[Review 5162] An afternoon with Pandora's box @ The French Window

02/04/2016
The French Window
中環港景街1號國際金融中心商場3樓3101號舖
Shop 3101, 3/F, IFC, 1 Harbour View Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/an-afternoon-with-pandoras-box-e2563346

An afternoon with Pandora's box
2016-04-02  2122 瀏覽
I love French Window because of the lovely views and having afternoon tea here is just the perfect thing to do on the weekend.
 0 讚好

They are now serving Pandora's Box from Fri-Sun and on Public holidays from 3:30 - 5:30.

The afternoon tea is served in a chic black box with a bottom drawer of savory treats.
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As well as Pandora's box, there is a dessert to finish which includes juices, coffee or Kusmi tea.

They are flexible and it is possible to serve tea for three at an extra $268 per person while it costs $468 for two.
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A wide range of Kusmi teas to select from:
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My friend had a bottle of Fuji Takasago sparkling plum sake which costs $180 per bottle.
I have to admit that it tasted really good because there is no alcoholic taste to it.
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As for me, I love teas so I settled for tea.
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Savoury treats:
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Duck Foie gras macaron and lemony crab & avocado bagel.
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 1 讚好

Roast beef and watercress bagel:
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Cucumber on baguette:
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Lobster vol au vent:
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Smoked salmon on sourdough:
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Sweet treats:
Citrus macaron, nutty chocolate puff and berry kiss macaron


Rose angel cake:
This was filled with a delicious light rose infused cream.

Vanilla cream roll:

Green tea mandarin orange shot:
The green tea shot was different because it had an interesting texture, there were finely grounded tea leaves in it.

At the end, they serve dessert which has heavenly light Jasmine Espuma with Rich Madagascar ice cream, Valrhona meringue and crispy almond crumbs.

We also got extra scones for $68 complete with clotted cream, blueberry jam and strawberry jam.

[Review 5161] Great bakery but inefficient service @ Le Pain Quotidien

02/04/2016
Le Pain Quotidien
灣仔皇后大道東200號利東街地下G40-41號舖
Shop G40-41, G/F, Lee Tung Avenue, 200 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/great-bakery-but-inefficient-service-e2562825

Went here for some patisserie but it takes a while to be served because there is only one person actively serving while the other two were not doing anything until they were instructed by one of the staff.
Finally got served.
Bags were not given so you have to pay for them which his fine but they charge $1 when everyone else charges 5 cents.
Anyway, the patisserie I got was really good especially the Almond kisses which have a delicious buttery filling in the middle.
The Belgian doughnut was quite sweet with a sugary filling.
 For Easter they had these cute chocolate eggs which were the size of quail eggs but quite pricey for $145!

[Review 5160] Not just desserts @ 小火焰韓式咖啡餐廳 Aidan Korean Dessert Cafe

02/04/2016
小火焰韓式咖啡餐廳 Aidan Korean Dessert Cafe
觀塘觀塘道410號觀點中心1樓1號舖
Shop 1, 1/F, Kwun Tong View, 410 Kwun Tong Rd, Kwun Tong
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/not-just-desserts-e2562824

I thought this place only served desserts but they have fried chicken and the usual Korean fare.

Here was what we had:
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Fruit ice bar naengmyeon:
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Ordered this because it looked pretty on the menu.
I was captivated by the two ice bars with berries in it.
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The ice bars were not sweet but savoury which was surprising because it was berries in frozen broth so it didn't ruin the harmony of the noodles with a strange sweetness.
The berries were tart and refreshing which went nicely with the springy noodles.
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Raisin and cereal fried chicken with honey:

The fried chicken was sticky and sweet drizzled with honey and coated with crispy cornflakes and raisins that gave the fried chicken more complexity.
The coating is slightly spicy.

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Beef served on a steel mesh:

The beef had a smokey taste and it was like eating a beef patty tasting like jerky.
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Roasted baby spare ribs with kimchi fried rice and Mozzarella cheese:

I loved the generous melted cheese which helped tone down the spicy kimchi fried rice.
The spare ribs were meaty and juicy.
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Fried chicken with bread and lava cheese:

This was my favourite because it had all my favourite items: fried chicken, crispy bread and CHEESE!~
The fried chicken was not so spicy and it was tender springy pieces of thigh meat which was delicious with the cheesy sauce.
After finishing the cheese and chicken, I was left with delicious crusty bread covered in yummy cheese.
++++++
Sweet potato latte:

For drinks I had the sweet potato latte which was creamy with a natrual sweet potato taste.
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Lemon blue curacao soda:

For those who want to try the inverted bottle drink and don't drink alchohol, this is the solution because they have a non alcoholic lemon blue curacao soda.
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[Review 5159] Ducktastic experience @ Pinot Duck

31/03/2016
Pinot Duck
赤柱佳美道23號赤柱廣場地下G07號舖
Shop G07, G/F, Stanley Plaza, 23 Carmel Road, Stanley
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/ducktastic-experience-e2561213

This is my second time here and I deliberately went to Stanley for this because I love their duck.

Since my last visit, they have more duck dishes and other non duck dishes.
I tried to select some of the new dishes but the ones I tried before were just as good so it was hard deciding what to order.

In the end, here was what I had:

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Classic Peking duck wrap:
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Flawless combination of duck, spring onions and hoisin sauce.
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Crispy fried duck wings:
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These were just as good as the first time I ate them.
The crispy duck legs were meaty and divine because it was extremely crispy and tasty while the duck was soft and moist in the middle like chicken wings but more satisfying because you get a bigger bite.
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Lollipops filled with duck and mashed taro:
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This is the modern version of crispy duck stuffed with taro mash.

I really liked it because of the presentation and it was like eating croquette balls of duck and taro mash.
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Steamed egg with eight treasures:

Ordered this because it had a Japanese touch and the steamed egg was really silky loaded with fish roe, sakura shrimp, chestnut and many more goodies.
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Duck and fennel soup dumplings:

The dumplings were on the sweet side and duck filling was a bit like pulled duck.
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Duck leg soup noodle:

As I have already tried the risotto, I ordered the noodle which is a lighter option with a duck leg topped with lots of vegetables.
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Orange in Huadiao wine with preserved plum:



The dessert had a nice Oriental touch with a fragrant wine taste complemented by the refreshing preserved plum.
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[Review 5158] My favourite branch of Passion by Gerard Dubois @ Passion by Gerard Dubois

30/03/2016
Passion by Gerard Dubois
灣仔皇后大道東200號利東街G11,G12及F12A號舖
Shop G11, G12 & F12A, Lee Tung Avenue, 200 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/my-favourite-branch-of-passion-by-gerard-dubois-e2560287

I love dining at Lee Tung Avenue because it is the most romantic street in Hong Kong.
This is the second new restaurant I have tried on this street.
They were filming something before Easter so I went here after Easter.
They had this new pistachio and green tea latte so I had the pistachio latte.
I have had this drink twice but they tasted different both times.
The first time was thick with a strong pistachio taste and the second time was less thick with a strong creamy milk taste.
I prefer the thicker version.
For mains, I had the ravioli which is always my favourite and the slow cooked beef.
The cherry colada was also good so I had that which had a lovely fizz balanced by the sweet cherry and pineapple notes.