[Review 1799] All you can eat Dim Sum @ Loong Toh Yuen 隆濤院

26/09/2012

隆濤院 Loong Toh Yuen
尖沙咀廣東道2A 1881 Heritage Hullett House地下
G/F, Hullett House, 1881 Heritage, 2A Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/all-you-can-eat-dim-sum-loong-toh-yuen-e2260103

Came here because of the all you can eat dim sum promotion.
Before I tried this place I also dined at Loyal Dining which also did the All you can eat dim sum as well.
Compared to Loyal Dining, it is more expensive here and there are more choices but the choices are traditional dim sum items at a better quality.
Although the quality is good, the food does not come fast so you can only order about two rounds.

On the table were some sauces, chili sauce and soy sauce.
The beans were soaked in yellow wine and tasted really nice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Daily herbal drink:
It was quite good that a herbal drink was provided, it was grosvenor momordica which was not sweetened.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon and vegetable spring roll:
This was quite nice but the piece of salmon in the spring roll was mushy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shrimp roll with thousand year old egg:
This was delicious, it was shrimp, preserved eggs, and pickled ginger wrapped in rice paper dipped in sesame and deep fried.
It was light because the rice paper melts in your mouth and the shrimps and preserved eggs were delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mashed potato pastry stuffed with roast duck, pork and mushroom:
This was delicious and reminded me of taro croquettes, the filling was silky and the duck was rich.
If it was not so oily it would have been perfect.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Baked bun filled with BBQ pork:

This was really cute but the BBQ pork was slightly too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan fried taro cake:
There was too much preserved wax sausages in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beancurd sheet roll:
This was quite nice but it had a lot of MSG in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Minced carp fish cake:
Oily.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rose champagne shrimp dumpling:
Tasted nice and you could taste a hint of rose.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef balls wrapped in beancurd sheet:

Usually the beef balls are served on the beancurd sheet but this one was wrapped inside the sheet which made it look visually nice.
The taste was good too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Abalone, chicken and fish maw wrapped in beancurd sheet :
This was a piece of chicken, fish maw and abalone wrapped in beancurd and steamed.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork shaomai with liver:
The pieces of pork were big and chunky and the liver was hard, rubbery and bitter.

The liver was attached to the shaomai with a ginger stalk.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mini steamed BBQ pork Chinese bun:

I really liked the steamed bun because of its size and the ratio of bun and BBQ pork was just right.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shaomai with dried scallop:
It just tasted the same as the ordinary shaomai but with dried scallop.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef tripe:
The beef stomach was clean.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spare ribs with black bean sauce:
The pork was nice and soft.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed chicken, fish maw and shittake mushroom :
This was the same as the chicken and abalone wrapped in beancurd but without the beancurd.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken feet in black bean sauce:
The chicken feet were soft and the sauce was rich.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:

This was really nice, there was no MSG and it had dried vegetables.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
BBQ pork rice rolls:
This was quite nice and the BBQ pork was fatty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan fried shrimp rice rolls:
The oil that was used was not that fresh, so there was some oily taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beancurd pudding:

The beancurd pudding was served with a separate bowl of sugar which was good and the beancurd itself was quite silky and smooth.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed custard layered cake:
The cake was layered with custard, sesame and shredded coconut which I found too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg tarts:
The egg tarts were perfect and the egg tart pastry was just right and not burnt.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1798] Inconsistent sushi and wrong orders but tastes ok @ 板長壽司 Itacho Sushi

26/09/2012
板長壽司 Itacho Sushi
將軍澳唐賢街9號PopCorn商場地下G05號舖
Shop G05, G/F, PopCorn, 9 Tong Yin Street, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/inconsistent-sushi-and-wrong-orders-but-tastes-ok-e2260072

Overall the sushi here was quite good but there were inconsistencies and the fried items could have been better.
They had a good choice for their fried items, but luckily I ordered the pumpkin and cheese croquette to start off with because the frying oil they used was not fresh, but if the oil was fresh I would have ordered the fried tofu with sakura shrimp and the salmon cutlet balls.

