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2012-01-12
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I visited this restaurant and enjoyed a satisfactory dinner experience a year ago. Unfortunately that pleasant experience wasn't repeated when using it for lunch with an out-of-town visitor today, though it was the service - and a rather unexpected item on the bill that may or may not have been intentional - rather than the food that led to this result.We chose from the Set Lunch, where one of the main courses was a chicken breast wrapped in bacon. My dining companion, a Muslim, asked if the di
We chose from the Set Lunch, where one of the main courses was a chicken breast wrapped in bacon. My dining companion, a Muslim, asked if the dish could be served without the bacon wrapping. The waitress - probably a senior judging by her uniform - told us she didn't know - but didn't volunteer to check either. When we cajoled her further, she reluctantly agreed to ask the kitchen. Of course, she returned with a affirmative answer. After all, removing a rasher of bacon is hardly demanding of any chef's time.
The starters - my friend chose a smoked salmon dish whose portions and presentation was quite good. I chose a vegetable stew, which was nothing like a stew and really simply a thick vegetable soup, minestrone style. However, the vegetable content was about 80% onions, with some assorted green matter, and though the seasoning was balanced the flavour and texture was distinctly uninteresting.
The aforementioned chicken main was a decent portion and attractively presented. I chose the alternative, a linguini with prawn in a spicy tomato sauce. As is usual in Hong Kong, the sauce wasn't remotely spicy, but the pasta was well cooked, and accompanied by a reasonable number of prawns.
After finishing my coffee a waitress asked me if I'd like another. As I was about to agree it crossed my mind to ask if it was a refill. She gave me a rather mocking smile and said "No, of course not!". Frankly, this was probably a better outcome as the coffee's quality was at the level of a fastfood joint, and served in a shallow cup. However, you have to question the attitude of a restaurant that would not refill a cup of basic quality regular coffee.
Now to the unexpected item. Just after my visitor arrived at the table we were asked what we would like to drink. He replied that just water would do, and I agreed, saying "Yes, plain water". I disappeared to use the washrooms, and when I returned I was surprised to see the waitress pouring out tumblers of water from a large mineral water bottle of some obscure brand. Because I was entertaining a visitor, I didn't want to generate embarrassment by asking whether this counted as "plain water" - and she had already opened and poured. Likewise, I could not display my annoyance when settling the bill, which did indeed include a charge of HK$68 for still water.
DotCod is a reasonable venue for a business lunch meeting, which this was, and actually the patronage was quite diverse during the hour and a half we were there. The tables in some places are close together, and there are occasional glances between tables that indicate overheard conversations, so I wouldn't suggest it for any confidential discussions.
As for the set lunch, the cost for two courses including service would be about HK$260. For the environment and general quality of the food, that's probably about right. I would suggest to the restaurant's management if they read this that they encourage a slightly warmer and more wiling attitude in their waiting staff.
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