[Review 1263] Wild phaseoloide herb drink @ Herb Tea Workshop

31/08/2011
Herb Tea Workshop (已結業)
將軍澳坑口連理街114號舖
114 The Lane, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/wild-phaseoloide-herb-drink-e2192681

I randomly got the wild Phaseoloide herb drink which I did not know what it was, apparently in Chinese its called GORTCHOY.

I googled the English name from their menu [Phaseoloide] but didnt find much on the web.

Although it couldn't be found, it was good that they had English on the menu.

I got a small bottle for $12 and it was smaller than what I was expecting.
For $12 it is quite expensive compared to other places.
However the location and decoration was quite modern, so I guess that made up for the price.
The drink was not pre-bottled but when you order they fill it in front of you.

When I drank it, I loved the taste, it was savory, it tasted like double strength watercress but without the pork!
Sugar free too!

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Price: slightly overprice!
English menu: yes!
Service: OK
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[Review 1262] ◎貴◎expensive◎花◎flower◎甜◎sweet◎ @ 貴花甜糖水甜品專門店 Gourmet Desserts Cafe

31/08/2011
貴花甜糖水甜品專門店 Gourmet Desserts Cafe
油麻地砵蘭街6號地下
G/F, 6 Portland Street, Yau Ma Tei
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/%E8%B2%B4-expensive-%E8%8A%B1-flower-%E7%94%9C-sweet-e2192674

Located in the back streets of Yau Ma Tei, it reminds me of Dessert Revolution because the desserts here are creative as well. However its location is on a street that is quieter than DR.
Langham Place has livened up the street where DR is located.

Anyway, this place is decorated by a bright green theme, with green chairs; its logo is rather cartoonistic.

The desserts on the menu were interesting with English descriptions.
Although they had western desserts, they were quite localised.

There were a few desserts I wanted to try but in the end I ordered:
French cherry wine bread pudding with ice-cream $49
Mini crispy chocolate fondue $47
Both came with tea or coffee

I felt that it was slightly overpriced compared to other desserteries.
The staff there was slightly pushy with their recommendations and more concerned on taking orders.
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French cherry wine bread pudding with ice-cream
The idea of this concept was good especially the use of cherry wine.
The pudding was piping hot and had nice cherry aroma to it.
I just felt that if the fruits are visually rotting, then leave it out.
For this dessert I was given a fork which was more appropriate for the fondue.
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Mini crispy chocolate fondue
This was also another creative dessert, it is similar to the chocolate cake with the runny centre, but instead it is chocolate fondue with baked chocolate crispy cake top, and once you have pierced the top layer there is fondue at the bottom.
The wafer roll had gone stale, it was soft and chewy and not crisp.
Again the combination of fruits that came with the fondue was weird, such as the watermelon and kiwi.
For this dessert I was given a small spoon which is impossible to tackle a fondue!!!!
In the end I had to use the fork from the bread pudding.
I think if the wafer was crisp and it came with berries, I would have given it top marks.
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Tea and Coffee:
I did not like it because the Tea was the Hong Kong version, I specifically asked before ordering and they said it was the Western one!
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This review was meant to be written last year, so things may have improved since then.
Although there are some thing's that need improving, there were some desserts I found really interesting and intend to try on my next visit.
The idea of slushy chocolate and strawberries seem good, it is similar to Hui Lau Shan's chocolate strawberry drink.

Green tea and herbal jelly look good in the product shot, nice and cooling!
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Price: Slightly expensive!
English menu: yes with pictures
Service: Slightly pushy and rushed
Yummy factor: OK.
Sweetness levels: OK
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[Review 1261] Maxim's California Berries series {Part 3} 8" berries tart with Frangipane @ 美心西餅 Maxim's Cake Shop

30/08/2011
美心西餅 Maxim's Cake Shop
將軍澳坑口重華路8號東港城1樓180號舖
Shop 180, 1/F, East Point City, 8 Chung Wa Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/maxims-california-berries-series-part-3-e2192424

Maxim's have introduced a summer berries series, which uses berries as a theme for their products.
The berries used in this series are: blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry which sourced from Driscoll.

