Plate to Palate | Restaurant review: Bread Street Kitchen, Lan Kwai Fong

Alongside Jamie's Italian, Bread Street Kitchen was probably the most talked-about restaurant to open this year. Both are by British celebrity chefs, and both are hard to book; with Gordon Ramsay's BSK, we tried online, and gave up when we realised we couldn't get a table until 2015. So we went as walk-in customers.

The host said we could sit in the front area on backless stools at the communal table. We asked if we could sit at another table that had chairs with backs but were told no. Later, however, another group of walk-ins sat at our communal table, then moved to the more comfortable seats.

Tamarind spiced chicken wings (HK$128), coated with a well-balanced tart-sweet glaze, was a good starter. Flat bread with caramelised onions, taleggio cheese, cured pig's cheek and pesto (HK$118) was marred by the cracker-like base, which was tough, rather than crisp.

The best main was the traditional shepherd's pie with potato purée (HK$208). It looked homely but the mixture was rich (almost too rich), hearty and delicious. The short rib burger with Monterey Jack cheese and sriracha mayo (HK$168) had great flavour, but the meat — cooked to our requested medium-rare — was dense.