[Review 1480] A different perspective of American cookies @ 菲爾斯曲奇專賣店 Mrs. Fields Cookies

06/03/2012

菲爾斯曲奇專賣店 Mrs. Fields Cookies
灣仔港鐵灣仔站WAC 3舖
Shop WAC 3, Wan Chai MTR Station, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/a-different-perspective-of-american-cookies-e2222913

Every time when I walk past Mrs Fields, there is a sweet smell lingering in the air.
It’s one of those shops that have been around for ages so there is no urgency in trying it and there are many branches around.

I never stopped by because they specialize in cookies and I didn’t know that American and British Cookies were different.

I have never liked cookies, because British cookies are just like hard biscuits.
But the American ones are so much different, not only are they bigger in size, they are soft and chewy!!!

Mrs Fields specializes in cookies, brownies and muffins.

As well as the cookies the muffins were also different, the British ones are disc shaped and the Americans are like cup cakes.
Muffins are nice, but I have always found them messy to eat, the top of the muffin would be hard, and the muffin beneath would just crumble.

In the end I decided to try the brownies which were so nice that I ended up trying their other products and I was addicted.

For the muffins, some flavours are only available on the even days of the week ie Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and the other flavours available on the odd days ie Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Brownies:
Amazingly rich and silky with intense cocoa taste.
There are three flavours: chocolate chip, chocolate fudge and double chocolate

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Butter muffin:
The flour mixture had a strong taste but did not over power the buttery taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apple and cinnamon muffin:
This is one of my favourite muffins because there is so much cinnamon and sugar on top which is crunchy.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apricot muffin $14
This is available on even days and there was generous pieces of apricot inside.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cherry muffin $14
Same as the apricot, it is is also available on even days.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Macadamia cookie:
There was generous pieces of macadamia nuts in it.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cream cheese ring cake
The cake was really rich with pieces of cream cheese in it.
It was more of chocolate cake than cheese.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Premium cup cake
This was quite dense and the size was smaller than the muffin.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cherry fudge $12
My favourite cookie, there was so much tart cherries in the cookie and it was nice and soft.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1479] Maur's Kitchen and its magical soups @ 摩廚 Maureen

06/03/2012
摩廚 Maureen
灣仔慶雲街11號地下
G/F, 11 Hing Wan Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/maurs-kitchen-and-its-magical-soups-e2222908


Found out about this restaurant through Jamel, but as I did not know what noodles they served and the location so I did not go until I saw it listed on Openrice.

After I read Jamel's review I just had to go.
However the opening hours are just 11-6pm for the time being.
This restaurant is located near the Blue house and inside this noodle bar it was really nice.

There were some Western comforts inside such the jar of Humbugs (old-fashioned British sweets) and there was some Spanish Ham with the hoof attached.

Some English sweets

Their concept was really good because they have used traditional Chinese soups as a broth for the noodles.
They have rich experience in making Chinese soups because they used to own The Soup Cafe.

There are basically two broths: Chinese ham, whelk and chicken or Pork and shark bones with dried scallop and Chinese mushrooms.
The chicken soup comes with the lemon chicken or the abalone, and the Roast pork and the Spanish ham which have a stronger taste is paired with the pork bone soup.

This was the kind of noodles and standards I was expecting for More Noodles in Central.
But anyway the price of the noodles here is cheaper than More Noodles and about the same price as Butao.
Although the menu is simple, it is concise and neat and had English.

It was really good that they offered Spanish Ham on the menu because it is similar to Chinese Jinhua ham.

Despite being opened recently the noodle bar was full of people and the turnover rate was quite fast.

In the end I chose the Abalone noodles and I was greedy so I ordered extra sides of Lemon chicken, Chinese wine egg and Spanish Ham, but to my dismay the Spanish Ham was sold out!
But I considered myself lucky because one of the broths was sold out too.

Same as More noodles I found myself scouring for the Abalone when the noodles arrived, however the presentation of the noodles here were brilliant, the Abalone, Chicken and Chinese Wine egg were served separately.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles:
I was really gutted because I forgot to take a picture of the noodles so I will have to be more descriptive.
On top of the noodles were some peashoots, chinese mushrooms and julienne potatoes which were not starchy.
The soup was as nice as expected however the julienne potatoes were slightly oily.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon chicken:
From the review below, it seems there was more black pepper on top, but there was less on mine.
The olive oil with lemon was served separately on a metal spoon.
The lemon and olive oil was not exactly sour as I hoped, and the chicken was sliced chicken breast which reminded me of those ready to eat chicken breast slices.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Abalone
I was really impressed that it was sliced for your convenience.
The abalone was covered in sauce which gave it some flavour.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chinese wine egg
The wine tasted strong and it was slightly bitter, it was sprinkled with rock salt which contains fruit peel in it.
I found the spoon that held the lemon oil a brilliant tool to eat the egg with because I can't eat with those Chinese ceramic spoons and chopsticks.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salt:
Italian salt which contains orange peel.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon and ginger drink
I loved this drink, it had the exact taste of sweetened fresh lemonade with ginger.
The ginger was quite strong.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1478] The warmth of Abalone treasures @ Hess 61 戀戀鮑情

06/03/2012
戀戀鮑情 Hess 61
灣仔軒尼詩道61號地下
G/F, 61 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-warmth-of-abalone-treasures-at-hess-61-e2222880

Found out about this new shop on Openrice because the name of the restaurant was interesting, I thought the English name was quite random and not related to the Chinese name.

