Along with a leisurely lie-in, champagne brunches are high on the list of weekend indulgences. We recently sipped the stress of the week away with copious glasses of chilled Maison Perrier-Jöuet cuvées while feasting to our heart’s content. Spanning the entire eighth floor, Conrad Hong Kong’s champagne brunch is shared between Brasserie on the Eighth and Nicholini’s.
From counters groaning under the weight of dizzying towers of fresh lobster, prawn and crab, to the pasta kitchen, to the wine and cheese ”library”, we felt like kids at a candy shop. The chef behind the sushi counter piled our plates high with sweet morsels of scallop and buttery salmon while we sipped refreshing glasses of Bellinis, made to order at the ”mix and shake bar”. Creamy globes of mozzarella competed for room on the plate with freshly shaved prosciutto and a bevy of antipasti, and we made sure to leave space for the juicy prime rib at the carvery table.
For fans of Chinese cuisine, there’s a live station for hand-rolled Peking duck pancakes and freshly steamed dim sum, courtesy of the chefs from Conrad’s Golden Leaf restaurant. We were especially impressed with the suckling pig, served on thin steamed buns. The skin was so crispy that it shattered like glass at first bite.
Aside from the overwhelming assortment of buffet choices, guests can also choose from a menu full of decadent breakfast classics like lobster eggs Benedict and Alaskan crab omelette or go for substantial mains like pan-seared black cod, fish and chips and braised beef short rib. And if all this isn’t enough, servers also circulate with slices of rich, decadent pan-seared foie gras.
Not to be outshone by the savouries, dessert (or, shall we say, desserts) arrives on a big, tempting platter. There’s fresh berry tart, crème caramel, crispy cream puff, opera cake and ice cream, just to name a few, although our favourites were the sakura milk pudding and Nicholini’s tiramisu.
Verdict
We are huge fans of weekend brunch buffets, and the sumptuous spreads at Zuma and café TOO at Island Shangri-La are amongst our favourites. But the decadence, variety and high quality of food at Conrad’s new champagne brunch have installed it at the top of our list of must-try brunches. The level of attentive service – unobtrusive yet always a step ahead of the customer in contemplating needs – is something at which the staff at Nicholini’s and Brasserie on the Eighth have always excelled. At $838 per adult and $358 per child (ages 3–12), this brunch is certainly worth the splurge.
Brasserie on the Eighth and Nicholini’s, 8/F, Conrad Hong Kong, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, 2822 8801
This write-up is based on a complimentary media tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed here represent the author’s.
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