why yuk ho is broke for the month: Part 1

'Yo! come out and eat, we are waiting for you on the island side already'
'Ummm, my friend actually booked a place already.....its somwhere in Hotel LKF'
'.......wtf? are you serial..?'

The phone call itself was already unsettling. For people who don't know, Lan Kwai Fong is famous for drinking and not eating. Restaurants that could afford rent in LKF are usually famous for either tricking tourist or catering towards snobby expats who have cash to blow.

This time, we are going to Azure, a amazingly bar situated on the penthouse of Hotel LKF. The view there is absolutely mind blowing, as the hotel sits on the hillside in the middle of Central. The panoramic view the skycrapers huddling around the tower makes you feel like you are on the set of Bladerunner or Metropolis. Honestly, a recommend anyone who is new to the city to grab a cocktail in Azure on a friday night.....but for dinner?

Since Han and Cirline are both in town, so what the hell, might as well try, it wouldn't be too expensive....right? Walked into the restaurant and already felt a little underdressed. The place is surrounded by people in suits and dresses, and i was caught wearing shorts. Cirline didn't fare any better, since she and her friends just came back from Disneyland, everyone on the table was dressing pretty shabby for the location. nice nice

Open the meal, BAM! $1000HKD wine list. Skip
Flip through the many pages of entrees....shit shit shit.....every dish was $300 HKD and up.
Getting a little nervous and sweaty, drinks a entire cup of water and the waiter helps me refill the glass.
Finally found something affordable, a simple Carbonara for $220 HKD.
*phew*

The meal started out pretty well, a nice platter of refillable bread, all handmade by the kitchen. The platter also proovide a variety of cheeses as spread. Since I am pretty uncultured in cheese, I just slab the purple looking cheese (err....Blue Cheese?) into my bread. The olive oil they provide with the bread was really fine, giving out an exceptionally rich olive flavour everytime i use it as my dip.

When the Entrees finally landed on the table, I could see a few frowns in the dining crowd. The proportions looked a little small, especially for a crowd of hungry tourist who just spent a day roasting in Disneyland. The size of my carbonara turned out alright, around the size I imagined a fancy restaurant like this to be.
Deception; The keyword for this dish. Even though by display the carbonara appears to be the plainest dish on the table, it gave me a few surprises.

I first started poking the white blob sitting on top of the dish, thinking it was cream cheese, i thought i could spread it across the pasta. Then yoke started bursting out of the blob and melted into the cheese. OH CRAP OH CRAP, its actually a finely disguised poached egg! So I took a bite of the pasta, and was met by an explosion of flavours. Wow, the bacon smokiness, the fine selection of cheese and melted egg yolk, all mixed together into a mindblowing experience.

'Hmmmmmmm.....'
I am getting more and more surprised by the pasta. The spaghetti was cooked perfectlyinto a chewy texture, wasn't too hard nor too soft. Digging around the pile of spaghetti, I saw flakes of mushroom, but WAIT! thats not mushroom! It's actually flakes of TRUFFLES. Wow, first time ever in my life. As I was slowly enjoying the best pasta I ever had in my life, I was getting more and more convinced that $220 may not be so bad after all.

I took the opportunity to try Han's baked cod, which turned out medicore for its price. Wasn't exceptionally mind blowing and the proportion was really small. Same with Cirline's baked chicken. Nothing too special, underwhelming for something that cost around $300 HKD.

The meal ended with a nice aftertouch with chocolate coated icea cream balls and chocolate dipped strawberries on the house (ok, couldn't find photos of the strawberries, so just raspberries here)
......then comes the sad part...the Bill. Turns out that the water they served us was actually brand bottled water, which was given to us without our consent. Since we took our time, chatted a little bit, and sipped a few cups of water, they managed to charge us an extra $350HKD of water. A little excessive right?

Splitting the bill, I paid an extra $50 for water, which totaled up to around $270 HKD, the cheapest meal out of everyone. There were a few moans and groans as people paid their bill, most of them topping arond $350. Definitely a stab to the wallet.

Final Verdict: Conflicting Signals. Best Carbonara I ever had in my life. Even worth the full $220. But other dishes were excessively overpriced and underwhelming. Maybe I was just lucky with my dish and the restaurant was always poor? I will never know, because I am never going back there for dinner. As for you? err....if you are rich, what the heck? Get their Carbonara!

Low on cash? just popped in there later the night for a simple cocktail. Azure is honestly a place built for drinking, and not for fine dining.

And now....let me mourn over my wallet....I think I just blew my lai see money in this meal :'(

http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=17304