For a hood with so much character, Tai Hang still lacks a destination restaurant. New lifesyle complex Little Tai Hang is hoping to shake things up by bringing in some big guns. And May Chow (Little Bao) is soon opening a new concept here. But already doing business is Bond, by the team behind Hollywood Road’s Three Monkeys.
No expense has been spared on décor. Bond’s sleek, sexy dining room features dark wood accents, metal surfaces and polished detailing, with two comfortable balcony areas. But the menu, which skews Italian, doesn’t push boundaries.
Entrées set a high benchmark, particularly in the form of a burrata and tomato salad ($140), a fresh and colourful dish that eats as well as it photographs. On to mains, the spicy vodka rigatoni ($178) is undercooked (though this is dealt with professionally by staff) and lacks a knockout punch, making it unremarkable. The cheese wheel truffle spaghetti ($198) is cooked tableside in a wheel of 24-month parmesan and is also a let-down – turns out there is such a thing as too cheesy. For mains, a miscued plank of beef short ribs ($310) arrives cooked at too high a temperature and for not long enough, resulting in a slightly tough and bland portion.
Next time we’re in Tai Hang, we’d be more than happy to kick it on the balcony of Bond with a glass of vino. But the food won’t have us rushing back in a hurry.
Dinner for two: $1,100.