Island Seafood Oyster Bar Steak & Grill has launched a brand new a la carte menu featuring a wide range of seafood and grill from all over the world! The experienced restaurant with over 15 years history used to be located on the ground floor of Knutsford Terrace in Tsim Sha Tsui, has now moved to the 2/F in the middle of the alley.
The restaurant indeed features oysters and meat. The wide oyster bar and the meat window drew our attention immediately right after we stepped into the spacious dining area.
The place is decorated with leather furniture and artistic paintings. There are both window seats for you to overlook the buzzing Knutsford Terrace, and some bigger tables for you to see the chef in action. The ambient and staff are welcoming especially with the warm lighting.
To me, I always try the bread basket to see how serious the restaurant is taking. Island Seafood serves a mushroom-shaped poppy seed bread with chilled block of truffle butter.
With this amazing oyster bar displayed in front of my eyes, we couldn’t resist to try a few of the chef’s recommended oysters from France, to kick start our meal.
Mermaid ($72)
This mermaid oyster was as big as my hand! It delivered a medium sea salty flavor with a long lasting sweet after taste. Its texture was creamy and smooth. It’s a beautiful oyster with an amusing presentation to please your loved ones.
Ecaille Argent ($68)
The aromatic oyster gave a mix of fresh hazelnut and seaweed flavor with a strong sweet after taste, a great oyster to go down with a glass of chilled white wine.
This infamous oyster gave no disappointment. The flavor of sea water was strong, perfectly complementing the hazelnut and palate taste from this smooth and chewy French oyster.
Spanish Palamos Prawns Salad with Crispy Cod Skin ($175)
Ingredient is one the key elements to a good dish. Palamos prawn is the rarest prawn species from Spain. They could only be found 3,000 feet under Deep Ocean. Its was the sweetest prawn I have ever tasted and you could only find it in one of the few fine dining restaurants in Hong Kong. Not only the prawn was outstanding, the salad also consisted of four different types of seaweeds from France, as well as a thin sheet of the crunchiest cod fish skin I have ever had, paired with light mango sauce and mentaiko.
Baked Spanish Sea Urchin with Crab Meat and Brown Meat ($195)
Another wow dish with a stunning presentation, the sea urchin was stuffed with a mix of crab meat, brown meat and mushroom, topped with some aged Parmesan cheese and bake until golden, then seasoned with lobster sauce. Since the dish had no seasoning at all, the French sea salt at the bottom was provided to add an extra kick.
There were some big chunks of crab meat and mushroom in this small cute shell. The creamy golden goodness was indeed a delicate treat to enjoy, and to celebrate the upcoming golden year of monkey
Sea Salt baked Bone Marrow with Escargots ($185)
Ricks is a very experienced chef with a lot of experiences in five stars hotels as well as in France. He explained that bone marrow should not be melted into oil because it meant overheated and overcooked.
This classic French dish uses good quality ingredients, including French Burgundy escargots cooked with hazelnuts sauce, sitting on a bed of smooth mashed potato.
We were recommended to enjoy this dish by spreading the bone marrow and escargots mashed potatoes on the crispy toast, with a sprinkle of the finest quality sea salty from France.
Gruyere Cheese Baked Onion Soup ($85)
One of the easiest French soup to make yet one of the easiest dish to screw up. Chef Ricks addressed that the ratio between soup, bread and cheese is critical. Besides, a good old bowl of onion soup must use good beef stock. If it is not beef stock, it is not onion soup.
The soup was cooked with some sweet Sherry wine. The aromatic Sherry fragrant urged out through the bread and cheese cover once we dig into it. The sweetness, cheesiness and savouriness from this little bowl has created heaven.
Manhattan Clam Chowder Cream Soup ($95)
This Manhattan style clam chowder is nothing like any other clam chowder. Island Seafood uses genuine recipe with heart. The fresh clams with its own juice and a little bit of tomatoes were used to make the rich soup base, topped with a dollop of cream foam.
Though most of these clams were blended, a few fresh and nicely cooked clams could still be found swimming in the soup. They were all very pump and juicy.
This creamy soup uses no potato nor flour for thickening. The high density from the clam meat gave it a pretty heavy texture, great for hungry folks because it’s very filling!
Fresh Mussels prepared by Chef’s Choice ($195)
Extraordinary is all we can say. Each piece of French mussel was cooked to perfection. The mussels were just barely well-cooked. Chef Ricks revealed that it only took 30 seconds to cook any mussels otherwise it would all turn overcooked.
Chef Ricks had also specially prepared this dish in his recommended way. The dish was cooked with a blend of spinach and herb paste.
After too many mussels I have ever had in my life, I can confidently say that this is the most perfectly cooked mussel dish I have ever had, I can clearly see how experienced the chef is controlling his fire. Bravo!
Australian Rack of Lamb with Potato Gratin and Vegetables ($385)
These rack of lamb used stone cook method which is a healthier alternative to traditional char grill. Serving along with a cute bowl of French creamy potato gratin and bacon fried French beans.
The lamb was really succulent and it took no force to cut into. The surface was slightly crispy, delivering a even more intense meat flavour. The cut was quite lean yet still extremely soft and moist.
We were recommended to spread the baked garlic onto the lamb to intensify the flavour to another dimension.
Moving on to the potato gratin, it was definitely creamy and rich from the cream sauce. It was not too overcooked until mushy. You could still see layers of potato sheets with a thin sheet of cheese on top in a spoonful. This heavy dish reminded us moderation is key.
This new place is a great pick for diners to enjoy some quality food and drinks in a quieter area. Happy Hour offer is also available for you to have some pre-dinner drinks. I could not stress enough that oysters and the grill are the must-order items. They are even doing $20 oyster promotion on every Thursday! What are you waiting for? Book your table now to pamper yourself and your family with some nice food during this holiday season!
Address: 2/F, 10 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2312 6663
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