Brunch Review: Alibi – Wine, Dine and Be Social

Alibi has just started a new Sunday tapas lunch (or brunch) featuring a variety of small and big plates to be shared. We gave it a try and are sharing our impressions.

Alibi is Cordis Hotel’s restaurant and bar, hidden right in the middle of bustling Mong Kok. Connected to Langham Mall, Cordis is formerly the Langham Place Hotel and in addition to Alibi, also houses Ming Court, a 1 star Michelin restaurant. Alibi is spacious and modernly decorated and its food draws inspiration from both Asia and Europe.

If you’re looking for a new brunch place, then you’re in luck! Alibi has just started a new Sunday tapas lunch (or brunch) featuring a variety of small and big plates to be shared. Priced quite decently at $298 HKD per guest, the lunch lets you choose 2 appetizers, a main and access to their all-you-can-eat dessert bar. Yes, the dessert bar is glorious, we can attest to that. Those that like their boozy lunches/brunches can opt to pay an additional $298 HKD for an unlimited amount of Laurent-Perrier Brut NV Champagne, house wines, selected craft beers, fresh juices and soft drinks. Cheers to that! This new Sunday tapas lunch is available every Sundays from 11:30am – 2:30pm.  Chef James Oakley is the mastermind behind the menu, who is a British native who started his professional career at Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Claridges Hotel in London. We were most excited to be wined, dined, and to be social so now that we’re done with the introductions, let’s right down to business, shall we?

Bread @ Alibi

Seafood Platter

We got started promptly with the amuse bouche which was a refreshing strawberry sour mesh consisting of sherry vinegar, ginger ale, strawberry and meringue.  Next, onto some champagne, and bread and then it was onto the seafood platter. Coined the Symphony of Seafood platter, the platter definitely served a variety of seafood from Alaskan king crab legs, to two different types of oysters and Hokkaido scallops. The two types of oysters available to us that day were the Australian Coffin Bay oysters and the Scottish Scottish Rock oysters. The seafood platter was indeed fresh and is a good size to share between 2 people and can be included for an additional $398 HKD.

Beef Tartare

Langoustine Sashimi

Scallop Ceviche

Slow cooked hen eggs with creamed corn and crisp quinoa

We were given an enticing variety of appetisers to choose from, and being the indecisive people that we were, we immediately asked for recommendations and went with their suggestion of trying the Hereford Organic grass-fed beef tartar, scallop ceviche, langoustine sashimi, and slow cooked hens egg (64 degree C) with creamed corn and crisp quinoa. Other appetisers on offer included the Mini charcuterie platter, smoked black cod rillettes, or Cobb salad. The slow cooked hen’s egg with creamed corn and crisp quinoa appetizer is amazing to look at or for your gram (Instagram), but was more average in taste. The langoustine sashimi with Fuji apple gel and caviar (additional $40 HKD), and the scallop ceviche with the fennel pollen and cucumber were definitely my favourites out of the appetizers. The seafood at Alibi is definitely the way to go here, as we were soon realizing.

Wild Hereford ribeye

Miso marinated black cod

Onto the mains! Once again, the indecisiveness set in, and so we went with the restaurant’s recommendations of the miso marinated black cod and the Wild Hereford ribeye (both at an additional $80 HKD). Other entrees to choose from are the slow roasted organic chicken breast or the fresh house-made tagliatelle. The miso marinated black cod was definitely the highlight of the entire meal. The miso was well balanced in flavour, not overpoweringly sweet but complimented and brought out the freshness of the cod. The cod was absolutely divine and cooked to perfection. When prodded with the fork, the fish flaked off nicely and was succulent and full of flavour. The steak, on the other hand, while well seasoned, well executed and cooked to a medium rare was average given there are a lot of good steak options in Hong Kong.

Dessert

Lunch ends at 2:30pm and given we must have taken our own sweet time on taking photos, we were quickly approaching 2:30pm so instead of raiding the dessert bar ourselves, we were presented with the collection of their desserts for time and convenience’s sake. Ending the lunch on a sweet note, the unlimited dessert options included: pistachio raspberry mousse cake, mango passionfruit mousse cake, New York cheese cake, strawberry panna cotta, oolong tea cream brulée, vanilla mille feuille, chestnut Mont Blanc tart, single origin dark chocolate mousse with caramel sauce, assorted macarons (we had toffee and chocolate that day), and ice cream and condiments. The desserts had great variation running the gamut from traditional desserts to more creative and fusion endeavours that worked well with one another.

The standout for us at Alibi was definitely the miso cod and the dessert bar. For those looking to explore more of the dark side and see what it has to offer, Alibi might fit the bill nicely, especially those with a major sweet tooth.

Booking

Alibi – Wine Dine Be Social
Level 5, Cordis Hong Kong, 555 Shanghai Street, Mongkok, Kowloon
3552 3322 or Website

Interested in exploring more off-the-beaten path neighbourhoods? Join Virginia’s Off the Eaten Path Food Tour that leads you through Whampoa devouring all her favourite local eats in a progressive meal. At each food stop, you’ll be able to taste a flavour of Cantonese cuisine – bitter, spicy, salty, sour and sweet – and all the whilst learning about the local restaurants, their stories and the neighbourhood.

Virginia is a tour guide by day at Humid with a Chance of Fishballs Tours, creative blogger by night at The Smoo Diaries and avid traveller by weekend. Virginia is a proud Vancouverite now in Hong Kong exploring all corners of Asia. She’s currently discovering her Asian roots – one flight, one noodle and one Canto slang at a time. *slurp*