Hibiscus is a beautiful, small, elegant, minimal restaurant. That’s a picture of my pre-appetizer, which, if I recall correctly, was cucumber soup with little dollops of pineapple juice encased in some sort of skin so that they explode in your mouth and feel like quail eggs. (I love this sort of thing.)
I had read only glowing reviews of Hibiscus before going in but have since discovered some detractors. I quite liked the place, but Dan says, “It wasn’t mind-blowing.”
Though I think he would agree that his appetizer—some sort of morel concoction with asparagus velouté—was heavenly. Mine was spring onion and lime ravioli, glazed broad beans, on a bean and mint puree, which was all very light and springlike.
For my main, I ordered roasted halibut with a black olive and gherkin sauce and what turned out to be incredible, tiny roasted vegetables and gnocchi with smoked butter. The halibut was good but not quite what I wanted (it was a large, steaklike chunk and I was in the mood for something more delicate). I did devour the amazingly good vegetables, however, which reinforced my idea of trying to eat (occasionally) all-vegetarian meals at nice restaurants from now on. (In fact, I had been hoping to do that here, because the website features a vegetarian tasting menu, but it wasn’t listed on my menu at the table and I didn’t ask—too distracted by what was on offer to care.) Dan had a large sliver of duck breast that I, having just a taste, thought was amazing, perhaps the best slice of pink duck with just the right layer of fat and skin that I’ve ever had.
I also loved my dessert though Dan thought it was too salty (it was not): “gratin of sweet olive oil and Gariguette strawberries, parmesan sorbet, 75-year-old San Domico balsamic.” The gratin was really a flanlike, creamy thing, and the whole combination was a nice savory/sweet ending to the meal.
I could complain a little about the wine service, which seemed a bit off (though the wine list itself was nice; we found a half bottle of Shafer merlot, transporting us back to the States, reminding us of how wonderful California wines are). The only other problem with this really lovely restaurant is that it’s one of those places that requires you to make reservations far in advance and recite your credit card number over the phone to prove you won’t cancel.
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2 comments:
Hi, I like your restaurant reviews but was curious about the pictures that accompany them. They seem to betray a dark, fuzzy aesthetic, and I can't tell if that's on purpose or not. Have you seen this website?
I wish I could say that I was taking dark, fuzzy pictures on purpose, but unfortunately, that's not the case. My decidedly amateurish shots are the result of 1) never using a flash, and 2) hating to take pictures in restaurants and therefore doing it as fast and unobtrusively as possible. I like to think my bad photos are better than nothing, but that might not be the case.
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