[Review 1387] Almond this and Almond that! @ 尖東好彩海鮮酒家海景宴會廳 Tsim Tung Ho Choi Seafood Restaurant Sea View Banquet Hall

12/12/2011
尖東好彩海鮮酒家海景宴會廳 Tsim Tung Ho Choi Seafood Restaurant Sea View Banquet Hall
尖沙咀麼地道68號帝國中心UG1-6, 8-33, 33A, 34, 34A, 35-42號舖
Shop UG1-6, 8-33, 33A, 34, 34A, 35-42, UG1, Empire Centre, 68 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/almond-this-and-almond-that-e2209734

Came with some expats and locals.

The locals did the ordering and ordered a set dinner and a extra lemon chicken.

Nothing really stood out but one of the dishes was visually stunning, it was the fried prawn balls, beside it was a dragonfruit.
I assumed it was fresh fruit but there was dipping sauce inside the dragonfruit for the prawn balls.

The prawn balls were covered in thin slices of almond, but after deep frying the almond was saturated in so much oil.
The Lemon chicken which the expats and I were looking forward to was dissappointing!
We were expecting comfort food, but it was coated in Almonds as well!!!
Never have I had almond coated chicken in the UK before !!
I thought this place was weird serving almond chicken, but after reading other restaurant reviews in Hong Kong, they serve it as well.

But frankly it tastes horrible!

[Review 1386] Healthy and superdooper curry at CoCo Ichibanya

12/12/2011

CoCo壹番屋  CoCo Ichibanya
尖沙咀廣東道30號新港中心3樓302號舖
Shop 302, 3/F, Silvercord Tower, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/healthy-and-superdooper-curry-at-coco-ichibanya-e2209592

As I am not a meat person I have always wanted to try this place when I saw the reviews of the curry spinach and clams.
The first branch of this opened in Kwun Tong but there is nothing to do in Kwun Tong.

The setting and layout of this restaurant reminds me of Saizeriya, and their curries are a high end and more Japanesey version of Ginza.

The cutlery holder is similar to Saizeriya and I love the diecut on the napkins.

Similar to Ginza, they also have pickles.

Coco Ichibanya started off serving curries in Japan and then expanded internationally!

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After browsing the menu, I was amazed by the choice they had from cheese curries to gratins!

Gratins

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Curries that I would like to try:

Natto beans curry

Clam and cheese curry

Okra and cheese curry

Fried quail eggs curry

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Basically you can order the curries listed on the menu or you can create your own curry, but the first step is choosing the level of spicyness of the curry sauce, then how big you want your portion of rice to be, and finally the toppings.

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The choices of ingredients for the curry was amazing, there were 28 which were: cheese, tomato and asparagus, kimchee, eggplant, spinach, mushrooms, clams, natto beans, okura and tofu, fried squid, thin sliced pork, vegetables, fresh prawns, fried fish, cream croquette, fried quail eggs, stewed chicken, bacon and spinach with butter, grilled pork and kimchee, crispy chicken, fried chicken, sausage, pork cutlet, prawn tempura, hamburger, chicken cutlet, seafood and thinly sliced beef.

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For my curry I was greedy and wanted to try everything, so I chose the spinach curry as basic and added clams, okra and tofu and natto beans. I would have ordered fried Quail eggs too, but I forgot!

I've never seen fried Quail eggs before, so that would have been interesting.

As for the curry I chose not spicy and for the rice I chose 200g which is the smallest size and costs $5 less.

The ingredients I chose were all fairly light in flavour and would not overpower the curry.

As well as that, the ingredients I had chosen were beneficial to health!

Okra is diuretic and rich in oxalates, Tofu and Spinach are rich in Calcium, while Natto beans are rich in vitamin K, reduce blood clots, cholesterol and are said to have antibiotic properties.

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When the curry came, it was loaded with all the ingredients I had ordered.

I really loved the curry sauce, it was different to the curry at Ginza, the texture was similar to gravy with a prominent curry taste.

