Revisit: Lunch @ Café Landmark, Hong Kong

I dislike it when hubby has to work on Sundays (though not as much as he himself). Thankfully it doesn't happen very often, and when it does, it gives us a reason to have a meal in Central. The Sunday before last was such a day, and the boy and I found ourselves in Central, uncertain of whether hubby would be able to finish his work and join us for lunch before I had to head off for an appointment. I booked us a table at Café Landmark anyway, and we waited for hubby in relative comfort there (he joined us about 20 minutes later). We'd been to Café Landmark before earlier this year, and we were keen to try out the creamy lobster linguine (I'd gotten the tomato-sauce version previously). The restaurant wasn't too full, so we could have enjoyed our meal at a more leisurely pace if I didn't have an appointment to make.

Complimentary bread basket, containing standard-quality bread:

Lobster Linguine - roasted lobster in a creamy sauce (HK$250). Perfectly enjoyable and very flavourful, but I prefer the tomato-based sauce. Not a dish to order if you don't like messing up your fingers:

Parma Ham Pizza (HK$140). We were surprised when this was served, because we'd expected a pizza, not toasted pita! This took awhile to be served after ordering (perhaps 30 minutes), although it looked like it would have only taken a few minutes to put together. The parma ham was salty so it could have really used a more substantial and thicker base. The ham was also drowning in olive oil:

One thing I noticed about this restaurant on our two visits is the pace at which the food was served. For example, on this visit, we'd ordered the 'pizza' at least ten minutes before the linguine (so that my son could get started on eating), yet it didn't arrive until at least ten minutes after the linguine was served. The pizza seemed quite simple to compose, so we're not sure why it took so long. The desserts also took a long time to prepare, and we had to enquire twice to different staff before the first dessert was served (each time the waitstaff would disappear into the kitchen to check, but we would get no word back). The desserts were delicious, although we are left wondering as to whether the mango soufflé was a rushed job as it didn't seem quite cooked inside.

Mango Soufflé with mango ice cream (HK$70). Beautifully airy with a nice top crust and great mango flavour. However, the middle was still quite wet, much like eating warm mousse:

Dark Chocolate Pudding - freshly baked, served warm with melting chocolate filling and vanilla gelato (HK$80). Nice presentation:

The perfect chocolate molten cake:

All in all it was an enjoyable lunch. I do feel that Café Landmark needs to brush up on its customer service to match the quality of the food and not-so-modest prices. Perhaps next time we will go when we don't have any time constraints.

[Prices quoted above are exclusive of the 10% service charge.]

Café Landmark
1/F, The Landmark
16 Des Voeux Road Central
Central
Tel. +85 2 2526 4200