La Palette is not as it used to be. My sister snd I decided to treat our relatives in HK out for dinner - French food - not something different.
Although I enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant with the open kitchen taking centre stage, I can't help but raise an eyebrow to their tacky tablecloths and chairs.
The servers are all relatively young. The nice thing is that La Palette is not too hard on your wallet with its Prix Fixe menu ringing in at $33. All items on the menu marked with a star are available on the PF menu.
We ordered the Escargot, Roasted Red Pepper Soup and Pàté de Compagne to start. The escargot was not prepared in it's traditional drenched in butter fashion and was served atop a bed of spinach topped with croutons. It was disappointing and rather bland. The pâté was quite yummy though it came with no crackers or even a slice of bread until we asked for our bread basket to be replenished.
For mains we ordered duck confit, soufflé and steak frites. The duck confit was rather tender and flavourful though the skin was lacking crispness. It was served atop a bed of a corn & peas spaëtzle mixture.
The soufflé was a ricotta soufflé served with ratatouille and a side salad. The soufflé was creamy but the outer layer wS too sponge-y for me. The ratatouille was rather flavorless and the side salad was nothing special.
The steak was rather disappointing as it was 1) cold 2) tough and 3) a tiny piece of steak. I will vouch though that it was seared to a perfect medium rare and I will also vouch for their yummy yummy frites! One of the best frites I've had!
Desserts consisted of crême brûlée, clafouti, flourless almond and chocolate cake, and a lemon tart.
The crême brûlée was so small the spoon barely fit. The lemon tart was too sour. The flourless cake was dry as a dessert and the clafouti was meh.
All in all, the place was a miss for me. If you're looking for good French food. Look elsewhere.