Food Journey #28 - One Night in Happy Valley

Ever since my mother has relocated to Happy Valley, I have done my part to regularly visit many different restaurants in the neighbourhood to find interesting restaurants or venues for Geoff's Twitchen. Curiously asked my colleagues at work in which whether there are any interesting venues in Happy Valley which does a good curry as I was craving for curry throughout the morning & afternoon. Colleague responded that The Chapel Bar located Yik Yum Street apparently does the "Best Curry in Hong Kong" and is a must try. With such response, I visited The Chapel Bar to check out -- noted in inverted commans "best curry in Hong Kong" and my lord, I have never had anything as bad as this. No disrespect to my colleague or anything, but it was just purely utter sh*t!

Recommended Dishes

There were simply no recommended dishes from we ordered on the evening therefore enough said!

NOT Recommended Dishes

The food was so bad which I do not even know where to start. We ordered a traditional Chicken Tikka, Lamb Vindaloo (with 5 chilli signs on the menu), 1 portion of Garlic Naan Bread, 1 portion of Balsmati Rice & 1 bottle of Singha Beer. We waited for the take-away for around 15 - 20 mins which I was fairly impatient about and when it arrived, I thought - "this better be good". Opened up the boxes when arrived at flat, see below photos and all it is is just a big aluminium tin with lots of curry sauce and a few cutlets of lamb & chicken.

What was Wrong?
*
Everything was wrong about the curry! It tasted sour and far too much tomatoes were used in the cooking process. The curry sauce was far too "watery"!

*Portions were far too small for the price of $80 per portion
*
Both Chicken & Lamb was a disaster, both had no taste & was flavourless. I wonder where did The Chapel sourced such rubbish products.
*
Never knew that the Balsmati Rice was that expensive at $28 per bowl which was so small that I probably needed an extra 3 bowls for my usual meals
*
Garlic Naan Bread tasted more like a regular Naan Bread. It was only when I diced up so garlic from the kitchen made it tasted more like a Garlic Naan Bread
*
The good old Vindaloo gave me a a runny stomach all night and I dont want to go into much details on the aftermath

To sum up, the whole meal was so so bad that even at such small portion sizes, I could not finish the meal. I dont think I have ever had bad experiences with every single dish which I ordered and the Chapel Bar must be the first to achieve such standings. I have had much better experiences with Indian food in Hong Kong at venues such as Gunga Dins, Bombay Dreams, Gaylord, Curry Houses in Chung King Mansion and to have recieved such "best curry in Hong Kong" comment from a colleague of mine is a fellow foodie who recommended this visit was an embarrasement.

The Chapel Bar in Happy Valley may be a good chilled out place to have a few beers, I vow never to return there again for food

Address: 27 Yik Yum Street, Happy Valley, Hong Kong (跑馬地奕蔭街27號地下)
Tel: 2834-6565

Food Quality (5* the highest): 0*

Price for Dinner (5$ = very expensive): **

Wasakuraya 和櫻屋

No disrespect to The Chapel Bar, the meal above wasn't enough for me so I wandered out with my partner for some dessert to fill us up whereby we got attracted by the bright lights at Wasakuraya (http://www.wasakuraya.com.hk/index.html) , a small Japanese dessert house which serves up traditional Japanese style puddings. Just like my previous journey to Tai Hang area in earlier posts on Geoff's Twitchen, my evening was rescued by this visit to Wasakuraya.

Had a good chat with the staff and found out that all of the ingredients are all freshly imported from Japan such as eggs & milk from Hokkaido to ensure the best quality puddings are produced.

Highly Recommended Puddings:

*Sesame Flavoured Custard Pudding -- Not too sweet and very strongly sesame flavoured!

*Green Tea Flavoured Custard Pudding -- This was my personal favourite and for me, this is a better & slightly healthier substitute to a green-tea flavoured ice-cream. The green tea flavours was so pungent and the custard was smooth as silk. PERFECT!

