Great atmosphere for sure. Feel like you are in Vietnam. But food is really soso… Order a pho. Soup is not even warm. The taste is ok but definitely nothing wow. The beef is wayyyy too tough. Thought the add on egg would be a nice, sunny side up egg but it’s just a raw egg on top of the pho. For a pho charging $100 this is not acceptable. Eggplant is nice. Like the fish sauce dressing with the eggplants. The halibut is tender and moist. But the whole dish is too dry to serve the vermicelli. Wish they leave the oil on the pan to the plate for the vermicelli. Service is warm and attentive. Wish the food was great as well.

Got invited by a friend for a Sunday lunch. Private room is arranged. And only one dining group in the hall that afternoon. Had a tour at Forty-Five. Love the art pieces and interior design. The view of the rooftop bar is spectacular. Unfortunately overpriced for an average quality of drink. Definitely have to catch up with other bars in the same area. Drunken Crab with 25-years Hua Diao Wine This is my very first time to try raw crabs. Always not a big fan of raw crabs. Pretty sweet. A bit unbearable. Maybe some toasts or rice can be a good match to go with the crab to lower down the sweetness? Crispy Eel with Sweet Vinegar Crispy eel taste like pork to me. Average dish. Chilled Abalone Marinated with Nu Er Hong Shaoxing Wine Probably my favourite dish of the lunch. Abalone is cooked right. Tender, with lovely shaoxing fragrance. Smoked Pigeon with Soy Sauce & Spices Slightly dry. But the flavour is definitely there. Well seasoned. Skin is crispy. Double-boiled White Cabbage with Jinhua Ham in Chicken Soup Always need a good soup in between course in a Chinese meal. Deep-fried Mandarin Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce Fish is deep fried and crispy. Sauce is a bit too sweet for me. Stir-fried Crab with Rice Cake with Seafood Sauce It’s pretty good. But definitely need some “wok-hay”. Good seasoning tho. Hot sour spicy soup This one is a nono! No seasoning at all. Clay pot Rice with Crab Meat and Fish Maw First of all, it’s not served or cooked in a clay pot. At the end they serve this crab on top of plain rice. A bit disappointed. And I could barely see the fish maw. Potstickers Average. Nothing special. Their siu long bao is up to standard. Overall, food quality definitely need to be improved a lot to match with the high class interior and great atmosphere. Or else, they’ll have difficulties to attact guests to come back.

Not sure where my luck came from. I got invited to a lunch at the Chef’s table at Gaddi’s by two regular guests from Gaddi’s. After a glass of champagne in the hall, got lead to their kitchen by their lovely staffs. It’s my first time ever to dine at chef’s table at a restaurant. I definitely couldn’t hide my excitement. Menu of the lunch Some chit chat with the chefs before the lunch started. Felt lucky they showed me their amazing chocolate room, where the magic happens. I’m happy to stuck there for hours just to shape the chocolate. Amuse bouche and puff Puff is so amazing! So soft and light like a feather. A cold soup to start and wake up our palates. Very refreshing! This is an extra course by chef. Very generous amount of caviar ❤️ French Veal Sweetbread Ravioli, Broadbeans <<a la Francaise>> Such a spring dish with all the colour! The veal ravioli is cooked perfectly! Normally I think ravioli dishes are always pretty heavy. This one is not heavy at all. Broadbeans and the dressing makes a good balance of this dish. Coastal New Zealand Lamb Rack, Eggplants, Red Pepper Coulis Medirum rare lamb rack is nicely done! So moist and juicy in the middle. Love the smoky flavour of red pepper. Guanaja Chocolate Tart, Sea Salt Chocolate Sable A perfect finish! Which lady can say NO to chocolate? Some more chocolate Menu of the lunch A small orange cake to go! What an extraordinary dining experience! Amazingly warm services and hospitality, outstanding quality of food, with good company! I can never have enough of this. Hope my friends can bring me to the Chef’s Table again (soon)!

Causeway bay is not my fine dining area. I normally grab local food like cart noodles in CWB only. Catching up with an old friend and he wanted to try this restaurant out after reading the review. I told myself not having any high standard for this…… Once I got there, I felt the atmosphere was pretty awkward. The setting is more liked a night bar or club. Felt weird to dine in such setting. It’s a weekday and only 3 tables including us. We chose a set menu for 2 pax and ordered a salad from the a la carte menu. 2 glasses of wine come with the set menu. Pomelo salad with prawn Taste alright. Nothing special. Sashimi platter. Seafood is super fresh. Thumb up to this. pan seared foie gras Taste good. Abalone risotto The dish I like the most. Risotto cooked nicely. Duck confit The veg is undercooked unfortunately. Suckling pig Crispy skin. But a bit heavy as a 2nd main course. We couldn’t finish this. Dessert is really below average. Overall food is ok but I do find the atmosphere is a bit awkward. And definitely overpriced.

