Korean Pork Rice

Korean Pork Rice
$56 ($48 + $3 hot drink upgrade + 10% service charge)
Baltic Limited (Prince Edward)

I vaguely recall seeing crowds lining up to eat at this Japanese curry shop; but when I showed up that evening, only one other table was occupied, nary a crowd to be found.

If there had been a throng of hungry customers eager to try the curry, I think these ravenous customers, each and every one of them, would have been delighted and satisfied with what the shop has to offer. I certainly was pleased with my Korean Pork Rice, the meat of which consisted, in fact, more of meat than of gristle -- thankfully; and what's more, the pork tasted quite sweet, the result, I suppose, of a daring, saucy mix of sesame and kimchee spice in which the victuals were cooked. I cleaned off my bowls, plate and cup, and had my fill.

Then the bill came. The restaurant had successfully milked an extra eight dollars from my wallet, my check accounting for not only the three dollar hot drink tax but also the nebulous, always-mysterious ten percent service charge, a fee made all the more baffling because this near-empty, pseudo-local establishment, deep in the heart of Kowloon, didn't at first blush strike me as an establishment that would charge such a fee, let alone do so without any forewarning.

This Baltic company, replete with its cartoon pirates and boardroom bandits, can keep their presumption, and I will take my business elsewhere next time.