What is it? Penthouse is Michelin-starred chef Harlan Goldstein’s fourth restaurant in his ever-expanding culinary empire, and offers contemporary western cuisine in a trendy New York loft-style setting.
The setting: Boasting spectacular harbour views through floor-to-ceiling windows, Penthouse wows its guests the moment they step out of the lift onto the 30th floor. The stylish, urban-rustic interior design creates a relaxed ambience, enhanced by the servers casual attire. Penthouse has two private dining rooms, and an outdoor terrace that teeters on the small side, but is nevertheless ideal for a bit of time spent admiring the view.
Meaty deviled crab cake ($198)
The food: The wide range of starters includes the beef carpaccio roll ($188) with rocket, stracchino cheese and white truffle dressing. A delicate amount of black truffle honey dressing accented the rolls with plenty of intoxicating aromas. The Spanish farm-raised Bluefin tuna tartare ($208) with an Italian slow-cooked egg was good, although not outstanding, while the meaty deviled crab cake ($198) with a light and refreshing mango and salted black bean salsa, oozed with a fragrant curried flavour. Our favourite was the Hokkaido scallop carpaccio ($198) with avocado, Aji Panca, passion fruit and crispy rice. The sweet and tangy passion fruit, against the freshness of the scallop, made for a refreshing appetiser. Next up were two distinct stone-pot paella dishes; the seafood bomba rice ($288) with shrimps, squid, clams, chorizo and saffron and the black ink bomba rice ($288) with sea scallop and crispy squid. Both were quite heavy and the seafood bomba had an overwhelmingly charred flavour. The Italian egg pappardelle ($248) served with Spanish pork ragout and herb mascarpone was perfectly al dente with a rich pork flavour. The “Spanish Josper” grilled U.S. prime beef hanger steak ($350) and striploin steak ($520) were both mouthwateringly juicy. The Spanish pork chop ($358) with melting taleggio cheese, funghi misti and grain mustard was a little bland for our tastes, while the Australian grain-fed yellow chicken ($428 for 2 people sharing) marinated with garlic, herbs, sea salt, lemon and black pepper was perfectly cooked and seasoned. To finish, we squeezed in a few bits from the dessert buffet, which included rich and chocolaty mini brownies and the ever crowd-pleasing tiramisu.
Chocolaty mini brownies
The Verdict: The idea behind Penthouse is to create wholesome food that leaves guests feeling “totally satisfied”. While our meal was satisfyingly good, there weren’t any real highlights on the menu. Having said that, we will certainly be back, next time for dinner, so that we can admire the glittering skyline through those floor-to-ceiling windows.
30/F, Soundwill Plaza II Midtown, 1–29 Tung Lung Street, Causeway Bay, 2970 0828
