Discovered this place while flipping through a magazine and decided to give this a shot, given that there weren't that many Russian restaurants in Hong Kong. Packed quietly away on the 2nd floor of the newly open boutique Hotel Pennington, we walked in and found a cleanly furnished restaurant with cherrywood furniture and minimal decor. Tables were sparsely arranged and one side of the wall had a quote from John 12:24, clearly the basis for the name of the restaurant. Further confirming our find
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Discovered this place while flipping through a magazine and decided to give this a shot, given that there weren't that many Russian restaurants in Hong Kong. Packed quietly away on the 2nd floor of the newly open boutique Hotel Pennington, we walked in and found a cleanly furnished restaurant with cherrywood furniture and minimal decor. Tables were sparsely arranged and one side of the wall had a quote from John 12:24, clearly the basis for the name of the restaurant. Further confirming our findings, the waiters had the words "Faith, Love, Hope" printed on their polo shirts. Not a religious person myself, but it was uplifting knowing the way religion brings people and even organizations together.
We proceeded to order two set lunches, the Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Vegetables Rice Rossyia Style($88) and Wheatfeild Veal Podsharka with Rice($108).
Intuitively, for the starting soup choice, we opted for the quinessential (almost omnipresent in Hong Kong) Russian soup - Borsch. The soup was a great starter, with generous amounts of veggies and beef brisket, giving the soup a thick, almost creamy consistency. A little tinge of spiciness at the end was also a nice touch to it. But as a disclaimer, I've never been to Russian and I have no opinion on whether this is authentic or not, I can just say that I enjoyed it much.
As an appetizer with the meal came the Rossyia Style Fish. For a minute we thought it was pickled vegetables, but discovered the fish burried beneath. The pickled veggies and fish were as expected - tangy flavours and flaky fillet textures. I personally don't think it was bad, but no upside surprises here.
Then came the mains, on one end, we had the Pan Fried Chicken with Vegetable Rice Rossyia Style. The rice was spectacular, it was soft and fluffy, and pleasantly mildly spiced. Honestly, I wouldn't mind having that for the whole meal. The chicken was decent, with crispy skin, but nothing memorable. The sauce, was unfamiliar territory to me. It was slighly sweet, creamy, with a hint of gravy flavors that went well with meat and enhanced the overall dish. But I couldn't lay my fingers on what exactly was in the sauce.
The other main, Wheatfield Veal Podsharka with Rice, sported the same sauce as the other main. Overall, the dish wasn't bad, the ingredients were also in good portions with the sauce. To be honest, I shouldn't be too critical of dishes I'm not familiar with, especially home cooking. But I thought that the sauce and meat were, as with the other dishes, passable. I have to mention that they do serve really good rice here though. I'm usually no big fan of plain rice, but I finished the rice of this dish even though I didn't finish the veal. To be fair, it's not that the sauce and meat were bad, but if somebody asked me about this place, I would remember that rice on the side rather than the main show.
:||Good for||: Anybody looking to try some home-style Russian food, or looking for a place in Causeway Bay where you are granted personal space.
題外話/補充資料：
Food here also brings back memories of the now closed Czarina Restaurant (莎厘娜餐廳), though not as good (yet), it is a refreshing welcome to broaden the dining scene in Causeway Bay.
影片
仲有個牛油雞卷，切開d牛油係滲出黎架！睇住都好激動！
