[Review 2255] Sober for soba noodles at the Black dragon @ 黑瀧板蕎麥專門店 Kurotaki

7/02/2013
黑瀧板蕎麥專門店 Kurotaki
銅鑼灣告士打道280號世貿中心4樓P413-415號舖
Shop P413-415, P4/F, World Trade Center, 280 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/sober-for-soba-noodles-at-the-black-dragon-e2282808

Kurotaki specialises in Soba noodles and they serve four different types.
On the menu they have an introductory for each type of noodle which is quite informative.

Inaka soba noodle – countryside soba that is springy with soft tender texture
Etanbetsu soba - thin and sticky, made from centermost part fo buckwheat.
Sarashina sesame soba - made with premium buckwheat flour.
Shiretoko Zarusoba thin soba noodle served cold on bamboo basket made with centermost of part of buckwheat seeds together with kelps and seaweed.

It was a nice place to dine with fine decor.
On the table were the usual Japanese condiments: soy sauce and spice powder.
Apart from soba they had lots of choices and even soup soba.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ordered the Chilled Shiretoko Zarusoba with sesame and black garlic oil sauce, Chilled sarashina sesame soba with natto.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Chilled Shiretoko Zarusoba with sesame and black garlic oil sauce

I had to try this because I wanted to try the soba made with seaweed and kelp.
The sauce was interesting and tasted of sesame and black pepper. The menu does not say it has pepper on the English but the Chinese has.

The combination of sesame and ground black pepper was quite good because the spicyness of the pepper balances out the creaminess of the sesame sauce.
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Chilled sarashina sesame soba with natto

I just had to get these noodles as well because all my favourite elements were there: natto beans, egg, okra, kelp, mountain yam and grated white radish.

These noodles came with a separate wasabi vinaigrette sauce and it tasted really refreshing that I poured all of it.
The noodles also had these delicious tiny crispy buckwheat seeds that looked like ultra tiny dried chick peas.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2254] Greyhound afternoon tea set deal for $68 @ Greyhound Café

07/02/2013
Greyhound Café
尖沙咀廣東道3-27號海港城海運大廈地下G01號舖
Shop OTG01, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/greyhound-afternoon-tea-set-deal-for-68-e2282807

At Greyhound, the coconut crepe and the Greyhound style lemon tea is a must try item.

For the tea set that is served in the afternoon, you can choose any cake served with their Greyhound lemon tea for $68.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coconut crepe:
The price of this crepe is $78 per slice on its own so it is cheaper ordering the tea set.
The crepe was covered in cream which was lovely and light and it was slightly sweetened but not too sweet.
In between the crepe layers there was delicious pieces of young coconut.

It reminds me of the buko pie but this one is nicer because it is not so sweet.
BUKO PIE (coconut pie):
http://static2.orstatic.com/UserPhoto/photo/2/24H/00F3Y986391E84B0435FFCm.jpg
On top the crepe there was a piece of water chestnut served in the Tub Tim Krob dessert.
Basically the water chestnut had some gel covering it on the outside and it was colored red which definitely tasted better than a cherry on top!
Overall the cake was delicious, however the size was just a tad smaller than the usual ones and there was slightly less coconut meat in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Greyhound style lemon tea:
The lemon tea here is so different.
When it is served, there is a glass containing some freshly squeezed lemon juice and tea cubes (frozen tea in ice-cube form) so that the tea does not get diluted.
Pity I didnt get a chance to take a photo of that.
Then they poured the rest of the tea in the glass with the tea cubes and lemon juice.
Since the lemon juice is at the bottom you need to stir it well.
After stirring the lemon tea tastes really nice with natural lemon taste without the bitterness.
However comparing it to the branch in Central and Kowloon Tong it did not taste that nice because there was strong lemongrass in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2253] Part Two: Vroom Vroom with Fiat Italian food !! @ Fiat Caffè

07/02/2013
Fiat Caffè (已搬遷) 新店位置
銅鑼灣禮頓道77號禮頓中心G5-G6號舖
Shop G5-G6, Leighton Centre, 77 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/part-two-vroom-vroom-with-fiat-italian-food-e2282804

Thanks to the lovely cheerful team at Fiat for inviting me to try their new Italian dishes.

I have previously dined at Fiat when they opened last year.

At this tasting session, we tried most of the new signature items.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seared tuna, cauliflowers, almonds, hazelnut oil, lemon dressing:

I loved this salad because it tangy seared tuna balanced by the delicious hazelnuts.
Not many salads have hazelnuts so this was a real treat.
The cauliflower was nice and soft and there were crispy pieces of bread that add crisp to the salad.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Slow cooked cod fish, mixed capers, shallots, lemon, fried garlic and herbs:

This salad was green and grassy which brought out the flavour of the cod.
The cod is sliced thinly and tasted really nice with the salad.
The red leaves in the salad gave it a nice visual touch.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Portobello mushrooms, castelmagno cheese, artichoke, mint and fava beans:

This was my favourite because it had all my favourite items.
The mushroom was nicely grilled and extremely juicy, the cheese was very crumbly and floury but not that cheesy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Polpette meat balls with extra rich tomato sauce, rice shaped pasta and chopped parsley:

This was one of my favourites because the rice shaped pasta was delicious. It was similar to eating rice but it was slightly softer and al-dente.
The tomato sauce was rich and tangy too with lots of parsley too and paired nicely with the minced meat balls.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
“Cacio e pepe” spaghetti, black pepper, pecorino cheese and olive oil:

The appearance of this was interesting, the spaghetti was contained in a dish that was made of fried cheese.
It is similar to the chinese taro nest made of grated taro, but here it was grated cheese made into a bowl.

