[Review 5020] Birthday gathering @ La Porcina

07/02/2016
La Porcina
上環荷里活道188號地下C舖
Shop C, G/F, 188 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/birthday-gathering-e2541503

Went to this new place for a birthday gathering, conveniently located on Hollywood road.
It is nicely decorated and they have these cute LP coasters and tablemats.
Started off with crispy nachos topped with creamy sour cream and my favourite guacamole.
Then we had fries and mini sweet potatoes with truffle mayonnaise which was gone in a flash because they were addictive.
The highlight was the spring chicken which was served on a chair.
It would be good if the chicken wasn't so dry.
Finished off with a fruit tea which was really nice because it wasn't too sweet with strong fruit juices in it.

**
This restaurant is quite new so not all items are on the menu yet.

[Review 5019] Oddies icecream galleria @ Oddies

06/02/2016
Oddies
中環歌賦街45號地舖
G/F, 45 Gough Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/oddies-icecream-galleria-e2541496


When you mention Oddies, people automatically think of eggettes and softserve but now there is a branch of Oddies in Central where they have a icecream galleria.
There are so many creative new flavours posted on their FB such as Barks and Twigs (kirsch morello cherries), Golden ticket (hazelnut and gianduia), boogieman (mint chocolate), lemon squad (lemon and hazelnut) etc.
They also have wacky bacon meringues too.
Went there and tried a few flavours before choosing my scoop and I also got some eggettes.
Unfortunately, they didn't have Barks and Twigs (kirsch morello cherries), boogieman (mint chocolate) and lemon squad (lemon and hazelnut).
To conclude Birthday girl was my favourite because I liked the lychee and the Earl grey creme which was like pieces of Earl grey flavoured fudge.
Also tried the jarlato which has a scoop of your choice on top.
Had the Caribbean which was sweet with chunks of pineapple in it.
The dandan noodle eggette was interesting but the mix of sweet and savoury was a bit strange.

[Review 5018] Shabu shabu that won't cost you a bomb @ 温野菜 On-Yasai

06/02/2016
温野菜  On-Yasai
尖沙咀廣東道3-27號海港城海運大廈LCX 3樓37A號舖
Shop 37A, 3/F, LCX, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/shabu-shabu-that-wont-cost-you-a-bomb-e2541490

On-Yasai is a popular shabu shabu chain in Japan with overseas branches in Singapore.
It is finally available in HK because Hong Kong businesses take a more conservative approach and only invests on businesses that are guaranteed to excel.

“On-Yasai” literally means Warm Vegetables in Japanese.

At On-Yasai “温野菜”, they hope to provide not only quality meats but also a variety of fresh vegetables/appetizers.
 0 讚好

After looking at the Singapore On-Yasai website, they had my favourite gnocchi and cheese as side dishes but not available in Hong Kong because locals won't order it.

On-Yasai is just the hotpot place for me because they have a huge variety of fresh vegetables and appetizers which is wonderful if you don't like red meat.

I didn't eat red meat but it was good they had clear English labelling which is what you would expect from a branch that has restaurants in Singapore like Putien and this other Shanghai dumpling place.

A big Salute to singaporeans because their English standards are generally better than HK even though they speak with a Singlish accent.

It is thoughtful of them to provide you with ziploc bags so that you can keep your phone dry from splashes.
 0 讚好

I had the yuzu collagen broth which was quite salty.


The vegetable selection I had was really good.



The cubes of sweet potato puree were delicious and interesting because it had a sticky texture which didn't break up in the pot.


For desserts I had the caramel affogato which is hot caramel poured on top of icecream.

[Review 5017] Edible goldfishes that are too pretty to eat @ 飲茶 Yum Cha

05/02/2016
飲茶  Yum Cha
中環德輔道中173號南豐大廈2樓1-2號舖
Shop 1-2, 2/F, Nan Fung Place, 173 Des Voeux Road Central, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/edible-goldfishes-that-are-too-pretty-to-eat-e2541292

Edible goldfishes that are too pretty to eat
2016-02-05  2684 瀏覽
Went here before Chinese New Year because some stunning goldfishes were shown on Yum Cha’s Facebook.
Yum Cha have launched some auspicious dishes just for the new year.

For some dishes, pictures were more convincing than words and the taste was good as well.

Here was what we had:
++++
Mini abalone tart:

I love the tiny cute abalone on top which surprisingly had a strong taste.
For me, size matters, I like things either really small or really big.
++++
Braised vegetarian parcel:
 0 讚好

Vegetables are a must, and these earthy mixed mushrooms are wrapped in a large sheet of beancurd skin like a sack.
In it were prized yellow fungus.

++++
Seafood fresh coconut soup:

The soup contained coconut water so it was really sweet infused with chicken broth that came from the pieces of chicken.
There was a big piece of soft and silky fish maw at the bottom.

++++
Whole seabass:

This was a silky fish coated in crispy coating covered in sweet Champagne sauce that had a touch of bitterness to it.
I liked it because the sauce was not too sweet.
++++
rose scented sticky rice:

For those who like rose and preserved sausages.
The rice was chewy and sticky loaded with pieces of preserved sausages.
++++
Goldfish har gow:
This was too pretty to eat but it was taut dumpling skin with springy prawns in the middle.
The goldfish did not fall apart when you picked it up with chopsticks.
++++
custard buns:


Soft and sweet buns oozing with runny custard.
++++
Chocolates:
I have already tried their apple tarts so this time went for the chocolates.
My favourite was the green tea chocolate and the pistachio white chocolate.



++++