Basement Restaurant  

For our group's annual xmas dinner, we went to this nicely decorated restaurant and was expected to be wowed. We have read many great reviews on open rice and have always wanted to try out their food.
For starters we ordered: -
1) seared scallops
2) mushroom soup
3) grilled shrimps
4) beef carpaccio
5) cheese platter
For mains, we tried:-
1) paella
2) sea bass
3) cod fish
4) sea urchin spaghetti
5) black truffle risotto
6) seafood spaghetti
The Experience:
[b]The Starters[/b] were overall fine, with the scallops being the best out of all five. The beef carpaccio was rather dry and not much taste to it, I thought I was eating cold meat.
The biggest disappointment came from the Mains. First, most of them were tasteless. I ordered the black truffle risotto, it was rather dry and after adding many pinches of salt and pepper to it, I still couldn't taste anything but just dry rice and mushrooms.
The paella, cod fish and seafood spaghetti were below par. Again, they were rather tasteless. For the cod fish, it was in between pan fried and broiled.
The worst was the sea urchin spaghetti! Once you put it in front of your face, you can smell some weird aroma. At first, my friends thought it probably came from stale sea urchin but soon found out that it came from the crab roe. We told the waiter our suspicion. They looked at the dish, didn't say anything and took it away. After about 15 mins, they took a new dish of spaghetti and told my friend that they have made another one without the crab roe. Instead of apologizing for serving stale crab roe, they said to my friend: "Next time, please tell us sooner."
A friend came late and we told him that most of the mains were below par and that it was safer to go with the sea bass. Soon after, it was made and served. However, before my friend could even begin eating, there was an insect within the dish of sea bass. One waiter came, apologized and told us to order something else. However, another waiter came and asked my friend: "Was the insect on the plate or it flew and landed on the plate?" I don't see how it is relevant as it has already become inedible. For the record, no insect was flying and it came with the sea bass.
Most of us were still hungry and we were going to order some desserts, but after the insect incident, we just couldn't give them another chance to ruin our evening. With that, we left and went for a second round elsewhere.
For this kind of ambiance and fine dining restaurant, you would expect at least decent service and acceptable quality of food. We end up paying around $310 per head and we didn't even order any wine or drinks.
Overall, I would say this restaurant is overpriced and none of the mains deserved the price you have to pay. It was one of the worst dinner experience one could ever have.
If you still want to try this tasteless restaurant by Homeless...I'd urge you to try their lunch menu instead. At least you won't be paying $300 to eat at a nicely decorated place and your meal is capped at $200.

Encountered this secretive, hidden, tucked-away little jewel while strolling along Gough Street one lazy saturday afternoon.

About the food:
- Excellent. Nuff said. You can feel how much passion the chef has put into the dining experience simply by glancing through the menu.
- There's always a little surprise, whatever dish you order, whether it's with the presentation, the herbs used, the cutlery etc. As you can see from one of the photos, the spag was separated from the beef. Interesting.
- the ONLY complaint I have is about the dessert. Personally I do not like cream-based desserts, e.g. panna cotta, or mousses. But they served them during my two visits there. Pity.

About the service:
- Excellent. Attentive staff, polite, helpful.

Environment:
- Secluded, quiet, dim lighting, could be quite romantic!
- There are loads of books for you to read while waiting for a friend. Related to food, interior design, travel, whatever.
- the design is extremely fascinating.

Bathroom:
- one of the most rustic restaurant bathrooms I've visited. But it's worth it. Don't forget to visit once while you're there

Basement is a low key restaurant with style.

You might not spot it out when you walk pass, because it is a restaurant without BIG banner and colourful facade. It is all black. But if you look carefully, you will realize Basement is a very detailed and delicate restaurant. Just like their business card. This is how I found out this place.

I gave them my first trial with my other 3 colleagues. We booked 12:30 pm for lunch. When we went there, it was so quiet. Restaurant is pretty spacious, so it is very comfortable to spend time there.

Once you walk in, your attention will be drawn by the deco of the restaurant. There are so many designer stuff, like their furniture, tableware and cutlery. Dining out Basement is an experience not only about food, but also the enjoyment of the atmosphere. the environment created for customers. My colleague said she felt like she was in New York Restaurant.

