Don't be fooled by the fancy décor, it is simply a mirage of the horrible customer service you will encounter for the rest of your meal. There is a growing trend in the GTA, try to copy a successful restaurant and then fail miserably.
Entering the restaurant, I was impressed by the nice interior design of the restaurant. It looked high end and judging by the looks alone; I was expecting a level of customer service that would match the décor. Boy was I wrong!
Upon reviewing the menu, I noticed there was no English translation. Not only is this a mandatory requirement for all restaurants in Canada, it made ordering very challenging as I am the person who orders for our group. Our main server told me that I should get my friend to explain it to me, which is very impractical given the size of the menu offering. After we told her it would be illegal to not have an English menu, she sidetracked and told me they had one copy at the front, but she showed zero interest in making the effort to get it to me. If you can't read Chinese, you shouldn't even bother coming here.
We ended up ordering a combo for 5 people that included: Sashimi, King Crab served 3 ways, Lobster, and "fried" rice. We decided to upgrade the lobster size by a staggering $21/pound price which is well above market price. Since we are celebrating a special occasion, we were willing to splurge. There was one manager who came by our table when he showed the size of the lobster and king crab, was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the dinner service. This is rather unfortunate because he was very well trained and had the level of service I would expect at a place like this.
When the first dish came out, I was very disappointed. I'm not quite sure why they would include Japanese style sashimi at this restaurant, it didn't fit the overall flow of the restaurant or the menu. Worst of all, they only included 3 pieces of each variety of sashimi. Why on earth would a combo for 5 people include only 3 pieces of each sashimi? That would mean someone wasn't going to get to try a piece of fish.
The King Crab dishes felt very small and quaint. Despite the fancy dishes and plates that were introduced, the sizing portion felt like a Michelin star restaurant with the service level of an "afternoon tea snack" café. There were maybe 10 pieces on each of the King Crab dish.
NOTE: Several reviewers have noticed the same thing. I suspect they do a BAIT and SWITCH. The live lobster and crab they show, is not the same one you get! There is simply no way my 10 pound lobster and 8 pound crab came out so small after cooking. I believe they are SCAMMING customers.
Later on, as more dishes were arriving at our table; our server decided to mix the two king crab into a single plate. One plate is black truffle flavoured and the other is white wine steamed. Naturally this is a bad idea, since one is very strong flavour and other is mild. There were plenty of empty small plates at the service station he could have downsized our dish into. When he asked if it was ok, he was already in the process of combining the two dishes together. Obviously our input did not matter.
The HK style lobster and crab were pretty standard, but lacks the flavour profile and "wok hay" that you would get at their main competitor that they are trying to replicate. On top of every dish, they would garnish a stack of 6 inches of lettuce to hide how small each dish really was. Please look at my photos, there's no way the finished product matches the size of the Lobster and King Crab we saw at the beginning of dinner.
I don't think the seafood was that fresh either. Our group had difficulty separating the meat from the shell. Usually when the seafood is really fresh, the meat will just pop right out of the shell with zero hesitation.
The "fried" rice was very disappointing, I can only describe this atrocity as Chinese risotto. They pour some type of strange starch corn syrup sauce over the rice. It was disgusting.
Our server was very lazy, he was hiding behind a door while texting on his phone. While we were eating our dessert, he shoved a bill in our face. Two minutes later, while we are still eating our dessert; he flipped the bill open to see if we had paid yet.
Final thoughts, if you want good quality HK style seafood you should go to Fishman Lobster Clubhouse. They are the undisputed #1 heavy weights in this category. Everyone else is trying to open another restaurant with this style of food and it fails to deliver.
After dropping $700 on this meal, I expected better service than the horrific bad mannered staff we had encountered. You don't always need to try the "newest and latest", they're just trying to scam you for your hard work earned dollars. With such an expensive meal, is it worth gambling?
Décor: 10/10
Service: 1/10
Food: 4/10