[Review 2144] Gang up for delicious tomato style shabu shabu @ 遙 Haruka Japanese Restaurant

19/12/2012
遙 Haruka Japanese Restaurant
佐敦德興街1號地下C舖
Shop C, 1 Tak Hing Street, Jordan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/gang-up-for-delicious-tomato-style-shabu-shabu-e2274977

It was lovely and cold so settled here for a shabu shabu.

As well as the shabu shabu we had other delicious starters.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chilled bean curd:

This was a good chilled bean curd dish because the sauce was really nice and the taste was balanced.
I have tried this at other places before where the sauce was just syrupy, but here the sauce was a perfect balance of grounded sesame, vinegar and sweetness.
Usually in other restaurants I scrape away the sauce because it was too sweet but I cannot get enough of it here as the taste was delicious.
I felt that if there was more sauce then it would have been perfect.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Stuffed crab shells:


These stuffed crab shells were delicious. They looked really nice as well with generous thyme and rosemary herbs on top and crispy breadcrumbs.


I did not take a photo of the shells but on the back they were very clean.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hiroshima oyster cutlet:

Hiroshima oysters are always nice and after they have been fried it brings out the fuller taste of the oyster.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seaweed shrimp rolls:

I loved these rolls, especially the seaweed on the outside which tasted grassy and balanced out the heavyness of the cutlet coating.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tempura:



All the tempura was really nice because the tempura batter was light and crispy and most importantly the oil was fresh.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled lambchops:

The lambchops were so soft and juicy, it was not gamey at all.

The mustard sauce that came with it was a perfect match as the sauce had the mustard seeds in it with a tangy taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled dried boneless fish:

The grilled fish tasted quite sweet and complimented the sake as a nice snack.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled ox tongue:
The was also really nice, it was seasoned with salt and there was also mustard to compliment it as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shabu Shabu:

I do not often have Japanese shabu shabu but the last one I had was most probably the one at Yoshinoya which is just miso base broth.
However the broth here is tomato.
The taste of the items in tomato broth was really nice that you do not really need any other sauces to dip it in.

For the hotpot set, it came with chicken gizzards, pork neck slices, beef slices, lamb slices and vegetables.
Usually the fumes from the hotpot burner will start me coughing but the ones they used here have been tested by them and do not emit any noxious fumes.
The tomato broth really made a difference and the meat became more appetizing. With clear broths it brings out the fat and heavyness of the meats.
For fun, we put the julienne radish that was used for garnishing in the hotpot and it tasted delicious as well!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Japanese sake:

I am not a professional on alcohol so I can only comment on how it tastes.
There were two sakes: plum and green tea.
I was really surprised that you could get green tea as a Sake but then I do not have much expertise in this so it was new to me.
The plum one tasted really nice and sweet, and the taste was so much more pleasant than the alcopops which still have a slight alcoholic taste.
As for the green tea sake, it was much stronger and tasted like liquor.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thanks to Dustbineater for treating us to a lovely shabu shabu!

[Review 2143] Dreamy blue days with delicious fried chicken @ 天藍坊

19/12/2012
天藍坊
將軍澳毓雅里9號慧安商場地下A16號舖
Shop A16, G/F, Well On Shopping Arcade, 9 Yuk Nga Lin, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/dreamy-blue-days-with-delicious-fried-chicken-e2274914

Anyone who comes to this mall will not miss this shop because you practically have to go past it.
It is also decorated in sky blue so you are bound to notice it if you have not noticed it before.

I was attracted by the pictures of the fried items, the fried chicken caught my attention and to my utter surprise the fried chicken only costs $9!!!

Without hesitations I ordered the fried chicken, even if the piece of chicken was small; getting two bites out of it was worth it.

There were two pieces of fried chicken that were already done, a drumstick and the thigh so I ordered the drumstick.

When I took it out, the shape of the fried chicken drumstick was so uniform and the coating was thin and uniformly fried with an even golden colour.
The chicken beneath the coating was a succulent and juicy too.

If you have had KFC, you will find that not all the chicken drumsticks are evenly coated and some chicken drumsticks are shrivelled up!
Some drumsticks at KFC are so tiny that you would think they are spring chickens.

