[Review 3608] My favourite mooncake 2014 @ 2/3 Dolci

24/08/2014
2/3 Dolci
中環皇后大道中38-48號萬年大廈1樓1號舖
Shop 1, 1/F, Manning House, 38-48 Queen's Road Central, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/my-favourite-mooncake-e2386941


I was thrilled to receive a mooncake gift certificate for Dolci's mooncakes because I tried it before and it was delicious.

I redeemed it quickly because these mooncakes are just divine and it comes with my favourite Jasmine tea.
The box had a modern subtle moon festival theme with clouds, moon and a rabbit.

If you look carefully, you will find a rabbit looking at the moon with its colour matched to the tea packaging.
Normally when I have these mini custard mooncakes, a quarter would be enough because it is usually too sweet and buttery but these are so palatable that I have a whole one in one go and selfishly I did not share these with anyone because they are too good to share.
After microwaving it for 10 seconds, it becomes warm and fragrant, and the custard filling was dreamy unlike other brands!!

[Review 3607] Exotic sausages - Beware or do you dare? @ Craft Brew & Co

23/08/2014
Craft Brew & Co
中環奧卑利街17號地舖
G/F, 17 Old Bailey Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/exotic-sausages-beware-or-do-you-dare-e2386939

Craft and Brew is on the corner of Old Bailey Street with simple rustic decor and lots of beer taps.
I was really excited about Craft and Brew because they serve some really DIFFERENT sausages!!!!
It gave me the same excitement as BRAT did because they don't just serve ordinary meat sausages.
The selection is more exhilarating than BRAT with their EXOTICS range featuring:
Snake, rabbit and Jalapeno
Crocodile, wild boar and chili
Mexican buffulo nachos
roast duck and plum
Beef, chili and chocolate
Chicken, honey and macadamia
Roast duck and plum was obviously going to be delicious but as a daring foodie I had to try the Snake and rabbit.
I wanted to try the crocodile too but it has Wild boar which is basically pork.
As there were so many sausages, I came here a few times.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Snake and rabbit sausage:
To be honest if I did not know it was rabbit and snake meat I would have assumed it was a chicken sausage because the texture was like chicken and the colour was pale.
The snake and rabbit sausage was interesting because it was velvety and the Jalapenos gave it a lovely kick of spiciness.
For the sides, the beetroot relish was nice and sweet which was great with the spicy sausage and saukeraut is always good with sausage.
The potato salad was lovely and creamy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mexican lamb merguez:
The lamb was slightly gamey and chewy because they use fresh natrual casings.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken, honey and macadamia:
I knew this going to be delicious but it was amazing because it was sweet and juicy and it had WHOLE macadamia nuts in the sausage.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast duck and plum:
The duck sausage was fun because it was like the East meets the West tasting like peking duck.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Although I do not drink but they have almost every beer you would want.
There were two which I found interesting because of the names:
Dead pony and Dead frog!

For improvements, it would be great if they did not put the paper sheet beneath the sausages because when you cut the sausages you end up ripping the paper as well.

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[Review 3606] Spices for your tastebuds at Spicy House @ 麻醉館 Spicy House

23/08/2014
麻醉館 Spicy House
黃大仙飛鳳街46號地下
G/F, 46 Fei Fung Street, Wong Tai Sin
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/spices-for-your-tastebuds-at-spicy-house-e2386931
Spicy House is located near the Wong Tai Sin MTR.
Went there to try some Sichuan dishes which were great and creative.

Here was what we had.

Some dishes do not have English names hence the Chinese name.
+++++++++
毛血旺

This was a huge bowl with porks blood, luncheon ham, cow's stomach tripe and instestines.
A typical Sichuan dish which was very aromatic because of the Sichuan peppercorns leaving your mouth feeling extremely numb afterwards.
My favourite were the porks blood and luncheon meat.
+++++++++
川烤BB豬
Sichuan roast suckling pig

This is an adaption where they have used Roast sucking pig instead of other meats.
It was really enjoyable because the skin was crispy just like pork crackling and the sauce was like rich Western gravy spiked with Sichuan spices perfect with rice, potatoes or noodles.
+++++++++
冰鎮鮮鮑魚同
Fresh chilled abalone

The photograph does not show, but when it was brought to the table, there was cold smoke coming from it and the abalone was sweet and fresh with a light soy sauce taste.
+++++++++
桑拿田雞
Frog sauna style


The inspiration behind this dish is hot steam saunas which is why there are hot pebbles in the sauna style wooden tub so that when the frogmeat is poured into the bowl, it will sizzle and let off steam.
The frog meat was spicy and springy and it was just like eating chicken.
+++++++++
豆花黃魚
Fish with beancurd

Last but not least, this was my favourite because the fish was extremely silky paired with appetizing pickled vegetables and smooth beancurd which the fish even more silky.
+++++++++
To watch this episode of 玩轉18區 at 麻醉館 hosted by 周中師傅, Miki and Supersupergirl and other shows by Aplus YUS, please see the video below.

