The Korean Club Restaurant, 4/F, Fairview Mansion, 51A Paterson Street, Causeway Bay. Tel: 577-0454. Hours: 11am-11pm.
THE Korean Club Restaurant does not exist. At least not to the casual (or even the highly observant) passer-by.
Situated in Paterson Street, on the 4th floor of a residential block that quite literally splits Mario's restaurant in two, the only indication there is a restaurant here at all, is a small plaque - in Chinese - affixed to the mail box in the lobby.
Take the lift to the fourth floor. On the left there is what appears to be a seedy mah-jong joint, on the right an even seedier looking door which leads to the restaurant with no name. When some friends first brought me here five years ago I was sure they had made a mistake: pushing open the door it was as though we had walked into some Parisian bistro (or worse), with an attractive Asian girl sitting cross-legged in front of the entrance wearing a French beret, striped sailor's top, and drawing nonchalantly on a Gauloise.
Almost unbelievably, the same girl was still there, still wearing the Resistance garb.
The Korean Club Restaurant offers minimalist dining at its best: zero ambience and zero decor. Just khaki coloured dai pai dong tables and ragged, roll-down rattan mats over the windows.