Visit to the Hong Kong Restaurant, 14 York Place, Scarborough by Brad

So after some discussion we made the decision to pay a visit to the Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant on York Place in Scarborough (that's the one up the side of the Brunswick for those that don't know). It was probably the first time I had been there to eat and I probably won't be going back again!

I always think first impressions can be important, and it always sets off a personal alarm bell to me when you enter a restaurant at 8pm on a Friday and there's only a single, solitary couple in the whole place. The decour is awful- sickly "traditional Chinese" vomit patterns are everywhere- red wall paper with Oriental flower designs, Gold and Red ornaments, yellowed colour table cloths and awful chinese portraits dipicting the usual Oriental building designs and landscapes. Some people would consider it "cosy" or "characterful". Others such as myself would consider it an ocean of Chinese related tack. The atmosphere was also sucked totally dry by the overly formal attitude of the staff and the poor music. We found ourselves whispering in the library-like atmosphere despite being in a highly spirited mood. Still the table, cutlery and surounding areas seemed clean (unlike Red Dragon on Falsgrave which has beautiful table side staining all over its walls).

We were seated almost immediately and almost aggressively asked for drinks before we'd had time to pass the menu around. For starters we each chose one of the many available dishes, I went with Battered Jumbo King Prawns, Meshell tried Satay Chicken and my friends tried BBQ and Salt & Pepper Ribs. When the starters came it was half what I expected and half not. My Jumbo King Prawns were humourously regular sized. The ribs were small and dry, and the satay sauce was lumpy and unattractive.  Each starter was also nestled on a large lettuce leaf with a small handful of fried veg and salad around it to hide the fact you're plate was pretty much empty. It tasted good enough though, and despite the dryness and sad looking Satay sauce it was nutty and creamy as it should be.

We were again bombarded with service staff until we had made out mains choices. We went with Shredded Beef with Chilli, Shredded Chicken with Chilli, Beef Chow Mein and Kung Po Chicken. When it arrived we were presented with another set of average quality meals. The Shredded Beef and Chicken were completely sauceless, suprising considering that on it's own it is one of most Chinese menu's most dry dishes. I've always been a fan of its chewy, crunchy texture and salty flavour, but sauceless it was like eating bits of salted leather. The Kung Po and Chow Mein was fortunately moister, but still of a quality only on par with most Chinese take aways. Again my Shredded Beef was layed on a thin bed of lettuce and salad to hide the poorly sized portion. Considering it was almost double the price of a takeaway and didn't include rice which was £2 extra per portion it was as a whole vastly overpriced when compared to the quality.

We tried to make the best of the meal though, and even stayed to sample the usual selection of premade frozen desserts afterwards. The final bill for 4 of us was £90, coming in at about £22 per person. This is about average for most restaurants at a glance, and not too bad considering we had one and a half rounds of drinks too. However, considering you could get equal to or better quality at many takeaways for about half the price maybe you'd be better eating at home rather then coming here.

Despite its sometimes questionable hygiene and quality, Red Dragon Restaurant on Falsgrave is still the place to go for value Chinese (all you can eat!). Optionally I recommend takeaway and going to the Peking Chef Chinese Takeway, also on Falsgrave.