[Review 2388] More Filipino food @ 金蒂小店 Cinta J Express

04/04/2013
金蒂小店 Cinta J Express
灣仔柯布連道2A號C2號舖
Shop C2,2A O'Brien Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/more-filipino-food-e2290872

Previously this tiny joint used to be Quezon which served DELICIOUS Filipino food.
But now it is Cinta Express.

I love Flipino food, but at this joint the Filipino food is rather expensive, I wonder how the the local Filipinos can afford it.

Anyway, they have a restaurant on Jaffe Road called Cinta J Restaurant which I really hate because it is not Filipino food at all.
They just serve Chinese food there.

On the first day of opening, the lunch choices were half Chinese and half Filipino.

I chose the a la carte Palabok which was the most expensive Palabok in Hong Kong, but saying that there is a new Filipino restaurant in Wan Chai called Kawali Filipino Kamayan Cuisine which also serves Filipino food at expensive prices.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Palabok:
Compared to the Palabok at Jolibees, the portion was much bigger and there was lots of sauce.
The sauce had rich prawn taste and the pieces of pork were nice and lean.
The rice vermicelli was cooked just right, not too soft or hard.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I was quite disappointed the next day because they were back selling Chinese food because Chinese people do not eat Flipino food, and a few days later Cinta J restaurant was short of manpower so this place was temporarily closed.

[Review 2173] Pinoy style Pickled egg with tomatoes and onions @ Quezon Pinoy Food Express

31/12/2012
Quezon Pinoy Food Express (已結業)
灣仔石水渠街1號其發大廈地下11號舖
Shop 11, G/F, Luckifast Building, 1 Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/pinoy-style-pickled-egg-with-tomatoes-and-onions-e2276920


One of my regular places has packed up so I am back to lovely Pinoy food again, which is light and non oily and better than HK style oily food!

Basically, you can pick two choices and meat and a veg for $25 with rice.

I never know what I eat from here because the food is not labelled but 9 out of 10 times it tastes good.
Everytime I come here there is always something new........... how do they do that???

I find the best days to come are on Mondays because Sunday is the day off for Philipinos, so to cater for them they will offer a bigger variety and on the next day, they are bound to have those varieties leftover for those who cannot take Sundays off and take Monday off.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pickled egg with tomatoes and onions:


Before I tried it, I did not know what it was, but it got my attention because it was sliced boiled eggs.
Usually boiled eggs are used in salads and not cooked again, but since it was a cooked dish, I decided to try it to see what was so special!
The tastes was just amazing. At first I thought it was a salted egg, but the saltiness was really light but enough and it was also sour too because I realised it had been pickled. It was so refreshing.
There was also tomatoes and onions with it which made it even more appetizing.
The egg yolk had turned velvety like starch just like Salted egg yolks without the heavy saltiness.
I wish they could offer this everyday.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bittermelon with egg:


The bittermelon was not soft enough this time but it still tasted ok.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweet bun HKD5:


I do not know what this is, but it tasted really nice even though the paste in the middle was a bit too colourful.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2162] Super Jolly and Jollier with Jollibee food @ 快樂蜂 Jollibee

27/12/2012
快樂蜂 Jollibee
中環干諾道中13號歐陸貿易中心地下
Shop z4, G/F, Eurotrade Centre, 13 Connaught Rd., Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/super-jolly-and-jollier-with-jollibee-food-e2276301

I was here again for my favourite fried chicken and palabok.
The lovely fried chicken comes with gravy so I always order extra fries to go with gravy.
The service is really efficient and after you order most of the food is ready on your tray in an instant which is so much quicker than KFC.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried chicken:

The chicken was fried just right, it tasted nice with or without gravy much better than KFC.
Although it smells of horrible oil fumes outside, the chicken does not taste rancid, nor does the restaurant smell inside.
The chicken that they serve here is always chicken drumstick or the chicken thigh!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fries and gravy:

The fries were perfect, just the way I like them because they are pale and not over done.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
palabok:

The palabok was a bit too heavy this time, there was too much lard in it despite using the lemon to balance it out.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon Tea:

It was interesting they actually put a slice of lemon despite it was lemon tea from the dispenser.
The lemon tea was way too sweet and syrupy for me.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Came here again for more food.
As well as the food and great packaging, it is interesting they are quite hygienic and concerned about health because on the paper it tells you not to place your food directly on the trayliner.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hotdog:

The hot dog was nice and soft but the sausage tasted quite beefy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Crispy bangus:

This turned out to be amazing. As well as the fried chicken, this is also delicious.
I have been eating this all the time at Quezon in Wan Chai, but I did not realise Jolibee also offered this.
Basically it is deep fried peppered fish with vinegar. The one at Quezon is half of a whole fish because it is a smaller fish and it still has bones but the one here is a bigger piece of BONELESS fish!!!
The vinegar is given separately here and the fish tastes good with or without vinegar!

