影片
更多
2013-11-09
1258 浏览
'Gastropub' isn't so much a definable thing as it is a marketing label. Wikipedia says it's a "bar or restaurant that serves high-end beer and food." But "high-end" is nebulous, especially in a place like Hong Kong where tastes and perceived quality or status are highly variable. All the same, 'gastropub' is the sort of marketing label that gets me in the door. "Finally," I tell myself, "a good burger!"The menu at the Cottage is certainly an interesting one. A lot of small fried things for start
The menu at the Cottage is certainly an interesting one. A lot of small fried things for starters-- calamari, fish, chicken fingers, etc. There are only two "burgers and sandwiches" in the "burgers and sandwiches" section: a burger, and a beef sandwich. Then there are pastas and pizzas, and finally some fancier mains (like steaks or fish and chips or tikka masala).
One particular menu item caught my eye: the American pizza. I've seen pepperoni and jalapenos called 'American pizza' before in HK (at Pizza Express), but it always struck me as odd: I'm the only American I ever met that has that as their favorite toppings. But it is true that pepperoni and jalapenos are very American ingredients...
Alas, I was not a fan. I liked the pepperoni. My favorite pepperoni is really thin sliced and it gets super crispy in the pizza oven. This was thicker sliced, but nice and meaty. When I was done with what I was going to eat of the pizza, I picked off the pepperonis.I also thought the jalapenos were reasonably good. Pickled jalapenos, obviously, but not too pickle-y, and with a noticeable (though not great) amount of spice.
The thing I really didn't like about the pizza was the "crust." That's deliberately in scare quotes. The crust was about as thick as a tortilla chip, and about as crispy too. I came to think of this as "pizza nachos," because it was very similar to nachos: crunchy chips with cheese and jalapenos... and also pizza sauce and pepperoni.
Our server described it as "thin crust," but I believe in a genuine line between pizza crust and crackers, and I believe that line has been crossed here.
The lack of a substantial crust really throws off the balance. Pizza has about 3x as much cheese as nachos, but with pizza, bread balances the cheese. Not, of course, with pizza nachos. I found the cheese and toppings to be overwhelming in this context.
Finally, a pizza crust as thin and crispy as a cracker or a tortilla chip is just not the right texture for a pizza. When have you ever heard this sentence: "I like their pizza, it's so crispy!" OK, what I mean is... when have you heard anyone not from Hong Kong say that sentence?
Easily the worst pizza I've had in Hong Kong. Definitely worse than O Cafe. Shading into Shakey's territory, where it's not even clear that what you're eating is pizza. Those are harsh words, but when I would rather eat a frozen pizza than your pizza, you're doing it wrong.
My wife got the burger. We actually decided to go here because she was having a burger craving. Both of us had bites of the burger at the beginning, and we both agreed that it was great, and one of the best burgers we'd had so far in Hong Kong.If only the universe had ended at that moment! The rest of the burger story is tragic. As my wife took more bites, she kept finding parts that were difficult to chew and gristly. We had this problem at Shake'Em'Buns, but here it was even worse. Once every two bites there was an unchewable piece of meat to wrestle with. She thought the fries were great, and the chewable parts of the burger were great-- top notch even-- but that didn't keep it from being inedible. She didn't even eat half of it and we got a crepe afterwards at La Creperie for sustenance.
Look, this place is new. They're experiencing natural growing pains. I'm sure they'll iron out many of the problems that they're having early on. I found the service to be warm, considerate, and friendly. It's BYOB until they have their liquor license, and that shaves some serious $ off your bill. However. The food isn't inexpensive. For the same price or less you can get good stuff elsewhere. I had a burger at Canteen the other day that I'd easily trade for this one. I think the last time I had worse pizza was on an airplane. Somebody is seriously phoning it in, and what this place needs is a new chef, and fast.
张贴
