Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - The Envoy

This British colonial-themed restaurant and bar is located in the Pottinger Hotel in Central, a boutique hotel on the side of the famous historic Pottinger Street, or stone slab street as commonly called. The concept is to highlight the influence of British to the South East Asian cuisines. There is a bar, as well as both an indoor and outdoor seating.

As the bar is being named one of the top 50 best, we started by ordering a cocktail. With me going for the Classic Mai Tai, which is beautifully mixed with Havana 3 Year Old Rum, Myer's Dark Rum, dry orange curacao, orgeat syrup and fresh lime juice. It is tasty, and true to the Mai Tai recipe with the rum base and orange and nutty flavors, with the acidity of the lime juice balancing the sweetness of the syrup. With the nice decor and ambiance, this is a good place to relax and enjoy good time with someone you treasure.

For the food, we had the signature Pani Puri, with Smoked Salmon, Avocado & Salmon Roe. This is an all-time favorite street snack in India. The puff balls are freshly deep-fried so really crispy, and the fillings, even though simple, are tasty and great complement to each other in flavors. There are three different condiments of green chili chutney, tamarind sauce and spiced yogurt to accompany. No wonder this is one of the most popular choices for the restaurant.

Then we have the Fish Fingers. The classic fish and chips are fried nicely with the batter thin and not overly oily on the palate, with the fish meat soft but not particularly flavorful. The curried tartar sauce has an interesting twist, combining the traditional western sauce with the eastern elements, achieving a magical combination of enjoyment. The chips also are great and I could not stop and in no time finished the whole portion.

The last dish we had was Mussels and Blood Pudding. The mussels are a bit larger than those from France, but equally creamy and fresh. The classic blood puddings are quite good but a bit too salty. There are fries and herbed baguette on the side, so overall it is very filling. One big issue for me, however, is that the dish is only warm and took quite a long while to come. Not sure what happened but I got the feeling that the mussels were cooked but did not get served until much later.

The service was reasonably good, and on the night the restaurant was also quiet and we are the only customers in the indoor section, giving us good privacy. With the three dishes, one cocktail and a glass of grapefruit juice, the total bill was $590, which is very reasonable. I strongly recommend this restaurant if you want to enjoy some nice cocktail but at the same time have some nice food served.