I just wanted to “let the buyer beware” so to speak, that this place is run poorly, mostly due to the attitude and service of a manager - not the regular waiters and waitresses. On a Friday evening it was full at 7.10 (opening hour being 7pm) and as they only have one oven, I understand it takes time to serve everyone their pizzas. Having said that we ordered our food at 7.10 and our pizzas didn’t come till 8.25. We were given a couple of different excuses in an annoyed and rude tone, however no apology by anyone. Given we had seen a couple be seated and ordered and fed within 15 minutes we were somewhat annoyed. We did address our hunger with our waitress and the manager when 50 minutes had gone by but we were kept waiting another 25 minutes before we were served... The food is expensive yet it is good. And it is better than a lot of the pizzerias around town. I’ve been here twice now and have tried 5 different pizzas. The only thing I would not recommend is the regular calzone ($200) as it is watery when cut open so the water seeps into the crust. Their original ones such as the scarpetta (3 tomato) and the parmigiana are excellent. Reason being the crust is all this at the same time: bubbly, light and chewy and soft. The toppings just complement it very well, and it’s better than the pizzas I had in Rome and Florence... I also wouldn’t bother with their tiramisu. Expect to spend $500 for a glass of wine and one pizza per person. No reservations.

A couple weeks ago I was invited to a tasting at Rakuen in Lan Kwai fong. Now the Causeway Bay branch has been around for a while with quite a good following but this branch, in a somewhat nondescript building of LKF is much quieter (and comfier!) Anyhow, rather than giving us a set menu of selected dishes we were given a budget which we thought was much better as this allows for room for people with picky palates or allergies (*myself included)... Since they have a recent Okinawan chicken specials menu, we went ahead and ordered several dishes from there as well as Rakuen's signatures and staples.
Home Made Peanut Flavoured Tofu ($55): This dish is one of their signatures and it's not hard to see why - incredible flavour of peanut fills each bite of jelly-like creamy tofu. "Rich" would be one word for the texture - yum!
Umi Budo (Sea Grapes) aka Green Caviar ($65): This strips of green pearls, believe it or not, are actually a type of seaweed from Okinawa. It has a rather addictive texture - like caviar with a little more firmness to it or even popping boba for those who have tried. Taste wise, it's very light but definitely has a briny, taste of the sea; and was served with a light soy sauce.
Chu-Hi Okinawa Lime ($60): The manager at Rakuen very kindly treated us to (multiple) rounds of drinks. As we had work the next day I was a little hesitant but decided to go with this lovely and refreshing sour lime cocktail. If you like vodka-lime or mojitos, you're going to dig this!
Rudderfish with Salmon Roe ($110): This rudderfish is, I believe, in the same family as amberjack (kanpachi). This had a very light flavour and the flesh was quite soft with less oil compared to it's cousins, which meant the salmon roe (ikura) was a good match to give it a lovely salty and briny taste when eaten together.
Okinawa Chicken and Tofu with Potherb Mustard Salad ($98): One of our favourite dishes tonight was this simple-looking salad. Underneath the greens there's a layer of fluffy, mayonnaise and tofu dressed shredded Okinawan chicken... I don't think I have had anything like it. Think mayonnaise chicken sandwich fillings but elevated. mmhmm.
Jewel Leaf ($55): These are the greens of the cacti plant that have a slightly crunchier texture to salad greens and was very fun to eat. Served with mayonnaise and light soy - mix both together for a creamy salty dip!
Stir Fried Bitter Gourd with Pork ($78): I'm not a fan of bitter gourd but dipped in soy the bacon and bitter gourd combo was quite enjoyable. On it's own, we all agreed it lacked a little seasoning.
Smoked Pork Knuckles ($68): One of the least impressive dishes for me - the knuckles lacked crispy crackling and was all fat underneath...
Grilled Okinawa Chicken Wings with Pepper & Salt ($85): A little pricy for four pieces of wings if you ask me - these were well-seasoned but nothing memorable to write home about. Perhaps a longer time on the grill would have given it a crispy skin that I was looking for...
Deep Fried Okinawa Chicken with Okinawa Tofu Tartar Sauce ($90): Due to my allergies I was unable to try the battered fried chicken but from what I heard it was delicious! The glaze on the chicken is a sweet, sticky one and the tofu tartar sauce underneath with the greens underneath is a combination of mashed tofu, mayo and tofu pieces.
Deep Fried Okinawa Chicken Drums with Okinawa Powder Salt ($88): Given my allergy I was unfortunately unable to try this either... but this was demolished by the end of the night. Who doesn't like fried chicken anyway?!
Deep Fried Lotus Root ($60): Like crisps but better, made to order and fried to perfection with a spicy-sweet tomato sauce.
Fried Rice with Squid Ink ($78): This was another delicious creation of Rakuen. Save for the very undercooked egg (the picture shows you a full sunny-side-up!) and the rice being too soft, the flavour was outstanding as it had a smokiness from the frying process "wok hei" that one seldom finds in many of the Chinese restaurants around town when you order fried rice. The squid ink is not too apparent, more for colour... my only recommendation would be to add more squid to it for a varied texture within this dish. All in all, a dish I definitely recommend others to order!
Sashimi Platter ($480): The selection here was quite a good one, my favourites being the sweet and very fresh sea urchin, the snapper, the sweet scallops, and the greater amberjack which had a more chewy texture than the rudderfish above. Less-so was the tuna which was quite oxidised and not very fresh...
Turmeric tea ($40): Upon F's recommendation, Nini and myself ordered this Okinawan specialty to help the alcohol pass from our bodies more quickly... It was definitely interesting as although I often find turmeric in foods I've never had it as a drink. It was quite mild so it wasn't bad but I definitely would prefer matcha over this!
All in all an incredibly delicious Okinawan meal with only a few misses... I am definitely going to be back very soon to try out the other items on their regular menu!