*Classic flavoured Custard Pudding with Chestnut syrup -- This was my partner's favourite and her comment was similar to mine above. The custard pudding was smooth & creamy.

After finishing the Greentea flavoured custard pudding by myself, I also tried out my other 2 highly recommended custard puddings. My firm conclusion is that the usage of the eggs & milk from Hokkaido makes a huge difference in the taste. Such a simple dessert but yet with such intense flavours, this has become one of my recent favourite dessert places around the neighbourhood and I shall return very shortly.

Point to Note:: Hokkaido has become almost synonymous and is ranked the #1 region in Japan with gourmet food given the rich variety of dairy products and fresh seafood to be found on the island located in Japan's northern most regions. High quality & production of dairy products such as butter, cheese, ice-cream, yoghurt whereby most of the products are now exported to many countries around the world. If you are travelling to Hokkaido, please do check out, purchase & EAT their dairy products, it is heavenly! Hokkaido is also extremely infamous for its seafood such as Matsuba crabs, Uni (Sea Urchin), Botan Shrimp etc & its glorious weather!

Address: 1, Fung Fai Terrace, Happy Valley, Hong Kong (跑馬地鳳輝臺1號地下A舖)

Tel: 2575 3328

Food Quality (5* the highest): ****

Price for Dessert (5$ = very expensive): ****

UPCOMING REVIEW -- Fancy some Spanish Tapas at TAPEO on Wyndham Street?

Happy Eating!

Geoff

Food Journey #27 -- Cafe Oasis of Clearwater Bay Country Club

An escape to the country-side on a fine Sunday in Hong Kong is always a brilliant outing. Out goes the skyscrapers, exhaust fumes and a big welcome to the countryside and the beauty of the green & blue colours of the hills, trees & the sea. ClearwaterBay Country Club has always been a hidden gem in the dining scenes of Hong Kong as 1) it is a private club 2) it s a major trek to drive all the way to the club. The Chinese Restaurant & the Cafe - Cafe Oasis are both a joy to visit and a few Sundays ago, we decided to hit the cafe once again to check out the Mid Autumn Festival Buffet which at HKD168, all you can eat, what a bargain!

Appetiser Buffet -- An abundance of choices including Fresh Mussels, Crayfish, Prawns, Crab Leg, Smoke Salmon, Variety of Salads, Italian Peppers, Fresh Pate on Toast, Meat Platter including Parma Ham, Salami, Ham which was indeed very attractive. The appetiser buffet itself had many items which I like and this itself can carry me through the whole meal without advancing to the mains. The taste was good, the seafood selection was fresh and the smoke salmon was a joy. This appetiser buffet was much better than the Antipasti Buffet which I had in my Food Journey #25a.

Downside to the buffet was that there was presence of a plate of Lo Shui (鹵水) or in real English, Marinated Tofu & Goose which was purely bizarre. Had no idea what this had to do with Mid Autumn Festival and it just some-how does not fit with other dishes on offer. Very strange!

Mains -- Wide variety of mains on show featuring the likes of Roast Beef, a Tum Yum Goong Noodle Corner, Roasted Pigeon, Tandoori Salmon, Pasta Carbonara, Soup of the Day which was Mushroom Soup, Chinese Dim Sum including the likes of Spring Rolls, Pork Dumplings, Chicken & Mushroom Pies. However, the food was very geared towards the Expat Community therefore definitely not a very traditional Mid Autumn Festival dishes on offer.

Three very important dishes which I want to point out -

Roast Pigeons are A MUST TRY - however, due to my audience being mainly Western therefore I decided not to upload such explict image of the pigeon. The pigeons are roasted as soon as you order therefore the skin & meat is very crispy & tender.

Roast Beef Corner - The carving section for the roast beef consisted of a small trolley with this fat piece of roast beef and condiments on the side. The roast beef was nicely pink in the middle meaning that the centre of the joint is warmed but not fully booked which is the real traditional roast beef. Traditionally, roast beef is best served with Mint but I like the unauthentic approach which is mustard & ketchup. Never liked Yorkshire Puddings before but at ClearwaterBay Country Club, they do a Yorkshire Pudding which is very rare in Hong Kong.

