W28: So bad that it was funny.

Shop info:

W28

9/F, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai

11 August 2012, lunch

$150 per head

If you take trying restaurants you haven't been to as a habit, you'll experience a wide range of emotions in the process - the pleasure of running across good meals, the excitement of finding decent meals at good price, the annoyance of dealing with waiters who don't give a damn, the pain of paying for overpriced meals at sub-par restaurants.

This place, though, has taken it to another level.  This place has left me so shocked that it was funny.  More about that later…

THE ENVIRONMENT

Located on the 9th floor of QRE Plaza in company of other restaurants such as La Cucina Italiana on 21/F, Akita Teppanyaki on 8/F and Zummer on 23/F.  The first impression exiting the lift was that of an elegant, somewhat hip dining room.  Once the staff lead you into the inner parts though, with booth seats and sofas the inner section of the restaurant feels surprisingly crowded.  The booth seats have a strange, unclean feel to it which made me squirm.  Air conditioning was weak.

THE SERVICE

The waitstaff were obviously more interested in their own chit-chat than in serving their customer.  When we walked in nobody was at the door and we had to find a waiter to get a table.  By the time we wanted the bill they were so absorbed in their own cocktail party at the bar that we almost had to dance on our seat to get their attention!  On our way out, they were so excited in their discussion that they didn't even bother to turn around to say goodbye…

Their introduction of the soup of the day, of course, was incomprehensible and the waitress didn't even bother to tell us about the "daily dessert" until we asked.  And then, her mumbling was so quite that I didn't catch much of what she said.

THE FOOD

Seems shocking enough?  The food was definitely more "interesting".  Here goes…

The bread came in an interesting arrangement of dark / light / dark / light.  Normal and whole wheat baguettes, of course.  These came warmed and with a slice of flavourless butter that had a striking resemblance of a slice off an Anchor butter block.  The bread was worse than the butter.  The dehydrated outer layer shouts that it's a few days old, just like those little mermaid baguettes which you'd buy, leave on the dining table and forgot about.  The bread was so dry-aged that the cut surfaces are slightly caved in.  Reheating such a piece of bread, of course, makes no difference - it's still going to be horrid.

Something cream soup, according to the waitress.  This tasted suspiciously like the "white soup" of the "red / white soup" at Hong Kong style "western" restaurants.  A bit more potato-ey and without the typical canned corn and carrot bits.  Quite smooth, but really, that flavour only reminds me of the  soup of the $30 lunch I used to get when in secondary school!

Grilled fillet of sole "Meuniere" with Angel Hair

The fillet of sole was fine.  Still quite HK-western restaurants but the succulent fish went well with the lemon butter sauce (of course, that's a fail safe combination!).  The peripherals, however, were complete failures.  The angel hair was cooked with no seasoning whatsoever.  Bland and tasteless are the only descriptions that I can think of.  It was so bad that it tasted of the starchy leftover water from cooking that angel hair.  I'd even hazard to guess that the water was hardly salted.  Mixing in the lemon butter didn't help much, as after that it tasted of starchy leftover water that has gone sour.  Nicht gute.

The carrots and broccoli weren't any better.  These were simply blanched in boiling water, again without no seasoning and were utterly bland.  Furthermore, the broccoli was in one big lump that you'd have to chop it up yourself.  Frankly, the chef who did these should be sent to wash dishes instead.

As a result, the angel hair, the carrots and the broccoli… were left largely untouched and I left the restaurant still hungry.  It was that bad.

This was almost the sourest and bitterest cup of coffee I've even been served in such a setting.  Way too hot as well.  Thumbs down.

CONCLUSION

Even now, I find it difficult to properly understand this meal.  The setting of the place was that of a mid-to-high-priced restaurant.  Price wasn't cheap, as my fillet of sole lunch costed $118+10%.  Quality was that of a cheap HK-western restaurant (a.k.a. 港式西餐廳).  Service was non-existent.  These were enough strikingly contrasting elements that it takes it beyond annoying or infuriating, and instead made it funny.

This lunch, therefore, was a complete joke.  FML.

My recommendation, therefore, is to avoid this place.  I'm so glad that we didn't try the a la carte "recommended" dishes costing >$300 per dish.  

Oh, by the way, "奶茶咖啡檸茶檸水… 仲有檸蜜".  That's what she said.

Summary (rated 1-5):

FOOD:  (2/5)  Don't expect anything.

SERVICE:  (2/5)  Waitresses don't give a damn.  But at least they didn't pour the coffee on us. 

