[Review 370] Bad is bad, not even refurbishing can help it @ Hay Hay Restaurant 喜喜燒臘茶餐廳 (灣仔)

Hay Hay Restaurant 喜喜燒臘茶餐廳 (灣仔)
灣仔駱克道72-86號熙華大廈B座(N-P地舖)
Shop N-P, Blk B, Hay Wah Bldg, 72-86 Lockhard Road,, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/bad-is-bad-not-even-refurbishing-can-help-it-e2022445

Before its refurbishing, it never crossed my mind to try this place out, firstly it looks dirty, secondly, all Chinese cafe food is dirty.

After its refurbishment, I decided to give it a try, I did not even hope for anything, in my mind ALL the cha chan teng's are dirty except May Wongs and Tsui Wah.

Ordered the Sweet and sour prawn chow mein, and beef and bittermelon in black bean sauce to take out.

Took a walk and came back in horror, as the waitress was so inhumane, she had put our bag of food on the floor.
So once again, I already confirmed to myself Chinese food is dirty.

Sweet and Sour Prawn with noodles
The prawn was ok, but it had to be OK for that price, if their top quality food isn't edible, then they might as well shut down for business.
The noodles were hard and crunchy, which is not chow mein at all.
Maybe this is HK style, but in UK, the chow mein isn't like that, its soft.

Beef with bittermelon in black bean sauce:
Beef was not marinated or flavoured, pale in colour.
The bittermelon was not cooked properly.
Worst of all, the black bean sauce had sand in it.

As for service, even though they now wear uniform, the front end ones are so irritating, yelling for people to come in, and causing noise pollution so badly the staff cant even hear what you are trying to order.

I think it also defeats the purpose not being able to get chinese food in a chinese place, because of poor hygiene standards. Just like going overseas and eating western food because of the poor conditions.

[Review 369] My voice isnt loud but i am not deaf @ Joda's cup (北角)

21/08/2009 Joda's cup (北角)
北角英皇道國都廣場地下G01 舖
ShopG01,G/F,Olympla Plaza,King's Road, North Point
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/my-voice-isnt-loud-but-i-am-not-deaf-e2022391

After battling and choking through the polluted streets of Fortress Hill, I finally made it to Joda's cup, located right on the main streets with plenty of buses and cars passing by.

The environment made it extremely difficult for me to order, I had to repeat myself about three times for my order to be heard, I even waited till there was only one or two customers to order.

Ok my voice may not be loud, but I am not deaf, the waitress repeated what I ordered very loudly to emphasize she couldn't hear me.

When they finally called my number, one of the staff realised she had put normal amount of sugar when I requested less sugar and no ice. So I had to wait another few minutes for the right one.

Anyway, I finally got my elegant Jasmine tea, with flower buds floating at the top.
It tasted very strong of Jasmine just like the expensive Jasmine teas.

It differentiates itself from other Taiwanese tea's in HK with the inclusion of flower buds, just like the one in Jordan that contains pieces of fresh fruit which I am going to try.

[Review 368] Snowflake ice in the outskirts of town @ 仙草園台式美食 Mesona Garden (將軍澳)

20/08/2009 仙草園台式美食 Mesona Garden
將軍澳毓雅里慧安商場地下A16號
ShopA16,G/F,Well On Shopping Arcade,Yuk Nga Lin, Tseung Kwan O

https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/snowflake-ice-in-the-outskirts-of-town-e2022237


Its quite interesting in every part of Hong Kong in the New territories, they have these mini malls below residential flats. I havent been to China, but it feels like those old fashioned malls with an array of shops selling little snacks.

I was surprised they had snowflake ice, anyway pretty much the same, the feel is a bit different, being served by suburban people, and sitting in an suburban location.

[Review 367] Italian rice balls @ Pizzetteria (灣仔)

20/08/2009 Pizzetteria
灣仔星街2A號地下
2A Star Street, Wanchai, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/italian-rice-balls-e2022098

Ordered the Italian rice ball with the appearance resembling a scotch egg, the order was packed in an aluminium box, a box I had'nt seen for ages.
I was instantly reminded of the indian/chinese takeaways in UK.
However in HK they use the CFC boxes, which also gives the food a slight CFC odour, especially with soup.

