Restaurant review: Gough’s on Gough, Central – good food with charming service and decor

I rarely comment on the decor of a restaurant in my reviews unless it’s extremely good or extremely bad. Gough’s on Gough, opened by Timothy Oulton – a man (and a brand) best known for interiors and furnishings – falls firmly into the first category.

Experiencing the charming, extravagant decor is half the fun of eating there. It’s the perfect spot for a first date – if you run out of things to talk about, you can always comment on the art, installations, furniture and mismatched tableware.

The staff are just as charming. The hostess gave me a friendly greeting at the door and offered to store my heavy bag. She must have noticed the paper bag was literally falling apart at the seams, threatening to spill the contents; when she gave the bag back to me as we were leaving, the sides had been securely duct-taped. The waiter and the manager, who we met once we were seated at an upstairs table (the main bar area is downstairs), were also enthusiastic, funny and entertaining.

The modern British restaurant offers a six-course tasting menu (HK$988 plus 10 per cent) but my guest and I decided to go à la carte and share everything. The menu is short and sweet, offering only nine savoury dishes – along with four sides – of which (if you go by price) it seems that five were starters and four were main courses.

In hindsight, we wish we had ordered all of the starters, which sounded more interesting than the mains.