The Harbour Grill restaurant at the Harbour Grand Kowloon hotel is quiet, intimate and of a modest size – an ideal place to treat your grandparents to a lovely dinner. Sadly, it’s also the ideal place to take your grandparents to given that they’re likely to be the only ones who would appreciate the decor. The design is dated, to say the least. From the twinkly-light-dotted, sky-painted ceiling to the tired furniture, the restaurant is in need of a serious revamp. The most unfortunate part is that the only thing going for the setting – the panoramic harbour view – is not visible at night due to the bright interior lighting.

Harbour Grill offers all your grilled favourites and more, from Kurobata pork cutlet and organic French chicken breast to live Boston lobster and whole Dover sole, each accompanied by a wide and delicious assortment of sauces, such as a fragrant Périgourdine to a simple and creamy béarnaise. Diners are also given a choice of five potato sides and seven vegetable dishes to choose from to accompany their main. However, we almost didn’t get any of that as our waiter starts walking off after noting our chosen meats and doneness – and even that isn’t done right, as our lamb rack (HK$410) and 8oz tenderloin (HK$520) arrives medium to well-done instead of medium-rare. This is highly unfortunate, as even prepared incorrectly, it is clear that the US beef and Australian lamb are of high quality and would have tasted delicious if not for the mistake. Other aspects of the meal are less disappointing – the accompanying sautéed French beans are impressively fresh, the au gratin superbly cooked. The fresh oysters (HK$58 each / market price) at the beginning of the meal are nicely chilled and extremely creamy, not to mention they’re the size of a small hand. The pan-seared duck liver with roasted pineapple (HK$245) is delicious – the foie gras is perfectly cooked, with a light crust on the outside and buttery on the inside, while the roasted pineapple proves a light and appropriate accompaniment. Round off your heavy meal with the pineapple dessert (HK$95), which comes with mango sorbet and a lovely roasted citrus wafer. Alternatively, go all out with soft-centred chocolate cake (HK$95), balanced by poached orange and cream.

Like any restaurant that showcases steak and seafood on its menu, Harbour Grill boasts a decent selection of wine. No big surprises on the wine list, but there is still a good selection of wines available by the glass, as well as half-bottle sizes, and the list includes a good variety of old and new world vintages to suit a range of tastes and budgets.

On the whole, Harbour Grill’s staff is friendly and polite, although some of the waiters seem inexperienced.The manager, however, is on hand to rectify the mistakes, and his manner is helpful and gracious.

Dinner for two comes out to about HK$1,000 per person, excluding wine. If the restaurant could tweak its lighting so that the splendid harbour view is actually visible, we’d say this isn’t a bad deal at all.