Everyone knows that for the best Western food in China you’ve got to go to Hong Kong. And Hong Kongers have developed a taste for Western food that is difficult to please when you are living on the mainland.

So it’s not surprising that Hong Kong entrepreneur Tony Lau has opened up a Shenzhen branch of Max Café, his popular, Euro-Asian cuisine restaurant close to the Futian Free Trade Zone, where many of the residents are Hong Kongers.

Max Café features Western dishes commonly found in Hong Kong. For this reason Lau brought over chef Lee Kwok-leung, who has more than 30 years of experience with well-known Hong Kong Western-food restaurants such as Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill and Rancho’s.

The restaurant’s contemporary design is a surprising mix of Mediterranean colored walls, combined with light effects, mirrors and contrasted by antique Chinese furniture. The restaurant’s tables and chairs however resemble an Ikea “Sven” garden set, which makes an interesting contrast. Every night at 8:30 there’s a Filipino band playing popular dance music.

The menu features an extensive choice of dishes with American, Indian, Portuguese, French and Italian origins that make for gastronomical world tour. There’s African chicken from the Portuguese kitchen, escargots from the French and of course ribs and steak from popular American diners.

From the Italian peninsula come pizzas and pastas, while the Indian cuisine gives you plenty of curries to choose from.

They also have a separate menu with Sichuan dishes, because a lot of people here like spicy food, said Lau.

It is a pity though that the restaurant doesn’t sell European and Californian wines, and only has the usual Great Wall and Dynasty selections.

Lee, despite being a veteran in Western cuisine, still likes to experiment with food. One of his creations is the oyster shooter (18 yuan). The oysters are fresh Pacific oysters, imported from the United States. Served in a shooter glass, the milky salty oyster slithers into your mouth, followed by a gulp of cocktail sauce and a bit of parsley. The shooter will greatly satisfy the taste buds of real oyster lovers.

Their big mama pizza (38 yuan) is topped with real Italian salami, a rare treat in China.

When it comes to good Western food in China, the steak is the ultimate test. We opted for the char-grilled rib-eye steak (108 yuan). Combined with al dente vegetables and sauteed potatoes, this was really a fine piece of meat. According to chef Lee, the secret is not only the best-quality steak and the charcoal grill, but mainly years of experience in cooking.

In my opinion when the steak is good, all is good because it is still hard to find restaurants in Shenzhen that can properly cook this seemingly easy dish.

Our next test was their mini-sundae. It’s a cute little ice cream, just one scoop, topped with all the necessary stuff. It was just the right size for those who like sweets, but don’t want to feel stuffed afterwards.

We finished the meal with an interesting Belgian-style coffee brew, which meant that coffee was boiled, percolated, filtered and poured out of an interesting little silver construction of pots, pipes and a burner.

The restaurant can seat about 60-80 guests in its two-level seating area. There are booths to sit quietly, window seats and there is a beautiful private room, for those who have a special occasion.

The restaurant opens with Hong Kong-style breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and operates till 3:00 a.m.

If you want good Western food as they know it in Hong Kong, Max Café is worth your visit.

(Shenzhen Daily March 16, 2004)