Food Blog: French Fine Dining at Pink Pearl, Phu Quoc
Vietnam is the one and only Asian countries that has a strong French influence due to the French colonial. The French traces have deeply embedded into the Vietnamese culture where it creates a strong impact in different sectors. The linkage between French and Vietnamese yields the modern Vietnamese cuisine we have today.
Before the spread of French culture, Vietnam already has its distinctive culinary background derived from its neighboring countries especially, China. This can be affirmed by the presence of the Chinese signature dishes like the pork dumplings, braised meats, and noodle dishes in Vietnamese cuisine. Vietnamese shares a high similarity to Chinese cooking in terms of the cooking utensils, ingredients used, and also the cooking method. Besides, it's not a surprise to see that many dishes in Vietnam uses the common ingredients you'll find in a Chinese dish like tofu, hoisin sauce, and chilies.
However, due to the arrival of the French, many foreign ingredients are brought into the country. Ever since then, these western ingredients like asparagus and herbs had very much adapted into the Vietnamese cuisine. The best example is possibly the Vietnamese spring rolls, Gỏi cuốn and also Vietnamese Baguette, Bahn Mi. It is because both of these dishes highly is highly depending on the leafy greens like mints and pickled vegetables.
In this article, I would like to bring you along on a fine dining journey with me at Pink Pearl, Phu Quoc. Before we start, I would like to clarify that this is actually my first French dining experience. So, I couldn't tell how a French fine dining should be. But, I can tell how astonishing is my first-time turns out to be.
Pink Pearl is a French restaurant that is furnished with a series of elegant interiors design with designer pieces of pieces of furniture. Most of the paintings, art pieces and even the waiter's attire are in pink to compliment the theme and as a symbol of graciousness. This dreamy-like mansion features the main dining hall, a total of 6 private dining rooms and also an 'Alice In The Wonderland' like yard.
We had a five-course menu dinner that ends with a dessert. Upon arriving, we were served graciously by the waiter to our table and not for too long, we were served with their in-house appetizer that is served on a specially made glass.
As we all know, potatoes are like a staple in French cuisine. We were served with a meat stuffed croquette with a French savory pastry to spark-off our palate. From what I know, fine dining is all about making everything fancier. Thus, I wouldn't be surprised to be seeing the chefs putting up so much effort to make every dish stands out from the crowd. Every detail from preparing, cooking to serving plays a vital role in shaping the image of a fine-dining.
Next, we were served with a hand-whipped cream of asparagus with pomelo and hazelnuts. Honestly, this is one of those flavors that I struggle to tell whether or not I like or dislike. It put me at the stage where I can hardly distinguish the taste and the texture because they seem so familiar yet foreign to my palate. It is those kinds of flavor that are interesting but yet so strange when it's all being combined as one.
Look at this! Isn't it beautiful? That's the best part about fine-dining. The plating is outstanding and aesthetically beautiful. If broccoli fan, you're probably going to be surprised that you might be actually into this. This dish a fluffed herbs and broccoli with creamy sea urchin topped with caviar and served in a sea urchin shell. The creaminess of the sea urchin totally overpowered the broccoli green taste, leaving just the vibrant color. To top things up, the savory caviar complete the dish with an elegant finish.
Next, we were served with a pan-seared foie-gras with asparagus. As I mentioned earlier, no French cuisine is complete without asparagus. The creamy foie-gras portrayed a stronger goose flavored with an irony aftertaste like liver. It is savory, buttery, refine and delicate at the same time. Although there is no exactly a perfect way to devour this goodness, but for me, it's perfect to be spread on a toasted bread.
How is it possible for the chef to actually turns a normal shrimp like this to turn it into a piece of art. Please pardon me for destroying it before I had my camera ready. My anticipation was extremely high as it's served. The smell of this dish was absolutely incredible where I couldn't wait any much longer to devour it. Well, I was always told to eat while it's hot. The creamy sauce is so well-accompanied by the shrimps and the caramelized fruits bits adds a sweet crunch to freshen up the dish. Honestly, I guess this is my favourite dish out of so many that I had.
By looking at this photo, I am pretty sure you wouldn't be able to guess what it is. This is actually a grilled quail with white asparagus. I wouldn't have guessed that quail actually is a red-meat and it has a very deep taste comparing it to chicken. It's more boney and way smaller portion than a chicken. It's comparable to a steak except that it doesn't have a beefy flavor but to be replaced by an irony taste.
We ended our dinner by having the in-house French Napoleons Puff Pastry with wild honey, vanilla, and dark chocolate. The lightness of the flaky pastry has a strong buttery flavor. It is served with a vanilla pastry cream where it's ultra-delicate to eat. It crumbles and fall-apart as I touch it with my spoon. The flaky pasty melts in my mouth and it slowly disperses the flavor of vanilla with a hint of honey sweetness and a bitter aftertaste from the dark chocolate. It is definitely a perfect way to end our dinner. Although it's not a cheap meal, but it's definitely a nice experience and I can say that it's worth for its price.
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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://explorernations.vornix.blog/2018/07/11/food-blog-french-fine-dining-at-pink-pearl-phu-quoc/
That looks really good. I think especially the dessert sounds amazing :)
How everything looks beautiful and delicious!