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2013-07-21
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Have you ever been stuck with where to take clients or visiting guests for a good Chinese meal in Central? I get stuck with this issue from time to time. Fortunately, I believe I have found some "reprieve" recently at the newly opened Duddell's.Duddell's is opened across the street from the Mandarin Landmark, making it very convenient when I need to dine with "Central" people. It is "hidden" in some unknown office building on Duddell's which also houses the Shanghai Tang shop.I went with a bunc
Duddell's is opened across the street from the Mandarin Landmark, making it very convenient when I need to dine with "Central" people. It is "hidden" in some unknown office building on Duddell's which also houses the Shanghai Tang shop.
I went with a bunch of friends last Friday. Expectations began low as I walked down the relatively quite Duddell Street, only to go into an oldish office building that has recently been face lifted. After going up three floors in a small elevator, we entered into a simple "non-descript" lobby. As we opened the door, we were kindly greeted by rather "polished" gentlemen in suits who took our umbrella taken. The decor is tasteful, expensive, yet not "over the top". It was as if we just walked into the Chinese dining room of a new five-star hotel. Immediately to the left, there is an entry foyer, or cocktail room exhibiting a piece which could be Zhang Daqian? If so, I would imagine that this painting is already worth more than the restaurant.
As Duddell's is apparently quite new, we were offered a short tour which took us upstairs to a lounge area with some outside space. I am not much of an "art" person, so please pardon my ignorance, but the art displayed at Duddell's does not look amateur. This place gives me the impression that it is an "updated" China Club.
We were then escorted back to our table. Once all our guests arrived, the food was served promptly. I have said many times, the food is what makes the restaurant. The food here is top quality. Certainly not the best Chinese or new Chinese I have been to recently, but enough to bring me back.
The food is expensive although that is not highly surprising giving the setting and part of town we are talking about. This is not a place where you would expect a "good deal". On the otherhand, the biggest let down at the moment seems to be the service. The waiters are not very attentive. For example, when I wanted to pour more water for my friends, I had to keep my hand up for about five minutes before someone noticed me. Similar wait for the bill.
We ordered: Roast Pork and Cuttlefish (appetiser), Slow-cooked Soup, Stir-fried Garoupa in Soy, Smoked Soy Sauce Chicken, Garlic Vegetables and Abalone Noodles.
Everything was clearly very carefully made and well-presented.I would recommend the Soy Sauce Chicken, which was clearly well-prepared. The colour was a rich brown and the flavour sweet, with a hint of smokiness. The skin was soft and well-glazed, which meant that the chicken was cooked just right, and not over-cooked. On the otherhand, it was not under-cooked, as so many other Chinese restaurants tend to do this, leaving some "blood" on the bone, which did not happen here. However, we paid like five hundred dollars for this chicken, so a little over-priced if you asked me.
The two hundred dollar Roast Pork was also delicious, well-glazed, and sufficiently soft and line with fat. The honey flavour was sweet, but did not cover up the taste of the pork itself. The preparation is a more modern adaptation to the traditional Cantonese techniques and probably a bit more popular in some of the newer high-end Cantonese establishments. The only setback here is really the price. All the guests at my table never really ate such an expensive plate of Roast Pork before in Hong Kong. However, if one looks at it from a pure culinary perspective using a global view, this is a dish I would recommend to anyone. Despite the expensive price tag, we ordered one more dish of this.
If this restaurant were in New York, it would probably earn a 23 or 24 rating in the equivalent Zagat. For Hong Kong, Duddell's might earn a Michelin Star in their next edition.The dinner cost us about three thousand dollars, which we thought was expensive, given the food we ate. However, given the setting, I think Duddell's is a great place for entertaining guests, especially when one fails to find a reservation at some of the other notable Chinese dining spots in Central. The service is not quite up to standard at the moment given the price and it's positioning. It will be interesting to see how this develops for them and how it affects Duddell's demanding clientele in the future.
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