I don't understand how they got their stars. Abalone is indeed hard to make, I haven't learned to like it until a couple years later :)
Just wow!
Love the videos always!
Love from Hong Kong!
Thank you for another lovely video! I understand why you used this format considering you ate at these three restaurants back-to-back-to-back, so it made it nice to compare.
But just like how a restaurant can serve a little too many dishes at once, that’s what I felt like with this video. Quality is excellent and the amount of content is great, but I couldn’t help but feel that if you split it up to three episodes, you would have been able to take more in-depth and in-detail, which is what I like the most about your videos.
Still, nice to see another fantastic video from you! Still waiting for your review on the California restaurants!
Love your channel! I prefer the one-restaurant-per-video format.
One thing the world shows is different strokes for different folks, and your vignettes on the world restaurants proves it. I appreciate the exploration of the many cultures in the food world.
I must say I am excited, now Mexico is part of the Michelin universe. I can’t wait for my man to visit Mexican Michelin stars.
Excellent music to match the experience of each restaurant. This channel does a wonderful job showcasing really neat restaurants.
I love your channel Alexander! I’m originally from Asia and that’s the culture. It made me laugh to see how perplexed you are. Asians don’t like to be bothered and prefer to just have the food do the talking.
Its all about enjoying the taste and nothing else.
Quality of the channel keeps improving, good work Alex!
love this review !! its your review and your oppinion .
it was great thank you so much, so nice to see art forms in cooking, inspiring no matter what one is into
Very high quality content, the longer format works very well.
Thank you for all the great Content ! I would prefer single videos about each Restaurants instead of longer Videos. It makes it easier to look the Videos back up when you want to revisit them.
Amazing video and concept. Very well done sir.
Great show as always!
I appreciated the education into Michelin standards and criteria at the top 👍🏼I do enjoy this length, but think in general the single-focused 10-15 minute piece is kind of a sweet spot as well. Occasionally grouping restaurants when circumstances merit like this makes perfect sense.
Great video, and I like seeing new formats. I do prefer the more in depth analysis though!
I enjoy the longer videos. It’s interesting to see you compare experiences. Good for you trying things outside your comfort zone; that’s not an easy thing to do.
Just once in my life I would love to see you completely out of your comfort zone - dare you to review Jay Fai in Bangkok. You can polish her Michelin Star for her between courses.
Another great video format was great
That Sake at 17:01 is one of my favorites. Glad you got to try it!
It is great to see an honest review. Sometimes reviewers promote the restaurant out of snobbery - you are completely honest. I could never afford a top notch restaurant so I love seeing your content.
Still waiting for that "behind the scenes at Krug" episode or some other pure wine tasting content a la "Alexander the Alcoholic"... long form content is nice, too.
Highest respect for ta Vie. Always have special symphathies for couple run restaurants.
I love the new long format!
We love the long format! I wish your videos were 45 min long and went through all the details and included educational information
I think it was too many restaurants at once. I really enjoy the thorough deep dive into one at a time with your regular content. 😊
its so cool that fans of the channel give u a gift when meeting you at restaurants
I really like your honest opinion on these restaurants, just because its 3 star doesn't mean they're always perfect. Thanks for all the hardwork to put these videos together. Love from HK : )
another banger episode alexander!
I’ve lived in Hong Kong for 10 years and found 8 1/2 to be one of the most over rated 3* restaurants anywhere in the world, with Ta Vie not far behind. Very sceptical of the Michelin allocation here in HK. Alexander, you’re now well know enough that you’re not going to get a typical experience at any restaurant you go & need to accept that there will be no meals you’re getting that are getting a genuine experience any more. This is why Michelin inspectors are strictly anonymous.
Thank you for this content and your candid feedback. I enjoy the longer videos. It enables me to have your channel on at the end of day or at lunch.
I love when you explain this type of stuff :))
would love to see more videos like this!
Literally one of the best Foods Shows in the World Right now. Love this channel. U can experiment with content as u wish. We are here to support you!
Love the long form!😊
long or short always enjoy the high production quality, great job
i enjoyed your Forum review very much. you manage to keep it so polite and objective, even though you didnt quite enjoy the experience, very professional behaviour.
Great as always! Though personally I don't prefer the longer format, I end up having to watch it in several different occasions anyway.
Never thought I'd see the day you pass on wine!
Personally I prefer the one-restaurant-per-video format, but this was cool too, especially since they were all in the same place.
I've actually done three starred restaurants in 24 hours once in Amsterdam, albeit 1,1,2 rather than any 3*s. Certainly none of them were as challenging as Forum! I don't mind the occasional unusual dish but they seemed to be coming thick and fast there, though I do enjoy trying foods from different cultures - like you, I think I would maybe go once for the experience.
Loved the video, as always, but I think I prefer the videos where you take more time just assessing one restaurant. It gives you the ability to go into more detail and makes the experience a little more special for us:)
Keep it up, greetings from Germany!
i enjoy both long and shorter formats, with this production quality, it doesnt even matter
Never let a westerner reviewing Asian luxury food
I like this as a change of pace
Like the video, but I also enjoy the background, extra info and context the single restaurants get. Good for a one-off but the more in-depth ones are better to me.
