[Review 4618] Grand and glamourous @ Gradini意大利餐廳 Gradini Ristora

13/09/2015
Gradini意大利餐廳  Gradini Ristorante E Bar Italiano
中環皇后大道中74號中環∙石板街酒店大堂
Lobby Level, The Pottinger Hong Kong, 74 Queen’s Road Central, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/grand-and-glamourous-e2489528

Grand and glamourous
2015-09-13  5671 瀏覽
Although Gradini serves Italian food, the restaurant is so elegant and the interior looks French.
 0 讚好

Went here with a group of friends to try it out.
While we were there, Kelly Chen 陳慧琳 was also dining there.
As well as Kelly, they said Julian Cheung 張智霖 and local tycoons dine there alot.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Anniversary cocktail:
 0 讚好

We were served this pretty anniversary cocktail which had pearlescent pearls in it that contains alcohol.
 0 讚好

 0 讚好

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Selection of prime Italian dried and cured meat Parmigiano Reggiano and black truffle honey - HK$138:
 0 讚好

Started off with a selection of fine meats but my favourite was the hard and tasty Parmigiano Reggiano cheese because I love cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Seafood salad with parsley and olive dressing - HK$168:

The seafood salad was refreshing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Grilled Mediterranean octopus and citrus salad on a bed of hand-picked baby spinach leaves - HK$148:
 0 讚好

The octopus salad stole the show because the octopus was really soft and springy with a strong briny octopus taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Double –boiled crustacean broth with king scallop, scampi, mussels, clams, calamari and fresh herbs- HK$198i:

The crustacean soup had a strong crab taste and there was quite a bit of seafood blended into it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Home-made tagliolini with Maine lobster, fresh tomato and basil - HK$388:

A nice dish of pasta in tangy tomato sauce with chunky pieces of lobster.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Home-made Ravioli filled with lobster and fresh tomato coulis - HK$248:

Personally I liked the ravioli because I just love ravioli, the ravioli pastry was firm and al-dente filled with tasty lobster.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Oven-baked whole Italian line-caught sea bass with fresh aromatic herbs in salt crust - HK$398:

For red meat alternatives, you can choose this because the fish is delicate paired with fractal brocoli and a nice lemon sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Live Maine lobster, baked or steamed with choice of sauces (lemon butter sauce, sea urchin cream or spicy tomato sauce) - HK$548:

As nice as it looks, the lobster was springy and tender.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Roast lamb rack with herbs and Chianti mustard - HK$398:

This is a must try even if you are not keen on lamb because it is soft and supple and not a bit gamey.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Tiramisu HK$88:

I am bored of Tiramisu but this one was amazing because it had crushed chocolate which makes it taste so nice and the layers are so fluffy and creamy with a delicate sponge in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Moscato Jelly HK$98:

As well as the tiramisu, the jelly is a must because it is paired with fragrant coconut icecream and the jelly is sweet and divine.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
I didn't try the cocktails but the others had:
· Salty Air HK$138 (new summer cocktail)

· Iced Watermelon HK$138 (new summer cocktail):

The iced watermelon is basically like an alcoholic sorbet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

[Review 4617] Relaxing dinner @ Haveli Authentic Indian Restaurant

12/09/2015
Haveli Authentic Indian Restaurant
天后清風街20號地舖
G/F, 20 Tsing Fung Street, Tin Hau
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/relaxing-dinner-e2489526

Indian food is my favourite so I can almost eat it everyday.
This time tried Haveli on Tsing fung street.
 0 讚好

The decor was nice and the restaurant was spacious.

Started with crispy and spicy poppadoms.


Ordered the Lamb samosa which was divine because it was finely minced lamb with peas in a rich gravy.

Tried the Tandoori fish tikka which was different because not many places do Tandoori fish, and here it was salmon.
The salmon was flakey flavoured with mild tandoori spices.
 0 讚好

For curries had the paneer kadai which is cooked with tomatoes and cheese, I found the tomato sauce really sweet

For rice I chose the spinach and garlic rice because it was lovely and green.
The rice was soft and fluffy.

As well as rice, I had the keema naan (lamb) and amritsari naan (potatoes).

For drinks I had my favourite salty lassi but not everyone likes the salty lassi so I recommend the mango lassi.

Receipt:

[Review 4616]Peruvian flavours @ El Mercado

12/09/2015
El Mercado
灣仔軒尼詩道239號21樓
21/F, 239 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/peruvian-flavours-e2489521

I love Peruvian food but there are not many in Hong Kong.
Tried this place because it was new and it serves Peruvian fare.

