Dish in Focus: Pâté en croûte i caille at Terrace Boulud

Terrace Boulud, Daniel Boulud’s contemporary French brasserie, opened in March, bringing the chef’s decades-long pursuit of elevated brasserie dining to Hong Kong. With this new venture, he pairs French techniques with the city’s social rhythm on the rooftop of Prince’s Building in Central.

In partnership with Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, the restaurant has quickly established itself as a breakfast-to-midnight destination, with a menu led by executive chef Aurélie Altemaire and anchored by French classics reinterpreted for the city.

A stand-out from the menu, the pâté en croûte i caille, is a slow-made terrine that turns a traditional Lyonnais staple into a luxurious, layered signature that’s distinctly Terrace Boulud.

“The dish holds particular personal significance for chef Boulud,” Altemaire shares. “The flavour profile was developed during our menu creation period in New York. The process was a collaborative effort, shaped with the guidance of Arthur, chef Daniel’s award-winning charcutier. Together, we focused on achieving balance, precision and respect for classic technique while adapting the dish to our contemporary menu.”

Boulud has described the restaurant as part of a dialogue between cultures. Both the dinner à la carte and lunch déjeuner menus are built around that idea, grounded in French staples and shaped by seasonality and precision.

The pâté en croûte embodies this idea of cultural exchange thanks to the addition of quail and foie gras alongside pork belly and local chicken liver. “It is a very classic dish that brings back memories and showcases a lot of skill,” Altemaire says.