[Review 7534] Taiwanese joint in Central @ 一起食堂 Eat Together

29/06/2019
一起食堂  Eat Together
中環域多利皇后街2號地舖
G/F, 2 Queen Victoria Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/taiwanese-joint-in-central-e3455926













Taiwanese joint in Central
2019-06-29  60 瀏覽
Previously, this spot used to be a noodle joint but now it has been replaced by a Taiwanese joint.

At first, I thought it was Japanese because of the eel rice but it turns out it was Taiwanese according to the menu.
There is an English and Chinese menu which is helpful.
The decor was quite nice with lots of Taiwanese posters all over the walls and lanterns above.

Had the usual Taiwanese fare like minced pork with rice which was quite nice.
The eel was the star of the show because they gave you a whole one.

There are two choices on the menu, you get to choose whole or half according to your appetite.
The snacks that we had were really worth ordering especially the popcorn chicken which had a light coating while the chicken inside was tender.
The best thing was that it wasn't too salty or laced with msg so it was quite healthy.

The oysters topped with onions, spring onions and garlic were my favourite because I love oysters that are minimalistic.
Last but not least were the Tua Tua clams which were big and fresh cooked in garlic.
Finished with the tea which was thirst quenching especially the Jasmine.
Also had the Osmanthus which is made with jam from Let's Jam in Sai kung and Jordan.

[Review 7533] Spacious and quiet dining @ 地中海休閒餐廳 Bistro Bon

28/06/2019
地中海休閒餐廳  Bistro Bon
九龍塘聯福道32號吳多泰博士國際中心地下
G/F, Dr. Ng Tor Tai International House, 32 Renfrew Road, Kowloon Tong
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/spacious-and-quiet-dining-e3455861












Spacious and quiet dining
2019-06-28  58 瀏覽
As a foodie, I love trying out different restaurants.
Recently I have been trying out canteens, restaurants and other joints located at different universities in Hong Kong like OBC grill, AC2, etc.
Bistro Bon is a spacious yet secluded one so it is nice and quiet in the evenings.
They offer steaks and pastas even though it is advertised as Mediterranean.
Started with bread which was piping hot as well as the plate so I wonder how the guy managed to bring it over.

The mushroom soup we had was creamy and thick.

Squid and Chorizo is a popular salad.
I loved the Chorizo as it gave the salad and squid a savoury touch.

The carbonara with onsen egg was very filling and the pasta was al dente.

My favourite was the Hanger steak which was favourful drizzled with delicious gravy.

Overall a great place for gatherings with a nice reception by the entrance.

[Review 7532] Plain noodles @ 信興牛什粉麵 Sing Hing Beef Combinations Noodles House

25/06/2019
信興牛什粉麵 Sing Hing Beef Combinations Noodles House
灣仔巴路士街15-21號地下
G/F, 15-21 Burrows Street, Wan Chai
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/plain-noodles-e3452522



Plain noodles
2019-06-25  292 瀏覽
Went here out of the blue, only because I wanted dessert next door so I needed to eat something savoury beforehand.

Chose plain noodles because I wasn't sure if their meat was fresh so plain noodles are the safest bet.
The noodles turned out quite salty because of the broth but for HKD13 is was a good filler for the stomach.
As the broth wasn't smelly I might return for more noodles and try their beef as well.

[Review 7531] Bad service @ 肥仔記麵家

22/06/2019
肥仔記麵家
西環西營盤皇后大道西273號地舖
G/F, 273 Queen's Road West, Sai Ying Pun, Western District
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/bad-service-e3450244




Went here randomly and didn't really expect anything exciting as the Causeway Bay branch didn't impress.
The noodles are cheap but there is a hidden minimum spend per person which is not stated on the menu.
Anyway, in terms of food, the wontons had huge prawns in it but were not fresh.
The beef noodles tasted better but some pieces of the beef were dry and hard and you could tell how fresh they were by its dull dark brown colours.

The worst thing was the service, as we had finished, they wanted to seat a customer at our table so that they didn't have to clean or walk to the tables at the far end.
They literally framed the customer and said they wanted to sit there when the customer didn't say anything.

[Review 7530] English comforts in Causeway Bay @ The Leah

22/06/2019
The Leah  休息中
銅鑼灣恩平道28號利園二期3樓303-309及311號舖
Shop 303-309&311, 3/F, Lee Garden Two, 28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay\
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/english-comforts-in-causeway-bay-e3450205














English comforts in Causeway Bay
2019-06-22  148 瀏覽
Since Excelsior closed, English food in CWB is scarce.
Enter THE LEAH which offers English comfort food.

It is located at Lee Gardens where you take the lift from the elevators near PRET, so you have to resist not going into Pret as well because that is English!
When you get there, you have to walk through a lovely garden before you get to the restaurant and there is a play area for kids.
I loved the huge deck chair which reminds me of the beaches but the one here is much bigger and covered with artificial foliage.

As you an imagine, everything on the menu is a must eat for me because they had pies, desserts which were all popular English items.
The bigger items like Beef Wellington and Dover sole have to be ordered in advance.
Being raised in a seaside town I miss my Dover soles which look like flounder fishes but slightly different.

It was good that we came in a group so that we could order more dishes.
Here were the dishes that we had:

Scotch egg and Soldiers:
This dish is the ingenious marriage of egg and Soldiers with the Scotch Egg.
Egg and Soldiers is a breakfast dish where a soldier is a thin strip toast that resembles soldiers on parade.
Other versions include marmite Soldiers and Vegemite Soldiers in Australia.
Seemingly a simple Egg and Soldiers dish is made fancy with the Scotch Egg so this dish is the best of both worlds.

