[Review 2488] African paradise at Lan Kwai Fong @ Makumba Africa Bar Lounge

05/05/2013
Makumba Africa Bar Lounge
中環蘭桂坊德己立街38-44號好利商業大廈2樓
2/F, Ho Lee Commercial Building, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/african-paradise-at-lan-kwai-fong-e2295187

I have always wanted to go to Makumba but it was too much effort going to Peel Street.
Now it is brilliant that they have moved to LKF because I can finally try African food!
I tried to go during the day but it was not open so I went one evening myself because I could not wait!
The interior of this place is fascinating for someone new to the African culture.
I loved area on the corner.
The local TV series When Heaven Burns (Tinyueday) was filmed at their old location on Peel Street.
There is an area for live band performances too.
It was hard deciding what to eat because I wanted to eat EVERYTHING on the menu for one person!!

In the end I had the Fish Fricassee and the Okra soup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish Fricassee:

This was a delicious fish filet marinated in lemon juice, cooked in lime leaves, tomatoes and onions.
Served with vegetables and rice.

The fish was lovely and soft but the lemon juice was not that prominent.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Okra soup:

This was okra with ox tail and I loved the sliminess of the okra which was delicious with the rice and fish.
It was spicy too but the spicyness was gentle.
There were two pieces of fried banana plantains which were delicious, I thought they were going to be sweet but they were slightly sour and appetizing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ginger drink:

Thanks to Amina for this amazing drink.
The ginger and pineapple juice were great together and the ginger was not too spicy and the tangyness of the pineapple was really appetizing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
While I was there, I met some people who were having the platter so I took a photo of it.
I really wanted to try that too especially the dip.
African platter:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I will definitely come back and try the rest and I cant wait till the operations are running smooth and try their lunches.

[Review 2487] My first Canelé @ Monsieur Chatte

04/05/2013
Monsieur Chatte
上環文咸東街121號地下
121 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/my-first-canele-e2295027

Thank you Connie for getting me a Canelé and the tube of candies from Monsieur Chatte.
I have always wanted to try them.
The only two places that I know have them are this shop and this private one which I don't quite understand how to order from them so I have not bothered.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Canelé :

This was exciting because I have never tried it before so I did not know how the texture and taste would be.
When I bit into Canelé, the exterior was hard and crispy and the inside was amazingly moist and soft!

It reminded me of a sweet yorkshire pudding with custard flavouring.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
candies:

These candies were really cute, they reminded me of fruit pips in the UK but slightly bigger.
There are three flavours which are different in colour, the orange one is orange and the darkest one is honey, the light brown one tasted like ginger/aniseed with a minty cooling tone to it.

I liked the honey one the best.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2486] A lovely jar of almond and wheat cookies @ 大班麵包西餅 Taipan Bread & Cakes

04/05/2013
大班麵包西餅 Taipan Bread & Cakes
中環皇后大道中99號中環中心1樓5A舖
Shop 5A, 1/F, The Center, 99 Queen's Road, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/a-lovely-jar-of-almond-and-wheat-cookies-e2295026

Thank you Mjqueen7e for getting me these cookies.
The packaging is really nice and the plastic jar can be reused.
It reminded me of countryside honey/jam jars with a chequered cloth on top with an elastic band holding it in place.
After you remove that, there is a resealable lid and beneath that, there is a ring pull lid.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Almond and wheat cookies:

The coconut taste was quite strong and there were lots of crushed almonds in it giving it crunch.
They tasted like HOBNOBs a brand of biscuits I had in the UK but the texture was crumblier and had a nice buttery taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2485] Great Japanese food @ 築地日本料理 Tsukiji Japanese Restaurant

04/05/2013
築地日本料理  Tsukiji Japanese Restaurant
銅鑼灣記利佐治街1號金百利廣場7樓R1室
Room R1, 7/F, Island Beverley, 1 Great George Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/great-japanese-food-tsukiji-e2295025

Thanks to the owner for inviting us to try their new dishes before they put them on the menu.

Our task that day was to try three of their dishes and give comments.
These were fried burdock, buttered scallops with asparagus and herbs and cod liver roe.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried burdock:
The burdock strips were wafer thin and extremely crispy.
They were similar to ultra thin strips of coconut because burdock is high in fibre.
However we felt that they were slightly too salty, so hopefully when it is on the menu it will not be so salty.
They said that the fried burdock would be ideal snack to go with alchohol.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Buttered scallops with asparagus and herbs:

The scallops were lovely and tender and absorbed the fragrant butter and herbs.
Beneath the scallops were the youngest asparagus tips you could find, they were small and tender and absorbed the buttery sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anglerfish liver:

This is my favourite dish, so I was delighted to try it.
The liver was soft and silkier than foie gras with a lovely salty fish taste as well.
There was ponzu and spicy daikon dressing which enhanced the liver and salad beneath it.
The anglerfish liver tasted nice with or without the sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

After trying those items, we were free to try their menu items:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chilled tomato with sesame sauce:

The tomato was drizzled with sesame sauce and garnished with bonito fish shreds.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweet potato and chestnut croquette:

Luckily they recommended this one because we could not see it on the menu.
The taste was good because it was not only sweet, there was some savouryness it in, and in the croquette there were quite a few pieces of chestnuts that were silky and nutty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cold Charcoal udon:

I chose this because the udon was grey and the strands of udon looked thinner than the sanuki type.
The texture of the udon was really nice, it was similar to springy tagliatelle and the sesame sauce provided was really appetizing when it was mixed with the udon.