Tom Yum Goong - So far, I have talked about the good sides of the lunch and the major let down was the Tom Yum Goong and it was truly painful to eat this. Traditionally, Tom Yum is characterised by its hot & sour flavours and is quite possibly Thailand's best well known export. Your usual Tom Yum Gong will consist of Prawns, Chicken, Fish, Mixed Seafood and plentiful of Coriander as garnish. The Clearwater Bay Country Club version was simply very different to any other versions which I have ever had as 1) it didnt taste like Tom Yum Goong and tasted rather more like a Chinese Styled Noodle, 2) The spices were definitely heavily used as the taste was extremely pungent 3) Colour of the broth does not look anything like a regular Tom Yum Goong which should be yellow & red colour-ish. Very disappointed to what was a very decent brunch!

Dessert Buffet

This along with Tom Yum Goong was the major let down of the brunch experience at Clearwater Bay Country Club. Cheese cake, Tiramisu, Cone Ice-Cream, Chocolate Mousse Cake, Fresh Fruit, Minature Chicken Pies were all on offer but however, it all lacked substance & taste. Wouldnt go into too much details on the desserts as it was plain and definitely was not worth writing to home about. My strongest recommendation & hope is that ClearwaterBay Country Club will allocate resources and hire a half decent pastry chef, that can significantly improve.

Clearwater Bay Country Club is a members only club similar nature to the Hong Kong Football & Cricket Club which I have also previously visited for the Sunday Brunches. In my opinion, food quality here is better than both clubs and my overall brunch experience at ClearwaterBay Country Club has significantly improved from my previous numerous occasions eating here. Even though the so-called Mid Autumn Festival Brunch was not very authentic in anyway, the overall quality of the food has improved and there is also a much wider variety of dishes on offer which marks as an improvement.

A special point to mention is that for some very odd reason, I find that the Stellas (Stella Artois) are always much tastier in the club, could it be because I am drinking this on a Sunday morning?

UPCOMING REVIEW ON GEOFF's TWITCHENN : An Evening in Happy Valley!

Address: 139 Tai Au Mun Road, Clearwater Bay , New Territories, Hong Kong

Tel: 2335 3725

Food Quality (5* the highest): ***

Price for Dinner (5$ = very expensive): ** (Cheap Meal because you have to pay for a STEEP Monthly Membership Fee)

Happy Eating!

Geoff

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT & BREAKING NEWS

If your Birthday is this month, you are one lucky bugger just like myself. Just recieved this eDM from Awfully Chocolate, very decent chocolate cakes & ice-cream with locations in Causeway Bay & Caine Road. Please visit Awfully Chocolate on 28 October at 8pm sharp and the first 100 people will recieve a FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE. This is very exciting stuff indeed and see you all there! Happy Eating! Geoff View Larger Map

Food Journey #26 - Dim Sum The Art Of Chinese Tit Bits (譽滿坊)

