[Review 1478] Pan fried cuttlefish eggs, thats a first! @ 蒂蒂香 Di Di Xiang

05/09/2012
蒂蒂香 Di Di Xiang
旺角西洋菜南街228號地下
G/F ,228 Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/pan-fried-cuttlefish-eggs-thats-a-first-e2256106

I was attracted to this place because of the cuttlefish eggs but as I do not go to MK often I did not try this place immediately.

I happened to pass by and saw pictures of the cuttlefish eggs and realised it was the shop I was planning to try so I went in.

Luckily they had an English menu, but you need to ask for it which is irritating because if I was in a hurry, I would pick another restaurant that has English rather than waste my time asking for one.

When I saw the reviews of the cuttlefish eggs I just assumed they were flattened cuttlefish balls but after checking out the menu I found out they were made from Cuttlefish eggs which was even better because not many places in HK have them.

According to GKC’s review they have them at Ap Lei Chau market.

The fish noodles were sold out so I had to pick the Chaozhou handmade noodles.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan fried cuttlefish egg
When they came they had a slightly golden surface which was good because they were not burnt.
They had a really delicate taste and it was slightly sweet. I did not use the sweet chili sauce on it because I felt that vinegar or chili oil was a better complement.
The major let down was that the pan frying oil or the pan that was used because there was a rancid oil taste which really ruined the cuttlefish egg since it doesn’t have much taste, so the oil taste is very prominent.
As for the texture, it was so soft and foamy but if you compare it to marshmallow it does not melt in your mouth and it is firmer. The texture is really similar to those Japanese white pillows at 三河屋 MIKAWAYA and Issei Nabe.
Cuttlefish eggs are slightly different from roe, which are much tinier, these are liquid filled sacks, which are grounded to make these snacks!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Special sauce with chaozhou handmade noodles

I wanted the fish noodles with the special sauce but they were sold out so had to get the Chaozhou handmade noodles.
The noodles came with soup, but the soup was too salty.

The sauce on the noodles was quite nice, there was so much grounded sesame seeds in it and it was slightly sour. Apart from the sauce I did not like the noodles much because they were hard and chewy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I was really surprised they had a website too, and it works (depending on what time you check!!).
Apart from this noodle joint they are a fishball manufacturer in China.

[Review 1747] Food at the Historic Lin Heung Tea House

04/09/2012
蓮香樓 (已易手) 新餐廳
Lin Heung Tea House
中環威靈頓街160-164號
160-164 Wellington Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/food-at-the-historic-lin-heung-tea-house-e2255885

With history as far back as Yung Kee, Lin Heung Tea House is on the other side of Central close to Sheung Wan.

I was so surprised to see that there are so many reviews on this place so here is my review too.

I just expected it to be an ordinary Chinese restaurant so I never intended to go.
Although there was one time I was standing at the entrance thinking to go in or not but I ended up trying something else.

The restaurant is slightly different in the daytime and evening, in the daytime they serve dimsums and in the night time they serve Chinese dishes.
The Chinese tea however seems fun in the daytime because from the photos on OpenRice, it shows two cups, one full of tea leaves with a lid and another cup for you to pour the tea in similar to the ones you see on old Chinese Television programmes.

I did not read the reviews on OpenRice so I was not sure about the food prices, but it turned out quite economical around $100 per person, however some foods which expats and tourists are bound to pick were quite expensive such as the Lemon chicken which costs $100.

But since there were so many reviews and expats eating there, the food seemed assuring.

Although I looked at the menu, I did not know what to order so I left it to a local and luckily they knew exactly what to order.
Personally Lemon chicken would be my pick, but it was slightly over priced so I thought it would be better off trying new and more traditional items which I would not know to order.

The tea was White Peony, which was quite nice because usually the common choices are Jasmine, Iron Buddha and Oolong.

It seems that this place specialises in Lotus paste too and part of the name for this restaurant means Fragrance of Lotus.
At the entrance they seem to have a stall possible selling mooncakes/Lotus related pastries which I did not pay attention to at the time.
Edging away from the food topic, they also had these tin pots which I am guessing they used for Phelgm???
So either the air pollution must be bad years ago or the locals here have over productive glands for phelgm LOL !!
I can imagine this quote being posted on the DLopenricer blog.

