La Bons Cafe (6/10)

I'd promised myself a bit of a stomach detox this week. The seemingly sensible decision to stick with smart restaurants in Cambodia had rather back-fired in one particular 5* hotel in Siem Reap and my stomach still hadn't forgiven me several days later. Unfortunately, the detox didn't quite go to plan - it turns out that I have absolutely no willpower whatsoever. The first problem that presented itself was Sunday brunch at the Mandarin Grill. I was completely powerless to resist the all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink food-fest. 

Then, the next day, with my stomach's festering grievances now getting close to boiling point, I was tempted into yet more over-indulgence. R.L. and S.J. had recommended a French restaurant in Wan Chai which they reckoned was a perfect credit-crunch friendly mid-week dinner place. All would have been well but somehow, when we got to La Bons Cafe on Ship Street, I just couldn't say no to the gooey chocolate pudding. Damn. Must try harder.

While the name of the cafe is a little questionable grammatically (perhaps some hidden ironic statement or an in joke?), the decor at La Bons Cafe is brilliantly French in that "I don't care about decor, it's all about the food" kind of way. What isn't so French, is the incredibly cheerful, polite service which greets you. For full authenticity, that is clearly something they are going to have to work on. 

The food is really pretty good, particularly considering the price. It's simple, homely cuisine, not perfect but not bad either. In keeping with the present theme of credit crunch carefulness, most of the main courses come as set meals with a salad or soup to start and tea or coffee afterwards. Ok, so the soup and salad are pretty nondescript but with most of the sets less than HKD 100, this can be forgiven. 

Although the chocolate pudding wasn't included in the price it was considered quite imperative by my dining companions. Anyway, true to form, it was excellent, if a little over-powering! Looking back at the other chocolate puddings I've had recently, this gives the considerably more expensive melted chocolate pudding at Jean-Georges on the Bund a real run for its money. Arghhh... getting hungry. Must stop spending time describing the puddings...!

La Bons Cafe

Ship Street

Wan Chai