I thought I had to wait, but the fish and other meals were already boxed and ready to serve!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Peach and mango pie:

I do not like mango but I tried it anyway! The filling was slightly different to the product shot because the mango and peach had already been mashed up, but the taste was amazing, usually Pinoy food is too sweet however the sweetness was just right and the peach was strong that I could not taste the mango.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coconut and pineapple:

I tried this because in the Pinoy cuisine they use young coconut and this pie was also delicious because there was more proportion of young coconut and the sweetness was just right too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Wonton noodles and Taro pearl cooler drink at Jollibee:
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=1969041

[Review 2105] Takeaway lunches @ 金蒂餐廳 Cinta-J Restaurant & Lounge

26/11/2012
金蒂餐廳 Cinta-J Restaurant & Lounge
灣仔謝斐道69號馬來西亞大廈地下
Shop G-4, Malaysia Bldg, 69 Jaffe Rd., Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/takeaway-lunches-cinta-j-restaurant-lounge-e2271829

I do not really like dining at Cinta-J's because it is extremely noisy and there is a 10% service charge.
Anyway, decided to try takeaway lunches because there was no queue today.

It was hard to see what dishes they had because there was a reflection at the front of the windows so you could only peer from the the ordering counter, but most of the trays were on top of each other, so you could only see the dishes closest to you.

I asked what the other dishes were and she was reluctant to tell me and tried to force me to order what she had scooped up.

In the end I ordered the scrambled eggs and chicken curry.

For improvements, it would be great if the stuff was labelled so people do not need to waste time asking especially when they are reluctant to answer.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Scrambled egg:

The scrambled egg had lots of ham and onions but it was tasteless, but since there was curry sauce from the chicken it did not taste that bad.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken curry:

The chicken was tough and dry because it was all white meat, but the curry sauce was quite nice and it had a strong coconut taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:

At first I could not tell it was peanut and chicken feet soup because it was really salty.
But after I had half the bowl I saw the peanuts.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2043] Crispy fishes with rice @ Quezon Pinoy Food Expres

Quezon Pinoy Food Express (已結業)
灣仔石水渠街1號其發大廈地下11號舖
Shop 11, G/F, Luckifast Building, 1 Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/crispy-fishes-with-rice-quezon-pinoy-food-expres-e2271734

Came here again for their food, the portions are quite small but it tastes like home cooked food so it was quite healthy.
Today picked the fried fishes.
There was also other fried fishes which I will try next time.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried fishes:
The fried fishes were hard and bitter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green beans:
The beans were fresh and non oily.
They were slightly too hard and perhaps a tinge too salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1868] Delicious buko pie again @ Quezon Express @ Quezon Pinoy Food Express (已結業)

11/10/2012
Quezon Pinoy Food Express (已結業)
灣仔石水渠街1號其發大廈地下11號舖
Shop 11, G/F, Luckifast Building, 1 Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/delicious-buko-pie-again-quezon-express-e2262885

After dining at Greyhound and having the coconut crepe, I remembered that Quezon also has a similar pie which also has young coconut meat.
It only costs $10 per slice.

When I got there, they had new items in the cooked section AGAIN!~
Every time I come here, there is always something new in the cooked section to tempt me to try.


This time I tried the grilled chicken leg.

When you order you can pick two items with rice which costs around $25-27 depending what you pick.
It generally costs more if you pick fish, steak or chicken.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled chicken leg:
The grilled chicken legs looked nice behind the counter even though it was covered in pink/red sauce.

The taste was sweet and the chicken was nicely grilled, however it was hard eating it using the plastic fork and spoon provided.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bamboo shoots:
I do not know what the dish is called but it was really nice because bamboo shoots were soaked in vinegar and cooked with chili so it tasted spicy as well.
The taste of the bamboo was also woody but it did not have that weird smell the yellow bamboo shoots have.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Buko pie:




This was delicious as expected and I loved the crust because it was soft and not overbaked.
The young coconut was slightly hard this time and needed a knife to cut this pie.
The sweetness was just right as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
As well as the buko pie, the egg pie is also delicious:
I also like the way they have their own packaging which is made of card so the food doesnt taste and smell of PFC.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1111] Wonderful Filipino cakes and filipino egg tart @ Quezon Pinoy Food Express

07/05/2011


Quezon Pinoy Food Express
灣仔駱克道146-148號裕安大樓地下C2號舖
Shop C2, G/F, Yue On Building, 146-148 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/wonderful-filipino-cakes-and-filipino-egg-tart-e2167649


It is interesting that in every country there is a dessert related to egg.

