The Press Room    

Had a romantic dinner with the boyfriend so decided to make a reservation. Upon arrival, the table was ready and the back end of the restaurant was buzzing.

We used one of their promotional coupons so we whipped that out as soon as we were seated. The friendly waitress informed us of the terms and conditions to which we were happy with.

Decided to order the Fruit de Mer excluding the lobster, a shrimp and chorizo linguini, fish of the day (sea bass) and a bottle of white wine.

The bread and wine arrived first, the bread very soft and warm. The wine was lacking in taste but that was down to our own choosing- Tourain, Sauvignon Blanc (2011)

The seafood platter included some delicious oysters but that was the extent. Everything else was either tasteless or too salty.

The linguini and fish arrived together once our table was cleared and hands down- the seabass was nothing if not divine. Cooked to perfection, crispy skin, juicy flesh and wonderfully fresh. The linguini al dente, the shrimp slightly overcooked but overall not bad.

For dessert we ordered the tarte tatin, and the mascarpone (because we're greedy.)

With a 30min waiting time i usually dont bother, but oh wow was it worth the wait! The crispy, chewy pastry wrapping the sweet and tender pieces of pear went down famously with the whole cream that accompanied it. Already very full, we did not have trouble finishing that.

Overall, a satisfactory meal but given we had a hefty discount, the price we actually paid was the maximum I would have been willing to pay. A great atmosphere, staff and good food but I would not say I'd willingly pay full price there next time.

It was a Friday night, restaurant was not overly packed, but had quite a decent turnout.

As the title suggests, this place seems to have a bit of an identity crisis. A lot of french dishes on the menu but the decor was quitensentially not. Further other dishes on the menu had a cross over with a bar and grill style menu. I guess when diner demand is greater than supply, restaurants become a bit commoditised and perhaps this is one such case. The menu was rather generic for the prices that it were charging.

Ambiance

A lot of money has been spent on the decor and creating the ambiance. I guess it is part of the appeal and what I assume the restaurants warrants as justification for the prices it charges.

Food

We ordered Rabbit, Veal and the Tartare. Food was nice but when compared to the price, was actually just average. No complaints really, except on price. I am a strong believer of price point, if you put yourself out there in a price bracket to compete with others then there must be something justifiably good.

Wine

A decent selection of wine by the glass which is always appreciated for smaller dining parties. There was a bit of a premium but that is quite normal. Unfortunately given the selection, the actual wines we chose were not the best.

Service

Quite a few staff at this restaurant which made for speedy service. It was of good quality and people were very well mannered. The food came out fast and at no point were they rude (a rarity it seems in hk). The service definitely is fit for what this restaurant is trying to achieve.

Bottom line: A confused little restaurant where the theme is not consistent and does not justify price. Otherwise not too bad at all.

cut down to the chase..ordered
onion soup 5.5/10 cheese wasn't baked for long enough for that slight brown baked texture. Not enough flavor in the soup.

clam in white wine 7/10 clams were definately fresh and not even sandy at all! Sauce went really well flavourable enough not to cover the freshness of the clam.

lobster rissoto 6.5/10 Generous amount of lobster given. Not too saucy but it was a little bit too salty and the rice weren't cooked well enough as it was a bit hard.

Diver scallops 7.5/10 Scallops were surprisingly fresh and cooked perfectly. Not too heavy of a dish as there were enough salad to go along with the scallops. Sauce did not cover the freshness of the scallops.

Prime steak frites 4.5/10 The fries were no doubt good but the prime steak quality wasn't that great as it was too "chewy" enough tho i specified "medium rare"

Overall, the ambience and service is good but the food were not up to my standard for the price. In conclusion I would go again during lunch to try their other dishes .

I went to The Press Room on Saturday brunch- wow!!!!!! So busy yet the food was delivered fast and service attentive and friendly.

Upon arrival my booking was dealt with by the hostesses efficiently and we were seated by the window. The place was in full swing with every table taken, the atmosphere vibrant and buzzing.

Our drinks were delivered at the perfect temperature- my bloody mary was super spicy, just as I asked.

The food was fair, wonderful portion sizes for the price. I had the lobster benedict- unusual but worked a treat, my friend opted for the burger and was equally happy.