Here was what we had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Crispy sweet potatoes:
Started off with these sweet potato crisps which looked the same as crisps, they were hard and sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Grilled beef heart Anticucho marinated in chili corn puree:

I found this tantalizing because there were lots of different flavours going on and there was a strong taste of cumin.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Japanese oyster with lime and squid ink foam:

The oyster was different and I like the way it had dark grey squid ink foam with strong lime that made it appetizing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Seared beef flank, banana confit, quail egg nigiri:

The rice beneath it was mixed with banana so it was savoury and sweet with a small poached quail egg on top.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
ohnibe fish, leche de tigre, sweet potato and crispy calamari rings:

This dish was refreshing as well with bold lime juice and silky pieces of ohnibe fish.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Suckling pig, edamame tacu tacu, nikei chalaca:

The suckling pig was really tender that the texture was more like chicken and the rice beneath it was really similar to thick congee.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

[Review 4615] Sizzling hot surprises @ 美心香港地 Maxim's Hong Kong Day

12/09/2015
美心香港地 (已結業) 查看
Maxim's Hong Kong Day
大角咀海泓道1號奧海城三期UG65號舖
Shop UG65, Olympian City Phase 3, 1 Hoi Wang Road, Tai Kok Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/sizzling-hot-surprises-e2489517


Hong Kong day has done it again!
We were there for the sizzling dishes.

There are four sizzling choices so we tried all four.
We went to the Tai Kok Tsui branch because it is accessible by MTR and the restaurant is spacious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
All the sizzling dishes came with a soothing iced honey and barley drink that was sweet and cooling.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork knuckles & egg in ginger & sweetened vinegar with braised red rice with assorted mushrooms, diced chicken & celery $68



I knew I was going to like this because I love pork knuckles stewed in ginger & sweetened vinegar.
Tried the braised rice and it was so tasty because it was flavoured by the chicken and mushrooms contrasted by the crisp fragrant celery.
If you have the pork knuckles with the rice, you get more complexity with sweet and savoury notes.
*I highly recommend this*
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
pan-fried chicken steak with cheese, stir-fried sweet potato vermicelli with kimchi & sliced pork belly $58


This is the dish for people who like sweet and spicy tastes.
The stir-fried sweet potato vermicelli was exciting because of the Kimchi and the chicken steak was tender, covered in delicious melted cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
pork cartilage with cheese, braised shredded beef spaghetti with tomato $58


As well as the rice, this is another one that should be ordered because the stir fried spaghetti has an appetizing tomato flavour with juicy pieces of tomato and tender strips of beef.
The pork cartilage was soft and flavourful.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
abalone in oyster sauce, braised red rice with preserved vegetables, pork belly & fish fillet $88:

The abalone was surprisingly big!

This is another filling sizzling dish with fish, abalone and pork belly.

The rice had a strong ginger taste which goes well with the fish and abalone.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 4614] Purple Taiwanese roti @ 艾·蜜思手抓餅

12/09/2015
艾·蜜思手抓餅
西灣河筲箕灣道57-87號太安樓地下A3-A7號地舖
Shop A3-A7, G/F, Tai On Building, 57-87 Shau Kei Wan Road, Sai Wan Ho
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/purple-taiwanese-roti-e2489438

A while ago foodie MungKK showed me a picture of this purple roti but Saiwanho was a bit far away so I didn’t bother.
I was in the area so decided to try it out.
The menu was a bit confusing because I couldn’t see the choices that I could choose.
Anyway, I knew there was cheese and corned beef so I chose that.

The roti was quite impressive, you could smell the scent of sweet purple potato and the roti was still crispy after 10 minutes of travelling.
Basically it was like a crispy chewy croissant filled with corned beef and melted processed cheese and the flakey pastry was not too sweet.

[Review 4613] Braised pomelo peel @ 牛雜佬

12/09/2015
牛雜佬
西灣河太安樓27號舖
Shop 27, Tai On Building, Sai Wan Ho
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/braised-pomelo-peel-e2489437

It seems that this joint no longer has a fixed stall so they have a temporary mobile one.

Anyway, I am not really an offal fan but the smell was captivating so I went to have a look and saw some pomelo peel so I got that.
I got a takeaway because it was difficult to stand there and eat as the place was too hot.
Shockingly, the pomelo was put straight into the plastic bag which I hope is food grade because hot food shouldn’t be placed directly in contact with plastic bags but that is the mentality here.
Some restaurants even use plastic cups for boiling water.

The pomelo peel was mushy and delicious, oozing with beef offal broth as you ate.
It was old pomelo peel because there were lots of fibres but luckily they were soft because it has been boiling in the pot for at least a few days.
The only flaw was the saltiness because it was a bit too salty.