Have been exceptionally busy this week at work and thus, haven't had the time to blog about my previous adventure. For a change this round, I will be blogging about Chinese Cuisine with a peculiar name of Dim Sum The Art of Chinese Tit Bits located the heart of Happy Valley. Our group visited this restaurant on the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival and it was definitely worth every dollar spent. Chinese cuisine is not something which I particularly enjoy every so often as I always find it very time-consuming & greasy. My experience at Dim Sum The Art of Chinese Tit Bits changed me to have 2nd thoughts on this perception and it is a restaurant whereby I will re-visit very soon. Ambiance: Very traditionally Chinese styled restaurant in Happy Valley with wooden chairs & tables and even accessories such as teapots are also very authentic. Not a very large spaced restaurant but nonetheless, it was very cosy and our visit on the evening wasnt too busy which was perfect for the occasion. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED & MUST ORDER Dishes: 1) Chinese Soya Chicken (Signature Dish): Flavourful, Tender, Succulent and one word -- MARVELLOUS. Can totally see why this is the signature dish and why a 3-day in advance pre-order for this chicken is required. Only question which I have is, since the restaurant used a fresh chicken for this dish, I wonder how much more the taste will further improve if an organic chicken was used? 2) Steamed Fish Maw Stuffed with Minced Shrimp: This was a dish cooked to perfection -- the steamed fish maw was very tender & soft and the portion of the minced shrimp was very generous. The shrimp was also very sharp & fresh in flavour which was extremely important. Portion sizes were just perfect and everybody on the table at least had 1 portion. Ladies out there - fish maw is mainly consumed by woman as a source of collagen which is good for your skin! 3) Steamed Cod Fish: This sounds & appears like a very simple dish but yet I have seen many restaurants totally screw up on this. Key area is not to over-steam the cod fish or else the fish will become very dense & flakey which is not something you want. The timing of the steaming procedure was spot on and apparently, the soya sauce used on the fish is a secret recipe from the restaurant. This is the sort of dish I am happy with to pair with a bowl of rice! 4) Prawn Dumpling: Sounds very odd to have dim-sum at night time but this restaurant serves it up in style. At $35 a pop at 2 Prawn Dumplings, they better be good dumplings and I was not disappointed. The Prawns were MASSIVE, I mean absolutely massive and you know it is fresh prawns by thd freshness of it. Slight let down was the pastry was slightly too thick which is not to my liking. Perfect pairing for this will be some Gui Lin Chilli Sauce. Should Try Dishes: 1) Vegetable Stew: Refreshing, Healthy, Fresh vegetables boiled together with ZERO OIL CONTENT in the broth. Enough said. There is a sense of pure-ness about the broth and unlike many other vegetable stews around town, I am very certain this does not contact any MSG content. 2) Fried Scallops with Broccoli: This was a hit & miss dish because the broccoli's were skill-fully cooked as it was not tough & to the stage of difficulty to chew. However, the scallops were the let down as you can still taste the frozen flavour as it was literally just been taken out from the freezer in the kitchen. Disappointment! 3) Fried Egg with Prawns & Scallops: Egg dishes are always my #1 choice of comfort food when one is extremely hungover and I can never get bored of such dishes. Again, the prawns are generously large & fresh but the scallops were same as above which you can taste the frozen flavour out of it. Nonetheless, regardless of the scallops, this is my favourite dish to go out steamed rice with a dash of Gui Lin Chilli Sauce! Dishnes NOT TO Order! 1) Chinese Style Lobster & Shark Fin Clam Chowder -- When I first ordered this, everything was the name of this dish was attractive and thinking it was HKD35 per bowl, what an absolutel steal. When I got the bill, realising that it was $85 per bowl, I was stunned. This was claimed to be the restaurant's signature dish and I really did not see why this was so highly praised. The Clam Chowder was extremely watery unlike the thickness of the American style Clam Chowders. On top, it was extremely difficult to find or even locate where the lobsters were. MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT but if you have a fat wallet with cash lying around, please go ahead and order this. 2) Pork Siu Mai's (Pork Dumplings) -- I took one bite of this and was not pleased about it. It was extremely greasy and the taste of an inch of oil in your mouth is not very appealing. The Pig's skin that is used on the top of the pork-ball was in my opinion very grotesque. I dont think this will be the sort of dim-sum which the expat community in Happy Valley will be pleased to see. One should never regret about food but this dish is something which I will always regret in ordering. Our overall experience was very pleasant and it is the new discovery of Happy Valley. This restaurant has also become the hub of the Japanese and foreign expat community. Good hearty food along with flavourful Chinese tea is the key attraction. However, eating at this restaurant can be considerably pricey and some of their prices cna rival a 5 to 6 Star Hotel Chinese restaurants. Do check out the restaurant and let me know whether you think it is worth the money! NEXT UPCOMING REVIEW ON GEOFF's TWITCHEN : CLEARWATERBAY COUNTRY CLUB SUNDAY BUFFET Happy Eating & Drinking! Geoff Address: G/F, 63 Sing Woo Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong (跑馬地成和道63號地下) Tel: 2834 - 8893 Food Quality (5* the highest): 3/1/2* Price for Dinner (5$ = very expensive): ***
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Food Journey #25c - Final Round of Italian Lunch Experience at Cecconi's Italian