Scallop & Black Pudding:
Black Pudding is a blood sausage served for breakfast and I liked the way it is used to compliment the scallops which gives it a richer flavour.


For pies, there was chicken and Fish pie.
It's a bit difficult to explain, but there are two different types, the shortcrust and the ones topped with mash like Cottage and Shepherds etc.

Chicken Pie with leek and bacon:
Another classic, delicious creamy chicken with smokey bacon in a flaky crisp pastry.

Fisherman's pie:
Also another classic pie with creamy seafood beneath silky mash on top.


Beef Short rib & bone Marrow Gnocchi:
The pieces of gnocchi were huge which made them great for accompanying the sauce and the beef was tender and soft.


Butterbean and Aubergine Casserole:
The butterbeans were surprisingly flavourful because it tasted like a Mediterranean dish with cumin and spices as well as vegetarian chili con carne.


Beef Wellington:
Interestingly, the Beef Wellington is quite popular in Hong Kong and no exception here with quality tenderloin beef wrapped in pastry with tasty mushrooms and parma ham.


Dover Sole:
I love Dover Sole so we were lucky it was in stock as this fish is sooooooo hard to get in Hong Kong.
The fish is similar to the flounder found in Asia.
Anyway it was cooked in caper butter so the fish was moist and soft.

Green Beans and Shallot butter:


Moving on to dessert, we had the trifle and apple pie.
Strawberry & Sherry Trifle:
I love trifle so I am so glad that this place serves it as well as Marks and Spencers.
The base is loaded with strawberries and the cream is light and fluffy laced with vanilla seeds.


Granny Smith apple and nutmeg custard:
The apple pie had chunky pieces of apple complimented by nutmeg custard sauce which is something different to your usual custard however I would prefer to have some real thick nutmeg custard but not ice cream.


Overall, everything was really good and just like the food in UK with a slight modernization but then if you have been dining in the UK, lots of dishes have been reinvented.

[Review 7529] Chestnut Danish @ 英王麵包店 A-1 Bakery

22/06/2019
英王麵包店  A-1 Bakery
屯門湖翠路168-236號海趣坊61-62號舖
Shop 61-62, Ocean Walk, 168-236 Wu Chui Road, Tuen Mun
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/chestnut-danish-e3450189


Chestnut Danish
2019-06-22  174 瀏覽
I love Danishes so decided to get the Chestnut Danish as it was a bit different.
To be honest, it looked more like a custard danish than chestnut as the star of the show was in the middle.

The texture of the Danish was quite soft but then it was covered with all that moist custard that you wouldn't expect it to be crispy.
It was just like eating a custard Danish as 99% was custard until I got to the middle and the chestnut was HARD and Starchy.
Overall quite nice as if you treat it as a custard Danish but it needs more chestnut on it to be called a chestnut danish!

Also got the teas which were low sugar.

[Review 7528] A great hot pot experience in Macau @ 春秋火鍋 Seasons Hot Pot

22/06/2019
春秋火鍋  Seasons Hot Pot
新口岸孫逸仙大馬路澳門漁人碼頭勵庭海景酒店1樓
1/F, Harbourview Hotel, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, Porto Exterior
https://www.openrice.com/zh/macau/review/a-great-hot-pot-experience-in-macau-e3450000













A great hot pot experience in Macau
2019-06-22  297 瀏覽
Went to Macau for the weekend and it was someones birthday so decided to celebrate it here as it was close to the hotel and the place is new and spacious.
This is the beauty of Macau, everything is spaced out with tall ceilings and tables well spread out.

To begin, everyone gets to mix sauces from the sauce tray.
I was impressed with the choices as there were more options than Hong Kong and they had the English for each sauce.
There were a few sauces that were really tasty such as the Thai Chili sauce which went well with the lobster.
For the non hotpot items, there was soy sauce fried rice and salt and pepper lobsters.

Eating the rice and lobster together was so satisfying.
The lobster was impressive as the coating was crispy and light.
As for the fried rice, every grain was fragrant and evenly coated in soy sauce.
Moving on to the hotpot, we had the tomyumkung broth and the pork broth.

Streaky pork with Sake:
The pork was quite unique because it was just like bacon but not cured.
You get a side of sake which you either dip before you put in the hotpot or dip after it is cooked.
I think it tastes better dipping in the sake after it has cooked in the pot because if you dip it before the sake gets diluted in the pot but overall delicious because the pork is tender.

Ferris wheel meatballs:
There was a good assortment of meatballs and my favourite was the one filled with salted egg yolk.

Dumplings:
The dumplings were neatly wrapped like tortelli, after they were cooked the prawns inside were nice and bouncy.

What appears to be fish shaped pudding is actually squid paste which you break up into smaller pieces into the pot.
When it is cooked, it is springy with delicious pieces of squid in it.
For beef, we had two types: Angus and Fresh beef slices with egg.
I liked the fresh slices of beef as they were tender and silky.

To finish, we had this light Chinese soup which had pieces of peach and egg which was soothing.

Our friend also got a free birthday cake because you get a free birthday cake if you book a birthday dinner a day in advance within the birthday month.
Will definitely be going again as Macau is always a good getaway.

[Review 7821] Kaya toast @ 一粥麵 Super Super Congee & Noodle

19/12/2020 一粥麵  Super Super Congee & Noodle 樂富聯合道198號樂富廣場1樓1113-1114號舖 Shop 1113-1114, 1/F, Lok Fu Shopping Centre, 198 Junction Road, L...