[Review 4530] Le Main de Nice @ Paper Stone Bakery

13/08/2015
Paper Stone Bakery
上環德輔道中308號富衛金融中心地下4及5號舖
Shop 4-5, G/F, FWD Financial Centre, 308 Des Voeux Road, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/le-main-de-nice-e2479150

Thanks to Ivy for getting me this huge bread that is the shape of a hand.

It is called Le Main de Nice which means The hand of Nice in French (Nice is a town in France).

It was joy seeing this bread because it was huge.

The texture was slightly hard and bread was quite tough but after warming it up it was slightly softer.

[Review 4529] The Granville experience @ Granville Island Hong Kong

12/08/2015
Granville Island Hong Kong
西環西營盤高街64號地舖
G/F, 64 High Street, Sai Ying Pun, Western District
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-granville-experience-e2478860

As well as my lovely British background, I have also fantasized if my parents were Canadians or Americans and I would totally be different.
Anyway when I first heard of Granville Island it somehow made me think about American soaps but Granville Island is actually CANADIAN.
There are now three Granville Islands in Hong Kong, I prefer the one at Sai Ying Pun because it is too close to the MTR!
The front of Granville Island restaurant looks EXACTLY like the Granville Island entrance in Canada!!!!!
At Granville Island, they serve a variety of Western food and craft beers.
I don’t drink alcohol but there were two that are worth trying because it has a light alcohol taste.
Tried the Swedish Kopparberg elderflower and lime which is nice because the alcohol taste isn't strong and I like the lime.
 0 讚好

Also tried the Deadfrog which has a chocolate aftertaste.

For dinner here was what we had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Sweet potato Fries($78):

A nice change from fries which were chunky sweet potatoes but they were a bit dry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Jumbo Hot Buffalo Wings 6pcs($98):
 0 讚好

These were really crunchy as claimed because it has a double coating which keeps it crispy and I liked the tangy sauce complimented by the sour cream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Caesar Salad($98):

The salad was a good decent bowl of lettuce in creamy caesar sauce, a must for any dinner.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Garlic Prawn Linguine($168):
The pasta was al dente with spring prawns.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Flame Grilled U.S.Prime Sirloin Steal 10oz ($388):

Didn't try the beef because I don't really eat beef.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Free Range Chicken ($248):

Loved this and it tastes better than it looks because the chicken is tasty but the skin could have been crispier.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Granville Island Baby Back Ribs ($348half $498full):

These were good as well because the meat was soft and the BBQ sauce was smokey and sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
I would recommend the buffalo wings, roast chicken and ribs.

[Review 4528] GREEN MACHINE @ Be-Juiced + Bar

08/08/2015
Be-Juiced + Bar
中環卑利街45號地舖
G/F, 45 Peel Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/green-machine-e2478841

Had this ice cold drink after an indoor cycling class and it was so refreshing,
The drink GREEN MACHINE had all my favourite ingredients: KALE, SPINACH, GREEN APPLE, and COCONUT WATER.
The coconut water makes it sweet, tasty and hydrating and I think this is my favourite blend.
There are other blends such as well to suit your taste and the drink comes in such a cute bottle.

[Review 4527] Chicken testies with cart noodles @ 高街麵霸 High Street Cart Noodle

08/08/2015
高街麵霸 High Street Cart Noodle
西環西營盤高街39號地舖
G/F, 39 High Street, Sai Ying Pun, Western District
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chicken-testies-with-cart-noodles-e2478833

Discovered this shop because I was having dinner in the area but it wasn't open that night so I went the following day.
I was attracted here by the front which looked old but inside it was modern.
 0 讚好

For cart noodles you have to order at least three items which cost $9 so I chose braised beef, beef tripe and braised chicken testes with e-fu noodles with Sichuan broth and Beef broth.

I wish there were more options to choose such as luncheon meat and beef tendons.

Chicken testes fans can come here for them if they don't fancy having a hotpot.

I was impressed with the noodles because the broth was strong and clear, you can see how dark it was with a strong anise flavour.
 0 讚好

The chicken testes were as good as expected and they taste like shirako.
 0 讚好

The Sichuan chili oil was served separately so that you can control the level of spiciness.

For drinks I had the coconut water which is my favourite.
Natrually sweet and hydrating which is a nice option instead of canned syrupy drinks.

Hopefully on my second the noodles will be just as good because I will be back.

