This is the food review that very nearly never was. The first experience of Victoria City Seafood Restaurant left a lot to be desired. As a food writer who tells it how it is, it cannot go unwritten that there was little to persuade me to return after my experience - but I did, unwillingly, for dim sum.
If there was a movie to allegorise my initial meal, it would not be Speed. We waited an incredible 75 minutes for our first dish - choi sum: crunchy, garlicky but not good enough to warrant the wait.
We waited 15 minutes before some over-steamed dumplings (xiao long bao ) arrived. The wrapping had the consistency of a boiled rubber glove, and was inedible.
My old favourite, shark's fin dumpling in soup, was nothing great, and the steamed prawns were truly tasteless.
A half Peking duck had been ordered. When a whole one arrived, we were hoping this may have been by way of an apology. No such luck. The service staff started a slanging match between themselves, so starved and glum-faced we saw the duck whisked away from our table. It returned 10 long minutes later, presented as 11 - a measly 11 - - pieces. It was tasty and less fatty than normal, but by then, we had lost our appetites, not to mention our tempers, and each of us had the beginnings of an ulcer.
To make matters worse, service across the rest of the busy dining rooms was brisk. All the more frustrating to see late-arriving local diners finishing their mango desserts while we, the blonde gweipoh faction, had not seen one of the dishes we ordered.