The Wine List:  When the assistant manager Morgan Lei brought the wine list to me and placed it on the corner of my table, my instinct was to quickly support the table from underneath so it did not fall over on the floor!  Covered in a ¼ inch thick black vinyl cover, the 152 pages inside required another glass of Champagne to even contemplate what was before me.  Simply stated, this is the most comprehensive, complete, and utterly astonishing wine list I have ever seen.  Let’s just consider some of the classic French wines.  There are 11 pages of white Burgundy, 21 pages of red Burgundy, 31 pages of red Bordeaux, and 2 pages of Sauternes, Barsac, and Monbazillac, a whole page of which is Chateau d’Yquem.  Amongst the Chateau d’Yquem offered, the oldest bottle is from the year 1825 when the United States of America was only 49 years old.  Rated by Robert Parker at 87, you can buy this bottle for 160,000 Patacas, which are roughly equivalent to Hong Kong Dollars.  On the other hand, if you really want a perfect bottle, you can buy the 1847, rated 100 by Robert Parker for 680,000 Patacas.  OK, so we can’t afford these bottles.  Even though this wine list is huge and provides infinite coverage, the wine pricing policy of Hotel Lisboa is to provide wines to their customers at reasonable markups.  With a multitude of wines to choose from, at all price points from almost any region of the world, if you can’t find a wine you like and can afford in this list, you have a problem!  Regardless, I took the easy way out and chose the preselected wine parings with my dinner!

The Menu:  Now this is what we come for!  There are a few outstanding choices the diner can make at Robuchon a Galera.  One way to go is Ala Carte where you can select individual dishes.  The first section of the L’HIVER menu is LES ENTREES FROIDES ET CHAUDES.  You can choose from 6 enticing offerings as follows:  Caviar in a fine jelly with cauliflower cream; Truffled langoustine ravioli with cabbage, lemon grass roasted lobster with vegetable couscous,

sea urchin in royal and fennel reduction; Shaved black truffles and potatoes with olive oil, topped with carpaccio of foie gras; Crispy Farm Egg served with Oscietra caviar and dices of smoked salmon; Light cream of  chestnuts with foie gras and bacon on top of  delicate celery foam; Smoked eel in celery remoulade with black truffle, pastry tart with confit onions, foie gras with warm chicken jelly.  The next section is LES POISSONS ET VIANDES, which includes 7 choices: Pan-fried amadai fillet with crispy skin in endives and saffron broth; Roasted salmon, half cooked, perfumed with herbs and virgin olive oil (for 2 persons); Pan-fried sea bass on crispy skin seasoning with five spices and verjus sauce; Duck breast and foie gras cooked in rock salt with pepper in a reduction of juice from seasonal fruits; Pan-seared “Kagoshima” beef with green asparagus stuffed with black truffles and soufflés potatoes; Sautéed veal chop with black truffle jelly jus, black truffle and braised pak-choy; Roasted guinea fowl and foie gras, served with potato confit (for 2 persons).

         The other way to go is to choose 1 of 3 set menus.  The lease expensive choice would be L’HIVER the 8 course set that includes: Floating island on top of cream of peas with hint of mint, veal juice, sesame seed fritter; Duo of king crab and mozzarella in a heart of romaine seasoned with virgin olive oil and fresh black truffle; Light cream of chestnuts with bacon on top of delicate celery foam; Pan-fried sea bass on crispy skin seasoning with five spices and verjus sauce; Duck breast and foie gras cooked in rock salt with pepper in a reduction of juice from seasonal fruits; Rum punch with a fragrance of exotic spices; Dessert trolley your own preferences and combination; Coffee or tea served with sweet temptation.

         To get the most variety and to test a wider range of foods and preparations, you can select Menu d'hiver 2009, the 12 course set that includes: Floating island on top of cream of peas with hint of mint, veal juice, sesame seed fritter; Shaved black truffles and potatoes with olive oil, topped with carpaccio of foie gras; Jelly of caviar with cauliflower cream, caviar in thin slices of warm scallops with lime zest, soft inside crispy outside egg and Oscietra caviar; Crispy French frog’s legs with parsley and garlic sauce; Truffled langoustine ravioli with cabbage, lemon grass roasted lobster with vegetable couscous, sea urchin in royal and fennel reduction; Light cream of chestnuts with bacon on top of delicate celery foam; Pan-fried amadai fillet with crispy skin in endives and saffron broth; Sautéed veal chop with black truffle jelly jus, black truffle and braised pak-choy; Pearl pasta in smoked cream and crispy pork; Heart of Louis XIII Grande Champagne candy in ice Black Truffle surprise; Mango with sake ice-cream and grapefruit granite; Coffee or tea served with sweet temptation.

         Finally, if you are a Black Truffle lover, you can choose the most expensive option, Extravagance de Truffe Noire, the 8 course set including: Toasted baguette topped with a truffled pork ragout gratinated with parmesan; Smoked eel, semolina of celery, black truffle gelée; The famous black truffle onion and bacon tart; Roasted Brittany lobster in salted butter with fork-ratted potatoes and parsley cappuccino; Onion royal served with black truffle volute and smoked emulsion; Kagoshima beef with glazed foie gras in vintage Taylor port, gratin of macaroni and black pepper crystalline; Chestnut ice-cream flavored with Rum, small and crunchy meringue; Coffee or tea served with sweet temptation.

