[Review 727] Scenic Place for dining @ Amuse Bouche

Amuse Bouche 23/04/2010
灣仔軒尼詩道256號The Hennessy 22樓
22/F, The Hennessy, 256 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/scenic-place-for-food-e2078603

Amuse Bouche has nice scenic views on a clear day, situated on the 22nd floor of the renovated Hennessy Building.

It claims to serve French cuisine, opened by the chef from Petrus (Mandalay tells me).
For my lunch, I had:
-Soft potato gnocchi with parmesan cheese, foie gras sauce
-Braised free range chicken leg served with green peas and mushrooms

The food was ok, but I just felt that it wasn’t very Parisien, it was a fusion of upper end western food and Japanese food, such as Salmon and soy wasabi, lobster and salted egg yolk, it doesn’t sound very french to me! Compared to Petrus, I would say that they offer more French food there.

The gnocchi were piping hot and smooth with potato inside and slightly cheesy, which seemed more Italian, anyway, I think French gnocchi are not supposed to contain potato.

The chicken was very soft, and came off the bone easily. It was covered in gravy containing sliced asparagus, peas, and mushroom. Again the mushrooms made it Asian, because they were shiitake mushrooms.

For starters I had bread with butter, the texture of the butter was just right, it was spreadable, also there was Volvanic lava salt too. The Volvanic lava salt was black, and looked like flakes of charcoal crystals.

I like the fact that this place has a functioning website, and the menu can be found there too.
The service was ok, after the starters, the waitors would brush away the crumbs from the table.

For beverages, I felt the tea wasn’t hot when it was brought out.

[Review 726] Melty Cheese burger @ MoS burger

22/04/2010
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/melty-cheese-burger-e2078408

The cheese burger tasted as good as I expected, the splodge of cheese tasted like melted cheddar, however I felt that it couldn’t have been pure melted cheddar, because it didn’t harden like normal cheese when they cool down, also the texture was slightly floury.

The texture of the melty cheese is different to the melted cheese slices, it tastes more like real melted cheddar, also the texture is a bit like gooey mochi but so much softer. The good thing about this cheese is that it isn’t has heavy as real cheese and it doesn’t harden if you eat it slowly.

The product shot and real product differs quite a bit, the amount of cheese is relatively the same, however the burgandy sauce featured in the product shot is actually diced tomato.

The chicken nuggets here are quite good too, better than McDonalds, they are powdery on the outside, and slightly bigger than the ones at M’s.

[Review 725] Cream cheese and pineapple puff @ 山崎麵飽 Yamazaki Bakery

山崎麵飽 Yamazaki Bakery
20/04/2010
灣仔軒尼詩道338號北海中心地下D舖
Shop D, G/F, CNT Tower, No.338 Hennessy Road, Hong Kong, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cream-cheese-and-pineapple-puff-e2077973

Got two pastries: custard cube and pineapple cheese puff

Custard cube:
Tastes like an ordinary pastry, except in a shape of a cube filled with custard inside.

Pineapple and cream cheese puff:
I wished they just made it into an apple turnover, the pineapple was nice, but overly moist, just not as good as apple!
The puff pastry was perfect, you could smell how buttery it was, and it was nice and flaky topped with melted crunchy sugar on top.
The pastry was filled with sweet cream cheese and pineapple, just felt it was ruined by the pineapple.
Just plain cream cheese or cheese with apple would have tasted good!

[Review 724] The face blushes with the rush of blood! @ Zoe

Zoe  20/04/2010
灣仔莊士敦道60號J Senses地舖
G/F, J Senses, 60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-face-blushes-with-the-rush-of-blood-e2077972

Zoe has been around for a while, but hasn’t really caught my attention much, the cakes are just the usual like chocolate mousse, mille feuille etc.
The price is rather expensive, but then if they tasted good then fair enough.

Anyway, when I got there, the shop assistant was a bit annoying, instead of standing behind the counter, she came out and stood by my side!
Chinese people, especially sales people have no social distancing at all but Thanks to Sars & Covid you can now have some social distance.
She tried to recommend me the typical flavours such as Rose, Mango, but unfortunately, these are my least favourites and what Chinese people like to eat!
I can't stand Rose and Mango.

In the end, I got the Blood Orange, and Blush.

Blood Orange:
It had a layer of jelly on top to look nice, and layered with mousse, and a crunchy layer at the bottom.
It had a yoghurt tone to it rather than a citrus flavour.

Blush:
I was disappointed with this cake, the chocolate mousse was very faint, and the cherries were the bright red glacier type. I was expecting strong black cherries, or at least cherries that had been soaked in brandy.