After having abalone noodles at Maur's Kitchen I decided to try this place.

The menu offered was extremely interesting, although it was Chinese food they also served Iberico ham.

I found the double boiled hokkaido milk with abalone interesting, because hokkaido milk is usually for desserts and this time it is a savoury soup!

The Iberico ham linguine was also interesting, but in the end I ordered the Steamed Abalone with Rice Wrapped with lotus leaf and Fish noodles with abalone sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★


Steamed Abalone with Rice Wrapped with lotus leaf $88
I was really looking forward to this but it was disappointing because it was just plain egg fried rice with a piece of abalone in it.

The abalone sauce was separate.
The set came with black fungus in vinegar, orange juice and a dessert
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Fish noodles with abalone sauce $45
Although this was cheaper I really liked it, the noodles were made with fish were extremely soft and did not contain any grounded bones.

For the noodles there was a choice of instant noodles, udon or fish noodles.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★


The entrance of the restaurant was quite interesting, on the left there is a fishing net and some abalone shells in the basket where you can write messages and hang it on the fishing net.


Overall the food was ok, but I wished I ordered the hokkaido milk with abalone if I knew it was fried rice inside the wrapped rice.
The restaurant was surprisingly packed even though it had only opened by two days, however it was extremely noisy.

[Review 1477] Beijing + Szechuan + Shanghai Delights @ 京川滬風味小食坊

06/03/2012

京川滬風味小食坊 (已結業)
太子砵蘭街379號地下
G/F, 379 Portland Street, Prince Edward
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/beijing-szechuan-shanghai-delights-e2222821

Before I did not know there were so many different types of Chinese cuisines and I happened to come across the Cantonese/Hong Kong style most, which I did not like.

I kept coming across soy milk, shanghai dumplings, noodles, dishes flavoured with cumin.

Then whenever I found those restaurants on Openrice they were classified under Jingchuanhu.
To be honest I do not know much on the Jingchuanhu (京川滬) cuisine but now I have learnt that it is a combination of three cuisines.

Jingchuanhu 京川滬 = Jing 京 + Chuan川 + Hu滬
Jing 京 represents food from Beijing, Chuan 川 represents food from Szechuan and Hu滬 represents Shanghainese food.

The food here was amazing that I came here twice.
On my first visit I did not order the set which I regretted, so on my second visit I ordered the set.
The staff here were very friendly.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
醬骨架 - Ribs in sauce
The meat was so soft and it came off the bone easily.
They even had disposable gloves too.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
三絲涼麵 - Cold noodles:
This was served in a bowl which was different from the previous reviews which was served in a shallow dish.
The sauce was at the bottom of the bowl so you need to mix it before you start eating it.
The sauce was runnier than the usual sauce you come across, but there was generous pieces of ham, french beans, peanuts, cucumber and picked vegetables.
I do not usually eat peanuts, but the ones here were delicious and the sauce was slightly tangy. The sliced mushrooms which I do not eat tasted nice as well, so I ate everything in the bowl.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Wuhan Re gan mian - Hot Dry noodles
These are breakfast noodles served in Wuhan. They were slightly similar to the cold noodles but they contained sichuan peppercorn and lots of cumin.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chili and bean sauce:
When I saw it, it had something unique about it, the colour was dark burgandy and the texture of it was quite thick for a sauce.
I was fascinated to find beans in the sauce, but these beans are different to other beans in chili bean sauce.
They were much bigger in size and flatter.
I think they may have been broad beans and it was a shame I didn't take more pictures of the beans.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shanghai dumplings:
These were piping hot and contained so much meat juice inside that you have to be careful when eating it.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan fried dumplings and Meat buns:
I felt that these two were quite similar. The pan fried dumplings had a softer exterior and the meat buns had a crispy exterior both containing pork inside.
Although I am not fond of them, the chili sauce made them so delectable.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soy milk:
The soy milk was soothing and not too sweet

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I really liked this cosy joint, and they even had paper bowls and disposable gloves for your convenience.

On my second visit they got my order wrong and when I told them, they were very nice and replaced it for me.
I really admire the owners of this shop because they were previously from a different industry and yet their food is fantastic. While I was there, there were some customers who seemed to be their old colleagues and the world is so small that they happen to all live in the same area!!!

[Review 1476] More than your average noodles @ 醉滋味 More than Noodles . BAR

醉滋味 More than Noodles . BAR
中環威靈頓街33號 The Loop 13樓
13/F, The Loop, 33 Wellington Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/more-than-your-average-noodles-e2222815

Vermicelli and flat rice noodles are boring that’s why the noodles here attracted me.
There are so many different types.
The last time I had some decent noodles was at Happy Noodles in Happy Valley because they had Laksa and Tom Yum Kung soup base.

