Madame Fu-Grand Cafe Chinois — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

Very disappointing experience with dishonest restaurant.

Booked the night brunch for 6 on Saturday which is a set menu with free flow, earlier that day I received a message from the restaurant saying they had ‘had a power cut in the kitchen’ today and therefore they wouldn’t be serving the night brunch menu anymore, particularly there was no dim sum or bbq available. However we could still come and order a la carte and benefit from wha they claimed was ‘discounted free-flow’. After some two and fro texts with the restaurant we decided to keep our booking.

We arrived and ordered food off the full price menu, due to the ‘power cut’. Half way into our meal a huge party of at least 40 people arrived and started having a standing drinks reception in the middle of the restaurant, all mixing in the one group with no masks and no attention to social distancing while everyone else had to sit at the obligatory tables of 4-6 some with plastic screens.

The group were incredibly noisy to the point that we couldn’t each other talk all night and really ruined the ambiance of the entire restaurant. After half an hour they finally seated across 6-7 of the tables. Low and behold, they were suddenly being served… THE NIGHT BRUNCH! Towers of dim sum and bbq were being brought out to to them to devour while the other guests just looked on in utter disbelief, since they had all received the same message with the sob story about the ‘power cut’ meaning there was no brunch menu, dim sum, bbq or desert on offer that evening.

We decided to raise this complaint with the staff. They quite frankly couldn’t care less, and reverted back to the story about the power cut - however on pressing them and asking for the manager who then altered the story to say that the ‘power cut’ had in fact happened the day before, rather than today as they had earlier claimed and therefore they had only prepared ‘some’ of the food they needed for the brunch and not all of it - and therefore they had decided to prioritise giving all of the food to the big group and for go everyone else with an excuse. They seemed to think this was fine and didn’t see (or care) that they were misrepresenting the truth to customers!! After arguing with them for over an hour they did very little to compensate us. All that was offered was a measly 10% off - but with the inclusion of 10% service to the same bill - SO THE NET BENEFIT OF BIG FAT ZERO. We were absolutely astounded by this, but they couldn’t care less about the small people, only after the $$$$ from the big group. Very typical of HK attitude and service.

Other points: The ‘discounted’ free flow was not even at all discounted. It was just the price of free flow minus the cost of food at the brunch. The same price as normal free flow everywhere else. We saw another couple (not in the huge party) eating a dessert. When we asked for dessert they said there was none and claimed the couple preordered it. That seemed a little odd as well. They treat their customers like they are fools.

We will never return here and will tell everyone about this disappointing experience instead. Any reply to this review will probably just be an...

🏛️ About the Restaurant A friend from Beijing （20 years‘ kind of friend）was visiting Hong Kong and said he wanted to eat "Hong Kong" food, so we chose to have dinner at the "famously fashionable" Madame Fu, which serves "modern Cantonese fusion cuisine".

Half the reason we picked it is that it's hidden away on the 3rd floor of Tai Kwan. Another 25% is the intangible "ceremonial ambiance" and Madam Fu's legendary story, plus I've been wanting to check it out for a while, so we decided to just go for it.

🥢 About the Food If I had to sum it up in two words, it would be "fashionable".

From Chinese dim sum (most of which is only available at lunch, so be careful not to miss it) to the signature truffle roasted chicken, they also have seasonal seafood and Western-style afternoon tea. The dishes are refined takes on traditional Cantonese cuisine, excellently executed with each dish being delicious.

However, if you're like me and always maintain a “healthy distance” from the "prettified" aesthetic, this place might make you feel a bit constrained. It will definitely make my "business banquet/special occasion" list of fashionable restaurants, but probably won't make the "Grace's picks" list.

🌟🌟🌟 Traditional Chinese Drunken Chicken The moment this drunken chicken was served, we finally felt at ease. The Huadiao wine flavor is so robust, every bite is fragrant with alcohol. The chicken meat is tender and the skin is crisp - if you only order one cold dish, this has to be it.

🌟🌟 Calamari with Spicy Salt The "spicy" and "pungent" from the chili-garlic bits are perfectly balanced by the ideal cooking time. The calamari tentacles are fried until the outside is crispy and the inside is soft, creating a magical texture.

🌟🌟 Crab & Egg White Fried Rice topped with Crab Roe Each grain is distinct but there's no oiliness. The fresh crab roe definitely explodes in your mouth with every bite - it's delicious.

🌟 Madame Fu’s Iberico Char Siu The diner across from me, a huge fan of char siu, said the fat and lean were well-balanced, sweet but not cloying - a thumbs up.

🤫 Dinner Dim Sum Platter (8 pieces) I think the "made-up" dim sum can be skipped unless necessary. The outer skin is the kind I don't like - "crystal skin". The fillings overall didn't resonate with me, having a slightly "pre-made" texture (although I know they're freshly made in the kitchen, my brain still flashes to frozen...) Looks like dim sum is still best enjoyed at the most authentic tea houses, of course I haven't tried their lunch menu so welcome any feedback.

📝 About Madame Fu Supposedly from the brand introduction, Madame Fu's mother was from Macau and her father was from Shanghai. At 16 she refused an arranged marriage and escaped to Shanghai, later going on to study in Paris. In the early 1930s, she returned to Shanghai and opened a highly influential art salon that attracted scores of poets, writers, and artists - undoubtedly a legendary figure...

This review is based on the restaurant part only as they do have a dim sum tea time and separate bar area. I would give this a 4.75 out of 5 if possible.

The location was lovely in the newly renovated Tai Kwun police station. The restaurant is located on the 3rd floor and you can have a lovely view of the police parade grounds if you sit outside. We made a reservation for 8:45pm and waited a few moments before getting our seats. The hostesses were pleasant and friendly.

So this restaurant is positioning themselves on higher end of the restaurant scale with the location, prices and nice ambience of the interior. The music isnt too loud and easy to have a conversation.

The wait staff is where it loses the perfect review. For the price you are paying you would expect above average service but my group of three felt a bit offput by how we were treated. Our waiter was a local that didnt speak a lot of English and made us quickly order what we wanted, he even tapped my shoulder to make me refocus on ordering after asking my friends what they wanted since a dish we wanted was sold out. If you wanted to ask a question about any of the dishes/menu that wouldny be possible with him. When he came by to give our napkins he just threw it on my lap without warning and then ungraciously handed it to my friends. My friends and I ultimately found it humorous that we were getting service like a cha chaan teng in such an upscale restaurant.

Anyways that was the only complaint about service as we got all out dishes in a timely manner. All the food was excellent. The pork belly was our favourite. The wagyu beef tasted great, wish we had some more mushrooms in it. The xo shrimp was good but I personally could have used some more sauce with it, especially for the broccoli. The sweet and sour soup had a nice spicy kick to it. We didnt get drinks as we had drinks prior to this.

Overall I'd recommend this place to friends and visitors. The location and setting is top notch. Food is good but on the pricey side. If you are a big eater you wont feel that "full". Just dont expect the service to be super good depending on the waiter. To also be fair the restaurant just opened recently so they might need to work out some kinks...