         To finish off the night, the dessert options are extensive, and because I could see most of it, provided the sweetest temptation I have yet experienced in a restaurant.  Do not bring your diet here!  The Ala Carte choices are: La Sensation - Chocolate ganache with prune compote, apricots, figs, orange and white chocolate ice-cream; La Chartreuse Verte - Chartreuse soufflé and pistachio ice-cream in a thin sugar tube; Le Chocolat « Guanaja » - Molten chocolate with white coffee ice-cream and crystallized Cognac candy; La Fraise Gariguette - Zephyr of fresh strawberry marinated with basil in fine jelly and light whipped cream; Le Lemoncello - Lemoncello soufflé and raspberry jelly with lemon ice cream.  Or, you can choose 1 of the above and anything else you want from the Dessert Trolley, which has 2 shelves containing mixed fruit salad, religious puffs in coffee or chocolate, mousse au chocolat, floating island, lemon tart, baba au rhum, poached pineapple, mille feuille, caramel peanut tart, and pistachio and strawberry sponge cake.  The other option is to just choose from the Dessert Trolley.  Then, just when you think you have had enough, they will surprise you by bringing the candy cart called Petit Four to finish you off.  This cart has chocolate and pistachio cookies, nougat, fruits jelly, caramel-Chatreuse-ginger-yuzu-chocolate bar, caramel tuile, passion-fruit and cherry lollipop, roseberry marin, caramel nougat, white and milk chocolate with nuts, hazelnut, chocolate nougat, lemon and orange marshmallow, lollipops of mint, pear, and roseberry, coconut Madeline cookies, and squares of chocolate, marshmellow, and gingerbread.  Mr. Robuchon surely is comfortable working with sugar!

My Dining Experience:  While still in the entrance seating area, I asked Jesse for a Dry Martini, which she made to perfection herself and delivered to me with a big smile.  I returned her smile as I tasted the cold, clean gin and thought about the excitement yet ahead of me that evening.  Classically elegant, the martini glass was by Schott Zwiesel, my favorite glassmaker.  We were off to a good start.  Leaning back in my comfortable chair and taking a deep breath, I thought “Ahhh, what a great night this will be”!  After my drink Eddy Chen, a senior waitress, guided me to my table next to the windows.  I asked her to bring me a glass of Taittinger Non Vintage Brut Reserve Champagne, which I sipped while observing the tableware.  The base tablecloths are rich, dark blue with a white tablecloth on top.  A pattern of the symbol of Hotel Lisboa is imbedded in the tablecloths and matching napkins.  Each table has a different decorative crystal, designed by a company in China I am familiar with, but here forget the name.  The hand cut crystal water glasses and the matching water pitchers are beautiful, and are custom made for this hotel by Royal Brierley of England.  Wine glasses are by Riedel, and because of the script style of the Reidel signature on the base, these glasses were custom made for this restaurant and are from the lofty Sommelier Series.  Flatware, salt & pepper grinders (made by Peugeot), and table cleaner are from Cristofle, France.  I am always moved by the simple elegance of everything Cristofle.  My candleholder was the familiar domed ceramic with the images of the Mona Lisa and David lit from behind.  Chinaware is from Bernardaud of France.  Before getting started with my dinner I had a nice discussion about the menu with Morgan Lei, who attended to me personally throughout the evening.  We decided that the best way for me to discover the talents of Joël Robuchon and Francky Semblat was to try the Degustation Menu called Menu d’hiver 2008, the most comprehensive selection of haute cuisine on the menu and the best representative range of tastes coming out of the kitchen.  At 12 courses I was confident this would cover all of my fancies.  Between the time I visited Robuchon a Galera and the writing of this article, the menu has changed.  I included the new menus in the menu descriptions above, but I will discuss here the previous menu, which is in fact what I actually experienced.  As I relaxed in full anticipation of my dining experience I enjoyed the music, which was a subdued variety of recorded classical pieces.  I noticed that a lot of things moved around this restaurant on carts.  There is a cheese cart with several different selections of sheep, goat, and cow cheese.  There is also a dessert cart and a candy cart, which we can discuss later.  The Bread Trolley, a 5 feet high custom made beautiful wooden cart with 3 shelves, offers around 15 different choices of breads to the hungry diner, all of which are freshly baked on site.  When rolled up to my table by Lukas Song, a senior waiter, I was a little intimidated with the huge variety of tasty offerings and after joking with Lukas about it I humbly limited myself to only 4 selections, thus attempting to protect my svelte figure.  After I made my selections, they took it to the kitchen to heat it and brought it back to my table hot, so I could melt some French butter on it and enjoy it warm.  There was also a flavorful olive paste that could be spread on the bread instead of or with the butter.  The chestnut bread was rolled with glaze and ground chestnuts in it, and was very sweet, almost like dessert!  This was my favorite, but they ware all good.  The others were a baguette with some bacon inside, a puff pastry, and a cheese bread.  Before starting with my courses I had a nice chat with the restaurant captain, June Sun.  I told her how impressed I already was with the staff and how well trained they appeared to be, but that the truth was yet to be seen in the service that was to follow!  This began with Selina Liu refilling my glass with Taittenger and delivering a small treat.  Served in a rectangular arrangement on a napkin with JR on it, were a couple of strips of bread with 4 little things that look like raisons (but were not) on the bread and a puff ball on the left, and then reversed on the other strip of bread with a puff ball on the right.  Looking like a casual thing put in front of me, it was actually a full flavored taste treat. 

June came back and explained the contents of my first course, the Amuse Busche called La Coriandre - Iced sphere of cilantro, gazpacho of red beet root with olive oil, which was a mouth filling full flavor treat.  The beet flavor was mild and it had a nice acidity to it, reminding me of eating an American Barbecue Sauce (no offense intended by the comparison and you certainly will never find anything this good in a bottle)!  The flavors were really very nice and a great start to the meal.  I must say that it was the best Amuse Busche I have had and it went well with the Champagne.  The following courses were served, and other services ably performed, by the service staff mentioned above and a team of senior waiters including Noel Paule, Roederick Bermoza, Jared Kurl R. Bautista, Tom Yang, and Dean Tang.