RICKS Restaurant & Bar  

It was a very nice day outside today, and we were with a couple with a baby, so what we wanted was a place that was spacious enough for baby stuff, and 'open' because the weather was so nice. Greek food sounded good, but we peaked at Olive down the street and it was dark and empty and not 'open' (it was open in a literal sense), so we decided on Rick's instead.

The feel of Rick's is very easygoing, great for a casual Sunday lunch. The waitstaff seemed very friendly, and happy to accommodate children (you can't always expect that from a place with "bar" in the title). Here's a rundown of the food:

Lamb souvlaki: this is just grilled lamb skewers. This was kind of disappointing: there was less meat than I expected, they didn't come with anything like rice or a dipping sauce, and some of the pieces of lamb were intensely chewy. I would not order this again. C-

Grilled octopus salad: the salad looked pretty good, and the greens and tomatoes tasted fine. The octopus was low on flavor and also very chewy. I've been to some Greek places that really know how to grill octopus so that it's tender and juicy-- this is not such a place. D

Hummus: I've had way better hummus, but I can't complain too much-- I had an overall positive experience with the hummus and I thought the pita was pretty good too. B or B+

Sangria: You can only get half jugs or jugs of sangria, so my wife and I split a half jug... this is about 4 glasses. This was good sangria, not overly sweet, and not overly watered down with fruit juice. Maybe a little on the 'pulpy' side, but still good. A-

I hate to totally rag on this place, because I liked the atmosphere and the sangria, and I figure that there are probably things on the menu that are not horribly chewy. As it is, my jaw is a little sore from chewing so much through the meal. What's more, you don't get very much food, and while the escalators are pricey, you can normally fill yourself up for $180/ person at lunchtime... but not here. I think that I will not come here again.

Final score: C

Seated right away and tables moved to accommodate the baby.

Beers sorted straight away.

Tzatziki came with some lovely hot pita bread.

Meatballs - nice sauce and not overcooked. All good.

Stuffed calamari - really nice. The pork stuffing was good and went well with the squid itself.

Seafood medley - nicely presented, hot where it should have been hot and all tasted good - nice crispy deep fried onion rings too.

Chorizo sausage - nice, but a tad salty - more than it should have been, but was still enjoyed by all.

Beers kept coming.

Very nice staff, nice assortment of dishes and a nice chilled lunch over all.

Second time there and certainly not the last. The menu looks good throughout so I would be interested in eating my way through it. Really like the tapas style as well.

Great place.

We have visited Ricks around 12 times over the past 8 months and have had a great time up until last night. When we walked in there were no floor staff so we decided to seat ourselves. They came out and came and got our drink and food order. The food quality was terrible last night. Everything was under seasoned, grilled items were not grilled, chewy squid, scallops that were not properly cleaned. It was no where up to the standards that we had grown to enjoy. When I asked the server if they had a new chef in the kitchen to try to explain that this was not up to what we have previously enjoyed they switched to speaking in Cantonese and then walking off without saying anything to us. They seemed not to care that we were unsatisfied and made absolutely no effort to make any attempt to keep us as customers.

This used to be one of our go to restaurants that would be recommended to friends that needed a good quality meal. Since we have enjoyed many other dinners at Rick's we will try to go one more time, but I'm not hopeful that it goes back to the level it used to be at.

I ordered a lunch set - great value for you get: salad, soup, main course, tea/coffee, dessert. This was my second time trying the lunch set. Their steak is not very good. This time I ordered the shrimp - very good. The dessert was surprisingly tasty too. The best flan I have ever had.
I will definitely go back.

The only thing that was unsatisfactory is the waitresses' attitude. At lunch time, there are two waitresses. The waiter comes in and takes the shift after lunch time. His service is great! He made my visit a pleasant one. On the contrary, those waitresses have a very bad attitude. They are grumpy and arrogant. Next time I go back, I am going to complain to the manager.

Seated right away.

Staff immediately friendly and helpful.

Tsatziki came quickly and was really nice and fresh without too much garlic, which wouldn't have been a problem anyway and the pitta bread was nice, warm and fresh.

Set lunch - soup and salad followed by steak on crispy noodles followed by a creme brulee type thing with a coffee to follow. Awesome value for $78 per person. More than enough food and the steak was cooked really well.

Also ordered some lamb cutlets which, whilst being the same cost as the lunch, actually more, they were really chunky cutlets and not the usual thin cut chops you normally get in places.

Beer was cold and tasted fresh.

Great food, great price and will definitely be going back to try some of the other things on the menu as they looked really appetizing.

