[Review 1358] Part 1: Champagne without its sparkle @ 尚賓樓 Champagne House

24/11/2011
尚賓樓 Champagne House
將軍澳尚德商場3樓
3/F, Sheung Tak Shopping Centre, Sheung Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/part-1-champagne-without-its-sparkle-e2207135

Went to this restaurant which was located in the urban areas of Hong Kong, I had no expectations due to its location and the other branches they have which are located in Kwai Chung and Kwai Fong.

The restaurant was spacious and not busy, probably due location and it being a weekday.

Ended up ordering: tofu and meat patty, spinach with salted egg and preserved egg, raw prawns and bittermelon pot, pork and lotus patty, and steamed fish.

The food was terrible BUT the menu was hilarious, fit for terrorists with fury such as exploding items, madder soup and dam soup!

Pork and lotus patty:
The meat patty was too dry, salty and so oily which you could visually see.

[Review 1357] Part 2: Champagne without its sparkle @ 尚賓樓 Champagne House

24/11/2011
尚賓樓 Champagne House
將軍澳尚德商場3樓
3/F, Sheung Tak Shopping Centre, Sheung Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/part-2-champagne-without-its-sparkle-e2207132

Continued from Part 1:

Tofu and meat patty:
It was literally quite orange in colour, I was expecting it to taste good, but it smelt of custard.
The patty was sweet as well.

Spinach with salted and preserved egg
The spinach was tasteless and the salted egg and preserved egg were on the top.

Raw prawns and bittermelon pot
This dish was heated above a burner, and the lid was made of metal.
There should have been a warning because the handle on the lid was really hot.
Basically it was raw prawns boiled in bittermelon soup.
I don’t know why but they put too much black pepper in it and ruined it.

Steamed fish:
The fish was nice on its own, but the old oil that was poured on top ruined it.

Now the most entertaining part of the review for furious people:

[Review 1356] Tai Hing roast everyday, but not for me @ 太興 Tai Hing

24/11/2011
太興 Tai Hing
將軍澳坑口重華路8號東港城2樓217A舖
Shop 217A, 2/F, East Point City, 8 Chung Wa Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/tai-hing-roast-everyday-but-not-for-me-e2207067

Before the mass advertisements and commercials THE used to be an average place for Chinese food serving Chinese roasts.
To me, they still fare average despite the amount of TVC’s campaigns featuring how you can go there for breakfast, tea, dinner, anytime, any day theme.

Ordered the crunchy roast pork belly in wasabi sauce, which includes soup.

Although the food was not impressive, their customer service was really good, there was a fly in the soup and the waitress apologized and exchanged the soup.
{It was probably the same soup brought back with the fly removed, but at least they said Sorry and offered to exchange it, which is better than other restaurants.}


I did not like the food much, because the rice beneath the meat was fried rice and baked again with the pork on top, it made the rice dry and greasy.
The pork was chewy and not fresh, and there was a strong overnight pork odour to it.

I would have preferred it if it was plain rice and Roast BBQ pork in wasabi as opposed to pork belly.

Although I did not like it, but it would be a good source of calories for those who need it, especially with the combination of fried rice and roast pork belly for the cold winter.

[Review 1355] The ramen wind is moving directions @ 一風堂 Ippudo HK

23/11/2011

一風堂 Ippudo HK
尖沙咀廣東道30號新港中心210號舖
Shop 210, Silvercord Tower, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-ramen-wind-is-moving-directions-e2206924

Ever since Ippudo opened I have always wanted to try it because I like the thin Hakata style noodles.

I tried to go to the CWB branch but it was packed, there is not much waiting space outside.
The waiting space is just the lobby area when you come out from the elevators.
The reservation/registration system at CWB is slightly different, you can use their touchscreen system to enter the number of people and get notified via mobile.

Anyway, with the new crowd at Butao in CWB and Ippudo, I decided to go to the TST branch.
I went just before dinner so I did not have to queue.

Similar to Hide-Chan there were more items on offer and drinks too, however there are service charges as well.
I wanted to try the Wasabi Tonkatsu but this was only available at CWB according to their FB page.
After browsing the menu, I realised that some were Hakata noodles and some were the thicker type noodles.
I also wanted to try the Deep-fried Squid Tentacles with Seaweed Flavour but I only found out about it after I had dined there.

In the end I chose the Akamaru Shinaji which I thought was not spicy according to its English description, however it turned out to be spicy.
On top of that I ordered an egg as well.

The noodles came quite fast, and the broth was thick like Hide-Chan.

There were lots of viscous cloudy white bits floating in the broth which tasted like collagen.

I was hoping for more spring onions because the previous reviews seemed to show there were lots in the bowl.

Overall, I really liked it, the flavouring was stronger and better than Hide-chan, however Butao has this uniqueness about it which is moreish.

