[Review 7153] Not just coffee but fine dishes as well @ Lex Coffee

25/01/2019
Lex Coffee 
西環堅尼地城卑路乍街100號地舖
G/F, 100 Belcher's Street, Kennedy Town, Western District
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/not-just-coffee-but-fine-dishes-as-well-e3287669

Lex Coffee has been around for ages but I thought it was just coffee back then.
It was ones of the joints that stood out when I first came to Kennedy Town before the other restaurants started appearing.
Inside, it is spacious with ceiling and classy lights.
Near the entrance, it is like an art exhibition with so many pieces from different artists.
The menu was not just coffee!!!!!
My friend started with the LEX Benedict which had a fruity twist to it because the benedict sauce had a touch of mango that makes everything appetizing.

I had the salmon which was served with spinach potato mash.
It was really difficult to decide as they had seabass as well but it was served with pumpkin mash and salmon roe and I seriously love salmon roe.
In the end I chose the spinach mash because pumpkin is a little sweet for my liking.
Both the pairing looked colorfully contrasted and the silky mash complemented the flaky salmon nicely.

For dessert had the Waffle which was to my liking as I don't really eat waffles.

The best thing was the Cheesecake, I've been bored of cheesecake recently and this was silky and not heavy and I loved the the cherry that was embedded in the cheesecake.


Will certainly come back for the peach cheesecake which looks captivating.

[Review 7152] Starbucks at the ground floor of the Maxim's Building @ 星巴克咖啡 Starbucks Coffee

24/01/2019
星巴克咖啡  Starbucks Coffee
長沙灣長順街17號美心集團中心地舖
G/F, Maxim’s Centre, 17 Cheung Shun Street, Cheung Sha Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/starbucks-at-ground-floor-of-the-maxims-building-e3286913

As I was in the area, I discovered that this whole building belonged to the Maxims group so went in there out of curiosity and discovered a Starbucks.
There is another restaurant on the 1st floor but it is only for Maxim's staff.
As it was lunch had the meatball and potato pie, pancakes and Chocolate red tea latte.
The meatball and potato pie was held in a flakey tart base and it was filled with rich tangy tomato sauce which was also quite sweet at the same time.
The meatballs in the pie were quite nice as it had lots of herbs and tasted more like sausage meat.
You could tell the pancakes were pre made and taken from a stack and heated as they were neatly stuck together in a pile.
They were a bit dry and sweet but dipping it in the drink made it more palatable.
Finished with the Chocolate red tea which was rather sweet and the chocolate was more prominent than the tea so I didn't really like it.

[Review 7151] Not just wonton noodles @ 協盛大排檔

23/01/2019
協盛大排檔 (已結業)
北角炮台山電氣道130號地下
G/F, 130 Electric Road, Fortress Hill, North Point
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/not-just-wonton-noodles-e3285239

Not just wonton noodles
2019-01-23  1917 瀏覽
I was expecting this place to just serve wonton noodles but you get to choose other noodles which is really good.I ordered the five spice offal because I  was hoping it would be very flavourful thus making the noodles very tasty.
The broth was much clearer than expected and it was good that it was not oily  and the noodles didn't have an alkaline taste.
Will probably try it again as you can experiment with instant noodles for an extra HKD5

[Review 7150] Affordable Hainan Chicken in the area @ 雞仔去骨海南雞專門店 CHICK & RICE

22/01/2019
雞仔去骨海南雞專門店  CHICK & RICE
長沙灣元州街493號靄華大廈地下1號舖
Shop,1, G/F, Hoover Mansion, 493 Un Chau Street, Cheung Sha Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/affordable-hainan-chicken-in-the-area-e3284205

Affordable Hainan Chicken in the area
2019-01-22  142 瀏覽
Ended up dining here because it was affordable and less expensive compared to other restaurants nearby.
After looking at the menu, discovered that it was very similar to the Golden Chicken , they both serve the pumpkin soup, pork knuckle with gravy, meat patties but Chick n Rice has one item that Golden Chicken doesn't have which is the bak kut teh soup.
Both have a very similar Chinese name if you compare the characters, the last 8 characters are the same ie 去骨海南雞專門店.

As it was my first time here, I ordered the small portion of Hainan Chicken for HKD44 and requested for the White meat.
The best thing is that you don't get charged extra as Hong Kongers hate it whereas if you ask for the chicken leg you get charged HKD5 more.

It really depends what cuisine I have, if it is Western Style roast chicken, I always request for the leg but for Asian Style I always go for the white meat as there more edible meat there.
Asian chicken is always randomly chopped so you get served a lot of chicken skin, bones, parts that should be thrown away which are not.

When I got it, I was really pleased with the chicken, it was neatly sliced, the chicken was half exposed.
It was pure lean chicken meat and not much to throw away except the skin and the weird mid joint wing at the bottom left which doesn't contain much chicken anyway.
The only complaint was the rice because it was really hard which was a waste especially when there is so much good quality chicken and delicious sauces.
The pumpkin soup was a bit sweet though and it had green carrots in it as well.