Service was top notch considering it was so busy. All staff looked happy, relaxed and in control. You cannot say that for many restaurants in HK!

The manageress was also interacting with tables and I heard a pleasent conversation with the table next to us.

All in all for such a busy restaurant we couldn't fault anything so will of course return. Brunch is a must!!

I went to The Press Room because I had heard their 2 course set dinner was good. 280 for 2 courses is a pretty good deal so I was anxious to check it out. The ambiance of the place is really lovely. It's a beautiful restaurant- the food is only ok. I ordered the caeser salad and darn of salmon. The caesar was a bit bland and needed seasoning. I did like it had fresh anchovies on it though instead of canned. The salmon was cooked well but full of pin bones. No body likes it when you cut the inside of your mouth with bones. When I asked about it- they said they only de-bone fish upon request of customers... Say, what? Butter sauce was flavorless. I found myself yet again reaching for the salt shaker.

The chocolate mousse trio and coffee were the best part of the evening. The white chocolate one is pretty much flavorless but the dark chocolate one is really quite good. Portion sizes are large and you get good value for your money. I'd rather have small portions though and bigger flavors.

Service is slow as I had to flag down wait staff on several occasions. They seemed to love huddling up by the cashier station chatting rather than checking on customers.

Decided to try Press Room for dinner as I heard the ambiance is very nice there.

Went to the restaurant at 7:45 and was greeted very nicely by all the staff - was actually taken by suprised that ALL the staff welcomed you to the restaurant

Ambiance - since it was dinner, the lighting was quite dim.

Our waitress was very knowledgeable - we asked quite alot of questions regarding the food and she answered them skillfully.

. The Press Room is selling a Le French Gourmay Bordeaux special menu during the month of May, so you still have 2 weeks to come try this really great Entrecote Bordelais steak. The 1855 Sirloin steak is accompanied by a traditional Red Wine sauce, Bone Marrow pieces, Lardons & Mushrooms, with a side of Dauphinois potato stack. This is selling for $328 for 10 Oz, a bargain price for such great quality steak! Thanks to The Press Room for their invitation to try out this lovely beef.

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After reading Jason's review on The Press Room, it had been on my to try list for quite sometime but its only today that I went. The drive was originally for the frites, but I forgot to order it until I became full lol. Even so, I pretty much enjoyed my visit there and perhaps next time I could try it.

The Press Room is under the Press Room Group who also owns restaurants like The Pawn and The Classified. The Press Room is the first restaurant that the group founded, the idea behind the restaurant and the group name was from the fact that the location was once the offices of the Overseas Chinese Daily Newspaper back in the 1920s. I generally enjoy dinning in the restaurants of the Press Room Group, the nice and chilling ambiance is probably the main reason I love spending time there. It is always nice spending time in their restaurants with intimate friends and my loved one. (Remark: Please omit SML from the list though)They have a really good deal on the two courses diner, so we each ordered one and added a salad on top.

Rare Peppered Beef Salad $98 (8/10)
Well balanced salad leaves (Palm Hearts & Watercress) with halved juicy cherry tomatoes and lightly spicy beef topped with shredded parmesan and truffle oil, which indeed was a lovable and appetising salad choice. Portion was generous to share between two.

On a recent trip back to Hong Kong, I was dying dying dying for some authentic french food.
Not sure what was the source, but Press Room has long been on my list of to try restaurants, so on a sunday morning, my friend and i hastily made a reservation and rushed to The Press Room.

The perfect brunch always starts with the perfect cocktail, and the Pimm's Cup at Press Room is pretty decent, the cucumber flavor is strong, but definitely refreshing. Whilst the french toast was delicious and very simply presented, the characterie plate was a bit disappointing. Many of the items were too oily, and the pate was definitely not up to par. Needless to say, after craving french food for so long, I was a little disappointed.

However, I am willing to come back and give it a second try....the oysters on display looked quite phenomenal

I have been to The Press Room few times and this is my first time write a review because of BC’s request.

It’s Friday night, so I made a reservation few days in advance and I got my table on time.

When we marched in the restaurant, we saw there’s a seafood bar at our right hand side then we walked further, there’s a bar area with few high tables, bar stools and leather sofas, I saw some people sat there and had having a light meal or bar snack while they were sipping their bear.