Anyway this is my first time trying the Italian rice balls, the rice was mixed with cheese and sundried tomato.

The cheese was strong, not mozzarrella as it did not melt in a stringy mess when it was heated. I would have preferred more cheese, as the whole thing was slightly dry.
The rice was slightly hard too.
Perhaps there was meant to be a sauce to go with it?

Apart from that, I really enjoyed it, and next time I shall try the fried dough with anchovies in it.

[Review 366] Finally tried OR's best rated place in Wanchai @ 再興燒臘飯店 Joy Hing Roast (灣仔)

19/08/2009 Joy Hing Roasted Meat 再興燒臘飯店 (灣仔)
灣仔軒尼詩道265-267號地下C座
Block C, G/F, 265-267 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/finally-tried-ors-best-rated-place-in-wanchai-e2021867


Searching for restaurants in Wanchai, this one always appears first with the most reviews.

For me, I eat mostly western food, so have not made an effort to try it, until recently I saw pictures of chicken feet and beancurd skin.

The beancurd was already a sign saying it will taste good, because Beancurd is tasteless on his own, hence the sauce to the chicken feet must be rich, or else no point to have it in the dish.

I ordered a takeout, because it’s a bit too hectic to eat there, so many people, and you must eat fast. Even for ordering I needed a proper Chinese person with a boisterous voice to order, so I guess this place is really catered for native mother tongues and people who know what they want or they’ll just end up holding the queue.
Even the Chinese cutlery I have difficulty, especially those Chinese spoons and tacky chopsticks, the spoons are so not ergonomic for me to use.

Anyway back to the gourmet chicken feet, I think take-out is much better, it has more sauce than dine in. It had enough to soak the rice, giving the rice a rich sauce with a slight sticky gelatinous texture from the chicken tendons.
The beancurds in it was also soft, full of flavour and braised long enough.
The chicken feet was not as soft as I wanted, not the usual chicken feet from the dimsum places, also its size is slightly smaller than the normal ones.

The roast pork was ok, i.e. you get what you ask for, lean or not so lean, and the choice was more impressive than the normal roast shop. They offer ducks liver, baby pork legs.
The ginger sping onion sauce was chopped finely and not too salty.

For that price and standard including a drink, no wonder its been there for more than 10 years and so many people queue up for it.

[Review 365] Chewy ice-cream @ Mado 雪糕店 (鰂魚涌)

Mado 雪糕店 (鰂魚涌) 19/08/2009
鰂魚涌康山道1號康怡廣場吉之島百貨地下L008號
Kornhill
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chewy-ice-cream-e2021839

My second returning visit to Mado, their ice-creams are the best, I ordered the Turkish bomb, lovely and chewy, not too sweet, plain ice-cream mixed with pistachios, apricots, and coconut. A creamy full bodied ice-cream just at the right sweetness. It takes a few seconds to get used to, the gooey texture, and the difficulties in trying to spoon it out. The Turkish bomb reminded me of the nougat, chewy but cold, full of ice-cream, and lots of texture, real coconut shreds, and the delicate apricot and pistachio.

The ice-cream owes it texture to the main ingredient “Mastic” a resin cultivated from Mastic trees in Greece. ( For the real greek ice-cream, however in this case Salep)

However they do not the taro milkshake they had before, which was nice.

[Review 364] Just what you would expect @ 新利民快餐店 (已結業) San Lee Man Restaurant

18/08/2009  新利民快餐店 (已結業) San Lee Man Restaurant
灣仔蘭杜街1號 1 Landale St,, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/just-what-you-would-expect-e2021542

For Wanchai, this is a cheap place for the chinese food, the prices you would get at Industrial areas of hong kong, doing the same style food, ie fried noodles, rices etc.

Ordered the beef and tomato, and shredded satay chicken with rice.

Beef and tomato:
The tomatoes were not ripe, hence there was not much tomato taste in the dish or the beef. The beef was not that flavoured either.

Shredded satay chicken:
Frozen chicken, hence lots of garlic was used in the dish, the satay sauce also a bit bland, lots of onions, and there were a few pieces of pineapple.
The chicken was attached to the skin as well.