Commune Lab is located in a quiet, residential-looking building immediately to the right of Posto Pubblico. Even for a private kitchen, Commune Lab is tricky to find as there are no signs anywhere indicating its existence. Once you come out of the lift, you’ll know you’re at the right place when you see a green bench outside. Step into the test kitchen and you’ll be greeted by an enormous communal dining table, in actuality a massive wooden countertop covered with numerous white tablecloths. As Commune Lab is a working kitchen, you will be surrounded by tools of the trade including a sous vide machine, stainless steel refrigerators and industrial-sized mixers. Having said that, eating at Commune Lab is more enjoyable than it sounds: the atmosphere is cosy with ambient lighting and surprisingly comfortable high seats.

Commune Lab is a test kitchen and chef AJ Bellarosa’s creations show exactly how much fun he is having experimenting with all the toys at his disposal. Traditionalists would say that his dishes are made up of many elements which makes them somewhat cumbersome to eat (imagine trying to scoop up seven different components onto every forkful), but his culinary joie de vivre means that dining at Commune Lab won't be a flawless experience, but an extremely enjoyable one nonetheless. The menu changes regularly and the starters on the day we dined at Commune Lab were a root vegetable salad and an English pea soup. All the vegetables are from organic farms in Sheung Shui and include thick chunks of beetroot, thinly sliced kohlrabi, candied walnut, cucumber gelee, gorgonzola cream and blobs of aged balsamic. The dish is beautifully presented and gives a wide variety of textures, not unlike a box of chocolates with all the different components in its own place. The English pea soup, on the other hand, is less successful. Although the menu warns that it is served warm rather than hot, the tepid temperature does not make the thick soup with rubbery chunks of Gruyère appetising, which is a shame, as there is nothing wrong with the flavour itself. Mains were a sous vide sea bass with sweet potato puree, lemon beurre blanc and choi sum. The piece of fish is tiny, but perfectly cooked. The contrast between the sweet potato puree and the bitingly tart lemon beurre blanc is also extremely enjoyable. The most disappointing part of the dish was the limp and faded vegetables. This is also true of the meat dish: a pork belly with caramel chilli sauce, ginger risotto and baby Shanghai greens. The pork belly is flawless both in taste and texture, but the ginger risotto is under-seasoned and the baby Shanghai greens are green in name only. Dessert is a platter of chocolate coffee ganache, condensed milk ice cream, vanilla gel, dehydrated brown butter sponge and Ovaltine ice cream. Like the salad, the dish is deconstructed and there are many elements competing for your attention. To avoid sensory overload, diners are advised to concentrate on the best parts of the dessert before they melt, in this case the brown butter sponge and the condensed milk ice cream.

The wine list at Commune Lab is reasonably large, but not extensive. There are four red and four white wines by the glass, ranging from HK$60 to HK$95. For those looking to celebrate, there are also four sparkling wines available by the glass, as well as bottles ranging from HK$300 to HK$10,000.

This is “service with a smile” at its best. The waitresses are friendly and the enthusiastic chef AJ himself comes out to introduce every dish and he also likes to present little surprises such as a whole-wheat croissant that he happens to be working on or piping hot oatmeal cookies that just came out of the oven, making the whole experience homey and welcoming.

The price at Commune Lab varies. On Monday to Wednesdays, there is a set three-course dinner for HK$578 and the kitchen welcomes smaller bookings. The rest of the week however, it is only open to parties of eight or larger, and the multi-course menu starts from HK$1,488 for food only to HK$2,988 for a premium wine-pairing menu. For those who would like to try the private kitchen without committing to a large dinner party there, the Monday to Wednesdays three-course dinners are ideal, and with all the extras that chef AJ sneaks in, you will leave more than satiated.