jean may — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

If I can give half a star, I would but the least I can put is 1 star so be it.

Let me first start by stating I never write reviews but my experience today at Jean May was awful that I just can't help but to write a review to hopefully help potential customers think twice. I have heard that this restaurant takes up to 2 months to book in advance given the high praise it gets but my experience was definitely not fine at all. Let me explain below.

Based on previous reviews I read below, it's either the restaurant's quality have gone down a lot over time or its quality is ridiculously inconsistent. Perhaps they have a few chefs? Some part-time staffs who try to prepare dishes at a famous French restaurant? I have no idea.

So today, my partner and I tried our luck today for walk-in and managed to secure a table. Luckily we made it without any previous reservations. The lady took us to our table. We made our orders and after a while, no bread was served upfront and we had to ask if any bread could be served.

At every serving, nothing was said by the waitress what the dish was about but the dishes were simply placed at our table with no elaboration (much like any fine restaurants would right?). Overall, the feeling felt like a fast food restaurant or maybe a tiny bit better perhaps?

We ordered the starter, firefly squid capellini at 188 HKD, it tasted ok but the squid still had eyes all over and boy it's not a pleasant sight. Isn't it common sense to have eyes removed before serving to the customer?

Now, for the main dish, we ordered the duck breast at at outrageous 368, fine, this a fancy French restaurant so I suppose the quality should be up to par with the price but definitely NO. The duck was cooked too well and there's barely much taste to it. I can easily find better cooked duck over at Yata or Marketplace for a fraction of its price so don't expect the 300+ price tag is going to justify its quality cuz frankly speaking, it won't.

Also, to continue with the bread topic, after we had our serving of bread which obviously comes butter. We asked if we could have more bread and guess what, we were served with 1 piece of thin bread each and the butter was still the left over we had. When we tried to ask for more bread, we were told it's 28 dollars per additional serving. How much can bread and perhaps another piece of butter be worth honestly speaking given the price it charges for its dishes? and you really wish to charge clients for 1 additional piece of thin bread? also, no free water is served too so be prepared to order beverages on the menu.

The waitresses quality were mediocre at best and they didn't have the fine dining restaurant feel? (for those who have been to more fancy restaurants, you'd know what I mean). After lunch, nothing was asked by the waitresses on how's the food? what can we do better like any fine restaurants would.

To recap, if the quality is not up to par, then perhaps the customer service quality can make up? But the mediocre staff quality and poor food taste (blend and nothing special?) I would really think anyone would have to think twice before coming.

Or perhaps we were unlucky to have come to a shop when the chef was having a bad day?

I most probably won't be coming to this...

I was a bit skeptical for it at first because of the mixed reviews. While I would agree with some of the reviews (bad ones and the good ones), I still enjoy all the food served for us in that evening-ish (because we can only book for the 4.00 pm slots, yes booking is super hard).

We ordered chicken liver parfait, smoked eel salad, razor clams for the starters, the roasted pork (they have the fancy name for it but i forgot), the cod for the main, and sticky date pudding and HOT madeleines for desserts.

I like (really like) all of the food that they made for us. The razor clams has so much textures and complexity for the flavors, the smoked eel was better than what i was expecting, the smoky flavors did deliver and I love it. Chicken liver parfait was not my favorite, but i am not a pate lover, so I can’t really judge here, but maybe the toasts given for the pate aren’t really enough for the size of the chicken liver we get tho i kinda enjoy the flavor of the burnt onion along with the liver. Overall, the starters were amazing for us.

The main dishes were excellent too. I was a bit surprise for the medium pork, but i would say it reminded me with steak but has some pork taste in it. The charred cabbage and the cauliflowers are nice combinations for the main dishes. We love the cauliflower purée too! So smooth and flavorful. Cod was also cooked perfectly.

The dessert was insanely good too.. the madeleines (maybe i am wrong), but I might prefer it to be a bit colder? So that the crusts on the outside set and we’ll have a bit of crunch. That being said, i love it is fluffy and the aroma of it is mmm... so good. The sticky date pudding (i think it is underrated)!!!! Love it... up until now, my friend is still craving for it. I wondered if we can just do takeaway for it. The sweetness and the richness is there but it is just so well balanced.

Overall, I would say the food is amazing and definitely well thought and executed. The space is indeed quite packed (but it’s Hong Kong, so..) the waitresses are super energetic and passionate. We encountered some minor problems with our reservation in the beginning of our meal (it was our mistake), they were kind enough to accommodate with our needs, we really appreciate it. But they did give us a drama at first because of the “rigid” management , which made our visit a bit uneasy at first. It was our mistake, and at the end they were okay with it (so I won’t reduce the star for it, tho i think the drama is unnecessary, but..)

Anyway, i would still recommend people to go, and i might go again sometimes.. see if they keep the same good quality!! Please book ahead since, it is...

With the long waited 2 months, after having our 4 starters, the restaurant not letting us order their signature Duck a l'Orange when we are ready for the main course.

Once being seated, waitress introduced us the regular menu and the today’s special. 2 of us ordered their Oyster, Citrus-cured Salmon and Steak Tartar from the regular menu and Bone Marrow which is off menu as starters. And I told the waitress I would like to have Duck a l'Orange for the main but would like to delay the order after finishing our starters. The waitress kindly reminded us the duck would take 30mins to cook, and that's fine with us cause thats how we planned to have our dinner.

Once we were almost done with the starters, we began to order the main including Squid Bolangnes and the most look forward Duck a l'Orange. However the same waitress told us there was no more Duck a l'Orange. We were very surprised and uncertain what she just told us as our dinner started at 6:30pm,  there is no way they run out of the dish knowing that there will be 1 or 2 more rounds of tables for their night. So I asked another waitress, she told us the fact that the kitchen wouldn't take the order because the dish would take 30mins to cook. I was stunned by the reason and suggested her to help check with the chef if he/she would kindly let us have the long awaited dish. I saw her went communicate with a chef (short hair with a pair of glasses), through the kitchen window I saw chef shook her head and waitrss returned telling us the chef refuse so.

By the end, due to the big disappointment, we cancelled other main dishes and told her to take us the bill. As we pay, she told us there is a minimum charge $500 per person (my husband and I spent "only" $800 on the starters) but we refused to do so cause we were so disappointed with their arrangment and the way chef treating her long awaited customers.

Even though this place claim themselves a hearty and friendly neighbood bistro. Their arrangment is nothing friendly and does not live up to its name. This confusion could be easily fixed by telling us if Duck a l'Orange must be ordered at the very beginning for the 30mins preperation. Also, they could have just serve us the dish after our express of disappointment due to the mis-handling considering the long wait by the customer. With that being said, I do not recommand Jean May for the 2, 3 months of wait for the decent starters. This place lacks the care to their customers in...