[Review 1755] Rice Rolls al-dente style and I like it @ 合益泰小食 Hop Yik Tai

10/09/2012
合益泰小食 Hop Yik Tai
深水埗桂林街121號地舖
G/F, 121 Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/rice-rolls-al-dente-style-and-i-like-it-e2256992

Finally found out where this place was located after trying the place for second best rice rolls in SSP.
I missed it on my initial visit because the seating area is behind the counter.

Unfortunately I cannot compare like with like in this case since the rice roll at the other place was different.
Here I just had the plain rice rolls and pork shaomai.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Plain rice rolls
As I do not like the sesame sauce I asked for it without, when it came the rice rolls were in soy sauce. After trying the soy sauce, the soy sauce tasted like watered down soy sauce that was not salty so I added some chilli sauce, soy sauce and sweet sauce from the table to it.

I did not experience the “silkiness” as others described it but it may have been the sesame sauce that gives it this effect.
However the texture of the rice rolls were extremely al-dente and I loved it, it gives me a sense of fullness after I have eaten it.
When noodles/rice are too soft, it feels like you haven’t really eaten anything.
But after a while, the rice rolls get soft after absorbing the soy sauce, so next time I will just ask for PLAIN rice rolls without any sauce so they remain al-dente.
The rice rolls have been rolled really taut and the diameter is slightly smaller than the usual ones.
I will definitely be back for these rice rolls again.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork Shaomai:
I did not know they were pork when I ordered them because it just said $9 for 3 and did have any other information on whether it was fish, pork or beef.
The colour of it looked like beef and when I ate it, there were so many pieces of diced shiitake mushrooms and it tasted exactly like the shaomai at Health Works. However the texture of the shaomai here were much chewier and there was lots of flour in the mixture.
After reading the reviews on OpenRice, it appears that it is pork.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1754] Ku Cool Durianlicious grass jelly drink @ 小甜谷 Xiao Tian Gu

07/09/2012
小甜谷 Xiao Tian Gu
尖沙咀廣東道3-27號海港城海運大廈LCX 3樓7E1號舖
Shop 7E1, 3/F, LCX, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/ku-cool-durianlicious-grass-jelly-drink-%E5%B0%8F%E7%94%9C%E8%B0%B7-e2256556

Although the main branch is in Tai Hang, I have never tried it before, but when I walked past this branch and looked at the menu they had various durian drinks, which seemed nice, so decided to try that.
There were other items I wanted to try such as the milk pudding but this is only available at the Tai Hang branch.

I did not know SiuTimGuk [Xiao Tian Gu] was opened by Jo but that explains why there is a GUK in the name and so many celebrity photos on the wall.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Durian drink with grass jelly:

When it came, almost half the cup was filled with grass jelly, which was rather generous.
I was really surprised it tasted nice and not too sweet, it was lovely and creamy and not icy.
They put real durian and not flavouring however I think they chose a durian that did not have strong flavours incase some people were not keen on Durian.
As well as grass jelly they also had some sago in the drink too.
All in all, it tasted like a lovely thick milkshake without the ice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chocolate pudding:

Again another surprise! The jelly was the reason why I got the pudding because the jelly was glistening like gold, but I could not taste any alcohol as mentioned in the other reviews.
Although there was no alcohol taste, the chocolate taste was really nice and chocolately because there was a good balance and cocoa and milk. There are some chocolate puddings that just taste of strong cocoa or just milky but this one tasted like melted Galaxy chocolate mixed with Gelatin.
When I put the spoon in it, I was surprised the dessert was quite firm to the extent that it came off the bowl cleanly.
The texture could be described as curded plastic or those steamed chinese puddings such as bootjaigo but with a really firm texture.

The orange jelly on top was even firmer than the pudding, which was quite appropriate, because it made chocolate pudding not so firm in comparison.
As well as jelly the pudding was topped with orange rind and crushed cashew nuts which also complemented the pudding nicely.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Review 1753] Bring back Prawn king and fish king @ 豚王 Butao Ramen

07/09/2012
豚王 Butao Ramen
尖沙咀棉登徑28號錦榮商業大廈地下
G/F, Kam Wing Commercial Building, 28 Minden Ave, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/bring-back-prawn-king-and-fish-king-butao-ramen-e2256507

As expected the ramen tasted as good as my previous visits.
After I had the green king there was no thirstiness that I had last time.

I also tried the Red King as well which was my first time trying it and the spiciness levels were at its maximum, the spiciness was so strong that it affects the senses in your nose as well.
It is different from the Sichuan chilli, a tiny drop really packs a punch.

Just the ramen alone is the best compared to the rest and the texture of the ramen is really silky.

The only disappointment were the choices for the broth because I was hoping to try the fish king, tomato king and the prawn king but they no longer serve it and the curry one was sold out too.
However the customer service was good because they gave out tissues to the diners and for the ramen choices they now have a thicker noodle as well as the original thin Hakkata type.

