MKG Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ .5 (4.5 hearts)
Tips: Skip the apple crumble for dessert
Bill: $438/person
By Steph
Restoration is a New Orleans, creole soul food inspired eatery on Wyndham street. The first time I visited I had my first ever dry aged steak experience here (that was a great lunch). Every time I’ve been back I have always been happy with the food and the service. (Although one time I visited, they recommended that we add some black truffle slices to our steak which were expensive and very unimpressive 
For me, Restoration is not about fancy things like this, it’s really about the story, the soul and the comfort in its food.
Knowing that they have a highly rated Restaurant Week menu, I booked a table with six other friends and managed to try most items! Their menu features a lot of the favourite dishes in their regular menu, so you can definitely go after restaurant week to try it out.
As appetizer there were the options of the Crawfish Beignets, Spinach Salad, Crispy Pork Belly and Hog’s Head Cheese. We skipped the spinach salad and the Hog’s Head Cheese (which isn’t actually cheese, but some type of ground up meat pate made from the pigs’s head. We weren’t adventurous enough).
Our meal went off to a good start. My friends loved the crawfish beignets, which were like deep fried crab cakes. The batter was light and the temperature was good, but I personally just expected more fresh craw-flavour which was lacking. I have had better crabcakes, but this one isn’t bad. It’s just honestly nothing special compared to EVERYONE’S ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE: the Crispy Pork Belly…
Crawfish Beignets ♥ ♥ ♥ (3 hearts)
Now, I normally shy away from pork belly when I dine out. I’m just not that crazy into it, and I never think it’s worth the calories, but Restoration has changed my mind! These little gems really were super crispy, the fat melted on the inside and the barbecue sauce (my god the sauce!) was just sublime. It is what makes the dish for sure. There is so much smokey, good American flavours infused into that sauce, you just can’t have enough on your crispy, perfectly-fried cubes of pork belly. Ladies, THIS is worth the calories.
Crispy Pork Belly ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (5 hearts!!!)
Now on to our mains! There were three choices: Jack’s Fried Chicken, Stuffed Blackened Catfish and the Double Cut Pork Chop. The fried chicken is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. They do it very well with a crispy, well seasoned batter with juicy chicken meat on the inside. It’s not dry at all. The pieces are served with a unique tabasco aioli.
Jack’s Fried Chicken ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (4 hearts)
Mmmm…how do I describe the catfish now? How about this? A friend basically described it as a crabcake with fish on top. That’s right, beneath this perfectly cooked, flavourful and tender fillet, there is a beautiful mixture of jumbo lump crab meat. The crab meat is perfectly seasoned, and the whole dish is just so authentic and scrumptious, sitting so happily on that melted butter, that I can’t help but give it a perfect 5-hearts rating!
Stuffed Blackened Catfish ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (5 hearts!) 
The last item that I lost the photo to… (devastated 😦 ) is the Double Cut Pork Chop. Described as slow poached in duck fat and then grilled, this porkchop was cooked to perfection. The meat was not dry at all and is the perfect texture. The flavours are well seeped into the meat and despite its hefty portion, isn’t heavy at all. Sorry that I can’t show you the giant plate of pork, but I rate this dish a solid ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥.5 (4.5 hearts)
The menu included a choice of side dishes. The Jambalaya is famous here, but it was just ok. I didn’t feel like there was much flavour and it tasted a bit boring… The cream corn was yummy with crab, cream and lots of yummy spices, but is a bit heavy (I didn’t finish all of mine).
Cream Corn Maque Choux ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (4 hearts)
Creole Jambalaya ♥ ♥ ♥ (3 hearts) 
An amazing meal ALWAYS ends with dessert (you can quote me on that). Unfortunately, most of us made the wrong choice and picked the Apple Crumble. Seems like a safe choice right? Well, here’s an occasion where being adventurous is rewarded, as the Apple Crumble proved to be…soupy, yes that’s the word. There’s no crumble…there’s infact nothing but apple and warm apple juice…topped with something (oatmeal?) and icecream. Terrible 😦
Apple Crumble ♥ (1 heart…boo.)
The Chocolate Waffles restored my faith, and I became very jealous of my neighbor who was having it. The waffle was tasty and had an undertone of some type of spice (cinnamon? nutmeg?).
Chocolate Waffles ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (4 hearts)
The Pecan Pie for me was the star of the show for desserts. You don’t often see this on a dessert menu in Hong Kong, and I think that this for me would be the signature dessert at Restoration. Toasty, buttery pecan filling, perfect pie crust and a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is a HUGE slice of pie though, not that I’m complaining.
Pecan Pie a la mode ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (5 hearts!!!)
All in all, we had an amazing meal at Restoration. The cozy little restaurant is great for a gathering of friends. They don’t even play much music because the conversation is so warm and lively. I love that! There are a couple flops here and there and the quality varies depending on each visit, but stick to the recommended items and you’ll fall in love just like I did!
Restoration
1/F, 63 Wyndham Street, Central
Tel: 2536 0183
Website: http://www.restoration.hk/
Mongkok Glamour 