[Review 4238] Great starter @ Bistronomique Staunton

08/04/2015
Bistronomique Staunton
中環蘇豪士丹頓街33號地下
G/F., 33 Staunton Street, SoHo, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/great-starter-e2439730

There used to be one branch of Bistronomique in Kennedy Town and I used to get it confused with Bistro Du Vin, another place that I have always wanted to go for real French food.
Anyway, tried this because I like to try restaurants that I haven't tried in Central.

The set lunch was the average price in Central and the cost varies according to the mains you pick with the cheapest starting at $108 to $148.To be honest I was only attracted by the starter so if the main was good that was a bonus.
If the starter had been something else then I would not have gone in.

There was not much choice because the squid was worth $1XX a la carte which means the mains are not worth much hence the beef is not likely going to be a good quality steak which means I have to choose duck or chicken.
The duck is obviously the imported stuff so I chose the chicken but it was chicken breast.
There was fish too but I wasn't sure if it was going to be fishy or not.
Anyway, as expected the starter was good, the squids were really tasty and delicate.

[Review 4237] Grapefruit green tea from cha FOR TEA @ 天仁茗茶 TenRen's Tea

07/04/2015
天仁茗茶  TenRen's Tea
將軍澳貿業路8號新都城中心2期2樓2038號舖
Shop 2038, 2/F, MCP Central, 8 Mau Yip Road, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/grapefruit-green-tea-from-cha-for-tea-e2439725

I was attracted by the poster of ruby red grapefruit green tea so I got it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grapefruit green tea:

I chose the 30% level of sweetness so it was not too sweet and I could still taste the tartness of the grapefruit.
It was really good because there were bits of grapefruit in the drink and the balance of green tea and juice was equal.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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The bill: $26

[Review 4236] Burger Republic resurrected @ Burger Republic

07/04/2015
Burger Republic
將軍澳唐賢街9號PopCorn商場1樓F24-26號舖
Shop F24-26, 1/F, PopCorn, 9 Tong Yin Street, Tseung Kwan O
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/burger-republic-resurrected-e2439673

Burger Republic used to be on Gough Street in Sheung Wan but sadly they closed in 2009!
http://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/%E4%B8%8A%E7%92%B0-burger-republic/1889713?tc=sr2rvw&con=rvw

After six years they are back!
The last surviving branch of New York Fries have become extinct and Burger Republic resurrected.

It's sad news because I love NYF but then Burger Republic is also good.
The burger selection is not quite the same as before because they don't have the cranberry and cheese burger so I got the chicken guacamole burger instead.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
chicken guacamole burger:
It was a good juicy piece of chicken thigh smothered in guacamole and sour cream with some cajun spices.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
The bill: $55

[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.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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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.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★