[Review 1725] Red velvet cake @ Ginger bakery

24/08/2012
Ginger Bakery (已結業)
灣仔莊士敦道55號地下
G/F, 55 Johnston Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/red-velvet-cake-ginger-bakery-e2253610

The red velvet cake was new so tried that, as well as that there was the rocky mountain pie which I would like to try as well but that looked solid and hard.

The cake tasted nice and the buttercream complemented it well, however the cake itself was too hard.
I would prefer it softer.

[Review 1724] C'est la Vie @ C'est la B

24/08/2012

C'est la B
大坑銅鑼灣道110-114號地下3號舖
Shop 3, G/F, 110-114 Tung Lo Wan Road, Tai Hang
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cest-la-vie-cest-la-b-e2253608

I have always wanted to go to the branch in Central but I never managed to find it, but luckily there is a branch in Tai Hang which was great. But now there is another branch in Admiralty.

I nearly walked past this place because it was black and dark.

As expected, it was visually stunning inside, lots of black with colourful butterflies, cushions and chairs to contrast it.
The layout of the Admiralty branch is almost the same as this one too.

Even the cutlery they had matched the cake house. Their cutlery was dark shiny black chrome which gives it an expensive touch to it compared to normal silverware and it really fits in with the black theme.

On the wall were a display of colourful acrylic cake servers.

On the left they had lovely hanging tea ware lights and pretty butterflies on the ceiling.

Anyway finally went to choose my cakes, there were so many colourful artisan cakes on display.
However they were not labelled so it was a bit intimidating to ask about every cake and luckily it was not busy that time.
I wish they were labelled because it would make my life easier making the right choice because they were expensive too.
I checked the photos for the Admiralty branch and the cakes are not labelled there as well.
I thought it was a waste of great ideas as well because according to the reviews and their website, each cake has a special and beautiful name which was not labelled.

I only found out the cake names from the previous reviews.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Madame Butterfly:

This was visually stunning and since it was not busy that day, the lady was able to tell me what each layer was.
The red was beet root, the pastel green was pistachio and the last layer was chocolate.
Overall I loved this cake, the sweetness was light and the cake was super soft.
The dried apricots at the top were nice too and a better ingredient to use than mango.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
SunShine


I liked this one too it was lemon and poppy seed which was so refreshing.
The poppy seed was a good complement to the light lemon cake and gave it some slight crisp texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Next time I will get a takeout from the Admiralty branch as well because the cake box is so beautiful, for special occasions the cake comes with a funky cake server knife and candles, for pictures of the box and candles see the other reviews.

[Review 1723] Appalling food and customer service at the pond @ 金凱鮮庭 Golden Pond

24/08/2012

金凱鮮庭 Golden Pond
北角麥連街寶榮大廈地下I舖
Shop I, G/F, Po Wing Building, Merlin Street, North Point
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/appauling-food-and-customer-service-at-the-pond-e2253607

I have always wanted to try this place because they specialize in seafood and lobster with E-Fu noodles.

I was intending to try their E-fu noodles with lobster and the crabs.

Anyway when I got there the service was not particularly welcoming and when I asked about how their noodles were cooked they were really rude and just regurgitated the menu.
I did not know the difference between 燴伊麵 and 湯伊麵.
The answer I got was "燴就係燴羅, 湯就係湯伊麵羅," so as I did not know if the 燴伊麵 had sauce, so I asked if it had sauce and she answered in a sarcastic way, "of course it has sauce".
In English I was roughly trying to ask the two different methods they used to cook the noodles and the answer I got back was roughly "stir-fried means stir-fried and boiled means boiled" so if you don't know what boiled means they do not really help by repeating the the word boiled, it would be more helpful if they explained the process.

Apart from their attitude, I loved it the way the menu had attitude too, it states clearly there are no free drinks or soups included after lunch time!
In the end I just ordered two noodles and skipped the crab because I might as well spend the money elsewhere.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lobster with E-Fu noodles 燴伊麵 [wui style]:

When it came the E-Fu noodles were covered with clear gravy topped with slices of lobster.
I was expecting the lobster to come in its shell! Perhaps only the baked version comes in its shell.
There was not much lobster meat, luckily the noodles were not rancid, but the gravy was quite salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Scallops in black bean garlic sauce with E-fu noodles

This was really nice because the steamed garlic sauce went on the noodles but the scallops were extremely tiny and I was expecting them to be bigger according to previous reviews.
The ovaries/roe part was almost invisible, after they were removed you could see how tiny the scallops were.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
For both noodles, the amount of vegetables were amazingly stingy if you look at the previous reviews.
I chose this place because the picture showed lots of vegetables which led me to think you could get a balanced meal here.

[Review 1722] The golden x confusion at 金X庭京川滬菜館 @ 金滿庭京川滬菜館 Modern China Restaurant

24/085/2012
金滿庭京川滬菜館 Modern China Restaurant
馬鞍山鞍祿街18號新港城中心4期2105舖
Shop 2105, Sunshine City Plaza 4,18 On Luk Street, Ma On Shan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-golden-x-confusion-at-%E9%87%91x%E5%BA%AD%E4%BA%AC%E5%B7%9D%E6%BB%AC%E8%8F%9C%E9%A4%A8-e2253602

I have always dined at the Modern China Restaurant in Diamond Hill and the food has always been great, but then a branch called Golden Shanghai opened in Hang Hau (which is now closed).
As I did not look at the English name I did not know they were different restaurants because the food was almost 99% the same except for the teapot.

