I had a friend from home visiting for the Rugby 7s and on her last night, although we were both suffering from the excesses of the weekend, we wanted to go for a nice chilled out meal in a scenic location. She had been up to the Peak earlier in the day and we weren’t in the mood to trek all the way over to “the dark side” to dine somewhere with a view of Hong Kong’s spectacular skyline. The next best thing was to go somewhere with a view of the TST harbour. Watermark, just above the Star Ferry, offers an unobstructed view of the harbour with huge glass windows giving you the feeling that you’re almost sitting on the water. You know it’s going to be a special place from the moment you walk in, with its long entrance way leading you to a large open space with high ceilings and, of course, the harbour view. Lest we forget that en route you must walk past several windows where you can peer into the kitchen and observe all the scrumptious meals being prepared. What immediately caught my eye was some sort of chocolate dessert which I knew I had to find on the menu and HAD to order no matter how full I was at the end of my meal!
As we decided on our resto venue very last minute, we obviously hadn’t booked a table, so although there were tables available, none were right next to the windows. We could still see the harbour but had a few big heads in our way obstructing the “unobstructed view” so I would definitely recommend booking a table and requesting one close to the windows, especially if, like me, you are trying to show off our beautiful city and try to convince your friends to move out here too!
The waiters were all very attentive and immediately brought us some warm bread with a delicious dipping sauce. Although our taste buds were certain there were hints of garlic and lemon in this dip, we were advised that it was merely Greek yoghurt with a touch of salt and pepper, sprinkled with parmesan. Maybe the 7s confused our taste buds but regardless it was delicious and a nice touch to replace the average slab of butter most restaurants serve you.
As we weren’t outrageously starving, we passed on the starters, although they did look tempting – particularly the Iberian ham with roasted capsicum, crispy eggplant and aged manchego – and went straight for the mains. My friend ordered the spaghetti with seared langoustines and tomato concasse and, after asking our very helpful waitress what the most delicious dishes on the menu were, I opted for the chef’s speciality of Brittany cod with salsify, wild mushrooms and watercress. Both dishes were divine; neither were unnecessarily big portions, both were beautifully presented and our plates may as well have been licked clean as there was not a trace of food left over. I have grown up with the saying “waste not want not” drilled into my little brain, but this time I did not need to be reminded as I had no intention of leaving any of my delicious cod behind. I used to never be a fan of the fungus but these days I rather enjoy my mushrooms, and must say that these ones were particularly special. After the cod, they may have been the star of the main course. I won’t say they were the star of the show, however, as that award definitely goes to the delicious dessert which I had saved a little corner of my stomach for – I always say that there’s a separate compartment for dessert.
We were pretty full after having asked for a second round of bread and dipping sauce, but I located the scrummy looking dessert which I had previously glimpsed through the window into the kitchen: it was a melting middle chocolate pudding served with vanilla bean ice cream. The kind that you just softly touch with the tip of your fork and it oozes all over your plate. The kind that Marks & Spencer used to include in their amazing food-porn adverts. The kind that even though I was absolutely stuffed, I couldn’t bear to leave a crumb of. Each of the desserts on the menu had its own little tagline underneath. For example, apparently the pear tart is “to impress your date”, and the chocolate pudding is “to be eaten without showing your teeth!” The cheese served with figs and walnut bread seemed to be one of their specialities “as an excuse to stay for longer” but unfortunately I couldn’t find the cheese compartment in my stomach. I think the pudding stole it.
A little bit pricier than the average place but not out of this world prices and definitely worth every penny (sorry, cent. I live in the dollar world now), especially taking into consideration that you’re most likely also paying for the view. Mains ranged from $160 to $400.They also have a great wine list. New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was the most expensive one on the list but I couldn’t turn down a glass and it was delicious. Our bill came to $611 after a kind discount for paying with an HSBC card. I can picture my father who worked for HSBC from the age of 18 jumping for joy at this!
Watermark
Central Pier 7
Top Level
Star Ferry
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2167 7251
Date visited: Tuesday 29th March 2011
