After all the wonderful Chinese food, we decided one afternoon to take a change of pace and visit the Agnès b. le pain grillé at the IFC mall.
Gary had recommended this and when we arrived, we faced some confusion. It turns out there is both a café as well as a restaurant and in our confusion we wound up in the restaurant. The slightly more expensive than the café restaurant.
Nonetheless, it was lunch, the food and atmosphere were wonderful, so it worked out as a nice treat. Note to anyone who goes to Hong Kong and decides to stop by Agnès b. le pain grillé: the café is the one outside the doors.
Lovely interior reminds me a bit of our home, except with a nicer bar. I like to wood flooring.
Attempting to not feel out of place after we looked at the prices! Nah, I’m kidding, it wasn’t that bad. The three-course fixed price menu was HK$288, about US$38. Pricier than my normal lunch but not the most expensive lunch I’ve ever had.
Elegant place settings.
Iced lemon tea.
Truly amazing bread. Oh, I wish Bangkok had good bread. I wish I had an oven that could produce bread like this.
Penne pasta with a seven-hour slow-cooked lamb. It was really tasty.
Tawn had a seared tuna salad. It was really tasty, too. So all in all, while it was a little pricey it was a really enjoyable, elegant lunch.
Cute little “garden” outside the restaurant. I really like the tile.
At a gallery in Central: Watanabe Ryoko’s painting Marathon Man.
christao408 
How long are you staying in HK? Did you ride the cable car? It’s beautiful up there and there is a really nice tea shop.
Nice place for lunch, $38 per person is quite steep indeed! What’s for dessert? I think the cafe outside serves cakes, sandwiches and quick bites. The garden is nice, especially with the huge skylite and those colourful tiles.
I love the bar! And don’t the 2 of you look so fashionable. Your sweater even matches the tiny flowers on the table. btw – I can never figure out how some folks can walk on flipflops all day and still be comfortable. I need my running shoes.
The lamb looks great. Where are the other two courses?
I saw no lamb!Send it back!
The food looks great — very appetizing. But that painting…?
Why in the world do summo men fight practically naked? – things I don’t need to know but, really, it’s curious.
Tawn’s salad looks so yummy!
that penne pasta looks amazing, the sauce looks so thick xoxhow do they make that star shape on the bread? ive been craving really good bread too..really like that pic of tawn!
omg Tawn looks so damned cute in those flip flops. <3GAH.
ooh good bread is always a plus.
@amygwen – Have been back from Hong Kong since Saturday. These postings are just delayed. When I lived there in 98-99 I went up to the peak several times for lunch and dinner, enjoying the view and the food at Cafe Deco. Best is to take the public light bus up and down to the peak, though. The ride is more fun!@yang1815 – We didn’t want to spend HK$288 on a set so instead settled for a la carte servings at about $180 each.@CurryPuffy – So which agnes b did you go to? The outside one?@ElusiveWords – @wolf__parties – Actually, Tawn bought these in HKG because he didn’t pack for wet weather and his Tod shoes aren’t rain-proof. He carried the shoes inside his bag and would change them out for the flip-flops whenever the occasion called for it. I’m a little surprised he let me take his picture with them on!@Wangium – There was actually a lot of lamb but it was kind of inside the dish, not poking out. Sorry, not a good representation!@epiginoskete – You dont’ like it? I thought the idea of a sumo wrestler facing off against a crowd of marathon runners was kind of funny.@everyday_yogi – I imagine that sweaty sumo wrestlers are hard for their opponents to hold onto. Kind of the same way that boxers wear only shorts.@TheCheshireGrins – The seafood was very good in the salad.@iskrak – I think the star shape is just a dusting of flour through a cardboard (or other material) template onto the wet dough. What I’m really curious about is how they made the ledge. For all the bread I bake, I have problems shaping a consistent and pretty loaf. Perhaps I should volunteer to work in a bakery for a few weeks. Amy’s bread, perhaps?@Meowmeowkimmaee – The bread was absolutely perfect.
@christao408 – I had coffee and pastries at the cafe outside. I sure would love to join you guys at the diner! Maybe I should blog about the dinner I had at their restaurant on Leighton Road, in Causeway Bay. It was good too!
@christao408 – Ahhh gotcha.Man I’m craving lamb now.
Looks like it was a pleasant dining experience. And at USD38 for a 3-course meal, I’d say that’s cheap! Here in Switzerland a 3-course meal at a nice restaurant as the one you and Tawn visited here have would cost anywhere from approx. USD70 per person at least.I sure do miss Asia, and Asian prices 😉
I had the lamb dish too when I was there last OCT…it was good…!
$38 is kind of expensive for HK but the atmosphere is great! You two look very relaxed, must be great vacation. I will try the outside next time, the food does look yummy! Oh, I am hungry for some good bread.
@CurryPuffy – Please do. This is, after all, the Curry Puffy Cuisine Crawl.@agmhkg – Yeah, I would love to have the recipe. Seven hours of roasting!@stevew918 – The atmosphere was fantastic. The price was a bit higher than we wanted to spend. Next time, just pastries and teas outside. Unless you are springing for dinner, of course. =D@bejewel07 – Sure, $38 being cheap or expensive is all relative. We can easily spend that much here in Bangkok on a nice lunch. This trip, though, we were trying to be very budget conscious since we need to go back to the US in a few months for a family reunion and tickets are looking kind of pricey.
One observation my Father made, and he is not much of a foodie: “If I was in the restaurant business, I would have the best bread possible.” Dad was right. It is your first impression and the smell of it baking makes you feel welcome. If it tastes good, everything else flows from there… As for shoes, comfort wins. Puma ElRey slip on are my pick. (Thanks, Altrusiticdreamer) Not really cushy, but perfect fit. No longer in pain by noon and limping by 2. Find some in all black and no one cares, even with a suit in formal circumstances. Stay safe, Chris.
I loved the tiled walk way. Beautiful pictures. A delight to the eyes.
@christao408 – Facing off is one thing — and that is a cool idea — but from the way he’s standing over them with those legs like a bridge they’re running under, it appears to me a bit like he was about to do something else…. The perspective’s a bit awkward.
Did you guys happen to venture out into the mall?
@christine24666 – We’ve been through the mall on several visits, yes.@ZSA_MD – The tiles are gorgeous, they look a little… Moroccan?@Toro69 – Your father would be a successful restaurateur. I’ll look for those shoes; thanks for the recommendation of them.
you two always managed to instill an envy in me and torture me with food porn. it’s a good thing i just had lunch. the penne pasta looks real good.
@rudyhou – You realize don’t you that when we make our food decisions and choose to snap pictures, it is done largely with that sole objective? Torture Rudy with food porn.
arrgghh!!… hick hick.. ;(