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2009-04-12
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I remembered TMSKmostly because of the contemporary food presentations in the pictures of some previous reviews. I always enjoy food that entertains both the palate and the eyes, and with the very attractive pictures advertised on their website for a quick and easy semi-buffet lunch option (http://www.tmsk.com/hongkong/semi_buffet.html), my mom and I decided to try this place out when we were shopping at Elements during the Easter holiday.The room had a simple and modern-chic prettiness thanks
The room had a simple and modern-chic prettiness thanks to black paneling and the golden “clutter” on the ceiling. The quick and easy semi-buffet ($58), offered at lunch time, allowed you to get all the appetizers (salads, soups, etc. as told by the waitress) and desserts available at the counters outside the bar. You could choose to add a main dish from the 6 options listed for an additional $30. It appeared that all the other diners had selected the semi-buffet option (as they were walking back and forth to fill their plates), and we opted in as well without much consideration.
We found ourselves wondering whether we walked into the wrong buffet area as we couldn’t believe how small the selection was You could see from the pictures that there were only a few cold Chinese and Western salads, a Chinese soup (雞腳花生湯). They looked unappetizing and very amateur-like. There were no labels to tell you what these dishes were, nor did they provide separate spoons or utensils for soup and desserts. In fact they looked worse than those home party platters made from high school students.
I was hoping that there would be some “inner beauty” (i.e. taste) to the food, but I was once again disappointed. None, and I do mean none, of the food was better than average quality:
The marinated tofu 鹵豆腐 had only single dimension of soy seasoning
The seaweed and wood ear salad 海帶木耳沙律 was bland and watery
The tuna fusilli salad, green apple salad, and the curry chicken salad tasted no better than those deli counter salads you got from supermarket
The mortadella ham was of such low quality that I would be embarrassed to serve it to my friends at home
The beef and thin rice noodle salad 牛肉粉絲沙律 was full of chewy slices of beef (I had to spit them out…) and soggy noodles. The dressing was monotonous and dull (a dash of fish sauce would have brightened it up tremendously)
The flavor of 雞腳花生湯, while full of tender chicken feets, was barely discernible.
That's all it was for the savory options.
The dessert turned out slightly better, with the options of panna cotta, a red bean mousse cake, and a tiramisu bowl. If you were planning to order the dessert sample platter ($78) on the a la carte menu, this semi-buffet would be great for you because these were the same 3 desserts that would have been presented on the platter (as told by the waitress). Now you could enjoy them all with no limit, albeit the lack of presentation. Even so, I’m not sure that’s the direction in which I would steer dessert lovers. They were serviceable but far from what I called great.
These sad little things from the buffet looked so different from the pictures on the website, my appetite was turned off. $58 wasn’t much at all, 價錢一點也不貴, 但水準一點也不值. You could seriously get better food at Pizza Hut with the same amount. It was that sad. If this review was based on just the buffet alone, a 喊臉 would be unavoidable.
I remembered the favorable reviews of OR veterans like KC and 西門町大惡男, so I thought I should perhaps give them a chance to redeem themselves. The 香脆炸芋蓉, plated in sophisticated contemporary fashion, arrived piping hot. The 3 nuggets were crispy and filled with taro, both smooth and chucky. They were enjoyable despite the barely noticeable dried shrimps 蝦乾 (advertised on the menu) and balsamic vinaigrette (clearly made from low-quality balsamic vinegar). While not as luscious as the traditional version of 八寶鴨, the opulence of stuffing inside the 八寶脆鴿, which included 蝦乾, 茶花, 花菇、蓮子、火腿、 雲耳、及沙葛, made you forgive the not-so-crispy pigeon’s skin. It was quite filling and enough for two people to share.
The kitchen could clearly better than those poor semi-buffet offerings, as demonstrated in these a la carte items and the ones reviewed by others. What I didn’t understand was why a capable kitchen was willing to compromise good contemporary food with such an inferior and uninspiring semi-buffet? It’s quick and easy yet depressing and off-putting. It didn’t celebrate any of the contemporary flavors or creative presentations of which this restaurant seemed to pride itself about.
Overall, the semi buffet suffered from a deficit of just about everything: presentation, variety, flavors, and freshness. If you find yourself at TMSK, you should avoid and run far, far away from the semi buffet table, and order from the a la carte menu if you want to do justice to this restaurant
张贴
