What’s the point of enjoying a great dessert if you can’t make your friends jealous while you’re at it? These desserts are as eye-catching as they are delicious — and will be sure to earn you plenty of “likes” if you snap a pic.
Improvisation at ATUMDesserant
If you’re the sort of person who always wishes you could skip dinner and just get straight to dessert, ATUMDesserant is the place for you. ATUM is a dessert restaurant — all dessert, all the time — and its a la carte menu is filled with fruity, chocolate-y concoctions that look as great as they taste. The dish you definitely want to go for, though, is the Improvisation, an interactive dish where the chef takes liquid nitrogen ice cream, jelly, sponge cake, and other ingredients, and creates a masterpiece according to diners’ input. As a result, no one Improvisation is the same.
16/F, The L.Square, 459-461 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay, 2956-1411 or 2377-2400.
Chocolate H2O at Cobo House By 2am:dessertbar
Award-winning Singaporean pasty chef Janice Wong brings a certain kind of artistry to her creations at Cobo House. Presented on hand-painted plates, the intriguing desserts aren’t unlike pieces of abstract art themselves, each with a unique inspiration behind them — the Chocolate H2O, for instance, was inspired by the seaside off the coast of San Sebastian. A combination of frozen, aerated chocolate mousse, yuzu sorbet and salted caramel sauce over chocolate “soil”, the dessert definitely calls to mind craggy sea cliffs.
G/F & 1/F, 8-12 South Lane, Shek Tong Tsui, 2656-3088.
Afternoon Tea Set at DALLOYAU Cafe
We’re not over the timeless afternoon tea — there’s just something about lots of delicate nibbles towering high on a glam, multi-tier cake tray. French heritage brand DALLOYAU’s take is definitely heavy on the sweets (raspberry opera, fruit tart, lemon curd choux, and macarons and scones, of course) and looks plenty pretty to boot, presented on a tray that looks like a golden birdcage.
Shop 3220, Level 3, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, 3185-8330.
La Framboise at Caprice
Leave it to Caprice. The elegant French fine-dine at the Four Seasons is the perfect place for special occasions with its beautiful dishes — and its desserts, of course, are no exception. La Framboise (“Raspberry”), is a particular delight. Created by pastry chef Nicholas Lambert, the raspberry mousse and confit raspberries are dressed up with delicate spun sugar.
6/F, Four Seasons Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Central, 3196-8860.
Taster cakes at MS B’s CAKERY
There’s cake, and then there’s cake at MS B’s. Sponge, chiffon and cheese cakes are layered with jams, mousse and cream, finally topped with carefully crafted sugar art. A whole plate of the striking, colorful pieces make quite the snap; we particularly enjoy the Madame Butterfly (beetroot, pistachio and chocolate chiffon, apricot compote, cream, and dark and white chocolate).
39 Gough Street, Central, 2815-8303.
Ode to Bees at Tate Dining Room and Bar
One might argue that petit fours are designed to be unobtrusive. Arriving at the end of a meal, when diners are sated and winding down over coffee, at best one or two of them are munched on as punctuation to the leisurely conversation. But you’ll be hard pressed to ignore the Ode to Bees at chef Vicky Lau’s restaurant, Tate Dining Room and Bar. The dinner menu is comprised of a series of “odes” that celebrate the ingredients the dish is made with — and the ending of the meal is no different. The various honey-flavored treats, created from honey sourced from local beekeepers, are housed in a beehive that’ll definitely grab your attention.
210 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, 2555-2172.
