Igor’s Group really lucked out on grabbing the top floor of the Star Ferry terminal in Central. Rarely will you find such a spectacular spot for wining and dining. Like its grander sister downstairs, Watermark, the sun-drenched, vault-ceiling space is a nice lunchtime escape and a heart-lifter for the office dweller.
What’s even more impressive is the outdoor deck, which has unobstructed views of the city, the harbour, and the hills of Kowloon. The dark wood deck (complete with superb sound system streaming bossa nova jazz) offers seating for up to 80, and 150 standing. No doubt this will be a great alternative to Sevva, Red, and Isola come sunset happy hour. But the best part has got to be the lunch buffet.
Until the new Dressed salad bar opens in IFC, there are few options for a great salad in Central proper. But here, the $98 all-you-can-eat buffet has a wide selection of all things healthy. Four types of greens, tomato and red onion salad, quinoa salad with anchovies, green bean with hard boiled eggs, cucumber in yoghurt, German potato salad, and corn with bacon bits. Maybe not everything is good for you, but you’ll certainly feel clean, and not overstuffed.
If veggies alone aren’t enough for you though, head to the carvery station for the roast of the day. We had pork loin and finger-licking good (though somewhat dry) bbq baby back ribs. The small station also has cheese ravioli with chunky tomato, asparagus, and pine nut sauce. Unfortunately, the pasta suffered from hot buffet food syndrome: slightly overcooked, slightly mushy, slightly over-sauced from sitting in a steamer too long.
One thing to note: the outdoor patio space is public. Pier 7 faces the same conundrum as Isola, Red, Habitu, and dragon-i: their outdoor space doesn’t belong to them, and is free for the public to use. But instead of hiding this fact, Pier 7 is very transparent about it. No self-guessing-self-service like at Red, or worse, self-service but only up to the door at Isola. The bar is located inside the rentable area as well as the buffet tables so customers have to serve themselves and bring their food and drinks outside. And that means no 10 per cent service charge because, duh, it’s self-service! Red, take note. Alan Wong
Central Pier 7, Star Ferry, Central, 2167 8377. Daily 11am-midnight. Meal for two: Around$200.