[Review 652] Sri Lankan food in Sai Kung @ AJ's 斯里蘭卡餐廳 AJ's Sri Lankan Cuisine

17/02/2010
AJ's 斯里蘭卡餐廳 AJ's Sri Lankan Cuisine
西貢海傍街14號地下
G/F, 14 Sai Kung Hoi Pong Street, Sai Kung
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/sri-lankan-food-in-sai-kung-e2063743

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I have been wanting to try this place for ages but I was too lazy to pop over to Sai Kung. I went today as there were other stuff to check out such as Camden Town, Fiesta, and various western grocery stores.

It was a little hard to find at first, as I assumed it was on the seafront side, however it was near Sweetheart dessert.
Its a nice little restaurant that distinguishes itself from its surroundings, wooden front and ceilings, there is a reptile area too, but they are display only.
The staff were very friendly, a British one and one that looks like Louis Koo.

I ordered the starter platter so I could try their starters, I ate the ones that I thought were the most tasty, and left the samosa and fish roti last. The fish roti was the best! I never expected it to taste the best out of the five, the filling was purple made with Sri Lankan purple potato, and it was a dense paste of grounded fish and purple potato with hints of black pepper.
I also liked the Samosa because it was made of chicken instead of the usual pork.

The other breaded items were also good, they reminded me of FINDUS crispy pancakes from UK, but with spicy fillings inside.
The Fish cutlet was ball shaped rather than fillets that you would expect from western cuisine.

As for the Pittu, it was rice mixed with coconut, various pulses and some herbs steamed in a bamboo.
The rice went perfectly with the coconut rich curry.
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[Review 651] Afternoon Tea served in two rounds @ Focaccino

Focaccino 17/02/2010
尖沙咀彌敦道132號美麗華商場1樓2號舖
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/high-tea-served-in-two-rounds-e2063739

Came here for afternoon tea after comparing their menu with Chum Chum Mi.
The food was served on a plate rather than elegant silverware.

The afternoon tea was served in two parts, the first part was the items on the white dish.
After paying the bill and leaving the restaurant we noticed there should have been panna cotta as well, we notified the chef, she apologized and asked if we wanted takeaway or have it there.
So we had it there.
We sat down and were given a fresh set of forks, but both were DIRTY with food stuck on it.

Tea set:
The tea set included: 2 quiches, cheese and salmon sandwich, cheese and ham sandwich, 2 fruit tarts, 2 cheesecakes, 4 mini scones, 2 panna cottas, 2 profiteroles (replaced by sandwiches as they were out of stock).

Quiche: tasted strong in egg with bacon pieces.
Sandwiches: both contained cheddar cheese, the cheese was ok for the ham, however the ham was slightly stringy and fat.
For the salmon, I felt the cheese was the wrong type, it should have been cream cheese.
Fruit tarts: diced pineapple, blueberry and strawberry on a tart based filled with chocolate mousse.
Cheesecake: tasted better than expected, not too light or heavy with a hint of lemon and sultana just like the ones you get from M&S in uk.
Scones: Totally not authentic although they did taste like scones, they should have been served with clotted cream and jam, however they were drizzled with strawberry syrup, and not even any cream was served.
Panna Cotta: this was the one they forgot to serve, basically it was very creamy and needed the chocolate sauce to support it.

[Review 650] Dining under surveillance @ 藏戶概念館 Kulako Japan Concept Food

藏戶概念館 Kulako Japan Concept Food
17/02/2010
旺角西洋菜街1號兆萬中心9樓
9/F, CTMA Centre, 1 Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/dining-under-surveilance-e2063674

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Food was good, but under constant surveillance by the staff.
From the picture you can see they have positioned themselves directly 90 degrees from our table.
Being a food host, I am used to eating in front of people, but not so for others.

Fish liver: I think this is not always available as it wasn’t on the menu last time, but went well with the vinegar sauce.

Baked rice with oysters: This was better than expected, the rice was softer than normal, but full of flavour with pieces of vegetable in it. The rice was topped with six oysters, all very creamy and moist despite being cooked by the oven.

The peach sushi rolls with Sakura shrimp was rather disappointing, the Sakura shrimp coating was more like shrimp crumbs, the ones I had previously, tiny shrimps could be seen coated on the rice.

Environment: There was a strong cigarette smell when we got up there.
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[Review 649] Strawberry coffee @ Caffe Pascucci

Caffe Pascucci (已結業)
17/02/2010
旺角亞皆老街8號朗豪坊12樓1A舖
Shop 1A, 12/F, Langham Place Shopping Mall, 8 Argyle Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/strawberry-coffee-e2063666

Havent had Pascucci since the hot summer, the one at Wan Chai has closed

The staff here are the ones from the Wan Chai branch.

