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2012-01-19
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I am not a fussy eater but oh mine….!!! I had the worst meal in my three years in Hong Kong which before that, I don’t really have any bad meals in Hong Kong. As a result, I felt compelled to write a review about my dining experience, and also as a “beware” note to potential diners.We arrived at about 7.40pm and were promptly seated and shown the menu. I ordered the Japanese grilled chicken with soft shell crab, with rice as side while my partner ordered the honeyed pork knuckle with rice as sid
We arrived at about 7.40pm and were promptly seated and shown the menu. I ordered the Japanese grilled chicken with soft shell crab, with rice as side while my partner ordered the honeyed pork knuckle with rice as side as well. Both are set meals for dinner.
The soup and soft drinks were served very promptly, with Chinese style warm soft bread and butter. The soup was supposedly to be cream of mushroom soup but there were hardly any mushrooms nor taste. It is definitely canned soup, diluted with water, added salt and MSG, and added corn flour to thicken again.
Then, the first wave of nightmare began….
We waited for 50 minutes before my partner’s honeyed pork knuckle showed up and when we asked for mine, we were told to wait and the waitress was polite and apologetic. We asked about my order two times again and the manager said my order had gone out… Hello….. but my table is empty! Is it stupidity or what Finally, they asked me if I had ordered curry beef brisket and I had to repeat my order to the waitress again. Finally, my much awaited the Japanese grilled chicken with soft shell crab showed up. Great! My main course is served after waiting for 1 hour and 5 minutes after the horrible soup. All this while, my partner is very polite and waited for me while letting his meal go cold.
Second wave of nightmare….
1. Honeyed pork knuckle
There is nothing honeyed about the pork knuckle. The pork knuckle was wrapped and baked and served in aluminium foil. It looked and tasted like the pre-cooked soy-sauce chilled pork knuckle from supermarket shelf. The skin is soft and gooey and unwrapping the aluminium foil is a challenge, with all the sticky meat juices making a whole mess. The pork knuckle is just very salty and has the “pork” smell. Side order of rice has been mass cooked before and simply pop in microwave to re-heat. There is also a serving of a sickening sauce – tasted like a mixture of hoi sin sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar.
Overall, the food is quite poor and not enjoyable, and the 1 hour plus waiting time makes it worse.
2. Japanese grilled chicken with soft shelled crab
This is simply 2 pieces of boneless chicken pieces and half a deep fried soft shell crab. Again, nothing Japanese about the chicken and crab.
The half piece of miserable soft shelled crab is deep fried in lousy batter that is very thick and by the time it is served, the crab had gone cold and soft in an oily mess. It’s not very fresh either, and has the stale seafood/ fishy taste. Chicken is simply marinated with salt and oven baked. Skin is still soft and pale and could have been in the oven for another 5 minutes. Guess what I am also served with the sickening sauce as my partner.
Also, the table is so narrow that we could not place our plates directly opposite each other and had to sit slightly diagonal. Just pathetic.
While waiting for our meals, we were observing other tables. It seemed to take a long time for food to be served. The table next to ours, one guy had already finished his meal by the time his friend’s meal is served. This is just unacceptable by any standards. From where my partner is seating, he could see there were some disagreement and arguing going on in the kitchen. It’s just simply unprofessional.
The best part is… when we asked for the bill, it is presented very promptly! Yes, with service charge as well. Old saying of “slow to deliver and quick to take the money” This is the worst meal I ever had in Hong Kong and never again will I step into this restaurant and the similar chain, even if it’s a free meal.
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