Refectory, Soho, Hong Kong

(Note: this restaurant has since closed down! Boo hoo)

Modern British Cuisine.

Surprisingly delicious "british cuisine". The first time I checked out Refectory was with a girlfriend on a 2-4-1 Monday dinner night. Its great being able to try out new restaurants knowing its only half the damage on the hip pocket if turns out to be a disaster. This restaurant is tucked away on Graham Street - probably fitting up to 40 people in the small cozy restaurant.

First off, we were served with fresh hot bread rolls from the oven. My gf and I decided to opt for the appetizer size mussels to share. Large, fresh, succulent mussels, cooked in a creamly white wine and shallots sauce. Delicious. We mopped up the rest of the sauce with the dinner rolls.

So far so good. Our mains of suckling pig and seared cured salmon were also surprisingly good. We were amazed to be served with three large cuts of suckling pig, soft moist tender meat, all topped with a light crunchy crispy skin. It was complimented with a gravy sauce, ratoutille and spinach, and some roast potatoes that tasted slightly caramelized. The generous piece of cured salmon was slightly seared with a soft uncooked centre, my gf thought it was a little on the "fishy" side but I thought it was quite delicious with the pan fried bacon & leek side. Between the two, I'd have to pick the suckling pig though!

The restaurant impressed me so much that I thought it was worthy a second visit. My experience has been that the second visit to a favoured restaurant never quite matches up to the first ... I suppose the first is always an exploration, and once the high expectation is set the second is critical analysis of the food and service.

So we recommended it for a dinner for the same Friday night with some friends. As usual, the 2nd visit was just not quite the same. We ordered the mussels to share, but gone were the "succulent", delicious mussels, they were replaced with tiny little ones which made us think that Monday (day of our first visit) is the market day! To my relief, the suckling pig was just as good, and the salmon seemed to keep everyone happy. I picked the Australian rib-eye as my main and it was on the chewy side.

For dessert, we opted for the sorbet and "burnt creme" with berries (creme brulee), nothing spectactular but both nice solid ends to our meal.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars