[Hong Kong] Haku x Gert De Mangeleer

September 02, 2019

[Hong Kong] Haku x Gert De Mangeleer

Back at Haku for a collaboration menu between Chef Agustin Balbi and Gert De Mangeleer of the now-closed Hertog Jan in Bruges! Hertog Jan was widely considered one of the top restaurants in Belgium; it has been awarded 3 Michelin Stars since 2011 before its closure in 2018 after 13 years of operation. I didn’t get a chance to try his restaurant before it closed late last year so I was glad to be able to try his modern Belgium cuisine here in Hong Kong. Throughout the meal, we were able to try Chef Gert's signature dishes as well as creations designed exclusively for the collaboration.

We started the meal with a classic Hertog Jan appetizer - POTATO / COFFEE / VANILLA with Hokkaido uni, potato foam, coffee, and mimolette cheese. The combination was delicious and intriguing especially with the pronounced coffee flavor.

Next was a refreshing dish from Haku - OYSTER / ASPARAGUS with yogurt, ponzu, sake, Spanish olive oil

DASHI / SHITAKE with daikon, mochi, jamón de habito, and yuzu by Haku

The next dish from Chef Gert was the OTORO / ROYAL BELGIUM CAVIAR with plankton crackers which was inspired by the chef wanting to make a simple snack one time so he paired some Belgium caviar with Lay's potato chips. It reminded me of Chef Agustin's Chutoro with Polmard Beef and Kristal Caviar dish which was one of the signature dishes when Haku first opened.

TOMATO COLLECTION 2019 - Hertog Jan’s signature dish where the tomatoes are grown on Chef Gert's own farm with 100+ different varieties, so the tastes and flavors differed from plate to plate depending on the combination of tomatoes. Paired with the tasty vegetables were some goat cheese and acidic tomato water.

Since Chef Gert had served tomatoes, Chef Agustin decided to follow with corn through his creative interpretation of HUMITA (a traditional South American dish) with spicy corn, kombu and Manchego cheese.

CORVINA / CAVA with pork manitas crust, cava sauce, and aonori by Haku

Rounding out the meal with a beautiful PIGEON / MISO with Gert homemade miso, pigeon textures by Chef Gert; the miso was especially flavorful here and went really well with the pigeon.