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Frantzén’s Kitchen
Nordic cuisine has long been on our culinary bucket list. So when Frantzén’s Kitchen, a cosy Swedish bistro tucked away in the trendy Sheung Wan neighbourhood above Hollywood Road, was recommended to us as a worthwhile place to visit, we jumped at the opportunity.
The restaurant is the brainchild of celebrated Swedish 3-Michelin-Starred chef Bjorn Frantzén, who operates the highly acclaimed Frantzén Restaurant in Stockholm, Frantzén's Kitchen offers a relaxed and intimate setting in which diners can enjoy a curated menu created by Chef Frantzén and his Hong Kong executive head chef Jim Lodahl.
The restaurant offers two distinct dining ambiences – an open kitchen counter for casual dining and a comfortable dining room for more intimate dining occasions. A friendly feature is a printed menu that serves as a placemat, with each dish neatly illustrated, complete with description of its ingredients.
Frantzén's Kitchen offers both tasting and à la carte menus. For our dinner, we chose the restaurant's 9-course Tasting Menu ($1,188). There are two wine-pairing options: 4-glass pairing ($688) or 7-glass pairing ($888 ). We wisely chose the former as it turned out the pour was quite generous.
Two snacks got our dinner started, together with a glass of NV Champagne Thienot from Reims: Roasted Onion Chawanmushi, oxtail jus and vendace roe, and French Toast Truffle – balsamic vinegar, aged cheese and truffle tea, a signature concoction of chef Frantzén's. Both are bite-sized, and we particularly like the rollercoaster taste experience of the French Toast with its mix of cheese, truffle and the vinegar flavours.
Next came three more starters: Pumpkin, Broccolini, Truffle, pumpkin and hazelnut granola, truffle vinaigrette and vasterbotten cheese; Cold Poached King Crab, tomato and peach ceviche, black pepper, almond emulsion, wasabi and ginger; and Tartare of Te Mana Lamb, black garlic, cucumber, caviar and pistou. All three dishes were new to us and tasted superb. We liked the citric flavour of the king crab meat, which comes with a zesty and slightly spicy bite. The lamb tartare was also a treat as the savoury caviar blends well with the tartare. For the wine, we had a 2017 Domaine Ostertag “Fronholz” Riesling, from Alsace, a light sweet wine that served the dishes well.
Next came Arctic Char goat beurre blanc, rosemary, trout roe, pickled turnip and seaweed. The cold-water fish meat is tender and succulent, enhanced by the rich goat beurre sauce. The Velouté white onion, liquorice and smoked Marcona almond provided a nice break before we tucked into Magret of Duck raspberry “hot sauce”, smoked tomato, sticky beet, grilled rose and sprouted almond. The succulent duck breast is excellent and nicely accented by the raspberry sauce. A glass each of 2017 Kumeu River “Hunting Hill ” Chardonnay, Kumeu (Auckland), and 2017 Yelland & Papps “Second Take” Mataro from Barossa Valley in South Australia – a rich and intensely flavoured red – complemented the meal well.
We finished the dinner with Toasted Sesame Ice Cream, with grilled marshmallows & salted plum sauce, which sumptuously capped this delicious and enjoyable meal.
If you are looking for a relaxed and enlightened dining experience with innovative Nordic dishes, Frantzén’s Kitchen is a worthy choice. Be sure to book in advance though.