After taking a bite, the taste was just amazing, the chicken was juicy and the delicate coating was delicious that I went back and ordered the other piece.

The other piece was also as delicious as the first because they were fried in the same batch.
As well as chicken I decided to order their garlic bread because the quality of food there seemed assuring.

The garlic bread was really nice that day because it was a fresh batch that had not been refrigerated for a long time and it was still springy in the centre.

I requested the bread to be baked gently because I do not like garlic bread that is 100% crispy, I like it slightly soft because it defeats the purpose when the bread texture is gone.
The garlic bread was toasted just right and you can see the garlic butter has not gone right through the bread after toasting.

Anyway I went back again for their chicken another day, however this time it was refried.

They said that they will fry it initially for 11 minutes and when it is ordered it will be refried again for another 2 minutes.

Since it was refried this time I expected the coating to be crispier than the first time I tried it which it was.
The fried chicken still tasted nice but the coating was crunchier.
However I prefer the chicken to be fried once and I would rather wait the full 13 minutes for a perfectly fried piece of chicken.

I suspect the chicken I tried the first time was probably for themselves as it did not need refrying.

I am curious how they predict a customer is going to come immediately or come soon in order to decide whether to fry it in one go or for the initial 11 minutes and then re-fry when someone orders it.

[Review 2142] Nam Kee H rules for Noodles @ 南記粉麵 Namkee H

18/12/2012
南記粉麵 Namkee H
中環域多利皇后街5-8號地下
G/F, 5-8 Queen Victoria Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/namkee-h-rules-for-noodles-e2274677

After trying this place I was hooked.
The environment here is more relaxed and friendly compared to other local noodle places.
I was given a buy one get one free coupon on my first visit, so used it on this visit.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
This time I chose the spicy broth at mild spiciness and the spiciness was just right.
I chose the twisty pasta because it absorbs the soup well.
As for the toppings I chose their signature spring rolls and deep fried tofu cutlet balls.

I really appreciate the syrup is given separately so you can decide how much syrup to add to your soybean drink.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2141] Fried fish cutlet @ CoCo壹番屋 CoCo Ichibanya

18/12/2012
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/fried-fish-cutlet-coco-ichibanya-e2274670

Had my favourite curry here again, the curry sauce tastes consistent good all the time but it depends what items you pick to go with the curry.

This time I chose okra and tofu with fish cutlet.

The curry sauce and okra with tofu tasted as good as my other visits, however the fish was ruined because the frying oil that they used was rancid.

[Review 2410] Chengdu style heart warming hot pot for winter @ 合江小鎮 He Jiang

18/12/2012
合江小鎮 He Jiang
灣仔皇后大道東387-397號麗都酒店1樓
1/F, Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong, 387-397 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chengdu-style-heart-warming-hot-pot-for-winter-e2274647

Before they had the Chengdu hot pot, I found out about this place from photos of the Beancurd with shrimps and salty egg yolk.

I was so lucky to be invited by Isaac to try out the Chengdu hot pot as well as the beancurd.

For the Chendu hot pot they had two broths, one which was not spicy and the other was spicy.
I used the spicy broth as a dipping sauce so I got the best of both worlds.

We sampled some dishes before starting the gourmet hot pot.
Most of the dishes were my first time trying them except for the chicken in wine.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sliced pork served with garlic and chili sauce:


The pork was thinly sliced and rolled up and put on a bed of chili oil topped with garlic puree.
The chili oil was quite spicy but manageable and with the garlic it tasted really nice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Jelly fish marinated in spring onion oil

This was my favourite because the texture of the Jelly fish was quite crunchy and the crunchy texture is similar to Octopus mouths. I was later told that the Jelly fish here was also the mouth part.
The spring onion oil they used was really fragrant, it had been pre-cooked giving it that delicious flavour similar to the spring onion oil used for dipping chicken.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Huadiao wine marinated “drunken” chicken


