[Review 4120] Big bowl feast @ 萬里緣盆菜專門店 Man Lee Yuen Poon Choi

20/02/2015
萬里緣盆菜專門店  Man Lee Yuen Poon Choi
元朗安寧路11號地下
G/F, 11 On Ning Road, Yuen Long
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/big-bowl-feast-e2426443


Big bowl feast
2015-02-20  4731 瀏覽
Big bowl feast is eaten during festivals and this shop serves just that so it makes me wonder if they are only open during big bowl season!!

Traditional Village Poon Choi is served in large metal bowls with a perforated metal plate at the bottom to keep food from burning, as it is kept warm on a portable stove as it is being served.
Poon Choi or Big Bowl Feast, is a traditional type of dish originating from Hong Kong village Hakka cuisine.

Basically each of these big bowls cost $1200 and they contain abalone, prawns, chicken, duck, pork, squid, taro, chinese mushrooms, fishballs, beancurd skin, pork skin and chinese radish.
According to an earlier review it was only $920 but there was a free bottle of wine with it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Abalone:
Tasted rubbery
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawns:
The prawns were quite big and the prawn heads tasted really sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soy marinated chicken:
I picked the drumstick part so it was delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roast duck:
The duck breast was good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Braised pork:
Too fat for my liking
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taro:
The taro was cut into huge pieces, they were about 7cm x 7 cm block with 2cm thickness.
They were quite hard so the other pieces should be eaten later when it gets soft but it depends if they are still there and not taken by others!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Oysters:
Found oyster shell attached to one of them, luckily I had that oyster or someone would have eaten oyster shell.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chinese mushrooms:
Tasted ok.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fishballs:
The fishballs were quite nice and springy and there were no grounded bones in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beancurd skin:
Very chewy and not soft enough
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
pork skin:
did not try
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chinese radish:
The radishes were cut into big chunks so I couldn't be bothered to try it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Overall the food was quite good

[Review 4119] A taste of Australia! @ Yamm

19/02/2015
Yamm
尖沙咀彌敦道118-130號Mira Place, The Mira Hong Kong 地下大堂
Lobby, G/F, The Mira Hong Kong, Mira Place, 118-130 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui


I have always wanted to go to Yamm but it is always fully booked.
Managed to get a table while they were doing an Aussie themed buffet until the 28th of this month.
Normally restaurants will feature different themes like British, American, Italian, German, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Korean but Australian food is extremely rare.
Hopefully we will see other themes like Polish, Russian, African, Scottish, Nordic, Egyptian coming up.

For the Aussie themed buffet they had Aussie yabbies which are like Dublin prawns, balmain bugs, baked whole barramundi, whole rack of lamb and others dishes.
 0 讚好

yabbies
 0 讚好

balmain bugs

whole barramundi
 3 讚好

whole rack of lamb
As I have a Western palate, all these were wonderful delights.
They had a nice range of cream cheeses.
-sundried tomato
-black pepper
-almond and apricot

For Asian palates, there was a good range of sushi and the much loved lobsters.
The tomato and lobster claw congee was divine. It tasted a like rich lobster bisque with a light tomato taste.
 0 讚好


There was foie gras too.

If all that doesn't please you, there is a truffle pasta loaded with truffle.

Personally I liked the couscous, breads, the cream cheeses and the lobster claw congee.



Unfortunately I had a bit of a flu so I could only sample a few desserts.


The doughnut was my favourite because it was simple and delicious.

I can't wait to come again and hopefully they will have a different theme on the next visit.

[Review 4118]Rose garden @ Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店

18/02/2015
Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店 (已結業)
Lab Made Cafe
銅鑼灣登龍街1-29號金朝陽中心2期 Midtown 地下B號舖
Shop B, G/F, Soundview Plaza 2 - Midtown, 1-29 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/rose-garden-e2426096

Saw pretty pictures of the Rose garden icecream at Labmade so decided to get it.
The rose garden was a smooth strawberry yogurt ice cream with real strawberry pieces and a layer of refreshing passion fruit sauce in the centre decorated with handmade meringue roses and red chocolate hearts.
This is definitely my favourite so far because I love natrual tasting strawberry yoghurt and the refreshing passion fruit sauce was balanced by the sweetness of the chocolate pieces.