[Review 7149] Appreciating Chinese tea in a relaxed environment @ 水墨青花 Atteatude

21/01/2019
水墨青花 Atteatude
旺角旺角道97號華懋王子大厦1樓H室
Room H, 1/F, Mongkok Building, 97 Mong Kok Road, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/appreciating-chinese-tea-in-a-relaxed-environment-e3283104

I love Chinese Teas so I am glad there are more proper tea houses popping up.
Atteatude has a young style approach being located in Mong Kok owned by a young lady.
The name Atteatude has attitude with a touch of tea in the name.
The menu was easy to read and clear with prices and types of tea in English and Chinese.
For the basic teas, it costs HKD48 for the first hour and then HKD15 for the next half hour where you can drink all the teas you want that don't have extra costs.
First you choose the tea you want to start with and then you have to choose whether you want it cold brew, made yourself or made by the tea lady.

As there were two of us, decided to choose one that we made ourselves and one made by her for convenience and assured tea quality as I was thirsty.
Tea is subjective so for me I chose the oolong and white teas.
Here was the tea made by her which was flawless.

Although it was the basic oolong tea, there was a good flavour to it.
Here was the one we made ourselves which was fun learning how to make tea the traditional way.
I liked the way, you could change teas so this is the best way to discover your favourite tea and how to brew it according to your taste.

[Review 7148] Hearty and Cosy Italian fare in Quarry Bay @ Ask For Alonzo

21/01/2019
Ask For Alonzo 
鰂魚涌海光街18號地下
G/F, 18 Hoi Kwong Street, Quarry Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/hearty-and-cosy-italian-fare-in-quarry-bay-e3282969

Quarry lacks good Italian food and Ask for Alonzo just hits the spot with Southern Italian dishes in a trattoria environment.Discovered this joint after going to the Tong Chong Street market.
There is an alfresco table where you can have drinks before dinner.

The menu had a good choice of variety.
Started with the bread with was accompanied with basil puree rather than the usual olive oil and balsamic.
I loved the basil puree as it complimented the bread very well.

For starters, had the burrata cheese with extra parma ham for +HKD60.

Basically all my favourites on one plate on a bed of colourful Heirloom tomatoes in all colours which were juicy and umami taste to the max along with the creamy burrata.
The extra ham gave it the salty flavours and goes very well with tomatoes and the burrata too.
Next were the meatballs which were topped with chunky grated Mozzarella cheese.
Each meatball was big and tasty loaded with herbs which accentuated the flavour as well as the chopped tomato sauce.

As well as the meats, the Zoodles are the best because they were juicy and crunchy without any grassy taste and the hazelnuts gave it a nutty balance to it.

For pasta, had the mixed mushroom and truffle fettucine served with poached egg.
It was good how it was not too creamy so you could taste everything from the truffles to the delicate egg.

Finished with the panna cotta and tiramisu which was a perfect ending complimented with aromatic coffee.
The panna cotta was creamy and sinfully delicious as it was made with double cream while the tiramisu was equally as good spiked with liquer.
Will definitely check it out again for the other dishes.

[Review 7147] The perfect dimension and space for ramen @ 立体派拉麵 Ramen Cubism

21/01/2019
立体派拉麵  Ramen Cubism
中環威靈頓街27-29號元益大廈地庫
Basement, Yuen Yick Building, 27-29 Wellington Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-perfect-dimension-and-space-for-ramen-e3282579

Ramen Cubism is headed by two celebrity chefs Hayashi Takao and Matsumura Takahiro where you can expect a satisfying bowl of ramen and some tasty dumplings.
You won't miss it on Wellington Street with the stylish art next to Chua Lams Pho.
Inside you will see that familiar ramen setting with a wooden tables and chairs.
The Chefs recommended ramen on the menu makes you look twice because the egg looks unusually small compared to the pork slices and bowl.
Anyway, since it was recommended I gave it a try.
There are other ramens on the menu  so my friend chose the THE SEA which is a soy broth and something quite different to the chicken broth.
Normally dumplings don't differ much but here they serve them with chili sauce which got me curious because it had a touch of Hong Kong influence to it.
So here was my Premium Cubism which explains why the Egg looked so small in the picture because the pork slices are that big and the bowl is big too!
Tried the broth first which turned out to be thinner than expected but the flavour was there.
To me it tasted simply like Bacon with some chicken which was like Western  style creamy Chicken soup!!!!!!
I obviously loved it as it was comforting for a person who loves bacon with a slight smokey sweetness.
Next I tried the ramen which is slightly thicker and very firm with a chew.
The slow cooked pork was obviously different visually looking pink and moist which I really liked especially the soft and cottony texture.
It looked like cured meat and you could see that it was two pieces of meat put together interlocking like a S letter.


You can also order extra with the option of having it seared which my friend had.

The Sea was very different to Premium Cubism, it was darker in colour and stronger in taste as the broth is made with many different soy sauces.


The Stewed pork that comes with The Sea is huge which is needed to match the soy sauce broths strong flavour, whereas the chicken soup is lighter so it doesn't need flavoured pork to steal the show.
I loved the way the pork was served separate which keeps the broth nice and clear.

The dumplings were quite nice as it came with a refreshing sauce as well as the chili.
The chili is not spicy  but contains lots of garlic and chili flakes which make the dumplings more aromatic.
In a way, I think this is good because if the chili sauce was stronger than everything else, you won't taste the ramen broth properly depending on which item you are served first.
Overall, I liked the dumplings as they were soft and had a lot of cabbage inside.


To summarize,  I recommend trying Premium Cubism  but if the portion looks too big, you can always try The Sky Bird which only has one slice of pork and no egg served with the same broth.