It’s easy to be charmed by the beautiful underground restaurant that is Mott 32. The elaborate staircase with mystical mirrors and the steel chained curtains give you a sense that you’re entering somewhere important, somewhere mysterious, like an underground jazz bar for the rich and famous in the 30s.

Mott 32 will easily impress anyone because it is just beautiful inside. The bar area is well stocked and is a good waiting area if you haven’t got a reservation. The ducks on display fly out like a charm and the staff are rather attentive and could speak English well. They can also rattle off specials so they’re clearly well trained.

Did I mention the super dark and insta-worthy toilets?

Ok onto the food. We chose lunch because someone told me the dinner was just okay and pricier and I would be better off with Dim sum if it was just me and my girlfriend. So, dim sum we did. And we also did the signature char siew because we cannot stomach a duck between both of us.

First up, the Iberico charsiew or duck you will have to reserve in advance when you book your table as it’s limited. So, obediently, we ordered the charsiew in advance and when we tasted it, it was a tad disappointing. Because we had better tasting ones in Hong Kong at a much better price.

The roasted pork belly was pretty good. Skin was crispy as it should and the meat soft and tender.

The lobster dumpling was served with a tube of lobster essence which was an interesting touch but the taste was underwhelming. Considering it had lobster essence, it still wasn’t tasty enough.

The truffle siew mai was a bit lacklustre as the truffle was over powered by the taste of shrimp and pork. If the shrimp was tastier it would have complemented the truffle better. The quail egg inside was a nice touch. Perhaps no pork and just shrimp, egg and truffle would have been better so the truffle will stand out more.

The spring roll with duck was pretty tasty but the duck inside it didn’t wow us.

The item that we liked best was the iberico pork bun with the sugary top. That was an easy favourite as it’s soft and sweet and great as a pre dessert. But then again I think Tim Ho Wan’s version is just slightly better.

For dessert, we had the egg tart and again, we felt the Tai Cheong makes a much better one.

Meal came up to about HKD1500 for the both of us with chinese tea. I may come back again for dinner with a bigger party just to see if the duck is worth the hype, because everything else wasn’t. The ambience is really beautiful here, improvements to the food would probably make this place a must go in Hong Kong.

Eat, explore, sleep, repeat.

XOXO

Stella