Anyway back to food!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried prawn rolls wrapped in beancurd sheets:

This was really nice, the oil had been drained off after deep frying and the bean curd was really flaky and delicate.
When you eat them they make a noise.
Inside the beancurd rolls were fresh whole prawns that had taste and didnt need extra MSG. Overall the prawn rolls were full of flavour they tasted nice with or without the worcester sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shark lips with lettuce

When it came, I thought they were fish maw but they were shark lips, when I knew they were lips I was expecting them to be soft like gelatin, but the texture was interesting, it was similar to cartilage, but apparently they contain alot of collagen.
The lettuce beneath it soaked up the gravy so it was delicious.
But since sharks are so much bigger than fish, it probably explains why the texture is like cartilage.
I would definitely order this again.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1746] Strawberry mousse cubes wiv green tea powder @ 瀰月屋 Mitsukiya

04/09/2012
瀰月屋 Mitsukiya
天后清風街15號
15 Tsing Fung Street Street, Tin Hau
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/strawberry-mousse-cubes-wiv-green-tea-powder-%E7%80%B0%E6%9C%88%E5%B1%8B-e2255849

Since my last visit at Mitsukiya there are new items which is good however the menu is still as complicated as before.
They have some product pictures and English on the back, which helps slightly, but these are only the popular items and it does not have the complete menu in English, which is annoying.

As the menu was not that understandable I ended up ordering the rainbow jelly and strawberry mousse cube with green tea powder.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
strawberry mousse cube with green tea powder:
Had this first and it tasted really nice, the strawberry cube was not actually mousse but the texture was similar to mousse because the Chinese description did not say it was a mousse so I asked the waitor and he said it was similar to mousse but not mousse.
It tasted like strawberry yoghurt mousse with grounded pieces of strawberry pips and the exterior of the cube was coated with green tea powder, which had some sugar on it.
The green tea powder was freshly coated on the strawberry cubes because the surface was still dry which was good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
rainbow jelly
I have always wanted to try this because it was visually appealing but the taste was really horrible.
Firstly it was too sweet and the flavouring was too artificial.
The jelly texture was similar to Kanten jelly.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1745] Interesting desserts @ 德發小廚 Tak Fat Restaurant

04/09/2012

德發小廚 Tak Fat Restaurant
深水埗基隆街365號地下
G/F, 365 Ki Lung Street, Sham Shui Po
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/interesting-desserts-tak-fat-restaurant-e2255764

Apart from Sham Shui Po, they have another restaurant in Kennedy Town, however the star Chef seems to cook at this branch.

This restaurant was on my wish list but since I did not know the restaurant name I could not locate it, I came here for the desserts only, but after sitting down and checking out the menu I am tempted to come here later for the Chinese dishes.

When I opened the door I was greeted by the a smiling guy in a Chef's coat, after sitting down and seeing the newspapers I realized he was the head chef.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Front shot of the smiling chef posted by an OpenRice member
http://static4.orstatic.com/UserPhoto/photo/2/2AT/00GCY11515B0AB6AD6047Dl.jpg
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anyway ordered the Coconut milk cubes and the Red wine Jelly.

I wanted to order the beer jelly but it was sold out so tried the wine jelly.
As well as the beer jelly there were other items that I wanted to try such as the souffle so I guess I will have to leave it for my next visit.

Since it was the afternoon session, it came with a drink.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coconut milk cubes:

These were cubes of smooth milk pudding coated in desiccated coconut.
The taste was really milky and not too sweet with the occasional touch of coconut.
I would have like a lighter mousse texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Red wine jelly:

The red wine taste was extremely strong and the jelly texture was really light that it was almost not jelly form and it was more like gel.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon tea:
The tea they used was very bitter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1744] Great concept but the quality does not match up @ 本立堂 Benlitang

03/09/2012
本立堂 Benlitang
中環昭隆街3號地舖
G/F, 3 Chiu Lung Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/great-concept-but-the-quality-does-not-match-up-e2255701

This is a relatively new ramen joint in Central and there are not many reviews on this place so I decided to try it.
It seems quite strange with the ramen craze that not many people have tried it or even reviewed it.
Anyway, when I got there the menu was quite good, they had about six different broths, dumplings and different noodles to choose from.
However the dumplings were no longer available and the noodles were down to a few choices.
The unavailability of the dumplings were a big disappointment because there were so many flavours: Curry, Pepper, Water chestnut, tomato, octopus [takoyaki - jeung yu]. I really wanted to try the octopus dumpling but it wasnt available!!!

