Bondi Cafe    

Overpriced - the price shown in open rice is obviously mislead. We paid around 300 for each person.

Set dinner menu only - no other choice of food except the overpriced menu with two options only, ranging from 288-320.

Environment is not so nice given that it is located in a poorly renovated industrial building. Lift and corridor are so much like in an industrial building!!! Indeed it is!! Interior is ok but just with minimal decoration. I don't see any heart of the owner in making the place nicer. Cutlery is cheap, chair is cheap.. The environment is really just so so given the overpriced menu

Tables are too closed to each other - I can overhear anyone saying next to my table. And indeed someone (guess it is the owner) was speaking loudly that we cannt really enjoy the whole nite!

Food is not fantastic - can see that the chef is not making the food with heart. Dressing and sauce are just minimal. The tendorlion is ok but without sufficient sauce. Too dry.. The hot chocolate is served with ordinary water glass, therefore not with an ear. We hardly carry the glass before it is cooler..

The French expression "cuisine soigné" means (roughly) "cooking with care." And that is really true of this new cafe in an old industrial building in Lai Chi Kok. The owner and staff take real care to produce a dining experience that is a cut above many more expensive places on HK Island and Kowloon.

We read about the place in a local newspaper article, and booked a table on a Friday evening. The building -- located only half a block from Exit A of MTR Lai Chi Kok station -- is very industrial looking, and rather grotty on the outside, but it has a number of restaurants in it, judging by the photos in the lobby; this one is on the 2nd floor. The place was very full at 8 pm, but we only waited a couple of minutes for our table to be cleared. As soon as you step in the door, the ambience is bright and warm -- brick walls and sunny photos of Bondi Beach in Sydney enliven it. (Ken, the owner/manager, was brought up in Bondi.)

On this evening, the staff was clearly stretched to serve all the lively tables, but they managed without huge delays. (I would try to plan my next visit for a weeknight, for a bit more personal attention.) There were four people on duty, and two spoke native-quality English (which was a bit of a surprise, as we were far from the Anglo ghettos of Soho and Happy Valley.....)

The menu is short, including appetizer, soup, small portion of pasta of the day and then a choice of four main courses (fish, steak, pork or lamb). They prefer to concentrate on a limited number of choices and do them well -- and I would say they succeed fully!

We had:
-- a plate of small appetizers (rare beef, wonderful tasty mushrooms and a smoked scallop) on lettuce leaves -- very tasty!
-- a bowl of sweet corn soup (flavorful, but a tad too sweet for my taste -- tasted a bit like a HK dessert soup)
-- a small portion of fresh egg pasta with a large sweet clam. Wow, that pasta was wonderful -- it was clearly excellent-quality fresh pasta (not the dried stuff) and the waiter reported it was cooked with cream and butter, but the sauce was very lightly applied, with no evidence of cream actually on it. So no heavy "cream-sauce" appearance; just a really great taste! I could have eaten three more portions.
-- A tenderloin steak, perfectly pan-fried "medium" as requested, so still pink on the inside, with more of the yummy mushrooms on the side.
-- A large pork chop with a light gravy. (My companion was sufficiently impressed to eat every bit and never offered to share, so I can't provide more details.)

They don't seem to have desserts on the menu, but coffee is included and oooooohhhhh do they have GOOD coffee! It was the evening, so I had to order decaf, and even that was thick and sweet and full of flavor, without a hint of the bitterness one sometimes finds in decaf. The latte was a dessert in itself!

The all-in cost for this was $368 per person, which made it a real good value! (They advertise "no service charge.")

They have no license to sell wines, so you can bring your own for a very modest corkage charge (which they sometimes waive).

So all in all we had a fine meal, in very interesting surroundings (le vrai Hongkong!) and the price was quite moderate. Well worth the trip.

I totally agree with nicihk. This cafe owner, Ken, really has the heart on every food and drink!Appetizer: smoked salmon salad. No salad sauce but the fish oil deeply mixed with the fresh veggie.

Rosé: The cafe still couldnt sell wine, therefore, this was free. Ken said this tasted good with the salad and the prawn pesto spaghetti. And this wine wasnt too sweet/girly. (I dont like sweet wine) It was good and rich!Prawn pesto spaghetti: Prawns were so fresh and big. Pesto filled up the whole dish! The portion was big! Very homemade. I love it!Lamb chop: It was NZ lamb chop. Thick, juicy and full of fresh lamb taste. Well matched with the red wine Ken provided.Rosé and red wine: The wine was free. Ken said this French red wine was a gift from his friends. I am looking forward to see the Oz wine and Pinot Noir he said he would import.Latte and piccolo: Ken made these 2 cups. I could smell and taste the freshness of the bean cos they wont keep the bean for a long period. The taste was rich, creamy and fresh."fine coffee, fine wine, fine food" is the spirit of this restaurant. I hope they can keep this spirit and freshness. I enjoyed the (my husband's) bday dinner so much!