Bouillon Bistro Parisien — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

Always a great start to visiting a new restaurant when you bump into an old friend that you consider has good taste.

The room was warm and bustling and was excited to try rustic French food in a modern bistro setting as this is my favourite type of Western food to eat.

Whilst the room seemed a little understaffed (we asked for butter 3 times) our cosy bar spot was spacious and we ordered a few drinks. My friend had the Bouillon Signature Lemon Tea, which the only thing “Signature” about it was the tartness and lack of anything distinctive.

Scallop Carpaccio and the Bone Marrow were delicious. The Tartine-esque rustic sourdough was perfect to mop up the juices of the Bone Marrow.

The Scallop Carpaccio was gentle on a bed of crab claw meat giving major seafood vibes - I would have liked more citrus or variation on an otherwise well executed dish.

We also added an additional order of the escargots and was thankful for them to arrive sans shell and faff of having to fish the morsels out. Drowned perfectly in a ton of butter, it gave us yet another excuse to load up on the sourdough (“More butter please”). And the Chablis was a nice accompaniment.

The Rossini de Boeuf was probably the highlight of the evening despite foie gras and the black truffle sauce not the most original of accompaniments, but it goes to show, if you source good meat, that can be a game changer.

The Grilled Scallops were also magificient with the sweetness of the butternut squash a perfect accompaniment to bring out the sea freshness. Green beans and French Fries (of course) all executed well with the perfect crisp to the fries. (Gotta say, bad French Fries in a French Bistro is always a major turn off).

We finished with the Tarte Tatin, which was probably one of the most disappointing dishes for me, I would have preferred more bite to the apple or the tart to complement the softness of the ice cream, but the flavours were all there.

All in all a great dinner, I rarely go out but this was a real treat and with the bill coming to 2400 I thought it was trememdous value for food which the chef had obviously taken intricate care of perfect the taste of all...

The three of us were packed into a tiny 2-person table in the corner which I had huge difficulty just squeezing myself in the inner seat as the tables were arranged so closely to each other. With our plates, utensils and drinks, the table only had space to accommodate one dish at a time, anything more then two plates proved to overwhelm the table situation and we had to worry about not elbowing anything off the table as we serve ourselves. This made the whole dining experience very unpleasant and we were unable to enjoy the food which was objectively decent. We requested a few times changing to a normal 4-person table as diners left but were turned down due to full booking. We see a family of 3 next to us which were subsequently seated at two combined 2-person tables which made us feel even more disrespected. It was lucky we all had petite frames, but our knees basically brushed past each other the whole time throughout the meal and my legs felt ached afterwards with insufficient leg room. For the price point (we spent above HK$500 pp), this was not a dining environment that I expected, and not a place I would have gone to if I have been notified of such an unreasonable arrangement. I would even go to the extent to say a local wonton noodle shop or cha charn teng would be roomier than the table we were at that night. The waiter was polite in showing sympathy to our situation but unfortunately there wasn't much she could offer to improve it aside from brushing it off with a smile. This was not a table to squeeze in a party of three to begin with, it showed a complete lack of consideration and respect to diners on the part of the restaurant management. I am extremely disappointed and will not...

Bouillon is a Parisian style bistro that offers up a nice venue for French dining in Sheung Wan. This new place opened around 6-7 months ago on Pound Lane, just off Hollywood Road and is quite popular at the moment. As such, best to make reservations on their website if you want peak lunch or dinner time seating.

What you find is a small bistro with a long bar and wall side both seating, very similar to the small bistros you may recall from trips to Paris. Menu is a nice range of French favourites, they have daily specials on the wall as well and a nice selection of aperitif and wine choices to enjoy along with your meal. We found service to be personal and attentive throughout our meal as well.

On the evening we dined at Bouillon, we enjoyed the foie gras starter. This was a nice serving of duck liver terrine that tasted as expected, a nice way to start our meal. For mains, we enjoyed their Rossini, a perfectly grilled tenderloin at medium rare temperature, topped with pan fried foie grass and black truffle. The beef quality was pretty good, made for a better than average Rossini by Hong Kong standards.

We also had the roasted pigeon that was grilled beautifully, leaving the poultry properly red, gamey and near livery in texture. Served with Jerusalem artichoke puree with subtle hints of coffee powder and cocoa sauce, this was a very good main. Our meal was finished with a nicely prepared vanilla rice pudding.

Overall, a pretty good showing by Bouillon on the evening. Dinner was a somewhat pricey affair but environs are really nice and the meal pretty good. It was a nice evening out, a good French dining experience...