Anyway I came here especially for the noodles with abalone and fish maw which cost $138.
The udon with garoupa and the noodles with prawns both cost over $100 per bowl.

The rest of the choices could be ordered at other restaurants so I chose the abalone and fish maw.
However I felt the noodles were rather expensive because at Maur's Kitchen in wanchai you can order abalone or parma ham noodles for $88 excluding service charge.

There are five types of noodles which can be seen in the picture below.
I chose the bottom most one which is a flat noodle sheet cut in triangles.

 ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish maw and abalone noodles
For a bowl of noodles costing $138 you could imagine the most important item is the Abalone, so I was expecting to see the abalone or the presentation as good as their product picture above.
But all I could see was the vegetables on top.

Anyway, I found the Abalone and fish maw in the end underneath the noodles.

The noodles which were cut in triangles reminded me of wonton skins cut in half.

But overall the noodles tasted great, and the soup was nice and gelatinous.
The fish maw was nice, but it was a bit too fishy.
The abalone was soft and fresh.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chili sauce
They make their own chili sauce and you can also buy jars of it to take home.
The chili sauce tasted really nice.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
While I was waiting for the food I noticed so many abalone shells

For improvements I think they should improve on the presentation before serving it, but then I did not see the noodles when it left the Chef's hands, the abalone and fish maw may have sunk beneath while it was being brought over to my table.

[Review 1475] Darrie-Darrie-Go-go-go-go-go-go @ 大熱高湯麵 Darrie-Go!-Noodles

05/03/2012

大熱高湯麵 Darrie-Go!-Noodles
北角電氣道256號華凱大廈地下
G/F, Wah Hoi Mansion, 256 Electric Road, North Point
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/darrie-darrie-go-go-go-go-go-go-e2222806

This restaurant stood out on Open Rice because the name sounded interesting, I thought it was American at first, but then realised it was Chinese because it was the Mandarin phonics for 大熱 as in Darrie.
Nevertheless, Darrie-go sounded exciting, it reminded me of racing carts.

After I saw the reviews, I liked it even more because the dishes had some Chinese dynasty style to it.

I had more expectation for the noodles because they had different soups with different noodles.

In the end ordered the set with two noodles which includes five side dishes.
Basically there are three types of soup you can choose for the noodles: Clear beef soup, Fish soup and the Chicken soup and for the noodles there were konjac noodles, thick rice noodles (maesin) and thin noodles (yeungchunmean).

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Black fungas:
This was a chilled appetizer with black fungas and sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
The taste was slightly sweet for me
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mushrooms in abalone sauce
These were king oyster mushrooms in oyster sauce, but there was no oyster sauce taste, all I could taste was strong garlic.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawn balls with a plum sauce centre:
I felt the oil they used for frying was slightly old and it was over done which affected the flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Konjac noodles in beef soup
The konjac noodles were very chewy and elastic and the beef soup was bland.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Baby chinese cabbage/chicory in fish soup:
This was quite nice, but I was surprised the broth tasted stronger than the fish broth for the noodles which was the same.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles in fish soup:
The noodles were not bad, but the soup was tastelss, the same broth that was used for the vegetables was much stronger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried dace dumplings
I liked this but the oil that it had been fried in was old, and it had been fried too long.
It was also too oily.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon tea:
With all the nice dishes they used for the food, I wish they matched the drink with a better glass/cup because the presentation of the glass let it down.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawn patty wrapped in Bamboo pith
This was quite nice, but tasted bland.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mushroom and preserved sausage wontons:
I am not a fan of preserved sausages so I cant comment.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Overall, I really liked the concept and the way they presented their dishes, but the taste was bland.

[Review 1474] Typhoon Shelter fried chicken at KFC @ 肯德基家鄉雞 (KFC)Kentucky Fried Chicken

05/03/2012

肯德基家鄉雞 (KFC)Kentucky Fried Chicken
灣仔港灣道30號新鴻基中心1樓101-103A舖及111舖及140舖
Shop 101-103A, 111 & 14, 1/F, 30 Sun Hung Kai Centre, Harbour Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/typhoon-shelter-fried-chicken-at-kfc-e2222777

I have not tried the Typhoon Shelter crab before so I do not know what it tastes like but I would imagine it tastes garlicky because it is cooked with garlic, spring onions, red chili and black beans.

Anyway I got one piece of Typhoon shelter fried chicken HKD12.9 and wanted to try the coffee egg tart but it was sold out.

When I opened the box, it smelt of garlic, however it just looked like an ordinary fried chicken, the herbs shown on the product shot were barely visible in the real thing.

The taste of the chicken was quite nice, it was garlicky and spicy. The spiciness was not as strong as the spicy fried chicken.

There was also the lemon and butter hot wings I wanted to try but unfortunately I am allergic to that type of chili and luckily there was only a tiny amount in the Typhoon Shelter fried chicken.