After 3 rounds of Italian lunch experience during past week, we have a clear WINNER in my opinion on the best italian lunch and the WINNER GOES TO.......CECCONI's Italian located on Elgin Street, Central. Reasons to why they beat Pizza Express & Isola, it is unpretentious, good quality food, cosy atmosphere (during lunch hours) and good price & speed for lunch which is vital. Was extremely impressed with their set lunches which I recommend you to try out and I hope they do not rotate their set lunches on a weekly basis.

In fact, this is my 2nd visit to Cecconi's Italian, my 1st visit consisted of a Caesar Salad which doesnt say much about a restaurant but for the review, a feast must be required to try the real quality of food. $98 for a 2 course set lunch in Central is fairly decent considering the food definitely justifies the price tag.

Fresh Foccacia -- Dont be decieved by the photo below as I know the presentation looks very dull. However, the bread was warm when it arrived which is just the way we Asians like it and you can still smell the freshness of the foccacia. Drizzle this with fresh Tuscan Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar, this foccacia was a perfect carbohydrate boost after the morning madness at work.

Spinach Salad with Gorgonzola Dressing & Walnuts -- After watching this food related program on TVB Pearl one night regarding the amount of calories contained in a Caesar Salad, deliberately stayed away from this on the set lunch menu and opt for this instead. Spinach has extremely high amounts of Calcium, Iron and other sources of Vitamins thus making spinach a highly nutritious product. The amount of Gorgonzola dressing on the spinach salad was just the amount which I like, very moderate amount thus and it was extremely flavourful. The shaved Parmesan cheese also added more flavors to the salad and as a passionate cheese lover, this was my very typical salad. Not to keen on the walnuts but nevertheless, it paired very well with the spinach. Very refreshing salad to kick off your meal and my next course was simply spectacular!!!!!!!!!!

Pan seared salmon with a cucumber salad and balsamic-- Having been a salmon murderer for the past 10 years, this has always been on the top of my list wherever I go for lunch or dinner as i) the nutritional values are high ii) a perfect pan-seared or grilled salmon has always been a form of art to myself. Such cripsy skin on the outside but yet, so moist & pink on the inside, it is truly the best form of fish that the world has in my opinion. There are a few restaurants around town whereby I highly recommend a Grilled Salmon -- RED SoHo does a mean grilled salmon, H One also does a fairly decent Atlantic Salmon Steak but in my opinion, Cecconi's italian wins the tournament.

Pan Seared is a very interesting technique commonly used by chef which focuses on cooking the surface of the food product at high temperature which it caramelises the skin. Such searing technique is often said to lock the juices in the salmon, giving it a moist & pink texture.

The Pan-seared Salmon here was definitely one of the best I have had in town as it has all the above points mentioned. So juicy yet so crispy on the outside. However, I feel that the pairing with cucumber was slightly odd as it would have been better to pair with a Tomato Salsa or even just simple Green Salads on the side. Cucumbers are just simply boring and flavourless. Nonetheless, this was a wonderful dish and it was truly enjoyable!

Crumbled Chicken Leg with Napoli & Mozzarella-- This was the dish ordered by my friend on the day but however, she could not complete the portion due to the huge portion being served. I took 2 bites of the chicken leg and was equally impressed. The chicken was extremely tender, not greasy & the melted cheese was extremely pungent & flavourfull and the pairing together is the equivalent to Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie. BRAVO!

However, not your average dish which you may order unless you havent had breakfast in the morning as the chicken leg was rather large, so large that it looked like it was mutated.

If you are looking for a lunch venue with good quality food & very economical, do check out Cecconi's Italian on Elgin Street. Highly recommended for the quality of dishes but one warning, service may be sloppy at times as I had to speak to our server 3 times for the Fresh Foccacia. Definitely worth the money paid despite the set lunch was only $98 and you can see why they are the winner of the Italian Lunch Journey in Hong Kong.

