Fishball Affairs

Conveniently located adjacent to Sogo in Causeway Bay, Taiwanese restaurant Fishball Affairs has a catchy name.

But the food, unfortunately, is not so endearing.

The moniker bears no relation to fishballs; the literal translation is 'The skilled hands of Yi Ya' - Yi Ya being the legendary Chinese chef who lived and cooked for the kings during the Warring States era almost 2,500 years ago.

Let's hope for the sake of the ancient kings that Yi Ya could cook better than those who are now using his name.

We ordered most of the specialities on the menu - deep-fried mushroom meatballs ($18), stuffed fishballs in noodle soup ($30), pig's knuckles in noodle soup ($30), deep-fried shrimp rolls ($20), rice with minced meat ($17), spare ribs in noodle soup ($30), as well as assorted Taiwanese snacks such as pig's intestine, chicken wings and kidneys ($40) and shark's skin ($25).

The restaurant's name implies a certain expertise, but despite claiming 50 years of authentic meatball and fishball experience, the specialities weren't much better than your average dai pai dong - but then again, they've been around a while too.

The one dish deserving of praise was the rice with minced meat. I was the only one at my table to sample the pig's intestine and shark's skin and my stomach was in pieces later that night, while my friends were fine.

For dessert, we tried rainbow roll (deep-fried ube; $20) and soybean milk ($9). The rainbow rolls were crunchy and sweet, and the soybean milk was delicately flavoured. The plum juice ($9), unfortunately, tasted like blackcurrant syrup and glucose.

5/F, Island Beverley Commercial Centre, 1 Great George Street, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2808 1708. Open: 11.30am-11.30pm. $