[Review 4526] Great condiments and broths for hotpots @ 龍閣極上火鍋料理 Dragon Court Premium HotPot Cuisine

12/08/2015
龍閣極上火鍋料理  Dragon Court Premium HotPot Cuisine
旺角西洋菜南街51號友誠商業中心2至3樓
2/F-3/F, Yau Shing Commercial Centre, 51 Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/great-condiments-and-broths-for-hotpots-e2478814

Hotpots can be boring when the broth and condiments are just the typical items.
I liked it here because there are some unique dipping sauces for the hotpot

There were other options as well as hotpots such as the roast suckling pig, plump meaty goose and sashimi.

Here was what we had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Fresh Chinese yam with blueberry sauce:
 0 讚好

Started off with fresh boiled Chinese yam which has a starchy texture complimented by the sweet blueberry sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Crispy pork belly:
 0 讚好

Next we had the crispy pork belly which were cut neatly into cubes.
The pork skin was crispy and the layers of fat and pork were even that it gave it a soft and meaty texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Roasted goose:
 0 讚好

The goose was served in a glass dish and it the goose meat was velvety.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Roasted suckling pig:
 0 讚好

The suckling pig was served sizzling on black pebbles which kept it hot.

The pork was soft and tender that it almost melted in your mouth.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Double boiled whelk and peach tree gum soup:


I liked this clear soup because there was a strong whelk taste and there were bits of glistening peach tree gum which is resin from peach trees.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Sashimi:

This was a fresh platter of assorted sashimi.
My favourites were the salmon and scallop.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
After we finished the starters, it was time for hotpot and the first thing you do is mix your sauce.
 0 讚好

They have minced dried prawn paste which is different.

There is also grated galangal (sand ginger) and crispy XO sauce.
I definitely recommend lots of galangal because it has an aromatic taste and makes everything in the hotpot taste good.

Chinese drunken chicken broth:

For the broth we had the drunken chicken which had a strong Chinese herb taste.
It got sweeter because of the red dates.

Here were the items we put in our hotpot.
Deluxe marble beef slices:

Sea cucumber with prawn roe dumplings:

Assorted minced platter:

Black and white cuttlefish balls:

Vegetables:

Fish:

The fish was great because they gave you the WHOLE FISH.
Personally I think the head, fins and the tail taste the best.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎

[Review 4525] Memories of school canteen @ Pati by Lassana

12/08/2015
Pati by Lassana
荔枝角青山道688-690號嘉名工廠大廈地下VeryFood Court 11-12號舖
Shop 11-12, VeryFood Court, G/F, Kaming Factory Building, 688-690 Castle Road, Lai Chi Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/memories-of-school-canteen-e2478505

If you live or work in Lai Chi Kok, you will know that there are not many food options.
There are two sides in Lai Chi Kok, the industrial side which branches to Cheung Sha Wan and the residential side.
The residential side has slightly more food options thanks to D2 and the Industrial side is just getting better with Pati by Lassana.
Pati by Lassana is located in a food court, which did not exist a few years ago, the food choices were impressive and reminded me of the canteen at school and university.

There were all my favourites such as salads, baked potatoes, chicken and even fried fish.
With all these delicious items in front of me, I had to pig out so I had the set, which comes with a drink and ordered an extra chicken drumstick.


The fish was really good because the breadcrumb coating was crisp with no rancid oil taste and the fish was flakey. Next time I will stop them from putting the weird Chinese salad cream because its sweet and weird.
As for the chicken drumsticks, it was also satisfying because it was meaty and moist but again I didn’t like that Korean sauce.
To conclude, the food is fit for expats if they don’t put Chinese sauces on it.
For drinks I was glad there was Earl Grey tea because HK style tea is just not on.

[Review 4524] Light lunch at M & S Cafe @ 馬莎Café M&S Café

11/08/2015
馬莎Café  M&S Café
太古太古城道18號太古城中心2期1樓130號舖
Shop 130, 1/F, Cityplaza 2, 18 Taikoo Shing Road, Tai Koo
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/light-lunch-at-m-s-cafe-e2478476

Light lunch at M & S Cafe
2015-08-11  386 瀏覽
I have always wanted to try the Jacket potatoes here but they are always sold out because they are the cheapest items on the menu as well as the paninis and baguettes.
They still had them when I got there so I had the jacket and the cheese and ham ploughman panini.
++++++++++++++++
cheese and ham ploughman panini:
 1 讚好

 2 讚好

This was delicious because of the cheese, so next time I am going to get the cheese and tomato with pesto sauce panini.
++++++++++++++++
Jacket potatoes with cheese and butter:
 2 讚好

 2 讚好

It was small potato served with mixed salad leaves.
The potato was lovely with melted cheddar cheese on top but it was weird there was some mashed potato in the middle which made it tastier.
The potato itself was actually a bit too hard for my liking the potato skin was not brown and how normal baked potatoes are meant to be.
++++++++++++++++