HK is a restaurant and bar (and lounge? and rooftop bar?) on 9th Ave at 39th Street.  It looks very modern inside and has garage door windows that open in the nice weather.  They have expanded it, and perhaps they are just trying to be too many things.  They do somethings VERY right… and some things VERY wrong.

Our evening here started before heading to see a Broadway show.  We showed up at about 6, figuring that we would have no problem getting in and out in an hour and a half to catch the 8pm show.  The restaurant was almost empty, and our chatty waiter informed us about MANY things, including that he was having a bad day and that it was his iPod playing.  Congrats dude.

We started with an app of tuna tartar that came with herbs, apple, and quail egg.  It was absolutely FANTASTIC.  I would go back in a heartbeat for this (though it doesn’t appear to be a permanent staple on the menu).

It was all downhill from here.  Our entrees took about an hour to come out. 

Mike order the lamb chop special.  It was… fine… but nothing special. 

 And rather small for the price (it came to $30 when we got the bill).

 But small was not even realized yet.  I ordered the duck with cinnamon pears and carrots.  Sounded great.

But there were 3 thumb sized portions of the duck, which was bland, and a whole plate filled with pear (which were delicious and all… but you don’t order duck for just over 3 bites).   And as I ate it, in this VERY dark restaurant, I realized there was an orange burried under the pile with the rind still on… and a cinnamon stick.  Top Chef echoed in my head: “You don’t put unedible garnish on the plate.”  And to make that worse, in a dark restaurant, the taste of orange rind can really ruin a so-so dish.

And on top of that, we barely got out in time for our show.  Two couples that sat down next to us about 20 minutes after we sat down were still awaiting their entree when we paid the bill.  They informed their waiter, who was chatting up the (overly cute and gay) men at the table next to them, that they had to catch a show.  The waiter’s response: “Everyone here is trying to catch a show, sweetheart.”  Uacceptable.

Go for the drinks and tuna tartare.  Skip the entrees.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Tags: duck, eating out, hell's kitchen, HK, lamb chops, restaurant reviews, restaurants, tuna tartar