The Great Indian Kebab Factory (Closed)

I fancied an Indian dinner buffet, and my (Indian) friend recommended the "degustation" menu at The Great Indian Kebab Factory. She had previously been to the now closed TST branch and said that she very much liked the food, but to be prepared for the service to be a bit flaky. And so it turned out...We were given a window seat, which has a decent city view over some of Central and up to the mid-levels and above. This is the degustation menu at $288+10% per head (there is also an a la carte)I guess the degustation menu items change from time to time - this is the September 2016 one)The way this works is that the salad and lassis come first then the itemised starters (which I regard as the main dishes) come as they are ready. We ordered one of the veg and one of the non-veg menus. Essentially this is an "ordered buffet" - in other words, you can ask for repeats of any of the dishes that you particularly like (and can ask them simply not to bring anything that you know from the menu that you will not like).The northern Indian style is, apparently, to serve all these "starters" and then, when you are ready you can order the "main course" (the dishes listed on the menu as "served with": the bread, biryani, dal, etc). But for me the listed starters were the highlights and I essentially filled up on those, rather than filling up on rice and bread. I think this preference was one of the issues which confused the waiters and resulted in somewhat haphazard service.  Most of the staff seemed to struggle understand requests for repeats of the dishes we enjoyed, whether asked in English or in Hindi. I noted that the clientele was at least 80% ethnic Indian on the Saturday night we visited, and it appeared that they conformed more to what the staff expected (i.e. take one of each dish, then move on to the "main course").So to the food...The "salad isn't really a salad in the western sense - it is simply pieces of the named fruit and veg offered to you separately, with the dressings on the side. My friend chose to take the fruit at the end rather than the beginning of the meal.The lassis come in a rack of 3 test tubes and were fine, if a little sweet for my taste. We didn't ask for repeats since we were drinking Kingfisher beer with the meal (note that this is $58+10% per bottle, which can easily make the beer cost more than the food!)I liked all of the 12 highlighted "starters" - there is an excellent variety of flavours, textures and ingredients. The "Angaar Ka Murgh" (cinnamon chicken) and "Kaju Matar Ki Shaami Kebab" (cashew, peas & cheese) being particular favourites. Since some of these are cooked to order, a relaxed attitude to time when ordering repeats is essential. Since the waiters also seem to rely entirely on memory rather than writing anything down then occasionally different stuff turned up, but since it is an "all in" price this wasn't a big issue.People used to the style of service more common in Indian restaurants outside northern India (i.e. with rice & bread served together with the other courses) may find it strange, as I did, that these only come at the end of the meal with some simple sauces: a dal and a butter chicken (or the same replacing chicken with paneer for the veggies). I quite liked the paratha, but the dal, biryani and butter chicken were frankly very uninteresting, which reinforces my suggestion to focus on the "starters". If I go again I may well simply do that, perhaps take one paratha and some dal, and not even bother to order the biryani and butter chicken.For me the gulab jamun dessert was a nice way to finish, although my friend found it too sweet.So, in summary, for a really nice selection of Indian dishes, in an "all you can eat" format, this is a pretty good choice. Just go with plenty of time and a relaxed attitude to the service, and focus on the itemised "starters"; filling up on biryani etc would not be a good way to do it! Note that the spending per head figure of $500 includes 3 beers and the 10% service charge. continue reading

This was one of my WORST experience ever in Hong Kong. Went there to celebrate my Mother's birthday. I made sure to call them 2 days before hand letting them know it would be a surprise birthday dinner, ask to provide me with a cake and some candles. Everything seemed perfect and understood!However, 2 hours before my booking they called me letting me know they couldn't do the cake anymore, I had to run around the city to find a cake myself with some candles and bring it to them.When I got to the restaurant for the dinner- the guy brought us to our table and said out loud "Are you the birthday person?" which was the first step of ruining the surprise for my mom!Once we had finished dinner, they never brought the cake, I had to go stand up and tell me we've been waiting it, we had to wait more than 20 minutes.They finally brought the cake, in the box, no candles, nothing, just gave us the box on the table. It was an awful experience, the food was OK but service was such a disaster it made it impossible to enjoy it. continue reading

The restaurant is a bit hidden but definitely worth the treasure hunt!The moment I stepped out of the elevator me and my colleague were welcomed by very friendly staff. They guided us to our table and the first thing you notice is the beautiful design of the place which gives you the (luxurious) impression of being in India straight away.Before I talk about the food I want to point out these side matters that helped in making my experience so pleasant:- No queues- The music is modern and relaxing (not the cliche Indian music which has been done in litterally every other Indian restaurant before).- The seats are large and very comfortable!Now onto the food!I chose to make use of the buffet service for my lunch. The choice is a little limited but this is made up for big time by the amazing taste of all of the dishes. Complementary we got served a basket of naan bread (which tasted great) and a hot plate with fish and chicken. The seasoning of the chicken and fish made the dish great and left me craving for more.I promise you, you will remember this place after your first visit and whether its tomorrow or next month, you will want to come back. continue reading

Previously went here for Saturday lunch buffet and won a $200 cash voucher so decided to use it on the Sunday brunch which costs $148 per person so I went with a friend.On Sundays, there are more curries and rice and the range is more authentic but they didn’t have my favorite curd rice and rice pudding.Anyway, the food was still good especially the plain naan, which was great with, curries and dressings they had.My favourites were the vegetarian curries, which were flavourful but not spicy.On Sunday you get free refills for drinks but I didn't know that. continue reading

是晚與朋友睇完 '米之蓮摘星之旅' 心思思想吃印度菜，便來到中環這間餐廳~~~佢有288 的 buffet dinner set, 但佢的 buffet 唔係自助，而係由待應 serve 你，感覺怪怪的。而且是晚沒有咁肚餓，所以決定散叫好了。想不到都有驚喜。。。。1) Cheese with vegi - 想不到這道菜是長這個樣子，竹簽上叉著大大粒的芝士放在熱熱的鐵板上，樣子頗討好。啱晒是位芝士痴的朋友 ~ 芝士的味道不是太濃，質地厚實身，口感不錯，但如果可以加上惹味的印度香料就更吸引了~~~2) Chicken Masala - 惹味的印度香料配上爆香了的洋蔥等蔬菜是這道菜的base, 雞肉沒有煮得過老，與醬料很是合拍！yummy, 令人吃了一塊又一塊3) 什錦印度薄餅 - 這個 basket 可以選三種口味，我地選了cheese, basil, original~~~ 很喜歡印度薄餅的脆脆口感。再沾上chicken masala 的醬汁令味道更有層次！！！ 現在想起又想encore 了！ continue reading