[Review 3030] Christmas dinner at ToTT's @ ToTT's and Roof Terrace

21/12/2013
ToTT's and Roof Terrace
銅鑼灣告士打道281號香港怡東酒店34樓
34/F, The Excelsior Hong Kong, 281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/christmas-dinner-at-totts-e2336656

Thanks to the PRs at Excelsior hotel for inviting me to this Christmas dinner at ToTT's and Roof Terrace.

It was such a lovely evening dining with a nice view of Hong Kong and meeting ET, Sammy Wu the Director of Food and Beverage.

Here was our menu for the night!


It was hard deciding on the mains because the beef one had beef cheeks and the fish one had gnocchi, so in the end I chose gnocchi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Appetizers from the bar

Foie gras mousse with sourdough:
The mousse was silky with velvety foie gras and delicious wine jelly on top.

tomato panna cotta
The tomato panna cotta tasted better than I imagined because I expected creamy tomato but it was infact a refreshing tomato taste which was non creamy.

seafood terrine
I loved the terrine because of the jelly and the seafood looked nice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Poached dover sole fillet with truffle gnocchi, artichokes, baby spinach, truffle emulsion



As expected the fish was succulent and soft in a buttery truffle sauce! I was delighted with the slices of truffle on top too.
The gnocchi was nice and mildly firm with some chew to it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Desserts from the bar

Ultimately the logs were my favourite especially the white one which reminded me of a cake from UK's Marks and Spencers!

[Review 3029] Great noodles, cheap and delicious @ 新記粥麵 Sun Kee Noodle

20/12/2013
新記粥麵 Sun Kee Noodle
坪洲坪洲永安街67號地下
G/F, 67 Peng Chau Wing On Street, Peng Chau
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/great-noodles-cheap-and-delicious-e2336598


Randomly went to Peng Chau because I have not been to there before.

I did not even bother to search OpenRice because there are not many places to eat on this Island.

This noodle joint near the beginning of Wing On Road caught my attention because it had photographs and the other places did not.

The noodles looked reasonable and for a small noodle joint on an unpopular Island to put effort into doing these high quality pictures, it seemed a possible place to eat.

After looking around, this place seemed the best choice to choose.

Inside the joint, it was quite old and shabby, but sometimes you can get delicious surprises from these places, so you just can't judge by the joint decor itself.

The menu was simple, there were only two types of noodles, one in soup and one in sauce.
The soup ones only cost around $20 and the ones tossed in sauce cost around $2X.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles with cows stomach:

I really regretted not getting the combo because it only costs $6 more and the cows stomach was really delicious so I would have expected the porks trotters to taste good too if I chose that as well!
The noodles were soft and did not have any ammonia taste and the sauce from the cows stomach hung well to it because it was thick and sticky.
The cows stomach was soft and fully flavoured with lots of sauce which had five spice powder and aniseed.
The soup that came with it tasted like the typical wonton soup except that it was clear and loaded with crisp spring onions.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chili oil:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Porks blood with chives:

This was not really what I was expecting because it was literally cubes of porks blood on top of blanched chives with oyster sauce.
I did not really like it because I don't like sweet oyster sauce therefore making the porks blood taste sweet.
After reading the previous reviews, it seems that they grow their own chives.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3028] Chinese radish pudding with parma ham @ 國金軒 Cuisine Cuisine

20/12/2013
國金軒  Cuisine Cuisine
港景街1號國際金融中心3樓3101-3107號舖
Shop 3101-3107, 3/F, IFC, 1 Harbour View Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chinese-radish-pudding-with-parma-ham-e2336587

Thanks to Cuisine Cuisine's representative for sending me Turnip pudding with parma ham and shredded Chinese ham.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cuisine Cuisine's Turnip Pudding with Parma Ham:
The turnip pudding was in festive red box, contained in a plastic tub.
I like the way the parma ham and Chinese ham shreds were in a separate tub.
Nicely decorated with huge dried shrimps.
The Chinese radish pudding was really nice, packed with lots of preserved sausages.
It was not too salty and just right paired with parma ham and Chinese shredded ham.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3027] CNY honey and ginger pudding @ 翠亨邨 Tsui Hang Village

20/12/2013
翠亨邨  Tsui Hang Village
尖沙咀彌敦道132號美麗華廣場一期食四方5樓507號舖
Shop 507, L5, FoodLoft, Mira Place One, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cny-honey-and-ginger-pudding-e2336585

Thanks to Tsui Hang Village for sending me some CNY dessert pudding.
At Tsui Hang Village they are doing the Sweet Osmanthus Pudding topped with Premium Bird’s Nest and the Honey ginger pudding for CNY.

All are boxed in festive red boxes, contained in a plastic tub.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tsui Hang Village's Honey Ginger Pudding

The pudding had the typical CNY pudding sticky and chewy texture with a fragrant honey and strong ginger taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3026] Soba and Chinese rural pancake @ 日新鮮豆漿 Daily Fresh Soybean Milk

20/12/2013
日新鮮豆漿 Daily Fresh Soybean Milk
中環士丹利街86號地舖
G/F, 86 Stanley Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/soba-and-chinese-rural-pancake-e2336577

Soba and Chinese rural pancake
2013-12-20  1200 瀏覽
This was on my eat list ages ago before I forgot about it.

