Not resting on its laurels
By Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter
CHINA BLUE by Jereme Leung generated much buzz when it opened in 2016. Back then, we wrote about a Chinese restaurant without all the gilding, serving dishes with a certain levity, getting a sense of Asian luxury without all the pomp and ceremony that older Chinese dishes may have. Back then, he had been a judge on the Chinese editions of MasterChef and won the Star Diamond Award by the American Academy of Hospitality Science — twice — which ranked him on the same place as Wolfgang Puck and Paul Bocuse.
Trends have changed since then, and we’d like to think China Blue set them.
New Chinese restaurants that have been built (unless they say they offer comfort food) now present their dishes with that Jereme Leung-style delicacy, and most have done away with the heaviness one might expect from a Chinese restaurant’s decor. Food shaped like animals or everyday objects, which had been quite the signature at China Blue, can now be found even in neighborhood Chinese restaurants.
As well, it’s hard to ignore that it had been recognized by the inaugural Michelin Guide selection in the Philippines last year, among many other awards besides.
On Oct. 9, Mr. Leung dropped in at his restaurant (a frequent occurrence; he’s quite hands-on) for a dinner celebrating 10 years of China Blue by Jereme Leung. Called A Royal Return, he worked on the dinner with Conrad Manila’s executive Chinese chef Eng Yew Khor.
“It might be interesting for you to know that I first came to this private dining room you are sitting in in 2014,” he said, recalling the two years of planning to successfully launch the restaurant. “Every year we challenge ourselves and say, ‘What can we do?’ Can we make something new?”
The dinner on the ninth definitely showed that they can.
While Mr. Leung flew out on the 11th, the dishes he served that evening will be part of the permanent menu.
THE DINNER
The meal began with a selection of appetizers: Pan-seared Lotus Root filled with shrimp mousse, lemon-yuzu dressing, and raspberry pearls; Pork Shoulder with Organic Quinoa Crust and calamansi barbeque sauce, and Deep-fried wagyu Beef Spring Roll with mushroom and wild pepper cheese; and Candied Hawthorn Wrapper Gift Box with roasted duck salad. We commend the duck salad within the delicate fruit wrapper: the duck salad was vivid with flavor, contrasting with the almost juicy pink wrapper made of the hawthorn berry. The lotus root’s delicacy was drowned by its more flamboyant companions, but the pork shoulder was something else. Thanks to the calamansi and the sweetish marinade, it almost tasted familiar, but the crust gives it contrast and enough lightness to make it still fashionable and elegant. The spring roll, piping hot, had a very strong mushroom flavor, the only one able to escape the intense heat in its deep-frying. It’s still a good exercise in combining chewiness and crisp in one bite.
The soup showed off. Double-boiled Ginseng and Sea Coconut Consomme combined with black chicken, and sea cucumber, it had a remarkably clean and clear taste, almost serene; like a meditation session in a bowl. It tasted like something one is fed in an old Chinese novel to cure them of disease or give them immortality.
This was followed by a series of main courses, starting with the Steamed Red Garoupa Fillet with roasted bell pepper sauce. The fish, sliced like a draping canopy, had a very silky texture and a mild, sweet flavor; the sauce gave it some flair.
The Roasted Stuffed Pigeon definitely won our hearts for the main courses. “Excellent” in all-capitals as we marked in our notes, it was roasted in the distinct way that only the Chinese can pull off: brown, with a crispy, taut skin. The bird was stuffed with sea treasures, a medley of finely chopped seafood that included abalone, all adding up to a luxurious course that will be remembered for a long time.
The savories ended with Braised Lobster with Crispy Hong Kong Noodles in a ginger and scallion golden broth. Quite rich, everything together seemed so familiar that it began to taste like comfort food.
The meal ended with dessert — Chilled Yunnan White Coffee Panna Cotta with espresso caviar, topped with gold leaf, which kept us all abuzz.
DIALOGUE
In a group interview, Mr. Leung said, “They are created in such a way where we look at it and it needs to be unique, to a certain extent, to the Filipino market.” It would seem then that the dishes don’t just celebrate 10 years in the Philippines, but a successful dialogue between cultures.
As for 10 years of his restaurant’s presence in the Philippines, and the awards it has picked up over the years, he says, “I’m very, very happy for the team here, as a whole.”
Still, “As a professional chef who has done this for more than 40 years, in my prime, I have gathered enough awards to last me a lifetime,” he said. “It is not awards and recognitions that reflect me as a chef.
“When I open restaurants these days,” he said, announcing the opening of a Kuala Lumpur outlet soon, “I’m more happy when I’m able to develop and allow a team of people who work for us to evolve; to improve.”
Meanwhile, Rupert Hallam, general manager of Conrad Manila, announced, “We’re working on plans at the moment about refurbishment,” with areas around the hotel, as well as the rooms next year. “The following year, we’re going through a further refurbishment,” marking a little freshening up for the 10-year-old hotel from 2027 to 2028.
“Lots of new things happening in the Conrad.”
China Blue by Jereme Leung is open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and dinner from 6 to 10 p.m. For inquiries and reservations, call 8833-9999 (telephone), 0917-650-4043 (mobile), or e-mail MNLMB.FB@ConradHotels.com.