Has anyone else tried the new Lamcombe yet? My first impressions were:

- new lighting is awful, far to bright and clinical looking with the new paint colours.
- no peanuts given whilst menu browsing (head waiter told me that they cost too much)
- quality of the fried rice was not as high, but calmari, sweet and sour, vegetables, chicken, scallops etc, just as good/same.
- once asked for the price of a fish / prawns, the waiters were quite pushy that we ordered from the tanks.
- overall prices seemed about the same.
- one waiter speaks English, the other two run away as soon as you start speaking.
- for a public holiday evening (easter bank holiday monday, 7:30pm) it was almost emply.

Is it for sale or rent?

OK, moved this message from Rent and Sale forum into the Restaurants forum where it belongs.

Thanks for your first impressions, Insomniac.
Has anyone else tried it? Sau Kee Rest. besides it, usually empty before, seems to have absorbed quite a lot of Lamcombe's former business.

But the very unwelcoming entrance area of the very expensively renovated Lamcombe Rest. has kept us away so far. There's also no English sign outside anymore even though they've supposedly kept the well-known Chin./English name (the off-island landlords running the place now have always owned the name).

Insomniac, any English menu at all? You seem to have liked the food? I've heard some different opinions, but they were from some of the many friends and happy customers of the former Lamcombe.

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Thought we'd give the new Lancombe the benefit of the doubt and ate there earlier this week. Shouldn’t have bothered. No minced quail, pigeon miniscule, deep fried tofu indifferent and worst of all, the tiny portion of garlic broccoli was cooked in garlic AND ginger. In my opinion this new restaurant gets a 2 out of 10

We had a big business lunch there yesterday, the only guests as far as we noticed.

Our big table full of all HK Chinese rated the food as OK, normal, nothing special, but well below the formerly high standard of Lamcombe which they had all enjoyed several times. Some members of the company had worked in Lamcombe before the closure and were not attending the lunch, probably because of hard feelings.

The major, expensive 3-month renovation doesn't seem to have made any major changes, as far as I noticed, besides a renovated kitchen and new woks and appliances. Wall paint jobs and a new outdoor roof, but all the same layout, tables and standard plastic chairs as before.

The food wasn't bad, average in my own opinion, but not "special" anymore. OK and functional service, but not especially friendly or pro-active. The prices in the quite extensive, bilingual Cantonese-cuisine menu look pretty reasonable, all dishes well below $100. But watch out for those seafood-at-market-price dishes, as usual in all seafood restaurants.

Well, it's an all-new place, all-new staff and management, so it deserves some time to settle in and improve, but they have quite a long way to go to reach the former, fondly remembered levels of food quality, customer loyalty and friendly service.

As usual I took some pictures.

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Got a take away the other night - took 3 people to figure it out, even though I used the Eng/Chinese menu - but still ended up with a second choice because any query about a special request just went straight into confusion hell! Pork ribs with sweet and sour - since they no longer do the wonderful honey spare ribs - were simply lumps of sweet and sour pork - and consisted wholly of bone and gristle. Fried rice went straight in the bin - absolutely rank / stank! Dirty dish water or what? Disgusting. And the portions - I don't think I've ever even seen boxes that small. Definitely will not be going back.

I miss the Lancombe

I haven't actually been to the new one yet, so I can't comment on the food.

However,for me personally, visiting the Lancombe wasn't necessarily for the food. Sometimes it was great, sometimes excellent, and sometimes a 'hit and miss' affair. But prices were reasonable and the view was fantastic and the service was always great (sometimes slow but great) IMHO. Regulars were greeted by name and always with a smile.

I'm sure a lot of people who frequented there agree with me.

It's a bit like living on Lamma. I don't live here for the 'amazing accommodation' as quite frankly I don't think there is any. The people, the hippies, the eccentrics, the obnoxious ones, the tourists that can drive us insane with gridlock on the paths, the animals, the nature, the frogs, the snakes, the different nationalities and cultures, the Chinese culture and festivals, and the groups of all different nationalities that try and make Lamma a better place.... this is why I like Lamma and this is why I enjoyed the Lancombe. It was part of the Lamma experience for me.

It wasn't just the food for me...... it was sometimes turning up at 2.30 in the afternoon, just as they were closing for lunch and asking for my favourite take away dish, and with a sigh and a laugh they would say OK, set me up a table, bowls, untensils, take away boxes and an ice bucket with a beer inside, and to pay next time.....and I would spend the afternoon enjoying the peace and view. (They knew if it was a sunny day, I would want to stay, even if there were no staff. ) There was a trust there too which was nice.

Or turning up late at night for last orders,..... and being invited to join the 'family' at the big table in the 'front of the shop' room, where everyone/staff/ family/guests would congregate.

Yes, I'm rambling.

To me the Lancombe was more than just a restaurant, it was a 'part of the community' where as a 'Westerner' I felt incredibly welcome all of the time. It wasn't just somewhere to 'eat good seafood'.

For me it's like an end of an era.

