[Review 4235] Creative light and healthy toasts @ Café O

07/04/2015
Café O
上環西營盤般咸道33號
33 Bonham Road, Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/creative-light-and-healthy-toasts-e2439656\

Every time I walked past I was tempted by these toasts:
apple butter, cheddar and turkey
green peas and mint on salted yoghurt
prawn and salsa verde sweetcorn puree
pear and cinnamon nutella

That day I was still hungry after lunch so went in to try them.
Before I ordered I asked if they were big and they said they were quite small so I decided to order two different ones.

I was shocked when they arrived because there were two of each.

The waitress reassured me that it was right there were two pieces per portion so I guess I shouldn't complain.
According to the menu, it is $48/pc so my order should look like this!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green peas and mint on salted yoghurt
It was cream cheese and not sour yoghurt but it was still good with thick starchy peas on top.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawns and sweetcorn:
The prawns were nice and springy but the sweetcorn was too artificially sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
The bill: $96

[Review 4234] Queen of the East for vegetarian dishes @ 東后齋 Queen of the East

07/04/2015
東后齋 Queen of the East
此店已改名為 本真東后齋
銅鑼灣登龍街28號永光中心25樓
25/F Circle Tower, 28 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/queen-of-the-east-for-vegetarian-dishes-e2439650


This restaurant used to be in ShauKeiWan on the East side of Hong Kong so it was too far for me but now have moved to Causeway Bay which is good news for people in the city.

The restaurant is peaceful and relaxing.

Here was what I had and it was impressive they had a good variety of nutritious fungi in the dishes and not boring mushrooms such as shiitake.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sauteed Chinese yam, okra and fungus in black truffle:
I loved this dish because it had my favourite okra and Chinese yam as well as prized fungus which had a light and viscous texture tossed in a fragrant truffle sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried taro paste wrapped in seaweed and beancurd skin:

They tasted great without the sweet and sour sauce and personally I would have liked a spicy or savory sauce for dipping.
Interestingly, they tasted like oysters with a coconut aftertaste.
 0 讚好

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Black tiger paw dish:
 0 讚好


This was similar to the truffle dish above but it had tasty black tiger paw fungus which was earthy and meaty in taste tossed with spicy chilis that made this dish spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried rice with ginger and vegetables:

 1 讚好

The fried rice was good because the finely diced courgettes and carrots gave it sweetness and the preserved vegetables added a salty kick but the ginger could not be tasted.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Vegetarian mock sharks fin dumplings:
 1 讚好

The dumplings had a light thin skin with juicy diced vegetables inside.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Osmanthus pudding:

The pudding was really sweet loaded with wolfberries and longnan berries.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Almond soup:
 0 讚好

The almond soup was slightly bitter with lots of lotus seeds and white fungus in the soup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 4233] Chaoshan delights at 心夜來潮 @ 心夜來潮

04/06/2015
心夜來潮
旺角塘尾道18號嘉禮大廈地下A舖
Shop A,G/F, Skyline Tower, 18 Tong Mi Road, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chaoshan-delights-at-%E5%BF%83%E5%A4%9C%E4%BE%86%E6%BD%AE-e2439633


Chaoshan delights at 心夜來潮
2015-04-06  2482 瀏覽
It just so happens that two Chaoshan eateries have opened around the same time and I was planning to go there for the vegetable tea.
I ended up going to this after trying 粿煞好味.
 2 讚好

Got there too early and they were not open yet but according to Openrice their opening hours are from 11am to 3am so I didn't expect them to be closed around 6pm.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Vegetable tea:

Previously tried a failed version at Tea academics which was sweet.
http://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/review/wan-chai-the-tea-academics/2413382
The vegetable tea here was really nice and wholesome with finely chopped snow peas, vegetables, Chinese sausages, puffed rice, peanuts and glass vermicelli.
I really enjoyed it because it reminded of me minestrone but in Chinese form!
Compared to 粿煞好味, it tasted lighter and less oily with a strong vegetable taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salted crab and urchin with rice:
 0 讚好

It was meant to be salted oysters, salted crab and salted urchin but they ran out of oysters so they gave me extra urchin instead.
It was really salty so you only need a tiny bit to go with rice.
The urchin had a creamy bitter taste which was quite nice but the piece of crab was too tiny to get anything out of it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Little rice dumplings:
 2 讚好

I found the pastry too thick and the meat inside was a bit gritty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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The bill: $1xx
Service: good

[Review 4232] Chaoshan delights at 粿煞好味 @ 粿然好味 Really Yummy

06/04/2015
粿然好味 Really Yummy
太子界限街41C號地舖
G/F, 41C Boundary Street, Prince Edward
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chaoshan-delights-at-%E7%B2%BF%E7%85%9E%E5%A5%BD%E5%91%B3-e2439620


Chaoshan delights at 粿煞好味
2015-04-06  1597 瀏覽
It just so happens that two Chaoshan eateries have opened around the same time and I was planning to go there for the vegetable tea.
I ended up going to this one first so it was my first experience having Chaoshan delights.
 0 讚好

Here is the menu and what I tried.
 0 讚好

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Vegetable tea:

Previously tried a failed version at Tea academics which was sweet.
http://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/review/wan-chai-the-tea-academics/2413382
The vegetable tea here was really nice and wholesome with finely chopped snow peas, vegetables, Chinese sausages, puffed rice, peanuts and glass vermicelli.
I really enjoyed it because it reminded of me minestrone but in Chinese form!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chaoshan ricerolls:
 0 讚好

I have always wanted to try these because they look like umbilical cords.
There is a shop at Yuen Long that also serves these ricerolls.
http://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/restaurant/yuen-long-chaozhou-rice-roll/82460
I managed to try one at Fat Fat Snack in Sai Kung but it was plain compared to this one.
http://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/review/sai-kung-fat-fat-snack/2277937
The one here was really tasty and silky with fried egg and delicious sauce and chopped vegetables on top.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef balls:

I am not a fan of beef but these were springy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Little rice dumplings:

The rice dumplings were really good because the sweet potato skin that surrounded it was chewy and inside there was juicy minced pork.
It was complimented nicely by their home made chili sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Layered pudding:

This savoury snack was interesting because it was layered and savory topped with dried shrimp and squid which gave it a nice salty flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 4231] Iced Chocolate at DALLOYAU Le Café @ DALLOYAU Le Café

04/04/2015
DALLOYAU Le Café
尖沙咀廣東道3-27號海港城海洋中心4樓403號舖
Shop 403, 4/F, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/iced-chocolate-at-dalloyau-le-cafe-e2438168

It was a hot day so sat outside to relax drinking a cold chocolate with a misty view of the harbour.
The chocolate was strong with a rich cocao taste that was not powdery.

[Review 4230] Sweet treats at Lab Made Cafe @ Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店 Lab Made Cafe

04/04/2015
Lab Made 分子雪糕專門店 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/sweet-treats-at-lab-made-cafe-e2438167

Since my last visit, there are new cakes in the cabinet.
Came with friends so that we could share the cakes.

Here were the ones we had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Blueberry cheese tart:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
opera cake:

 0 讚好

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Custard tart:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Earl Grey opera:


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
My favourites were the Earl Grey opera and Custard Tart.
The Earl Grey could do with a stronger Earl grey flavouring but the Custard Tart was fine because it had a sweet creamy taste that was light supported by the buttery shortcrust tart base.
◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
The bill: $1xx
Service: OK