Always happy when you upload😊😊😊
it is really nice to have a direct comparison in a vid from you
According to our data at eatlect, this should be Alexander's second video involving restaurants in Hong Kong. With the three featured in this video, there are now 4 restaurants Alexander reviewed in Hong Kong (the one reviewed previously was Caprice). You can find all restaurants Alexander reviewed in our interactive map at eatlect, along with the video links.
I love the longer format! Also, I would love it if you'd do a Toronto & GTA set of reviews down the line as that's my area and we have some amazing places to eat.
Haha I am definitely going to use the phrase “This has notes of chlorine” the next time I sip a corked wine
Love this episode
I'd go for Forum any time! The ingredients used are top notch.
love the longer videos.
nice video, Alexander! Thanks for the developed descriptions and the beautifully filmed and edited video!
On point as always Alexander! I really enjoy all of your interesting bits about the story of the ingredients,wines,dishes and chefs of course that are scattered in the videos. And even if this one is masterfully edited and put together i prefer the one episide one restaurant format. Hope you'll continue gaining subscrivers because honestly this id the best channel of it's kind by a landslide.
For ethical reasons I wouldn't have gone for the shark fin soup. Tens of millions of sharks are fished every year, have their fins cut off, and dumped back into the sea. Birds nests are also questionable if I recall correctly.
Yeah... no like from me due to the shark fin soup. It's not a delicacy, it's just awful.
It is more than likely that they are using ethical sourcing for both ingredients. The poor, unsustainable practices are done as a cost-cutting measure which a fine-dining establishment would not probably not deal with. I would agree with you if it were some random place, though.
If they use the practice of cutting the fin off and then throwing the shark back, I 100% agree with you on that.
You are right about the shark, but bird nests are way more ethical, than any meat you eat.
health reasons too. Large fishes have already been documented to carry higher traces of heavy metals like mercury. Not only that, the shark fin itself does not contribute any flavours and its texture can be easily imitated. It's a pretty worthless ingredient in all honestly, much like gold. This is coming from a Chinese that enjoys Shark Fin Soup (The fake version), I mean from what I've experienced, they both tastes the same lol, it's just that one uses actual shark fins while the other doesnt.
It’s hilarious how much you know about food and restaurants, but so little about chinese restaurant culture haha. I love it
Yes, it will be amazing with videos like this one🎉
LOVE THE LONGER FORMAT! Koszonyuk!
At last,after 2 weeks waiting.. worth it.👌🏻
love the longer videos
I do like the longer format.
I really appreciate how honest you are when it comes judging theae restaurants. I wpuld think that most of your viewers, including myself need to save up money just to go to one of these reataurants at a time and picking the best one that will suite them is challenging. But your thourough and stylish reviews are really helpful when it comes to decision making.
Great video!
I like the longer format
Thanks for you taking us with you on a journey to 3 restaurants in 24 hours. Personally, I think a visit to a 3-star restaurant is something special. You make it look like work by visiting 3 in a day, especially with the introduction about the Michelin and their scoring system. I rather see you visit one restaurant, per video and make it feel as special as it is dining in places like this. There's no need to add three (or even two) restaurants in one video.
Looking forward to your next video, seeing you visiting places I'll probably never get to experience myself. Cheers!
This guy is new to high end culinary😂
Sweet. I have waited... :)
.
Alexander's observations and comments this episode are pretty sharp, so sharp to the point that some people would bleed. The discomfort must have been too much for him. Were I a lesser critic, I'd say this was marred with bias; but then he has his standards and expectations. He's just being honest here, albeit diplomatic.
For the kind of prices involved, the difficulty in even getting a reservation, the 3-star ranking, those standard and expectations are fair.
Bias is fine tbh, since many viewers and restaurant-goers probably share similar biases and/or preferences. The observations were presented very transparently
What I liked here was his frankness over his bias and blind spots. Also, to be honest, some have complained that Michelin's star assessment of traditional Chinese food can be just very, very off and not aligned with actual gourmands of authentic Chinese food.
Like the honesty.
Alex have you received looks or comments about not liking a particular dish? Do you normally send back a dish you don't like or fight through it? The world of fine dining is foreign to me but find your videos fascinating and they make me want to experience meals like this. I do enjoy this longer content and your attention to detail throughout all your videos. Keep it up!
Like Alexander, as an adventurous eater I'm not entirely sure those dishes served at Forum will have been to my taste but the experience must have been brilliant across all 3 restaurants!
More is ALWAYS (well, usually) better. The more you want to produce, I promise to consume/watch.
If you ever come to Madrid you should try "La Tasqueria", it has a different approach using parts that normally get thrown away
yes, please more long-format videos.
Great video! But I prefer the individual restaurant format as it doesn't feel as rushed and you go into more detail with regards to the restaurant and food.