In England, there is the Custard Tart which is similar to the Chinese Egg Tart.
The British one tends to be firmer and sprinkled with nutmeg or cinnamon, whereas the Chinese one has a flaky pastry base.

In the Phillipines, they have the EGG PIE, it has a shortcrust pastry and firm custard filling inside, very similar to the British custard tart, however the appearance is different, the top is brown.
The egg pie has a very rich egg custard filling, it is typically baked so that the exposed custard on top is browned.

Egg pie:
I really enjoyed eating the Egg pie, firstly the portion is much bigger than a custard tart, hence I satisfied my sweet craving.

Next I tried the BUKO PIE
Buko pie is a traditional Filipino pastry style, young-coconut (malauhog) filled pie. It is made with just young coconuts and has no cream. Instead, the pie utilizes sweetened condensed milk.

It was a new and interesting experience because the only time I have eaten young coconut is spooning it out of it shell after drink the water inside.
Sometimes it can be found in desserts, but this is just amazing, a whole pie filled with slices of young coconut.

The buko pie has is made from butter pastry, the same type use for meat pies and chicken pies.
The pie feels so soft and slightly viscous when you bite into it, but dosnt mush like mango.

These pies are super cheap at $10 per slice, which I would be happy having a slice with tea for tea time!!

[Review 1089] Eat your heart out with delicious snacks @ Quezon Pinoy Food Express

28/04/2011
Quezon Pinoy Food Express (已結業)
灣仔石水渠街1號其發大廈地下11號舖
Shop 11, G/F, Luckifast Building, 1 Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/eat-your-heart-out-with-delicious-snacks-e2165822

I love Phillipino food when it is not too oily, the food here is just right.

Phillipino food is normally sugary and also sour because they like to add Lemon or Vinegar to their food.

I started with a plate of noodles, the Pancit bihon it was thin rice noodles cooked with soy sauce some lime juice.
There are two sizes: a plate for $10 or a plate for $15, I knew I was going to like it, so ordered the bigger portion.
The noodles are flavoured nicely with notes of lemon. I added extra chilli vinegar to it as well, which made me even hungrier.

After the noodles, I ordered the Brazo de Mercedes (Egg Meringue Roll) which is considered a cake in the Phillipino cuisine.

There were four cakes to choose from, Taro roll, chocolate roll, egg meringue roll, and this other one which I didn’t know what it was.
Brazo de Mercedes (Egg Meringue Roll)
It is a rolled cake made of egg whites with a rich custard filling, or sometimes lemon.
The one I had contained some lemon flavouring.
The texture of the meringue was interesting, it was denser than normal meringue, almost like cake.
I wondered if they added some flour into the meringue or it was the method they used to make the meringue.
Italian meringue is also dense, but this one is much denser, it feels like your eating a cake.

In the Phillipines, they were colonised by the Spanish, some foods were influenced by them.
I tried the ensaymada, which was slightly Spanish.

ensaymada
Ensaymada is a brioche made with butter instead of lard, and topped with grated cheese (usually aged Edam, known locally as "queso de bola") and sugar. Upscale versions of ensaymada are also topped with butter cream.
The one I had was slightly bland, so I put some of the sweet meringue on it, which made it just right.

In general Phillipino food is colourful, from purple cakes to green puddings.

[Review 932] Above average Filipino /Indonesian food @ 金蒂餐廳 Cinta-J Restaurant & Lounge

15/12/2010
金蒂餐廳  Cinta-J Restaurant & Lounge
灣仔謝斐道69號馬來西亞大廈地下
Shop G-4, Malaysia Bldg, 69 Jaffe Rd., Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/above-average-philipine-indonesian-e2136498

This was my second visit since a few years ago, it was more enjoyable because I was prepared for the noisy atmosphere.

Chose the satay with garlic rice and the turmeric rice with sliced omelette and crispy shallot, served with deep fried chicken wing, spicy beef, roasted peanuts with salted fishes, tofu, beans, hard boiled egg with chili paste, the lemon tea was bottomless, and for the other set I ordered a soup.

For the satay set, it was nutritionally balanced, rice, vegetables and meat, however the vegetables were slightly too old and chewy.
There was too much sweetcorn and peas in the satay sauce, so I didnt get enough sauce, I was expecting it to be like this http://static3.openrice.com.hk/UserPhoto/photo/0/HP/003HU24A5DD1E2C8399A82m.jpg
For the satay set, the garlic rice and vegetables were slightly too oily, but overall the food wasnt as oily as Mang Abos even I didnt order the truly flipino dishes.

There was watermelon included as well, as for the soup, it was wintermelon soup, with a piece of chicken feet.