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2010-08-23
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This place is fine. It won me over with good food; however I have yet to be won over by its service. We came here on a weekend afternoon at lunchtime and pretty much came here by accident. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we didn't have to wait for seats unlike many other restaurants in Causeway Bay, so we took to our seats. We ordered a pork soft bone sanuki udon, pork neck sanuki udon, two salmon handrolls and a takowasabi. Service at that moment was minimal but prompt; the entrees (h
We came here on a weekend afternoon at lunchtime and pretty much came here by accident. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we didn't have to wait for seats unlike many other restaurants in Causeway Bay, so we took to our seats.
We ordered a pork soft bone sanuki udon, pork neck sanuki udon, two salmon handrolls and a takowasabi. Service at that moment was minimal but prompt; the entrees (handrolls and takowasai) came to us within 10 minutes and the udon within 15 minutes.
I have nothing but praise for the handrolls and takowasabi. The handrolls' nori was crisp and the salmon was fresh. Apart from the fact that the wasabi was flat (not enough spice in it) and the soy sauce bottle kept on leaking at its bottle neck, the handrolls were excellent. The takowasabi was evidently made with octopus chunks - you can actually tell what you are eating, instead of white slimey gobs. Unlike the wasabi chunk that came with the handroll, there was ample wasabi flavour in the takowasabi, which made up for the lack of kick in the handroll. Taste wise it went with each other very well.
Our sanuki udons arrived whilst we finished off our appetisers. The udons we ordered were $38 each, and we didn't expect gargantuan portions. Fortunately they weren't huge in portions, but they were decent enough to fill up average Hong Kong guys. The pork soft bone chunks were average in size and portion, but the pork neck was well marinated and cooked. Sanuki udon, meanwhile, was great, with the udon cooked with some chew left in it and the sweet broth was neither overpowering nor non-existent. This, along with the nice view of Victoria Park and parts of Tai Hang on a sunny summer's day, makes eating here a great experience.
Sadly after a very fulfilling lunch, something had to happen to mess the lovely lunch up. We wanted to check the bill and leave and asked for the bill to be checked three times in 10 minutes, only for our requests to be ignored. Meanwhile we watched as the table next to us asked for their bill to be checked after we did, brought to them in less than a minute, and got their change back in another minute. This infuriated me and my better half and I stormed off to the counter and left our money there. Despite apologies from the waitress whom dealt with my requests, I was not amused.
Lesson of the day: If you want your bill to be checked promptly, drop your signal to the senior service staff. It is likely that if you make any requests to check the bill with the junior service staff (i.e. look for TRIANEE - that's how this restaurant spells their name tags ) it will fall on deaf ears. Minor requests like filling tea and asking for plates and chopsticks will be met by them, but I guess checking the bill - or relaying requests by patrons to check the bill to senior staff - is not within their job description.
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