I think with Ippudo, it was expected to be good, and it turned out to how I expected it to be, hence there was no surprise in it.
The egg was slightly different to other Japanese eggs with a runny centre.
It was literally an egg cooked just right, whereas the other eggs I have tried have a denser runny yoke.
The yolk served here was extremely runny, so caution must be taken when eating it.

does not exist on the menu
On one of the pages there was an attractive item which looked like sorbet cased in half a lemon, but when I tried to order it, they said it was for illustration purposes only.

[Review 1354] Chocolate fondue ten months later @ 許留山 Hui Lau Shan Healthy Dessert

22/11/2011
許留山 Hui Lau Shan Healthy Dessert
旺角奶路臣街11號遠東發展旺角大廈地下2號舖
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chocolate-fondue-ten-months-later-e2206812

The last time I had the fondue was in February, ten months later, HLS have introduced a better fondue, and the fondue items were slightly better than last time.

This time, there are two chocolate flavours for the fondue, white chocolate and strawberry and chocolate and orange.

The white chocolate and strawberry was sweeter than the chocolate. The strawberry flavouring was not as fake as expected.

As for the fondue elements there were: melons, cantaloupe melons, kiwis, strawberries, bananas, marshmallow, finger biscuits and frozen mango cream cake.

The finger biscuits were slightly soft and stale.

As usual I think its weird to put melons and kiwi’s into fondue, but maybe its Asian style or the availability of fruit, usually it is berries and banana’s.

The chocolate fondue was not as sweet compared to the strawberry, and there were pieces of orange rind, which gave it some orange flavouring.

The chocolate fondue was nice with the banana, and the rest tasted nice with the strawberry fondue especially the strawberry because the sweetness of the fondue took away the sourness of the strawberry.

The marshmallows were better than last time because there was no colour in it.

Lastly there was the frozen mango cream cake, I would have preferred more fresh fruit instead or the cookie cake because the cream was just tasteless and not really a cake if it was just plain frozen cream and mango.

It is similar to the serradura, but just made with fake cream.

The candle beneath the fondue was not that strong because the chocolate did not become hot after sitting there for a while, and I tried to burn the marshmallow by placing it close above the flame nothing happened!

HLS's previous chocolate fondue in February

http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2151245 ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ [b]Price:[/b] 68 [b]English menu:[/b] yes with pictures! [b]Service:[/b] OK[b] Yummy factor:[/b] better than the previous fondue. [b]Sweetness levels:[/b] OK ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎

[Review 1353] Thai green layered cake @ 豪江豆業 Macau Soya Bean

22/11/2011
豪江豆業 Macau Soya Bean
灣仔石水渠街
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/thai-green-layered-cake-e2206806

Walked past and another green snack caught my attention.
Last time it was a pandan bootjaigo, this time it was the Thai style layered cake.

I find this shop quite interesting because they are specialists in Chinese snacks such as tofu, chinese desserts but they also offer some modified items such as pandan bootjaigo and now the Thai layered cake.
Although in Chinese it is called cake, it is not the western type of cake made of sponge.
These items really stand out in the display next to the traditional Chinese items.

I was very impressed that it was coconut flavour and not green tea that is used all over the Chinese food industry.
Anyway, the sweetness was just right and I hope it stays that way.
It is usually the case when I intend to buy two, I assume it would be too sweet but it turns out to be just right and then when I do buy two, it turns out too sweet.
I just feel the sweetness levels at this shop are not consistent.

The taste of this layered cake was interesting it was a mix of coconut and cane juice pudding.

Previous reviews at this place: Pandan 缽仔糕
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2196939
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Price:$4
Service:  OK
Yummy factor: hope it keeps that way
Sweetness levels:OK
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[Review 1352] Too hot for supersupergirl to handle @ 臺灣鴨舌專門店

19/11/2011
臺灣鴨舌專門店
旺角廣華街1號仁安大廈A座地下B2號舖
Shop B2, G/F, Block A, Yan On Building, 1 Kwong Wah Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/too-hot-for-supersupergirl-to-handle-e2206306

Walked past and saw this modern shop with white walls and pink shopfront, stopped by and was shocked to see it sell internal organs of ducks.
The appearance of the shop gave me the impression it was selling other foods, but definitely not organs!~
For these type of snacks, I would have assumed their shop theme to be brown.

These snacks are the type I would expect to see hung at Hung's delicacy or in Sham shui Po.

It is rare to buy these snacks just like that because usually they are served in restaurants especially the intestines and necks!

Anyway I got the duck wings.
Luckily they warned me it was spicy.
I just touched the tip of my tongue with the duck wings and my face went bright red, so you can imagine how spicy it was.


The organs that they sell are: Tongues, hearts, intestines, feet, wings, bones, head, necks, kidney, beef stomach, chicken wings and chicken wing tips!They are sold per gram.

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Price: $10-20
Service: OK
Yummy factor: For those who can eat really hot chili's
Healthiness: beware of cholesterol!
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