What matters the most when it comes to restaurants is either the area or the food. When both succeeds expectations, you give it a five star. When neither does anything, you walk away. But the most troubling is when one is amazing and the other is terrible. It’s the love-hate relationship between cuisine and its appearance. But honesty must come over to reality, food rarely rules over the appalling atmosphere. However, that’s for you to decide.
I must say though, Hong Kong is not particularly well known for their Western cuisine. We have been reigned over by the British empire for over 150 years, but we still only have a few popular Western dining places (Note: Mc Donald’s doesn’t count, it’s an international sovereignty). Nevertheless, we still serve some pretty decent Western food here and there. One of them was a café that I had chosen for lunchtime with my guests: Maxim & You.
To more local people, it’s part of Simply Life. The wonder bakery chain that later developed into one of the most loved Western restaurants that now has 14 branches plus a café. However the café itself was in a pretty awkward position. It was right at the busiest section of the mall; at end of the connection between Metro City and Hau Tak Shopping Center. This means the café is always one thing: noisy. However this can be solved (or lessened, Hong Kong can never be silenced entirely) by entering the inner area of the restaurant where one of best parts bloom.
The bud begins at the decor: it is warm, gentle and homey. Then the petals spread with sofas, tables, plants and books. And lastly, the stigma with it's delightfully clean dusky autumn colors, flowing around the room in wallpaper, posters and bookshelves. Droplets of rain finalize the picture with jazz music dancing softly out of hidden speakers. Altogether an illuminating watercolor of a home. Although, sadly, it was missing my hamsters.
The pasta, however, blows all this to a magnitude of success. Upon a large white patterned plate sat heaven: pillowy pasta with roads of thick and rich white sauce, a variety wild mushroom with its own exclusive woody cream flavor, a long slice of crunchy garlic bread and lastly a grate of Parmesan. If ambrosia did actually exist, I’d imagine it be this. For a dish that arrived quickly after the order (as I would assume that it was pre-made), it still wafted heat and cheesy waves towards my senses. If I really had to name a flaw, it would be that the mushroom is just a touch too soft. But preferences are preferences, a restaurant cannot sate all your needs. The closer it gets, the better, and here, it was pretty close.
Soon enough, lunchtime was coming to an end, so we all selected a dessert. I, myself, have an unholy attraction to cheesecakes. Thus, a strawberry cheesecake was in order. However, for this dish, I was slightly disappointed, the cheesecake was sat on top of a glass plate which was just coarsely ugly. It was like a three year old had split some molten glass (which, by all means, I am not encouraging) on the tabletop, which was later sold off as a plate. Some people can call it “artistic”, but then again, some people can also call (literal) rubbish “artistic”. But the most unsatisfactory point is the arrangement. The large fork was placed in the middle and the tiny slice of cheesecake at the unnoticeable corner. My guests had uttered a very good phrase for this: am I paying for the fork or the cheesecake?
Nonetheless, it wasn’t terrible, the cheesecake was good. But that was about it. The cheese didn’t even make it to my taste buds, in addition the slice of cheesecake had a multitude of strawberry balanced precociously on top. I was so worried it’d collapse on my hands that I ended up eating all the strawberry and cream before actually trying the cheesecake. Honestly, the entire cake tasted old, the cream had an off taste and the Digestive base was crumbly and tasted like my first attempt at baking cookies (which, for those wondering, did not end well). It’s a pity it didn’t live up to the rest of the restaurant, nevertheless, it seems like I was the only one who had those odd problems, the rest of my guests were more than happy. Seemed like bad luck on my end.
Up till here, the café sounds like a wonderful place to do a quick lunch (they also offer breakfast and Starbucks), but here is when you’ll take a step back and think again. Being in Hong Kong is like being in the literal definition of “rush” and that means, in a restaurant, you have to bag your own seats or leave it. It’s a “find-someone-who-is-almost-finished-with-their-dinner-and-stand-2-cm-away-so-you-can-take-their-seats-when-they-leave” world.
Since the boom of popularity in this café, lunchtimes in there is a walk into hell. As soon as you look relatively done (which for some people, is a bite into your sandwich), they’ll tower over you waiting for you to finish so they can snag your seat. The entire restaurant is filled with people guarding seated seats for their families. Forget the lovely décor and homey atmosphere, you’d want to get out of their so that you don’t have someone breathing down you neck and watching every bite.
It’s a colossal pity that this is the situation we must be put in. If this was in a larger space, we could probably enjoy and admire the décor and atmosphere. But in reality, we are in Hong Kong and this is how most places during lunchtime will be like. It’s sad, but unfortunately entirely true.
Although ending on a disappointing note, and even though we weren’t quite comfortable with the surrounding people and the cramped seating, I had truly enjoyed that magnificent lunch and perhaps (now learnt) I will return during odder hours to relax in the homely surroundings of Maxim & You.
~ N. Yu
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At this moment, I take a sip of the caramel latte. I know this is made by a very good barista because there is a good control of the foam. It is smooth and in a right volume. The temperature of the coffee is perfectly fine which is not too hot or cold. The smell of caramel is irresistible and sweet. BTW, I love the cup so much. It looks classic and elegant. Seriously I do recommend this café to all of you, and bring along with your books/ magazine, then you can spend a relaxing afternoon here. =]
