CÉ LA VI: Get Hooked on the New Spring Seafood Menu

Seasonal Flavours from the Sea

District: Central, Hong Kong
Cuisine: Modern Asian fusion
How much: Dishes range between $78-258
The Best for: Date night, large groups
Must Order: Blackened Miso Salmon, Tai Sashimi, Chocolate Trio

If all you know about CÉ LA VI is their hip rooftop parties (read: me) then you’d be pleased to know that the restaurant has launched a Spring Seasonal Menu centred on the sea. With a wide selection of contemporary dishes including Asian inspired Poké with fresh fish as well as new seared scallop and miso salmon creations, their new modern Asian dishes cater not only seafood lovers but also hard-to-please diners. Atop the penthouse level of the California Tower in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong, it’s no surprise they’re becoming a big hit as they conveniently offer both a sleek dining venue and an open-air rooftop Sky Deck for diners to continue the night with bright, refreshing cocktails.

We started off with Seared Scallop ($248), served with shaved melt-in-the mouth foie gras snow, Tai Sashimi ($188) and Saikyo Miso Eggplant ($78). As a seafood and foie gras lover, they had me at the Hokkaido scallops and the bold flavours of Tai Sashimi was nothing like I’ve tasted before. Head Chef Pak draws inspiration from his prior experience working at other Japanese restaurants (such as NOBU InterContinental Hong Kong) with creative finesse for this seafood dish and it’s definitely one of my favourites. Not a fan of eggplant, I’m surprised that I actually finished the Saikyo Miso Eggplant – a simple dish lightly sautéed with sweet saikyo miso, which makes it a light, hearty starter for the night.

Moving swiftly on, one of the highlights includes the Seasonal Seafood Poké ($148), created with fresh fish (with variations each month) that is in season and of the finest quality in spring. This dish is complimented with crispy rice chips on the side with a medley of crunchy cucumber, red onion, bell peppers and sliced avocado in a jalapeño infused soy sauce in the Poké – you can eat this like how you eat nachos and the combination is really refreshing.

Now here comes the main (did I mention I was already full?). We loved the Blackened Miso Salmon ($258), which is marinated for six hours and sourced sustainably from Norway and rubbed with a mixture of paprika and spices (I might have finished it in one go). My favourite part of the dish is the salmon skin, which is artistically made into a thin crispy chip and circled around the salmon.

No matter how full I am, I always have that extra room for dessert. When we saw the gluten-free Chocolate Trio ($118) on the menu, everyone was wondering why it’s gluten free and whether it would affect the taste. Turns out we are all wrong. This dessert is simply heaven and it has everything I love in one – 64% cocoa, single origin Madagascan chocolate sponge cake with layers of caramel chocolate with a hint of vanilla, calamansi cream and white chocolate mousse – all covered in chocolate ganache. Sold.

The gluten-free goodies also include French Toast ($118) with vanilla ice-cream on top (yum) and Coffee Cream Cake ($118) which are featured in the new Spring menu. To make the most of the spring season, head over to the Sky Deck and sip on one of the signature cocktails on offer – the night has just started. 

CÉ LA VI, 25/F California Tower, 32 D’Aguilar Street, Central, www.hk.celavi.com