ENVIRONMENT:  (3/5)  Dirty seats… hmm… 

BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (2/5)  Don't bother.

Bentopia: Utopia Lost. Can it ever be regained?

Shop info:
Bentopia
Shop D, G/F, Far East Finance Centre, Admiralty
www.bentopia.com.hk

Various dates, lunch
~$60 per head

My workplace is located in the gap between Central and Admiralty.  10-15 minutes’ walk to the west is Lan Kwai Fong and SOHO with their numerous (somewhat pricy) restaurants as well as a collection of more-or-less reasonably priced Cha Chaan Tengs.  A similar walk to the east lies Pacific Place with the expensive hotel restaurants.  Here in the area surrounding Hutchison House, however, are mostly chain stores – Café de Coral, Maxim MX, McDonalds, Burger King (now closed), Fairwood, Caffe Habitu, Starbucks, PCC.  You name it.  Of course, I shouldn’t forget the Pumpernickel where I ended up having diarrhoea for the afternoon following their (some kind of) fish sandwich or the Shiki Japanese Restaurant where I suffered the same after their salmon sashimi don.

So, it was with great expectation and excitement  when I waited for the opening of this new takeaway shop at the nearby Far East Finance Centre, and I became its first customer when it finally opened in December 2011.  I loved the place back then, visiting three days a week, until things changed.  My last visit was in April 2012 to pick up the VIP card which I no longer carry.  This is, in fact, a record of how in the span of 2-3 months Bentopia turned from my preferred eatery into one that I would not return to. 

ENVIRONMENT
As a takeaway shop, Bentopia has paid surprising attention to its interior design.  The interior is mostly white with warm pink and brown décor.  A thin strip of table along the road side window provide for those who would like to “dine in” and the interior easily fits 10-15 customers waiting for their bento.  With more customers though, I’ve recently see queue lining up outside the shop, probably not the most pleasant experience in these hot and humid summer days!

SERVICE
The staff were generally friendly.  If you visit often enough like I did in its early days, they might even recognize you and can greet you by name.  Hell, they even remembered which bento I preferred!

FOOD
Bentopia is a combination of the words “bento” and “utopia” and the shop serves Japanese / Taiwanese bento.  When I talked to the staff in its first week of business when customers came only sparsely, they mentioned that their ideal is to provide delicious bento that is freshly made, which is why there was usually a 5-10 minutes wait for the bento.  During the first few weeks, they did stick to these principles and their bento were gorgeous.  Soon though, with the growth of customers… things changed.

Corners started to be cut.  Costs became more important in their equations.  Gradually items started to be not freshly made.  I still remember when I first visited the salad was mixed just before they hand you the bento.  Then they changed it to putting the salad in plastic containers and serving the dressing separately.  Then they changed to having it all mixed (with dressing) in those plastic containers.

The delicious "Stir Fry Beef with Ginger Sauce Bento" from Bentopia's first day of operation

The same bento, during the shop's third week.  Salad already separated, no more deep fried crab meat toast, and quality going down.

During the first week there was this delicious deep fried crab meat toast, as can be seen at the back of the first photo above, which they made to order.  That soon disappeared (costs?) and was replaced with crab meat vegetable packet, then there was gradually less and less crab meat in that packet until it disappeared from the menu.  To replace it was some kind of cutlet shrimp, which evolved from a well-made, fresh shrimp to a rather mushy one…

The above “stir fry beef with ginger sauce bento” was another example of how corners were cut.  In the early days the beef was filled to the brim, with a lot of beef and not much onion.  Towards April (my last visit) there was less and less beef, more and more onion, as well as increasing “white space” – where you can see the rice.  Quality deteriorated as well.  Whilst this may be difficult to tell from the photos, early on the beef was tender and flavoursome, whereas towards April the beef got tougher and overcooked.  They might have shifted from making it fresh towards having a pot of the stuff ready – that I couldn’t tell – but the difference in taste was monumental.  Tough onion skins started to feature in those bento as well…

Deep Fried Maltose Chicken Bento

The “deep fried maltose chicken bento” didn’t escape such fate.  To be fair, the honey sauce works quite well with the deep fried chicken, toning down the perceived “hot-air-ness” and adding an interesting angle to the saltiness of the chicken.  However, size shrunk, chicken got thinner, and the sense of “freshly made” was eventually gone.  Again, I have no evidence but got the feel from the bento that it was no longer freshly made.

