[Review 7518] Pure and Cosmopolitan @ % Arabica

16/06/2019
% Arabica
中環鴨巴甸街28號地下
G/F, 28 Aberdeen Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/pure-and-cosmopolitan-e3442665

Pure and Cosmopolitan
2019-06-16  33 瀏覽
I am so glad % Arabica is everywhere now.
The PMQ branch is spacious and simplistic , the decor is white and modern.
At the back there is a roastery where they take roasting seriously with coffee roasting profiles.
It was super hot that day which called for a sparkling lemonade.
The secret is the rindless lemon which keeps the drink refreshing all the way through without any bitterness.
The Sparkling lemonade is a must if you are thirsty and hot as it has a lovely fizz without being too sweet.

[Review 7517] A happy Hong Kong with Happy Cow @ 快樂牛雪糕專門店 Happy Cow Ice-Cream

16/06/2019
快樂牛雪糕專門店  Happy Cow Ice-Cream
中環民光街33號香港摩天輪地下3號舖
Shop 3, Hong Kong Observation Wheel, 33 Man Kwong Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/a-happy-hong-kong-with-happy-cow-e3442662

A happy Hong Kong with Happy Cow
2019-06-16  50 瀏覽
Happy Cow has been serving vegan ice creams for at least six years.
I was lucky I got to visit their ice cream factory in 2013.

Happy Cow is a brand of dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, low glycemic vegan and most importantly Kosher icecream.
The main ingredients include guar gum a natrual thickener, coconut sugar (brown) which gives their ice-creams a brown colour.
All their flavours have an extremely coconutty taste attributed to coconut milk and coconut sugar, and the texture is thick and creamier to other ice creams.

I am so glad that Happy Cow has a booth by the wheel so people can get their ice cream fix.

That day I got my favourite cherry fudge which is sweet and satisfying with chunks of fudge and cherries.
The texture was thick and gooey.

[Review 7516] Spacious canteen @ Union Restaurant(EAT)

16/06/2019
Union Restaurant(EAT)
薄扶林石塘咀香港大學黃克競樓4樓
4/F, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong, Shek Tong Tsui, Pok Fu Lam
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/spacious-canteen-e3442655

Spacious canteen
2019-06-16  213 瀏覽
Went here for lunch, it was nice and spacious as expected.
There were so many things to choose from so went for the chili fish instead of the chicken because the chicken probably has bones being Chinese style.

It was super spicy but I liked how they prepared the dish by boiling the vegetables, fish and then pouring the chili broth into the final bowl.
The only thing that it lacked was Sichuan spices because it was just spicy and nothing else.
Overall, quite satisfied because it wasn't expensive.

[Review 7515] enjoying [enjoy Appolo] in the city @ 阿波羅 Appolo

16/06/2019
阿波羅 Appolo
旺角彌敦道700號T.O.P This is Our Place地下8號舖
Shop 8, G/F, T.O.P This is Our Place, 700 Nathan Road, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/enjoying-enjoy-appolo-in-the-city-e3442557

enjoying [enjoy Appolo] in the city
2019-06-16  115 瀏覽
Appolo has been around for decades but their popularity died down a few years ago because of the froyo trend.
Many shops in the city closed so I am glad there is an [enjoy Appolo] joint at T.O.P Mall which offers more than froyos.

Tried the pistachio milk ice cream which was a bit disappointing but then for HKD20 a scoop I didn't expect much.
I'm guessing they didn't come up with a pure pistachio flavour because it would be expensive for them to produce so they created pistachio and milk.
The ice cream was just too sweet and you couldn't really taste the pistachio.
The mint chocolate Macaron which looks like a packet of sanitary towels fared better.
Although it has slightly melted before it reached the shop, the mint ice cream and macaron were in harmony.
The macaron is crispy and chewy while the ice cream in the middle was soothing and minty.
Asian mint flavours are weirdly light blue whereas in Europe Mint is pale green.

[Review 7514] Soup bar at Wantsui Shopping Centre @ 裕民涼坊

15/06/2019
裕民涼坊
柴灣華廈街2號環翠商場地下9號舖
Shop 9, G/F, Wan Tsui Shopping Centre, 2 Wah Ha Street, Chai Wan
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/soup-bar-at-wantsui-shopping-centre-e3442524

Soup bar at Wantsui Shopping Centre
2019-06-15  120 瀏覽
Had some crappy food nearby so decided to get some soup and tea eggs from here.
The place is freezing with two air conditioners above the seating  which probably explains why no one is sitting on these comfy chair.

Herbal Square is part of the Yan Wo Tong groups so they offer the same soup range.
The plates have Yan Wo Tong even though the picture of the bowl shows Herbal Square.
Got a soup and two tea eggs.
The soup was served in a plastic bowl which was very different to the other branches.
Other than the presentation, the overall taste was strong and msg free.
One of the eggs was dry and hard but they were happy to exchange it.
Out of all the tea eggs I have tried, the ones here lacked a herbal flavour and they were too sweet for my liking.

[Review 7513] Local snacks @ 南國小喫 Nam Kok

13/06/2019
南國小喫  Nam Kok
鑽石山龍蟠街3號荷里活廣場地下G102B號舖
Shop G102B, G/F, Plaza Hollywood, 3 Lung Poon Street, Diamond Hill
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/local-snacks-e3441814

Local snacks
2019-06-13  59 瀏覽
Not really my thing but tried it anyway.
Tried the five spice meat with noodle.
The fish shaomai is the usual stuff made with flour so it is just eating chewy pieces of flour wrapped in yellow pastry.
The five spice meat was definitely canned stuff which was hard and dry, but nicely spiced.
The noodles were Indomie which you can just taste by that tell tale sweet sauce it was in.

[Review 7512] Omakase with skewers @ 黑木 MOKUTAN

12/06/2019
黑木  MOKUTAN
尖沙咀金巴利街8號地下2號舖
Shop 2, G/F, 8 Kimberley Street, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/omakase-with-skewers-e3441179

Omakase with skewers
2019-06-12  877 瀏覽
Most omakases involve sushi and sashimi but at Mokutan they serve skewers which are my thing!!!!
As well as skewers they have fine sakes.
To begin with the appetizer was a good start with rolled up spinach, sweet sea snails and starchy pumpkin.
For skewers, all of them were grilled to perfection:

Grilled pork belly skewers with shisho leaves:
 0 讚好


Minced chicken on stick with onsen egg.
This was good but the mince didn't hold together well.
 0 讚好


Grilled chicken heart:


Vegetables:



 0 讚好


Grilled semi cured fourfinger threadfin fish:
This was the star of the show, lots of restaurants are offering this, the salted fish is delicate with a crispy grilled surface.

Bonito fish tataki :
The bonito fish was seared nicely and complemented well with the ginger puree.
Strangely it tasted like tuna but I liked it.

Last but not least was the Grilled tiger prawn, dashi rice soup:
It was filling and the broth had a rich prawn taste.