Price: $$$
Cravingness: ★★☆☆☆
I have a mix feelings towards Duddell's. I had a good dim sum experience but I also had a bad dining experience. I got an invitation from Duddell's offering a complimentary dinner tasting to make up the first bad experience that I had. Judging from great my dim sum lunch, I decided to give Duddell's a second chance. I also grabbed Su with me, wanting to see if they truly do improve. But do they? Please read on...
What I found truly impressive in Duddell's is their art gallery, which changes all the time! I just went here last week but the interior artworks have already changed. They truly is an art gallery despite being a busy restaurant.
Two problems, other than the food itself, that we encountered at our previous dinner were the noise level and the staff's attentiveness. The noise level has been significantly brought down by the use of curtains along one side of the room to absorb the noises from the hard surfaces. There are also now more servers at the dining hall, so the service is attentive and efficient.
We were given a set dinner menu to try tonight, which composed of most of the signature dishes here at Duddell's. The menu was put into an envelope which is a very cute act!
Despite the goose, there were loads of seafood inside the soup but not everything tastes good. The shrimp was fat and bouncy but the chicken was rough and the fish was dry. The dried scallops brought up the flavour of the broth. This soup in general tasted too oily for me as I was expecting something more light and refreshing in a winter melon based soup.
Opening the lotus leaf we found big fat brown grains fully packed inside! The rice was savoury with strong soy taste but was a bit dry in texture. There was little duck meat, like three tiny cubes in this pocket of rice. We were greatly let down.
Overall, the dinner was rather average with no surprise. There was not really anything that impressed me, the Salted Crispy Chicken was the best of the night, but still tasted rather oily. The service and ambiance do improve alot since my first visit, but the food sadly does not impressed me. If you are interested in dining at Duddell's, come at lunch and lunch only.
What I found truly impressive in Duddell's is their art gallery, which changes all the time! I just went here last week but the interior artworks have already changed. They truly is an art gallery despite being a busy restaurant.
Two problems, other than the food itself, that we encountered at our previous dinner were the noise level and the staff's attentiveness. The noise level has been significantly brought down by the use of curtains along one side of the room to absorb the noises from the hard surfaces. There are also now more servers at the dining hall, so the service is attentive and efficient.
We were given a set dinner menu to try tonight, which composed of most of the signature dishes here at Duddell's. The menu was put into an envelope which is a very cute act!
Chilled Abalone with Jelly Fish - HKD150
The first course served was a chilled South Africa abalone with jelly fish. The abalone was very tender, sweet and juicy. The jellyfish was much chewier than the normal ones, crunchy even. It was aromatic, dressed with sesame oil and rather spicy with strong cilantro flavour. Not bad but nothing special.
Winter Melon Soup with Seafood and Conpoy - HKD160
Such aromatic soup with bursting goose flavour! You can find roasted goose skin and oil floating on the surface of the winter melon soup. The roasted goose was flavourful but a tad lean and rough.Despite the goose, there were loads of seafood inside the soup but not everything tastes good. The shrimp was fat and bouncy but the chicken was rough and the fish was dry. The dried scallops brought up the flavour of the broth. This soup in general tasted too oily for me as I was expecting something more light and refreshing in a winter melon based soup.
Crispy Salted Chicken - HKD230/ Half
I love this dish, the crispy salted chicken was totally mouth smacking! The chicken was heavenly smokey and extremely succulent with savoury crispy skin. To complete the sense, there was some evil melting fat lay right underneath the crispy skin! The dish was close to perfection except it was quite oily which I could not help but whip my mouth after each bite. Also the crispiness of the skin was not consistent.
Steamed Lotus Leaf Rice with Roasted Duck and Convoy - HKD80
Here comes the anticipated dish of the night, streamed lotus leaf rice served in a cute little bamboo streamer. We were excited, albeit a bit surprised that there was no crazy drooling aroma from the streamer.Opening the lotus leaf we found big fat brown grains fully packed inside! The rice was savoury with strong soy taste but was a bit dry in texture. There was little duck meat, like three tiny cubes in this pocket of rice. We were greatly let down.
Braised Bean Curd in Spicy Sauce - HKD150
Since we found a dish of boiled veg in fish broth does not justify the price of HKD200, we requested to have the braised bean curd in spicy sauce instead. The tofu dish has a funny colour, very orangy. The sauce was just mildly spicy and was rather sweet. The tofu was extremely smooth and I love how the bamboo pits soaked up the sauce. Just wished this could be spicier, correction, MUCH spicer.
Signature Desserts
Finally comes to the dessert section. Looking cute and fine, starting from the left we have Sesame Cake, Mini Egg Tart and Baked Sago Pudding. The sesame cake was a light pudding-like cake with a strong sesame taste and mild coconut taste. It would be better if it's chewy. The Mini Egg Tart was disppointingly weak in taste. The tart was thick without buttery taste and the custard was only mildly sweet. The Baked Sago Pudding was as expected delicious like always.Overall, the dinner was rather average with no surprise. There was not really anything that impressed me, the Salted Crispy Chicken was the best of the night, but still tasted rather oily. The service and ambiance do improve alot since my first visit, but the food sadly does not impressed me. If you are interested in dining at Duddell's, come at lunch and lunch only.
Rating
Food - ★★☆☆☆
Service - ★★★★★
Ambience - ★★★☆☆
Overall - ★★☆☆☆
Duddell's
Levels 3 & 4, Shanghai Tang Mansion, 1 Duddell Street, Central
香港中環都爹利街1號上海灘3至4樓
☏ 2525 9191
Opening Hours:
Mon - Thu: 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 12am
Fri - Sat: 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 1am
Sun: Opens for Brunch
Reservation Available? Yes
Walk In Possible? Yes
Website: http://duddells.co/
Date of Dining: 21 May 2014
I also had a bad dining experience, but I wouldn't mind trying it again. Did they change their opening hours?
ReplyDelete