Since its opening, TWG has been fully packed every time I walk by (often, i tell you). There are queues any time of the day, and todays visit was no less than a twenty minute wait. As we were finally seated we were given the all day dining menu and an extensive tea menu to peruse through. I did like the sound of the menu, consisting of many french options, and the brunch and tea options sounded appetizing. Most if not all items had some kind of TWG tea infused into the food, whether it was in the vinaigrette or in jelly and jams or in sauces, which I found pretty interesting.

We ended up order two kinds of tea - White House (smelled a bit like berries) and Napoleon (smelled sweet, like caramel and spices) ($90 each for a pot), and the following food: Summer quiche ($120) was slightly burnt on top, but the crust was thin and very well made. The cream sauce it claimed to be served with was missing and the salad with a green tea infused vinaigrette had no detectable green tea flavour. On its own the vegetarian quiche was quite enjoyable. Beef tenderloin ($228) as per the menu was meant to be served with mash, except it came with fries. We weren't told of this beforehand, which was quite odd, but the food was quite well. The beef albeit tiny in size, was a perfect medium, and beefy in flavour. The gravy was nice with the fries and meat too, but the Polo Club Tea was again undetectable. The Roast Apricot Cod ($188) was nicely done, fish perfectly cooked, apricot tea sauce was nice. And the matcha salt in the mash was distinct this time. I could taste the green tea! It was most odd, but I liked it...

We had several issues with the service, or lack thereof, but it may have been due to the fact that it had only opened recently. The waiters and waitresses had little knowledge about the menu and different teas. Only the french managers (we saw two, one for the restaurant one for the tea counter) knew their products and menus inside out. Our waitress mixed up several names and flavours in her head and couldn't regurgitate what she had probably been told during training. Also, when our tea got very strong towards the end, we were refused the request of having hot water added to dilute the flavours a little. "no refills" apparently... I could hardly call adding water a 'refill' but what a waste of tea leaves! Whilst the brunch / breakfast / tea / pastry items on the menu sound promising I might give it a while more before a return for them to iron out their issues.

