Restaurant review: Mano Café, Central, serves filling Asian fusion dishes
Mano Café has good service and tasty offerings although the restaurant is a little quiet
Asian fusion
about HK$300 for a very filling meal without drinks or the service charge.
the setting encourages you to kick back, with well-spaced tables in a large, high-ceilinged interior. A variety of seating is offered - banquettes to stools to regular chairs.
service was good - it was no problem to have mash instead of potato salad with the fried chicken; a mojito without alcohol; and gado gado peanut sauce mixed into the mounds of vegetables (it came separately and we didn't want to make a mess). We didn't need to ask for tap water: a bottle was already on the table.
its location, at the quiet end of Central, meant that on a Saturday evening only two tables were occupied, including ours. The sauce with the Mano gado gado (HK$120) was too oily and didn't have any chilli bite. The avocado bruschetta (HK$65 for two pieces) was let down by the tomatoes and avocado, which lacked flavour.
three of the nine "small plate" offerings are tacos so we had the Balinese fish tacos (HK$86 for two pieces). The corn tortilla with satisfying chunks of white fish was made to be devoured, with a tangy, spicy kaffir sambal dressing that reminded us of holiday meals, albeit the casual, sticky-fingers variety. We liked the capsicum and onion crunch against the chewiness of the soft taco, and the lemon grass and lime came through well.