Traditional Taiwanese Style Minced Pork Bento

Traditional Taiwanese style minced pork bento – never really liked this one, but that was probably personal.  The minced pork was probably a bit too fatty for me.

CONCLUSION
This is probably the most difficult post I have ever written.  Having been its first customer and thoroughly enjoyed the bento from the first couple of weeks of its operation, Bentopia is dear to me.  Yet, the gradual, obvious but inevitable decline in quality which I was weary of since the beginning was troubling to see.  Perhaps in this part of the city profitability is king.  Perhaps any insistence on freshness and quality is futile in front of cost cuts.  The bento are still not bad, probably still better than takeaway lunches from many nearby shops, and may provide decent lunch for many, especially those who do not know how good they once were.  For me, I couldn’t bear to buy one of these only to remember how they used to taste.  

Won't be returning unfortunately.

Summary (rated 1-5):
FOOD:  (3/5)  Not bad, but no longer amazing.
SERVICE:  (4/5)  Very friendly and cheerful.  Lights up your day. 
ENVIRONMENT:  (4/5)  Comfy for a takeaway shop.
BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (3/5)  Not bad.  It used to be good value but with decline in quality I feel that it’s more expensive than it was.  At the same price.

Hatsu Japanese Restaurant: (Update) Yes, the cooked food is decent!

Shop Info:

Hatsu Japanese Restaurant
G/F, Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central

6 August 2012, Lunch
$190 per head

Last week I had a rather disappointing lunch at Hatsu Japanese Restaurant, the new opening at BoA Tower.  The problem, of course, was partly due to my stupidity in going against my own advice of never eating sushi or sashimi at non-sushi-specialist restaurants.  Today, I mustered the courage to try Hatsu again, this time determined to stick to the cooked menu.  Having had a disappointing Cod Saikyo Yaki yesterday at Harakan-S Japanese Dining Room, I ordered the “Grilled Black Cod Fish” with the hope that this restaurant would serve a better version of the dish.

ENVIRONMENT

The earlier review has covered most I have to say about the venue.  Having sat at the innermost table this time, however, I can attest that the inner window-side tables are far better than the communal tables at the entrance.  Not only is the environment much brighter thanks to the full height curtain wall, the area feels more private.  There are occasionally smokers hot-pot-ing outside but other than that the path outside is scarcely used.

If one were to eat here I would definitely recommend to either arrive early and grab a table inside, or book one early on.  Where you seat could easily make the difference between a comfortable and relaxing lunch and a rather miserable one at a dim corner under the escalator!

SERVICE

Again, courteous with prompt response, never too intrusive.  The wait for food was reasonable.  And I like their teapots with matching cups!

Last time

This time

FOOD

Fortunately, Hatsu’s cooked food, the grilled black cod at least, is far better than its sushi and sashimi.  The saltiness and slight sweetness of the sauce cuts through the fattiness of the cod well and of course, also goes well with a bowl of rice.  The cod itself was cooked just right – very juicy and tender with the “pieces” separating easily.  Far better than the Harakan-S version I’d say!

"Grilled Black Cod Fish"

Separates nicely, moist and tender

Raw veggies

The salad that comes with the set lunch, however, was not very good.  The veggies were noticeably fresher than last time, but came un-seasoned.  I.e. that was a bowl of raw veg.  No dressing, no salt, nothing.  Hmm… maybe the chef forgot?

The chawanmushi wasn’t much different from last time’s, only that I probably erred by saying that there was a quarter of a piece of Jap fish ball in it.  No.  It was 1/8 of a piece… other than that it’s chicken and mushroom again.  Same weak-ish flavour but same smoothness.  Not bad!

Bought in ice-cream, stored in freezer with cup.  Not bad!

CONCLUSION

Whilst my first visit left me bad impressions of Hatsu, this second visit was much better.  The grilled cod was decent and chawanmushi not bad.  There are of course room for improvement, such as the salad or the raw items, but I can see this as the preferred Japanese diner in this small culinary desert between Central and Admiralty.  If you work in the area and would like a quick Japanese food fix, remember this place.  Also, remember to book or arrive early (i.e. before 12:00 noon!) so you can get a decent table towards the inside of the shop.  Also, it would be a safe bet to avoid those sushi / sashimi (unless you’re a salmon fan…)

I still think that at $190 this was by no means cheap… but in Central / Admiralty things does come at a premium…

Summary (rated 1-5):

FOOD:  (3.5/5)  Salad dragged it down.