A couple months ago I came here for a dinner. There was only three of us but since we wanted to try different things we ended up with a lot of left-overs =P. Our Peking duck ($598) was pretty good. The skin crisp, though it could've been carved a little more uniformly. Sha Tin 18 would still probably be at top of my list of Peking duck (skins) in HK, but this one comes close. There were three kinds of pancakes / wraps served. This green one pictured had ginger and spinach in them, and there was an orange one with carrot and garlic, and another basket of plain ones. To be perfectly honest they looked real different but their difference in taste was not detectable, especially since they were used as a vehicle to the food (though i did try them on their own). What i did like about them was their paper-thinness, yet could easily be separated from one another with chopsticks. As the second 'course' of the Peking duck, there is a choice between three preparations, one was sliced and sauteed with vegetables, the other was diced and sauteed with vegetables and served in lettuce cups, we chose the third, which was sliced marinated roasted duck with a side of the marinade. We were happy with this dish, and although i would've preferred crispy skin the meat here was tender and flavourful, marinade was not too salty and very nicely seasoned. Spotted garoupa with taro, celery and mushrooms poached in chicken stock ($380) arrived next, and it was a nice dish - very clean and light, but nothing spectacular. The garoupa fillets were nicely done, but alongside the other items on the menu it seemed a bit boring... Rice with scallops and dried seafood in seafood soup ($218) was something i was looking forward too. For this dish, they is meant to be a little 'show' in that the fried rice is slipped into the seafood soup next to the table of diners. Our waiters didn't really catch our attention and we missed it, only seeing it for the first time in the serving bowls. Anyway, the rice went very soft very quickly, which misses the point of 施泡. The soup and diced scallops was quite enjoyable though. Lastly, braised seasonal vegetables with bamboo piths and shrimp roe sauce ($178) arrived, only to prove a disappointment. I badly wanted to like this dish, seeing that kai lan is one of my favourite local vegetables! But these weren't as 'seasonal' as they ought to be, in fact, tasted pretty old - especially the leafy parts. The shrimp roe sauce was a thick gloop, not very pleasant on the eyes or the palate really. Taking the price into account, this dish was honestly a complete miss.

Whilst we'd gladly come back for the duck dishes im hoping to be blown away by other dishes on the menu (truffles in chinese food should be interesting!) on my next visit!

Admittedly, this was not my first time here. I've been before when it first opened but wasn't particularly crazy about the food so never thought about coming back until someone suggested we try it again.

We decided to get their signature Prime Rib Dinner here there are 4 different sizes to choose from, smallest being the "California Cut" ($395), and largest being "Diamond Jim Brady Cut" ($600), none of which specify exactly how many ounces of meat is served up for each 'Cut'. We went with the second largest, the "Lawry Cut" ($495), which came with their "Famous Original Spinning Salad", and sides of Mash and Yorkshire Pudding and Horseradish Cream. Additionally, we ordered the "Roasted French Chicken" ($355) to share.

The Spinning Salad was dressed table-side and served with an icy cold fork, which in effect didn't really help cool down the leaves or anything - really a gimmick. Salad leaves were cold enough though, and quite fresh. Their house dressing is a lot like a thousand island, though perhaps slightly more tangy.

The Lawry Cut itself was also carved table-side, and we had ours 'medium-well' - it was definitely more pink than expected but given there was no bleeding it was fine. The meat itself had a very natural beefy taste, and the gravy which came with it was quite light and paired well with it, though nothing out-of-this-world.

The sides of Yorkshire Pudding and Mashed Potato were fine too. The Yorkshire Pudding I liked for its eggy-ness (is that even a word?!) and its slight chew which softens upon touching the gravy.

Our other main, the "Roasted French Chicken" was actually half of a spring (read: tiny) chicken, which meant that its serving was quite small for its asking price. Yes it is free-range and apparently French, but give me any local free-frange chickens cooked in the same method, there would be no difference and if there were, it would probably be juicier / tastier given the freshness. The chicken was moist enough, though the breast areas could've been more moist. The skin was not crispy either. With Lawry's own seasoned pepper and salt the chicken was tasty enough, but by no means spectacular.
It came with turned carrots, yellow squash, string beans and incredibly (wrong) chewy potato slices - it was as if they had grilled/baked it on high heat it after slicing till all the moisture/life had come out of the spud and then placed on the plate... unthoughtful and not appetizing whatsoever.

