[Review 1863] Bubble and squeak finally served in Hong Kong @ The Salted Pig

11/10/2012
The Salted Pig
中環皇后大道中139號The L. Place2樓
2/F, The L. Place, 139 Queen's Road, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/bubble-and-squeak-finally-served-in-hong-kong-e2262877













In many of my reviews I was in search of the delicious Bubble and Squeak, but I could not find any place in HK that served it.
When I was looking at the new restaurants section, I saw THE SALTED PIG, it sounded quite British for some reason but at that time there was no reviews on it.

Then later I found that IVYCWK had been there and from one of her photos I saw the words Bubble and Squeak so I was thrilled and had to go there asap!

When I got there, the restaurant had this rustic feel to it but it somehow felt American, it reminded me of the books "Of mice and Men" and "Grapes of Wrath".
The music that was playing in the background also took you back in time.

The menu was simple, it was printed on the table sheets, the one for dinner is different so there is a dinner sheet for dinner.

Basically for lunch there are three sets to choose from depending on your apetite and whether you want something simple or complex.
For me I needed complexity and I was hungry too!!!
You can choose from Piglet, Porker or Wild boar.
Analyzing the menu it did seem quite british because it had items such as Buttie, Ploughmans etc.

I picked two Wild boars lunches and chose soup of the day and the Homemade Terrine of pork because the salads were quite ordinary.
Then for the mains I ordered the All day breakfast which was a must have because of the bubble and squeak and the Ploughmans platter.

The food was served on these coated metal plates which were extremely light and they reminded me of school dinners somehow.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
 Sweetcorn and potato soup:
The soup was a good start, this was the soup of the day. I couldn't quite taste the potatoes but there were lots of spices in the soup and generous croutons and fresh cream.
It was a simple sweetcorn soup that was not so simple because it was loaded with other tastes as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Homemade Terrine of pork:

The presentation of this was good and I loved the cute pot that held the pickles, it was bright orange and matched the pickles in it.
There was lots mustard seeds in the pickles.
It reminded me of Chutney and it had pieces of cauliflower and carrots, it was very refreshing and appetizing.
 0 讚好

As for the Terrine I really loved it because it had pistachios and lots of strong herbs in it. It was wrapped in ham before it was sliced. So it has ham on the outside and not pastry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After the soup and starters the mains arrived.
Ploughmans platter:
Menu description
Home made terrine and scotch egg, charcuterie, cheese, apple and bread.


I was expecting a huge sandwich with pickles and cheese but it was a board mostly of salami which was disappointing.
Hence I felt that it was not so British because if they insisted with the charcuterie, there should have been less charcuteries, more cheese, apples and pickles.
There were only ONE piece of cheese on that board.

The scotch egg did not look like an scotch egg, the shape was flat, after cutting it opened I found half an egg in there which explains the shape.
 0 讚好

However the egg yolk was quite nice, it was semi cooked to the pointed that it was not starchy.
The terrine was the same as the terrine in the starter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The All day Big breakfast:
Menu description bacon, sausage, tomatoes, bubble and squeak, mushrooms, poached eggs, toast.

In terms of BIG, it was not big and the way it was served was exactly like the breakfasts at The green waffle in a skilet.
There was one poached egg, but on the menu it states eggs. The mushroom was one big portabello mushroom.
The bubble and squeak which I was looking forward to was just the same as the skilet breakfasts at the Green Waffle which is a mix of potatoes, bacon and onion.
It was close but not as good as the Bubble and Squeak in the UK because the UK version had scrambled eggs, cheese and alot of other items in it as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After finishing the mains, I was still extremely hungry and on the menu it said you could add $20 for dessert which you cannot choose.

The dessert board was brought over and there were five choices and I did not want the carrot cake for $20 which came with the set lunch.

There were three that I were interested in, white chocolate pistachio mousse, banana Eaton mess and the Raspberry marshmallow with rhubarb.

Again the dessert menu seemed quite British because it had the Eaton mess and rhuburb.

I chose the Rhubarb marshmallow.

Raspberry marshmallow with rhubarb:
It would have been good if it was a real marshmallow but it was mousse, however the centre of the mousse was still quite icy and it had not been thawed properly. The Rhubarb on top was surperb the sourness of the rhubarb complemented the sweetness of the mousse.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
If I knew the Ploughmans had so much cold cuts of salami I would have chosen the pork sandwich and see how good their pork is.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Photos of the restaurant:


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1862] Delicious Apple and BBQ pork turnover @ 點點心 Dim Dim Sum

11/10/2012
點點心  Dim Dim Sum
灣仔天樂里7號地下
G/F, 7 Tin Lok Lane,, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/delicious-apple-and-bbq-pork-turnover-ddsss-e2262875










I came here purely for the BBQ pork puffs which had apple in it.
I thought this was a good pairing because Western roast pork is served with apple sauce.

