[Review 2883] Start a sweet autumn with Chestnut cakes @ 美心西餅Maxim's Cake Shop

07/10/2013
美心西餅Maxim's Cake Shop
中環港鐵中環站CEN E18號舖
Shop CEN E18, Central MTR Station, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/start-a-sweet-autumn-with-chestnut-cakes-e2324526

Thanks to the lovely PR agency who did a great job promoting the new Chestnut series at Maxims.
It was so nice of them to give us a teaser with a bag of chestnut magnets with a chestnut shaped helium balloon.

They reminded me of conkers, and they would be invincible too because they are made of metal.
Before these chestnut cakes were launched, chestnut to me just meant conkers and chestnut stuffing.

In the Maxim's new chestnut range there were chestnut tarts and chestnut cakes!


Here was what I tried.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chestnut and marshmallow tart:
Delicious butter based tart base filled with chestnuts and a marshmallow centre covered in delicious chestnut cream.
The starchy chestnut cream and marshmallow were a dreamy pairing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shandong chestnut, purple potato and sweet potato cake mini:
This was my favourite one in the series because it was really pretty, decorated with a ring of purple sweet potato on the outside.


There are three delicious layers in the middle, the top is chestnuts, the second layer is Okinawa purple sweet potato and the third layer is kagoshima golden sweet potato.

There was a good balance of filling to the cakes.
The fillings were really silky and the sweetness was not cloyingly sweet and the sweet potatoes just enhanced it even more.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shandong chestnut almond crispy cake:

This is seriously for chestnut lovers, a cake filled with crushed chestnut puree, chestnut cream on a delicious crispy base with cotton soft cake in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2882] French style gnocchi @ Le Bonbon de Paris

06/10/2013
Le Bonbon de Paris
西貢敬民街9號高勝樓地下1號舖
Shop 1, G/F, Ko Shing Building, 9 King Man Street, Sai Kung
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/french-style-gnocchi-e2324099

Even though I have had a lot of French food, I never knew they had gnocchi.
Since France is big, there are quite a few regional variations and one of them is quite amusing literally meaning dog poop [gnocchi de tantifla a la nissarda - "la merda dé can"!]
Anyway at Le Bonbon, there were there was either gnocchi in creamy sauce or gnocchi in bolognaise sauce.
I tried the creamy sauce one so next time I will try the bolognaise one.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Gnocchi in creamy sauce:

The sauce was extremely creamy and heavy with generous pieces of bacon.
Best to be shared because the portion can be quite big.
I think the bolognaise one will not be so heavy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2881] Swissbeck now in Sai Kung @ Swissbeck

06/10/2013
Swissbeck
西貢普通道11A地下
G/F, 11 A Po Tung Road, Sai Kung
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/swissbeck-now-in-sai-kung-e2324078

I was quite surprised that Swissbeck opened another branch in Sai Kung!

Anyway decided to check it out.

Compared to Central, the Sai Kung branch is a neat little shop.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rohnut:

They used to be called Cronuts at the Central branch, but they are now called Rohnuts.
The one I got was similar to the one I had in Central but without the strawberries, it was just filled with cream in the middle.
The Rohnut was sweeter and oilier than the one at central, but the taste was nice because the flakey layers made it lighter than a conventional donut.
The cream in the middle was delicious with the chewy flakey rohnut but I would have preferred it if it was dusted with powdered sugar and not granulated sugar because it was quite sweet towards the end.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
For more on cronuts, please see:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2317630&tc=sr2&con=rvw

[Review 2880] Drinks at Pacific Coffee @ 太平洋咖啡 Pacific Coffee

04/10/2013
太平洋咖啡 Pacific Coffee
灣仔港灣道18號中環廣場2樓
2/F, Central Plaza, 18 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/drinks-at-pacific-coffee-e2323904

Went to a tasting held at Pacific Coffee, while we were there, we were treated drinks from Pacific Coffee.
There was grape or apple Appletiser.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
apple Appletiser:

I used to drink this all the time in the UK when I was a kid so I assumed it was British, but this drink is actually African.
I like this drink because it does not contain any sugar, it was pure fizzy apple juice which quenched my thirst.
This drink was formerly called Appletise but since people kept calling it Appletiser, the drink was renamed Appletiser!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2879] Delicious African lunches @ Makumba Africa Bar Lounge

04/10/2013
Makumba Africa Bar Lounge (已結業)
|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/delicious-african-lunches-e2323903


Lunches here are great but I never happen to be in Central during the weekdays so I miss out on so much delicious food in Central.
The lunch here is really cheap too, the basic one is only $85.

Anyway, it is best to phone before coming to check what is available.

As no one has discovered this place for lunch or they are too scard to try, the place was nice and quiet, but in the evenings the scene is totally different from a quiet scene to a party scene.

Nice lounge for medium sized groups.

They have some special Killer drinks too with super hot colourful chilis in the alchohol.

Initially they were doing the French African buffet but I missed that, so now they are doing an African buffet for lunch which is just as good because I like African food as well.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chili sauce:

A chili sauce that really packs a punch, but this is not their spiciest.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Kedjenou:

This was chicken stew cooked with vegetables such as cabbages, carrots and tomato.
It was a nice dish to go with the rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice with peas and carrots:

The rice was quite simple and I would have preferred something more sophisticated such as the coloured rices they eat in Africa.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mafe:

This was beef shin cooked in delicious peanut sauce! It tastes nothing like Satay sauce which is good and the beef was really soft and gelatinous.
Although I do not like beef, this was my favourite dish and I had lots of it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2878] Roast chicken now available at Pizza Max @ Pizza Max

03/10/2013
Pizza Max
佐敦吳松街131-137號嘉和大廈地下B舖
Shop B, G/F, Ka Woo Building, 131-137 Woosung street, Jordan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/roast-chicken-now-available-at-pizza-max-e2323795


I was surprised they added roast chicken to their menu because their pizzas, pastas and curries were already good.
Luckily, it was in the afternoon, so I tried the roast chicken tea set which had roast potatoes.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast chicken:

The roast chicken was nice but different because it had cumin and other exotic spices which were not spicy.
The chicken was juicy and the skin was crispy.

The beans could have been blanched longer and the potatoes were delicious with the gravy which had green peppers and onions in it.
I would prefer coleslaw instead of rice because the rice made it a bit Asian.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 2877] New dessert items @ MOS Burger

03/10/2013
MOS Burger
將軍澳坑口重華路8號東港城1樓161-162號舖
Shop 161-162, 1/F, East Point City, 8 Chung Wa Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O


https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/new-dessert-items-mos-burger-e2323760

There were quite a few new items at MOS Burger so I went there to try their cakes.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
New items:
Curry bread
apple chiboust
Mille feuille
Fish burger with Japanese style sauteed vegetables

In the end, I got the cakes

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
apple chiboust:


Too sweet
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mille feuille:

The taste of this was not that bad but the only problem was that the pastry layers were tough and soft, the cream was thick, dense and sticky with heavy vanilla flavouring.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★