To round our meal, a Baked Alaska ($130), which is rarer than the other dessert options in HK. I've only had the one at Jimmy's Kitchen for all I can remember... Anyway, our Baked Alaska received a pre-torching on the meringue before it was brought out for the flaming rum treatment. Lawry's version had a very plain vanilla ice cream on berries and sponge cake inside a layer of slightly sweet meringue. Taste-wise, very monotone but balance of sweetness was good. The rum was lit before being poured on the meringue for show (and yes a bit of sweetness) but unfortunately I had a bite in which the alcohol had not sufficiently burned out and became way too sharp. Otherwise, a fool-proof easy-pleaser.

Lawry's decor makes it somewhat a special-occasion dining but frankly with these prices I could grab a much better meat-fix at a steakhouse. For a little more, the Steakhouse at Intercontinental is superb!

After the opening of Cantopop, IHM hit harder with Linguini Fini, an Italian eatery focusing on great homemade pastas, fresh organic vegetables and surprisingly impressive desserts. I went for lunch and dinner the same day after being rather impressed with the set lunch.

"sesame bread", in a (rather large) recycled anchovies tin
Served with olive oil, balsamic, butter, salt - all or any one! cute tin, no?

"insalata mista", starter from the set lunch
Lightly dressed with balsamic vinaigrette, these raw organic vegetables were great. The roasted red peppers were incredibly sweet. The cucumbers, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, red onion were superbly fresh and juicy when they needed to be.

L had a "Caesar salad" with parmigiano reggiano, croutons and an anchovy dressing which came with a single anchovyy on top.

"fettuccine funghi" ($98 with starter and tea / coffee for set lunch)
I thought this plate certainly tasted better than it looked (although if you scroll down you'll see that at dinner it does look tidier!).
The assorted mushrooms were packed with earthy mushroomy goodness, together with lightly coated fettuccine strands with castelmagno cheese sauce. Though I personally didn't like the radicchio (too bitter) it's there to cut the potential richness of the dish. Mushroom-lovers out there - please try this one.

"classic linguini fini pomodori" ($98 for set lunch with appetizer + tea/ coffee)
linguini fini is their signature pasta - so I was excited to try it when it was described. The pasta retains a bite despite its susceptibility to be easily over-cooked, and with the sweet and acidic cherry tomatoes in sauce I didn't even miss the meat. This photo was taken before the grated cheese - there's an option to have parmigiano reggiano grated on top: if you like a less-acidic sauce, have more!

Lunch ended with a choice of lavazza coffee (or lattes, cappuccinos, the lot) or tea.

Fast track several hours, I was back for dinner. We were served more of the sesame bread and then our orders began rolling in...

"Straccetti Di Manzo" ($98)
I'm not really in to the idea of rare beef. I had a bad experience once in an Italian restaurant, where rare (and more expensive) veal was served with a tonnato sauce, which was horrendous. Here, the beef was rare yes, but you don't taste any blood. The anchovy aioli was light, balanced, and complimented the beef and gorgonzola.... I'm converted!

"Caprese Salad" ($88)
Featuring organic tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and a 12-year balsamico.
Being served next to the beef and the flat bread, this caprese salad looked tiny and not what we expected for its price. At first I thought maybe it was a half-portion but the bill said otherwise. The green cherry tomatoes is a first for me in Hong Kong, and the mozzarella (from Posto) was equally great though one thin slice cut into three and stacked between a couple tomato slices didn't cut it in comparison to the other plates of appetizers we had. Perhaps the 12-year balsamic vinegar jacked up its price or perhaps we expected too much after eyeing the straccetti di manzo, but for us, the balsamic didn't stand out and the plate could easily use more of those sweet cherry tomatoes and a couple more slices of mozzarella.