I did not know they were different restaurants until I tried to search Modern China on OpenRice because there were less branches and the Hang Hau branch was missing.

Then on OpenRice I found out the second Chinese character was different:
金滬庭京川滬菜館 Golden shanghai cuisine
金滿庭京川滬菜館 Modern China Restaurant

Anyway, this branch of Modern China is also good and the manager Pexxx Kxx is really friendly and gave expert advice for choosing the dishes.
Apart from the food, the Chinese teas were also interesting it had ginseng in it which had a sweet aftertaste.

Had the starters which were presented in a nice array of china.
The jellied meat was interesting and the drunken chicken was my favourite.

For the vegetables had the purple potatoes with some Chinese greens.

The fish was the best, it was not too sweet or sour and the fish meat was tender

Lastly the prawns were really good and the taste was delicate and the prawns had a nice gel like coating on them.

I also tried the souffle ball which I did not take a picture of but it was interesting, the filling was red beans and banana.

[Review 1721] Soft scrambled egg curry @ Izumi Curry

24/08/2012

Izumi Curry
銅鑼灣軒尼詩道500號希慎廣場11樓Kitchen 11
Kitchen 11, 11/F, Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/soft-scrambled-egg-curry-izumi-curry-e2253599

When they had their first restaurant at Tsim Sha Tsui I never noticed it on OpenRice because the eggs at that branch did not look so good, but after seeing the photos of food from this place, their eggs looked really nice.
I just assumed the Japanese style eggs would be the omelette type which are tasteless.

Anyway I just came here for the egg so if the curry was good then it would be a bonus.

I also wanted to try the scotch egg which I will try next time, the only big regret was not ordering extra cheese because it looked like melted chedder cheese and not tasteless mozzarella cheese.

Tried two curries: Beef curry and Soft scrambled egg curry.

As this place has just newly opened the Suntory brand oolong tea was complimentary.

The style is similar to the usual Japanese restaurant where the cutlery and tissues are contained in a small tray, however there was only one piece of tissue between two people (for the wet tissues there was two).

A glass of water was provided.

The ceiling was nice and high with nice decor.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef curry:


The portion was quite small, but the curry sauce was nicer than the one for the soft scrambled egg which had a darker colour and tasted spicier.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soft scrambled egg curry

The curry sauce was disappointing because it did not taste as good as CoCo Ichibanya which is less expensive.
The staff did not offer the level of spicyness of the curry which seems to be an option from the menu.
The curry was definitely different to the one used in the beef curry because the beef one was sweeter.
But since I came just for the egg, the egg was what I expected but slightly bland and there was no salt on the table to give it taste.
I really regretted not ordered the one with cheese because it might have been a nice combination.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1720] Goodbye for now and see you at Cyberport @ Eski Mo's Frozen Yogurt

24/08/2012
Eski Mo's Frozen Yogurt
北角英皇道225號國都廣場地下02號舖
Shop 02, G/F, Olympia Plaza, 255 King's Road, North Point
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/goodbye-for-now-and-see-you-at-cyberport-e2253598

Found out from Spicygal's review that they are going to move to Cyberport so I just had to get their yogurt again.
However found out that they do pizza's as well so I hope to come again and try the pizzas before they move.

Cyberport is really far away so I hope they open another branch, but I think Cyberport would be a good location for them because their vibrant themes and designs would match those settings.

I love their froyos but last time I could only try two flavours so I did not try the original.

This time I ordered the Original Tart and I wished they had Taro too because that was my favourite as well.

The Original Tart had a really nice natrual yogurt taste and for the toppings I chose Honey Mochi which was so lovely and soft and not too sweet.

It was the softest mochi topping I have tried and it was cut to reasonably big size pieces.
I am also really gutted I havent their other wacky froyo flavours such as:
Chocolate mint toothpaste, hazelnut chocolate, pistachio and greet tea!

Anyway, I hope to try their pizza soon before they move because they are all VEGETARIAN!! and I was surprised by the vegetarian beef and chicken ingredients, If I do make it before they move I hope I can try some other froyo flavours too.

[Review 1719] Why was it sprinkled with sesame? @ 豪星咖啡店 Ho Sing Coffee Shop

24/08/2012
豪星咖啡店 Ho Sing Coffee Shop
灣仔軒尼詩道87號地下
87 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/why-was-it-sprinkled-with-sesame-e2253575

On my first visit I found something in my fried rice but I decided to give it a revisit.
It seems that I was not the only one to find something, ChanJan also found an ant in the drink!

This time I did not find anything extra however I was given an extra topping!

I ordered the fish shaomai which was from their steamer, as with all fish shaomai they put chili oil/sauce or soy sauce on it and the dark red sauce that is used for rice rolls if you ask for it.
Anyway, he asked me if I wanted soy sauce and chili sauce so I said Yes so I was just expecting those two, but before I could even stop him, he had already sprinkled sesame seeds on the fish shaomai.

I have never seen any other shop sprinkle sesame seeds on fish shaomai but only on rice rolls from my experience.

As the taste, the fish shaomai were not hot enough, the sauce was quite nice apart from the sesame seeds.
Although the sauce was plain soy sauce and chili, it had other sauces mixed in which I hope wasnt left over sauces from other stuff!

The price was really expensive as well, usually fish shaomai ranges from $10 to $12 but here it costs $16 not including a drink.