For the sushi I ordered the Hiroshima oyster but when it came it was different from the product pictures. However it tasted quite nice so I ordered it again and the second one was the same as the picture.
It appears that when the oyster is not intact they will use Warship style so that you cannot see the oyster is not intact. The second oyster I ordered was intact so they used the style as shown on the product picture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hiroshima oyster sushi:

Both would have tasted nice if they did not put the sweet sauce on it.
There was an inconsistency because the first oyster was not intact so they did it as a warship, the second was intact so they just did it like the one on the product shot.
As for the taste the first one had stronger oyster taste which was really nice so ordered a second one, but the second one did not taste so nice and it was sweeter because of the sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Milk and prawn soup:
 0 讚好

The prawn taste was extremely strong and it blended well with the milk that you can not taste the gameyness of the milk.
The texture of the soup was nice and milky.
In the soup there was pieces of Japanese mochi cubes.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pumpkin and cheese croquette:

This looked similar to the Japanese fried new year cake but the mochi was replaced by pumpkin.
However the oil was not fresh and the colour of it was dark brown which deterred me from ordering the other fried items.
The cheese was gooey inside and oozed out.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon and salmon roe mini don:

The dish was really cute and it came with a spoon to eat with convenience.
However the dish used in the product picture was made from bamboo so for hygiene purposes they used a plastic one to served the rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles:

Too soft and the accompanying sauce was tasteless apart from the wasabi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Abalone and wasabi warship:
When it came it was obviously not abalone, so told the staff and they gave us the correct one.

The REAL abalone and wasabi warship

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled pork neck with vinaigrette sauce:

The pork was too dry
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1797] More and more choices for desserts at CEO buffet @ CEO Neway

26/09/2012
CEO Neway (已結業)
銅鑼灣糖街2-8號
2-8 Sugar Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/more-and-more-choices-for-desserts-at-ceo-buffet-e2260002

For the charged snacks they used to provide, it used snacks sealed with a CEO lid but now they have Calbee crisps.
For the dessert section, there are now more choices, mini Portuguese tarts, carrot cake, bread and butter pudding and macarons.
The macarons were nice and they were quite big as well, it was chewy and it was filled chocolate, which was not too sweet.
The carrot cake was slightly hard and tasteless.
They had wine jelly as well which was good, but it was too sweet.

[Review 1796] Hashed beef with red wine gravy @ CoCo壹番屋 CoCo Ichibanya

26/09/2012

CoCo壹番屋 CoCo Ichibanya
銅鑼灣告士打道311號皇室堡4樓402號舖
Shop 402, 4/F, Windsor House, 311 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/hashed-beef-with-red-wine-gravy-coco-ichibanya-e2259922

This time I did not have the curry because I always have curry.
I ordered the beef in red wine instead.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hashed beef with red wine gravy:

The gravy was quite rich and the beef was thinly sliced.
The gravy also had sliced onions in it as well but since I do not like beef it would be nice if they had ostrich meat or chicken as another option.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1795] The world of Xiamen, mini wontons and treasures @ 廈門風味阿珠小吃店 Taste of Xiamen

25/09/2012
廈門風味阿珠小吃店
土瓜灣美景街44號安福大廈
G/F, No. 44 Mei King Street, To Kwa Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-world-of-xiamen-mini-wontons-and-treasures-e2259859


I have always wanted to try this place because I like food made with Taro and there were lots of other weird and wonderful snacks as well.
However this place is not located near an MTR so you have to take the bus, but since I am not a bus person I took the ferry route to Kowloon pier from North Point.

When I sat down there were lots of magazine clippings on the wall which was expected but there was an English one which must of meant that it is quite good if you have an English publication featuring their Xiamen cuisine.
However there is no English menu!

Since this place serves jellied sand worms it reminded me of the other Mun Nan Style cuisine in North Point but the choice here is more extensive.

