Chesa
1/F, Peninsula Hotel
19-21 Nathan Road
Hong Kong
PRICE: $$$$$
RATING:

Because we’re not rich enough (or maybe we’re just too stingy) to stay at the most expensive hotel in Hong Kong – The Peninsula – we decided to have lunch there instead! The restaurant of choice was Chesa… a romantic Swiss chalet with dark wood beams and a cozy setting amidst subdued lighting. It’s famous for authentic Swiss fondue so that’s precisely what we were after.

Their service is just incredible. The manager, a beaming Hong Kong man, was fluent in English and made the effort to meet-and-greet every single table, and again to check how we enjoyed the food. He was accomodating, friendly, and a real pleasure. All the food came out smoothly and swiftly, and the rest of the staff were discreet and polite. It was really enjoyable since service is generally sub-par in Hong Kong, but I guess it’s what you pay for here!

I adore the assorted bread basket which comes with different rolls nestled warm and snug in a white linen blanket and tucked into a wood bucket. Having a warm roll (or 4) slathered with creamy butter is one of life’s greatest pleasures, don’t you think? But we pace ourselves and are careful not to polish off the entire bucket (as we’re often known to) because we know we have to save our stomachs for all the bread coming up with the fondue 😉

The Farmer-style poached salted pork knuckle on sauerkraut, buttered chive fingerling potatoes was completely different to what I was expecting. It was my fault though, I was imagining a German-style pork knuckle with crispy crackling skin. But this was actually a Swiss version, which means the pork knuckle is salted and then poached gently. It’s actually rather scary when it comes out (have I mentioned I get quite scared by weird-looking food?) because it is a HUNK of a pork knuckle with the fat and skin strung around it, glistening and wobbly. I let Chris do the cutting because it creeps me out too much, but when the pork itself is plonked in chunks on my plate, it looks just fine (whew!). The pork is really tender and falls apart easily, and has the salted flavour through and through. I find it too salty for my taste because it’s hard to taste the pure flavour of the pork, but again, that’s the whole point of a salted dish 😉 Chris likes it though, and I know this is cooked beautifully, so people that like poached salted pork knuckle will adore this.

And of course, our Emmental cheese and Gruyere cheese fondue with cep and morel brunoise mushrooms. It comes in a squat pot on top of a burning flame, to keep the cheese bubbling hot. It’s an astonishingly flavourful mix of cheeses, and the blue cheese smell really comes out. It’s LUSCIOUS. Rich and creamy, the morsels of mushrooms floating inside make for a fun fishing experience. The cheese is mopped up with chunks of rye bread, which we stick on skewers and dunk merrily into the hot cheese. We finish the ENTIRE bucket of bread. And the whole pot of cheese. Really, what else would you expect? 😛

It’s a staggeringly filling meal and we’re stuffed with cheese and bread. What fabulous comfort food!

The almost hidden entrance of Chesa

Anyone know what this says?

The warm, cozy interior

Simple one-page menu

White wine and Czech beer

A whole basket of various breads!!! Hallelujah!!!

Farmer-style poached salted pork knuckle on sauerkraut, buttered chive fingerling potatoes

Super soft..

Emmental cheese and Gruyere cheese fondue with cep and morel brunoise mushrooms

Petit fours. All were awesome.. especially the chocolate eggs on the right.
I told the manager, and he promptly got us 2 more to eat. Yay!

Mucho pleased!