Award-winning Singaporean chef Edward Voon, the mastermind behind modern French fine-dining restaurant Auor, is welcoming in the winter season with heartwarming French and Asian dishes on a new Six Rounds tasting menu and a four-course ‘Winter Wonders’ dinner, with afternoons enlivened with a new weekday lunch and a Saturday Champagne indulgence.
Auor’s imaginative signature dinner experience of the Six Rounds (HK$1,380+10%) is a procession of layered tastes that revolves around time, respects the seasons and showcases the diversity of nature. While honouring French fine-dining traditions, Chef Voon’s culinary philosophy at Auor is steered by the vast and vibrant flavours of Asia – his homeland and the place that holds his fondest memories.
The Six Rounds – Celebrating life’s most heartfelt moments
The six-course tasting menu follows the rhythms of the seasons and the circle of life, with each course, or ‘Round’, named for meaningful moments in the chef’s journey thus far. Most often showcasing the fruits of the sea, dishes embody French techniques and Asian diversity.
Round #1 (Awakening) melds luxurious delicacies: caviar, scallops and abalone. Wild French scallops from Brittany, served raw, are infused with Asian herbs like Thai basil, coriander and daun kesum, along with virgin olive oil, fish sauce and lime zest. Meanwhile, abalone from South Africa is steamed with ginger, sake and mirin, and a vegetable jelly is prepared with lobster consommé, roasted bell peppers and fennel.
Finally, the dish is garnished with smoked oyster cream, pickled cucumber gel and Royal Cristal caviar. The accompanying freshly baked citrus brioche is served with a Singaporean-style chilli dipping sauce.
Inspired by the life-affirming intensity of Singapore’s daily torrential rainstorms, Round #2 (Rain) sees mud crab au gratin elevated by potent Malabar pepper. Mud crab is first cooked within a thick broth of shellfish, Comté cheese and double cream, while the aromatic black pepper sauce is created with baby chillies, salted beans, curry leaves and Malabar black pepper.
The dish is finished with beurre blanc butter sauce, black pepper paste and red wine vinegar gel.
Round #3 (Colours): This is a vivid revelation of how imagination can transform nature’s simple gifts into complex sensory stories. Rock lobster from Western Australia is fried for a unique texture and then served with pickled celtuce and a green apple ‘curry’ blending citrus juice, lime leaves, palm sugar, coconut cream, and fish stock.
Round #4 (Diversity) has long been a watchword for Chef Voon, gleaned through his many travels in Asia. His belief that elements of different cuisines can be united in one compelling taste is seen in an entrée of five-spice pigeon.
Following several days of marinating, the bird is fried and then charcoal-grilled before serving with an array of accompaniments – aubergine in spicy, garlicky bean sauce, pickled red radish, mixed greens with ginger vinaigrette, fragrant Koshihikari rice and Shaoxing wine sauce.
Wagyu striploin ‘satay’ is offered as an alternative at a supplemental price of +HK$280, featuring the finest charcoal-grilled wagyu striploin from Australia glazed with homemade satay sauce made with onion jus, turmeric and tamarind.
It is Round #5 (the Soul of the Six Rounds) that best illustrates the maturity now evident in Chef Voon’s layered contemporary cuisine. Here, marinated and charcoal-grilled pork collar is served with acorn jelly noodles and a Cantonese bouillon of pork bones, Hunan ham, pork skin, chicken feet and kombu.
The bouillon is cooked for more than six hours and finished with truffles, pickled green pepper sauce and cold butter. A supplemental option of fish maw cooked with veal jus and dashi is available at +HK$280.
The Six Rounds come full circle to culminate in Round #6 (Memory), an artistic dessert that speaks to the chef’s impressions of the past and his Asian upbringing.
Prepped by a pre-dessert palate cleanser of black dates’ nan zao’ sorbet and pear jelly, this is an elaborate homage to beloved snacks and drinks of childhood: homemade glutinous rice roll is dusted in peanut flour, baked and then served with peanut ice cream, peanut tuile and a sauce of Vitagen and sweet glutinous rice wine.
Six wine pairings by the glass (HK$880+10% per person) selected by Auor Restaurant Manager and Wine Director Cherish Ho perfectly complement the Six Rounds.
The Six Rounds (six courses), priced at HK$1,380+10% per person, and the shorter yet still sumptuous Winter Wonders menu (four courses), priced at HK$1,080+10%, are both available from Tuesday to Saturday evening.
New Seasonal Lunch from Wednesday to Friday
Indulge in the delectable flavours of Auor’s new winter lunch menu, available from Wednesday to Friday. For HK$168+10%, enjoy a satisfying two-course meal featuring prawn ‘laksa’ and coconut pandan dessert. Alternatively, opt for the three-course option priced at HK$368+10% or four courses at HK$488+10%.
The full culinary journey begins with either a refreshing Abalone Salad paired with tomatoes and ginger vinaigrette or an enticing French Scallop with choy sum and butternut velouté, followed by delicate Sea Bream with Puy lentils in a flavourful Sichuan bouillon.
The third course is a choice between the tantalising Roasted Yellow Chicken ‘Mala’ accompanied by fragrant rice and pickles, the savoury Obsiblue Prawn Noodle’ Laksa’, or the succulent Wagyu Striploin ‘Satay’ with red-wine sauce (subject to a supplement of HK$280). Conclude the meal on a sweet note with a delightful combination of Coconut, Pandan, Gula Melaka.
New Saturday Champagne Lunch
The new Saturday Champagne Lunch is a five-course gastronomic adventure priced at HK$780+10%. The menu mirrors the popular seasonal weekday lunch presentation, with the luxurious upgrade of caviar. For those seeking a further elevated experience, free-flow Auor Champagne is poured for HK$580 per person. Alternatively, savour a refined four-glass wine pairing add-on for HK$428 per person.
Auor serves dinner from Tuesday to Saturday from 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm (last orders 8:30 pm) and lunch from Wednesday through Saturday from 12 pm to 3 pm (last orders 2 pm). For reservations at Auor, click here or contact the restaurant directly.
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