CIAK In the Kitchen (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I was having lunch all by myself again in Central and despite a decent lunch at Tosca last week, I thought I still owed it to myself to enjoy another Michelin starred meal as an reward for my hard work in recent weeks. But at 1pm, where can I find a good place with empty seats? 

Of course CIAK In the Kitchen would be absolutely packed by now but perhaps they would have a seat available at the bar table? 

Hurrah~ got the front row seat I wanted right down Broadway.

I have always liked to dine here with or without the Michelin star but I noticed they haven't changed their lunch menu much these days. Pan fried cod fish with cherry tomatoes, fettuccine with king prawns and tomato as well as lamb chops. This is pretty much the same menu we had in our previous visits. Complacency?

Bread was OK but slightly on the hard side.

For starter, I went with their parma ham with Sicilian melon. Are the melons sweeter on the other side of the world? Evidently yes and they were so rich and juicy. The ham was nice and flavorful.

I was picking between the cod fish and fettuccine, both I tried on different occasions and finally ended up taking the fettuccine after reading the sign here that said "the best pasta in town".

I knew I could always trust their homemade pasta. Very good bite as always but the lobster bisque style sauce was a little too "predictable" though. Like I've said before, time to change up the menu a bit.

After lunch, I decided to check out their pasticceria corner for the first time.

My sweet tooth came calling the last few nights so I ended up grabbing a couple of these pastries for its sake.

Their pistachio mousse (green) and lychee mousse with raspberry (pink) were both nicely decorated and tasted equally good. But as a long-time fan of pistachio, it came with very little surprise that I've enjoyed the pistachio mousse a bit more.

 

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 327-333, 3/F, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2522-8869
Website: www.ciakconcept.com/home.htm