Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - The Pawn

This restaurant is located in Wanchai, at one of the most iconic and well known landmark in the district, with the building used to be a pawn dating back to 1888. There are two floors, with the first floor being the bar while the second floor is the restaurant.

The decor is one of tradition, with big balcony overlooking the busy Johnston Road and if you are not afraid of the heat in summer or the noise, actually is quite an experience dining outside. But I opted for indoor which you can see the open kitchen and the chef busy preparing your meal. The overall atmosphere is comfortable and casual.

We ordered two appetizers to start, the one being Prawn, the Crystal Blue Prawn Carpaccio, with Bell Pepper, Radish, Coriander, Garlic and Chili Oil ($198). The presentation is nice, and the taste of the carpaccio is equal to the look, with the herbs and seasoning able to highlight the delicate flavors of the prawn. A good start for our meal.

The other appetizer is Octopus, the Stewed Spanish Octopus, with Ripened Tomato and White Wine ($198). The octopus is certainly tender and the sauce is rich, with some spaghetti added to soak up the sauce to enjoy, along with two pieces of toast. There is also some chili added to spice things up and I like the heat and I also like this dish.

For the main course we also ordered two dishes to share. The first to come is the Boston Lobster Tagine, cooked with Lobster Bisque and Aromatic Basmati Rice ($288). It was served in a casserole, steaming hot with half a lobster. The rice has absorbed the lobster bisque, making it highly flavorful and delicious, with some chopped mushroom which provided an additional bite. The lobster is also nice and overall this was the one dish I enjoyed most in the evening.

The other main course was the Ash Baked French Wild Pigeon ($328). The cooking method is by using rock salt and charcoal heat to keep the juice of the meat and adding the smoky flavors. While certainly this delivers those promises, I reckon the pigeon is not sufficient cooked for us. Not exactly unacceptable so we did not ask the staff to re-do it, but for a lot of people this might be too raw and uncomfortable. But the taste is in fact quite good.

On dessert I have a New York Cheesecake with Sour Cream Ice-Cream ($75). The texture and flavors did remind me a lot of the homemade cheesecake that I used to do many years ago, with the cream cheese soft, the base buttery and crunchy. Not too sweet and I like that richness while not overly indulgent. The ice-cream is a good complement but I did not recognize it as sour-cream flavor. Maybe they have changed?

The other dessert was Tiramisu ($85), made with ladyfinger, coffee, mascarpone and chocolate. A twist in the style than the Italian traditional version, the mascarpone is fluffy and having a great texture contrast with the chewy coffee jelly and soaked ladyfinger, as well as the crispy chocolate sheet on top. Also the sweetness is at the right level to make it enjoyable while not making you feel heavy. A nice effort.

With a Root Beer ($70) and a bottle of water ($80), the total bill on the night was $1,454. Overall I would say it is a bit on the high side. But this restaurant do have its charm and it would be more wonderful if somehow they can make the customers understand more the background of the pawn and how the restaurant comes into play to 'save' and 're-invigorate' this historic building it would make the overall experience even more interesting.