I was attracted by their California berries series which has four items:

- 8" berries tart with Frangipane
- Summer angel [angel chiffon cake topped with berries]
- Berry mousse dessert
- mini berries tart

After trying the mini berries tart, I wanted to try the bigger version so I finally found a store that had it.
When I paid, I was asked if I had a certain credit card because there was a 10% discount, so I ended up paying $142.2.
The tart had already been pre-packed in their fridge, so all they did was bring it out of the fridge and showed me the tart inside.
The box for the cake was HUGE!!! It could fit about three of those tarts stacked horizontally!!!

When I took it home, I realised the tart was firmly attached to the base, it didnt seem to shift when the box swung!
It was good because it kept the tart intact, but it was a nightmare to serve.

I realised it was so hard to cut, and nearer the centre there was hard chocolate between the tart and the paper plate.
So I ended up breaking the slice nearer the centre and when I was lifting it because it was stuck to the bottom.

thick base
Anyway, there was only four blackberries on this tart.

From the pictures you can see how thick the tart base is, it is about the same thickness as the cream.

I believe that they made the tart base thicker in order to use less fruit and Frangipane.
I felt that if the crust was not so thick and instead if they had used a thin layer of sponge or cake on top of a thinner made crust, it would make the texture much better and easier to cut, and of course, not firmly attaching the base with chocolate.

The Fragipane was nice and creamy, sweet enough to compensate for the thick crust.
Overall, I would say the berries tart is better just as Spicygal said.
The berries tart was very refreshing after it had been chilled properly in the fridge.

Mixed berries dessert cup:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2191239
Mini berries tart:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2191018

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Price: $158 [10% off for certain credit cards]
Service: OK
Yummy factor: OK
sweetness levels: the blueberry sauce and blackcurrant jelly was too sweet for.
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[Review 1260] Blooming floral French crepes at Causeway Bay @ Fleur de Sel

30/08/2011

Fleur de Sel
銅鑼灣富明街1號寶富大樓2樓J室
Shop 2J, Po Foo Building, Foo Ming Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/blooming-floral-french-crepes-at-causeway-bay-e2192334

This place is currently one of the three authentic places in Hong Kong that serve French Crepes.

It is cute compared to La Creperie and Kramp House, however I felt that Kramp House and Fleur de Sel should exchange chefs!!
Fleur de Sel is more feminstic whilst Kramp is more masculine, however Kramp’s chef is female whilst the chef at Fleur de sel is male.

The tables were so closely packed together that you could listen in to conversations around you unintentionally and to make things worse, the local Hongkies were so noisy.

The poor guy at Fleur de Sel was irritated by the noise and he could not answer the phone due to the background noise.

Although the environment was too noisy, the food surely made up for it.
The decoration of the place was really good, European interior in Hong Kong.
The corridor/passage at the entrance was amazing, it’s similar to those underground passages/tunnels which will sure win everyone’s admiration.
The grey bricks and decor of the corridor reminded me of the medievel times and old castles

After browsing the menu, most of the crepes and fillings were the same as La Creperie and Kramp House, so I chose the duck which is not offered in the other two, I wanted to try the duck liver as well, maybe next time.
As well as the duck, I chose the beef one to compare it with LC.

Ordered La Parisienne (beef) and La Salardaise (duck)

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La Parisienne [minced beef, cheese, onion, tomato egg]
This was different to La Crepe, the minced beef was served like a beef patty, whilst at LC the minced was spread evenly inside the crepe.
I preferred the LC one because it tasted strong, however the cheese at LC was different.