[Review 3605] hot hot hot @ HOT CHICK by Paul's Kitchen

22/08/2014
HOT CHICK by Paul's Kitchen
灣仔汕頭街27號地下A舖
Shop A, G/F., 27 Swatow Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/hot-hot-hot-e2386616


Walked past and noticed a standee so decided to try it because there was roast chicken and fish and chips on the menu.
Just a street away, there is La Rotisserie which is famous for roast chicken!
The shop had red paper covering the shop's name at the time.

Unfortunately, they only do takeaways.

This joint is opened by Paul's Kitchen in Central which I have always wanted to go.
It is called Hot Chick which is not to be confused with Hotchicks at North Point which reminds me of FLAMES and FLAME that both do roast chicken as well.
Sadly FLAME in Wan Chai does not serve roast chicken anymore but FLAMES in Quarry Bay does.

I went for the roast chicken and desserts over several days.

For the roast chicken, there is a good variety of sides but as they have just opened, I could only choose the potato gratin or chips.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast spring chicken set:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast spring chicken:
The chicken was juicy and tender with a deliciously seasoned skin while the potato gratin was nice and creamy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salad:
The salad was fresh, but nothing spectacular about it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apple crumble:
The apple crumble was a bit disappointing because Paul's Kitchen is meant to be British but the amount of custard seemed like a dollop of cream to them.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sticky toffee pudding:
Again, this British dessert is meant to be served with custard and there was none.
The toffee was sticky and sweet but if it had custard then it would have been perfect.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Banoffee trifle:
The banoffee trifle was a bit different to what I was expecting because trifles have jelly, sponge and custard.
There is a better amount of custard on this because I kept telling them a spoonful of custard was not enough!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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The bill: $17X

[Review 3604] Lab Made 2nd year anniversary @ Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店 (已結業)

22/08/2014
Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店 (已結業)
Lab Made Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Laboratory
將軍澳重華路8號東港城1樓Food Point 3號舖
Shop 3, Food Point, 1/F., East Point City Shopping Arcade, 8 Chung Wa Road, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/lab-made-2nd-year-anniversary-e2386575

The flavours this time were quite impressive, so tried three out of the four.
-Ginger tofu
-Birthday cake
-Sweet pea tofu
The sweet pea tofu had a nice taste but I did not like the texture because it was starchy.

The ginger tofu was fun because of the pipette.

The birthday cake had cream and marshmallows this year and the pandan flavour was stronger but sweeter.
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The bill: $1XX

[Review 3603] Captivated by the butterfly @ Oddies

21/08/2014
Oddies
灣仔灣仔道149號1F地舖
Shop 1F, G/F, 149 Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/captivated-by-the-butterfly-e2386570
I was drawn to this place after seeing pretty butterflies on the softserve.
It is a small shop which stands about one or two people.
The shop is plain white with artistic bits and pieces here and there.
The toppings were stored in these lovely glass jars.
When I went, there were three Italian soft gelato desserts to choose from: Oddies garden, red odd and white sand.
They were all unique which made it difficult to choose.
The oddies garden has matcha panna cotta at the bottom with fresh mango, sesame crumble, caramelized almond meringue, edible pansy flowers garnished with a beautiful butterfly on top.
The Red Odd was visually attractive because of the dotty strawberry jelly and smoked vanilla icecream.


Last but not least, the White sand had pineapple foam, honey sheet and a liquid filled bubble.

In the end I went for the White Sand and had some eggettes as well.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
White sand:
Italian low fat soft gelato served with lychee, coconut crumble, cherries in kirsch, coconut condensed milk sorbet, coconut explosion, pineapple foam, millefeuille crisps and honey sheet

I was really glad I chose this because there were so many different but tasty elements in this.
The gelato was impressive because it was not too sweet and it went really well with the refreshing pineapple foam, then there was delicious cherries which were soaked in Kirsch.
Then at the bottom, there were fresh pieces of lychee.

I had the molecular bubble last which was a burst of lychee extract.
It was a great way to end the dessert because it was like a mini shot of juice.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dark Chocolate gelato:

The chocolate gelato was rich and smooth.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
ham and cheese:

The ham and cheese was really good because the eggette was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with melted cheese here and there.
As a personal preference I would prefer a stronger cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
So Mexican:

The taste was a bit different to what I was expecting because it tasted more like Chicken tikka.
Anyway, I liked it because of the strong flavours.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Next time I am going to try the vanilla rice pudding eggette which should be interesting!

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The bill: $8X