[Review 2215] The Sawalika of Anton Street @ 紫蘭花泰國街頭小食 Sawalika

17/01/2013
紫蘭花泰國街頭小食 Sawalika
餐廳已改名為泰皇泰式車仔麵
灣仔晏頓街1號安定大廈地下C舖
Shop C, G/F, Anton Building, 1 Anton Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-sawalika-of-anton-street-e2279693

Came across this place while we were randomly trying food places to pass time while waiting for a table at 22 ships.

This shop is located next to a famous noodle shop where there are long queues at lunch and is most probably well hidden by the queue.

The shop looked small but it was quite inviting because it looked a bit homely.
The name was similar to Sawasdelight in CWB, but that restaurant has closed down and I did not get to try those lilac dessert things.

They had a basket of cute business cards for people to take.
Basically this shop serves noodles, curries, and grilled skewers.


Since I came here a few times, this review is a combination of all those visits.
They had grilled piggy meat which is rare in Hong Kong because it is flown directly from Thailand.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled piggy meat, Grilled beef:

The piggy meat was very tender and it the texture was similar to chicken.
The grilled beef was nice too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled chicken, grilled pork:

The chicken was tender and juicy and the pork was slightly dry but it was balanced by the lovely peanut sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried prawn heads:

This looked interesting on the menu so ordered it.
They also put this in the Tom Yum Kung soup too.
It was a nice snack to eat and they were extremely crispy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles in Tom Yum Kung soup:
Gave this place another visit and tried the noodles in Tom yum kung soup.
There are various of noodles to choose from ranging from vermicelli, cambodian noodles, glass noodles and parpadelle rice noodles.
For the yellow and green curry noodles, I would recommend the parpadelle rice noodles because it has a sweet taste and for the tom yum kung, I feel that the Cambodian noodles taste best with it.
The parpadelle rice noodles reminded me of the "gwer" noodles I had at Kowloon City in a Thai joint.

In every bowl of noodles, it will have fragrant chopped herbs, crispy garlic and sweet Chinese radish and the topping you choose.

The soup comes separately so the noodles will not go soft.

In every bag of Tom Yum Kung soup, it contains tomato wedges, mushrooms, fried prawn heads which taste really nice and the soup is also really nice as the tomato is really strong.

They also have a non spicy version of the Tom Yum Kung and it is really non-spicy as claimed!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Overall the food here is really nice and there are a lot of customers already even though there are not many reviews.

[Review 2214] Chicken and cute cats on the run @ 咪走雞 Chicken On the Run

17/01/2013
咪走雞  Chicken On the Run
半山太子台1號地下A舖
Shop A., 1 Princes Terrace, Mid-Levels
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chicken-and-cute-cats-on-the-run-e2279691

I have always wanted to try their chicken but I thought that this place was difficult to locate so I never attempted to go.
However the location is very convenient and it is beside the mid-level escalators.

Chicken on the run specialises in Australian roast chicken and food.
There are now three good rotisseries in Hong Kong: La Rotisserie, FLAME and Chicken on the run.
There is also a rotisserie in Sai Kung, but the chicken is quite dry.

Although I tried the roast chicken at FLAME first, I felt that I should publish the review first for this place because they are the first Rotisserie in Hong Kong.

As well as roast chicken they also have wonderful side dishes and a confectionery corner of chocolate bars and tuck shop sweets for the expats!
There were so many items I wanted to try, so I tried it over a few visits.
It would be great if all the items in the cabinet were labelled.

While I was there, there were two cute cats outside, a ginger one and a striped one.

The striped one jumped on the window ledge and looked at me but I could not take a photo of it quick enough so I only ended up taking a picture of its foot!

