Big Chef or Hoi Tong?

[clutterer]

Will be taking my mother out for a Mid Autumn Festival dinner, filial duty and all. Does anyone have an opinion in support of either of the aforementioned restaurants over the other? My mother is an extremely picky woman who does not tolerate sub-par Chinese meals of any sort, and I say that as a loving compliment. Thanks in advance.

[LotusRapper]

Are we held responsible for the aftermath ? ;-)

Big Chef *did* walk away with two awards from CRA competition (one for Hoi Tong):

http://chineserestaurantawards.com/in...

There's your basis, if Mom ends up unhappy it's the critics' fault ;-)

[clutterer]

Thanks - I will accept full blame for this one!

The CRA awards have not swayed her opinion on much either way (sorry fmed), but that is noted.

[fmed]

No offense taken! I think (or hope!) that she will like Hoi Tong.

[fmed]

Now that I'm back at a keyboard I should elaborate on why I would choose Hoi Ting over Big Chef in this particular case: Hoi Tong is much smaller ( so in theory, the quality control will be tighter); and the food is more akin to the dishes you might find an HK private kitchen (and as a matter of fact, the chef Yiutong Leung used to cook in private kitchens - namely - the one for the HK Stock Exchange). I like Big Chef too - but it is stylistically different - larger family style dining where many of the dishes can be described as re-interpretations of home-style cuisine. Hoi Tong just feels more cozy and more "special".

[clutterer]

Thanks! I've called Hoi Tong, and it sounds like they're closed today and tomorrow for holidays. Will try for later in the week and report back.