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2015-08-09
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“Enjoy your lunch, but please don’t linger!”It is an extremely hot Sunday today, although according to Chinese Lunar Calendar, yesterday was the beginning of autumn. The sunny clear blue sky (by Hong Kong standard) lifted my spirits, and I decided to treat myself to some French atmosphere. “Where better to go than Angelina at IFC?” my friend suggested. I agreed. I have been to Angelina-IFC several times. Its full length windows that opens up to its terrace, allows natural sunlight to beam into t
It is an extremely hot Sunday today, although according to Chinese Lunar Calendar, yesterday was the beginning of autumn. The sunny clear blue sky (by Hong Kong standard) lifted my spirits, and I decided to treat myself to some French atmosphere. “Where better to go than Angelina at IFC?” my friend suggested. I agreed. I have been to Angelina-IFC several times. Its full length windows that opens up to its terrace, allows natural sunlight to beam into the restaurant generously on a sunny bright day; a very poetic way to share good company and good food with the sun.
French atmosphere, to me, is not just the food, but also the stylish ambience, attentive service, and most importantly, to be able to enjoy my coffee leisurely while chatting away with good friends. This would be too ideal for a restaurant in Hong Kong, but at least I could expect sufficient time for my coffee.
Angelina-IFC is located inside Lane Crawford (at IFC Mall, Central), the most prestigious department store in Hong Kong. The traffic to Central was comfortable today, and there were lots of available parking spaces at IFC when I drove in. I met my friend at the entrance of Angelina at slightly past 12.30pm, the start of Hong Kong’s peak lunch hour. We peeped into the restaurant, and were relieved to find plenty of empty tables; “It’s a great day”, I thought.
“Table for two, please”, I said light-heartedly to the receptionist.
“Sure, hmmm…... please finish in one and a half hours, there will be a long queue shortly.” The receptionist said with a smile.
This is a new policy, and boy was I Disappointed!!!!!! We rush over lunch and dinner for five days a week, and now it has to be the same on weekends as well!? And 1.5hrs!? That’s even worse than School Food, a fast food Korean place at Timesquare; School Food allows customers one hour and 45 minutes to finish their food. I was disappointed, but not shocked. I composed myself and forced a smile “Ok.”
As I have said, I was disappointed, but not shocked. This is because the imposition of time limits in restaurants is not new and not rare. As far as I know, popular restaurants in Timesquare, Festival Walk, and Harbour City, set time limits. I guess the trend just followed the heat to Central.
We were given a table near the window. “I missed the Angelina at Rue Rivoli, Paris, and the Angelina at the Louvre; no time limit there”, I said. I wonder how the Paris staff would react if they were told of the time limit policy in Hong Kong.
The menu was not extensive, so no difficulty in ordering quickly: a Croque Madame, an Angelina Omelette, and two black coffees (to be served afterwards).
Croque Madame is Croque Monsieur with a fried egg on top. The Croque Monsieur is a very popular sandwich in Paris, almost always available at any café, with slight variations to the recipe. Two pieces of thinly sliced farm bread, with crust, toasted with ham and cheese in between; the cheese and the fat of the ham melt into the farm bread, making it a very juicy comfort food.
I was surprised to see the Croque Madame served at Angelina-IFC. Two pieces of thick-cut white bread, no crust, toasted with ham and cheese in between, with burnt cheese on the top, and a fried egg on top of the burnt cheese. I have had plenty of Croque Monsieur in Paris, including several at Angelina-Rue Rivoli, but never was there one made with white bread; it didn’t cross my mind to question that then, I simply thought the French preferred farm bread. The Croque Madame at Angelina-IFC enlightened me on that matter.
White bread, when thinly cut and toasted with ham and cheese, would become greasy and sulky, like Hong Kong’s traditional luncheon and egg sandwich, whereas, farm bread, which is tougher bread, could still hold its form properly after absorbing all the cheese and fat. I think Angelina-IFC recognized that and so used thick-cut white bread. This innovation kept the sandwich in its proper form; however, given the dense nature of white bread (compared to farm bread), coupled with overly thick cut, the sandwich lost its juiciness. I wouldn’t say that the Croque Madame was bad, but just not quite up to standard.
The Angelina Omelette, filled with a generous portion of tomato, mushroom, and cheese (my order was without ham), was mediocre. I guess it’s the eggs. I only buy free-range eggs at home, and they simply have that extra rich eggy taste of the by gone days.
The black coffee was also mediocre, not as rich as I wanted, but that’s just me.
Food came swiftly after order, then the black coffee. At all times, we were aware of the time limit, and I barely finished my coffee at half past one. I looked around the restaurant, still plenty of empty tables, and no queue. I asked for the bill. When the bill came, I couldn’t help to make a mocking remark “It’s one and a half hour, I should go.” The waitress smiled, and replied “there’s no queue, you can sit a while.” I didn’t as I had already garbled down my food and washed off my coffee.
Total cost for the lunch was HK$405.
My final verdict of Angelina-IFC: Great environment, mediocre service, and mediocre food; not quite comparable with its older siblings in Paris.
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