Overall their food was delicious but the temperature of the food could have been hotter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bacon and broccoli quiche:


This was not labelled so I thought it was broccoli and cheese quiche but it also had bacon in it.
The taste was amazing, just like the quiches in UK.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon and potato patty:

This patty was round and huge and inside it was lovely mashed potato and pieces of salmon.
I think this is made in house because the potatoes are unevenly mashed and the shaped is interesting.
Again it tasted really nice but it wasn’t hot enough.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Vegetable fried rice:

Only order this if you’re an expat because I really liked it because it did not have that Wok pan taste in it.
It was a nice mix of peas, chives and egg the way I cook my fried rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken and herb patty:
The chicken patty was too dry and tasteless.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast potatoes:

Compared to the other three rotisseries, this was my least favourite because the potatoes were a bit sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast chicken:

There were two flavours for the roast chicken: herbs or chili so I got both.
The chili roast chicken was not very spicy and the herbs one was really nice.
In terms of the chicken they were both tender and juicy.
I did not order the chicken on my first visit because it was late that day and they looked a bit dry, so I decided to try it another day.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
nudie GREEN CRUSHIES Smoothie:

This is also an Australian brand of smoothie containing: pressed apple, mashed banana, crushed plum, juiced passion fruit, pressed kiwi fruit, lemon, a dash of spirulina, green tea, wheat grass, and passion flower.
I gulped all of it in one go because it tasted really similar to PJ smoothies in UK.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cherry ripe:

This is not British but I got it because it had cherries and coconut.
It just tasted like a thin Bounty bar with a hint of cherries and there was lot of desiccated coconut inside.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2213] Innovative bakery in Yuen Long @ 棒之達人 Franstick

17/01/2013
棒之達人 Franstick
元朗青山路235號勤業樓地下１號
Shop 1, G/F, Kan Yip Building, 235 Castle Peak Road, Yuen Long
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/innovative-bakery-in-yuen-long-e2279689

It is a pity that this bakery is out of town or I would try their bakery more often.
We found out about this bakery on a recent visit just to try Sense dessert because Sense Dessert was one of those places that makes you travel out of town for it.

On the first visit my mind was just on Sense Dessert so I did not get anything that day but after reading reviews I found out about other buns that were worth trying.

After the visit to SD, I was slightly more familiar with Yuen Long and how to get there so went to YL again to try Song Song noodles and I went to this bakery as well to get the buns.
I thought that this place would have buns or breads shaped like sticks because of the name Franstick but it was the usual Hong Kong style buns, however the flavours and creations were innovative and not so traditional which appealed to me.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pandan scone:
The size of the scone was huge and it was only $5!
The colour of it was quite cute because it is rare to see a green scone!

As for the taste, it was quite nice and interesting because it was just like eating a normal scone with raisins and a hint of pandan flavouring.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apple bread:

Basically it just looked like a huge Mexican bun. Inside it was extremely delicious as it was filled with cooked diced apples just like the filling in an apple pie.
Although I did not like the sweet crispy topping on the bun, it was a bit like the crumble on top of an apple crumble.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon and custard:

It was a pity I did not get this as well because I reckon it would taste good too.
So hopefully someone will try this and give it a review!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2212] Taste the real rainbow with the rainbow club @ C'est La B

17/01/2013
C'est La B 
金鐘金鐘道88號太古廣場2樓202號舖
Shop 202, 2/F, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/taste-the-real-rainbow-with-the-rainbow-club-e2279688

Mrs B's Bakery is famous for their artisan cakes and the Rainbow connection.

There is now a savory rainbow in the form of a sandwich.
I found out about it when I walked past the branch in Tai Hang so decided to go in for it, however they only serve this at Pacific place.

Anyway I was at Pacific place recently so I went in for the Rainbow club sandwich.
The RAINBOW club consists of French Ham, Cheese, Omelette, Avocado, roasted chicken and salads in between layers of Spinach, beetroot, bamboo charcoal and Saffron handmade artisan breads.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
RAINBOW club:

When it came, the sandwich was loaded with fillings from cheese, avocado, omelette as stated on the menu, it even came with gherkins and bacon which were not listed.
I was a bit disappointed that the bread was quite thin because I would have preferred thicker slices and less filling.
Although all the fillings were delicious I felt that there was too much filling.
The omelette was really nice and fluffy.
I was glad that the bread was properly savoury or it would have been tragic having sweet bread with savory fillings.
They also used proper Western mayonnaise too which was impressive and did not ruin the taste of the sandwich.
I tasted each of the layers of bread separately but the flavours were not that strong.
The layers of bread in the middle of the sandwich were slightly soggy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salt & Vinegar Crisps:
The side of crisps that came with it delighted me because I assumed they would be ordinary crisps but they were my favourite vinegar crisps and not Hong Kong style flavours.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway I hope to try the Rainbow Connection one day.