Now comes the end of the Italian Lunch Journey, watch out for the next review of a restaurant with a humourous name -- 譽滿坊 Dim SumThe Art Of Chinese Tit Bits

Happy Eating & Drinking!

Ciao

Geoff

Address: G/F, 43 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong (中環伊利近街43號地下
)
Tel: 2147 5500

Food Quality (5* the highest): ****

Price for Lunch (5$ = very expensive): **

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Food Journey #25b - Part II "Italian" Lunch Experience at Pizza Express

Have been busy recently and have not had the luxury on blogging in the past few days in regards to my continuous food journey on an Italian lunch experience. Certainly, my previous posting on Isola has stopped a few of my fellow readers & friends in placing a reservation for lunch & dinner -- wise choice.

Noticed how I have put in inverted commas "Italian" on this journey to Pizza Express in Wan Chai Ship Street, just off J-Residence. I have never believed Pizza Express as an Italian restaurant and my perception of it has always been a premium class of Dominos with seatings & waiters / waitresses. But afterall, it is a place that does 2 key Italian Dishes -- P & P (Pizza & Pasta) therefore I shall include them as part of this review and boy, I was actually rather impressed on this Saturday afternoon meal.

Original plan for lunch was to visit Dressed Salad again, just off QRE Plaza, as I wanted something light for the day. No idea to how we ended up at Pizza Express which is around 3 blocks down the road but nevermind!

The restaurant itself is situated in a rather intimate & quite corner of Wan Chai therefore a wonderful setting on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Opened up the menu and was attracted by the "Pink Revolution Menu" which is 2 courses at HKD168 in which $8 will be donated to the charity organisation whether you believe it or not.

Carpaccio Di Salmone Affumicato -- The first taste of salmon carpaccio was surprisingly very fresh even though when it first landed on the table, it looked as it had been drenched in the olive oil for some time. The salmon slices were drizzled with Tuscan olive oil and are simply flavoured with dill, capers & lemon.The 3 baked dough balls were strongly pesto flavoured and are best eaten when you dip the dough balls into the Tuscan olive oil along with the salmon carpaccio. Such a simple, hearty but yet exquisite dish to start off the whole meal.

First course was completed and my point of view towards Pizza Express has slightly changed as I never thought a kids friendly place can serve up good quality food as such. Something was missing and the key link was a glass of Prosecco. Noticed on the "Pink Revolution Menu" that during the promotion period, you can now purchase a glass of Prosecco for $8. Hold on a second -- $8, you gotta be joking me and can one even drink this stuff. Full of questions & question marks in my mind, I decide to give this a shot and to my surprise, this was worth every $8 and the taste was not bad at all. Next time when you are low on cash or living towards the end of month and want to get drunk, ring Pizza Express's door bell and $8 is very worthy of such.

Main course was a Penne Al Salmone and in English, Salmon Penne with Carbonara Sauce. Overall quality of the dish is moderate and the good points are that it is not drenched in carbonara sauce and the generous portions of fresh salmon on top of the appetiser. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish and do eat this with generous amount of parmesan cheese + tabasco, my personal secret recipe for a delicious pasta dish. However, the quality of the actual pasta was poor and the texture of the pasta was not very fresh which was slightly disappointing but overall, it was impressive.

We were however still a bit hungry after the first 2 courses therefore, we decided on the traditional approach and ordered a Neopolitan thin crusted pizza topped with Prosciutto Ham, Ricotta, Parmsesan, Rosemary and Polenta Base. Also want to use this opportunity to clarify the on-going myth on that Deep-Pan Thick Crusted Pizzas are NOT ITALIAN STYLE Pizzas therefore please do not even attempt to order such item in an Italian restaurant or else you will be left red-faced. As you can see from the photo below, the chef was extremely generous with the Prosciutto & Ricotta Cheese as they were literally overflowing on the pizza. Kudos to the Chef on this!