"Fried Calamari" ($68)
The calamari battered in a some kind of milk batter (according to the waiter), I'm guessing buttermilk? The rings of squid weren't evenly coated and were cold and soggy, though I did like the red pepper aioli as the dipping sauce.
Our waiter asked us after the appetizers how our meal was so far and I told him our slight disappointment with the calamari, expecting him only to give feed-back to the chef for future reference and no intention to "return" it since it was already gone! But no, we were given another plate on the house - how's that for service?! Our second plate (below) was more evenly coated, had a better crunch and was definitely hot, though we still think the batter may not be the best for this super-tender calamari.... Whilst marinating calamari in buttermilk does lots to tenderize the protein, a light and airy batter might be more popular.

"Rosemary, Sea Salt, Garlic oil Flat Bread" ($48)
The flat bread was slightly too burnt around the bottom edges (the bottom was black!) but the top was very golden brown, crunchy, salty and aromatic with garlic and rosemary. I enjoyed its salty-crispiness a lot, but beware this does have a lot of salt. If salt's not really your thing go for the other flatbreads.

"Lamb & Sweet Onion Ragu with Fazzoletti" (instead of gnocchi) ($118)
Lamb Ragu Gnocchi was nominated, but since I don't like potatoes (i'm weird like that) we asked for another pasta to substitute. The chef recommended Fazzoletti to be paired with the ragu and we happily agreed. The ragu was hearty and well-seasoned; the handkerchief-like pasta softer in comparison to the linguini fini but goes great with this type of tender stewed meat.

"On Top of Spaghetti" ($118)
This is actually a single large meatball on top of spaghetti in a marinara-like sauce, served with garlic bread and "all covered with cheese". There isn't actually that much cheese when it's served - you have the option for more when your waiter/waitress comes to ask you. The meatballs were tender, seasoned great but after Posto Publicco's I'm not sure its as good for some reason..... its just a little lacking compared to Posto's. Anyway, the spaghetti again was perfectly cooked leaving a little bite to it. Hmm...

"Fettuccine Funghi" ($98)
Same as lunch, just prettier =P.

"Charred Corn" ($48)
Another vegetable that I don't usually like is grilled corn. I don't mind them in soup but on the cob, ones here in Hong Kong aren't usually sweet enough and just messy to eat. At Linguini Fini they're sliced off the cob and seasoned with chilis and garlic chives, good sprinkling of salt and pepper though none of these masks the incredibly sweet yellow vegetable. A great (but small) side dish.

"Chocolate Affogato" ($48)
My favourite dessert. This couldn't have been better for me. The marshmallow gelato on top was not too sweet and the biscotti tasted like a regular Graham cracker but with a harder crunch. The chocolate 'bowl' melts together with the ice cream when the thick and hot dark chocolate-espresso sauce is poured in. Of course, you can pour a little at a time to prevent it melting too quickly, but we let it melt... =)

"Tiramisu" ($48)
Not your average espresso-soaked lady fingers layered with sweetened mascarpone cream and sifted cocoa powder but this was a slightly twisted rendition using a chocolate-coffee flavoured gelato on top of light mascarpone cream and a sponge cake underneath to soak up the liquids, finished with a crumble of coffee cake.

"Lemon Olive Oil Cake" ($48)
Served with a scoop of creamy poppy seed gelato. Of course poppy seed doesn't have much taste so it resembled vanilla ice cream. The lemon cake had the texture of a pound cake, sliced and toasted before serving so it was dry and slightly warm - this is where the oil and gelato comes in to help moisten everything. I could hardly detect the lemon, but if advertised as plain, I really liked the simplicity of the dessert.

"Apple Crostata" ($48)
Served with apple caramel, yogurt gelato and a sweet potato cream.
Hmmm I had been warned the crust was doughy but my main issue with this dessert was rather with the apples. They were barely noticeable, and when I did find a piece it was very thin and dried out in the baking process, so it was slightly chewy... I'd prefer the apples sauteed with a slightly thickened sauce and added to the tart before baking to keep them moist. Otherwise, a very pretty dish.

