[Review 1428] Bigger portions and the dog has grown up @ Purplemind Cafe

Purplemind Cafe
旺角煙廠街31號地下
G/F, 31 Yin Chong Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/bigger-portions-and-the-dog-has-grown-up-e2215333

Haven’t been here for ages so decided to dine again.
The dog that was once a pup was huge now.
Anyway, I have not tried their risotto before so ordered the risotto with prawns and clams.
The prawns were big and fresh, the clams were clean without sand.
The rice they used was the proper Italian rice.

[Review 1427] Xinjiang wildfire grilled skewers @ 野火燒

19/01/2012
野火燒
旺角通菜街124號E1店
Shop E1, 124 Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/xinjiang-wildfire-grilled-skewers-e2215330

I was hesitant about trying this because I usually get food poisoning from these types of places, but I could not resist the smell of cumin.

I was on the footbridge above this stall and I could already smell the fumes coming from this place. The smell of cumin must have been really strong because when I was eating my grilled lamb skewer on the escalator the person in front obviously smelt it and turned his head round to see what I was eating.

Anyway, I am surprised that no one has given this a review on Openrice.

They basically serve ten items, some of the English translations are translated directly from Chinese such as Secret pork, snowflake beef and creamy chicken.
I believe they mean juicy tender chicken instead of creamy.

The ten choices are: chicken, chicken wings, lamb, beef, wagyu beef, chives, sweetcorn, garlic, green beans and pork.
When it is being grilled they will put honey on it, after it is grilled, they will put seasoning on it such as spicy seasoning and cumin.

My lamb skewer was just right, it was not gamey, but the only complaint was that the meat was fatty.
It was sprinkled with generous cumin and now I am tempted to try the chicken and beef!

[Review 1426] Fried red beancurd flavoured pork knuckles @ 澤田小廚(仔仔小廚)

17/01/2012
澤田小廚(仔仔小廚)
天后清風街1號
No. 1 Tsing Fung Street, Tin Hou, Tin Hau
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/fried-red-beancurd-flavoured-pork-knuckles-e2215230

I have always wanted to try this place and Tung Po for the fried pork knuckles.
Happened to pass by this restaurant first, so went in.
It looked like it was temporary in business because all the tables were round and foldable, and the chairs were plastic stools.
On the table they had rolls of tissue for your use and they had those blue bowls as well used to drink beer, the same as Tung Po.

Anyway ordered the fried pork knuckles in red beancurd sauce, soy sauce noodles, and this egg and tofu with seaweed.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork knuckles:
There was supposed to be some prawn crackers, but in the end found them at the bottom of the basket not fried.
However the table opposite had prawn crackers, which can be seen in the middle of the basket.

Prawn crackers I did not get - middle of picture from the table in front of me

The pork knuckles were not as good as expected because they were dry, chewy and overly salty.
The red beancurd sauce that came with it was slightly oily.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg white and tofu with seaweed:
The appearance of this was made very high end, the tofu was layered with seaweed in between and covered in fluffy clear egg white sauce.
On top of it was deep fried shredded cabbage the same as the seaweed served in UK’s Chinese takeaways imitating seaweed, which is actually made from finely shredded cabbage and deep-fried.

So it was fun eating the deep-fried cabbage on top.
But overall I did not like that type of tofu because I prefer the firm version.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soy sauce noodles:
As for the noodles, they were slightly too salty but other than that they tasted quite nice.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
If there is a next visit I will pick the congee because it is served in a huge wooden tub.

[Review 1425] The Chinese donut @ 泰昌餅家 Tai Cheong Bakery Express

17/01/2012
泰昌餅家 Tai Cheong Bakery Express
灣仔莊士敦道74-80號地下2號舖
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-chinese-donut-e2215228

I have always been intrigued by Chinese donuts especially the shape which is so irregular and rough just like a massive truffle.

The Western ones are round and have an even surface which come in the form of ring donuts or the round ones which are filled in the centre or covered in icing or chocolate.