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La Salardaise [duck confit, mushrooms, potato, parsley, and garlic sauce]
This was my favour, tender pieces of shredded duck leg meat on the crepe, and juicy mushrooms.
The roasted potatoes on the crepe were brilliant too, slightly crisp and sautéed on the outside, and soft inside without oily taste.
The amount of duck on the crepe was generous too.

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SSG's to try list: foie gras crepe
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Previous crepe reviews
La creperie [beef crepe, black pudding crepe]
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2180674
La creperie [seafood crepe, lemon meringue crepe]
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2088354
Kramp House [Le complete, Le Poulet, Le Tatin and Le Tartine]
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2178353
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Price: compared to La Creperie and Kramp house, its about the same as La Creperie but it depends which crepe you choose.
English menu: yes, and they speak English too!
Service: very friendly
Yummy factor: very
MSG levels: none
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[Review 1259] Lucullus cakes sticks @ 龍島 Lucullus Gourmet Shop

29/08/2011
龍島 Lucullus Gourmet Shop
尖沙咀彌敦道63號iSQUARE國際廣場LG層4B號舖
Shop 4B, LG/F, iSQUARE, 63 Nathon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/lucullus-cakes-sticks-e2192137

After trying the cake slices, I wanted to try the other cakes, the ones I got this time were called STICKS!
They reminded me of the thin slices of cake sold at Stick Stick's

Photos of cake sticks @ Stick Stick'S
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2095395

The ones sold here looked more like rectangle slices.
Anyway, the stick's tasted better than the slices.
The whole thing was much lighter, and there was no heavy dense chocolate mousse base at the bottom.
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[Review 1258] Another good curry joint @ 清真 Pakora & Spice Fast Food

27/08/2011
清真 Pakora & Spice Fast Food
灣仔堅拿道西24-25A地下C舖
Shop C, G/F, 24-25A Canal Road West, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/another-good-curry-joint-e2191455

Decided to revisit this place for the main dishes, so got a chicken curry and a lamb skewer with rice.
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chicken curry:
This was really spicy and had a layer of curry oil on top.
As it was too spicy, I couldnt really taste anything but the spicyness.
The indian rice was nice and fluffy as usual.

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lamb skewer with rice:
I liked this dish better, it was rice drizzled with yogurt and pieces of lamb kebab, this was not spicy and I loved the way the lettuce and tomato was sliced thinly that it blends in with the sauce and rice.

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Price: $40 per dish
Service: OK
English: YES
Yummy factor: OK
MSG levels: Quite a bit
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[Review 1257] Kings N Cream kingdom fit for the King @ Kings N Cream

27/08/2011
Kings N Cream
旺角廣華街1號G23號舖
Shop G23,1 Kwong Wah Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/kings-n-cream-kingdom-fit-for-the-king-e2191454

Came here during the month they first opened, and since then there has been some improvement and changes.
They now have designed ice-creams and yogurts which remind me of Smile.
I was given a loyalty card this time which is really cute, especially the stamps on the card, I liked the chocolate chips and the orange stamp featured on their sample chop card.

Although there is more choice, I still chose the plain yogurt with one topping because I felt that their yogurt was really nice on its own it didn't need lots of sauce and other topping to compliment it!
I always believe that a good dish/dessert shouldn't need to have things added because it is not tasteless.
The yogurt was still as refreshing as my first visit, and it did not have that artificial milk powder taste like in other places.
The guy was really nice because he offered samples their ice-cream without me asking.
For the samples I tried chocolate and green tea, the green tea and chocolate ice-cream was very strong, but nice.
At other places even if you asked, they don't offer samples.
My Froyo was lovely and cold, but NOT ICY.

First visit:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2179300

So far, this is my favourite NATURAL FROYO place, but for sweet localised froyo, my favourite place would be ROLL because I like their thick version. But according to healthy Froyo I would pick this place because it dosnt contain much sugar and I loved the tartness of it.

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Price: $25 per cup
English menu: yes!
Service: great
Yummy factor: brilliant
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