"Almond panna cotta" ($48)
Reminds me of chinese almond-tea. Though this is not everyone's cup of tea, I enjoyed this ultra smooth panna cotta with the cooked sweet and tart cherry sauce, balsamico, and amaretti cookies for crunch. This and the lemon olive oil cake above were on the house, so thank you!

Honestly, Linguni Fini was a great find for me. The waitstaff were pleasant and keen about the restaurant, the majority of the menu items were reasonably priced and the food is great, especially the pastas, their (many) organic vegetables, refined desserts and I've learnt I do like rare beef done right. Now I'm just thinking when my next visit will be!

An incentive to work hard, this dinner was. After deciding against the very reasonable tasting menu, I finally decided on two courses with the help of the nice french waiter (actually, all of the waiters who served us was absolutely great, a completely different experience to Man Wah next door...) two types of buttersbread basket - baguette, sourdough, brioche

:chopstick:First amuse bouche: shrimp and mango in the spoon, pumpkin puree? in a sour-salty licorice black coating, butter cookie and deep fried tiny clams in the centre - to be honest it looked better than it tasted. I was quite disappointed with the many different elements of this amuse bouche.

amuse round two was some sort of cream flavoured with banana on top of shellfish - again, I didn't really like this amuse bouche.

amuse bouche round three: smoked haddock (white), seaweed salad (top), and lettuce wrapped bone marrow.
I must say that whilst the amuses were definitely quirky and fun they failed to please the palate... save for a couple the others were just lacking substance - the fried tiny clams were soggy, the second amuse with banana on seafood and cream was simply not a good match. First course: "lobster and murex" ($690) (part 1)
Down the middle was a blue lobster salad with ginger, aloe, walnuts, cebette, lime and olive oil. On the right was a lobster consomme jelly and on the left was a cream cheese-yogurt sauce.
Although each component was tasty on its own right when put together it was surprisingly fantastic and refreshing. The lobster was so sweet and perfectly cooked as well.

On the side with part 1 of the dish was their lime, ginger, aloe, olive oil, walnut 'salad'. Lobster quenelle in zezette broth (part 2)
light and fluffy quenelle of lobster and egg white in a rich bisque-like sauce.... yum! That sauce was strong in lobster and would definitely make an awesome soup.lobster enrobed in bisque with shiso leaf, and carrot underneath. (part 3)
last component of the lobster course was this. Again, the lobster meat was sweet and the carrot puree was a great match. rose champagne granita with pink grapefruit, limed celery and cucumber, burrata
This palate cleanser was refreshing but the burrata cheese was a little misplaced in the sweet and tart icy granita. Veal Fillet with Foie Gras on squid rings, red pepper sauce, ($680)
My second course was veal fillet with foie gras on squid rings - everything was perfectly cooked, though i personally didn't like the soft foie on tender meat... lose the foie and it would've been a perfect 'surf and turf' dish. Eggplant ratatouille
This was one of the sides which came with the vealmorels and shallot in cream sauce
Although potatoes were originally accompanying the veal, i asked for something else to substitute the (only) starch i detest. so in place of the spuds i received lovely morels in a earthy creamy sauce, in a pretty glass bowl. Morels are a pretty rare find in Hong Kong so the substitution was a nice surprise. "Seabass, Abalone and Grey Shrimp" ($630)
my mum ordered strayed from the tasting menu as well and ordered the roasted seabass fillet with red wine sauce. on the side (not photographed) was mashed new potatoes, mixed herbs and pink berries and 'marauder' toast. the fish was honestly cooked to perfection. crispy crust (slightly breadcrumbed) on the outside, extremely tender fillet on the inside, with a rich wine sauce to boot - no complaints here.

for the others, the tasting menu was the choice of the night.

tasting menu:

first course - foie gras, glazed pigeon fillets, marmalade of apple and shallots with cinnamon; gellified artichoke and star anise flavoured liquid; tomato iced pulp.

second - sole fish with watercress salad, leek stalks, green pepper.

third - lobster fricasse with fresh ginger, endive fondue and white balsamic vinegar, black forbidden rice (right top corner) which came with a surprise side of scallop topped with cauliflower

fourth - milk calf - end of veal loin with lime and honey, vichy carrrots

Fifth - goats cheese platter - 3 kinds.

