Restaurant review: Orange Tree, Lan Kwai Fong - Dutch delight

Cuisine: Dutch

Price: about HK$390 without drinks or the service charge.

Ambience: surprisingly lively for a drizzly Monday night.

Recommended dishes: the matjes herring (HK$78 each) were fantastic — thick, succulent, almost boneless fillets that were moist and lightly tart. Even better were the applewood-smoked eel fillets (HK$148), which were rich and fatty, with just the right amount of smokiness. From the seasonal white asparagus menu we tried the classic poached asparagus (HK$268) that featured fat and tender spears of the vegetable with a perfectly cooked soft boiled egg (out of the shell), sliced boiled ham, really delicious boiled potatoes, and hollandaise that needed more salt.

Pros: although the other side of the room had a few larger parties, the staff seated us well away from them, which meant we were able to talk without shouting.

Cons: bitter ballen (HK$88) — deep-fried minced beef dumplings (they were more like croquettes) had a crisp coating, but the interior was cool, not hot. Fillet Americain (HK$118) — Dutch-style beef tartare — was so bad we wondered if it was a mistake. The meat was overminced to the point of being pasty.

What else? Orange Tree was a long-established place on the Mid-Levels escalator, and recently moved to Lan Kwai Fong.

5/F Grand Progress Building, 15-16 Lan Kwai Fong, Central, tel: 2838 9352. Open: Monday-Saturday noon-3pm, 6pm-11pm