Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Elementary

This restaurant is located in Tai Hang, on the ground floor of an old building, and from the exterior there was a hip casual dining ambiance. Arriving early tonight we already saw a few tables occupied, and by 7:00 pm all the tables were full. Even though the restaurant is quite small, still this showed how popular it is. We were seated at a table just outside the kitchen, and allowing us to see the activities inside.

We ordered Clams ($138) to start. The clams were fresh and sweet, cooked together with fennel, tarragon cream and vermouth, with the herbs bringing a nice fragrance to the clams. I also liked the two pieces of toast which we could use to soak up the sauce to enjoy. But one issue was that the fennel was a bit 'cold', which seemed to just come out from the fridge and making the feeling a bit weird.

Next we were served the Chili Crab Pasta ($158), and together with one of the main dishes of Seabass Fillet ($198). Given that we were sharing I did not like the restaurant serving both at the same time, as inevitably the dish got cold in the process. Something the restaurant could pay more attention in future. The angel hair pasta was for me a bit too soft and overcooked. The taste however was quite good, with a nice rich taste from the sauce prepared with the crab shell, and appropriate in spiciness to make the dish quite appetizing. 

The seabass had a tamarind and squid ink aioli, plus some edamame, mint and fennel. The fennel still was not of the right temperature in my opinion, but was better than the clams as they had properly warmed up a bit more after being taken out from the fridge. The seabass was also a bit disappointing, rather mild in taste and without much noteworthy elements to highlight.

The other main course we had was Grilled Pork Chop ($188). The chef had helped to cut the pork chop into pieces to make it easier for us to share, but this resulted in the jus seeping out too much, making the meat drier than ideal. Still the searing on the surface was done properly with good caramelization, and the apple mostarda prepared was a good pair with the meat. The chef also had put a leek ash to further enhance the complexity of flavors of the well-seasoned pork chop.

For dessert we had the Peach Panna Cotta ($98) to share. Quite beautifully plated, there were lots of seasonal fruit surrounding the panna cotta, which were further added with granola, honeycomb and some berry yogurt. Decent but I found it strange why calling it peach panna cotta, as I did not find the peach...

Another thing to note was the tables were fairly small and the seating was not the most comfortable dining experience but for a more casual setting that would serve the purpose. Service was fairly good, with the staff attentive and friendly. The bill on the night was $922 which was fairly reasonable as well. But in the end there was no specific reason to prompt me for returning.