[Review 2030] Fun with authentic green tea at the Maccha House @ 抹茶館 Maccha House

25/11/2012
抹茶館 Maccha House
鑽石山龍蟠街3號荷里活廣場3樓325號舖
Shop 325, 3/F, Plaza Hollywood, 3 Lung Poon Street, Diamond Hill
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/r-%E6%8A%B9%E8%8C%B6%E9%A4%A8-%E9%91%BD%E7%9F%B3%E5%B1%B1-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%8F%9C-r117102

I was waiting for this place to be opened and finally it is now open.

It was good trying it on the first day because the utensils are new and clean especially the tea brush stirrer and the bamboo basket which I wonder how they clean them and how they keep it from getting moldy.

The staff there were trained by Japanese people from this restaurant who were also present that day so try it soon while the quality is ensured.

There were interesting tubes hanging from the ceiling filled with green tea powder.

I came here twice because the dessert was so delicious and on my second visit I tried the udon and rice.

FIRST VISIT
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Matcha Kuzukiri:

This was fun pushing it out from the extruder.
It was basically the same as the one I had at tin hau.
The green tea taste was really strong and the texture was similar to agar, however the portion was really small. The taste of the green tea was not grassy and the bitterness it possessed was pleasant.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Traditional matcha:

It was fun adding water to the powder in the bowl and stirring it with the bamboo utensil provided.
The taste was not that grassy and it was really fresh.
The tea came with some sweet rice dumplings and brown sugar pieces to balance out the bitterness if it was too bitter for you.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Maccha cheese mousse:

This was unbelievably delicious, it was so moreish.
The green tea cheese was so silky and thick with a twinge of sharpness.
It was made of two layers, the bottom layer was green tea cheese mousse and on top was delicious heavy cream.
The slight natural sourness of the cheese in the mousse was perfectly balanced with the sweet cream on top and the lovely green tea powder on top balanced out the over creaminess of the cream.
It was nicely presented the Maccha cheese mousse was served on wax paper and in a bamboo basket.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Jasmine tea:
The desserts came with Jasmine tea, which paired together nicely.
It was nice drinking Jasmine to refresh the palate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
SECOND VISIT
I wanted the Maccha cheese mousse dessert again and I also wanted to try the udon as well because it was interesting especially since it was in Wasabi cream soup!
The pork with yuzu pepper was also delicious because the yuzu pepper they use is authentic just like the one they give you at Hide Ramen for the gyozas.
Although the food menu is only two pages, the food choice looks great that I need to come a third time and the Maccha catalana I intended to try this time was not defrosted yet even though I had it right in front of me.
I had the Maccha cheese mousse again but the portion was smaller this time.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried pork in yuzu pepper rice bowl:

The yuzu pepper was placed on the side of the pork for you to mix yourself.
There is not much yuzu pepper but the taste was intense, it had the natural sharpness of grapefruit and it was mixed with pepper.
The pork was interesting because it had pieces of soft pork bones in it as well giving it some soft bone to crunch on every now and then. Anyway if you like this flavour, there is also a chicken ramen version.
The shape of this bowl was cone shaped so as the sauce sinks down the rice at the bottom becomes really tasty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon and salmon roe in wasabi cream soup

The cream soup was surprising and not sickly. There was also carbonara udon too but I do not like carbonara.
The cream soup had a hint of sweetness and after the wasabi was mixed it, the cream soup was not that heavy. However the salmon was a little fishy.
The salmon roe was also quite fishy but it added burst of saltiness to the creamy soup which only tasted milky.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Maccha cheese mousse:
It tasted as good as the first time but the portion was smaller.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Maccha catalana

It was still frozen as they put it in the freezer instead of the fridge.
I was quite looking forward to this, so I’ll be back for it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway I will be back as I want to try the Maccha tiramisu which does not contain coffee and it is served in a nice wooden box, and the tofu pudding that is served in a bamboo pot and the other ramens and rice dishes.

[Review 2029] My 1st Thanksgiving dinner at Blue Smoke BBQ 2012 @ Blue Smoke Bar-B-Que

24/11/2012
Blue Smoke Bar-B-Que (已結業)
中環蘭桂坊15-16號協興大廈3樓
3/F, Grand Progress Building, 15-16 Lan Kwai Fong, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/my-1st-thanksgiving-dinner-at-blue-smoke-bbq-2012-e2271130

Thanksgiving is American and new to me as I have never heard about it in the UK.
I found about the Thanksgiving dinner at Bluesmoke when I read about it last year just after Thanksgiving had passed, so I had to wait another year to be able to try this Thanksgiving dinner at Bluesmoke!
I was really attracted to this thanksgiving dinner because it is similar to the Christmas Dinners with roast turkey and stuffing.

Finally a year had nearly past and I kept calling Blue smoke in early November to see if they were doing the Thanksgiving dinner this year but they were not really good at calling people back because they did not return my call.
A few weeks later I checked their website and it had been updated with the coming thanks giving dinner so I booked it.

