[Review 5005] Urban park: in Central @ 城市匯 Urban Park

30/01/2016
城市匯 Urban Park
中環德輔道中173號南豐大廈2樓3-5號店
Shop 3-5, 2/F, Nan Fung Tower, 173 Des Voeux Road Central, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/urban-park-in-central-e2538654

Urban park: in Central
2016-01-30  1277 瀏覽
After dining at Yum Cha a few weeks ago, I discovered Urban Park which is just round the corner serving Western Fare.
 0 讚好

Went here for a gathering because the items are good for sharing.
We started off with a welcome drink which has light alcohol in it and a strong rose taste.
 0 讚好

For food, here was what we had:
+++++++++++
Fresh burrata mozzarella salad:
 1 讚好

This was creamy and I loved the slice of square basil jelly beneath it which melts in your mouth with a refreshing basil taste.
+++++++++++
French black lip mussels in white wine reduction, thyme, onion and french fries:
 0 讚好

This is was fun to share and gone in a flash because the mussels were really good.
+++++++++++
Homemade tortellini made with mushroom, spinach, ricotta, creamy rocket sauce.
 0 讚好

Tortellini is always my favourite.
I liked the spinach inside because it was not grounded up but it was intact leaves inside.
+++++++++++
Boston lobster pasta:

Flawless pasta with delicate and sweet lobster and silky lobster foam on top.
+++++++++++
Roasted beer can lemon chicken:

Not how your normal roast chicken is served but it is good that roast is on the menu and complete with roast vegetables and gravy made with beer.

The chicken was nicely done and the bitter gravy was a good compliment.

+++++++++++
Country style mac and cheese:

Expats will love this because it is the real thing, ie proper cheesy and it also has truffle in it.
+++++++++++
Truffle and cheese fries:

+++++++++++
Chili chocolate: black pepper caramel cream:

The dessert was impressive because the chocolate filling was really light and velvety with a spicy sting followed by the yummy caramel in the middle.
+++++++++++

[Review 5004] Sichuan bones @ 沙煲王小廚 Sabo Kitchen

29/01/2016
沙煲王小廚 Sabo Kitchen
此店前身為 友得食粥麵茶餐廳
西灣河太康街1號麗灣大廈地舖
G/F, Lai Wan Building, 1 Tai Hong Street, Sai Wan Ho
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/sichuan-bones-e2538539

Went here randomly because the place I wanted to go was closed.
There is upstairs seating as well as downstairs but the place stinks.
Anyway, I settled for the Sichuan chicken which came with a soup and drink for $42.
The chicken was just bones so I was left starving but the Sichuan sauce was really good because there were crunchy brown soy beans in it which went nicely with the rice, but the rice was too hard for my liking.

[Review 5003] All your Japanese wishes in one restaurant @ 宏 Hiroshi

29/01/2016
宏  Hiroshi
尖沙咀彌敦道100號The ONE 5樓502號舖
Shop 502, 5/F, The ONE, 100 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/all-your-japanese-wishes-in-one-restaurant-e2538357

All your Japanese wishes in one restaurant
2016-01-29  2670 瀏覽
I used to come here a lot when they were in Jordan.
Hiroshi was one of the restaurants that started the matcha trend.
They have now relocated to THE ONE on the 4th floor which is bigger and spacious.
At Hiroshi, they serve udons, rice sets, cakes, macarons which were all the items I wanted to try.
At the entrance of the shop, it looks like a cake shop because there are glass cabinets with cakes, macarons and a coffee drip.
Inside the shop, there were various of posters of strawberries and hokkaido milk which are famous from Furano.
The cream in the cakes are made with hokkaido milk and the strawberries they use are from Furano, hence for the small strawberry swiss roll you only get a quarter of the strawberry because they are quite expensive.
Luckily they have an all day set which includes an udon, cake and tea, there is a slightly more expensive set which has noodle and rice with either a cake or two macarons and drink.
Ordered two sets so I could try the spaghetti, udon and rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Stir fried seaweed Udon:
 0 讚好



The pasta was really good because it was not oily with a nice seaweed taste and the seafood was fresh.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seaweed Udon with fish and rice:

Crispy and tender fish that was not too sweet.

Flawless udon.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coffee:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Royal tea:

The smell was overwhelmingly strong and you could smell kyoto grapes but the taste of the tea was really light.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Earl grey tea chiffon cake:

This was my favourite cake because the cake was really soft and there was a good proportion of cake and cream.
The sweetness was just right.
The structure of this cake was really airy just like a coral sponge.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea swiss roll:

The green tea taste was quite grassy and it was sweeter than the chiffon version.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dessert:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[Review 5002] Pre Chinese New Year gathering @ 禮賓傅 Lai Bun Fu

29/01/2016
禮賓傅 Lai Bun Fu
中環安蘭街18號5樓
5/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/pre-chinese-new-year-gathering-e2538354

When I first heard of this restaurant, I really fell for it because the pronunciation is the same as the Government house 禮賓府 so I was a bit surprised that the public could go in for food.
Anyway, it turns out the name of the restaurant is 禮賓傅 which is still pronounced the same but the last word means Master.