I also had the banana custard cake which had real pieces of banana in it that was simply delicious.

[Review 4117] Crab roe chain @ 雄丼丼 Hung Don Don

17/02/2015
雄丼丼 Hung Don Don
鰂魚涌海灣街25號地下
G/F, 25 Hoi Wan Street, Quarry Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/crab-roe-chain-e2426068


After paying $148 for a crab roe udon 蟹皇油烏冬 Donka in Central I found out that 雄丼丼 Hung Don Don and DONKA 自家湯汁麵食專門店 are part of the same group.
The crab roe dish  蟹皇油 is the cheapest at Quarry bay's 雄丼丼 Hung Don Don which is served on rice, whereas DONKA 自家湯汁麵食專門店 (North point) and DONKA 一碗一串 (central) both cost $148 served with udon.
There is another copycat nearby in QB that also serves these dishes too.

Basically they all serve the same dishes such as shredded chicken in Shaoxing wine, rice in lobster broth 龍蝦湯泡飯 etc.

The crab roe with minced pork on rice was ok at this place, there was quite a lot of minced pork in the sauce, however the vinegar tastes better here because it is more fruity and acidic whereas the one in Central failed as a vinegar as it was sweet only.

DONKA (north point) 自家湯汁麵食專門店 北角
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=174919®ion=0&s=3
DONKA (Central) 一碗一串
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=49362®ion=0&s=3
My review at Central's Donka:
http://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/%E4%B8%AD%E7%92%B0-%E4%B8%80%E7%A2%97%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%B2/2372057?tc=sr2&con=rvw

[Review 4116] Rice and peas @ Mandy's Caribbean Bar and Restaurant

17/02/2015
Mandy's Caribbean Bar and Restaurant
西貢市場街24號地舖
G/F, 24 See Cheung Street, Sai Kung
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/rice-and-peas-e2426066

Rice and peas
2015-02-17  815 瀏覽
Had a craving for rice and peas so went to Mandy's for a quick fix.
The rice was soft and fluffy with so much fragrant Thyme and starchy Kidney beans.

[Review 4115] 6th branch of Cali-Mex!! @ Cali-Mex

11/02/2015
Cali-Mex
中環蘇豪士丹頓街11號地下
11 Staunton Street, Soho, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/6th-branch-of-cali-mex-e2426057

I was on my way to Flaming Frango's when I was given a flyer for a free frozen Margarita.
There was already a crowd there but I managed to get one.
I chose the strawberry which was sweet with a hint of Tequila.

[Review 4114] Consistently good Okinawan donuts @ Antoshimo Cafe & Bakery

16/02/2015
Antoshimo Cafe & Bakery 
新蒲崗太子道東638號Mikiki 地下G05B號舖
Shop G05B, G/F, Mikiki, 638 Prince Edward Road East, San Po Kong
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/consistently-good-okinawan-donuts-e2425957

Consistently good Okinawan donuts
2015-02-16  1505 瀏覽
[DINED HERE AGES AGO IN JUNE 2014 BUT IF I KNEW THERE WAS GOING TO BE ONE AT DIAMOND HILL I WOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE!! But saying that, the food was better at this branch]

This place is out of nowhere but clearly I came here for their Okinawan donuts.

Came here twice because both times the donuts were fried perfectly and not soaked in oil.

After trying the savoury and sweet, the savoury was definitely a winner.

The sets were not that good because there was something in every set that I did not like.
Apart from the food, I didn't like the decor because it was not my style.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seagrapes:
 0 讚好

The bento sets had juicy seagrapes unlike the DH branch which was just stalks!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Curry donut:
 0 讚好

The curry donut was good because it was filled with delicious curry and the donut was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mashed potato donut:
 0 讚好

As a starch lover, this was delicious mash encased in the donut.
I simply love potatoes and bread.
The flavour isn't strong but you can taste potatoes and the donut.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweet potato and mochi donut:
 0 讚好

I was a bit disappointed with this because it was too sweet.
◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
The bill: $1xx