Nice environ, good staff and a good lunch.

very simple, rustic & quite minimalist in style, so comfy that don't want to leave!! For our main course, we have ordered crispy Pig Hock & seafood beetroot risotto and 2 pints. Risotto came first, taste unique with beetroot sauteed & creamy dill sauce. (probably i have had too much typical HK style mushroom cream sauce & tomato sauce). Shortly the pig hock arrived but deceptively overcook and you can tell it was home made due to the look of it. But they were surprisingly nice!! very rich in collagen with crispy on the outside. At the end, we had a tradition Greek dessert but forgot the name of it. After all, the food there is pretty decent and really suits my taste!!

hello,
i am greek and as a greek girl i can tlive without greek food.
i visited ricks restaurant and i would say i enjoyed the food and envirenement.
ok,it is not 100% greek food but there are greek people there very often and the music (which was greek of course)was excellent.
Food as I said was not the very traditional Greek food that I am used to but it was not ba,not at all and yes it enjoyed the feta cheese!!!!!

Craving greek food is something that will happen in hong kong with so few greek restaurants to go to. My boyfriend and i live in soho and decided to try rick's one night. upon first glance it appears as if they have excellent choices and prices.

the portions were a JOKE and the food mediocre. both of us got so frustrated we went to a second dinner

i do not recommend going at all

When the donut shop decided to close on the exclusive location of Elgin Street, I was relieved to think that HK-ers have given up on the American excess on sugar, at least on the pastry front. The idea of fried dough dipped in a sugar glaze as thick as glue and sweet enough to cause the teeth to fall off their cavities just thinking about it may not be our cup of tea afterall (and this comes from someone who's a sweets-junkie on most days -- Me. ) What comes after the renovation was open to speculation. When the blue-beige two-tone decor of Ricks was unveiled about 2 weeks ago. It reminded me somewhat of the indie success of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' some years ago. It screamed Mediterranean from inside out, except the name, perhaps?

Later I found out that just upstairs you'll find Rico's, the Spanish joint. Turned out, the obsession of Rico/Rick or any variations of the same name in different language rooted from the same company that owns Rico's, and Pizzeria Italia on Mosque Street. This is important information, read on you'll know why. We arrived on Good Friday to find out the set-lunch sign on the sidewalk. We read it through, but were unimpressed with either poached salmon or grilled chicken breast. When we settled in one of the seats in the corner, we were only given the set-lunch menu. I looked up to find my the waitress vanished in sight. When she returned we requested the a la carte menu, only to receive a not so friendly "you guys are such trouble" look. She shuffled the menus and handed to us. Looking into the choices, the pizzas and pasta caught our attention. We ordered one each. For Pasta we had the Linguine Catanese ($75). and for pizza, the Margherita Quattro Fomaggi ($95).

While waiting, we looked over to the tables with the set lunches, an old lady was munching on the grilled chicken breast with extra strength added. Those who ordered poached salmon got what they deserved -- pale orange tenders of salmon with an odd colour drowned in sauce, accompanied by the same veggie plating of cherry tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. The Pasta arrived first, The Linguine Catanese, turned out, has chunks of grilled eggplants in it. Linguine was cooked a little bit longer than al dente, then tossed in a rich tomato sauce flavored with bits of mozzarella and fresh basil. The sauce itself was tangy enough, but nowhere near the "sugo" I expected from a description that boasted of homemade sauces. The eggplant chunks remained the star here, with a strong punch of oregano in the seasoning and certainly stood out among a rather mild pasta dish.

While swiverling our forks against lanky strands of linguine, we noticed a special delivery by someone on a motorbike. A Man walked in with a plastic box, inside containing a pizza box labelled from that same pizzeria owned by the guys who own Rick's. The manager gingerly carried the box towards us, but made a detour when he saw us tracking the box with our eyes, into the kitchen. 10 minutes later our pizza arrived, steaming hot on a pizza plate. The Quattro Fomaggi, literally named "Four Cheeses", has Mozzarella, Teleggio, Fontina and Gorgonzola in it. The tomato base was thin but well flavoured letting the cheeses shine. Unfortunately the base was so crispy that it gradually flaked off by bits, much like water crackers. I've had thin crust pizza, but I've never had a pizza with a crust so toasty that the crust got thinner by the minute. The cheeses were gooey and tasted nice together, although I'd prefer a milder cheese to be used in one of the four, as the outcome was too salty. The fillng was alright overall, but I wouldn't count on the crust.

Out of curiosity, we asked of the pizza's origin. The manager claimed that the pizzas, every scrape of it, got made in the shop at the back kitchen, it's only because the day of visit turned out to be a holiday that the pizza got made at the pizzeria on Mosque Street, and delivered to the shop on request. It was a nice touch, but the story wasn't exactly believable, not in the way I was explained to. The service was not exactly prompt and the staff certainly didn't seem all that enthusiastic serving us, but they have managed to swallow any concerns or questions they have over us snapping pictures at the pasta, the pizza and the bar. I hope the quality of service and food will improve, as I hate to see a place with potentially good food go closing down like many that do so now...