[Review 2511] Para Para Sakura cookies @ Italian Tomato

16/05/2013
Italian Tomato
灣仔皇后大道東183號合和中心地下296號舖百佳超級市場內
Taste Shop 296, G/F, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queens Road East , Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/para-para-sakura-cookies-e2296887

Thank you IVYCWK for getting me these pretty Sakura cookies.
I never knew Sakura flowers were edible.
When I saw these cookies, the first thing that sprung to mind was the film Para Para Sakura with Sakura flowers falling from the tree.
Anyway, these cookies come packaged in a lovely box with a ribbon on top.
There are three cookies inside that are individually wrapped.
The wrapper is slightly opaque and you can see the sakura flower on the cookie.
The cookie was pretty pink with a pretty pressed sakura flower on the surface of the cookie.
The taste of the cookie was buttery and not too sweet, but I could not really taste the Sakura flower.

[Review 2510] Delicious cheesy sandwich filler @ Marks & Spencer Food Store

16/05/2013
Marks & Spencer 食品專門店  Marks & Spencer Food Store
灣仔告士打道88號其昌大廈地下B舖
Shop B, G/F, China Underwriters Centre, 88 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai

https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/delicious-cheesy-sandwich-filler-e2296785

Went to my favourite grocery store to get some filler for my sandwich.
I was deciding between prawn and mayonnaise or the cheese, but in the end I picked cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taw valley mature cheddar, red leicester cheese and onion deli filler:

I used the filler on some ordinary brown bread and it tasted delicious.
Even though there were two cheeses in it, the taste was lovely and subtle balanced by the onions in it.
The mayonnaise in the filler held it all together making it nice and creamy and the cheese pieces were nice and soft..
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2509] Cute mini patisseries at Metrocity @ Laminuette Patisserie

15/05/2013
Laminuette Patisserie
將軍澳貿業路8號新都城2期UG樓76號舖
Shop UG76, UG/F, MCP Central, 8 Mau Yip Road, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cute-mini-patisseries-at-metrocity-e2296665

Metrocity used to be an old mall with the most basic shops such as standard supermarkets, pharmacies and local restaurants.
But recently, new fashion brands such as pull & bear, H&M, and other eateries from the city have opened there.
It was just lacking a nice patisserie.
After trying a new restaurant nearby, I spotted this patisserie from the floor above and went down to check it out because it was located on the basement floor near the escalators.

It was white and simple with a glass cabinet displaying the cakes.
They basically have cupcakes, large cakes and artisan cakes.
The raspberry mousse cake caught my attention because of its size and the cakes beside it were pretty too.

The cakes ranged from $25 to $35.
I bought three cakes to try.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Raspberry mousse cake:

The cake was really cute, it was even decorated with silver balls on top and chocolate.

It had raspberry filling in the middle just like the standard ones, the mousse was light and silky and the sweetness was just right.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pandan cupcake:

The cupcake was really moist and I felt that it was more like a steamed cake than baked.
I did not eat all the cream on top because it was too buttery and thick, and the taste of the pandan was a little artificial compared to other pandan cakes I have tried.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
3.6 Hokkaido mousse cake:

The Hokkaido mousse cake was really nice, it tasted like tofu pudding with a light sponge base.
I rarely eat the chocolate decorations but the white chocolate on top had pretty musical notes printed on it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2508] Che Che New York 7-11 @ Che Che New York

15/05/2013
Che Che New York (已結業)
尖沙咀河內道18號K11購物藝術館地下G14號舖
Shop G14, G/F, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/che-che-new-york-7-11-e2296639

Just after I bought some chocolates at K11's Che Che New York, I discovered they were selling it too at 7-11 convenience stores.
Luckily the flavours at 7-11 were not sold at the K11 branch.
I saw the chocolate with bacon so i got that.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Che Che Chocolate and bacon dark chocolate:

I do not normally eat bacon, but tried it anyway and it was surprisingly nice because the pieces of bacon were crunchy without fat.

The bacon that was embedded in the chocolate reminded me of those bacon sprinkles used in salads and the taste of bitter dark chocolate with the savoury smoky bacon bits were delightful.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2507]Seriously delicious Chinese cookies @ 雅園餅店 Nga Yuen Cake Shop

14/05/2013
雅園餅店 Nga Yuen Cake Shop
北角丹拿道54號地下C舖
Tanner Road

https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/seriously-delicious-chinese-cookies-e2296621

Thanks to Mjqueen7e for these extremely delicious cookies.
I have never tried these Chinese cookies before even though I have bought some for Ivycwk at a different shop.
I am not sure if all the shops taste as good as these or this one was exceptionally good.
They are freshly baked everyday according to Mjqueen7e.
The texture of these cookies are really crumbly, and collapses into fine crumbs in your mouth and the taste was amazing because it tasted like a combination of McVities digestives and McVities Rich Tea biscuits.
The drop of chocolate in the middle made it even more delicious without being too sweet and that part tasted like chocolate covered digestives without the wheat bits.
They seem to be able to keep for days because I had a bag of crumbs left which I ate a few days later and they still tasted fresh.
Usually I never eat biscuit crumbs but these cookies were delicious and crumbled easily so I saved the crumbs.
I wish the size of these biscuits could be slightly smaller to fit in ones small mouth.

[Review 2506] The brand new look @ 壹碗麵 Mian

14/05/2013
壹碗麵  Mian
鰂魚涌濱海街48號地下
G/F, 48 Pan Hoi Street, Quarry Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-brand-new-look-of-mian-e2296619

Previously this shop was located at North Point famous for serving Chinese pappardelle noodles.
The new Mian is much more hip and modern located on the same street as Yo Bago.
The menu is nice and simple too.

I came back for the pappardelle noodles and to try the savoury rice which was a new addition.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pappardelle noodles and beef cheeks:
The portion size is much bigger than before and the taste was good as before so the standard has been kept!
The beef cheeks were lovely and tender.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Savoury rice:
The rice was really nice especially with the celery leaves on top giving it a nice aroma.
I just felt that the rice was too mushy and salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mian homemade sauce:
They used to have jars of this on the table but now they only give you a reasonable amount!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2505] Dessert with Neighborhood Gourmet @ 蘭苑饎館 Lan Yuen Chee Koon

14/05/2013
蘭苑饎館  Lan Yuen Chee Koon
太子西洋菜北街318號集賢樓地舖
G/F, 318 Sai Yeung Choi St North, Prince Edward
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/dessert-with-neighborhood-gourmet-e2296618

I really liked the pistachio dessert on my visit I decided to go back for it.
I also had the pineapple pudding as well.
There is a jar that they proudly show people the pistachio nuts that they use.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pistachio dessert:
While I was there, the TV was broadcasting Neighborhood Gourmet which also happened to feature their pistachio dessert.
The dessert was slightly disappointing this time because it was lumpy and quite sweet.
I hope on my next visit it will taste as good as my first visit.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pineapple pudding:
The pineapple pudding was quite nice with pieces of pineapple in the dessert.
However it was slightly too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★