JAR: Yes it's Just-A-(decent)-Restaurant!

Shop Info:
Just-a-restaurant
2/F, 8 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong
http://www.justarestaurant.com/

20 February 2012, Dinner (Restaurant Week HK)
~$340 per head

As the first meal of the Locusts' crazy eating week (yes we went bonkers signing up for restaurants in the restaurant week HK), we went to this casual diner on the floor above La Piola.  This is one of the places which we always wanted to try but never really got around to do so - and restaurant week has given us the perfect excuse to do just that.

The environment of the restaurant was cozy, elegant and minimal at the same time.  With the smooth wooden furnitures and simple painted ceiling, friendy staff, I really shouldn't have much to complain.  Except for two things:  1) it's such a shame that for most tables, they've decided to cover the whole table with table cloth.  A touch of wood makes the feel so much better; and 2) seriously, they need to tweak their hi-fi system.  Like most restaurants without consulting acousticians, this place has mostly hard surfaces, and the speakers are placed near the ciling - right next to the beams.  As a result the low frequency of any music they play is overwhelming whereas the higher frequencies gets blocked.  Or perhaps it's the resonance of the low frequency notes due to lack of absorptive materials.  In any case, the constant booming bass gave me the headache.  The easy way out?  turn the bass down.  Then the diners will be able to actually listen to the soft background music when they eat.  Or enlist the help of an acoustic consultant.  A boomy base, albeit a seemingly unimportant detail, can make or break the restaurant's environment.

Anyway, to the food - which matters most to us!

Personally, I really like the way they serve the bread - in a hemp (?) sac with warm rocks in a bottom pouch.  The bread was warm and soft and the butter that came with it was room temperature and suitable for spreading.  Unfortunately, the bread was on the dry side, even with the butter applied and the butter was rather tasteless.

Smoked Ham & Sweet Potato Croquette with cranberry apple compote - Didn't like the compote.

The amuse bouche was an item which I failed to comprehend.  Usually amouse bouche is meant as a refresher for the taste buds - to prepare the diner for the meal.  It's not usually meant to be anything heavy... but here comes this ping pong-sized potato croquette.  The croquette itself wasn't bad though, fried right and it held its shape well.  The ingredients themself, however, did not really come through.  I did not realised it's smoked ham & sweet potato without referring to the menu and we thought the cranberry apple compote was some tomato puree.  I would say, though, that the strong sourness of the compote did not go that well witht eh croquette.

That presentation reminds me of Amber's foir gras lollipop though... :P

Salad of Blue Swimmer Crab & Butter Lettuce,  avocado, mushroom & poppy seed

French Onion Soup

I rather liked this starter duo except for the (raw) mushroom, the avocado which didn't add much to the flavour of the salad to me, and the burnt cheese of my onion soup :(

The crab meat was flavoursome and moist, which went really well with the sweet and refreshing butter lettuce.  The french onion soup was well executed (except for my burnt cheese!!), which is very strong in flavour.  Portions were just right, although I'd loved to have more of the onion soup...

Casarecci with Portobello Mushroom with caramelized onion & goat cheese (V)

The main I ordered was a funny pasta.  Although I do know and like the basics like spaghetti and linguini and penne, I've never heard of casarecci.  A quick google search showed it to be a funny look S-cross sectioned pasta.  And that's exactly what it was!  The chef seem to be really good in dealing with onions, since the caramelized onion in this dish was again very strong in flavour, with the natural sweetness of the onion brought forward by cooking.  The Portobello mushroom was a good addition and added an extra dimension to the flavour.  I'm less sure about the addition of goat cheese, although I suspect that it had something to do with the smoothness of the dish...

What I like most, however, was its execution.  The pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce (or should I even call it a sauce?) and other ingredients clings on to the casarecci pasta really well, with the shape of the pasta certainly helping here.  The plate was dry after the pasta was finished (no I didn't lick it) but despite that, the pasta itself was moist.  Very good balance there.

Hanger Steak with arugula salad (supplement $50)

I swapped some of my pasta for Locust Tunghok's hanger steak, which was well cooked.  It came medium-rare as requested, brown on the outside, pink / red in the core.  The complain I'll have, though, is that the meat wasn't sufficiently rested before they cut it up.  Too busy in the kitchen, perhaps?  As a result the juice has "escaped" into the sauce, making the meat itself slightly (only slightly!) dry.  Could have been better.

Signature Banoffi Pie

Didn't like the banoffi pie at all.  Cream was part-frozen and base looked ready-made and too thick (even if I like digestive biscuit bases, this was still too thick).  Banana slices with caramelized sugar on top, on the side, was a nice touch though.

I rather foolishly asked for a latte, which turned out to be a joke (tasteless with detergent-like foam on top) and couldn't be bothered to take a photo of that.  Locust Tunghok's coffee didn't seem to be any better...

We asked for a look at the regular menu after dinner -- to realised that it is FILLED with items that we'd love to eat.  Probably should have came for the regular menu then... XD

In the end, it was a very satisfactory meal.  Will likely come again!

Summary (rated 1-5):
Food:  (3.5/5)  Some well executed dishes, but not all.
Service:  (4/5)  Very pleasant staff.
Environment:  (4/5)  Penalized for excessive bass of the background music.
Big Locust's Recommendation:  (4/5)  Worth visiting.  It's not exactly cheap though!