[Review 1457] Still my favourite place for chips and Scott food @ Chippy

26/02/2012

Chippy
中環威靈頓街51A地下
G/F, 51A Wellington Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/still-my-favourite-place-for-chips-and-scott-food-e2221220

I love eating chips surrounded by glass jars of pickles and the British radio in the background.
Nothing like a perfect sunday by the seaside.
Anyway, eating in Central will do fine for me.
On this visit I had most of the sides that I am usually too full to try.
Ordered picked egg, pickled onions, steak and kidney pie, gravy, Haggis, Black pudding, fishcakes, cheese and onion pie, sausage, egg and bacon butty, and deep fried mars bar.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pickled egg
For $10 its about the same price as those runny eggs served in ramen joints, but this one is pickled.
I found it very appetizing especially the egg white.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Deep fried bars mar:
It was different to how I thought it would be done, it was dipped into a dough batter and not the fish batter.
It tasted like a donut without sugar with  a melted mars bar inside.
The sweetness was just right as well because the mars bar inside gave the dough the sweetness.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Gravy
Good old bisto gravy.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steak and kidney pie:
Made by the Chippy themselves after numerous trials from different kidneys and beef to get the best taste.
The pie has a cute cow on the top.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pickled onions
This was really sour, but I really miss them from school and the familiar spots on the surface of the onion.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Butty
There are two versions, bread or bun, bread is more traditionally used in UK and chips and butter are usually sandwiched in between.
The version I had today was the bun type.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cheese and onion pastry
As usual, it tastes brilliant, the cheese is not elastic or stringy.
The onions inside were finely chopped and molten mixed with the cheddar cheese.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Haggis
A Scottish favourite that I like which contains oats, sheeps organs and spices.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Black pudding
Also another Scottish favourite of my choice, pork blood, oats and spices.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish cakes
I love this because it is really similar to the ones at school, light crispy coating with grounded fish and herbs inside.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1456] The best and only musubi I have tried so far @ 華御結 Hana-Musubi

26/02/2012

華御結 Hana-Musubi
灣仔港灣道28號灣景中心大廈1樓8號舖
Shop 8, 1/F, Causeway Centre, 28 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-best-and-only-musubi-i-have-tried-so-far-e2221219

I have never been keen on Musubis because I used to think they taste bland as it is mostly made of rice.

In Hawaii they have spam musubi.

I decided to try this place when I found out they had Pizza flavoured musubi and the soybean chicken meatball soup.
I really wanted to try the pizza musubi because I thought it would be fun having Risotto in musubi form.

After taking the effort walking to Brim, there was no Pizza flavour that day, so I got the Mentaiko musubi, Scallop musubi, XO sauce musubi, Yukuri (akajiso – purple perilla) musubi, wasabi octopus musubi and the soup.

I ate the XO Sauce musubi and the Wasabi musubi last because it had the strongest flavour.
I started on the Yukuri first because it was just plain rice with akajiso herbs.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Yukuri (akajiso – purple perilla) musubi:
I was surprised the rice was flavoured and there was akajiso pieces evenly distributed within the rice.
This was the first time I could taste the purple perilla because the taste of the rice did not overpower the perilla.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mentaiko musubi:
Again it was plain rice with a piece of mentaiko in the middle.
The rice tasted nice with or without the mentaiko, and it was soft and moist.
When I got to the mentaiko, it was hard and dense, but it had a nice salty tone to enhance the rice.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
XO Sauce musubi:
The rice was evenly mixed with XO sauce, there were pieces of dried scallops and prawns.
The texture of the rice was also soft and moist.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Wasabi octopus musubi:
This was nice too, but it tasted the same as a giant gunkan/Temaki made with Wasabi and octopus.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Scallop in vinegar musubi:
The label saids "trabeculae" which is an interesting translation, but I think they mean scallop.

There was generous pieces of small scallops in it, and the taste was similar to the XO Sauce musubi.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soybean, chicken meatball Soup:
I loved the soup and could not get enough of it.
On the menu it is called Collagen soup.
Although it claims to have collagen, I did not expect the soup to have collagen in it.
It was did not taste of soymilk even though it contained soymilk.
The taste of the soup was similar to chicken in cream sauce but in liquid form.
There was generous pieces of spinach and chicken meatballs.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Brown sugar warabi:
I really liked this because it is different from mochi, because it is made from starch and less chewy.
However the brown sugar powder was slightly too sweet.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1455] Crema Scura Mocha Orange I love Orange @ 太平洋咖啡 Pacific Coffee

26/02/2012
太平洋咖啡 Pacific Coffee
灣仔莊士敦道181號大有廣場1樓107號舖
Shop 107, 1/F, Tai Yau Plaza, 181 Johnston Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/crema-scura-mocha-orange-i-love-orange-e2221214

Got the new Crema Scura Mocha beverage for HKD36 which is just mocha and orange.
Since I do not like coffee, I asked for less coffee, so the Barista only put half a shot of coffee in the drink.