Sixth - Grand Dessert course (below)

Although i did get to try most of the dishes i will refrain from giving detailed comments... I can however, say that all the proteins were perfectly cooked again, and i especially liked the lobster course - it was very different to what i had ordered but the flavours were very good. What wasn't that great was the capers crust on the milk calf... it was too much and thus too sour, overpowering the natural taste of the milk calf (veal)
before the grand dessert there was a goat cheese course paired with some apricot jam and frozen tangy sweet creme on cracker (not pictured).. if you are no lover of strong cheeses this plate was probably not going to be enjoyable.

Pierre's grand dessert course round 1:chopstick:meringues, jellies all tangy and lemon - was a close second to the chocolate mousse (below) - i loved the different textures and balance of sour (lemon) and sweet (meringue)
coffee ice cream with coffe foam and an espresso powdered cookie disc - the cookie was soft and not very appetizing. the ice cream was the only good element.
wild strawberries on strawberry foam - uninspiring, though i liked the cute mini wild strawberries.
Assorted jellies in coconut soup - this was edible, but not something i'd order.

Round 2mini tart with cheesy creme filling - the tart wasn't very fresh.
orange soup - this was quite interesting, as the bottom layer was a bitter-orange puree and the inner a sweeter tangy one, and so after mixing it was better.
chocolate crisps on chocolate soup with cubes of dark chocolate mousse - the fruit jelly at the bottom created a fun texture. this dessert i liked the most, which isn't surprising being a chocolate love, but honestly, the dark chocolate sauce was wonderfully rich in cocoa but light at the same time. the crisps on top were really crunchy for a textural contrast.

Pierre's strength tonight was definitely the friendly service and the execution of the proteins. perfectly cooked fish, lobster, veal, foie etc one after the other is not easy to find in Hong Kong and so for this, i really appreciated this dinner. that said, some of the pairings with the proteins didn't work too well, and the amuses and desserts could definitely have been stronger.

For a week, Da Dong was at Mandarin Oriental's Chinese restaurant, and if you don't already know, Da Dong is famed for their lean roasted ducks.... appetite-whetter of tofu, peanuts and diced duck meatza jiang mian (noodles with bean sauce) ($68)
the soft yet springy cold noodles beneath the pungent bean sauce was yumm.. and my only gripe was its tiny serving - literally 2 tablespoons of noodles at this price? sauteed Romanesco broccoli in broth ($138)
The English name of this dish on the menu wasn't properly translated - "vegetable" was what they called it, so we didn't know what to expect. Upon arrival, I realised I knew this vegetable - Romanesco broccoli which is in the brasicca family. I don't remember the Chinese name either but the taste is a cross between broccoli and more on the cauliflower side. The individual pieces looked like cute mini trees (only in white and light green). I personally like cauliflower a lot so this dish was great. Whole super lean Peking duck ($598)

these are smaller than the ones served at the other restaurants. Da Dong brought these babies in from China, but is there a significant difference? one duck, after sliced produced two of these plates. Whilst the duck meat was extremely tender and tasted 'ducky' (i.e. a little gamey but in a good way), I was disappointed with the lack of rendering done to the layer of fat. The few pieces of skin were crisp, but most of the others had a significant layer of fat underneath - so much for 'super lean'?one of the accompaniments for the Peking duck were these hollowed crispy shells - reminded me of a pita bread, only super thin and crisp! I liked these, but the more popular steamed wrappers were even better:super-thin, each piece easily separated from the next, right level of moisture with a slight chew...honestly i think the one of the best wrappers I've had? We were given two bamboo steamers of these wrappers and there were plenty to go around for the whole duck.The only way to go: a piece of crispy skin with a little granulated sugar, meat (okay, skin) candy!

