La Fete - BEST kept secret. Located at St Francis Street Wanchai (near Star St.)

I have tried them 3 times and by far (I have been to about 5 different French food "private" places), it is the best value for money with excellent ingredients and genuine French provisional cooking. The owner/cook is French.

No lunch. Dinner $320 per person (guaranteed to be satisfied). Must book in advance as they keep minimal stock to ensure freshness. Corkage can be waived. Excellent starters, HUGE seafood platter, superb soup (tasty lobster bisque and heavenly Mushroom soup), tremendously delicious main courses (2 types per table to be shared - have tried salmon in capsicum sauce, baked pork loin, minty lamb steak, French chicken, steak), BEST dessert ever (esp. creme burlee)!

The base menu is set but you can make request if there are particular food items you favour. If they can get the ingredients, will cook for you.

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原帖由 可愛老頑童 於 2007-6-15 16:32 發表
Thank You for the info.  
Were they previously operating in CWB, Russell St. just opposite Times SQ ?
IF so, I'd totally agree with your comments.
Would be nice if you could give us thei ...

Yes, I believe so. The Chinese "waiter" is an ex-Peninsula chef for over 20 years and he knows so much! Ambience of this new restaurant is very good too! The number is 28935891.

Well worth your effort!

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-6-16 11:04 發表
I have been to their Russell Street joint three or four times and first couple of visits, I thought it was good because it was good value in terms of quantity.  And as usual, "good value ...

I cannot agree with you. The seafood platter is one of the best I have sampled. This new place has good ambience, excellent for long chit-chat.

So which ones do you recommend? The usual 5 to 6 stars hotels' outlets? Please recommend some. Thanks.

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原帖由 可愛老頑童 於 2007-6-16 08:00 發表
THANK You, I shall be going soon

Please give a report later, OK? Hope you'll enjoy.

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原帖由 alphagirl@ 於 2007-6-16 01:21 發表
Seems attractive! Do you know if they would open on Sunday night?
Is it good place for 4-5 people to seat long and chat? I mean a 2-3hrs at least.
You know, sometimes you go to a restaurant but t ...

Yes, they open on Sunday and can cater for private party up to 40 people. But if on any night, there are not more than 10 people, they will not open. I went on a Monday night and there was just enough for them to operate!

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-6-16 17:04 發表
This is definitely not the worst 私房菜 I have been to, althogh it's definitely not among the best.  I said it's an OK restaurant for good value, if the place has better facility than the old ...

No need to argue. Our tastebuds will be the final judge. Let others make comments later la.

Just came back from Ces't Bon Telford Garden. Really disappointing except for a couple of dishes.

Everybody would know you can expect good meals if you are prepared to pay $600 to $800 per head.

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原帖由 alphagirl@ 於 2007-6-17 20:30 發表
Just curious, do you mean if their reservation list is less then 10ppl, they will close? I think this is quite disappointing if somebody planned to go there one night but it will not open cos o ...

Not much publicity. They cannot afford to open if less than 10 people make reservation in any night as costs will be too high. Besides, they don't keep a lot of food to ensure freshness and buying for less than 10 people is not worthwhile. If you pick Friday or Saturday, I am sure there will be enough people.

Go try and tell us if any good.

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原帖由 winelover 於 2007-6-18 16:27 發表
Are they have a good wine list for customers to choose?

OK list but better to bring your own.

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原帖由 alphagirl@ 於 2007-6-20 00:20 發表
Ok, will bring along some friends and try once.
Do you think it is a good place to celebrate a good fd's birthday?
By the way, any parking space? I don't think I can find one easi ...

Don't drive.

Yes, very suitable for birthday and quiet chit-chat as well!

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原帖由 可愛老頑童 於 2007-6-21 13:06 發表
Another restaurant I quite like in this area is Ingredients, nice atmosphere, medium expensive if you order their $500-$600 five course set dinner menu (changed monthly). .

Yes, there are lots of restaurants around that area.

However, for this price, I prefer Le Fete anytime. Their foods are really quite decent and genuine and I have sampled enough times to form an opinion ...

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原帖由 alphagirl@ 於 2007-6-22 00:06 發表
Do you think the restaurant is still there?

It's still there but I would rate it a touch above average. Not for me!

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原帖由 可愛老頑童 於 2007-6-22 15:23 發表
I don't think a decent pan fried foie gras is that difficult to make.   Nicely done foie gras is quite common place among HK restaurants IMHO.  The problem is I can't remember a single such p ...

Agreed. Despite a 50/50 affair at Cest Bon, their pan fried foie gras was really good. Nice big juicy piece cooked to perfection.

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原帖由 alphagirl@ 於 2007-6-22 23:31 發表
Yummy!

Tell me if any good after you have tried. Thanks.

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原帖由 可愛老頑童 於 2007-7-9 18:12 發表
We went to La Fete last week.  Yes, it is excellent value for money ($320 net per person). The food was 粗粗地 but good and tasty, and you get lots and lots of it (make sure you would go there very ...

As I said, seafood was best, followed by the appetizer, dessert and soup. The main courses can be considered "rough" but good nevertheless. Everything was top-notch 100% FRESH! Did you go on Friday or Saturday? Avoid those nights and you can have a quiet meal (the 3 times I tried were all pretty nice). My friend just went last week and said it was packed on Friday night.

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 01:27 發表
Yeah - in a more refined surrounding.

People move on so you cannot compare apple to orange ...

Definitely, this place is not the best but definitely not the worst by a long margin!

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 11:50 發表
He's looking forward to a more refined surrounding, and we are going to one tonight.  Why?  Do you have a problem with that?

NO MAN!

Where are you going? The standard 6 stars hotels????

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 12:23 發表
no, just Yung Kee.

Do you consider that to be refined surroundings?!?!

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 12:37 發表
All patrons at Yung Kee are equal but some are more equal than the others.  That is, if you book well in advance, like us, you can get a more refined surrounding.  If you book well in advance ...

Their prices are way too high for me.

By the way, any good value western (French/Italian) food places to recommend?

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 14:24 發表
Contrary to the general belief, their prices are very very reasonable..

Thanks. What do you mean for Spoon? Sunset menu or late supper menu?

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 17:12 發表
Normal menu.  $788 for 6 course and $988 for 8 course.

How to get the 25% discount then?

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 17:34 發表
Join the membership which costs $2,688 p.a.  but you get vouchers worth $2,400.
25% discount at Spoon does not normally apply.  Promotion is only thru to end of Aug 07.

I have never tried Spoon. Is it really worth? For the price, I can go twice to Verandah at Peninsula.

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 18:15 發表
go to both.

I will try sunset menu first ...

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原帖由 dejavu2003 於 2007-7-11 01:27 發表
Yeah - in a more refined surrounding.

Went to Chez Moi at Causeway Bay. Executive chef is Water Lau.

For $320 cash per person (no corkage) - same price as La Fete, many things were not comparable to La Fete.

For a start, the ambience at Chez Moi was better.

Service was acceptable but no heart.

Food was poor to average at best, esp. the very disappointing cold seafood plate. La Fete was 10 times better! Bread was just not nice, soup (tomato seafood) was average, green apple sorbet was acceptable, main courses (I had angus steak and someone had baby sea bass fillet) were standard affair (no surprise). The desserts (green tea cheesecake or fruit salad with agar) were OK.

Overall, I prefer La Fete anytime. At least, they cook with a bit of passion and heart!