Anyway ordered an espresso with coffee cream, and espresso with yoghurt and strawberry.
Basically the fruity coffee was like thick yoghurt ice-cream with tartness.
I really liked it as only 10% was coffee.

[Review 648] Octopus burger @ MOS Burger

MOS Burger 17/02/2010
旺角亞皆老街8號朗豪坊4A樓1號舖
Shop 01, Level 4A, Langham Place, 8 Argyle Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/octopus-burger-e2063620

The octopus burger is the third new burger launched following the fish this year, it contained chopped up octopus tentacles.
Overall there is not much octopus taste, the octopus texture is slightly rubbery.

In comparison to the cuttlefish burger at Toppings, I prefer the one at Toppings as there is more evident cuttlefish taste.
The sauce in the octopus burger was garlicky and sweet, I felt it didn’t match, perhaps a light wasabi sauce or olive dressing would be better.

As for the chips, they were very dry, and left a while since they were done, they were not crunchy at all.

[Review 647] Hipot with Hitea next door @ HIPOT

HIPOT 12/02/2010
銅鑼灣霎東街33號智選假日酒店3樓
3/F, Express by Holiday Inn, 33 Sharp Street East, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/hipot-with-hitea-next-door-e2062949

Hotpot is not really on my usual food rounds unless their soup is good or the food is good such as the strong herb loaded soups at Little fat sheep, and the thousand layer tofu.

Saw the thousand layer tofu pictures, and various interesting things such as grounded beef with fried dough stick, and fish maw so decided to give it a try.

When I got there, it was fairly quiet, and the people there were nice and quiet too.

Got two different hotpot flavours, pork bone and sweetcorn, and satay soup.

Ordered the following items: snow pea leaves, fried dough stick with ground beef, cuttlefish patty, fish maw and white carrot, ostrich meat, thousand layer tofu, various meatballs, seafood.
At the sauce bar, there was quite a range of sauces too, soy sauce, spring onions, chillies, beancurd sauce, Sand tea sauce, chilli bean sauce and chinese vinaigrette.
Most of the food was fresh, they had ostrich meat, which was a bonus, I love ostrich meat.

The fish maw was good, except for one piece, which seemed to have gone off.

[Review 646] Another Mexican gem @ Coyote Bar & Grill

Coyote Bar & Grill  11/02/2010
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/anuvda-mexican-gem-wiv-compulsory-charity-donation-e2062793
灣仔駱克道114-120號嘉洛商業大廈
Gaylord Commercial Building,114-120 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai

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This is one of those restaurants where I pass by nearly everyday and never considered it, but finally tried it today.
The food quality really surprised me, however the service could have been better.

We were asked if we wanted any drinks first, so ordered tea, when the drinks arrived, we thought it was complimentary hot water. After a while, we noticed there was a tea bag beside the glass of water, and by that time the water was warm, my Canadian friend complained and got some more hot water.
There was no milk either, so had to request for it too!

When my order arrived, it was not the Vegetable enchilada, but the chicken fajitas, so I had to wait a while for the enchilada to be cooked, so when my food came, I had to eat it quickly.
Anyway at least the waiter apologised for getting it wrong.
The restaurant was rather humid and hot almost as if I was really in Mexico.

Ordered the fire chili, chicken wrap and vegetable enchilada.

There was salad or vegetable soup with the set lunch, the salad was nicely drenched in vinaigrette with hints of cajun, there were two pieces of artichoke in it.

Main dishes:

Fire chilli: this was basically chilli con carne, rich gravy sauce and beans.
Chicken wrap: basically shredded chicken in wrap with potato salad.
Vegetable enchilada: spinach and mushrooms wrapped like cannelloni, tasted like lasagne when you ate it. On the side of the dish was a generous portion of black turtle beans. I really liked the black beans, it had a dense, meaty texture and flavour reminiscent of mushrooms.
The only complaint was the mushrooms, they used Asian shiitake mushrooms.
Every bite I had was packed with intense flavours, guacamole, salsa, mushrooms, spinach, sour cream, black beans.
When I finished the enchilada, there was some guacamole left and it complimented the Mexican rice perfectly.

Finally when we paid our bill, we noticed there was an extra $2 charity donation on top before the 10% was added. I don’t mind giving to charity, but at least we should have been informed what charity it was donated to and that it was part of the bill before we ordered.
Secondly, I felt the donation shouldn’t have had a 10% on top, because getting charged for giving donation is a bit stupid, also we never requested to.
I suppose these are thing's in life you have to put up with.
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