For broths they had:
Spicy pork bone / pork bone / sichuan chili pork bone / miso pork bone / soy sauce / Curry Black pepper and vinegar / hokkaido butter corn.

Judging by the broth and dumpling choices it somehow does not seem authentic Japanese ramen, but Japanese inspired with a hint of Chinese fusion.

For noodles they had: udon, white noodles, white chewy noodles, yellow noodles, chewy yellow noodles and thick noodles.
The choice were great but they should have sample pictures or a better description just like Kurotaki in Causeway Bay.

The noodles were priced according to the broth.
The prices were either $60 or $70 which is nearly the price of the noodles at Butao or Ippudo.
I wanted to try the hokkaido butter one but in the end chose spicy pork bone and black vinegar!

When the noodles arrived they both looked identical from the colour to the contents!! SPOT THE DIFFERENCE!!

Spicy pork bone broth
I tried the black vinegar and there was no hint of sourness or any smell of vinegar which was totally disappointing because that broth cost $70 and I might as well go to the other well known ramen places.
I queried why there was no vinegar taste and they just said there is vinegar on the table which I could add, so if that was the case I might as well order a $60 broth and use the vinegar on the table.

I would have thought the vinegar that they used would be different from the condiments on the table, anyway they finally gave me some extra vinegar and it was not even BLACK, it was Yellow coloured!!!!

Black vinegar that is not black??
Black vinegar on the receipt
So it was really weird that on the menu it was called BLACK vinegar but the one they use was not BLACK!!

Just for fun I took a picture of the NOT BLACK vinegar next to the vinegar on the table which was BLACK!
Bottle on the right is da Vinegar from the table!
For the spicy pork broth there was nothing overly delicious about it.
For the noodles I chose white chewy noodles but they just seemed like the ones at Ajisen.

[Review 1743] Hand made fish Shaomai wrapped in wonton skin @ Lemon Tree

03/09/2012
Lemon Tree
太子太子道西157號別樹華軒11號舖
Shop 11, Bijou Apartments, 157 Prince Edward Road West, Prince Edward
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/hand-made-fish-shaomai-wrapped-in-wonton-skin-e2255699

Walked past and assumed it was an ordinary juice joint but when I saw the snack menu they had hand made fish shaomai ( made by themselves ) which was interesting so I tried the fish shaomai.

When he removed the lid, you could see the fish shaomai were larger than the average ones and the fish shaomai skin was not yellow and it looked like wonton skin so I asked if it was wonton skin and he said it was wonton skin.

Overall the fish shaomai tasted quite nice, however the fish taste was very bland.
The texture was extremely soft so it they were not over steamed it would probably taste quite nice.

[Review 1742] Wasabi tonkatsu @ 一風堂 Ippudo HK

03/09/2012
一風堂 Ippudo HK
金鐘金鐘道93號Lab Concept 金鐘廊1樓F04-F06舖
Shop F04-F06, 1/F, LAB Concept, Queensway Plaza, 93 Queensway, Admiralty
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/wasabi-tonkatsu-hakata-ippudo-in-admiralty-e2255697

Wasabi tonkatsu @ Hakata Ippudo in Admiralty

Found out about this new branch of Ippudo while going to Arome Bakery Room.
Previously just tried the noodles at Ippudo in TST.
The items offered at different branches seem to be slightly different.

At this branch they had the Wasabi broth noodles which was not available at the TST branch so I tried that and I also tried the grilled gyozas and grilled tofu.

The music and air conditioning at this branch was of slight nuisance.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Wasabi tonkatsu


They did not have this at the TST branch so tried it here, the wasabi in the soup was really strong and surprisingly it tasted really nice and the broth was quite thick as well.
Compared to the product pictures, they could have been more generous with the wasabi leaves and spring onions.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled gyozas

The gyozas were grilled just right and the skin was slightly crispy with juicy grounded meat inside.
Although they were nice, I felt that the gyozas at Hide Chan are better and the sauce that came with it was nicer too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled tofu with yam and cheese

Initially the dish looked really heavy but it tasted quite nice, the yam was very viscous and slimy and went well with the tofu, however the cheese was slightly over grilled.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Picked ginger - condiments

Compared to other ramen joints, this was the best pickled ginger because they did not taste sweet, it was savoury and sour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★