[Review 1752] Five spice beef tendon and rice @ Kai Kee Noodle 雞記潮州麵食

07/09/2012
雞記潮州麵食 Kai Kee Noodle
尖沙咀加拿分道15號C地下
G/F, 15C Carnarvon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/five-spice-beef-tendon-and-rice-kai-kee-noodle-e2256466

On my last visit I had the famous noodles mixed with soy sauce and the fried cuttlefish balls with seaweed, this time ordered the beef tendons in five spice powder with rice and the fried cuttlefish and seaweed balls again.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef tendons in five spice powder
Chose this because I did not want to eat beef and this dish was just pure tendons.
The portion looked quite small when it arrived but since it tasted nice I would prefer quality than quantity, although you have to becareful with the tendons as they have occaisional pieces of animal hair.
The tendons were so soft and gelatinous.
I was expecting thick sauce, but the sauce they used was the marinade sauce commonly found in Chaozhao lo shui dishes.
It tastes a bit like soy sauce with aniseed.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried cuttlefish and seaweed balls
The snacks reminded me of the meal I had at Sun Choo Koon in Tai Kok Tsui because of the cuttlefish and seaweed.
It was just like that cuttlefish patty with seaweed on top and the strong fish and seaweed soup they had.
The cuttlefish balls were really nice because the frying oil was clean, I loved the crispy coating.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
To try next time:
Curry wontons.
I wonder if they fried wonton with curry sauce or wontons with curried fillings.
The snacks reminded me of the meal I had at Sun Choo Koon in Tai Kok Tsui because of the cuttlefish and seaweed.
It was just like that cuttlefish patty with seaweed on top and the strong fish and seaweed soup they had.
The cuttlefish balls were really nice because the frying oil was clean, I loved the crispy coating.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
To try next time:
Curry wontons.
I wonder if they fried wonton with curry sauce or wontons with curried fillings.

[Review 1751 ] Oddballs, Oddly shaped fish meat patties @ 紅樹林甜品(芒果達人)

05/09/2012
紅樹林甜品(芒果達人)
將軍澳毓雅里9號慧安商場地下A141號舖
Shop A141, G/F, Well On Shopping Arcade, 9 Yuk Nga Lane, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/oddballs-oddly-shaped-fish-meat-patties-e2256124

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Potato noodles:
Not my cup of tea, they were chewy and the texture was like chewy gelatin that do not melt in your mouth.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish meat patties
These were quite nice, you could taste the fish and there was no grounded fish bones.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1750] Real glistening rice rolls, the photos did not lie @ 祥興麵家

05/09/2012
祥興麵家 (已結業)
深水埗鴨寮街192號地下
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/real-glistening-rice-rolls-the-photos-did-not-lie-e2256123

In Sham Shui Po, there is a place famous for rice rolls where people go.

Although this is not the one, I came here because the photos on OpenRice consistently showed the rice rolls with a glistening surface.


The must eat item is the shrimp and spring onion rice rolls, the rice rolls with fried dough sticks is nice too but the taste is inconsistent and the rest of the choices do not taste as good as this.


They serve crab congee too with crab roe, which is really cheap for $35.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
shrimp and spring onion rice rolls

As expected it was glistening when it came, the spring onions were freshly sprinkled and you can see that they are still as green as grass.
The spring onions were chopped so finely giving it maximum taste. The dried shrimps were clean without sand and shrimp shells.
The taste and texture of the rice rolls were great but the only thing that let it down was the temperature, they were not hot enough.
It would be great if there was more soy sauce and the other sauces served separately or have the sauces on the table so you can control how much sauce you want.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1749]Thanks a trillion with a Trillion Cherry Ganache @ Thomas Trillion

05/09/2012
Thomas Trillion
天后永興街17號凱旋樓地下
G/F Triumphant Court, 17 Wing Hing Street, Tin Hau
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/thanks-a-trillion-with-a-trillion-cherry-ganache-e2256118

Heard of this cake shop ages ago but never found it because on that road there are not many eateries.
Only happened to spot it across the road when I could not cross the road due to a red light.

Went inside Thomas Trillion but as it was late that day, many of the cakes were sold out so I ended up getting chocolates.

The name Thomas Trillion reminded me of some kids’ story which I can’t quite remember.

From the chocolate section, the Cherry ganache looked the best because it was a chocolate covered cherry with a stalk, the shape of the chocolate was a perfect sphere with the cherry inside. It had a flat base so it could be displayed in the cabinet, which I forgot to take a picture of.

Decided to thank someone with chocolate so got the Cherry Ganache and since I wanted to try it myself I bought two.

For the other one I bought the gift box which costs $38, the gift box is similar to a jewellery ring box with one slot for the chocolate and tied with a ribbon, the box costs more than the chocolate.

I really liked the cherry ganache and it was fun to eat, just like eating a real cherry but more delicious in terms of taste.
The liquor was nice and strong and the chocolate ganache coating was sufficient and not too sweet.