The thanksgiving menu for ths year is:
Chicharron (Crispy pork skins)
Veggie sticks and ranch dressing
Roasted butternut squash soup with chestnut and sage
Smoked turkey breast
Sage-giblet dressing
cinnamon cranberry sauce
Basket of biscuits
Candied yams with toasted marshmallow
Rosemary roasted carrots
Roasted garlic mashed potato
Ham and pea macaroni and cheese
Stewed cinnamon and spiced apples
Green bean casserole with crispy onions
Dessert: Pumpkin pie/apple pie/pecan chocolate chip pie.

The menu seemed quite reasonable because it had turkey and pumpkin pie which were Thanksgiving items.
Some other places in Hong Kong modified the menu slightly by serving lobster bisque which I thought defeated the purpose of Thanksgiving and more of a gimmick for business.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Chicharron (Crispy pork skins):
Basically this was deep fried pork skins with cumin and paprika powder on it.
It did not have that foul taste but they had been left out in the air for two long because they were not crispy and you need to rip it with your teeth.
Apart from being too chewy, the taste was actually ok.
Veggie sticks and ranch dressing:
It was a basket of cucumber, carrots and spring onion sticks to dip with ranch dressing.
I only liked the cucumbers so I had the cucumber which was nice and refreshing with the ranch dressing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roasted butternut squash soup with chestnut and sage:

The soup was slightly sour and there were a lot of spices, the sage taste was quite strong, and the sweet pieces of chestnut balanced out the sourness of the soup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Smoked turkey breast:

On the menu it said turkey breast but it also came with a turkey drumstick!
Although turkey is the main star of the show, I actually tried this Thanksgiving dinner because of the fascinating sides which I have not tried before such as the biscuits, candied yams and the all American pumpkin pie!
I took a bite of turkey assuming it would be dry but it was so amazingly soft and tender.
The turkey was so delicious with the stuffing and sage-giblet dressing (the yellowish sauce).
The turkey drumstick was slightly hard and tasted like an over roasted duck leg with crispy skin.
Stuffing:
This was the best Stuffing I have had in my life! It was a generous portion too which I did not have to eat sparingly.
It was a mix of bread, livers, sage and whatever it had in it!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sage-giblet dressing:
The appearance of this dressing looks like French dressing but it was similar to gravy.
Again the taste was absolutely delicious, you could taste the giblets even there were no solid giblet parts in the gravy.
The taste of sage was prominent as well!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Basket of biscuits:

These looked like four mini scones, which were really different to the British biscuits which are hard.
The same goes with US and English cookies which are totally different.
Anyway they tasted like unsweetened scones.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Rosemary roasted carrots:
The carrots were delicious was a nice hint of rosemary.
Candied yams with toasted marshmallow:
I found this side dish really fun, I never imagined having marshmallows with dinner.
The candied yams were quite sweet and delicious.
Roasted garlic mashed potato:
The mashed potato was quite heavy but it was packed with garlic and mustard flavours.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ham and pea macaroni and cheese:

This was REAL cheese and macaroni, although it was quite fattening but it was delicious!
The melted cheese had a nice puree texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Stewed cinnamon and spiced apples:
The stewed apples were quite nice.
Cinnamon cranberry sauce:
This was the usual cranberry sauce but there was a hint of cinnamon which was a bonus and made it different from the usual cranberry sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green bean casserole with crispy onions:

This was delicious however the beans were a bit too hard, the sauce was really nice and the crispy onions on top were delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dessert: Pumpkin pie/apple pie/pecan chocolate chip pie:

On the menu it said a choice of pies but all three were given which was great.
The pumpkin pie and pecan chocolate were the best.
The pumpkin had been mixed up so it was no longer orange, it was a bit like toffee puree.
The pecan chocolate pie was lovely and gooey with thick but not cloyingly sweet chocolate!
It was also chewy too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
To summarise, it was a great dinner and they let you have seconds.
The portions were huge and most people could not finish it all, but they give you decent sturdy plastic boxes so you can take the rest home!! They even help you to put the food in the boxes.
I don't usually like eating leftovers but these were delicious and I was actually looking forward to eating the leftovers.
Our waitress was really nice and smart. I dont know her name but she was the pretty one with stylish glasses.

[Review 2028] Back at Maureen's for more delicious delights @ 摩廚 Maureen

23/11/2012
摩廚 Maureen
灣仔慶雲街11號地下
G/F, 11 Hing Wan Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/back-at-maureens-for-more-delicious-delights-e2270882

Haven't been here for ages and since my previous visits, it has changed so much. I love their new dishes and they even have dessert as well.

I was going to try their new noodles anyway so when I got Maureen's invitation and another fellow who was going to the tasting session, we all went together.

It was the first time I dined there in the evening because previously they were only open during the day.