The wine the chicken was submerged in was nice and strong and chicken meat had fully absorbed the wine.
The texture of the chicken was lovely and silky too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bean curd with shrimps and salty egg yolk
This was the highlight of the starters because I have always wanted to try this Thanks to Isaac.
It is best eaten hot while the egg yolk is most flavoursome.
The combination of delicate beancurd and salty egg yolk was delcious and the peas gave it some sweetness as well as visual contrast.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep-fried marinated fish:


These were pieces of deep fried fish which were surprisingly crispy and the bones were edible too.
Even though the texture of the fish was crispy, it was not fibrous nor bitter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After finishing the starters, we moved on to the great hot pot!
There were two broths and lots of sauces and condiments for dipping.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fresh Water Herring with Dried Date and wolfberry Soup:
Tried the soup before putting the items in.
The soup tasted really delicate, especially the taste of the fish.
Visually you could also see the apples and tomatoes in the broth.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spicy Sichuan Style Soup:
I used this was a dipping sauce and it was not as spicy as I imagined it to be but it was quite nice because it had so many herbs and spices in the soup.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hotpot items:
Sichuan Vermicelli

Chicken testes
Dried beancurd sheets
US oysters
Luncheon Meat
Sliced Japanese Pork
Sliced Supreme Beef
Diced Angus Beef
Prawns
Mushroom and Minced Pork Balls
Sliced Lotus Roots
Mushrooms


The most memorable one was the luncheon meat because it absorbs all the soup flavouring, and the pork and beef were thinly sliced which made it easy to cook and the texture of the meat was nice and tender too.
They had chicken testes which people either hate or love. I actually like them because they taste like the fish roe of dover sole fishes. They are slightly rubbery and spongy!
The sichuan vermicelli looked very different after it was cooked, it was transparent and jelly like.
One of the meatballs had mushroom and pork filling inside and it was a nice surprise.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lastly for dessert there was this pudding made with glutinous rice and this is the first dessert I have tried that has meat in it.
When I saw it, I thought it looked like a Christmas pudding.

Fried glutinous rice with red bean paste:
The glutinous rice in this dessert was soft and gooey with granulated sugar sprinkled on top.
It was actually quite nice because the glutinous rice was really soft and the outer layer was panfried so that it was crispy and the sugar gave it some depth and texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2139] Awfully cute box for hei chocolate icecream @ Awfully Chocolate

16/12/2012
Awfully Chocolate
中環士丹利街21號皇后中心1樓5號舖
Shop 5, 1/F, Queen's Place, 21 Stanley Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/awfully-cute-box-for-hei-chocolate-icecream-e2274443

The first thing that made me notice Awfully Chocolate was their icecream boxes when they first opened.

There are now more branches of Awfully chocolate and you can now also get Awfully chocolate cookies and chocolate bars at 7-11.

However on my first visit I did not try their icecream, instead I tried their superstacked chocolate cake and the butterscotch cake.

Thanks to LemonTea who gave me a coupon for a single scoop of icecream at AC.
I finally had the fun of eating icecream from a mini takeaway box just like the ones in America!
The box was so nice and too cute that i kept the box after indulging the icecream.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
hei icecream:

In Chinese, it is black, and Hei is the mandarin phonics for black.
I loved the chocolate icecream because the texture was really thick and dense,
The chocolate cocoa taste was really intense too with a slight twinge of bitterness.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
On my next visit I hope to try the cold poached icecream which is always sold out.

[Review 2138] Earl grey tea ice cream @ Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店

15/12/2012
Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店 (Lab Made Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Laboratory
大坑布朗街6號地下
G/F, 6 Brown Street, Tai Hang
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/earl-grey-tea-ice-cream-lab-made-e2274438

I was back at Lab Made this time because they had Earl Grey flavoured ice cream.
Recently I missed out on their HK custard bun flavour which I am really gutted because custard buns tastes really nice and if the mooncake flavoured icecream could taste nice, then a nice flavour could certainly tasted really nice.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Earl grey tea ice cream:

The icecream was really creamy and tasted exactly like frozen tea.
However there were no surprises such as finding tea leaves in the icecream such as tea icecream served at Teakha.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway, I am looking forward to more new flavours!!