The server led us to the dining area and we both found the table is pretty small and quite closed to the next table, that’s something I don’t like.

Four of us, me and Mr. J ordered the Seafood platter for 2; Ms. K & Mr. A are more meat lovers so they ordered the meats platter for 2. I am a huge fan of French Onion Soup, so I got it as my 2nd starter  For the seafood platter, it’s difficult to goes wrong but personally I only like the oyster so I let Mr. J finished most of the seafood and yet the onion was not the best in town, probably the 2nd best.My main course, I ordered the rabbit it comes with linguine + wild mushroom sauces, quite yummy and the sauces was very light. Mr. J & Ms. K ordered beef and Mr. A ordered lamb, they enjoyed their main also.

For the desserts, Mr. A ordered Crème Brulee and the rest of us preferred Chocolate Marquise. Yummy 

Overall it’s a pleasant meal and compared to most of restaurant in HK, The Press Room’s wine list have quite a lot of good choice there. We ordered 2 bottle of red, 1 bottle of white 1 bottles of dessert wine.

Saturday night and not an empty table there.

We started with the escargots and the steak tartare, the former suitably garlicky and buttery, the latter a generous portion of well seasoned beef with the condiments on the side for you to mix in. An Absinte55 went very well with the beef.

It proved quite a feat to get the attention of the waitress who seemed to look in every direction except that of the customers.

Our mains were the calves liver which I thought was overcooked but was perfect for my wife, and a whole poussin on a bed of lentils which was cooked perfectly.

The food here is competent but certainly not exciting.

With a beer, Sprite and a glass of decent, but expensive at $82 a glass, house red the total came to $978.

The food was ok - nothing special. Service was very slow. At 9pm the server finally came over to take our desert order (after giving us the menus 15 minutes earlier) and informed us that we didn't have time for dessert as we had to give the table up for another reservation!

After some discussion we were able to stay and half the tables in the restaurant remained empty - very confusing and not a great experience.

Met up with my classmates for an early lunch/late brunch at The Press Room.

It is not a very big space, but it portrays quite a rustic feel with the brick walls and big blackboards listing out their wine selection and daily specials.

Their menu is on a printed A3 sheet, and they have a section for brunch items as well as a mix of starters, pastas, burgers, sandwiches and dessert selection.

We all chose from the brunch section.

I had the eggs florentine. Two perfectly poached eggs with runny yolk on a bed of very green, but quite tough spinach on a thin toasted muffin (which came buttered even though I told them not to) with the hollandaise on the side. Quite decent, with the hollandaise sauce veering towards the buttery side.

Other people's meals:

French Toast: A thick slice of toasted white bread with freshly cut bananas accompanied with whipped cream and maple syrup.

Cheese and Bacon Omelette: A folded fluffy looking omelette with slightly oozing cheese and bacon.

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Caviar: Fluffy eggs with smoked salmon interspersed between the layers.

Everything tasted not too bad, but the portions were definitely on the small side, so if you're a big eater, you might need to order two items.

Just dropped in for a quick snack and a beer while waiting for a friend,
Big mistake,
all i wanted was a beer and a quick snack,
After getting the attention of the waiter/bar-man(who for some reason was just staring at the ceiling)
i ordered a leffe blonde and asked for the menu,
along came the bottle,no glass,i went to the bar and got glass myself,
ahh calamari ,great ill order that,
along came the calamari(6 pieces)stacked artfully,wow i thought to myself,
bit into it and oil dripped down my cheeks and a tiny piece of squid fell to the plate,
all that batter with squid the size of a dollar coin
Ive never tried quid this chewy,i couldnt even cut it with my knife(no joke)
i tried to get the attention of the bar-man but he was still staring at the ceiling(im wondering if hes on drugs at this point)
i finally get the attention of a passing waiter,
i asked him to cut the squid,he tried,he failed,he asked if id like to order anything else,i settled for asparagus,
along came the asparagus,looked well presented but tasted sour like it had been blanched a week ago and gone off,there was no salt so apart from the sour taste it had no flavour,
anyway hated it ,wont go back,it wasnt even busy,all about the enviroment but food and service was a total disaster.