[Review 723] Not berry good @ H-Tea-O Tea Garden

H-Tea-O Tea Garden (已結業)
20/04/2010
銅鑼灣百德新街27-47號1樓9及9A舖
Shop9A&9, 1/F, 27-47 Paterson Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/not-berry-good-e2077878

The chocolate berry latte I had just tasted like red tea with frothed milk, so I asked if it was meant to have a chocolate taste, so the waiter took it back and made another one. As well as chocolate, there was no berry taste either.

I was expecting them to just add chocolate berry syrup, since on the menu it said the latte was made with chocolate berry syrup.

I was given the another one, which they freshly made, and this one had chocolate taste in it, but not the chocolate I was expecting. It tasted like hot chocolate mixed with tea, strong in cocoa.

I know chocolate is made from cocoa, but I was expecting creamy chocolate. Also, it was creamier than expected.
The berry taste was very faint too, so I think I should have got a take-out instead as it didn’t taste that nice and there was 10% charged on top.

[Review 722] 798 sunday brunch @ 798 Unit & Co

798 Unit & Co 16/04/2010
尖沙咀厚福街9號1樓
1/F, 9 Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/798-sunday-brunch-e2077009

Savory items:
Cup of daily soup (Pea): Tasted a bit bland, but good enough.
Cherry tomato and buffalo mozzarella skewer: Would have preferred cheddar
Parma ham and melon:Nicely matched, the saltiness of the ham and the sweetness of melon.
Farmhouse pate and toast: the pate was slightly too coarse
Roasted beets & Watermelon: There could have been more beetroots, however I felt watermelon and beets don’t go so well together
Wild mushroom filo triangle: The mushroom flavour wasn’t strong enough
Baby octopus ceviche: Very refreshing, although slightly sweet, it tasted of lime cordial more than juice.
Crab salad tartlet: Creamy and surprisingly light
Cumin Lamb chops: The lamb was overpowered by the cumin
Roasted pork chop with potato: tasted similar to chinese roast pork
Croque monsieur: OK
Egg benedict: OK
Zucchini, spinach and cheese frittata: Looked like a quiche, but felt it was slightly over heavy
Spicy pepperoni pizza:Bit too much crust
mini hamburger:very juicy
macaroni cheese: tasteless
beef with pasta: the texture of the pasta was nice and al-dente
risotto cheese balls:tasteless
farmhouse sausage:ok

Sweet bites:

banana pancake:very cute mini sized pancakes big enough to fit a few slices of banana on top
lychee panna cotta:nicely layered
blueberry & cream cake roll:literally a roll with cream and fresh blueberries
banoffi pie: disappointed with the pie, as it was nearly 90% cream
apple and cinamin crumble:overly sweet
profiteroles:just like the any other profiteroles you would get
fresh fruit salad: too much dragonfruit.

Overall, I felt the savoury selection tasted better than the sweet selection.

[Review 721] Kaneda finally on the Island @ 金田日本料理 Kaneda Japanese Restaurant

金田日本料理 Kaneda Japanese Restaurant
16/04/2010
灣仔莊士敦道74-80號1樓
1/F, Fraser Suites, 74-80 Johnston Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/kaneda-on-the-island-finally-e2077003

Compared with the TST branch, the TST one is old and grotty, and situated in the back streets of TST.

The Wanchai branch was pleasantly located outside the tram stop opposite Southorn sports ground, near the bakery.

There is a flight of stairs that take you up to the restaurant. Before you enter, there is a small counter for you to check in. I arrived on time, and so did some other people who booked, however the restaurant was not ready yet for the customers to come upstairs, hence everyone waited another 5 minutes.

I was surprised that my booking details were printed on their list rather than hand-written one like other places.

At the bottom of the stairs, one side was mirrors, and so was some part of the restaurant, walled mirrors, which was quite cool.
The restaurant was split into two sections, the buffet section and the dine in section, and a bright hallway leading to the dining area. In the hallway, there was a desserts cabinet with high-end looking desserts and dressed up chefs standing there looking professional.

Anyway sat down, and started ticking away at the food selection and submitted them to the waitress, however she recommended that we were only to submit some as the food would come very fast and the table wouldn’t be big enough.
This was true, the food did come fast, however when it got busier, the items came a lot slower.

As one of the waiters brought out the skewers, it was actually touching his shirt, so I mentioned it to him, and he disposed of it, instead of serving us that one.
Overall the food was OK, the fried food was slightly disappointing, as the oil wasn’t fresh.
Their items with cream sauce were not that good either such as the pasta and dried shrimps, baked oyster and bacon, and mussel. Their cream sauce was a bit heavy, also the baked oyster had a massive piece of shell in it.

One of the side dishes was good, the tiny pot of vinegar jelly with seaweed.

Although it was Japanese food, I felt that it wasn’t that Japanese, such as the lamb chops, soft pork bones. Basically the food is similar to Aoba.