Kin's Kitchen 留家廚房 — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

Guess what, it is not about the food but their attitude and service. I read in a FB column that the food is good, ( though it might not be even true, but just some paid publicity article) so I decided to give it a try. I arrived at lunch time and the place is half empty. The receptionist asked if I had a reservation and I did not. I asked if they were fully booked and she said no. Looking at the number of guests, I don't think you need a reservation either. The receptionist was hesitant and went off to ask the manager, and after like 5, 10 minutes of "consultation" she came back and was muttering something, and I asked again if there was any problem giving us seating for 2. There she admitted that they only have large tables left and they could not accommodate us two! So they are hoping that a large group, which they didn't have for certain, to take the large tables instead of taking us 2, real customers who wanted to sit down and eat for real. I know business has been hard for local restaurants these days, so even just me and my husband, we usually order a lot more than we can eat and box the food left over as take out so that they can have a larger order and bill. Since I could not even get a seat even when the restaurant is half empty, I cannot comment on the food, but just the treatment to customers. I wished them luck and swiftly went off to a restaurant that's happy to have...

All dishes were good except the Kin's smoked chicken which is not as tender as expected.

I like the steam tofu, it was very smooth and the taste of soybean is strong. The pot-baked Hiroshima oyster with ginger & spring onion was delicious but the oysters were not very big.

There are some special dishes: The steamed pork patty with fresh and dried squid and ink is one of those. It didn’t look good because the pork was blackened by the squid ink. A bit pity that the meat was a little over-salted.

The pan-fried beef cubes in wasabi sauce was special. The taste of wasabi was not very strong and the beef was tender.

The stir-fried bitter melon with salted egg-yolk & minced pork was delicious and evil. The taste of the salted egg yolk outweighed the bitterness of the melon, it’s just savory.

I’ve never tried steamed veggie, this steamed mustard green with preserved vegetable was no doubt something new to me. The mustard green was soft and not bitter at all.

The light-fried prawns with citrus sauce is one of the best dishes tonight. The citrus sauce added freshness to the prawn. I like the pine nuts, they were...

This was my first visit. The food was great. We ordered the smoked chicken, mustard greens with preserved vegetables and the bitter melon with salted egg yolks and minced pork. Every dish was well executed and noticeably fresh. Even the rice was well made, which to me indicates a good kitchen. Unfortunately, I wish I could say the same for the service. I went with my aunt and another auntie for a late dinner. After putting in our order, we were rudely talked about and judged for only ordering 3 dishes by two of the female waitstaff. We had to request for our water pot to be refilled even though the waitress was standing one meter away and we did the customary lifting and setting the lid aside. I really wanted to like this restaurant and the food certainly supports it’s rating, however, given the condescending and varied service I received as compared to some of the bigger tables, a few of whom were clearly regulars judging by the way the waitstaff addressed them and therefore provided better service I will take my business elsewhere when visiting from...