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2015-01-31
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This is a restaurant that we have been to dozens of times. Whilst it is supposed to be one of the best in town, I am afraid it is not so, in terms of food and even less in terms of service. It is certainly not bad but just not really that good.The restaurant is in the IFC, very near the Four Seasons and supposedly one of the nicest spots in Central. Of course people do pay high prices but they should not expect any less in return. Alas, this is where the problem lies. Due to its location and tha
The restaurant is in the IFC, very near the Four Seasons and supposedly one of the nicest spots in Central. Of course people do pay high prices but they should not expect any less in return. Alas, this is where the problem lies. Due to its location and that there are not too many other options for high class Japanese food the restaurant is perennially full. The staff, whilst not rude, are no different from what you find in 2 or 3 star places when this is supposed to be a 5 star restaurant (not Michelin star but think hotels). Here, instead of the staff paying attention to you, you have to pay attention to them. You will not have anyone coming over until you spend some time and effort to flag someone down. You have to chase after your food. We were at the teppanyaki table and our neighbours were only given the set lunch menu and never realized that a la carte existed...
We decided to go for teppanyaki this time and ordered a set lunch each plus a la carte for more food and variety. First off, the salads came, one a sashimi salad, one a plain one. Nothing to write home about. They were fine, just fine. Not presented in an appetizing manner or style.
We had abalone and beef for teppanyaki. Prices have gone up but portion sizes for abalone have steadily gone down over the past 2 years. Teppanyaki, especially at high end restaurants, should involve at least some grace and finesse, if not ceremony. There was none. We ordered different kinds of beef. No one bothered to even let us know which was which (the guests were supposed to figure out from tasting them? It so happened that even after asking and being told which was Australian and which was Japanese, we felt they tasted the same which was a shame). The food tasted fine over, but again, nothing special.
After a couple of small dishes, to finish the meal, one of us was supposed to have tempura cake (our favourite whenever we visit Japan) with udon noodles. This is ONE item, just that the tempura cake, in order not to be soggy, was to be served separately, from the noodles. Separate they really were. The tempura cake came out and the waitress plopped it in front of us. When the noodles did not appear, we chased, and chased, and chased. After 15 minutes came the noodles by which time of course the tempura cake had gone cold. Should this have happened at any restaurant? any nice restaurant, much less a top Japanese restaurant? Any self-respecting tempura place / chef would have been dismayed at this. Not at this place. No one batted an eyelid when we explained many times, to different staff, that the tempura cake but not the noodles. As for the quality of the tempura here which we have tried many times, do not expect standards like you see in Tokyo. It is one of the better places in HK. That's it. The batter is not thin or light like that in top restaurants in Tokyo In fairness, it is not ultra thick either.
For my starch, I chose teppanyaki fried rice. After I had finished it, the waitress presented a plate of pickles! For those of you not familiar with Japanese pickles, they are supposed to accompany rice. Here, it is like serving pickles after a guest has finished his burger or sandwich.
For dessert, the waitress plopped a small square piece of chocolate cake in front of each of us, adorned slightly with raspberries and half a strawberry plus a blurp of cream. As I noticed that for one lunch dessert was stated to be "dessert" but for another it was stated to be "dessert sampler" I asked the waitress how come there was no sampler. She was totally non - plussed and said that was the only dessert they had. Anyway, I let it drop.
This is not a bad restaurant, nor was a terrible meal. For a thousand a head for lunch, it ought to be quite a bit better, even in expensive HK.
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