SEP was on my “to-try” list right away when it’s launched. Found an adventurous friend to try their tasting menu. Pretty classy interior. Decent size of private room is also available. One thing I dislike about is the wooden floor. It’s not high heels friendly. Feel a bit embarrassing to create noise every time I walked in the dining room. We picked the more complex menu $1680. Btw, the chef draws all those cute illustrations on the menu. Mark up of the wine is quite high. Pineapple lager Pretty refreshing start. As a drinker, this is obviously too small. They serve two dips and recommend guests to try them out in different courses. I do like the classic fish sauce one to go with this bamboo leaf ham. Using Okinawa Yamato pork to make this traditional Viet sausage. District 4 Midnight bbq pork Good they serve some crunchy pickled vegetables to go with bbq pork. Do think the pork is a bit dry. Nha Trang Surf Clams It’s hokkigai, one of my favourite clams. Temperature is just right. Who doesn’t like a fresh shellfish? Mekong Spring roll One of the signature dish. Using carabinero wrapping Vietnamese spring roll. The roll is crispy. And I can never say no to carabinero. Best part is you can squeeze all the good part from the head and wrap whole thing with the lettuce. My friend is allergic to prawn so they replace the dish with escargots. Earthy flavour with lot of herbs. Pretty good in a non French style. French Quarter Toothfish Cooked with dill, shallot, turmeric. Fish is moist and tender. Wrapped in leave and got a a lovely citrus flavour. Hoi An Old Town Poulet Using Hong Kong local 3 yellow chicken. Chef has dried aged the chicken. Chicken is juicy and crispy on the outside. Pretty decent chicken dish but I definitely had a better one. Here’s come the signature main course. Hanwoo 1++ Bun Bo Hue. They spend 36 hours on making this broth. Beef is definitely high quality. For me, the lemongrass and citrus taste is too much in the broth. I’d prefer the traditional more meaty flavour broth. Hanoi Campfire S’more It’s pandan leaf ice cream/ custard inside, wrapped with a homemade marshmallow. I wish I could have this every time if I am doing a camp fire. We do enjoy this creative dessert a lot! Overall, it’s a pretty interesting dining experience. Good peep on a classic Vietnamese cuisine to express in a modern French way.

Because of Censu, Enishi carrying a big name and big noise as one of the newly opened teppanyaki in town. We tried the omakase teppanyaki lunch $888 on a Sunday. The counter was full of guests who looked forward to the teppanyaki lunch. Wine is at least mark up double. Won’t complain. It’s normal. The Takano couples served 12 guests today. We were served by Chef Toru Takano. Soon chef Toru showed us the main ingredients for the lunch. Bean curd, some vegetables. For protein, there’s sawara fish and wagyu steak. Potato salad Special plating with the chips. Look like a plant/ flower. Not bad. Hamachi crudo Hamachi is fat and fresh. Good match with yogurt and a bit citrus. Perfect for summer! Bean curd soup I love bean curd! This soup with silky smooth bean curd, is great to clean my palate for the main course. Sawara Fish is still very moist. Love the super crispy skin making a contrast. Some vegetables before serving the steak Wagyu steak, wasabi leave Wasabi leave is so interesting. Definitely my 1st time to try it. Love the gentle kick add to the super juicy wagyu beef. A classic for teppanyaki Dessert Food is above average. Food quality is great. Staffs are nice but servers seems a bit dull. Just want to simply introduce the dish. It’s definitely a pretty decent restaurant. But standing out from other teppanyaki restaurants may have to do something different and engage more, in order to attract guests keep coming back.

Thanks for a friend inviting me, finally can visit Hop Sze which I am dying for. My friend already preordered the dishes so we can just sit back, relax and enjoy some wine. Handwriting menu Prawn Toast Classic dish! Really generous amount of prawn paste on top of the toast. Super crispy! Great start for the dinner! Pig lung, almond, soup This soup is what I need exactly. Never had one with strong flavour of almond like this one. Deep fried Pak Choy Another classic Chinese dishes. Crispy outside, soft inside Threadfin, chicken oil, Xiao Xing Wine This is one of the signature dish I was dying for to try and it didn’t disappoint me. Threadfin is so tender and it was cooked just right. The fragance from chicken oil with Xiao Xing wine was amazing! It spread across the dining room right away. Very impressive! Infused tea chicken Chicken is soft and juicy. Skin is slightly crispy. The infused tea did dilute creasy feeling. We do enjoy this dish a lot. Crab with rice roll Crab is huge and meaty. Easy to get the meat out as kitchen smashed the shell a bit. The rice rolls absorbed all those seafood juice and sauce. I can exchange crab with more rice rolls! Stir fried glutinous rice This dish shows how skilful this kitchen is. Each rice just slightly stick with each other. Texture is just right. Not too high nor too soft. Definitely a very strong finish for the dinner. Thumbs up to all the staffs there. All of them are very friendly and caring. Feel like taking care by own uncles and aunties. Such a warm atmosphere.

