La Brasserie

Casual French Fare in Hong Kong

Short one today, no elaborate tasting menu for once. Just a trip to a friendly neighborhood cafe.

La Brasserie is Parisian cafe opened in early 2023 in a trendy area of SoHo in Hong Kong. I walked past it several times, before drinking there one night with friends. Eventually, I even tried the food there. For what it’s worth, they had a very strong martini, one of the best pâté en croûte I’ve ever had and an amazing brunch menu.

However, the F&B business has been very difficult in Hong Kong, and a high end cafe is difficult to keep afloat, especially when you have a lot of expensive real estate to support. The original restaurant never really managed to make it work, and they were about to shut down and give up the real estate when Chef Franckelie Laloum took over the space for his pop up in mid 2024.

Chef Franckelie had a long history working under some of the best French chefs in the world, like Chef Christian Le Squer at Pavilion Ledoyen, Chef Andre Pic at Maison Pic while they got their third Michelin star, and under Chef Julien Royer (of Odette fame) opening Louise in Hong Kong. Under Chef Franckelie’s leadership, Louise earned one Michelin star shortly after launching in 2020 and has held it ever since.

Chef Franckelie left Louise recently to run his pop up at La Brasserie, overhauling the menu, bringing his own staff, but otherwise leaving the restaurant unchanged. The pop up is supposed to run until mid January, when a rebrand of the restaurant to “Lala” is expected.

I was in the neighborhood recently, and decided to drop by for a quick, casual meal. The mains tend to be large enough to be shared, and given that I was alone, I decided to go with the a la carte menu and order two starters and a dessert.

The weather has been quite cold in Hong Kong, and I started with a cep mushroom and chestnut velouté. Thick, rich, buttery soup is great on a cold day. I’ve never been a huge fan of chestnut, but it worked well with the cep mushrooms.

A steak tartare with the crispiest chips known to man came next. I don’t know exactly how they prepare them, but if you want to maximize surface area and get the maximum crisp, this must be how you do it. Thin slices of potato either pressed or patterned into a grid texture and deep fried. Amazing.

Finally, a a dessert with a long history in France, dating back to the 16th century. Originally a savory dish, the profiterole evolved over time to a dessert by the 19th century. This modern dessert version was filled with vanilla ice cream and crushed peanuts, and topped with a chocolate sauce. Delightful.

Overall, a very simple meal, but consistently good across all three courses. La Brasserie has always been consistent across all my visits there, and I look forward to the rebrand and trying the new restaurant once its complete.

Total damage: 700 HKD/1 person