As a buffet, City Cafe meets most of the general criteria that makes a hotel eatery (#1) halfway decent: ample seating, adequate service, and a respectful (attempt at) food variety. This is not a destination establishment, but one that works well in a pinch when staying at the City View.
The seating layout is definitely conducive for groups and it's rarely ever full, even on the weekends. The staff does a good job in maintaining the cleanliness and also keeps the food well stocked.
As for the food, they do a decent job at keeping things interesting through their themed nights, which vary from French-Vietnamese to seafood, and dim sum. There are seafood themed nights, French-Vietnamese (don't do this), and international lunch. The latter is my preferred time to come here, which is the best variety the offer.
As expected, the food is not particularly impressive from a quality standpoint. The xiao long bao is doughy without much juice, the pan fried flounder has little to no flavor, and their fried dumplings are a tinge on the dry side. Desserts are simple but subpar, seafood options are not memorable, and the wonton soups are bland.
However, the breakfast options were quite good: bacon was extremely crispy, sausage patties were juicy, XO rice rolls were perfectly greasy with some element of wok hei (鑊氣), loved the breakfast sausage variety, and customizable omelettes. The limitless dim sum is not mind blowing, but I do find it better than other comparable hotel spreads.
The prices are steep. Depending the themed nights, the price per person for adults can be as much as $608HKD, which doesn't include a 10% service charge. Skip the service charge and get a 200HKD discount by checking out their dining offers online (#2). If only the buffet was complimentary for guests, this would be a totally different experience.
While the hours are listed till 10pm, they basically shut down at around 9:30pm each night. Reservations are accepted through their website, and they only seat in certain time blocks.
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(#1) The Cityview by the Chinese YMCA (城景國際)
(#2) Peep the dining offers: https://thecityview.com.hk/en/offers/dining-offers read more