The soup is now served separately from the noodles.

Although I have tried the egg in wine and the lemon chicken before, they both taste the same and as good as before which is good because a lot of places these days cannot keep the taste consistent.
There are so many places where I have given it a second time and the food does not taste as good as the first time.

It was really amazing that there is finally a person like Maureen that understands that different foods are eaten best with different cutlery, even the size of the spoon matters.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles Lo Mein:

The noodles tasted so much better tossed in sauce, and the julienne pumpkin and potato tasted so much fresher and had more crisp to it.
The sauce that was added to it before it was served tasted like sesame paste sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:

The soup was flawless and non oily.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg in Chinese wine:

The egg in Chinese wine was lovely, the egg white was flavoured delicately with wine and parma ham bits and sea salt gave it flavouring.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast beef ribs:


This was cooked for 48 hours in sous vide style. The beef was so tender and I loved the way it was garnished by mega finely chopped parsley and garlic crumbs.
I loved the grated radish sauce it was surrounded in because it was meant to resemble the traditional braised beef with radish.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The Perfect egg:

The egg was served on a bed of mushroom fluid gel and had chinese ham on top with a cracker beside it.
It was cooked to 63 degrees C.

I loved the texture of the egg because it was cooked yet it was like gel, and the mushroom gel matched the texture of the egg perfectly. The yolk was still in liquid form and together with the strong mushroom taste it was bliss.
The cracker was there to break the balance from the gel textures.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken infused with lemon olive oil:

Although it was chicken breast, it was tender and tasted as good as my first time trying it.
There was a hint of lemon in the chicken even if you did not dip the lemon olive oil.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed fish:

This was my first time having steamed Salmon!!! I wish it was available from the beginning because it was delicious.
The salmon that they use is sashimi grade.
The salmon was really soft and smooth just like seabass. It was so smooth that it slips from the chopsticks!
The vegetables beneath it were young and tender too!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chocolate mousse and cinnamon crunch:

The mousse came fresh from the aerosol container which gave it extra lift and lightness.
The chocolate was made by mixing two chocolates to get the sweetness right.
I loved the mousse which was dreamy and light.
The cinnamon crumbs were nice and the mousse tasted nice with or without adding it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I will be back because the food tastes so nice.

[Review 2027] Cake & Tea lovers appreciation party @ 川善茶居 Sinmei Tea

23/11/2012
川善茶居 Sinmei Tea
上環永樂街50號昌盛大廈5樓
5/F, CS Tower, 50 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cake-tea-lovers-appreciation-party-sinmei-tea-e2270881

Thank to Sinmei teahouse and her friend who is dedicated to baking lovely cakes for holding a floral tea party for tea and cake lovers.

There was a new cake, which I wanted to try and I finally got to try that today which was the banana and toffee cake.
As well as cakes it was paired with red tea which I was surprised to learn that the red tea was Chinese because in China they have some fine red teas as well.
I found these red teas really nice and could not stop drinking them because they had a really pleasant taste.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Banana toffee cake:

As expected this was really nice, it was topped with caramelised sliced bananas.
The sweetness was just right and the cake was rich and dense. The top of the cake was even better it was slightly chewy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chocolate cup cakes:

I love cup cakes. In Hong Kong it is hard to bake your own cup cakes, as ovens are rare in HK and cakes so relatively cheap to buy these days.
These cup cakes reminded me of the ones at school but these were much richer and had a delicious chocolatey taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Quiche:
My favourite because good quiches are rare. The quiche crust and pastry was unique, it was similar to filo pastry so it was much lighter. The quiche filling was delicious, it had lots of pure cheese in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Apart from appreciating the cakes and tea, there was cute Mithu as well which I am sure everyone loves.

[Review 2026] Delicious buffet @ Le Menu

22/11/2012
Le Menu
灣仔告士打道72號六國酒店1樓
1/F, Gloucester Luk Kwok Hong Kong, 72 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/delicious-buffet-le-menu-e2270867

Thanks to the management at Luk Kwok hotel for organising a wonderful buffet for us to try.

I have always wanted to dine here but I did not manage to book it before as it was quite full during the weekends.

The buffet selection was impressive, especially the drinks section which is often a cup of coffee or tea at the end of the buffet.

Here there are so many cold drinks available: fruit punch, peach tea, orange juice and water.
Then I discovered they had tea which was “normal” ie not the Hong Kong style ones which was brilliant.

To summarise, my favourite items were the lamb chops with mint jelly, asparagus which were young and fine.
They even had stuffed sea cucumbers.

I tried the laksa soup base but I found it too hot so beware.
The bread selection was great and the bread that was topped with herbs tasted the best.

I loved the dessert section especially the baked chocolate, it was really rich and not too sweet.

The creme brulee was lovely and silky.

Then to end the perfect buffet I finished it with my favourite tea.

When we left we were given these luxurious boxed teas with assorted teas inside.