[Review 2211] 360 NESW degrees of pasta @ 意粉 360 Spaghetti 360

17/01/2013
意粉 360 Spaghetti 360
將軍澳貿業路8號新都城中心2期2樓2001號舖
Shop 2001, 2/F, MCP Central, 8 Mau Yip Road, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/360-nesw-degrees-of-pasta-e2279687

This branch was opened recently and as usual any new restaurant attracts crowds during their the first few weeks just like Pasta Marche did for people who only venture within Po Lam.
Anyway, I waited for the hype to go down and finally gave it a visit.

Again it was another Western style Japanese restaurant similar to Pasta Marche, however the food is more Japanese and the prices are more expensive than Pasta Marche.

The décor is similar to Greyhound (not shown on my photos I took) but I am referring to the drawings on the glass panels by the kitchen.

They had pasta sets for certain discount cards and other pasta sets but there was only one item that I probably wanted to try so I ordered a la carte.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spaghetti Neapolitan with barbecued baby back ribs:
It was interesting that ribs were paired with this pasta.
The ribs were rather dry and tough and they did not seem fresh because it had that strange pork smell.
The Neapolitan pasta on the other hand was really nice, it had strong tomato puree and green pepper taste and the smoky taste from the bacon.
The only complaint was that it was too salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Squid ink rice with fried tempura shrimps in stone pot with lobster sauce:
The taste was slightly disappointing because the squid ink taste was tasteless.
It was topped with lobster sauce as well as cheese. The portion was quite small.
When it came, there was a piece of paper that tells you to let it stand for 3 minutes if you want crispy rice at the bottom of the pot as a result of the piping hot stone pot.
The tempura was quite crispy but the prawns were not straightened out to fry so they were just curled up.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Overall the food was good but a tad overpriced.

[Review 2210] 楚塋小食's snacks

16/01/2013
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
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/%E6%A5%9A%E5%A1%8B%E5%B0%8F%E9%A3%9Fs-snacks-e2279542

The attitude of one of the staff in this shop is very snobbish because this place will never lose its customers.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried fish Shaomai:

Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
The shaomai tastes better fried.
The oil could have been cleaner because there were specks of burnt bits on the shaomai.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Braised beef offal assortment:

There was not much of an assortment here compared to the city where you get at least a piece of lungs, liver, stomach etc.
There was only intestines and pieces of stomach in this portion.
There was no five spice taste and it just tasted like braised beef belly.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2209] Back for delicious and tender salmon @ Maureen's 摩廚 (灣仔)

16/01/2013
摩廚 Maureen
仔慶雲街11號地下
G/F, 11 Hing Wan Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/back-for-delicious-and-tender-salmon-maureens-e2279540

Since the last tasting at this place, I was craving for more fish.

On this visit I ordered the fish set which includes noodles, salmon and soup.
I was also given a glass of lemon and ginger tea.

Maureen was not there that day but the food was still amazing as the tasting session so the standards have kept.
It also tasted nicer that day because I ate the noodles and fish immediately and spent less time taking photos.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:
It was whelk soup and it was msg free.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles:

The noodles were much more delicious time and the sauce was evenly over every strand of noodle.
The sesame cream on top made the noodles more fragrant and the delicate vegetables gave it a lovely crisp crunch.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon:
When it came, I thought it was slightly over cooked because there was white stuff on it.

However I was wrong, the salmon was still delicious and perfect on the inside.
It was soft and tender with no bones and I was happily eating huge chunks of it.


I loved the way the salmon had been turned into Chinese steamed fish by the simple spring onions and ginger on top with the soy sauce.
The greens beneath it were also tender and young greens which were delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon and ginger tea:
The lemon and ginger tea was lovely and the ginger was very strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★