Looking at the menu, they serve mainly Italian food. Heard Risotto is good. I ordered a steak set lunch. The set lunch comes with appetizer (soup or salad); Main dish; Coffee and tea ; and dessert. And mine was $108. Set lunch price range is from $ 88 to $ 118 sthg like that. We didn't expect there would be a dessert, as it didn't state in the menu. It was chocolate cake in brownie size. The dessert was good too. Chocolate was so rich but not too sweet and heavy. And the size was just right.

Comparing the price, the quality and portion are actually above value. The steak size was reasonable. You could taste the aroma of char-grill from the steak, which was very impressive.

We both had great time at the Basement. And the most important thing is you don't feel the pressure that you have to leave. We just felt so comfortable, eat and chat. It is just a very nice place to meet your dear friends and catch up with each other.

Food and environment are good here. And it is good for value as well. I gave Basement a thumb up and definitely will come back!

Extra: Not sure this is for dinner as well, they give you a stamp when you spend $100. When you collect 8 stamps, they give you a $88 value lunch for FREE!! And the stamp colour looks nice to keep in your wallet!

I heard this place is good, and this was my 1st time here.

The restaurant is a real restaurant. Not a bar as I expected. The deco is real nice because it apparently is related to the shop Timeless. Each chair inside the restaurant is different but all black. There is a bird clock on the wall that chimes on each hour.

First, came the drinks. I did not expect too much from a restaurant to provide good cocktails. I was surprised. The sex on the beach was good!!! I had two.

Then came the food. I had the paella, which was more than enough for one person, but it was delicious.

My friends said theirs were just fine as well.

I tasted a bit of the apple crumle which was also very good, but i was already stuffed from the paella.

5 of us ate at this restaurant few weeks ago on a sat night, at the time it had been open for around 3months according to our waiter.

we started by ordering a bottle of white wine. since it wasn't cold, the waiter told us to wait while it chilled. 1st of all, this is summer, and wines are supposed to be kept at a cool temp and not hk summer room temp so it shouldn't be not chilled in 1st place. fine, we waited. and waited, and waited. 30mis passed, several complaints, still no wine. finally we said, just bring us the bottle even though not chilled and a bucket with ice to chill at the table. bottle arrives, seperate with bucket and ice. the waiters did not even know how to put the bottle in the bucket, THEN put the ice in and some water so the iced water surrounds most of the bottle. they just sat the bottle on top of the ice at the bottom, so ur just chilling the bottom of the bottle. DOH! we had to dig the ice out ourselves and try to put the bottle in first, then the ice on the side. the waiter actually stood there and let us do it, then another waiter saw and offered to help us. WTF?

then our food came and i swear 4 out of 5 at our table had to add a copious amount of salt and pepper to each dish as it was all tasteless! main course came and same situation. and we already ordered their most popular/signature dishes. fine we didn't complain since it's not that expensive, but still, i'd rather not waste my calorie intake on tasteless food!

dessert time, hoping it would be the saving grace. unfortunately they had poor staff training. we asked for explaination of 2 of the desserts on the menu. the waitress didn't know and had to go and ask and come back to tell us. clueless but, ok, fine. after we ordered it, another waiter came over and said sorry this is sold out. we were one of the last tables left, they should've told us when we asked for the explaination! anyway, hopeless to complain to stupid people so we tried to order something else. b4 my friends ordered, i asked, ok let's be sure before we order, ANYTHING ELSE on the menu is sold out? THEN the waiter said, oh, yes 1 more, this one. WTF AGAIN! are these people on CRACK??? we were so disappointed, didn't even want to order anything anymore.

only 1 person at our table said the food was OK. all the rest stuck their tongues out. maybe others would have better luck but at 20% hit rate, i'll pass.