The ark shell clams were nicely presented, after we finished the meal, we were told these noodles were award winning noodles on the menu which I couldn't agree more and I will be back for these noodles again!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Eel sushi:

I do not usually have eel sushi but tried it here and was quite surprised by it because it was a long piece of eel.
It was very satisfactory eating it because it was not too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seared sushi:

The middle two were the Japanese amberjack/yellowtail which I tried because I have never tried it seared.
The texture was still soft and silky even though it was half seared.
The salmon and scallop was nice as well and I loved the generous finely chopped spring onions on top because it gave it a twinge of flavouring.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Asparagus and mentaiko wrapped in seaweed tempura:

I really liked this because of the asparagus and seaweed, inside it had mentaiko too giving it some colour and flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Uni fried rice:

I was quite full when the rice was served, so I only tried a little bit.
The uni taste was not that strong but you could smell it and on top of the rice it was garnished with scallops.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Milk pudding:
The milk pudding was really nice and not too sweet, a light dessert to finish off the meal with.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pumpkin icecream:

I think this would be a popular item because the product shot only shows a scoop of icecream but when it comes, it is a real slice of pumpkin filled with icecream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2484] Glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves @ 金鑽車仔麵茶餐廳

04/05/2013
金鑽車仔麵茶餐廳
灣仔譚臣道8號D&E號地舖
Shop D&E, G/F, 8 Thomson Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/glutinous-rice-wrapped-in-lotus-leaves-%E9%87%91%E9%91%BD%E8%BB%8A%E4%BB%94%E9%BA%B5%E8%8C%B6%E9%A4%90%E5%BB%B3-e2295009


I usually dine here for noodles, rice with egg and luncheon meat but when I went in I saw someone have Glutinous rice wrapped in Lotus leaves so I had that because I didn't know they served it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Glutinous rice wrapped in Lotus leaves:

When it came, the smell of lotus leaves was very fragrant.
The filling was rich and had lots of fillings such as roast pork, preserved sausages etc, but I mainly ate the rice because that was my favourite.
The glutinous rice was soft and moist, richly flavoured by gravy from the fillings and infused with the smell of lotus leaves.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2483] McDonald: Rice Fun Wrap [BEEF] @ 麥當勞 McDonald's

04/05/2013
麥當勞  McDonald's
上環干諾道中168-200號信德中心2樓267號舖
Shop 267, 2/F, Shun Tak Centre, 168-200 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/mcdonald-rice-fun-wrap-beef-e2295008

The Rice Fun Wraps are really delicious so I went back for the beef, on my last visit I tried the chicken wrap which was really nice.

AGAIN I am thankful for the $25 coupon from the newspaper because THIS IS NOT AS TASTING, I PAID FOR IT MYSELF!

I was envious I didn't get invited to the kick off for McD's new Rice Fun Wrap series not because of the food but because Pakho Chau was there.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice Fun Wrap [Beef]:
I prefer chicken to beef but I still tried it anyway, surprisingly it tasted better than the chicken, the sauce matched the beef as well, it was a cross between gravy and teriyaki sauce.
The rice patty was really nice and I finally tasted what was in it.

The beef patty brought out the mushroom flavour in the rice because there are pieces of mushrooms in the rice patty which gives it that brownish colour.
The mushrooms they have used are the western earthy type of mushrooms which are chopped up so finely you can barely see it, hence giving the patty the stong mushroom taste.
If you looked closely enough, you will be able to see tiny bits of mushrooms about 1-2mm in size.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

McDonald: Rice Fun Wrap [Chicken]
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2293916
McDonald: Rice Fun Bowl [Beef]
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2293874

[Review 2482] cha FOR TEA in Sheung Wan @ 天仁茗茶 TenRen's Tea

04/05/2013
天仁茗茶 TenRen's Tea
上環摩利臣街10號地下
G/F, 10 Morrison Street, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cha-for-tea-in-sheung-wan-e2295005

It was great to see cha FOR TEA in Sheung Wan because the one at Hysan place is rather inconvenient.
This branch is street level so it is easily accessible.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea with fruit:

Requested for only 30% of sugar but it was extremely sweet, after watering it down it tasted much better but the juice was very strong and the tea was not that strong but balanced out the acidity of the juices.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★