Amen to that, Tigger, we feel exactly the same way.

Your heart-felt "Ode to Lamcombe" is just perfect for the Lamma-zine!

The former management is still around and are looking for another location to reopen. Many of the former staff would be happy to join the "family" again, see below. At least two of them are even working in the Lammarina right now, waiting.
I'll keep you posted.



But let's give the new management at least a chance, maybe by offering them suggestions on how to improve. They're new and it always takes time to get the many details right that elevate a restaurant from the normal to the special.

You can rate this new place now, in the poll I've just added at the top of this topic.

We'll be returning occasionally to check on their progress, meanwhile relying on word-of-mouth and this forum to find another Chinese restaurant to have our dinners.
Sau Kee maybe? Lung Wah? Lung Kong seems to be becoming more popular with non-Chinese these days? Recommendations?

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A group of us went for dinner at the new Lancombe last night.

We brought a few bottles of wine & champagne and they didn't charge any corkage, which is good news.

Since it was so cold & rainy we sat indoors. The staff accommodated us by turning off the harsh overhead strip lighting so we could enjoy a candle lit meal.

The deep fried chilli squid was delicious, although it could have done with a bit more chilli.

The garlic prawns were also very good as were the meat dishes, the scallolps and the tofu. The pidgeons were tasty but extremely small - baby pigeons?

There was no quail on the menu, which was a bit disappointing, but overall the food was pretty good. Not as good as the old Lancombe, but good enough! The staff were friendly and responsive.

I'd definitely go back!

I'm in shock, finding out the Lamcombe - at least as I knew it - is no more. I lived in Yung Shue Wan for five years, left Hong Kong three years ago, and am planning a visit in May 2010. The visit was to have included regular meals at Lamcombe.

Damn, damn and damn again.

Lovely piece, Tigger, and a worthy tribute.

Lamcombe Seafood Rest. has closed down in an extremely low-key way on Sep 2, informing only very few people.

The last message in this topic, 2 years ago, was when the former Lamcombe management and staff had to hand over the rest. back to the landlord who hoped to make more money by running it themselves. They tried and failed, handing it over to a Mainland tenant who also tried to recover the former fame of the place as probably the best Chin. seafood rest. in North Lamma.

They've also given up now, closing down on Sunday evening unexpectedly, to the big surprise of almost everybody, even their neighbours, doing a quick garage sale to some of the other Chin. restaurants, leaving Lamma. Shutters closed, no notice at all.

We found out only the next day, Mon, at dinner in Andy's seafood, and I quickly took a few photos of the formerly famous seaside terrace, location of so many parties and seafood feasts over the years.

In the meantime, the former Lamcombe management - Andy & Elizabeth - and several of their former staff have opened up Sau Kee Andy's Seafood next door, and made a big success of it in just 2 months - after a few initial problems, all solved now, we think. It's become the only (?) Chin. YSW restaurant that needs reservations on Saturday nights. But they've always liked their former Lamcombe location, with a bigger kitchen and much lower rent.

See my favourite Andy's Seafood dish below, basically a complete meal for 2-3 people, a Chin. surf 'n' turf & mixed veggies, for below $100.

So who'll take over the old Lamcombe, the landlords might urgently be looking for new tenants, probably at a new-record rent?

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Sounds like they have done a runner!

We don't know that, they might just have told their landlord and a few other people about the closure, not bothering with a farewell party or any notices.

Does anybody know more? I've not been successful so far to get the facts, not having any contacts with the landlords for first-hand or at least 2nd-hand info, instead of all the rumours flying around.

I'm more interested in who'll rent it and reopen the place at such a great location.
Another actually affordable, non-touristy, medium-level Chin. rest. would be welcome and find eager local customers, I think.

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I said it sounds like, not thats what happened!

The place might be up for sale, not just for rent, maybe.

Great location and seaview, it might probably go for a new record price at the current all-time record peak of the property market, best time to sell and worst time to buy.

I've had 3 different parties ask me a few months back about potential locations to open up new restaurants in YSW, they might still be eager....

Anyway, buy or rent, it might reopen pretty soon as something completely different, another arts & crafts shop maybe?

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Terriff! I can just see it now, an ArtyCrafty shop that has 3 floors dedicated to something like Dried Flowers or books entirely dedicated to Astronomy!

Just what Lamma needs at the moment.

Of course they could also sell bikes! They'll be loads of places to park them shortly.

On a serious note what we do really need is a shop devoted to cats. Or a Thai restaurant. Preferably on back street next to the other three.

So it's likely to be empty for months or years, as the the estate agents encourage the owners try set a Lan Kwai Fong price that no one is stupid enough to pay, while they point to it as a reason everyone should pay Mid-Levels prices for their dinky village houses.

I hope I can survive till this bubble breaks. I'll be living in an overturned hulk on PSB next year otherwise.

Latest UNCONFIRMED rumour going around:

Just sold for $12 million, the owners wanted 13.
For such an ancient building, a new record price?

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