The drink looked different to the product shot, there was no whipped cream as featured on the product shot.Anyway, I could not taste any orange in the drink, perhaps they had forgotten to put the orange syrup whilst remember to put less coffee.
The drink was quite sweet as well.

[Review 1454] Camouflaged Hutong grill in the modern world @ 捌拾胡同風味烤串店

22/02/2012
捌拾胡同風味烤串店
將軍澳坑口常寧路10號安寧花園第2座地下22號舖
Shop 22, G/F, Block 2, On Ning Garden, 10 Sheung Ning Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/camouflaged-hutong-grill-in-the-modern-world-e2220688

I have always wanted to try this place but it was hard to locate.
It is situated very close to the MTR exit but well camouflaged because the building is grey and this joint is also grey and dark that it blends in.
The exterior is designed so that it looks similar to a Hutong in the Ming dynasty.
(For the description of Hutong, please see wikipedia)

When you enter the joint, you can smell cumin and other spices.
The joint is quite cosy with tables and bar tables.
On the walls there are lots of posters and old Chinese ornaments.


They do not have an English menu and the Chinese menu was confusing for me.
I must be dyslexic at reading Chinese menus because it took me ages to understand their set meal.
The set meal had items that I wanted to try, so I ordered that.

However I wish the tables were bigger, unless you were sitting on a table for four people, there is not enough table space for all those dishes

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Duck breast in beer and sichuan spices:
This was an interesting appetiser because of beer and the sichuan spices.
The sichuan spices contain sichuan peppercorns which give your mouth a tingling sensation.
I liked the way the sauce gave a tingling sensation from the peppercorns followed by the bitterness and fizzyness of the beer.

 ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hutong noodles
These were the best noodles I have ever tasted, I was expecting boring noodles with a side of oyster sauce, but the sauce was amazing.
I loved they way they put the spring onions and sauce aside so you can control the amount you put in.
The sauce was no ordinary sauce, it contained garlic and cumin.

 ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lamb chops:
These lamb chops tasted amazing, they were soft and juicy absolutely no gaminess.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled cuttlefish balls
It could have been grilled more evenly because part of it was burnt and black and the cuttlefish balls were cut in half, so you only get two cuttlefish balls per skewer.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled octopus mouth:
Not sure if they were cooked because they were slightly translucent. They tasted really nice but it was too salty.

 ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled whelks:
I had high expectations for theses, but they were over grilled, dry and chewy.
I was expecting them to be grilled in their shells which would prevent them not being so dry.

 ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fermented beancurd chicken wings:
It just tasted like ordinary grilled chicken wings, there was not enough fermented beancurd sauce.

 ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lamb skewers:
Compared with the lamb chops, these were dry but very spicy.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled scallops:
This was also done the same way as the oysters, grilled with butter and garlic.
However the scallop was overdone and tough.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1453] Surprised by the filled egg tart! It's bleeding chocolate @ 超羣麵包西餅 Maria's Bakery

21/02/2012
超羣麵包西餅 Maria's Bakery
中環干諾道中23號香林大廈地下A舖
Shop A ,G/F Heung Lam Building, 23 Connaught Road, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/surprised-filled-egg-tart-its-bleeding-chocolate-e2220493

I have always wanted try Maria’s because of their egg tarts with runny centres.

I was hoping to try all their flavours, but they only had chocolate that day.
Other flavours I have heard of are: Mocha, Custard and Cheese.

The egg tarts were in a special cabinet at the takeaway counter, so I went to that counter to make an order.
I was waiting for a while and was not served.
It appears that the counter was not in service and you have to queue inside to get the egg tarts.

I wish there were some notice in English saying please queue inside and that the counter window should be closed because it was quite misleading. There were also other people who queued there and then found out you have to queue inside.
It would have been helpful if the staff could have redirected people inside the shop when they tried to order.