SERVICE:  (4/5)  Friendly staff and proactive manager.

ENVIRONMENT:  (4/5)  Much better environment on the inside.

BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (3.5/5)  Go for the cooked menu!  Still worth visiting in this area.

Harakan-S: Read the menu first. Always.

Shop info:

Harakan-S Japanese Dining Room

Shop 311, 3/F, Lee Gardens Two, 28 Yun Ping Rd, Causeway Bay

www.harakan-s.com

5 August 2012, Lunch

$290 per head

Some say it is most important to at least read the menu before entering a restaurant – so you’d at least know what they serve and form an idea of the budget for the meal – and often Locust Tunghok and I would turn away from a restaurant if we don’t like what we see, or we simply think the food might not warrant the price.  This Sunday, however, we made this amateurish mistake of taking the risk to enter a restaurant via its backdoor, without even seeing the menu, and sitting down only to find that the menu isn’t as attractive as we thought.  It was lucky that we survived with just a minor hit to the bank, although that was a rather optimistic view of the events…

THE ENVIRONMENT

Located on 3/F of Lee Gardens 2, Harakan-S is the renovated and rejuvenated version of the previous Harakan.  We entered through the back door, through Habitu Ristorante and the Garden.  The furniture chosen creates a casual dining environment although I kept hitting my head on that interesting pink-sea-urchin-like chandelier.  The Japanese paper door styled partitions echoes the cuisine this restaurant serves and the green wall makes the dining room a relaxed place to be.

THE SERVICE

Nothing much could be said about the service.  The staff was sufficiently attentive, but given the format of the lunch there really isn’t much service required…

THE FOOD

So why not much service is required?  Because it’s a semi-buffet lunch.  Had we known that it is a semi-buffet we wouldn’t have entered at all.  Worse still, the choices at the semi-buffet were very limited, with only a handful of choices for appetizer and one (ONE!!!) choice of green tea cheese cake for dessert.  To add to the insult, I found on its website, when researching for this post, that normal lunch with appetizer trio (salad, chawanmushi and “daily special”) is priced much lower than our semi-buffet lunch.  How convenient – oh it’s Sunday, let’s turn it into an appetizer buffet so we can charge more and use less service!  Genius! 

As one would reasonably expect, since these appetizers have been sitting on the table for quite a while they weren’t in their prime condition at all… even the sauce has shown signs of drying…

Grilled Cod Marinated in Saikyo Miso (Semi-buffet:  $298.  Normal:  $258)

This Saikyo grilled cod was quite forgettable – normal flavour and slightly on the dry side, with skins that are quite burnt with a pretty strong charcoal taste.  Portions were rather generous but that hardly compensates for the burnt skin and the inflated price.  The equivalent of 3,000 yen for a mediocre Cod Saikyo Yaki?  Come on…

Classic Grilled Eel over Rice (Semi-buffet:  $228.  Normal:  $188)

I have only had a bite of the grilled eel and from that can only say it was a disappointment.  The texture of the eel was rather mushy and the flavour quite weak – a long way away from the ones we’ve tried in Izuei Honten in Tokyo or the one with egg cover at かねよ at Kyoto!  Again, a 20% premium for coming on a Sunday, for less service, is outrageous.  On their normal menu at least there is a chawanmushi…

CONCLUSION:

We should have read Timeout HK’s 3/5 review and avoided this place, or read the menu at the main entrance before coming in.  Personally I feel that given the quality the normal lunch set prices are already on the high side, but with this Sunday premium the overpricing is outrageous.  Perhaps they make better dinners, and perhaps the a-la-carte menu is superior, but we definitely would not risk our hard-earned dough again just 0to try those.  Not coming back.

Summary (rated 1-5):
FOOD:  (3/5)  Mediocre at best, very expensive for the quality.
SERVICE:  (3/5)  Not much service to speak of especially given it’s semi-buffet.
ENVIRONMENT:  (4/5)  Very comfortable.
BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (3/5)  Maybe, if you’re willing to risk a not-small amount of money on a meal that will probably be less than satisfactory!

Further reading:  原了，就是完！@ Harakan-S Japanese Dining Room

Pastis Bistro Francais: Why did we bother?

Shop Info:

Pastis Bistro Francais

G/F, 65 Wyndham Street, Central

4 August 2012, Lunch

$360 per head

A year or so ago, Locust Tunghok and I first tried this place for lunch.  Back then, we were here for the pint of Kronenbourg and discovered its exquisite Boeuf Bourguignonne and its most delicious bangers and mash.  No, that's not its French name but that's what I like to call it.  Back then the sausage was house made and juicy, the caramelised onion soft and sweet and the mash silky smooth.  We also decided that we will return to try its steak tartare, among other items.

