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2017-10-18
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Warning: This review is super long and it's not only about the food!A few months ago, my friend in LA tagged me in a post about Salazar opening in HK. I was super excited coz #1 Tacos! #2 My bro is the amazing pastry chef at the LA one. I couldn't wait!Then life happened and I completely forgot about this place until I was graciously invited to attend a birthday dinner there. It has just opened and it's called Eleven Westside.First, it's located at The Hudson in Kennedy Town. The entrance is dow
A few months ago, my friend in LA tagged me in a post about Salazar opening in HK. I was super excited coz #1 Tacos! #2 My bro is the amazing pastry chef at the LA one. I couldn't wait!
Then life happened and I completely forgot about this place until I was graciously invited to attend a birthday dinner there. It has just opened and it's called Eleven Westside.
First, it's located at The Hudson in Kennedy Town. The entrance is down an alley on Davis and up a flight of stairs. Beautiful patio with 6 large tables. I hope they will install fans later since HK is mostly hot and humid!
The space is big and spacious. The bar is beautiful and there's a pool table in the back room.
As we walked in I noticed 2 x 2 Tops and our table of 13. Unfortunately, we couldn't believe their bench design wasn't large group friendly. We were split into 3 tables with quite a large gap inbetween. We requested to push the tables together which meant someone was going to be sitting on the decorative table/bench without cushions or backing!
Anyway, after that incident we sat and were quite excited for this gathering. I came with low expectations coz it's new. Glanced over the menu and it looked good. Couple of pairing etc.
Our first pairing was Paloma, tequila based cocktail. It was light and refreshing which I quite enjoyed. We had salsa and chip and the table side Guacamole. I have always LOVED guacamole. Both were for sharing and with unlimited salsa and chips. Awesome start. Then everything went downhill.
My friend didn't like the Paloma, so he ordered a margarita. (Side note: No cocktail menu available when we dined!)
The server initially refused to get him a margarita because it was coming at the 5th course. That was kind of a what the heck moment. Finally after some words, it was made and served.
We wanted to get more guacamole and they wouldn't let us order another one. We weren't asking for a free one either.
Next course was Seaside Caesar Salad for sharing. It was a nice salad but nothing outstanding and the crab tasted out of a can.
3rd course was corn. Mexican street corn is amazing! However, that's not what we got. We shared the baby corn dish. It tasted good but all of us were pretty disappointed we were sharing such small dishes.
4th course was Ceviche Pacific also a sharing plate. Paired with a dark beer. Food came, we all ate tho most of us questioned why the Ceviche was cooked. The prawns in there were grilled and chopped into pieces mixed with chunky salsa and avocado. Not particularly good tho not unpleasant but I definitely wouldn't call it Ceviche. The beer pairing arrived after we all finished eating this course. Oops?
Finally it was tacos! Yay! Finally we got our own plate! 3 tacos each, Al Pastor (my fav), Carne asada and Pollo Asado. Paired with Margarita which was quite tasty, a bit on the sour side but good.
The tacos arrived and we were all like, what's that tortilla? Is it Indian roti? Chinese scallion pancake sans scallions? Where's the corn tortillas? Ok, maybe the filling is on fleek.
Chicken - what the actual heck? No seasoning, plain grilled chicken, topped with guacamole, raw onions and a whisper of cilantro. I already threw some Smokey hot sauce on it to make sure it will have taste...even that didn't save it. Only redeeming quality was the tenderness of the chicken and it wasn't dry.
Beef - upgrade from the chicken but where's the seasoning? Even salt and pepper would have been ok. Same dollop of guacamole, onions and cilantro. Redeeming quality was also the tenderness of the meat and it wasn't dry.
Pork - Thank God this was respectable. The amount I've eaten from taco trucks while I was living in LA meant I know a little how it should taste. Thank you for giving this Pork the spices and flavor it deserved. I would've been such a happy camper to have had 3 of these instead! Flavorful & juicy.
However, I really hope they get rid of the doughy sad excuse of tortillas for some real homemade corn ones. It would've made the Al Pastor tacos perfect.
6th course, both Hanger steak and Fish came. Both had the living hell cooked out of them. I never ever eat well done steak and this was more well done than the one given to our pregnant friends. Luckily it wasn't dry and was tender but 1 piece was enough. Not much flavor and the grilled veggies on the side was cold. Cold like a salad.
Fish....the texture was like eating chicken. Given it wasn't dry out 100% but damn, I've never eaten fish so cooked that it became like eating chicken breast. Flavor was better than the steak but that's a pretty low bar.
The wines paired with this was ok. Both from Mexico which was interesting.
Final dessert course. The wait time between the 2 courses was ridiculous even after requesting for it and for the horchata pairing first.
As we got bored of waiting, 1 friend ordered another glass of red, after waiting for a while, we asked another server, still nothing so I went up to the bar to ask the bartender. 5 mins later it finally came. Total time was way too long for 2 bartenders who were not doing anything but chatting with the servers.
But the horchata was no where in sight. We then had the birthday cake and a bottle of champagne. Another friend ordered a round of tequila shots. That came pretty fast.
Then the desserts finally came. 3 Tiny flans for 13 people. The flan I liked. A bit thick but well made. The churros finally came and it was pretty tasty tho they need help with plating.
I think I liked the dessert course the best coz they didn't disappoint like the others. Btw, Still no horchata.
When did the horchata arrive? When the bill came. It was also a shot, explained to us as a farewell shot since we had the tequila shot before the desserts.
Cost came to $850 HKD per person.
In my opinion, there's plenty more places to eat in HK for better quality service and food at that price.
I think total covers during the hrs we were there was 3 x 2 tops, 1x 4 Top and our 13 Top. From 7:30pm to 10:30pm.
Overall our group really enjoyed ourselves because we were among friends and had great conversations and discussions all night. The space is great, I hope the food and service can improve for their survival sake.
張貼