In the end, I got two chocolate egg tarts and a mini chicken pie!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken Pie HKD7:
I don’t eat Chinese chicken pies, but it looked too cute, so I got one.
The size of this pie was really small about 4cm in diameter, there was mini BBQ pork as well as other mini pastries.
I was surprised I liked it, the taste was similar to the one I had at North Point.
There was a huge chunk of chicken thigh meat inside and the pastry was so flakey and crispy that it was like eating a piece of western roast chicken with crispy skin!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chocolate Egg Tart HKD3.8
On the way back, I found out the hard way that it was REALLY filled with Liquid chocolate.
When I opened the box, I found that one of the tarts was already oozing chocolate liquid because there was a hole for it to seep out!

Woops!! Its Bleeding with chocolate!!!!!!!!
I wasn’t sure how to eat this egg tart because it was going to be messy, so I just used a spoon and dug in the centre.
I then realised there was mochi in the centre of the egg tart, which was really cool, it was the mochi that was holding the liquid chocolate inside.
I really liked this tart because there is less egg tart filing in proportion to the egg tart and there is yummy gooey mochi and liquid chocolate inside.
The sweetness was just right and I really regret not getting more because I hardly ever come here.
The base of the egg tart was short crust, which I prefer as well.
I just loved the chewiness of the mochi and the short crust pastry crumbling in my mouth with the liquid chocolate giving it flavour.
The tart does not look appetizing, but it tastes better than it looks.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1452] Utopia in Bentopia @ 便當工房 Bentopia

21/02/2012

便當工房 Bentopia
金鐘遠東金融中心地下D舖
Shop D, G/F, Far East Finance Centre, Admiralty
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/utopia-in-bentopia-e2220438

Found out about this Bento place on OpenRice and checked out their website.
They serve Japanese and Taiwanese food in a cute Bento box.
The name Bentopia sounded really interesting and reminded me of Utopia.

The only problem getting there was crossing so many roads and there were no traffic lights about.
Next time I will just come by MTR as it is located opposite one of the exits, but still there is an annoying dual carriageway to cross.

Anyway, before I came I had already decided to get the Taiwanese style minced meat bento with salad and Taiwanese style trotters.
I could have chosen the baked oyster instead of the trotters, but I ordered the oyster separately so that in came in a separate little box.

For the salad, I chose the Japanese lime vinegar salad.
Although the salad portion was small, there were four choices, Japanese sesame dressing, Chinese vinegar, Lime vinegar and Pomelo dressing.

I was quite curious about the Chinese vinegar salad because in Chinese it was translated as something else.

Anyway, after ordering, I was given a loyalty card.

When it arrived, my bento lunch was really cute, it was in a clear plastic bag, with the bento box at the bottom, and the other side dishes on top.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taiwanese style minced meat:
The minced meat was a bit disappointing because I was expecting minced meat and not cubes of meat with fat on it.
However, I do not know what the Chinese meant, so there could be a translation error on the menu.
Although I did not like the meat, the sauce was nice and gelatinous.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lime vinegar Salad
This was my favourite, the lime dressing was really refreshing, and the salad had sweetcorn, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and lettuce.
FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE AS IT WAS TOO DELICIOUS

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taiwanese style trotters
The trotters could have been softer, but they tasted better than I expected because they were not sweet.
I found these round balls which are supposed to be some kind of spices but I do not know what they are.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Baked Oyster
The baked oyster was quite nice, but there were pieces of broken oyster shell in it, so you have to be careful. The sauce on top was made of chopped egg white and mayonnaise sauce.

[Review 1451] Maxim's $10 cakes @ 美心西餅 Maxim's Cake Shop

美心西餅 Maxim's Cake Shop
將軍澳港鐵坑口站HAH 3號舖
Kiosk HAH 3, Hang Hau MTR Station, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/maxims-10-cakes-e2220277

The cakes in the cabinet looked inviting and they cost $10 per slice.
I bought three different cakes to try: blackforest, red bean and taro and dark chocolate.
Left: Black Forest, Middle: Red bean and taro, Right: Dark Chocolate
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Black forest cake slice
This was quite disappointing, the cake was made the Chinese way, with Chinese cream in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dark chocolate cake slice:
The taste of this one was not bad, at least it did not have Chinese chocolate cream that tastes like salted butter cream.
It actually tasted like Sara Lee’s double layer chocolate cake.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Red bean and taro cake slice:
I did not think I would like it because I don’t like red beans anyway.
But the cake was made of two layers, red bean cake on top and taro cake on the bottom.
The sweetness was too sweet which ruined it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★