[Review 3316] OpenSnap rocks @ Lion Rock

19/04/2014
Lion Rock
旺角太子道西193號帝京酒店3樓
3/F, Royal Plaza Hotel, 193 Prince Edward Road West, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/opensnap-rocks-e2357957

Thanks to OpenRice for inviting me to this event which was the launch of their new mobile app called OpenSnap.
It is basically an app for openricers to share their food photos.

Here are my opinions on the disadvantages and advantages of the app.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Advantages:
1) a picture explains a thousands words so people who don't read reviews will find this useful.
2) you can tag other opensnappers.
3) all photos uploaded will be shown because they will not be screened for tasting or non tasting events.
4) For opensnap users, they can see photos from existing published reviews from openrice because all the photos have been linked to the app.
5) it will encourage more opensnappers who previously don't use openrice to comment because not everyone likes to spend time to upload photos and write comments.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Disadvantages:
1) For OS users, it is not linked to openrice so if you intend to write a review, you need to upload it again.
2) You cannot post photos for restaurants which are no listed, hence you need to update openrice with the new restaurant details and wait for it to be approved before you can post them.
3) Not every phone system supports it, so it would be great if they could improve it so that phones with a basic android version could support it.
4) there is no PC version like instagram so if people don't have the app they can't simply view the photos on a pc.
5) the app is not searchable on playstore because I had to get it directly from the opensnap website.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Samples of the food that was served:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The food I tried:
I went to a tasting before this event so I was really full and tried two items.
Tried the abalone which had a delicious truffle taste.

I finished off with soup which had delicious fish maw in it.
Even though it had fish maw, the soup was not sticky.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Wine glass markers and mobile phone screen cleaner from OpenRice:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
LED paperweight from Lion Rock:

video of the paperweight illuminating:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3315] Franchised Shanghai style food @ 上海婆婆336 Shanghai Po Po 336

19/04/2014
上海婆婆336 Shanghai Po Po 336
將軍澳坑口重華路8號東港城場第1層181號舖
Shop 181, 1/F., East Point City Shopping Arcade, 8 Chung Wa Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/franchised-shanghai-style-food-e2357950

The decor of this branch is quite nice and modern but out of place for East Point City because the vibes there are just weird.
It was strange with English mottos when most people there don't read English.

Sleep till your hungry
Eat till your sleepy

The menu was nice and simple.

Tried the noodles in sesame sauce which was too sweet.

The noodles in spring onion oil fared better because it was tossed in aromatic soy sauce and spring onion oil.

◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎

[Review 3314] Well hidden restaurant @ Olive Cafe

19/04/2014
Olive Cafe (已結業) 查看
此店已改名為Olive ERA
黃大仙睦鄰街8號現祟山商場地下G1-G2號舗
Lion Rise Mal Shop G1-2, 8 Muk Lun Street, Wong Tai Sin
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/well-hidden-restaurant-e2357949

Went to a gathering and they chose this restaurant.
The prices are quite expensive for its location and quality because it was Chinese style Western food although some of it was ok.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Superman cocktail:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pasta:
Tried the DIY pasta and it was hard to choose between capellini and fettucine.
Anyway chose capellini with asparagus, crabmeat and salmon in aglio olio style.
It turned out quite nice but it was too spicy and they used real crabmeat which was good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Reviwe 3313] Girly hotpot @ canton pot

19/04/2014
canton pot
旺角廣東道1131號香港旺角薈賢居2樓
2/F, Lodgewood by L’hotel Mongkok Hong Kong, 1131 Canton Road, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/girly-hotpot-e2357947

I have to admit I have not a big fan of hotpot because it revolves around meat and noisy places but when I saw the press release for this place, the food looked healthy and it is located on the second floor of Lodgewood hotel.
There are not many hotels that offer a place just for hotpots.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lodgewood hotel and reception area:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Photos of canton pot:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beers:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
There are so many international beers from Germany to Belgium.
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
My favourite was the strawberry beer which had a strong strawberry taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apricot tea:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
Aromatic apricot tea.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hotpot broths and condiments:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
Top left: Braised fish head with Chinese herbs $278
Top right: Fish maw & whelk broth $138
Bottom left: Mixed mushrooms soup $108
Bottom right: Short ribs soup in Korean style $228

My favourites were the mixed mushrooms and braised fish head because it seriously had a strong taste.

