I did some research and selected Fishsteria for a Sunday brunch outing. The price seemed…read morereasonable, this set brunch was not a "buffet" per se, and I do not eat red meat (only fish and eggs). So fitting three important criteria for me, my husband and I called up and booked a reservation.
For quality and quantity of food prepared and provided, a solid 5 stars in my Yelping world. Not a question on this. My carb loving husband proclaimed upon savoring the first bite of his Linguini Mixed Grill with Light Tomato Sauce, "Not only is this the best perfectly prepared pasta I have consumed in Hong Kong, this might be the best bowl of pasta I have ever had in my life." These are bold words. We cave eaten pasta from the the shores of Italy to celebrity chefs holding court up and down Las Vegas Blvd. So these really are bold words.
I can only speak to brunch (which is a seafood feast every Saturday and Sunday from 12-3pm). We made a reservation at noon. Often brunch with friends can be long, lingery, boozy affairs, but when it is just my husband and I, we kind of cut to the chase a bit and prefer to eat and enjoy, but be out in an hour, hour and half tops. As such, it was kind of key arriving at noon, before the staff got busy with the large tables that were more of the long, lingery, boozy type.
There are two floors to Fishsteria. When you walk in the restaurant, there is a long bar and dining area in the back. For Sunday brunch (or I suppose Saturday day brunch too), they whisk you upstairs to their cozy, well appointed, casual, light blue/grey, warm wooded dining room. It is fish and ocean inspired with the color palette for their decor, but not "cheesy" as often seafood restaurants can be with fishing nets on the wall or a giant fake fish as art as a backdrop. The place maybe sits 100 people upstairs and there are some more private, intimate spaces up there for more of a private gathering. It is welcoming and comfortable.
Brunch is $338. Add free flow fresh juices and homemade lemonade ice tea, add $98. Add free flow bloody's, gin tonics or champagne, add $288.
So brunch for $338 is 4 things: buffet counter, starters served at table, choice of main dish, choice of dessert. You can look at the menu and understand the main and dessert part, but let me explain the buffet and the starters served at table.
The buffet counter is a small table set up in the dining room with some green salad, some smoked salmon, some olives, some sardines, etc. The buffet counter is not large and kind of there to be an small appetizer. You can go back for more.
The starters served at the table then slowly began to appear at our table....crab croquettes, a squid stew appetizer of sorts, fresh oysters, shrimp and melon taster and crab & mozerella salad. For quantity and quality of these dishes, we were kind of blown away by this unexpected part to our $338 brunch experience. They really were delicious and again, so unexpected, for nobody on the staff advised us what the "starters" were really all about. You get what you are served and you do not have more...there is so much delicious food at this point, I cannot even imagine asking for me.
And then our actual meal arrived. Linguini Mixed Grill with Light Tomato Sauce and then a slice of baked cod. I kind of don't know what to say. Maybe my husband expressed it best as I wrote in a prior paragraph. Words escape me. You go your whole like traveling the world, living in cool cities, being exposed to great food, being almost insulted by the price of a meal in hip eateries and coveted spots and all it takes is one restaurant in Wan Chai to give you pause to stop and say "This is fantastic! And not only is maybe one of the best meals we have ever had, but for $338, it is the best value we have ever seen in Hong Kong."
The actual menu is going to be more expensive, but if the quality is the same as the brunch, you would enjoy your meal. But again, as I only can speak to brunch, this place was unexpected, delicious and a great value.
