Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Jalan

This kitchen/bar is located in Peel Street, taking the inspiration from the Malaysian hawker stalls selling street food to recreate a buzzing and open atmosphere in this neighborhood in Central, having open windows and counter tables looking out to the busy pedestrian walking up and down the street.

On this Sat evening we certainly could feel the vibrancy, with a large group of people hanging out in the street from the few pubs adjacent, drinking and chatting. If you don't like the energy it could be quite noisy and disturbing, as the people are essentially just outside enjoying themselves, and some of them smoking too.

There is not that many choices on the menu, and we started with Rojak Salad ($70), this is an appetizing and great tasting salad, with grilled pineapple, pickled carrot, cucumber and peanuts. The salad dressing is fantastic with good acidity and sweetness, and the basil further adds to the freshness. Even though the ingredients are simple, the blend of the flavors and texture from each is wonderful and appealing to the taste buds.

Next came Chicken Curry ($130), and this dish also delivered the high expectation. The curry got nice complex flavors, and the boneless chicken meat made it easy to eat. The plenty of fried shallot and coriander enhanced the dish even further. The potato is equally good, cooked perfectly and absorbing the taste of the curry. I would prefer to have the curry a bit more spicy and it would also be good to have jasmine rice to go with the curry, but still a dish I like.

The other dish was Market Fish Laksa ($125), with two large pieces of fillet pan-fried and then put on top of a Penang-style laksa, with boiled egg, tofu cubes, cherry tomatoes and beans. The taste of the laksa is great, and I like the tamarind note permeating from the broth prepared with lots of seafood. The fish is well-seasoned, and the boiled egg with the laksa too. Another good one.

We also ordered a Roti Canai ($30) to go with the curry and laksa. It was nicely deep-fried and not feeling too oily, while having a chewy bite and a slight crisp skin. Apart from eating together with the sauce of the other dishes, there is a chutney provided. Also nice.

With a mocktail called Jasmine Daydream ($60) and a bottled water, the bill was $475 which is reasonable. As my wife was not too comfortable staying with all the people hanging out outside smoking and having no barrier between us, we finished our meal quickly and leave.

It is a pity knowing that the place is closing down by the end of the month, and I hope they would be re-opening in another location in near future and continue to offer these tasty Malay food, and ideally also having more choices.