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Wordy menu harbours taste for the unusual

Scala: 11/F New World Harbour View Hotel, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. Phone 802-8888 ext. 6363. Hours: Noon-2.30 pm, 7-10.30 pm. Closed Sundays. Set lunch $150, set dinner $385. Decor: Stylishly done with vaguely Roman overtones. Cuisine: Continental. Clientele: Mixed. Service: Impersonal. Reservations: Not usually necessary. Parking: Hotel valet parking. Cellular phones per table count: None. Smoking policy: Non-smoking area available. Overall value for money (out of five): 31/2 plates here IT IS difficult to put your finger on Scala. It is almost a surprise to find it still as you last left it - it is the kind of place that gets reincarnated and relaunched with an open-plan kitchen.

Stylishly done with mock Roman columns, Room With a View -style windows and fashionable pale grey finishes, most people who have been there speak highly of it, but Scala is never mentioned as anyone's favourite hang-out.

It almost qualifies as a Hongkong rarity: the undiscovered spot. Certainly, it is not the sort of place people eat in to be seen in - though the idea that no one much goes there is also an illusion. The place is laid out in such a way diners are made to feel they are practically the only ones eating there, only to discover, half-way to the washroom, that the place is almost full.

This sense of undisturbed calm has much to do with the waiters. Service for dinner was strictly old-school, allowing neither for diners who had been too busy to stop for lunch and thus arrived ravenous, nor for those who may have had something ponderous - but all very good for the digestion, no doubt.

Even the menu could not be hurried over: reading through the appetisers alone was exhausting. Not that the menu was long; individual dish descriptions mostly ran into three lines.

By far the least demanding option was to go for the set dinner. This proved to be excellent value, and, although descriptions were still three lines long, the only choice to make on this particular evening was between the main course, which was chicken or steak.

In general, food in Scala was of the something-in-the-middle-with-lots-of-fiddly-bits-around-the-edges school, with the plate smothered in an easy-going sauce.

First was duck liver and Cassis parfait with apple and watercress salad and toasted walnut brioche. Those who were always good at the memory games families like to play at Christmas would have been in their element; for others it was time to reinspect the menu and find out what the mystery ingredient - Cassis - was.

Meanwhile, a la carte sweetbreads in pastry, described in onerous detail, were going down well. But, sitting as they were in a mud-coloured vegetable puree, were about as demanding as baby food.

Mussel and saffron risotto with anchovy scented dried tomato and basil fell into similar, comfort-food vein.

Things became more challenging with the main course. Why did perch, a fresh-water fish, in its sauce of marjoram, tomato, black olive, lemon and, no doubt, a couple of other things, taste salty? While breast of chicken with mushrooms and asparagus with macaroni was marvellous.

The set menu drew to a close with a generous portion of white chocolate ravioli with apple and apricot fondue and vanilla ice-cream, certainly more words than two could manage.

Finishing off with caffeine-free coffee and a plate of alcohol-free petits fours, the bill came to an affordable $1,150 for two, including a bottle of Australian wine.

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