Hard Rock Cafe, Denarau, Nadi, Fiji

We were back again on the Pacific Rim (and back in time as this entry is from my Fiji trip over Easter). We were in Nadi for a short stopover and stayed in the Denarau area. We found a Hard Rock Cafe and so had lunch here as well as take an opportunity to make this a global compare and contrast review with the Lunchquest family.

As we entered we were greeted by a friendly waiter, who looked after us for the afternoon. We were given a drinks and food menu, were I chose to go for an adventurous Coke to drink to start off with. My wife went for a mocktail.

My Coke in the foreground, My wife's in the background

I decided to go for a British fish and chips for the food. I received two long portions of fish on top of chips, with a salad to the side. The fish was pretty golden colour on the outside and well cooked on the inside. The batter was crispy but taste wise I could not sense the Fiji Bitter used to make the batter. The chips were hot, medium sized but not too many, which was a shame as they were quite tasty. There was tartar sauce served with my dish but no brown sauce, although not surprising.

The salad was mainly strips of carrot and shredded red cabbage that was a decent accompaniment.

My wife went for Chicken Satay and gave me a couple of sticks, which are shown in the photograph. These were pleasant morsels of meat and not too spicy.

Fish & Chips (with a Satay Skewer from my wife's order)

The restaurant was clean and decked out with rock memorabilia, as expected. Service was attentive and efficient and our food arrived in a timely manner. Overall we had a nice time here.

I have been to the Hard Rock branch in my hometown before but not for some time now but it may be worth a return trip for a compare and contrast next time I am in Edinburgh!

Scores:
Food: 3/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Overall: 12/20

Total Bill: 100FJD, which was less than £20 a head.

I ate: Fiji Bitter Batter Fish & Chips.

I drank: Coke. 

I wore: Diesel Shirt.

Harrington's, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

We were here in Harrington's on a Sunday brunch for a birthday celebration. It is an upstairs bar in the Lan Kwai Fong drinking area of Central that has a British gastropub feel to it. Overall the place is light and airy decked out with contemporary furniture.

Whilst it looks clean but where our party of 10 sat there were a lot of little flies loitering above us so we asked to be moved to another table.

They do a weekend brunch menu and thats what I chose to eat. It comprises of three courses with choices for the starter and dessert.

For my starter I asked for Chicken Liver Pâté. It came in a pot along with a salad and four toasted baguette slices that overall was nicely presented on a wooden board. The pate was rich if a little heavy for a starter. The salad was light and fresh.

Starter  Course

The main course was a single visit to the carvery where they offered a choice of chicken, beef, pork and lamb. I went for the Roast Beef and piled on top as much mashed sweet potato, sweetcorn, roast potato, roast parsnip, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower & macaroni cheese and even a Yorkshire pudding to get my money's worth as shown in the photograph below. I tried my best to munch through it but could not finish it all and left some of the sweet potato mash. The beef was a bit too bloody and chewy for my liking. The rest of the side dishes were good enough, with my favourite probably being the comfort food macaroni cheese. The food is kept hot under red lamps but it does make it hard to see what you are picking out.

The Main Course

I chose Blueberry panna cotta as my dessert, shown below. This was the best course of the day for me, with it being sweet and creamy and with fresh blueberry on top. It was a shame it was not slightly bigger.

Dessert Course

Harrington's is not too bad value given the type and amount of food (if one manages to efficiently fill up their plate during the main course) and location. The service could be a little better in attentiveness, though. Brunch is served in a three hour window, which give you sufficient time to eat, digest and socialise, making it a fit venue for our birthday celebration purpose. Whether I would return again for the food or with a smaller party remains to be seen.

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 3/5

Service: 3/5

Setting: 3/5

Overall: 12/20


Cost: $238 for the set lunch, $60 for a glass of prosecco, plus 10% service charge.

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Prosecco with strawberry garnish (2 glasses)

I wore: Hilditch & Key shirt.

Hideaway Island, off Port Vila, Vanuatu

This is a real retro entry as its still in Vanuatu, where I holidayed almost 3 months ago. 

After scuba diving in the morning, where my wife gained her PADI Open Water certification (well done her), we went to for some snorkelling action at Hideaway Island and took in some lunch as well. 

This resort has a separate restaurant open to non-residents and it was serving a set lunch that consisted of four courses. There was a choice for some of the courses and what I had is noted below.

The first course was Laksa soup. This was a pleasant starter that had a nice creaminess and slight spice to it and contained snapper fish. I could taste the coriander garnish, which was also complimented with the basil.

Laksa Soup

The next course was Tuna sashimi.  This came in slices, which I was slightly disappointed with as I am used to the cuboids of fish meat from a Japanese restaurant. It tasted fine and was garnished with pepper and lemon for some more taste as well as some red onions.

Tuna Sashimi

The red snapper shown below was the main course. This was fried and covered in Hollandaise sauce, giving it a the buttery and zesty taste that I liked. It was served with a decent portion of white rice, a salsa that was quite tasty and some basic salad vegetables to provide some nutrients for me.

Red Snapper

Banana flambé was the dessert, which came with a serving of vanilla ice cream. I did not taste too much alcohol but the banana was still firm and not overcooked. The weather was quite hot and the ice cream started to melt fairly quickly, though.

Banana Flambe (with chocolate milkshake in the background)

The set meal did not come with a drink so I ordered a sprite, with my wife opting for a chocolate milkshake, which is shown above.

Even without the drink it was quite an expensive lunch for one but it was large enough to share between us two so the value for money was not too bad in the end. Taste-wise everything was adequate, with the soup being my favourite out of the four courses. It has to be said that Vanuatu is not a cheap country to visit, even if the locals are not that affluent.

My food was ordered at the bar and it was served at our table in a friendly and timely manner. We dined al fresco on their functional wooden furniture. It actually rained when we ate but they had covered areas to keep us dry.

One gimmick of this venue is that it has the only under water post box in the world where we successfully mailed a postcard back to our home!

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 2/5

Service: 3/5

Setting: 3/5

Overall: 11/20

Bill: 2800 Vatu for the set lunch, about 20GBP.

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Sprite, Chocolate Milkshake.

I wore: Snorkelling gear.