When I sat down, I saw that this place was recommended by TIMEOUT and NEWSWEEK both Western publications so if two Western publications recommend restaurant this then the food here should taste as good as the Dim Sums in UK.

In the end, I liked it because the items were not too sweet or oily which was different from One Dim Sum which was also recommended but by Michelin.
I am not sure how Michelin rates the restaurants in Hong Kong and if the people who try the foods are local people or Westerners because Westerners and locals have different requirements and tastes.

Anyway I only ordered three items including the Summer combo because I already had dinner.

In general the menu range is quite good and innovative.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apple and BBQ pork turnover:


I did not like the pastry because it was the typical extremely buttery and heavy type of pastry.
However the filling was really nice, there was lots of stewed soft apples inside, but if it tasted tart as well then it would have been perfect.
The shape of these puffs look like the Western apple turnovers so visually they were quite cute because they were quite small.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
3.6 Hokkaido Milk pudding with strawberry sauce:

The sweetness was just right and the pudding texture was really light.
The milk taste was not that strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Honey comb pudding:

It is not literally a honeycomb but I guess they named it a honeycomb because of its structure.
I wanted to try this and I thought I was not going to finish the rest due to its sweetness but it was so nice I finished the lot.
It was delicious eating it hot too because the black sugar taste was really prominent. and its texture is really moist and different to cakes. It has a structure similar to a crumpet but the capillaries are much finer!
The texture is not exactly like a cake and not exactly like a steamed cake but springy.
Anyway this was my favourite item and it also tasted like an American Pancake but the taste was much stronger but not too sweet!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Restaurant interior:

There was a toilet as well which was reasonable clean.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1861] Formidable! il'ya un Fleur de Sel en Central @ Fleur de Sel

11/10/2012
Fleur de Sel
中環嘉咸街51號地下
G/F, 51 Graham Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/formidable-ilya-un-fleur-de-sel-en-central-e2262869











I love French Crepes and there was a good one called Le Kramphouse but it closed down.

Anyway I have previously tried their crepes at the Causeway Bay branch which was delicious and they are the only crepe place that I know so far that serves the duck crepe but I prefer dining in Central and this restaurant is on street level, however on a slope so you need to walk up there!

Tried two crepes, a savoury one and a sweet one.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
San Pellegrino Sparkling Juice - Bloody orange:

I really liked the taste of this and the orange colour matched their colour theme too.
It tasted like non alcoholic cocktail punches and it was not sour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
La Poire:

This was caramelized pears with lavender, creme brulee ice cream and chocolate sauce.
You could visually see the lavender buds too.
I do not like lavender but with the pear it tasted surprisingly nice. I suspect the ice-cream was Haagen Daz's creme brulee ice-cream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
La Pissaladiere:

This was caramelized onions, anchovies, black olives and fresh tomatoes (cherry tomatoes).
It was good because the crepe base was not burnt, it was crispy and slightly soft in the middle.
The cheese was grated really finely and parts where it melted made the crepe nice and savoury.
Overall I really liked the pizza ingredients on the crepe but without the tomato sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Photos of the restaurant :
I prefer the Central branch, although it is cosy, it is not as cramped as the Causeway Bay branch.
I liked the way they have matched the orange and black and white colour theme in the restaurant.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Duck confit crepe at the Causeway Bay branch of Fleur De Sel
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2192334

[Review 1860] Delicious filled gourmet croissants @ Le Salon Restaurant et Croissanterie

11/10/2012
Le Salon Restaurant et Croissanterie
銅鑼灣軒尼詩道500號希慎廣場13樓1302號舖
Shop 1302, 13/F, Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay

https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/delicious-filled-gourmet-croissants-e2262863












It must have been my N'th attempt to try these croissants but they were always sold out as early as 6pm in the evening.
My second last attempt they only had the Tiramisu flavour and finally on my final attempt there were lots available around 7ish in the evening.
I couldn't decide whether to get the caramel or the chestnut so I asked the guy at the counter if the caramel one would be really sweet, then I asked if the Chestnut one would be starchy, I think he got annoyed with me asking too many questions.

Anyway, I rarely get Chestnut products in Hong Kong, because they end up having a really sweet and starchy taste that I do not like.

In the end I got both the caramel and chestnut to try.
When I paid, I gave a $100 note but the guy asked if I had a smaller note, so I found a $50 note and gave it to him.
The cost of two croissants came to $40 so I was expecting $10 in change back, but he gave me $30 back, then I stood there for a while and he realized he only entered one croissant which explains why I have two receipts in the picture.

I had already had dinner so I decided to leave the Chestnut last or later because I didn't think I would like it anyway.

