The food was generally good. We had the spicy (not so spicy) lamb starter with butter buns (mini, do it yourself bunny chow essentially). For the main dishes we had butter chicken (good but a bit too mild), the tandoor cobia (very good) and the oxtail (bland). We also had an order of naan between the two us for lunch. We probably ordered one dish too many and could really have done without the bland and unremarkable oxtail. We also had two beers each. The service was good - our server, Nick, was friendly, charismatic, knowledgeable and aware. The kind of service one wished were more widely available in a city replete with mediocre to awful service. It was a good experience and I would go back if it weren't so expensive. Unreasonably so in my humble opinion. I was very surprised when I received the bill. Black Sheep Group restaurants are known for being fairly good with quite reasonable prices. However, this was no bargain and not reasonable. Beer, half pints, of fair Indian IPA are HK$98! The meal as described above came to a total of HK$1770.20!!! For weekday lunch for 2?? That number included a service charge of HK$160.20. Fine, Nick was a good server and offered a level of service in HK that is not particularly common. I also noticed an entry on the receipt (after the fact) for a "donation" in the amount of HK$8.00. WTF? A donation for what???? Donations are meant to be voluntary, right? What is this donation for bloody sake??? So no, I don't think I will be going back even though the food was good and the service was good. An ordinary weekday lunch for decent Indian/Punjabi food is just not worth US$230. Sorry! In fact, after this I just might not go back to any Black Sheep restaurant because I feel kind of offended. In fact, I might start sharing this story as widely as possible to see if other people share my indignation. There are plenty of other restaurants in HK, and while they might not have a Nick, I'm sure I'll survive. I may complain that the service isn't quite as it should be but I will certainly feel less violated.
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