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2012-04-17
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My Little Weekend EscapeI know it sounds unbelievable, but HKU has been one of my "havens" during weekends. The student canteen sells really cheap food (you can have a breakfast at $11.5 while the same is sold at some $20 at a downtown MX; some visitors say the food here is better), and it's quiet enough for me to dive in books there. Besides, there is no lack of free, fast wi-fi.I have been told that there is "higher-end" food at the Graduate Hall, but we have never attempted to find out wher
I know it sounds unbelievable, but HKU has been one of my "havens" during weekends. The student canteen sells really cheap food (you can have a breakfast at $11.5 while the same is sold at some $20 at a downtown MX; some visitors say the food here is better), and it's quiet enough for me to dive in books there. Besides, there is no lack of free, fast wi-fi.
I have been told that there is "higher-end" food at the Graduate Hall, but we have never attempted to find out where it is. Recently, we attended an open seminar there, and we finally got to know the location. The next day, we went to the restaurant there without haste for a lunch.
Good First Impression ...
Joseph's is a "restaurant" not a "canteen", and it's more cozy. Tranquility is taken for granted; the seats are very comfortable. We checked in before noon (soon after we finished our breakfast at the student canteen!), so we could have the best seats available: the table for 2 at the corner (adjacent to big windows) with small sofas. An even better place to spend a few relaxed hours on a Saturday!
The waitress handed us menus, and we smiled. Most 4-course sets (including soup, dessert and tea) are priced at $60-90, which is quite affordable even to undergraduates. And they offer a nice variety of cuisines from Western to SE Asean (Thai), Korean and Japanese. (Of course, whether they do them equally well is another matter.) Today we picked rib eye and sea bass.
Behind a Nice AmbienceHere came the soup. When I looked at the Russian Broth I frowned a bit. It was too thin. In order to give the soup substance, it must be cooked long enough - even with the help of a blender - but what was in front of us was just like that sold at the canteen. I don't think they share a "central" kitchen, but such suspicion is just natural. The cream of mushroom soup was better - it gave me the required creaminess, thickness (not from corn starch!) and rich taste.
All said, the beginning had been quite a flop - not very bad, but down the hill there are good restaurants at similar prices.Oops, a Mistake ...
When the waiter presented the steak, we noticed that something was wrong - we asked for "all vegetable" but there was still mashed potato. The waiter apologized and replaced that. Still, the dish was disappointing. The rib eye was somewhat too thin and overcooked. It lacked tenderness and was even a bit chewy. The sauce did not help much. I paid $98 (there is no service charge; the quality of service is another matter) for the set, but I couldn't see the value if Memo's is also offering the same main dish during lunch at the same price (see my forthcoming review).
Then the sea bass. There were many things on the plate - too many. They attempted to make the dish look more "classy" by putting some asparagus on the top, but that didn't match with the cauliflower and broccoli on the side. Worse, the rice was not totally "brown" as claimed on the menu; it was at best "mixed rice" and it appeared to come from the canteen. The tomato concasse was thin and not rich enough. The fish itself was, to be fair, quite well cooked; the problem was, I didn't know where to put it because the rest of the plate was occupied by the "brown" rice, and the moist from underneath was making the fish less and less crispy.
The chef has to think through how their food can be done "one class above" if they are serious about keeping the business.... and Yet Another One
There was a choice of fruit platter and cake for the dessert. We opted cake but the waiter missed that, again. We had to ask again for a replacement, and when I tasted the chocolate brownie, I wish I had kept the fruit platter - it was sooooo dry! Soon I understood why. When I returned from the toilet, I saw decks of chocolate brownie on plates in a small room - all cut and ready to serve. You can try it out - cut a cake and then put it in the air conditioned living room for an hour. A flop became a blunder!
Joseph's was quiet on this day. At first I thought it was because it's a non-teaching day. When we left I knew there were other (very obvious) reasons. The graduate students (who are presumably smarter) have gone elsewhere to have their appetite satisfied. For me, I'd say the canteens are the places for me when I come again.Post
