Friday, October 22, 2010

Wan Chai Hong Kong Cafe

We decided to have lunch at the new community mall on Ekamai, called Park Lane. There are not many restaurants open yet at the mall but we knew that Wan Chai Hong Kong Cafe just opened; so we thought 'why not try it?'


When we walked in the restaurant; we were a shocked and disappointed by the decor. There was absolutely no thought into the decor. I think they just walked into 'Index Furniture' on Ekamai (which is down the road) and bought the most horrific and no taste furniture for the restaurant. I am not sure what a Hong Kong Cafe should look like but this was absolutely not it. Oh; sorry, they did have photos of the Hong Kong skyline to give us a hint that we could be in Hong Kong...which did not help one bit.


The first dish was their signature dish; Chicken rice set (199 baht). The chicken was tender & moist. The rice was flavourful with ginger. This dish was not bad but it was not worth the money. This is Bangkok after all; where you can get fantastic chicken rice for 50 baht. So, if they are charging 199 baht for this dish; either it better be damn fantastic or the quantity must be big. It was neither.


The second dish was another signature dish; Pork ribs set (199 baht). I am not joking when I say that I had about 50 grams of meat (probably less but I am trying to be nice). The pork ribs was 95% bones. Again this being Bangkok; I know a place that has this dish for only 50 baht and it is so much better. This dish was a waste of money.

Eating in this restaurant was truly a waste of time and money. We should have known right away when we walked in the restaurant that this was not going to be a good experience. We normally are very good at noticing these kinds of things. I think because we were so hungry that we let our guard down.

I truly believe this place will not survive if they do not re-think their strategy. They can charge what ever they want; but the food better so good that people will not mind paying for it. For now; all I keep saying is 'why on earth when there are so many affordable and good chicken rice & pork rib places in Bangkok did I try it?'

Park Lane Community Mall (second floor)
18 Sukhumvit soi 61
Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02-382-0126-7

www.wanchaihongkongcafe.com

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I've been to wan chai cafe at ekamai right? i have a different opinion to yours. i think it's almost impossible to find a restaurant in bangkok with real hongkong/singapore authentic taste. Most chinese restaurants here has dishes which taste nothing like how it's cooked back in hongkong or singapore.

For example, the dish mee goreng. there's a restaurant at thong lo selling the same dish. it taste nothing like the authentic mee goreng in singapore whereas the one in wanchai taste exactly the same.

All in all, i dont mind paying the extra bucks for the food in Wan Chai Hk Cafe. i think that's the closest authentic taste u can get in bangkok and i truly think the food is good.

As for the deco, i think the place is nice and a good place to chill. The beer buffet free flow thingy going @ 199b is really a good deal.

Hungry in Bangkok said...

Hi, I am sure that the mee goreng at this restaurant is very good, but I cannot comment on that since I never had it.

I have been to Singapore many times & lived in Hong Kong. I truly can't believe that the people in either country would accept just eating bones for 199 baht (the pork ribs set). As mentioned the chicken rice was ok; but, honestly there are tons of chicken rice places in town that can offer this dish at a better quality/ price ratio.

I agree with you when you say 'I don't mind paying extra bucks for food', but may I add that the food should be good for those extra bucks. AND, what I had was not worth it.

However; the 199 baht beer buffet does sound like a great deal (which I did not know about).

Thanks for your different opinion and please do keep reading.

The Taster said...

I have been to the same place in Park Lane the other day, sorry but it doesn't make the cut.
The seats are uncomfortable, the glass tables strange more importantly the food is not up to par.
Maybe the Mee goreng is good and authentic, as mentionned by Lovibond but that was not what I ordered. The restaurant is called Wanchai Hong Kong and not Sentosa Singapore
Just to say I did not know that it was a Singaporean restaurant disguising as a Hong Kong joint.
So in my naivety I did order the Pork ribs ....which in my little mind is a Hong Kong dish, actually I had quite a few excellent ones after some late nights in Wanchai, but that is another story.

Bones , yes bones that's what I got.... on a fancy plate with some fancy salad, but that's not Wanchai, that's wanabe wanchai....199 Baht for 5 bones , I agree Hungryinbangkok, thats not right!