Classy Chinese: Maximal Concepts strikes again with another addition to its stable of popular restaurants, which also includes Fish & Meat and Blue Butcher. This time, the group takes on Chinese cuisine. Mott 32 isn’t for diners on a budget but come payday, the sophisticated Chinese restaurant makes for a great special occasion.

Look & Feel: It’s Hong Kong meets New York City in this moody underground outfit, which sprawls across 7,500 square feet. Designed by architect Joyce Wang, the dark and mysterious restaurant combines cool industrial interiors with gorgeous Chinese art. A flashy stairwell winds down to the underground lair — a very memorable entrance indeed.

On the Menu: Mott 32 takes traditional Sichuan, Cantonese and Beijing dishes for a decadent spin — think lots of truffles, lobster, caviar and quail eggs. From Kurobuta pork siu mai ($50 for two) to jelly fish ($180) to Peking duck ($580), the expansive menu takes all your favorites on a classy joyride.

Service: It’s hit or miss. On our first visit, the servers rushed by and hardly ever made eye contact, as if ignoring us would make cause our food and drinks to magically appear. But sometimes the servers are completely on the ball and leave us wanting nothing.

Jeng: The 2kg Peking duck, which you have to order a day ahead, is first air-dried in a custom-made fridge and then it’s roasted with applewood chips in a brick oven. The duck itself is crispy and flavorful, but the dish is let down by the lackluster pancakes. Another signature, the Iberico pork char siu ($295) that comes drizzled in Yellow Mountain honey is sweet and crispy, but a little too fatty for our taste. Pretty much all the dim sum is spectacular, but it’s not your average yum cha bill.

Not So Jeng: The cocktails sound good, but our Old Harbour Fashioned — made with Hakushu whisky, Rittenhouse rye, chrysanthemum, grapefruit bitters and goji berry — is way too sweet and is literally two sips. For $150, I’d hope to have a well balanced drink and a full glass. Across the board, we just can’t help but feel that everything should be extraordinary at these extraordinary prices. The ambience and food hold their own, but the service and cocktails could use some work.

Great For: Power lunches, date nights, dinners someone else is buying.

FYI: Mott 32 takes its name from the first Chinese convenience store in New York’s China Town.

This writeup was based on an independent tasting. The Loop doesn’t guarantee/sell restaurant review coverage. See our editorial policy here.