Although I have always wanted to try it, the size of it was big and if it didn’t taste nice then it would be a waste, especially when Chinese cakes are not really my cup of tea.

But anyway, someone happened to buy a box of them and could not finish them off.

The good thing was that they were already sliced in half.
I was surprised to see that it was very airy inside not like the western donuts.
The donut exterior was just like a normal donut, but the inside was incredible soft and the dough was extremely moist!
At first I thought the dampness of the dough was the frying oil, but it was not.

It is a pity that I do not have a picture of the donut intact before it was sliced.

The donut looks big but when you bite into it, it is actually like a sponge and compresses. The donut exterior was chewier than the western type.
Overall I still prefer the western donut, but the inside of the Chinese donut is nice in the sense that it is moist and similar to fresh airy bread.
However it has that Chinese frying oil smell.

As for the egg tart, it had that extremely strong buttery smell, and it crumbled and collapsed when I ate it.


Egg tart review at Tai Cheong:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htmcommentid=2037560

[Review 1424] Shanghainese takeaway or stand up dining @ 嚐點

17/01/2012
嚐點
灣仔駱克道146-148號裕安大廈地下C1號舖
Shop C1, G/F, Yue On Building, 146-148 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/shanghainese-takeaway-or-stand-up-dining-e2215227

This restaurant was opened late last year, however despite requests to have it added in the OR database I couldn’t find it.
I only found it was listed recently by coming across someone else’s review, but the strange thing was I could not find it listed under the New Restaurants section.

But anyway, this shop stands out in Wan Chai because most places for Shanghai food are dine ins and this one is a takeaway.
There is a bar table at the side with sauces neatly laid out, so it also caters for people who want to stand there and eat.

It offers the typical Shanghai food such as vegetable rice and Shanghai style ribs (but they actually are pork chops).

However I was surprised there was no steamed dumplings (siu lung bao) on the menu.

I tried quite a few items and if you cannot eat spicy food, the Dan Dan noodles are extremely hot.

The packaging is the same as Jiang Shan Xiao, which comprises of a large paper bowl with a smaller plastic bowl/dish that sits above the rice on the rims of the bowl.
The amount of rice in the bowl is generous, there is about one bowl and a half in there.
The vegetable rice contains red rice, which makes it healthy as well as containing chopped vegetables.

The FIRST review below is quite detailed which pretty summarises what I was going to say.

[Review 1423] BK's Herb panini series @ 漢堡王 Burger King

17/01/2012

漢堡王 Burger King
灣仔軒尼斯道314-324號地庫
Basement, W Square, 314-324 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/bks-herb-panini-series-e2215226

Tried the new herb panini series, there was a choice of grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce or the tender crisp chicken with honey and mustard.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Honey mustard tender crisp chicken in herb Panini:
The panini was huge but the panini bread was too dry, the honey mustard sauce and tender crisp were nice together.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
New York Angus burger with bacon:
The Angus burger looked huge on the poster, however it was tiny and was quite expensive.

◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
Price: HKD89

[Review 1422] McD's CNY prosperity chicken burger @ 麥當勞 McDonald's

17/01/2012
麥當勞 McDonald's
旺角彌敦道573號富運商業中心地下B舖
Shop B, G/F, 573 Nathan Road,, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/mcds-cny-prosperity-chicken-burger-e2215214

Previously tried the beef version which was quite nice, so tried the chicken.
The black pepper sauce in the chicken version was hotter than the beef and not so sweet.
It also says that on the packaging.
It was grilled chicken thigh so it was juicy and tender.

I prefer crispy chicken patty instead of grilled chicken because it goes better with the lettuce.
The grilled chicken, black pepper sauce and lettuce together made the burger a bit soggy.

Mcd's beef prosperity burger:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htmcommentid=2213461 ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
Price: HKD29.3
English menu:yes and there is a menu online as well.
Service: OK
Yummy factor:Beef prosperity burger tastes better ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