I was impressed because it was not sweet.

The ingredients I chose went well together because they were all light, and the Okra and Natto beans both had slimey texture.

It was a shame I forgot to order the fried quail eggs but I will next time!

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Lastly on the menu I was surprised to see shaved ice, I assumed it was a Taiwanese dessert!

[Review 1385] Chan's clockwork Cafe @ 樂食坊 Chan's Cafe

12/12/2011

樂食坊 Chan's Cafe
灣仔太原街38號地下E舖
Shop E, G/F, 38 Tai Yuen Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chans-clockwork-cafe-e2209591

Hidden behind the busy stalls of Tai Yuen Street lies a mini restaurant.

After sitting down, I noticed many clocks on the wall and their logo had a clock too.
The interior was interesting too, it was quite modern and not that Chinesey.

There were two toilets which is rare for Hong Kong, not many places have their own on site toilets.
The doors to the toilets was well camouflaged and it was intriguing the width of the door was quite narrow about 60cm wide.
I wonder what the toilet is like anyway.

Ordered Tofu meatball (peipa tofu)
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Tofu meatball (peipa tofu)
When they arrived it looked like those Chinese lionhead meatballs, the exterior was dark and slightly tough.
The tofu inside was nice, it was the mature type of tofu with a strong soybean taste.
The gravy was rich and had pieces of dried scallop.
The only thing that spoilt it was the grounded bones.
The spoon could have been cleaner, after wiping it with the tissue those white stains were still there.

Soup
The soup was quite nice and you could taste the sweetcorn.

[Review 1384] McD's German chicken sausage burger trial tester @ 麥當勞 McDonald's

11/12/2011
麥當勞  McDonald's
將軍澳寶林邨寶林商場地下103號舖
Shop 103, G/F, Po Lam Centre, Po Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/mcds-german-chicken-sausage-burger-trial-tester-e2209586

Thanks to mjqueen7e's review I found out about this new burger, it is only available in a few restaurants in Hong Kong.
It is not officially on McD's website, but thanks to mjqueen7e for letting me know the English addresses of the available restaurants.

Just as she said, not all McD's serve this burger, and when I went to this particular branch, it really did have this burger.

As well as this burger, I was also able to order the Hazelnut Latte which is a beverage from McCafe, it was also served in a McCafe's plastic cup.

Luckily I knew which restaurant had this burger because I heard one of the customers behind asking which restaurants served this burger and that staff was reluctant to list out all the shops.

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Germany's version of the sausage burger
Interestingly the German chicken sausage burger is not served in Germany, but the closest one they have is the Nuremburger which actually has real sausages in the burger and not sausage patty.

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German chicken sausage burger

The elements in this burger are:
Emmental cheese,
saukeraut,
dill mustard,
chicken sausage,
slab lemon chicken patty.

I love emmental cheese because it has a cheesier taste than McD's regular processed cheese, and I like all the tangy elements in it such as saukeraut and the chicken marinated with lemon.
Best of all, it is not beef or pork and it is a nice filling burger for someone with a large appetite because it has a chicken patty sausage, a nice change from pork sausage and a piece of chicken.

Although the burger box said it contains a lemon chicken patty, I found it to be a piece of grilled chicken thigh with skin.
The piece of chicken was tender and juicy and the whole burger was really filling and tantalizing especially with the lemon and saukeraut.
It would be great if they put more dill mustard as this was the only taste that wasnt present.
All the rest were distinct such as the chicken, lemon, saukeraut and chicken sausage patty.
But my far, this is my favourite burger served in Hong Kong's McD, but for other McD's in other countries there are other yummy burgers especially in India.
Anyway I wish this could be permanently on the menu.

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Hazelnut latte:

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As well as trying the burger, I got the Hazelnut latte which is a trial drink from McCafe's by paying $4 extra.
Again, it was a nice drink, the coffee taste was not strong so that was why I liked it and it had a strong hint of Hazelnut syrup (most probably monins syrup!)
Anyway asked for less ice, but they still fill 80% of the cup with it!

