Balalaika

Address: M/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 3579 2929

It's either I should have paid a visit to the Knutsford Terrace sister restaurant or that the Lan Kwai Fong branch has lost its former glory. Gone were the days that you had to book in advance to secure a table. As I walk up the stairs of LKF Tower that leads to Wyndham Street, I noticed many curious passer-bys would take a peek into the Russian restaurant's main attraction - the ice bar. But alas, no surprises there, a freezer room with two tables that resembles nothing but a bloody freezing room. There was nothing icy either, a stark contrast to Sydney’s Minus 5 which is adorned with beautifully crafted ice sculptures.

We were seated in one of the wooden booth closest to the small performance stage. The waiter was very polite but lack friendliness and professionalism. He introduced the set dinner and handed us the menu, which with a quick glance confirmed my resolve not to return to Balalaika. With set dinner menu consisting of grilled wagyu beef and greens, and seafood platter, it strikes me that the restaurant has resorted to going mainstream and producing cuisine that is no long Russian. Having said that, our wagyu beef set was neatly presented on a long entrée plate with meat balls, thinly sliced beef on one side, and mini steak on the other. In the middle is a small ceramic pot of Balalaika’s signature borsch soup which, unlike its common carrot and tomato version, is cooked with red beetroot. To my surprise, given that I dislike beetroot, I found the bright red borsch rather palatable, thumbs up to the chef at Balalaika.

The same duo played the keyboard and the traditional stringed instrument which gave the restaurant its name. For those who have not seen a balalaika before, it is a Russian three stringed instruments with a triangular body. Imagine a simplified triangular guitar. While the music was pleasant to the ears, the performance was not appealing to the eyes. Perhaps it was the lack of crowd in the restaurant, and understandably with only a few tables, it could be hard to appear enthusiastic. Nonetheless, they came over and performed their routine clap-along-to-my-music stint. We were handed over various instrumental accompaniments to clap to the beat. I particularly like how the guy used two wooden spoons to create a chirpy tic-tac rhythm with his knee and hand.

We ended our dinner with two unsurprising desserts (though they were delicious in a standard kind of fashion), of which the crème brulee was given to us by mistake. Yes you heard me right, crème brulee at a Russian restaurant. I need not elaborate further.

Verdict: Lacklustre performance coupled with mediocre food and average service, I am still not convinced that I would return.