Grand Honour Restaurant...

Last week my family went to The Grand Honor Restaurant. They mentioned how it's supposed to be a really expensive seafood restaurant and that they use REAL Shark's Fin... wooo. That being said, I was still a little skeptical. I was expecting it to be one of those pristine Chinese restaurants, you know the type... huge fish tanks, nice big bar, white table cloths with the plastic cloth underneath :D Anyway... from the outside, it looks like any typical restaurant... but... I suspected that it wasn't going to be too nice inside. What gave it away? The fact that I couldn't see inside the restaurant.

I didn't take any pictures of the inside of the restaurant, unfortunately, but you're not missing anything. Honestly, it looked like one of those ol'school Chinese cafes where everything costs $2 and they stir your drinks with their fingers. We were promptly seated, nothing special considering the restaurant was fairly deserted.

Everyone arrived slowly and after some small talk and catching up the first course arrived.

Course# 1 - Appetizers (Cold-cuts & stuff).


Right away I could tell that this wasn't an ordinary restaurant. Normally the appetizer plate is just simple cold-cuts (pork, beef and the like) but this one had Ungai (BBQ eel), stuffed tofu skins, rolled salmon sashimi (can't remember if they were smoked or not), Jellyfish AND cold-cuts. Everything was made just right.

Course #2 was Abalone in soup.


The abalone was frickin' huge... just like rubber :p but tasted nice. The soup was a little starchy for my taste but very flavorful... the vegetables, not too soft and not over-boiled. I'm a big fan of veggies and that hit the spot (for now).

Course #3 - Shark's Fin soup!


Here's where my skepticism kicked in. Most restaurants serve "shark's fin" soup :P You know what I mean. The kind that is made with clear noodles that they try to pass off as REAL SHARK'S FIN. That night, it was the REAL DEAL! Wooooooooo! On top of that, it was REAL Shark's Fin Soup with REAL Crab Meat too! Bonus :) Nice texture, but not so much flavor (typical) which kinda makes me wonder why everyone longs for it O.o Good thing they had lots of red vinegar on-hand.

Before I forget to mention it... the service up to this point was exceptional. Between each dish the waiters took our used plates and had new ones set for us.

Course #4 - BBQ Pigeon.


Now, I'm not a big fan of pigeon... maybe it's due to the fact that pigeons are carriers. And I don't mean the type that ferry notes from one place to another... I mean carriers of disease. LOL, yea, yea.. I know... these ones are bred for consumption, blah blah. So the truth is, pigeon is too gamy for me. The taste is too irony (blood) and I can't stand fighting against all the little bones. Ya, I'm lazy :p heh. Our family friend, who is a connoisseur of pigeon, said that it was some of the best pigeon she had tasted. You'll have to take her word for it.

Course #5 & #6 - Prawn thingies with Walnut & Bok Choi (spelling?) with Conch.


I don't remember much about the prawn thingies... they looked waaaaay too unhealthy at first glance, so I just ignored them for a bit. There were quite a few left-over by the end of the meal, not-to-say they weren't good. They were too rich / creamy. The veggies were Bok Choy (spelling?) with Conch... not too shabby! That dish disappeared pretty quick :)

Course #7 - Choice of Almond Soup with Black Sesame Ball or Mango Pudding.


Usually you don't get a choice of what you want. But since my mum knew some of the staff we got special treatment :D How great is it to have a hairdresser for a mom? :P I'm not a huge fan of Almond extract so I opted for the Mango pudding which came out of a nice heart-shaped mold. The pudding was mediocre, even with the condensed milk it wasn't that great. I also tried the Almond soup just for the hell of it... someone pushed theirs away so I picked it up... it tasted as typical almond extract tastes almost like almond milk... the sesame ball was nothing to write home about either.

Overall, the food was pretty good... flavorful and nicely presented, also helped along by the superb service. The atmosphere definitely didn't match the quality of the food / service... I still felt like I was in a little cafe in the Chinese ghetto. All-in-all... I'm still not sure if it was worth the $600 among the 8 of us... oh well, c'est la vie!

Crap.. I just realized something... there are only 7 courses in my list... O_O I'm soooo sure I'm missing something... there aren't enough veggie dishes either :( argh! I'll update if I figure it out :(