This restaurant is located in the lovely Mandarin Oriental Hotel and thus I’ve included a number of photos of the hotel reception and pass through to get to the restaurant. They set up a feeling of elegance for the diner and the restaurant did not disappoint.

We ate here on our last visit and were not totally excited by it but it continues to rate highly on so many lists we felt it was due a second try and we’re glad we did.

The servers were more helpful this time and we made better decisions ordering. I started with the “Meat Fruit”, a first course they are known for. The apparent Mandarin orange is actually a chicken liver/foie gras parfait in a sweet orange wrapper. It was delicious and made even better when spread on the accompanying grill toast. The waiter noticed mine disappearing quickly and had more out just as I finished what I had! The Salamagundy was a salad with perfectly cooked “chicken oysters” and enhanced with bits of bone marrow. The spiced pigeon was also perfectly cooked and served with lots of tasty artichokes. The pork chop was another winner and garnished with these crispy bits of skin that were really light and ungreasy. Then the desserts came and who cared what you had before. The brown bread ice cream was served on a mound of thick rich caramel sauce and tasted incredible! The Tipsy Cake is another of their famous dishes and whereas last time I loved the pineapple more than the cake, this time the cake was absolutely my favorite. It was “lick the plate” great! If that wasn’t enough they finished our coffee with a light caraway cookie and some chocolate pudding. Totally reversed my opinion of this place – it well deserves all the accolades!