I like the restaurant, the atmosphere and ambience. But the food isn't that great. We spent $884 for 2 people with the following food: 1 glass of white wine, 2 appetizers, 1 risotto, 1 beef, 1 dessert.
Appetizers:
Salmon salad is pretty good, but you can never go wrong with that.
The mushroom appetizer was so disappointing, it was just plain "mushroom". Even the deep fried mushroom was so gwai-lo, nothing special, not much taste to it
Main:
Beef was claimed to be a USA beef, but I couldn't taste anything at all! For a $320+ beef, it taste just like any other beef which worth $100.
Mushroom risotto was nothing special, the risotto is a bit tough, not much taste to it either.
Dessert:
The tiramisu claimed to be their specialty, with 3 mini portion of tiramisu: crispy, bailey, kalua. But it is basically cream with a mixture of some bailey, kalua taste to it. As much as I love dessert, I didn't even want to take an extra bite to waste my quota.

The service was so-so, as if they couldn't care-less.

Overall, it's not worth it. I do love the interior, but food......don't expect anything.

I'll be out of town for a few months, so this will serve as my final review until I return to Hong Kong, I've had a really fun time going around and trying new restaurants, and cannot wait to do it again soon.

This restaurant was not easy to find! Located just off Gough street, you'll have to walk down a steep staircase to find it. Upon entering, the decor and atmosphere looked promising. It had an eccentric, off-beat setting that my girlfriend adores, and the music and lighting made it seem romantic, yet chic and relaxed. The raised kitchen was a nice touch, and the restaurant was surprisingly spacious.

The menu contained many easy-to-like items, so deciding was a chore, and our anticipation-levels were shot up a notch. We ended up going for the Basement Chef's Salad and Wild Mushroom Soup (with Porcini) for the appetizers, Seafood Angel Hair Pasta and Roasted Game Hen for the mains, and Vegetable Lasagna and Baked Baby Potatoes for the sides. Their drink menu did not strike me as particularly complete, but they did have Boddingtons Ale, which is always a good choice.

The appetizers came promptly (always appreciated), and the Chef's Salad turned out to be roquotte accompanied by ginger-infused salsa stuffed in a tomato. The concept was good, but the staff did not offer any instructions, so we just dug in. At first we tried the ingredients separately, then together, but either way it just did not hit the spot. The salsa didn't contain much zing, and was horribly overwhelmed by the bitterness of the roquette. The ginger, though initially refreshing, become tiresome after a few mouthfuls.

The Wild Mushroom Soup, on the other hand, was good. We were struck with the luscious aroma, which really whet our appetite. It was a thick creamy broth of real mushrooms with a generous dash of truffle oil. The soup was solid, but I can't help but feel (with some guilt) that it reminded me of a lesser version of the mushroom soup from Pizza Express (of which I did a review).

Our mains arrived shortly after. The Seafood Linguine was deconstructed, with the broth and ingredients separated from the pasta. Again, the staff offered no instructions, so I mistakenly (I think) suggested to my girlfriend that she should pour some soup into the bowl of pasta. This was a bad idea, since it made the pasta even soggier. The taste of the broth was decent, but the noodles - which were cut up - were overcooked and a little disappointing. The seafood was not anything special.

I was hoping that the Roasted Game Hen would redeem a so far mediocre meal, and in some ways it did. The taste was fantastic - a smoky and savoury barbeque flavour - it was grilled fairly well, and texture was extra gamey. However, there were places where it was charred a little excessively, and the reduction (sauce) that accompanied it didn't complement the taste much.

The sides, to put it bluntly, were disappointing. The Vegetable Lasagna was unoriginal - pieces of veggies fit between flour with a tomato sauce. It's taste was mediocre but nothing special. The Baby-baked Potatoes were infused with a cheese and ham mash, but was tasteless. Perhaps it was an off day, but I would not recommend their sides.

Still, we had a lot to eat and could only manage one dessert between the two of us. We decided on the Strawberry Parfait. This was perhaps the most memorably part of the meal - it caught me by surprise, and the taste was refreshing and original. The dish was strawberries weged between two slabs of custard (though it tasted like sherbet). While not the most luscious dessert out there, it contained a nice balance between richness and freshness, which I enjoyed.

This restaurant really seems to have a lot of potential. Perhaps next time service could offer some help on how to properly eat the deconstructed dishes. Come here for an out-of-the-box experience, but don't expect to be dazzled.