[Review 1383] Saizeriya Italian Restaurant's winter menu @ 薩莉亞意式餐廳 Saizeriya Italian Restaurant

08/12/2011
薩莉亞意式餐廳  Saizeriya Italian Restaurant
將軍澳貿業路8號新都城中心1期地下C16-24號舖
Shop C16-24, G/F, MCP I, 8 Mau Yip Road, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/saizeriya-italian-restaurants-winter-menu-e2209505
As always the food at Saizeriya is cheap, fast and good.

They have changed their menu, and there are quite a few new items that are Japanese such as spicy whelks, seaweed and the pork belly in black vinegar.

Not a fan of Japanese food but ordered the pork belly, fried chicken, mushroom and cream risotto, spaghetti bolognese cherry tomatoes and buffalo cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried chicken
The iron plate was covered with oil hence the fried chicken was slightly oily where it had touched the plate.
Apart from that, the coating was thin and the chicken inside was tender and tasty.
The sauce that came with it was the famous sauce they use in their prawn salad.
The sauce was slightly too creamy for the chicken, but luckily the sauce was runny so you can control the amount of sauce you want.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork belly in sweet vinegar sauce
It reminded of the Hangzhou dish called Dongpo pork, a square piece of pork belly with layers of fat and lean meat.
The belly is braised in sweet vinegar sauce, similar to the sweet vinegar and ginger pig's trotters.
I only ate the lean part of the meat , but it was slightly dry and coarse.

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Garlic bread
This is new on the winter menu which replaces the foccacia.
Overall it tastes OK, but I prefer the foccacia.

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Cheese and mushroom risotto
This is my favourite Asian cooked risotto Italian style because it was not too creamy and it contained lots of finely diced onions and parsley.

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Spaghetti bolognaise
This was disappointing because it looked nothing like the product shot, and it did not taste like bolognaise sauce.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Cherry tomatos and buffulo cheese
The portion size was quite small, but the buffulo cheese was really nice with the olive oil drizzled on top.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Spaghetti grenovese
Although the sauce was green, it was not Pesto sauce but THAI BASIL!!
It was an interesting dish because Thai basil was used instead of Basil which is commonly used in Italian dishes.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Garlic foccacia from previous menu
This is no longer on the menu, but it was nice eating it with olive oil.

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creme pudding
It was not too sweet and the texture of the pudding was slightly firm with an eggy taste.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1382] Italian pasta at the Chinese local Cafe @ 銳記茶餐廳

09/12/2011

銳記茶餐廳
灣仔蘭杜街2號2號舖
Shop 2, 2 Landale Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/italian-pasta-at-the-local-chinese-cafe-e2209279

Although the previous review on the pasta here was negative I came here especially for the Pasta!

It was quite interesting to see pasta on the menu in a Chinese cafe.

For the pasta, it is basically a multitude of combinations.

First you need to choose the sauce
: cream or tomato.
Secondly, there are three ingredients to pick from the choice of five, namely: ham, mushroom, tuna, clams, sausage.
Then finally, you pick your pasta from a choice of: fusilli, angel hair, spinach fettuccine or Penne.

I tried the same combination of spinach fettuccine cooked with tuna, clams and mushrooms cooked in cream sauce and tomato sauce.
Both were not bad, however the one in cream sauce was slightly too creamy, but after adding pepper and salt it made it better.
The tomato one was also good too.

On the side of the table, there were compartments with condiments, the best one was Sesame oil!
Not many places will have sachets of sesame oil for you to use freely.
Similar to adding Olive oil to pasta, I added sesame oil to my pasta for fun, and it tasted quite nice.

One of the waiters here was also interesting, he himself was a very tidy and clean fella, his uniform was pure white and spotless.
He was probably in his late 50s but took pride in his appearance as well as keeping the tables neat and tidy!