The prices here are relatively cheap but the portion sizes relate to its price, but since the portions are small you can try other items as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taro and Chinese chives croquette:

The appearance was like a ball and the exterior of the croquette was rather hard.
Inside the croquette it was slightly hollow filled with chinese chives, on the interior or the croquette it had mashed pure taro which was dense and delicious.
It tastes better than the taro croquettes found in dim sum restaurants because it was less oily and there was less meat and the chives gave it a nice taste.
The only thing I did not like was that it tasted slightly sweet.
I was going to order the plain taro croquettes too which are sweet but since the savoury one was sweet as well it was the same thing without the meat and chives.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Octopus:

I ordered it because of the reviews and it tasted really nice.
I was expecting the octopus to be chewy and rubbery but it was so tender.
I could taste mustard in the sauce which went well with it.
There was chili sauce to go with it as well.
According to the reviews the octopus is not raw so it was cooked just right so that it is not chewy.
There was also pickled julienne carrots and chinese radishes but they tasted sweet as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Duck soup:

I really liked this soup and was surprised that they served this type of soup because it was made from lots of herbs such a dong gwai.
The soup was lovely and strong and tasted similar to Pork bone tea but better.
However it was slightly oily.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Stir-fried pork offal:

On the menu it said it was blanched but when it was served it had been stir-fried.
It was really nice because it was jazzed up with dried shrimps when it was cooked.
I did not eat the intestines or gizzards but the pork liver was good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sacha noodles with mini wontons:

I wanted to try the sacha noodles and the mini wontons and these noodles had both which was great.
There were lots of wontons. The wontons were basically pieces of pork inside them. In Chinese they are called Wontons but in Xiamen they are called "been siks"!! (interesting name!)
The sacha broth was nice and spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles with spring onions:

I was slightly disappointed with this because photos from the preview reviews show lots of spring onions on the top, however they were at the bottom of the bowl.
There were dried shrimps too which gave the noodles some flavour however the noodles were too soft for my liking.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Review @ Mun Nam Restaurant
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2163004

[Review 1794] McDonalds Horlicks ice cream sundae HKD10 @ 麥當勞 McDonald's

24/09/2012

麥當勞 McDonald's
深水埗大埔道132-134 號東盧大廈地下及地庫
G/F-B/F, 132-134 Tai Po Road,, Sham Shui Po
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/mcdonalds-horlicks-ice-cream-sundae-e2259581

I don't often order McDonald's ice-cream because I don't like it but when they have new sauces or toppings I generally give it a try.
This time the topping was Horlicks which is a beverage that I do not drink so I was not expecting it to taste nice, but it turned out extremely nice!!!

For the Horlicks series they have: Horlicks Double sundae, Horlicks sundae and Horlicks McFlurry.

I tried the Horlicks sundae which is the most basic one.
When I tried it, the taste was really nice and I managed to finish the whole cup as well.
The Horlicks powder was slightly savoury which took away the sweetness of the ice-cream, it also reminded me of extra fine digestive biscuit crumbs on the ice-cream.

[Review 1793] The story of the green garlic, but mine was white @ 巧興麵食店 Hau Hing Noodle

24/09/2012
巧興麵食店  Hau Hing Noodle
土瓜灣安徽街7號嘉信大廈地下
G/F, Kar Shun Building, 7 Anhui Street, To Kwa Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-story-of-the-green-garlic-but-mine-was-white-e2259580

Came here for the famous green garlic but unfortunately mine was white that day.
As well as green garlic, you can get can black garlic these days (black gold).
The garlic that I had was not pickled long enough, the taste of the garlic was not that spicy and it was just slightly sour.
Hopefully the next time I come here the garlic will be green.
The dumplings that I ordered were pork and vegetable and the ratio of pork and chopped vegetables were 1:1.

I felt that there was too much dumpling skin.
On top of the dumplings were two pieces of seaweed, the seaweed was different to the seaweed I have seen at other places, it was a thick sheet of seaweed.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Interesting socket on the wall!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway the story of the green garlic goes like this.......
When it is the 8th of December on the lunar calendar, garlic are put into a jar of vinegar and pickled.
This tradition originates from northern China and the pickled garlic are to be eaten in Spring with dumplings.
Another story is that the pronunciation of garlic in Mandarin is "suen" which is similar to another mandarin word "suen" with the meaning "never mind".
So the people in China gave these pickled garlic to people who came to collect their debts hoping they didn't need to pay them.

And another version is to do with Buddhism which I can't quite understand the Chinese, and I may be wrong with the above stories because I am guessing what it says from the translation from google!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★