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2009-10-18
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Today is my birthday and being a foodie and a seafood addict, my boyfriend decided to find a nice seafood restaurant for my birthday tonight. He searched high and low and read some incredibly good reviews of Dot Cod, so he decided to book a table. Big mistake!Walking into the restaurant, there was a big blue tank filled with beautiful fish but then inside, everything looked dated. It was like a modern style English pub/ restaurant. The whole place is divided into two sections: On the left was th
Walking into the restaurant, there was a big blue tank filled with beautiful fish but then inside, everything looked dated. It was like a modern style English pub/ restaurant. The whole place is divided into two sections: On the left was the dinning area and on the right was the bar area, where drunken Englishmen shouted about their expensive Marks and Spencers' clothing with their buddies.
While we were looking at the menu, the male staff looked confused as if they didn't know what they were doing; On the other hand, the female staff were very polite and professional. I asked what the special fish of the day was, one of the male staff mumbled some names, I caught only two of them- Red perch and Johndory. With no introduction or recommendation, I had to go with pan fried seabass as seabass is one of my favorite fish.
We ordered terrine of mullet and salmon and Cream soup of St Jacques' Scallop and caviar for our appertizers; Pan fried seabass and Fish pie as main courses.
While we were waiting, the waiter brought in some bread with three dips. If the chefs there make their own bread, they put too much baking soda. That was all I could taste.
Soup and terrine came in. Immediately I had a piece of plastic in my mouth from the terrine. Both the soup and terrine were underseasoned. There was no salt. The cream soup was too watery. The terrine was bland and there were more pieces of plastic found.
Onto the main courses, my seabass was nicely cooked. However, there was no salt or sauce. It was bland and boring. For a HKD 260 dish, I would expect some flair in my food. My boyfriend ordered the fish pie with scallops, crab meat, prawns and fish. Wait a minute, there were no scallops, crab meat or fish in the pie! They filled the pie with mashed potatoes, tined mushrooms and salmon and two sad tiny little prawns. All I could see was salmon. So why do they bother with the scallops or crab on the menu? Maybe they should advertise it as ' Crap Pie' or 'Crap Salmon Pie'! The worst of all was the tinned mushrooms. Please , where is the quality control? How dare they charge HKD 200 and serve tinned mushrooms? The dish came with some cabbage as a side. The cabbage smelled and tasted off. Rotten. I guess if they can't afford fresh mushrooms, they can't afford fresh cabbage either.
Overhearing the table right next to us, a waiter was introducing the fish of the day. This time, he said 'Red perch, hallibut, red snapper'. And he was also clearly explaining how each fish was supposed to cook, and which one he would recommend. Shouldn't they tell all staff the information instead of one single waiter in the entire restaurant?
I ordered a ginger creme brulee to finish off my meal. It was ok. But the presentation was terrible. Why do you need twenty chips to cover the beautifully camerelized sugar? I had to take all of them away before I could go anywhere near the creme brulee. I really don't get what the 'CHEF' was trying to do. I left the restaurant feeling unsatisfied and confused. The bill added up to HKD 1300. You can go to a much better restaurant paying that kind of price.And I am more than happy to pay that at Isola or Le Mer.
If Dot Cod doesn't care about the quality of the food and training the waiting staff, they should not dare to charge people fine dining price. This place is no fining dining. If you are looking for a romantic hang out providing great food quality, this is not the place for you.
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