New Hong Kong restaurants: Prestige House – mixed results on an expensive night out in Repulse Bay

We had our choice of tables in Prestige House at The Pulse in Repulse Bay, on Hong Kong Island’s South Side, because there were very few diners in the large restaurant. It’s an expensive place, with most of the seafood priced per person. We ordered carefully and managed to get out for under HK$600 (US$75) per person.

Barbecued pork with honey sauce (HK$320) was disappointing. The waiter said it was made with local pork, but it was oddly mushy, and the sweet marinade hadn’t penetrated into the meat. We were told it was cooked to order, but it was tepid.

Restaurant review: TRi – modern Balinese in Repulse Bay

Sautéed prawn with salted egg yolk (HK$180 each) was delicious. The prawn was large, plump and sweet, with a bouncy texture and sufficient amount of egg yolk. Steamed spotted garoupa with dried tangerine peel served on a lotus leaf (HK$320) was another excellent dish. The fish slices were thick, fresh and perfectly cooked, and the tangerine peel did not overwhelm.

Crisp baby pigeon (HK$120) could have been blotted better – there was oil on the serving plate when we picked up the pieces. But the meat was hot, succulent and intense, and did not need any of the seasonings served with it.

My first taste of the steamed minced pork with preserved vegetables (HK$240) was so shocking – and not in a good way – that I thought something was wrong with my palate. I waited for my guest to taste it and she confirmed what I thought: “This has no taste”. It was so flavourless we suspected the chef had forgotten to season it before putting it in the dish.

I rarely send food back on reviews but this had to be a mistake. The waiter whisked away the dish and soon brought a new one, telling us that they had tasted the meat and agreed with our assessment.

The new version was stellar. It was subtle and complex, and the meat’s richness was balanced by the preserved vegetable and mild crunch of chopped water chestnuts.

Chinese spinach with superior broth and whole garlic cloves (HK$170) was sloppily done. The tough stems were too long and should have been trimmed off, and there wasn’t enough broth.

We did not like the too-soft beef in the dish of stir-fried noodles with Wagyu and shrimp paste (HK$260). But the noodles were fantastic – separate without being oily, and well-flavoured from the shrimp paste and the high heat of the wok.

A note about the restaurant’s name: we knew Prestige House was connected somehow with Celebrity Cuisine – the one-Michelin-star restaurant in the city’s Central district, which we go to often.

Thrilling grills at Shoku Bar and Restaurant in Repulse Bay

When we arrived at The Pulse, there were signs outside the lift for both Prestige House and Celebrity Cuisine. The first page of the menu has a photo of Cheng Kam Fu, the Celebrity Cuisine chef, along with the statement, “The team of Prestige House comes from Celebrity Cuisine”, and when I received the bill, the receipt read Celebrity Cuisine.

The website states that they’ve changed the name from Celebrity Cuisine to Prestige House “to establish brand consistency among Mainland China and Hong Kong”, although I would have thought that sticking with the already familiar (and famous) Celebrity Cuisine name would have worked better.

Prestige House, Shop 305, 3/F The Pulse, 26-30 Beach Road, Repulse Bay, tel: 2918 9007. About HK$550 per person without drinks or the service charge