MAD (Modern Asian Dining)

New dining concept place at The Grandstand. Owned by Tung Lok and in collaboration with Dick Lee. Hence the name "MAD". And truly, the interior is eclectic as is the music (curated by Mr Lee) which I must admit is my kind of mood/60s/retro canto/English tunes (and any place that chooses Sia's "Breathe" has taste!). Downstairs is the cafe and bakery, upstairs is the restaurant and bar, and shop. At the restaurant, black walls and ceilings with disco lights and colourful accessories. The menu is presented on an iPad and orders are done by yourself and transmitted directly to the main server. Even when a dish is out of stock they will prompt you. Innovative. The menu itself is also eclectic. Dim sum (by Tung Lok which I never had a good impression of; standard selections), limited boring Tapas choices, paella and fried rice and hor fun, with back ribs and steaks. Truly something for somebody. The 腐皮卷 was crispy but a big too big to properly appreciate the prawns and beancurd skin; the 叉烧包 is average, too doughy and not enough meat; and the 凤爪 was too heavily/intensely marinated with black bean paste and the taste was just too strong. The squid ink paella had a waiting time of 20-30 minutes and was big enough for 2-3 persons. It was a tad too salty, a bit too generous with the squid ink instead of just coating the rice, and expensive at $55 when there were not much other ingredients/seafood other than squid. At least the rice itself was well done. Even the tapas dishes were a tad expensive. Spoke too soon about the music. It devolved into Pop kitsch in between while eating my paella, but thankfully was short lived. Two things bad about the iPad system is that I cannot call for service/bill nor customise my order, ie ask for more xxx, less ###; case in point, tried to add egg white to my almond cream. Such a chore, when it's usually a simple order of "杏仁茶加蛋白" in a proper Cantonese restaurant. Here was in English and to 2 staffs and even after that I still wondered whether they got what I meant. Service was adequate and polite but needs prompting (water not filled, dishes not cleared, plates not changed). At least the senior ones were better the young boys. One young waiter actually brought a cold dessert to me and said it was my "hot" almond cream...*facepalm*. Anyways, the actual dessert came and the egg white was still gelatinous on the surface. Pity...a Tung Lok chain that cannot do a proper cantonese dessert.

Verdict: Will come back but not really for the food, more for a chillax place with friends for dim sum/light bites and drinks.