[Review 3373] Away from the crowd up in the clouds @ RIVA 餐廳及露天平台

18/05/2014
RIVA 餐廳及露天平台 RIVA AND THE DECK
銅鑼灣告士打道310號柏寧酒店27樓
27/F, The Park Lane Hong Kong, 310 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/away-from-the-crowd-up-in-the-clouds-e2364387

To be honest, I have not heard about this restaurant before.
Came here with some serious food lovers who do not share their dining experiences on social media.

It is located on the 27th floor so the views were expected to be good and better than Excelsior because Park Lane is on the corner so it has a wider view.
Had the semi buffet lunch which costs around $500 per person.

Found a few bad points about this place:
-Food was not labelled which was annoying.
-The chairs were difficult to get in and out of without disturbing people sitting beside you.
-The tea pot size was inconsistent, for the same tea, two people were served different size pots and when more hot water was required they forgot.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Food from the buffet table:
 1 讚好

I loved the bread because they had a great choice of butters.
The hams and cheeses complimented the bread nicely.

After learning how to tackle a crayfish, I had to have more because they were delicious.
There was lots of orange matter in the head area and the crayfish meat was fresh with a hint of sea salt taste.
I used to twist the head off thinking that was it!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Surf and Turf:
 0 讚好

Nicely presented but the tenderloin could have been juicier.
The lobster was lovely and tender on top of delicious poached turnip.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dessert:

The desserts were not labelled which was really annoying because the orange jelly turned out to be delicious apricot jelly and not mango which I don't eat.
The black forest cake was also good too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Breakfast tea:

To finish off, the tea was amazing because it was loose leaf tea with a strong grassy taste.
However the teapots they used were inconsistent because this other person had tea and their teapot was taller containing more water.
I asked for hot water to be added but they forgot.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Views from the inside:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Views from the balcony:



Video of Victoria harbour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyjG1wEIdoY
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 3372] Go KART Noodles!! @ 車仔站 Cartson's Noodle

18/05/2014
車仔站 Cartson's Noodle
銅鑼灣謝斐道440號C2地舖
Shop C2, G/F, 440 Jaffe Rd, Causeway Bay, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/go-kart-noodles-e2364190

The last time I had great cart noodles were from HAPPY NOODLE in Happy Valley but sadly that closed down.
Now there is Cartson's Noodle which is going to be great because it is opened by two really cool people who have a touch of Western influence over it.

The restaurant is really modern and chic and the logo says it all!
Designed with thought as well as incorporating the Chinese characters of Cart noodles as well as a pictorial of a real cart.
It features a TOP VIEW of a boy pushing a cart (on the left) which is also part of the Chinese character of the word CAR and the squares represent the the cooking segments in the cart!!
The interior is chic, no more grubby tables and uncomfortable environments.
You can choose to sit at the tables or the bar table.
The bar table makes the joint looks spacious.

Beneath the bar tables, there are hooks for your bags.

To order, you tick what you want, go to the counter and pay then wait for your number on the red display.

Ordering sheets:
There are four combos and my favourite one is the premium combo 2 because it has all my favourites.

Or you can choose a lighter option.

The are three broths:
Angel: tomato
Cartson's secret: mala spicy soup with various spice levels
Devil: fragrant spicy tomato broth

The angel means not spicy while the devil means spicy.

The counter:


Loved the bright plastic bowls for kids

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Squid ink noodles :

The presentation of this was just amazing!!
Jet black noodles contrasted by the bright orange squid skewers and the leafy green coriander leaves.

The noodles are not black, but covered in so much black squid ink that it has this strong squid taste.

Whoever has this will get black lips and a black tongue!!
Anyway, the noodles are definitely worth trying.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Premium cart noodles:

I chose this because it had everything in it that I liked from pork knuckles, meat patty, fish roll, onsen egg.

I thought the fish patty was the best because you don't often find it in noodles shops as a topping.
For the noodles I chose Chinese buccatini because it draws more soup.


The soup was lovely with a strong tomato base and spicy tones to it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tofu with cumin:

I loved the tofu because the coating is different to the usual fried tofu.
It tasted the same as the Japanese Agedashi tofu which is lightly dusted with potato starch or cornstarch and then deep fried until golden brown.
The one here had lots of cumin giving it a lovely flavour and reminds you of Xinjiang cuisine.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Condiments:

Even though you don't really need it, the sauces were also tempting and creative.
XO sauce with salted fish and the spicy pickled vegetables which were great complementing anything.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled items:

As well as noodles, they do great grilled items, great with beers which they plan sell later.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prune drink:

I don't normally order this but it was not too sweet and the smoky taste was not that strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
On my next visit, I am going to try the noodles in sauce with seacucumber and ducks feet.

[Review 3371] Well.. well.. well‏ @ 綠色素食分子 InnoVeggie

17/05/2014
綠色素食分子 InnoVeggie
北角堡壘街2-4號地下
G/F., 2-4 Fort Street, North Point
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/well-well-well-e2364136

Great place but food needs more fine tuning.

Meals come with soup, salad and tea.

It was amusing watching the guy attempt to balance the fork on the bowl.
I don't think the bowl was designed to have a fork put on it so they should have placed the fork on the table.
The salad was fresh but the sauce was too sweet and killed it. What was supposed to be healthy made unhealthy but it had nice mustard seeds in it.

The soup was pumpkin and ginger but I don't like ginger.

The main dish was really good but again they need to fine tune the salt and sugar they put in it because it was too sweet and salty. Again a healthy dish made unhealthy
However the spiciness was just right.

I desperately needed more rice to finish the rest of the dish but you get charged for extra rice, so I was still quite hungry after the meal.

The couple next to me complained about their sweet and sour dish because there were only two pieces of vegetarian meat and they joked that it should be called mixed fruit and not sweet and sour meat!!

Lastly, I could not drink the tea because it was rose and mint, the two things i hate the most.

◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
Price: $55

[Review3370] Garden in the city @ OVOCAFE

16/05/2014
OVOCAFE
灣仔灣仔道1號地下 (灣仔舊街市內)
G/F 1 Wanchai Road (inside Old Wanchai Market), Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/garden-in-the-city-e2364055

This place used to be the old Wan Chai Market which is now OVOHOME.
I have not been to the old market before so I don't know what it looks like.
At OVOHOME, it is like a garden inside a building with lots of green plants.

The only thing I did not like was the strong Lemongrass smell!~
At the entrance, there are some steps that lead to a display of eggs and those iconic lights with red metal lamp shades used in Hong Kong indoor markets.
The dining area is nicely laid out with wooden bench tables.
There were some nostalgic items too.

The cafe serves vegetarian food only.

A card saying Meat or no meat?.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Brussel sprouts and apple in sesame sauce:

I was quite annoyed with this because they should have called it salad with apples and Brussels sprouts instead because there were two only two brussels sprouts on the plate sliced in half and same with the apple slices.

The brussels sprouts looked oxidised and they were not soft enough.
The salad was ok drenched in sesame sauce but not the salad I was hoping for.
I should have ordered a sandwich instead.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I also went to their toilet and it seemed haunted because I was no where near the handryer and it went on itself and it just feels horrible and BLOODY FREEZING COLD!!!

◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
Price: $58