Can’t believe my first visit was almost 4 years ago! So happy it survives from the covid! And of course for a good reason. 2 of us wanted to try more dishes so we didn’t go for set lunch. But $298 without service charge is definitely a winner in Central for a decent lunch. Mixed Pitted Olives Focaccia Focaccia is hot and soft with a beautiful fragrance. Would definitely have more if we hadn’t ordered lot of dishes. Cured Hamachi Tartare Turnip, Yuzu Kosho, Yamaimo, Spring Onion Dashi It’s a light dish. Do miss the fresh seafood flavour from the hamachi tho. Ox Tongue & Crispy Tripe Mushroom Miso Paste, Peanut Sauce, Siu Tong Choi A dish full of Asian flavour. Ox tongue is so good. It’s in thick cut and grilled perfectly. Potato & Mushroom Dumplings Sauce Soubise, Fresh Truffles, Mushroom, Parmesan Crisp Can’t believe this is a vegetarian dish. Big dumpling filled with potato and mushroom. Sauce is so creamy. Black truffle makes everything better! “Cha Siu” Glazed Octopus Smoked Cauliflower Puree, Brassicas, Ginger Oil, Spring Onion Octopus is cooked perfectly. Really tender inside. But the cha siu rub did confused me a bit. Didn’t feel like I was having seafood. Guess I prefer a simple way of cooking seafood instead. Prawn Risotto Calédonien Blue Prawn, Crispy Pork Skin, Spring Onion Interesting to put fried pork skin to create a crunchy texture. Prawn is fresh and risotto is nicely cooked. Wagyu Steak Sandwiches Onion, Rocket, Mustard Mayonnaise Definitely one of their signature dish. Love the combination of caramelized onion and the mayonnaise. Perfect match with the steak! Love it! Cheese 3 bottles for 2 person for lunch? It’s not a dream!

Heard so many good comments of Artifact, this new restaurant in the Basehall which was just opened recently. Finally it’s my turn to try out their dishes. Situated at the corner of Basehall. And they will have a bar opening soon just next to the kitchen. The menu is so comprehensive, especially their caviar menu. More than 6 choices of caviar! Pretty Impressive! 2 of us chose the set menu with some add on. Set menu is only $488. Can add on caviar in some dishes for +$448. Small bites Top- Miso, comte, baerii Bottom- Namerou, goma, kaluga hybrid caviar Quite an interesting flavour. A bit blue berry taste with the savoury caviar. Japanese style fish tataki with a glimmer of sesame flavour. Do love the presentation, colourful and artistic. Good start! Hokkaido Scallop, wasabi, superior sturgeon caviar (+$308) We have added on this scallop dish. The staff Avan has strongly recommended we tried this dish if we are a scallop lover. Both the dish and Avan didn’t disappoint us. Love the light sweetness of the crunchy apple wrapped inside the fresh scallop. Generous amount of caviar! A very beautiful dish! Ebisu Oyster, cucumber, sanbaizu Very interesting dish! So many things going on on a plate. There’s sweet, fresh oyster, jelly popping in your mouth, crunchy cucumber, and a foamy sanbaizu vinegar. Bread, kombu, yukari I always love trying bread and butter in different restaurants. Love to see how different chefs make a twist to the butter. This lovely butter was produced in small amount only. Here they serve in original flavour and another one with kombu and yakari, which is made of dried shiso leaves. Love the savoury and fragrance of the butter. Couldn’t stop refilling the bread. Main Japanese Pork, carrot, goma My friend chose this pork for main course. Pork was grilled perfectly. Love the crispy artichoke at the top. Kumamoto Wagyu beef, kogomi, shoyu (+$188) Beef is simply amazing! First time trying kogomi, which is normally grown in northern Kyushu. Interesting texture! Complex flavour of shoyu. This add on is so worthy! Koshihikari rice, tamago, ikura Ikura is one of my favourite ingredient recently. This dish cannot go wrong. With few drop of the shoyu sauce and we finished the whole bowl quickly. Yogurt, yuzu, kiku This refreshing dessert gives a good ending of this lovely lunch. 3 glasses wine pairing for lunch (+$388) Definitely will come back to try the dinner! Such a great Saturday afternoon!

Meeting a friend who lives in the area and he recommended to visit this small burger place just hiding behind Times Square. This burger place is selling their burgers and gelato. We ordered foie gras toast to start. Foie gras is seared nicely on a crispy toast. My favourite part is the fig preserves. Did mellow down the greasy of the foie gras. Wagyu burger (original size) Bun is fluffy. The patty is really juicy! Pretty decent burger! Fish and chips Fish is tender and soft in the middle. Thumb up to the chips. They re hot and crispy! Good spot for a burger in CWB for sure