My personal recommendation on a pizza like this must be eaten in the following manner: a) Please eat using your hands and for god's sake, please DO NOT use knives & forks as you will make an even bigger mess than using your hands. Pizza is a comforting & non-pretentious food item!

b) Always Overdose on your Parmesan Cheese as it is quite possibly the best pairing in the world. Enough said!

c) For those that like a spice kick, please also be generous on the tabasco on your slice.

Combination of above 3 will give you a deadly combination!

Overall, the meal was very enjoyable and my whole perception towards Pizza Express has changed 180 degrees. I was extremely impressed with the quality of food, service & setting of the Wan Chai Shop. The bill came at 1/2 the price to the rubbish which I ate in the other fellow Italian restaurant in my previous posting and I was an extremely happy man walking out of this place. Pizza Express, I shall return!

Address: G/F, 10 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (灣仔永豐街10號
)
Tel: 3528 0541

Food Quality (5* the highest): 3/1/2*

Price for Lunch (5$ = very expensive): 1/1/2*

Food Journey #25a -- Part I -- Italian Lunch Experience (Isola Bar & Grill)

An old favourite of mine but however, after this visit, I will have to have 2nd thoughts on this. Purpose of the lunch was a client meeting but I was not impressed with the food quality and service and was rather red-faced with the overall impression left.

Best Part of the meal was the bread basket & the main course (grilled sole fillet). The bread basket was fresh, warm, just the way I liked it. The main course was a grilled sole fillet with fresh asparagus, a slightly healthy alternative choice on the menu selection rather than the usual pizza, risotto, pasta and the sole fillet was cooked very well. A dash of lemon was vital to give the sole fillet a good kicking with the slight citrus flavour.

Now comes the disappointment:

The infamous Antipasti Buffet used to my favourite part with such an abundance of food selection which often tickles my fancy including fresh salmon, prosciutto, italian cold cut, grilled Italian peppers, salad, seafood salad, etc. As soon as we approached the buffet area, I had a sense that there was something different this time round. The salad leaves looked very dull & liveless, the salmon was colourless unlike its usual bright orange colour, the prosciutto appeared the quality which one can shop for at Wellcome or ParknShop. The quantity of items also have decreased which didnt leave us with much choices to choose from. Our client also appeared slightly disappointed after I was raving about the quality of Isola's lunch - NOT A GOOD START!

To top up, our client ordered a Mushroom Risotto which was the worst of the bunch. The Arborio rice was still fairly uncooked, it lacked the creaminess of an usual risotto and the lack of Parmaggiano did not help the case either. The dish was definitely not up to my client's standards as she only completed 1/2 the portion and I bluntly asked her to allow myself to try a spoonful and she was right, it was purely bland and boring! TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT

For Dolci, our disappointment was turned into anger. Approached the dessert area and the cakes & cheese selection looked extremely dull and appeared like it had been lying on the same spot since Isola first opened up its doors. Completely switched off my appetite and hoped the final piece of jigsaw - cup of Ice Coffee could rescue the meal. Well, when you can screw up a coffee, that says something about the restaurant. Coffee arrived without sugar and took us around 10 mins to recieve the sugar and during the process, the services from their waiters & waitresses were extremely unattentive.

A so-called Corporate Venue for a Corporate Lunch, this was not an experience or food which I expected. Hello, maybe you are ripping off the Investment Bankers & Lawyers working in IFC but please do something about the quality of your lunch. Simply do not understand how the standard, service, food quality for such venue located in Hong Kong's premium shopping centre have dropped their standards so dramatically. For the price of HKD248 per head, Isola, you were once one of my favourite Italian restaurant in town but now you are the weakest link, good bye!

Happy Eating for now!

Geoff

Address: Level 3, ifc Mall, 1 Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong (中環港景街1號國際金融中心商場3樓3071-3075號舖)

Tel: 2383-8765

Food Quality (5* the highest): *

Price for Lunch (5$ = very expensive): 3/1/2*

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