I discovered it again when I was writing a review for their other branch in Sheung Wan and discovered that this place had the rural pancakes.
 0 讚好

This place is bigger than the Sheung Wan branch and offers slightly more variety such as curries and sobas but unfortunately does not serve the pumpkin rice like they do in Sheung Wan.
 0 讚好


 0 讚好


Again the prices are reasonable and the people there are quite flexible, they let me just order plain soba noodles and curry sauce because I did not feel like eating meat that day.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soba with Japanese curry sauce:
 0 讚好

The plain soba was only $20 and the sauce was $5 which was really cheap and it had potatoes and carrots in it too.
The soba and curry sauce went nicely together but the curry sauce was a bit starchy because some of the potatoes have disintegrated in the curry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rural pancake:

The pancake was quite nice, loaded with spring onions and carrots.
It tastes similar to the European pancakes but it was savoury with delicious carrots, and spring onions in every bite.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3025] Fish and meat in a land of Plenty @ Fish & Meat

18/12/2013
Fish & Meat
中環雲咸街32號2樓
2/F., 32 Wyndham street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/fish-and-meat-in-a-land-of-plenty-e2336332

Came here previously to the opening party and already felt like a goddess because everyone was given flower headbands!

The interior of Fish and Meat reminded me of the Blue Butcher and it turns out they are managed by the same group.

Most of the decor and fixtures are homemade and rustic.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Farm house jam

Ice fox vodka, homemsde blueberry thyme jam, prosecco.
Although I do not drink alchohol, the Farm house jam was really nice and they also do a non alcoholic version too which I shall order next time.
The mixture of blueberry and thyme resulted in a lovely fruity flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Crispy whitebait, charred lemon, aioli
 0 讚好

The whitebait was crispy and light, a fun way of starting your appetite by munching these fried fishes in light flour coating.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sea urchin bruschetta, lardo di colonnata, rosemary
 0 讚好

The sea urchin was silky and smooth, and the lardo di colonnata was nano thin that it was almost transparent on top of the urchin.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fresh Tagliatelle, chicken and truffle emulsion, crispy skin (freshly made)
 0 讚好

I liked the fried chicken skin on top because it was delicious!
The tagliatelle beneath was rich and creamy with a strong truffle taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hand ground dutch veal and pork meatballs, Fontina, pepperoni sauce
 0 讚好

The dutch veal meatballs were really soft and sticky complemented by the rich pepperoni sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roasted bone marrow crostini, lemon zest, garlic, parsley
 0 讚好

The bone marrow was easy to eat because it has been taken out of the bone and cut into slices and put on the crostini.
At first they look like scallops!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Panfried baby Spanish octopus, white bean puree, garlic, parsley, chili, Sicilian lemon
 0 讚好

Previously tried this at the party so I was glad to see it again because it had hints of lemon with a spicy kick.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roasted french turbot, carrot puree, brown shrimp, smoked prawn butter

The fish was interesting because it had a super light crispy coating but the fish was tender and succulent.
It was surrounded by cute little shrimps.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★r
Daviola style French free range yellow chicken, caramelized onion, jus
Tender chicken paired with sweet caramelized onions and stuffing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Australian kobe 32oz prime beef rib, bearnaise, salsa verde
The beef was juicy and meaty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweetcorn polenta
The sweetcorn polenta was really creamy with lots of sweetcorn pieces in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roasted Tuscan potatoes, garlic, rosemary, seasalt
 0 讚好

I love potatoes so I just adored these cute tiny potatoes with deliciously crisp skin on the outside and soft inside seasoned with seasalt and rosemary.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dark chocolate fondant / salted caramel / homemade Tahitian vanilla ice cream
 0 讚好

The Fish and Meat chocolate fondant is a memorable one.
It had salted caramel which made it unique and enhanced the taste!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Whipped mascarpone “cheesecake” / raspberry / shortbread crumble

I loved the cheesecake because it was deconstructed, it was foamy and light which is the opposite of a heavy cheesecake complemented by the delicious tart berry sorbet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sicilian lemon tart / country clotted cream

This tart was nice and refreshing paired by delicious clotted jam.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3024] Chicken hot pot @ 至尊重慶雞煲 Supreme Restaurant

1612/2013
至尊重慶雞煲 Supreme Restaurant
旺角彌敦道593-601號創興廣場16樓
16/F, Chong Hing Square, 593-601 Nathan Road, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chicken-hot-pot-e2336058

There has a been a recent craze for spicy Chicken hot pots but it sounds really spicy which is why I have not tried it yet.
Thanks to Martin and Supreme hotpots for inviting me to this tasting or I would not have experienced how delicious a Chicken hotpots is.
It is located in Mong Kok, a place that I rarely dine because there are always long queues however at this restaurant they have a nice spacious waiting lounge with sofa seats.
The restaurant was big, with lots of long tables in the middle suitable for large groups which is a must in the MK area.
There is a wide drinks selection including beer, Chinese herbal drinks but it would be great if there was hot and cold water too.
They have freshly made dumplings which were delicious.
We had the deluxe chicken pot, which had seafood in it.

For people who have not tried chicken pot before they have clear instructions on how to eat it.
Basically you eat the chicken from the pot, then when it is nearly empty, you add items such as cows stomach, fish maw and squid in the pot.
After that you add broth and start eating it like a normal hot pot.

I was hooked immediately when I started the chicken, it was so tasty with lots of spices and sichuan peppercorn.
As well as the chicken, their freshly made dumplings were divine especially the watercress because there was lots of crunchy watercress stalks in it.

They have Korean instant noodles for the hotpot which is better than the usual ones because they do not clump together and the texture is nice and springy.

We also tried the chicken in wine which contained four different Chinese wines.
I tried the broth as well and it was strong and fragrant.