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2009-05-27
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Came here as they've plastered the surrounding streets with their stand-up posters and decide to give it a go. They've occupied the floor where Dirty Duck used to be. Lunch sets are $58 for the more carbolicious and $88 for the proteins and heavier stuff, and includes the usual soup/salad and coffee/tea (plus an extra $10 for dessert), and 10% service charge. The place is styled like a British pub, with a big selection of British ales and HK-style cocktails, and has a large outside seating area
I had the chicken and avocado salad first. This was a presentable dish with the usual few leaves and 3 slivers of cold chicken breast with balsamic dressing, and another 3 slivers of avocado. Garnish was cherry tomatoes quarters. Nothing noteworthy here, only a minor comment that the veggies could have done with a bit of dressing/oil.
My main was the salmon steak with butter lemon sauce . I was asked by the waitress how I wanted it cooked, and "well done" was the answer. but my salmon arrived pretty raw, and because we were in a bit of a hurry, I didn't bother changing it. The skin was nice and crisp (admittedly with a bit too much oil) and there were several wedges of courgettes and roast potato. True to British-style food, the sauce was pretty tasteless except for a faint savoury taste.
My lunch companion had the a la carte fish and chips. It looked pretty decent on arrival, with little ramekins of coleslaw, cabbage salad (?) and mushy peas on the side. Fat chips and 2 pieces of battered fish completed the picture. The verdict was, the chips were fine, but the mushy peas were laced with mint, and looked too bright green and dry to be honest. I wish cooks will just forget about the fancy-pansy stuff and serve honest no-nonsense British grub, doesn't matter that it's straight from the can and slap-up, but don't try to impress or pretend to be some TV chef lol. The batter on the fish got soggy pretty quickly, also true to real UK-style fish and chips lol, although I somehow suspect this was not intentional.
But the abysmal thing was that they had ketchup, they had Worcester sauce, they even had HP sauce, but they didn't have malt vinegar lol. What is this place doing, claiming to serve British food but yet not have malt vinegar to go with fish and chips rofl? Fish and chips without malt vinegar is, to me, like wearing trainers without socks (double rofl). The manager claimed that they are new and haven't had it delivered. Well, well.
They even got the bill wrong at the end. Well, the manager said that they are going to "change all their staff", but I don't think I will be back to check that. I wish Dirty Duck was still there, at least it had a nice ambience and I could get my chilli fix...... never mind.
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