When I took the croissants out from the bag, they were quite oily because the croissant holder had big oil stains on it.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Caramel croissant:

The croissant was extremely flakey, it was really hard to eat it without creating a mess.

There was chunky flakes of sea salt on the croissant which balanced out the sweetness of the croissant.
The taste of the sea salt did not taste like the usual saltyness there was an element of unami in it and even though the pieces of sea salt were quite prominent the saltyness was not too salty.
As well as salt, most of the croissant was covered in some sort of chewy caramelized syrup which gave the croissant some chewy texture.
It reminded me of the Maltose syrup that is sandwiched in between the biscuit crackers that kids like in HK.

The caramel filling was still warm and the colour was a autumn golden brown and it was lovely.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chestnut croissant:


After finishing the caramel croissant, I was expecting to feel bloated like I do with the usual croissants because the butter/fat content is high, but I did not feel that way, so I started on the chestnut croissant.

The chestnut filling was delicious, it tasted how it should taste, natrual and not starchy or cloyingly sweet.
Even the colour of the chestnut filling was 'natural', there were some pieces of chestnut in it too.
The filling was quite thick and viscous.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
As the croissants were really nice I tried the chocolate the next day.
Chocolate croissant:


Out of the three, this was my least favourite because there was too much chocolate paste inside and I found it too sweet.
I was surprised there was some slight sea salt on it, if there was more it probably would have balanced out the sweetness.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1859] 茶kha。Tea家 relaxation with elegance @ 茶。家 Teakha

10/10/2012
茶。家 Teakha
上環太平山街18B號地舖
G/F, 18B Tai Ping Shan Road, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/%E8%8C%B6kha%E3%80%82tea%E5%AE%B6-relaxation-with-elegance-e2262846










I have long wanted to dine here since I saw pictures of the Victorian Sponge and the green tea cheesecake that accidentally had a runny centre.
The Victoria sponge is a British cake and a rare item in Hong Kong and I don’t know why.

In terms of dining at Teakha I have not had much luck with it because it was either closed or packed with people and as well as having trouble locating it many times.
I was so close to it a few times but this teahouse is well hidden.

Teakha is opened by Nana Chan who is from Taiwanese which explains why there were Taiwanese sausages served at one point with the breakfasts.

When I got there, the items that I wanted to try were not served so I had to try other stuff.

That day I tried the caramelized lemon tea and hochi-cha icecream and the green tea cheesecake.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
caramelized lemon tea:

Initially I thought it was lemon sweetened with caramel but it was actually lemon tea made with caramelized lemons.

At the bottom of the glass I found some honey which is nicer than syrup.
The lemon tea tasted quite nice and it was good that they used honey which is a natrual sweetener.
There was no bitterness to the tea.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
hochi-cha icecream:

I really liked this ice-cream, the sweetness was just right. It reminded me of the ice-cream at LabMade because it was sprinkled with bits of crispy toast, and the crisps tea leaves reminded me of the crisp tea leaves in the sandwich I had a Sinmei.
The icecream had a really nice strong tea taste and the coldness of the icecream made the milkyness taste more prominent.
I liked the pieces of fine crispy toasts on the ice-cream because it gave it a delicate crunch without adding sweetness or a buttery taste to the ice-cream that cookies/shortbread does.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
green tea cheesecake:
As expected the accidental runny centre in the green tea cake had been fixed.
The cheesecake was lovely and soft with an equal balance of green tea and cheese that you can taste both.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 1858] Deep fried shaomai and seaweed rolls @ 楚塋小食

10/10/2012
楚塋小食
將軍澳毓雅里9號慧安商場地下A35號舖
Shop A35, G/F, Well On Shopping Centre, 9 Yuk Nga Lane, Tseung Kwan O\





★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried shaomai:


After trying some delicious deep fried shaomai, I found them quite irresistable provided the frying oil is fresh.
My first encounter with deep fried shaomai put me off in Sai Kung because the oil was not fresh, but after trying decent ones at this noodle shop in Hung Hom I am addicted.
They have an extremely crisp exterior because of the wonton skin and the inside is really soft.
It was a pity they did not have vinegar or ketchup because that would go really nice with it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seaweed pork and crab rolls:

The combination of pork and crab was quite strange but I tried it anyway.
The crab was wrapped in the centre with the pork on seaweed on the outside.
The pork tasted like luncheon meat but without any flavour. The roll was quite tasteless and extremely greasy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Photos of the shop:


Since my last visit, some of the items have been discontinued and there are some new snacks.
The background of the shop name is lighted up and changes colour all the time.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 7821] Kaya toast @ 一粥麵 Super Super Congee & Noodle

19/12/2020 一粥麵  Super Super Congee & Noodle 樂富聯合道198號樂富廣場1樓1113-1114號舖 Shop 1113-1114, 1/F, Lok Fu Shopping Centre, 198 Junction Road, L...