Craftsteak: CRAP-I-stepped-on-a-landmine-STEAK

Shop Info:
Craftsteak Open Fire Cooing
29 Elgin Street, Soho, Central
http://www.diningconcepts.com.hk/craftsteak/index.php

22 February 2012, Lunch (Restaurant Week HK)
$316

The second lunch with Me and Myself during the Restaurant Week was at this restaurant on Elgin Street, quite near Bouchon which we liked a lot.  Unfortunately, this turned out to provide me the opportunity for a change back to normal - to the negative reviews I'm more used to writing...

The first sign of trouble became apparent after I sat down at the table right next to the door.  Why I was given that table where I experienced a miniature tornado whenever anybody comes in despite me being the first customer to arrive is beyond my understanding – there were empty tables throughout lunch.  Anyway, delivery after delivery of raw materials: canisters of coke, beef, and whatever else, kept coming through the door, throughout lunch service.  Perhaps they can arrange their deliveries better so their customers won’t have to endure deliveries squeezing by so many times?

Then it was the chaos in understanding the booking.  As far as I know, and as far as my previous 3 Restaurant Week meals told me, those who booked under Restaurant Week will be presented the RW menu.  Not here.  I had to ask the waitress repeatedly before she realised “oh!  Restaurant week!” and gave me the RW menu…

Bread – telling me that the chef don’t give a damn what they serve their customers

If the previous made me worried, the bread they served confirmed that I’ll be in to endure a rough lunch.  Look at that cheap, blatantly purchased bread, slightly warmed and served, which just tasted like those served in HK-style “Western” restaurants.  The pate next to it was a mystery.  I wasn’t told what it is but it tasted of canned tuna.  That “pate” was very solid (as in hard) but flavour was weak.  Worse still, whoever filling that little container with that pate obviously wasn’t paying attention, as the outside of the container was very greasy and not wiped clean.  Thus I ended up with a sticky finger…

French Onion Soup and Gratinated Cheese – not bad

The onion soup was actually decent.  Portion was big but the flavour was there, albeit somewhat  weak.  Not as good as the one we had on Monday at JAR though, which was much stronger in flavour.

Grilled Flank Steak, French Fries, Sauce Bearnaise – overcooked and burnt

Really quite burnt...

... and quite overcooked

Sent back…

The steak, though, was a complete and utter mess.  The cut of meat was haphazard – a long and thin strip.  The steak itself was severely overcooked.  I asked for it to be done medium-rare, and it came well done and burnt – don’t tell me those are grill marks, because it was obviously burnt and taste very bitter.  The inside was almost cooked through with only a slight bit of pink, and it was dry.  The fries on the side?  Well, those looked like cheap packaged fries to me, and definitely not house made.  Tasted much better than the steak though.  I ended up giving up and sent most of it back (see photo…)

Vanilla Ice Cream – or vanilla essence ice-cream

This is probably one of the most un-imaginative dessert I see on the Restaurant Week menus.  Nonetheless, had the ice-cream been good, all would be fine.  It wasn’t though.  Portion was extremely big (the scoop was almost the size of my fist!) but from the colour alone one can tell it’s crap.  Its yellowish tinge shouts “vanilla essence” and it tasted of exactly that, despite the black spots which could be vanilla seeds.  The ice-cream itself wasn’t smooth and flavour was obviously artificial.  Again only finished half.

Latte ($38 + 10%) – worst I’ve had in quite a while

Ordered latte, which arrived foamy and very light in colour.  Can tell immediately it is crap and it was.  Almost no coffee flavour at all except a bit of bitterness.  Foam on top was detergent-like.  Worst latte I’ve had in a long while (the previous that was as bad was Starbucks).  Oh and it’s more expensive than the one I had at Rabbithole which was in a completely different league.

Sometimes I do feel that restaurants like these need to distinguish between quantity and quality.  Providing large portions of poorly made food to customers would only elevate their anger and not mitigate anything, especially when the customers do not want to waste food.  At $248 + 10% the lunch set wasn’t cheap at all and as far as I know, is higher priced than their normal lunch sets.  That wasn’t matched by the quality of the food at all.  This is supposed to be Restaurant Week and no GROUPON budget meal!  I do understand that this price is a bit low for a good cut of meat but at the very least it should warrant proper execution.

Had they price it at $98 I won’t be as furious, because that’s about how much I felt this set is worth – but I’ll know better than giving it a try at that price!

When I left, I finally noticed the two (quite) young “chef” working at the grill… where’s the head chef?  And where’s your QC?  I still couldn’t believe any reasonable chef could send that burnt piece of steak…

Summary (rated 1-5):
Food:  (1/5)  Failed in almost every dish.  Except the mediocre onion soup.
Service:  (3/5)  Nice enough staff but not very attentive.
Environment:  (2.5/5)  Actually not bad but I was given maybe the worst table in the restaurant.
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (2/5)  Don’t bother.  It’s not exactly cheap and quality doesn’t match the price.