[Review 2146] A stop for tempura paradise at Marugame Seimen @ 丸亀製麵 Marugame Seimen

20/12/2012
丸亀製麵  Marugame Seimen
尖沙咀彌敦道63號iSQUARE國際廣場6樓609號舖
Shop 609, 6/F, iSQUARE, 63 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/a-stop-for-tempura-paradise-at-marugame-seimen-e2274986

As well as Hong Kong you can also find Marugame Seimen in China and Thailand.

Although Hong Kong is a place for food paradise, HK is sometimes slow to follow the food trend because they like to see real facts and figures of successful items before investing on something new.


When I saw Marshy's picture of the tempura egg with runny egg yolk I just had to come here.
The main items they serve are udon and tempura.

I came here twice.
On my first visit I just had the tempura and omusubi, but they did not have the squid and seaweed tempura that day, so I came back another day for it.

Honestly I am not fond of the udon here because I only like the Inaniwa type which is slightly flatter and thinner, and the udon served here is the Sanuki type.

On my first visit, I did not know the tempura was self service and basically you pick from the trays what you want.

On the second visit, they did not have the tempura sauce because they said the customer feedback on the sauce was that it was too strong.
I believe they mean bloggers, anyway on my first visit when they had that sauce, they did not have any small dishes to put the sauce, so you had to put the sauce on the plate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
FIRST VISIT:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawn tempura:

The prawn batter was nice and light and the prawn had prawn taste.
The tempura sauce tasted a bit like teriyaki sauce.
Since there was no dish to put the sauce, I put it on a spoon.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg tempura:

This was amazing, the egg white was still tender after being deep fried and the egg yolk was really runny!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon omusubi:


This was delicious but disappointing because it did not hold together!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
SECOND VISIT:
On the second visit, there was no tempura sauce, and the fried items were evidently darker and the oil smell was stronger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Squid coated in seaweed and tempura batter:

I wanted to try this on my first visit which was not available.
The squid was delicious, the batter was light and it was infused with seaweed powder.
The squid was nice and chunky too but not tough.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Udon:


I do not like this type of udon but tried it anyway. It was quite soft and al-dente and the grated radish was really fine and silky.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chikuwa-ten:

The taste of this was ok, but the oil was not that fresh and you can see how dark it is compared to the egg tempura and squid which was fried in a different batch.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2145] Dripping oil...............@ 墾丁茶房 Kenting Tea House

19/12/2012
墾丁茶房 Kenting Tea House
油塘高超道38號大本型2樓235號舖
Shop 235, 2/F, Domain, 38 Ko Chiu Road, Yau Tong
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/dripping-oil-e2274983

Came here because most of the other restaurants were not opened yet.
There are other branches in Tuen Mun and Megabox which are too far.

The theme of the decor is trying to imitate the coastal town of Kenting in Taiwan which has a lighthouse hence the lighthouse on the walls.
I have not been to Taiwan so I cannot comment on the decor of this restaurant.

As for the food I felt that it was just local Chinese food with Taiwanese dish names.

The noodle I ordered sounded interesting, according to the Chinese name, I thought it would have oysters in it but there were none.
The noodles were exactly the same style as the ones in Chinese restaurants.
They were crispy noodles.
Not only were the noodles crispy, there was so much oil in it.
The aubergine dish was even worse, there was oil dripping from the pieces of aubergine.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Jasmine tea with liquid filled balls:


The drink was the only nice item in this restaurant, the sweetness was just right and the Jasmine flavour was really strong.
The liquid filled balls were filled with lychee syrup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[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.