It may be difficult to find a better venue in the entire 416 square miles that comprise the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for a luxurious meal than what is, today, referred to as 1881 Heritage.

And it may be difficult to find a worse venue to sample European cuisine in the entire 416 square miles that comprise the HKSAR of the PRC than what is referred to as 1881 Heritage.

More’s the pity!

1881 Heritage is one of the latest shopping/boutique hotel/restaurant complexes in the territory of the HKSAR and a more beautiful setting for such a concept may be difficult to find.

1881 Heritage has everything going for it: A journey into the territory’s history; a fine example of British colonial architecture; the preservation of what was, for more than a century, the spatial luxury of the successive, British Colonial Administrative ‘machinery’; and, the ambiance of a bygone era.

1881 Heritage, however, does not serve good food.

Far from it.

1881 Heritage, also, does not have the serving staff that measure up to the standards of the grace and beauty of the venue.

Sadly.

1881 Heritage was chosen as the name of this complex because that was the approximate date of the magnificent architecture of that period of the 19^th Century when it was, in those days, known as the British raj.

TARGET (泰達財經) visited 1881 Heritage and tried to have a meal at ‘the parlour’ of Hullet House, one of the 5 food outlets in the complex which, in days of yore, was the home of HKSAR Marine Headquarters.

This medium ordered 2 courses from the ‘Lite Lunch’ and 2 à la carte courses.

This was that which was ordered:

From The Lite Lunch

Green Asparagus Soup
(crème fariche and Parmesan foam)

Tagliatelle
(sautéed mushroom and gorgonzola sauce)

$HK180

From The à la Carte Menu

Norwegian Salmon
$HK120

Angus Prime Rib
$HK260

The first course of The Lite Lunch, the Green Asparagus Soup, was excellent and one could not criticise it.

But, unfortunately, when it was served, due to the stupidity, ignorance and slovenliness of Winnie, the waitress, serving the soup, part of its was spilt onto the charger.

As for the Tagliatelle, aside from the fact that the pasta was overcooked, the taste was indescribable and defied description: One did not know what one was eating.

But this reviewer did find tiny chunks of Gorgonzola Cheese, sprinkled on strips of pasta.

The Norwegian Salmon, from the à la carte menu, was of a variety that had never visited this reviewer’s taste buds in the past, and, hopefully, never will again.

As with the Tagliatelle, it had a flavour that defied description, too – except that it was terrible.

The Angus Prime Rib turned out to be a strip steak that was still half frozen when it was brought to the table.

Naturally, it was tasteless, tough, and water was seeping through the middle of the chunk of meat.

This is supposed to be US Grade AAA beef.

It is questionable.

TARGET did not bother to order desert: Enough suffering for one day.

The Service

On the day of TARGET’s visit to the parlour, there was nobody in charge – no captain; no maître d’hôtel; not even a hostess.

The waitress, who assigned herself to this medium’s table, was named Louise, according to her name tag, but she was, also, waiting on other tables.

The food came to the table via Stephen and Winnie, both of whom were incompetent fools of the first order.

Also, they were, obviously, lovers … or had ambitions to be such.

They talked and joked with each other for the entire 40 minutes or so that this medium sat at Table Number 2.

Stephen, so enraptured with the looks of Winnie, walked round the area of the parlour as a ghost might trudge round his assigned area of a house to haunt.

There were 8 guests at this food outlet and, from time to time, one noted that guests were more than a little irritated at the slowness and lack of expertise of the serving staff as well as the way in which the food was served at the tables.

The food outlets are said to be owned and managed by Aqua Restaurant Group of Hongkong.

This name is important because TARGET will make it a point never to eat at a food outlet, managed and owned by this group.

This medium has confirmed that there was no European chef in attendance on the day of TARGET’s visit and, in fact, there is no European chef, working in the entire complex, today.