Wooden Table at Fortress Hill

Under the threat of typhoon signal #8, Jonathan, Maggie and I tough it out to try out Wooden Table at Fortress Hill. Here is the invitation and details:

Wooden Table
French Wine, French Cheese & Ham
Buffet Evening
Sat, 18th July., 2009
13 French wines; 8 French cheeses
to taste!!

Cheese (air-flown from France , unpasteurized!!)
Iberico Bellota ham(24mths)
Canapés salad
main course
cakes & desserts
$335HKD
6:30 – 10:00pm
reservation recommended.
Tel : 2570 3939
1/F., AT Tower, 180 Electric Rd. , Fortress Hill, H.K.

Living in the US for 15 years, I don't think I have tasted that many unpasteurized cheese all at the same time. It was truly amazing!!! The cheese were fragrant and sharp yet delicate. We tasted a settle blue, two super creamy brie, a strong goat cheese, a cows milk hard cheese and several others, I wish I know all their names, they were all in French. I need to remember next time to take the information instead of just chowing down. The cheese were flown in through a french distributor who collect different cheese and aged them on their own. She said if we like we can order directly from them. I have to get their info. We must have 4-5 rounds of cheese along with many tasty wines. My husband is the wine expert(check out his wine blog), but I just know when I taste a good one. One of the highlights of the night was the 24 months Iberico Ham, it was moist, rich and creamy. Serving in thin slices room temp, I really can taste the sweetness of the meat and the tenderness of the aging process. That totally brings me back to Spain in Valencia where we tasted all different kinds of Iberico ham. And all the ham sandwiches that we ate at road side gas stations. They were not your typical Subway sandwiches, these are Iberico ham with sharp local cheese served on a really thin and crisp French Bread sandwiches. Truly the best sandwiches, let along from a gas station. Europeans really have it down when it comes to enjoying life. In the US, you will find Twix and Diet coke in a gas station but in Europe, the gas station is equipped with chic restaurants, nice bathrooms and modern furniture. Just a different way of life.

Back to Wooden Table, the vibe was warm and inviting with friendly low key staff. Brick wall, wicker chairs and wooden table was the interior elements. Although we did not try their regular menu, we did see some good stuff coming out of the kitchen, from pasta to oysters. For our entrees, we tried the Sea bass with butter cream sauce and the 2 cut beef stew. Not sure where the sea bass was from, it was fresh but definitely no comparison to Chilean Sea bass. The dish overall was light and simple. Jonathan had the beef stew which consist of ox tail and chuck roast. Flavor was well balanced and layered. Oxtail was juicy and tender but I found it lack salt.

Dessert was Tirimisu cake, chocolate mousse, creme brulee, Oreo crusted NY style cheese cake and butter cookies. I thought that was the mute part of the evening. The taste was OK but we all felt that it was not worth the calories, we rather eat another plate of cheese. Well, maybe we were too into the cheese and it took the taste buds away from the dessert. Maybe serving more citrus or berries would be a better combination with the rest of the dinner.

I think we definitely picked the right place for a stormy night, cozy and lay back. Will definitely come back for somemore wine dinners, we all thought it was good bang for the buck. The manager said they have these wine dinners through out the months but this is the first for the cheese tasting. I hope they do it again!!!!