Whilst the food was largely yum I thought for its reputation the duck could've been well... 'leaner' in its preparation method at least. We all felt Grand Hyatt's Sha Tin 18 might've done slightly better with the duck and in the noodle department too, but the wrappers here were certainly more than great.
Service was a little pushy for Mandarin...or any hotel for that matter. Our waiter was pushing us to order all these dishes when in fact we were here mostly for the duck. And honestly unless you're a party 5 or more what he was asking us to order was impossible.

For an improptu dinner a couple months ago we went to this place hoping to get some hearty authentic Thai grub. The three of us went for a couple Pad Thais, a Tom Yum Gong Soup and a Green Curry Prawn with rice.

Pad Thai ($56)
The two plates of rice-stick noodles were anything but authentic. The noodles were coated in a watery tomato sauce and was simply sweet, no tang of time and there was nothing savoury. The noodles should be fried dry but instead we got super soft noodles with big chunks of semi-cooked tomato slices and protein (dried tofu and chicken) that was not fresh at all.

Tom yum gung soup ($60)
The soup was a big bowl of salty and spicy broth with a couple overcooked shrimp, nothing more.

Green Curry with Prawn ($98)
There were about 12 sad little shrimps in a watery-thin green coconut sauce. Not spicy at all, and none of the sweet and spicy balance that green curries should have. The shrimps were not only small but stupendously over-cooked till they were basically mush in texture. I might as well left out the rice because that sauce was no where near good enough to pour over the rice.

The fact that every time I walk by this place it is full at dinner times (during the week) is beyond me. Perhaps its due to a lack of good restaurants but I do also feel that this is a try-once-no-next-time kind of place. The fact that there's all these photos of celebrities with the chef does nothing and I hope with time they realise their food is below-par and improve on their many basic dishes.

I wasn't able to find anything that I liked about this meal and my dining companions felt the same. Over-charged and disappointed, we left, swearing to not return again.

I think Sun Tung Lok's status sort of shocked everyone, with its rise to 3 michelin stars quickly after its move to Kowloon side. This visit was a trip to try out their 'higher end' dim sum (i say this because dim sum in HK is often not very expensive, being a breakfast / brunch type food for many), and whilst overall quite good it wasn't exceptional or mind-blowing.. "steamed scallop, shrimp and kale dumpling" ($42)
whilst the wrappers are translucent, much like the har gow dumplings (below) they were slightly less chewy. scallop and shrimp inside was perfectly done but lacking in that sweet seafood taste...

"steamed shrimp dumpling" ($45)
believe this was my favourite dim sum on this trip, with perfectly steamed wrappers and shrimp filling. "steamed rice flour rolls with turnip, enoki and Yunnan ham" ($45)
this was a close second to the har gow, being something slightly different than your much-seen fried dough (yao-tiew) in steamed rice flour rolls (cheung fun). i think it was the textural contrasts which drew me to it, but they could definitely have added a bit more ham (i could hardly taste any salt/chewy factor from the ham!). Baked abalone puffs ($60/2)
they arrived piping hot, well-browned pastry and with a yummy moist filling.

steamed barbeque pork buns ($38)
the barbequed pork inside was quite enjoyable, and the steamed buns soft, fluffy and not dry. "Stewed noodle with mini shrimp roes and abalone sauce" ($108)
noodles were way too soft and the taste of alkaline was quite strong. Baked sea conch shells ($88/ea)
quite spicy, would've liked some added textural contrast...like perhaps a thin layer of bread crumbs on top? the mix itself was diced conch, pork, onions and mushroom seasoned with curry powder.

"Fried rice with conpoy, shrimp and barbeque pork" ($148)
slightly oily but fragrant and seasoned nicely. the rice was fluffy, though the shrimp was disappointingly not fresh.

"spinach in superior stock"
sort of hard to screw up this dish, no? the vegetables were fresh and the broth was quite mild.

for lunch i think its best to stick to the dim sum - not that the other main dishes were terrible but honestly nothing new and could've been more special and at least executed more perfectly (use fresh shrimps please?)