For condiments & sauces which cost $23 per person, there was:
Scallion
Minced Garlic
Thick broad bean sauce
Japanese sesame sauce
Crispy garlic
Chopped onion
Red chili
Preserved bean curd
Fermented bean curd
Peanut sauce
Chaozhou chili oil
Satay sauce
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Assorted dumpling platter (12pc) $158:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
(Crab roe & coral clams dumplings, kimchi & mixed mushrooms dumplings, morel mushrooms & Kurobuta pork dumplings).
The crab roe and coral clams were springy and tasted similar to wontons and the other nice one was the pork dumplings with strong morel mushrooms in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Featured mushrooms platter $348:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
(includes tremella frondosa, chanterelle, fresh shiitake mushrooms, Japanese mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, pleurotus eryngii, oyster mushrooms, button mushrooms, portobello, etc; available seasonally)
Mushrooms lovers will love this!!
My favourite was the tremella frondosa (middle) which has the same texture as sea cucumber and it was quite viscous.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hungarian Mangalica boneless pork collar $298:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
The pork was soft and supple when it was ready to eat.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Australian organic beef rib eye $248:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
Nice lean slices with not much fat content.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mixed mushrooms in tofu pouches $88:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
The tofu pouches were great, inside were yummy finely diced mixed mushrooms with an earthy meaty tone.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mixed meatballs $98:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
(mixed with shrimp, cuttlefish, asparagus & Yunnan ham)
These meatballs were springy and tasty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Organic tofu $38:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
Silky and smooth tofu with a strong soybean taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seasonal vegetables and organic sweetcorn:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
Sweet and fresh vegetables
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I am not a fan of Chinese desserts so my favourite was the serradura and the yuzu jelly I found a bit too sweet.
Black Sesame soya milk pudding $58:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Double boiled pear with chuan bei and dried mandarin peel $58:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Aloe vera yuzu jelly $58:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grass jelly, almond pudding with pomelo and sago in mango sweet soup:
0
canton pot的相片 - 旺角
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Serradura $48:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea & red beans panna cotta:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cute notebook set given by the hotel's PR which represents the three hotels:
Lodgewood, LIS and Forte.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3312] Battling Shaolin Bronzemen at Tit Hong Lane @ 福祿壽健康素食 Fook Luk Sau Vegetarian Restaurant

19/04/2014
福祿壽健康素食  Fook Luk Sau Vegetarian Restaurant
中環鐵行里8號地下
G/F, 8 Tit Hong Lane, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/battling-shaolin-bronzemen-at-tit-hong-lane-e2357768

I have always wanted to try this Vegetarian place but they close really early so I never got a chance to try.
Anyway, I finally had some time to try it but when I got there, it was overwhelmed with people at the entrance.
Those people were getting takeouts which cost $22 or $25 with soup.
All the dishes are displayed in the cabinet and you just order by it's number.
In Chinese, the street it is located on is called 鐵行里 (Tit Hong Lane), somewhat meaning Metal Alley.
As with all vegetarian food in Hong Kong, it is normally associated with Buddha's and the Guanyin which made me imagine that it was like going to the Shaolin monastery and getting past these bronzemen!~

Luckily there were seats inside so I dined there.
The menu was stuck on the wall so you can order 2 to 3 dishes or have fried rice or noodles that cost $35.

There is also a menu on the table.

I chose the one with soup and I was told to get it myself, but as it was lunch, the staff was REAL busy with the soup pot so I couldn't get near it.
In the end I just couldn't bothered to get the soup!!
Unfortunately, the choices that day were not as attractive as the choices on the previous reviews, but since I was there I tried four different choices.
I was quite annoyed they didn't have stir fried watercress or vegetarian chicken wings.
The rice and fried noodles were all you can eat but I didn't know that at the time.
Anyway, the food here was incredibly cheap but the presentation looked a bit rough because they were put on the plate at high speed and most of the ingredients are the same so it just looks like puke!
But for that price, the quality of food you get is really reasonable because a lot of vegetarian food is overpriced for no reason.

Here was what I had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taro in red beancurd sauce, tofu in pumpkin and salted egg sauce

I loved the strong beancurd taste but the taro was too hard.
The tofu in pumpkin and salted egg sauce was lovely, it was flavoured by the sweet pumpkin puree with a touch of saltiness from the salted egg.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salt and pepper beancurd skin, Loofah and vegetarian ham

The beancurd skin was a little oily but the seaweed in the middle gave it a nice umami flavour, as for the loofah, it was too salty while the vegetarian ham tasted like real ham but I only found one piece in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

After eating all that, I was still quite hungry, but if I knew the rice and stir fried noodles were all you can eat, it would have beat my hunger!

I hope to come here again when they have other choices and try their fried rices.

◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
Price: $40