I’ve been meaning to try this cosy little restaurant tucked near the end of Gough street for a while. It made its name in the local media by being a restaurant run by senior citizens which piqued by curiousity. While restaurants near Gingko House have run in and out of business due to lack of patrons and mediocre cuisine, Gingko House has persisted with its hearty fare and enthusiastic service. I was barely in the door when I was greeted by a friendly server (he must have been at least 70!) who led me to my table and made sure me and my guest were comfortable before leaving to pick up the menus.

Keen to keep the meal on the light side I ordered a Smoked Duck Breast and Mushroom Spinach Pasta while my friend chose a French Onion Soup and Scallop Linguine with Creamy Alfredo. We only wanted a glass of wine but the waiter insisted I try some too so we ended up having an extra glass free of charge which was a nice little perk. It was just past 6.30pm when we sat down at our table, but by 7pm, the restaurant was bustling with diners and almost packed to the brim. Despite the busy atmosphere the service did not wane, and although the average waiter was in their 60s, they were quick on their feet and eager to keep on track with everyone’s orders. It was not long before we had the soup at our table and some carrot/cucumber sticks with dip that our waiter encouraged us to eat so we would have our “vitamin C” intake. This place was like dining at home – with the service of a fancy restaurant, the intimacy of a family-run cafe and the novelty of a concept meal.

The pesto bread on the side was delicious and the French Onion soup had a tasty tang that was well complemented with the soup-soaked garlic-cheese bread. The presentation wasn’t spectacular but I had no complaints. One of the waiters caught me mooching spoonfuls of soup from my friend so he immediately brought me an extra spoon so I could share which I thought was extremely observant. With Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose playing softly in the background, the ambiance felt like a hark back to the golden age of Hong Kong.

The main dishes arrived and our server diligently warned us that the plates were hot. I couldn’t wait to dig in because the aroma of the food was starting to make my mouth water. The pasta was fresh and infused with the taste of the smoked duck breast which blended well with the juicy mushrooms and crunchy green beans. I particularly liked the texture and the portion was extremely generous. The scallop linguine was dressed in a delightful Alfredo sauce, topped with large scallops and also delicious. In conclusion, I was ready to come back to this restaurant and try some of the other main courses. The meat dishes that other diners had ordered looked scrumptious! Although I had to run off somewhere soon, I decided to stay at the restaurant a little while longer to try out some dessert. We picked the “Uncle Gingko dessert”, which turned out to be a Baked Alaska topped with chocolate sauce and lined with sponge cake and fruits. Yum yum yum! What I really wanted to order though was the molten chocolate dessert which I unfortunately didn’t have time for. Once again the waiters were quick to understand my request and patiently waited as I asked them what each dessert was and how long it would take for them to make it. I will certainly be back at this charming place soon to try out their other dishes and I recommend you make a beeline for this restaurant soon if you haven’t done so. You won’t be disappointed.

Wow, I was supposed to have a nice last meal with my boyfriend before he jetted off for the US and unfortunately I encountered the WORST meal I have ever had in Hong Kong. What a waste of money!

We had walked past the restaurant a few times before and it seemed quite quaint to so we decided to try it out. Of course, with the prices, we expected a quality meal. I'm not necessarily a connoisseur but I know a bad meal when I get one and this is bad! I've eaten at so many other "creme de la creme" restaurants and equally pricey ones but never have I been struck with such terrible service and food. I couldn't even be angry, in fact I was speechless because it was an appalling dining experience.

First we entered the restaurant and the first impression I had was a gaggle of waiters running around like they were flustered and running a marathon. As one previous reviewer mentioned, they were like headless chickens and that analogy is perfectly true! It looked very unprofessional and we were quickly hustled to our seat. But for the longest time there was NO ONE to serve us! Come on, there aren't that many tables and there were definitely enough waiters around to have a competent service. We waited patiently for our table to be set and our menus to be given to us but it was definitely more than 10 minutes before we decided we needed to take some action and call someone over to give us menus etc.

Then one of the waiters ran by and literally threw a basket of bread at our table. No butter, no olive oil or balsamic vinegar, but get this...we didn't even have any cutlery or plates to eat it with! All we had was a lonely basket of bread. I couldn't believe it.

We had to ask for our menus and for water, then when the water came it was once again just DUMPED at our table. Were the waiters for this "classy" restaurant not trained to water for their customers. We asked one of the female waiters if they did not have glasses for water and only wine, and she just said (in very poor english) that there was "only that one" and walked away. She didn't even think about serving us for one second. This really was getting far beyond my imagination and was regretting not just getting up to leave and going somewhere else like L'Atelier, Bo Innovation or Gaddi's. I suppose I was curious at how much worse it could be.

I didn't want to complain yet to see how bad it gets but my boyfriend said we should tell the manager so we would get better service moving on. Right. We couldn't even get anyone's attention and it took another 15 minutes before anyone asked for our orders. Absolutely shocking. My bf had talked to the manager at this point so he came over and apologized profusely and rather unprofessionally. Then he gave an excuse and said that there were a lot of customers and tables and so everyone was really busy due to the demanding customers. WHAT????!!!! How could you blame it on the customers? You're supposedly running a quality restaurant that should have the capability to professionally handle that many customers. I would have fired him if I were his boss and heard him say that.

As if it could get any worse....so we asked for recommendations and he kept pushing us to get the cheese which we didn't want. We wanted to order the parma ham and melon but he told us in a whisper that the parma ham was bad and we shouldn't get it. There was one table across from us that had ordered it, so 1) is he being bias and serving others bad food? and 2) why is a good restaurant serving bad parma ham anyways? Not quite sure I'm convinced.

I also asked the same server if there was butter and just as I began to ask for olive oil and balsamic (he heard me start the sentence), he had whirled around and ran off before I could finish. How absolutely rude. They definitely do not do any training at this restaurant for their waiters and if that is the case, they should not market themselves as a top tier restaurant with these ridiculous prices. It's not worth it.

So we went for the bruschetta for starters and the signature linguine scampi and ox tongue for mains. The bruschetta was decent but nothing special. Then the linguine scampi came and I was expecting a $600 dish to be good. I'm not even going to mention the cheap-looking dish it came in, as long as the food is enjoyable. But I'm sorry, I'll have to respond in the negative. The linguine was flavourless and dry - it tasted like the side dishes I get at $70 set lunches in Central, and the scampi was way way WAY overcooked. By now I was regretting the meal so much I wish i had just gone to Fat Angelo's. Because honestly, I could have got that dish at Fat Angelo prices and quality.

My bf and I couldn't even finish the meal and even though we had to use our fingers to pick the meat from the scampi, the waiter didn't bring lemon water to dip our fingers in until after we were almost done. Oh wait, the water didn't have lemon - it was just hot water and so hot I practically burnt my fingers unwittingly.

I had seen enough so I called the waiter over to cancel the order for my ox tongue. I'd rather fill myself up with streetfood than sit through this ordeal anymore. The free prosecco the manager offered was certainly not enough to ease the pain and the prosecco wasn't quality either.

I would be ashamed if this place was advertised in food guides as a fine dining for Hong Kong because it would definitely jeopardize our city's reputation. Everything is of the poorest quality here and although some long-time clientele may call this place home, I would much rather take my money elsewhere to splurge for real service and good food.