The J Residence venue embraces the modernity of the cuisine, with industrial concrete floors, steel accents, and a neutral palette of whites and greys. But they are also keen to reference the scientific nature of their culinary experiments, with beaker-like water glasses and thick steel bowls. Place settings are unusual and attractive: slabs of stone worked into disks and set onto metal frames. There’s also something of the rock star ego in the atmosphere – Alvin Leung’s blown up image coolly regards arrivals, and if you’re very lucky, he’ll be there in person behind the bar counter chef’s table, tattoos on show and temper blazing.

Chef Leung pushes boundaries by combining both an east-meets-west approach to ingredients (taking premium ingredients from one culture and preparing in the fashion of the other), and by deconstructing traditional Chinese favourites. His current chef’s menu (there is a choice of 3 sets) is a thirteen-dish extravaganza that takes the diner on an inventive journey with varying success: foie gras is matched against muy choy ice cream to set off the fattiness, but the sharpness is overwhelming; on the flip side, Singaporean chilli crab is turned into a spicy soufflé, the light texture and heavy flavours making a delectable contrast. Other items include iconoclastic takes on cha chaan teng classics, like gai dan jai, pineapple bun and yin yang – while charming, too often we are left wondering if Leung is simply reinventing the wheel. This was especially true of the xiao lung bao, distilled into a sphere: flavours are unnervingly accurate, but the unpleasant gluey texture makes one long for the original. However, we do unreservedly enjoy dishes like the assiette of tomato (playful and clever), sous vide pigeon and the beautiful sandlewood scented Chinese almond bonbon. We also applaud the theatrically of presentation in the perfumed dry ice smoking over our oyster starter, and the century egg and pickled ginger palate cleanser bubbling out of its martini glass. Though uneven in performance, the Demon Chef never leaves us bored.

For a small independent restaurant, the wine list is surprisingly extensive, simplified by being divided into varietals, then regions, and placed at reasonable price points. Though our original choice of a Tasmanian sauvignon blanc is out of stock, the sommelier was able to recommend a more than adequate alternative in a Pascal Jolivet.

For a small venue, there seems to be an awful lot of staff. This is likely due to the complexity of each dish, which requires a detailed introduction, especially for non-Chinese guests who may be unfamiliar with the traditional ingredients. A nice touch is presenting these items in their original jars and bottles, giving diners an insight into the flavour profile.

At HK$3,500 for two diners (including a bottle of wine), Bo Innovation’s subversive dining comes at a cost, which could be justified given the excellent produce and sheer creativity.