[Review 260] Special sauce @ 名苑酒家 Ming Garden Restaurant

名苑酒家 Ming Garden Restaurant 28/02/2009
灣仔皇后大道東34-38地下
34-38 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/special-sauce-e1976830

Apart from the noisy environment of the usual eaters barking and yelling to have conversations, and the heavy wooden chairs scraping against the tiled floors, the food was ok.

Ordered their famous "crispy" chicken steak with rice, their signature "man cheung" chicken with rice.

The crispy chicken, was not crispy at all, in fact tasted like the frozen chicken thighs, the other sliced chicken was a bit bruised shown on the picture. In fact I felt we were given bits and ends of chicken rather than chicken, so that was a bit of a con.

But anyway the star of the show was the dipping sauce.
Usually it is made from oil with ginger and spring onion, however this one was clear, and watery, didn't taste like oil, but strong in garlic, slightly sweet too.

[Review 259] Finally Tried it @ 阿升麵線 Ay-Sheng Flour-Rice Noodle

28/02/2009 阿升麵線 Ay-Sheng Flour-Rice Noodle
旺角弼街60A, 60A Bute Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/finally-tried-it-e1976821

Finally made an effort to queue and order in the packed streets of mong kong.

The shop is similar to that of Ar To, packaging, posters , but not as commercial as they are.
Anyway I think the hygiene is better at Ar To, here it is just a little disorganised, but anyway the taste is roughly the same.

[Review 258] Turkish potato with heart @ 薯皇 Big Potato

28/02/2009 薯皇 Big Potato
旺角登打士街55號 55 Dundas Street

https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/turkish-potato-with-heart-e1976818

As a brit, we all love the Jacket, so had to give this a try.

Although it isnt really the typical british baked potato with butter, there are lots of choices, ie seafood, mexican etc. Actually you can say the toppings are like a normal brit jacket, except the skin is not that crunchy.

Nevertheless, the potato is cut in half, and the guy mashes the inside nice and soft, so it is very convenient to eat, with no hard clumps. Then he carefully adds the toppings and then the sauce.

The ocean one I ordered has prawns, sweetcorn, olives, purple cabbage, with mayonnaise, their home made pink sauce and ketchup, personally I didnt think Ketchup would match with it, so I opted without.

But anyway apart from the burnt skin, it all tasted good, a nice combination.
Presentation was pretty too, all the different colours, ie the sweetcorn, sauces, and the purple cabbage.

If only the surrounding was better, there is an irritating dustbin infront of the shop, where you have to endure the nasty second hand smoke from smokers, and the burnt cigarette butts.

Anyway as for the turkish owner, I believe he used to be the chef at "Our Restaurant"
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=17832

[Review 257] Just an illusion @ 囍宴 甜‧艺 Xi Yan Sweets

囍宴 甜‧艺 Xi Yan Sweets 28/02/2009
灣仔永豐街8號
Shop 1, G/F, 8 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/just-an-illusion-e1976817

I have been past this restaurant many times, the red decor is very appealing and looks stylish to eat there, so without hesitation I went there with my BBC friend.

We were greeted by a waiter, he asked if we had booked, we said no, but still there was a table available, so we sat down.
Initially we thought it would be a Shanghai restaurant, but from the menu we realised it was Sichuan style.

Anyway, the menu had a lot of choice, but was'nt very descriptive, and the pictures were not that helpful either. So we were limited on choice by our BBC knowledge, so ordered noodles.
I ordered noodles with BBQ pork, but it wasn't available, hence I picked the chicken wings, my friend ordered the noodles with duck breast, and the waiter said it was not available.
I really thought this place is as limited as we were for choice, but my friend pointed it out the smoked duck on the menu, and then the waiter realised it was on the menu.
We felt the whole atmosphere was rather noisy and the waiters were in their own worlds, just waiting for you to order. Had they been friendlier, we would have enquired and ordered more dishes.

The food wasn't that wonderful, but the sichuan noodles were ok.

[Review 256] Liquid chocolate at last @ Caffe Pascucci

Caffe Pascucci  2/02/2009
灣仔皇后大道東258號尚翹峰地下A5號舖
A5, G/F, Block 2&3, the Zenith, No.3 Wan Chai Road & No.258 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/liquid-chocolate-at-last-e1976171

I have finally satisfied my hot chocolate craving with a real delicious cup of hot chocolate, by that I mean real melted chocolate texture, not the strong cocoa based drink with a milky after taste.

Anyway, the chocolate here is literally as thick as fondue, sauce like, and when you drink it it still remains thick. I managed to see the machinery for the hot chocolate, it is constantly stirred to keep it thick and runny, or else it will go lumpy.

I also appreciated the temperature of the hot chocolate, not boiling, but just the right temperature that you can drink without burning yourself.

As for the tortellini, not as good as I thought it would be, but I intend to try the Ravioli next time.

[Review 255] Another choice for dimsum @ 利寶閣 Star of Canton Restaurant

利寶閣 Star of Canton Restaurant 22/02/2009
將軍澳重華路8號東港城2樓235號舖
East Point City
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/another-choice-for-dimsum-e1975297

As well as Tao Heung in TKO, you can also opt for Star of Canton as well, quietly located in Hang Hau, it also offers the same dim sum varieties.
They also have daily specials that can be ordered too.

Overall the food was good, especially the noodles, I thought the dumplings could be improved since the skin is cracked. Also the Abalone puff (Chinese name), I assumed it would be a baked pastry of some sort, but it wasn't, it was just an over cooked roll, made of pancake/wonton pastry.

[Review 254] Laksa in Mong Kok @ 馬拉盞星馬美食 Malaysia (Port Klang) Cuisine Limited

馬拉盞星馬美食 Malaysia (Port Klang) Cuisine Limited
旺角洗衣街143號地舖
G/F, 143 Sai Yee Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/laksa-in-mong-kok-e1975275

Usually I satisfy my Laksa cravings on the Hong Kong side, but after finding out there is one in MK, I decided to give it a try.
Looking at the menu, I felt like I had seen it before, one of the staff looked familiar too, then after enquiring about it, he was the guy from "YEOH'S BAH KUT TEH" in Jordan
http://www.openrice.com/UserPhoto/photo/0/6O/001BJY3D34EC0856818D62m.jpg

Ordered the Pork rib tea and seafood laksa, price wise, it is all cheaper than the ones in Wanchai, ie Pasar and Katong. The laksa soup here is rather bland, nothing like the strong ones in Wanchai, just like the previous review by Kwokmauyan.
The pork rib tea, tasted ok, not strong in herbs, and contained alot of fatty meats.

Also the barley water I ordered way MEGA too sweet, I even poured a third of it into a glass of warm water, and still it was so sweet.