Le 188° Restaurant and Lounge, Hong Kong

The location for one of the scenes of an upcoming movie starring Daniel Wu and Joseph Chang, Le 188° Restaurant and Lounge boasts panoramic views of Victoria Harbour.

Come lunchtime, Le 188° offers an irresistible deal—- a semi-buffet lunch!  You get the best of both worlds—- buffet and a la carte!

Semi-Buffet Lunch

Selections of Appetizer and Soup from the Buffet

The buffet spread is reasonably generous and more importantly, the food is of good quality.  You have a fresh seafood buffet consisting of fresh mussels, raw oysters, prawns and whelks.  They replenish all the fresh seafood as soon as it gets empty.  This is not a cheapskate restaurant.

I was also pleasantly surprised that in addition to raw oysters, they also have oysters baked in cheese. They were so savoury and satisfying!   All the oysters, raw or baked, are reasonably big and thick.  Once again, this is not a cheapskate restaurant.

The rest of the buffet spread has got a quite a large variety— soups, bread, salads, canapes etc.  Though this is a buffet, even the tiniest canape was executed with attention to detail eg the salmon roe or baked bacon on top.  I was impressed.

Your Choice of Main Course

Char-grilled Canadian Ribeye Steak with French Beans, Parma Ham, Green Peas Puree and Mustard Seed Sauce

Or

Grilled Lamb Chops with Risotto Cake, Baby Corn and Thyme Jus

Or

Roasted Stuffed Chicken Breast with Mozzarella Cheese, Sun-dried Tomato, Glaze Apple and Foie Gras Gravy Sauce

Or

Seabass Spring Roll with Mussels, Carrot, White Asparagus and Capers Butter Sauce

Or

Dutch Veal Ragout Pappardelle with Porcini Mushroom, Herbs and Parmesan Cheese

Or

Stuffed Rigatoni with Roasted Organic Pumpkin, Cheese in Tomato Sauce

The main courses were executed with precision.  My steak arrived perfectly, precisely medium-rare, exactly what I had requested.

Selections of Dessert from the Buffet

They were delicious.   Once again, they had bothered paying attention to the execution, even though this is just a buffet.

What I really appreciated about this restaurant was that the tables were spaced reasonably far apart.   In the competitive restaurant business, this is so rare these days.  Usually, tables are placed so close to each other you have to squeeze around tables and chairs back into each other/ into a wall.  Here, you definitely have space to comfortably walk around  tables, and you will not be disturbed by the next table’s conversation.   In addition, there really are not that many tables in this restaurant anyway, so this restaurant never gets noisy.

The waiters were immaculately dressed in a black and white and they speak very good English.  In other places, even those with Michelin stars, though they speak English, they may not necessarily understand you, and they don’t have the confidence to clarify.  All this leads to a frustrating experience.  Here, you have a seamless dining experience.

This seems a restaurant which will be appreciated by someone who seeks real quality and not just after the next trendy dining hotspot.  When I was there, the other diners were well-dressed, soft-spoken C-level executives.  This is a quality crowd.  This is not a trendy place patronised by hungry wannabes.

With a spacious environment, a soft-spoken decor, quiet noise levels  and quality service, this is an ideal place for business lunches.  This is a very respectable place to bring your clients.

Freshly Brewed Coffee or Tea

Appetizer + Dessert

HK$218 per child; HK$308 per adult

Appetizer + Main Course +  Dessert

HK$268 per child; HK$358 per adult