Cafe Gray Deluxe, Admiralty - 27.08.10

I have waited a long time to eat at Cafe Gray Deluxe, mainly because after having a drink at the bar when it first opened, I got a terrible bout of food poisoning and blamed it on their bar snacks. 

I am over the food poisoning incident now however and ready to give the place another chance.  We were lucky enough to be taken for dinner on Friday night by some family friends of my husband.  I am glad we were not treating that night, because Cafe Gray, located on the 49th floor of Upper House, not only has spectacularly high views and high cuisine, it also has high prices.   Chef Gray Kuntz’s creative menu of reworked classics offers an array of tempting dishes, but all at a price: appetizers start at around $85 for a tiny Gazpacho to nearly $300 for the truffle Risotto.  Mains are all upwards of $300 and most hover around the $450 mark. 

I began with the Bib Lettuce and Guacamole.  Refreshing and tasty though it was, it literally was just lettuce and guacamole, something I could have whipped up in the blender myself in 10 minutes flat.  My husband had the steak tartare, which was excellent in my opinion, but only so-so according to him.  For my main, I had the ravioli of tomato and thyme.  Although this dish sounds ridiculously simple, it was a brilliantly turned out dish, with perfectly sweetened tomatoes, a hint of cream or mascarpone I suspect, and just the right amount of herbs to accent the pasta without overpowering the other flavours.  My husband had the steak, which was perfectly cooked, and had a very good flavour to it.  The sides that came with the steak were a little on the rich side however.  Our friends had the lamb and they were very pleased with it.   

Unfortunately, no one had room for dessert, and we instead indulged in a few after dinner drinks.  We became quite merry and probably a little obnoxious in all honesty, but our after dinner conversation was quite hilarious.  At one point, someone was referred to as 'vors raw', meaning 'sitting on the fence not making a decision'.  Literally, the translation into English from the Afrikaans original is ‘raw dick’ - hysterical and definitely one to remember for the future!

Overall the food was good but not outstanding.  The service was pretty appalling.   Although perfectly polite and though the waiter delivered our food on time, it was damned near impossible to get anyone’s attention from our enclave table by the kitchen, and we ended up having to get up to pour our own wine a few times.

I can't even begin to imagine what our bill came to, but I would estimate the cost to be at least $1000 per head for three courses including wine.

Ask for a table by the window in the main dining area to ensure better service.

Cafe Gray Deluxe
49th Floor, The Upper House

Pacific Place

88 Queensway

T: +852 3968 1106

W: www.cafegrayhk.com