Although the name is slightly different, it is still related to the ‘Government House’ because this place serves dishes that were served to officials at the ‘Government House’ because Chef Chung previously catered for government officials there.

Chef Chung has previously prepared dishes for world leaders such as President of PRC Xi Jinping, Premier of PRC Li Keqiang, Prime Minister of Russian Dmitry Medvedev, and former President of PRC Hu Jintao, former President of the United States George Bush and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher.

Lai Bun Fu is themed with elements from colonial days with Chinese antiques and British bits and pieces.

Went here for a pre-Chinese New Year gathering so we had some warming snake potage as well as festive dishes.

Here was what we had:
+++++++++++++++
Deep-fried Jinhua Ham and Dried Oyster Rolls:
 0 讚好


This was good because they have used the bacon and oyster concept where they have replaced bacon with Jinhua ham, which gives the oyster a nice saltiness without the smokiness.
It was an oyster rolled in ham then dipped in batter and fried.
+++++++++++++++
Traditional Snake Potage:
 0 讚好


This was a great warming soup on a cold day with crispy red beancurd flakes and traditional petals to garnish the potage.
I liked the potage on its own without the petals and there was a nice strong fruit peel taste.
+++++++++++++++
Lai Bun Fu’s Classic Big Bowl Feast:


The big bowl feast had all my favourite ingredients because it does not contain any fatty pork belly or pork skin which are substituted with prized sea cucumber and fish maw.
The remaining sauce in big bowl feast was fit for a hotpot so we ordered extra vegetables to put in.
+++++++++++++++
Stewed Mutton and Beancurds:


The mutton was soft and delicate paired with my favourite fermented beancurd sauce.
+++++++++++++++
Braised Beef Brisket with Assorted Peaches:

As this is the year of the Monkey, there is a myth that cheeky monkeys will always steal peaches hence there are peaches in this dish to make it festive.
The chunks of beef brisket were soft and big and the peaches made it appetizing.
Personally I liked the apricots in this dish.
+++++++++++++++
Lai Bun Fu Fortune Bag:

When this was served, it was a huge tofu skin bag/sack with smaller tofu bags surrounding it.
Inside this huge tofu bag was a whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, but my favourite item was the smaller bags which are vegetarian filled with crunchy vegetables.
+++++++++++++++
Steamed Eel with Soya Sauce:

This was steamed fresh eel with black bean sauce.
It tastes nice but I eel bones and I just don't get along.
+++++++++++++++
Stir-fried Lotus Roots with Young Ginger, Chestnuts, and Goji Berries:

This was a vegetable dish to balance the meal, there was a nice crunch and gingery taste.
+++++++++++++++
Golden Sea Uni Fried Rice with Clams:

A fried rice that is memorable because it has springy clams complimented by creamy uni.
+++++++++++++++
Double-boiled Snow Fungus and Lotus Seed:

To finish off, had this nutritious sweet soup that contained snow lotus seed that has a sticky viscous mouthfeel.
+++++++++++++++

[Review 5001] CNY Yam and dried shrimps pudding @ 翠亨邨 Tsui Hang Village

28/01/2016
翠亨邨 Tsui Hang Village
尖沙咀彌敦道132號美麗華廣場一期食四方5樓507號舖
Shop 507, L5, FoodLoft, Mira Place One, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/cny-yam-and-dried-shrimps-pudding-e2538303

Tried this Yam and dried shrimps pudding that is made with crunchy fresh yam, yam bean topped with crispy dried conpoy which you add according to how you like it.
I knew I was going to like this because it is made with healthy ingredients and the yam gives it a starchy texture like Taro.
It was lovely and light compared to other puddings because it doesn’t contain preserved sausages, which make it oily so this is perfect for the health conscious and elderly.

[Review 5000] New fig and apricot muffin @ 菲爾斯曲奇專賣店 Mrs. Fields Cookies

28/01/2016
菲爾斯曲奇專賣店 Mrs. Fields Cookies
九龍灣牛頭角道77號淘大商場三期1樓F216號舖
Shop F216, 1/F, Phase 3, Amoy Plaza, 77 Ngau Tau Kok Road, Kowloon Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/new-fig-and-apricot-muffin-e2538300

New fig and apricot muffin
2016-01-28  574 瀏覽
Tried the fig and apricot muffin at Mrs Fields because it was new.
As with all their muffins, they fall apart after taking the first bite.
Inside it was moist and loaded with figs and apricots, which ended up quite sweet.

[Review 4999] Festive red velvet muffin @ 星巴克咖啡 Starbucks Coffee

28/01/2016
星巴克咖啡  Starbucks Coffee
鑽石山龍蟠街3號荷里活廣場2樓298號舖
Shop 298, 2/F, Plaza Hollywood, 3 Lung Poon Street, Diamond Hill
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/festive-red-velvet-muffin-e2538299


The red velvet muffin at Starbucks is quite striking which makes its festive for Christmas and Chinese New Year.
Anyway tried it because I had a sweet craving.
It was crumbly and didn’t keep together well structurally.
Inside it was moist and loaded with so much chocolate chips which you can see from the photo and the sweetness was just right with a strong cocoa taste.