So when I saw advertisement on HKEJ saying this shops is "for let" yesterday, we panicked and decided to come here for lunch immediately.

THE ENVIRONMENT

Located at the turn of Wyndham street, Pastis is small.  The high tables seat approximately 20 excluding the bar and two of the table faces the busy Wyndham Street directly - perfect for the Parisian pastime of people watching and being watched with a pint in your hand, but not so perfect if you intend to have a quiet meal, or if you are concerned with the possibility of getting pneumoconiosis.  Wyndham Street is busy.

That aside, the environment is actually quite cozy and is perfect for spending an afternoon sipping beer / coffee and relaxing.

THE SERVICE

It's easy to be intimidated by the manager / owner and the staff at Pastis, especially if you're Chinese and not used to the French arrogance.  No, perhaps arrogance is not a good description.  The manager and the staff are actually very friendly once you start chatting with them, but they do have this typically French coldness that one might feel difficult to break through.  Worry not.  Talk to them, ask them about the dishes, even ask them to teach you how to read those French names.  Once they start talking they're very friendly and welcoming!

THE FOOD

Unfortunately, the food we had this time was nowhere near as good as those we had a year or so ago.  The manager suggested an off-menu frog legs in place of the escargots we originally wanted, and with that we also had a small sized steak tartare, "bangers and mash" i.e. pork sausages with mashed potato and French lentils, and confit de canard.  Before those, however, I found it disappointing that they only have Stella draught now… no more Kronenbourg… 

Off menu frog legs ($108)

The Frog legs were only mediocre.  As I was busy consuming the steak tartare I only briefly sampled these.  As Locust Tunghok may agree, they were really quite oily.  There was a small swimming pool of oil at the bottom of the plate when we were half way through the dish and the greens on the side ended up being used to mop up the oil.

Steak Tartare coupé au Couteau

Traditional Steak Tartare Served w/ Frites or Green Salad ($108 / $188)

The "or" in the name of the dish was probably misplaced - as we were given both Frites AND greens.  Some may find the seasoning of the steak tartare to be too light, but I found it just right and more subtle than the one at e.g. Bouchon.  Slightly heavy on the salt though…

Saucisses de Toulouse

Pork Sausages served w/ Mashed Potato & French Lentils ($145)

This bangers and mash (yes I like calling them such) was a big disappointment for me, partly because the one I had last time was just so good.  This time, the sausages were quite dry, the skin rather chewy, the onions tasted "sweetened", the mash was dry and bland and probably need triple the butter, double the work put into mashing and a hell lot more salt.  The lentils was a mystery for me.  Why put some rather dry lentils next to some rather dry mash (i.e. more starch) and some rather dry sausages?  Frankly, this dish felt like a patch work - the three elements as they were really didn't work well together.

Confit de Canard

Confit Duck Leg with Carrot Mash & Creamy Mustard Sauce ($198)

The duck confit was not very good.  Meat was dry, skin not sufficiently crispy and had quite a bit of fat underneath.  Nowhere near as bad as the catastrophic one we had at Chez Patrick Deli in Wan Chai though, fortunately!  The carrot mash was quite nice though, especially when eaten with the onion - nice and refreshing!  My biggest problem with this dish was the price.  At $198 (~EUR 20!!) it is not cheap and did not have a quality to match.  Not worth ordering really.

CONCLUSION

We talked with the manager afterwards about the advertisement that concerned us in the first place and he clarified that they do not have any plans of moving soon.  Glad to hear, but frankly it doesn't matter to us as much anymore - the food just isn't as good as it was.  Perhaps the head chef was on leave.  Perhaps they have changed their chef.  That I wouldn't know.  All I know is that for $360 per head this meal was not even satisfactory.  For this kind of price one could easily get lunch at e.g. Madam Sixty Ate where the setting, the food and even the service was far superior.

It pains me to say this, but we won't be coming back.

Summary (rated 1-5):

FOOD:  (2/5)  Poor execution of dishes in general.

SERVICE:  (3/5)  Friendly staff.

ENVIRONMENT:  (3/5)  Can be hot and some might find high tables uncomfortable.

BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (2/5)  Don’t bother.  Price / quality mismatch.


Further reading:  Crying in the party @ Pastis - by Locust Tunghok