[Review 720] Etienne's award winning cakes @ Epoch Coffee Bar

Epoch Coffee Bar 10/04/2010
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/etiennes-award-winning-cakes-e2075434
灣仔永豐街12-14號
12-14 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai

Marike: Apple and coriander jelly with passion fruit, in a dome of white coconut mousse
Piemontios: Hazelnut mousse cake with almond, white chocolate cream and caramelised apples

Came here especially for the Marike, before trying it, I wasn’t aware of its ingredients, however I couldn’t taste the coriander in it, but it didn’t taste as nice as I imagined it to be.

Marike:
The outer coconut mousse was creamier than I would have liked it, its texture was more like whipped cream.
The filling was slightly sour.

Piemontois:
This was actually the best, it was coconuttier than the Marike, but not in a creamy way, the outside of the cake was dusted with coconut.
Inside were layers of cake and cream, and pieces of stewed cinnamon apple that were not stewed too soft.
Although the cake description says caramel apples, it tasted more like cinnamon apples.
As well as the apples there were pieces of almonds giving it a slight crunch.

[Review 719] Cute puddings @ 和櫻屋 Wasakuraya

和櫻屋 Wasakuraya
08/04/2010
跑馬地鳳輝臺1號地下A舖 (養和醫院側）
Shop A , 1 Fung Fai Terrace, Happy Valley
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cute-puddings-e2074965

Nearly missed this shop while I was walking down the street, anyway there was so much choice it was hard choosing which desserts to have.
The only dislikes were that it was take out only.

Luckily half the selection was Green tea, sesame, red beans etc, so that cut down my choice by half, in the end I picked the grapefruit jelly with pineapple stars, Premium custard pudding with vanilla seeds and the plain custard pudding with maple syrup.

Grapefruit jelly:
This was the best and most refreshing, not too sweet, and contained a lot of grapefruit pulp in it as well as real pressed out pineapple star shapes.
The jelly was sloppier than the usual firm jelly

Premium custard pudding:
Reminded me of Easter, probably because of the coloured pieces on the top.
Very smooth and creamy pudding with generous vanilla seeds in it.

Plain custard pudding with maple syrup:
Tasted similar to the premium pudding, however the syrup helped enhanced it by taking out the eggyness in taste.

As well as the taste, the packaging, box and bag were nice too.
Next time I will try the strawberry chocolate pudding.

[Review 718] HITEC branch is better @ Hot Dog Formula

Hot Dog Formula 08/04/2010
九龍灣牛頭角道77號淘大商場一期地下G128號舖
Shop G128, Phase 1, Amoy Plaza, 77 Ngau Tau Kok Road, Kowloon Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/hitec-branch-is-better-e2074964

The HITEC branch of Hot Dog formula is much better, they offer more variety, more sausages to choose from such as chicken franks, vegetarian franks, etc, as well as franks they had more options to add to the hotdog ie onion, saukeraut, and more sauces and types of buns too.

The only thing I like about Hot dog formula is that their sausages are not grilled.

Anyway, the day I dined there, the waitress at the counter was constantly texting, I had to wait for her to finish her business before I could order. After I ordered she continued to text, and still continued when another customer came.

The food at this branch is merely ok, the chips were over cooked compared to the pale chips the other people had. The hot dog combination was a bit weird, the one I had was mushroom, I was expecting the sauce to be cheese, however it was sour, a bit like thousand island dressing.

[Review 717] Jade noodles @ 冠泰海南雞飯泰國菜館 Kwun Thai Restaurant

冠泰海南雞飯泰國菜館 Kwun Thai Restaurant
07/04/2010
筲箕灣筲箕灣東大街39號地下
G/F, 39 Shau Kei Wan Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/jade-noodles-e2074675

While I dined there I noticed they had Openrice flyers there promoting people to vote for their restaurant, however when I saw their reviews I was surprised not many people wrote about their signature dishes.

I was quite surprised no one wrote about the stir-fried Jade noodles with shredded duck, this seemed like a good dish.

Anyway, I tried the Laksa with Jade noodles, and the pork knuckle with rice.

The pork knuckle seemed more like a Chinese dish as it was served with preserved vegetables (mui choi).
Overall the pork was very soft, however there is not much meat if you don’t eat the pigs skin.

The laksa was not as good as I imagined, but the Jade noodles were good, a thinner version of Ramen.
The soup was too milky and coconutty.

[Review 716] Clean and fresh food @ 麥菲茶餐廳 Mathy Cafe

07/04/2010
將軍澳毓雅里7號富麗花園地下3號舖
Shop 3, G/F, Finery Park, 7 Yuk Nga Lane, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/clean-and-fresh-food-e2074673

I rarely like food from Chinese cafes, but this one is quite good, at least their food doesn’t have the old oil taste.

The noodles tasted fresh, the soy sauce noodles were the best, and they are actually the same noodles like the ones served in UK, not the crispy type.

The only negative comment was their dangerous floor, it was so slippery, I skidded on it.

[Review 715] New Salmon series @ 美心西餅 Maxim's Cake Shop

07/04/2010 美心西餅 Maxim's Cake Shop
灣仔軒尼詩道27-29號東亞大樓地下
G/F, 27-29 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/new-salmon-and-white-sauce-bun-e2074639

max
Salmon Pizza:
Surprisingly delicious, it had onions, green peppers, salmon and sweetcorn.
The salmon was nice and fishy.

Bun filled with salmon and white sauce:
Again, another one of those Maxims buns that collapses on the first bite.
Not much filling inside, and not much white sauce.
Overall the taste was bland.

Luncheon ham and egg bun:
Tastes the same as the normal luncheon ham and egg bun, except the bits with baked cheese tasted better.

[Review 714] Surf clam and crabmeat miso pizza @ 必勝客 Pizza Hut

必勝客  Pizza Hut
07/04/2010
銅鑼灣波斯富街24-30寶漢大廈3-4樓
3-4/F, Po Hon Building, 24-30 Percival Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/surf-clam-and-crabmeat-miso-pizza-e2074632

Tried this pizza, as it had all the elements I liked, however I would have preferred the normal crust to stuffed crust.
The crust was stuffed with tasteless mozzarella and topped with sesame.

As for the rest of the pizza, it was just delicious, asparagus, surf clams, crabmeat, and the miso sauce on the base. If there was more miso sauce, then it would have made it even more delectable.
All the element went well together, and there was nothing I needed pick out.

The snack platter was OK, fish hoops, chicken star nuggets, chicken wings and smiley potatoes.
The smiley potatoes lacked potatoeness, they were floury and dry.