The spaghetti was heavily spiced with black pepper which balanced out the cheesyness of the cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Blue mussels, white wine, onion and parsley:

The mussels were plump and fresh and not the frozen ones.
The white wine sauce was full of flavour and made every mussel a star.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Peaches, Galliano syrup, whipped vanilla cream and almonds:
To end the gorgeous meal, this dessert was light and dreamy especially the whipped vanilla cream and the crunchy almonds.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Affogatto, Italian lady finger bisciuits, orange mascarpone:
This was delicious and the alcohol in this was really strong and the affogatto concoction was extremely creamy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Honey figs margarita:

I have never tried a drink with figs so this was worth trying and it was non-alcoholic too.
When it came, it was pink garnished with a sprig of mint on top.
I was worried it would be quite sweet but it turned out really nice with crushed figs at the bottom of the drink.
The drink was really refreshing and not syrupy followed by the lovely fizzyness of the carbonated water.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Home marinated limes, cinnamon, cloves, cane sugar:
For cinnamon lovers, the cinnamon taste and smell is strong and very different to cinnamon powder.
They serve a whole cinnamon stick/quill in the drink.

The marinated lime was not sour and the drink was quite sweet as a whole.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tea by Forte:
Compared to my previous visit, the tea is now served in a ceramic cup and not in a tall glass which is an improvement and brings out the full tea flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Fiat is part of the Swire group where they take catering seriously, and it is really nice to have casual Italian food every now and again in a fun environment.

However for improvements, the table could be more spacious.

The salt and pepper grinders and the cutlery holder seem to take up some space on the table.
Since my last visit, this seems to be the only improvement I want to see because their food is great.

[Review 2252] FLAME roast chicken to rise to FAME @ FLAME

07/02/2013
Flame
灣仔盧押道18號海德中心地下B號舖
Shop B, G/F, One Capital Place, 18 Luard Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/flame-roast-chicken-to-rise-to-fame-e2282802

If your craving for a Nando's in Hong Kong, then you should come here!

Although the chicken does not tastes quite like Nando's in the UK, they offer Piri Piri chicken here!

There are two types of roast chicken: herbs or piri piri.
For Roast chicken lovers they can get their dose of roast chicken here and there are plenty of tables too with semi alfresco dining on a good day.

As well as FLAME there is also Chicken on the run and La Rotisserie but La Rotisserie is French.

FLAME is run by a few bubbly Brit guys who are really nice.

Apart from chicken they had lots of my favourite items such as coleslaw, chick pea salads and pies.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Piri piri chicken:

The colour of this is darker than the herb roasted chicken but the chicken itself is not that spicy, the piri sauce that comes with it is spicy so you can decide how spicy you want it.
The sauce is nice and thick with a strong bean taste.
The chicken was tender and juicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mexican beans:
The beans were nice and big and it had a nice smokey BBQ taste with the occasional crunch of onions and pieces of chicken in it as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast potatoes:
These roast potatoes were divine because they were roasted in duck oil.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Herbs roasted chicken:

Although the piri piri was good, I liked this one more because of the herbs and aroma.
The chicken was nice and tender and the skin was nicely roasted.
There was extra herb oil to dip the chicken in as well.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coleslaw:

The coleslaw was delicious, and the cabbages and carrots have been sliced finely taking in most of the flavour from the sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I also tried the baguettes as well because they had the ploughman.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ploughman's ciabatta:

Although it had proper pickles in it, I was disappointed with the cheese because it was not cheddar. The cheese they put in it was processed cheese which does not have as much taste as cheddar.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
BBQ ciabatta:

The roast chicken in this ciabatta paired nicely with the BBQ sauce.
It was really moreish because the BBQ sauce was smokey and sweet giving the chicken flavour to its max.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I will definitely be back for more chicken and other stuff as the price is quite reasonable and you can dine here too.
Hopefully they will have proper cheddar in the ploughmans on my next visit.

[Review 2251] Japanese nostalgia teaset @ Nippon Sushi Dining

06/02/2013
日和号壽司料理 Nippon Sushi Dining
九龍灣宏照道38號Megabox 10樓5號舖
Shop 5, 10/F, Mega Box, 38 Wang Chiu Road, Kowloon Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/japanese-nostalgia-teaset-nippon-sushi-dining-e2282725

Came here to check out the Japanese nostalgia!
Frankly this Japanese cartoon would be a laugh in the Western world because of the name!
The restaurant is decorated like a Japanese train carriage and it is all pink and girly.
The star of this cartoon series is called " CREAMY MAMI"
The name itself sounds a bit fishy!
Anyway, tried the tea sets which cost $68 each including a drink.
There was only two to choose from.
For drinks there was only grape soda or coffee, so if you didn't like either then your screwed!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Strawberry roll:
The roll was nice and soft but I felt that there was too much coloring.
In the middle was sweetened fake cream as well.
The macaron garnishing was probably the most expensive item on the plate, but macarons are getting cheaper to manufacture these days especially when they use cheaper ingredients.
The chocolate plate was held by fake pink cream and the chocolate tasted really cheap.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pancake with fruit:
I thought this was over priced because it was an ordinary pancake filled with artificial cream and canned fruit.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coffee:
I don't really drink coffee but the caffeine in it was quite strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★