Tea on a Boat

We could not have asked for a better week to enjoy the short cruise along Victoria Harbour on a remodeled Star Ferry with the legendary afternoon tea served by The Peninsula team.

Staycation at The Pen

With no travel plan in sight in foreseeable future, we thought we would wrap up 2020 with another weekend “away” at The Peninsula known for its timeless grandeur. And there's no better time to stay-cation at this legendary property than in December, for they arguably have one of the best festive decorations in town during the Christmas season. 

East meets West Menu plus the fireworks

It's no secret that the best vantage point to watch the festive fireworks display - as they do every year on the second day of Chinese New Year over the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong - is at the terrace of The Peninsula, with an unobstructed harborside view and right in front of the fireworks action. That's something we realized when we came with our friends for a festive celebration at the hotel a few years ago.

Breakfast at The Pen

We always have this ideal Sunday morning in our mind which starts with a leisure breakfast at The Pen followed by an easy walk to church down the Nathan Road on a Sunday morning. But in practice we often opted for the second best, but a much easier option instead, which was to sleep in until we must get up to be on time for church.

Over the Monday blues at Chesa

Wanting a good, casual meal to cheer us up over the Monday blues under such erratic weather, we swung by Chesa at The Peninsula last week. It almost seems like the restaurant didn't change a bit for as long as we remember, with the same dark decor, wooden wall and ceiling resembling an Alpine chalet, with almost the same menu featuring classic Swiss dishes. We felt that's just the refuge we needed to chill and relax.

Double Celebration at Spring Moon

For cheapskate like me, a freebie coupon sometimes works wonders. I have been offered free champagne and cake for dining at The Peninsula as part of the "birthday presents" offered by one of the credit cards I carry, so we went back to Spring Moon for dinner at the end of November, conveniently forgetting the horrible experience we had last year at another restaurant of theirs. At first it seemed a bit silly to celebrate a birthday more than a month late - after all, I did celebrate with not one, not two, but three gorgeous meals already - and then I realized the date we set for the dinner was actually closer instead to both my parents' and our wedding anniversaries (both in early December), so I figure we may as well use that as an excuse for a double early celebration instead of a belated, meaningless one.

The Epilogue - Calling it even at The Pen

I felt obliged to share what happened after our dinner at Gaddi’s last month. Two days after my rant about the poor service we received at the restaurant – a fully justifiable one, I must reiterate – I received an email of apology from The Pen people, acknowledging the issues we have complained about as gracefully as I could imagine, and they even offered to make it up with another dinner at the restaurant. 

On the record - one lousy night at the Gaddi's

We all had those kind of days when we just wanna muddle along, trying to get by til the next day and hope no damage's done, didn't we? Well, during a recent dinner visit to Gaddi's, we felt like the staff was having that kind of a day. Yes, I meant the entire team.

Chinese New Year Celebration at Chesa

We usually stay away from eating out during the holidays, especially to places that offer any sort of celebration set menu (often an euphemism of overpriced, under-delivered food that was prepared in advanced and in bulk by junior staff unwillingly stuck in the kitchen while everyone's away on holiday) But when our friend asked us to join she and her other friends for dinner at Chesa at The Peninsula during Chinese New Year, we went and had a blast - well, literally.

If you ask me to name one local restaurant that's good enough to impress while casual enough for everyday dining, Chesa could be one of those I had in mind. And whether you are a regular customer or an occasional one like us, you always feel like you are treated like royals - something of a rare breed these days, even for many top-notch hotels or restaurants around town.

A Mixed Feeling - Gaddi's

Whether it's because of its location, its gorgeously-designed dining space with Victorian windows, high ceiling, crystal chandeliers and candlestands or its classily-dressed wait-staff, in our mind, dining at Gaddi's is never a light-hearted affair. Even without the dress code (there is one actually), you would have felt obliged to dress up a notch so as to not feel too out of place with the classic, colonial decor - of course, whether you like it or not that way is a personal preference.

My bro and sis-in-law came back to Hong Kong recently for a week-long break to attend a wedding, so we met up for lunch here as this was the only time slot we were both available. The maitre d' seated us in the middle of the dining room after everyone arrived. Well, a few tables were occupied here and there, but it's so quiet that I can almost hear the pin drops. To be honest I am not a big fan of such "tranquility", felt more like sitting in a deserted place that made me feel a bit uncomfortable - again, a matter of personal preference.

Compared to its dinner menu, the menu du dejeuner obviously offers better value for money - a 3-course lunch with options to choose from for appetizer, main, and dessert (or cheese if you so choose). It came with a glass of wine too, though there's nothing particular to write home about for a rustic, typical Macon Village that I had (or the Australian shiraz as the other option).

The food this afternoon wasn't bad, per se, just that it's certainly not as inspiring as previous times when we tried the chef's table dinner menu - which I didn't blame him cuz that would have been four times as expensive. I love the presentation of all the courses, both in terms of plating and how the food's brought to the table - so elegantly done that it's certainly a class of its own. Well, this is once called the best French restaurant in the Far East for a reason, I suppose.

My main course - Bresse chicken confit with lentils - is a classic winter dish cooked beautifully and I have to tip my hat off to Chef Goodridge for that.  It's served with a foam of foie gras which did bring a balanced flavor and a new facet of texture to the plate, figuratively speaking. I also adored my dessert of prune and pecan clafoutis - another iconic French dish - this time served with a quenelle of armagnac icecream.

Unfortunately service is one of the areas that we found especially dissappointing this afternoon. So often when we turned around looking for our waiter we found none within our proximity, not to mention the mere fact that we actually had to ask - several times - for simple things such as having our bread plates and water glasses filled. We almost have to resort to the rather rude two-hand wave in order to get some attention from someone - at one point I even considered calling the maitre d' on the phone for rescue. From our past experience that's very not typical of this hotel I must say, especially from this very dining outlet. Perhaps that made it even more of a let-down.

We can certainly live with a little less uptightness, a more "lively" dining room and definitely more attentive service, yet we wouldn't complain too much after sitting down for a decent meal like this - we became even more appreciative to that once we saw the long waiting line for the "famous" afternoon tea downstairs as we made our way back to the hotel lobby. But next time, we will probably save up to enjoy a sumptuous dinner here rather than coming for the presumably better-valued lunch.

when? November 13 2010
where? Gaddi's, The Peninsula, TST, Hong Kong
menu highlights?  Bresse chicken confit with Puy lentils and goose liver