Saturday, December 28, 2013

Super oily fish and chips

Carnegies (Wan Chai)

Had the fish and chips!
The batter was extremely oily and thick and the chips were rancid!
The others felt that way too because most people left it half finished.

Dinner at The Boss

The Boss (Central)

Thanks to The Boss for inviting me to try their dishes.


When I recieved their invitation, it was before they were recommended on the Michelin list.

The location of this restaurant is extremely convenient and close to the MTR station on Queen's Road Central.

This restaurant is owned by a horse owner which is why they have pictures of horses on the walls.


It would be great if they had a mini media player showing silent videos of the horses in action.

Before I made an appointment, I analyzed their menu and it appears that they specialize in high end dishes such as Bird's nest, Abalone and Sea cucumber.

Each set meal has at least one of those items on the list.


Anyway we tried set meal A and changed two dishes to the noodles and lettuce:
+++++++++++++++++++
Chilled shrimps in Shaoxing wine:


The shrimps were peeled which was convenient, and the wine was lovely and strong that the prawns had soaked the wine resulting in a nice alcoholic taste.
+++++++++++++++++++
Boss Appetizers
Aubergines in sesame sauce, black fungas in vinegar, stir fried mushroom with truffle


The appetizers were really nice especially the black fungas in vinegar which had a tart taste with a gentle spicy kick.
The earthy mushrooms were further enhanced by the truffle dressing paired with sweet baby asparagus tips.
+++++++++++++++++++
Braised bird’s nest & bamboo piths with superior soup


I loved this golden soup because it was crammed with lots of bamboo piths and birds nest.
+++++++++++++++++++
Braised pomelo skin and black mushroom with shrimp roe


I have always liked braised pomelo skin which is mushy and complemented by the delicious Chinese gravy, on the side there was a piece of premium black mushroom (tin bak gu) which has a white scored top.
+++++++++++++++++++
Sauteed prawns with salty egg yolk


The prawn was beautifully presented with cereal and a block of rice crispy cracker on the side.
The crispy salted egg yolk coating complented the springy prawn nicely.
+++++++++++++++++++
Stir fried noodles with black truffle


This was delicious plain stir fried noodles with black truffle and beanshoots.
Each strand was uniformly coated and flavoured with black truffle.
+++++++++++++++++++
Baked Chinese lettuce casserole (home made shrimp sauce, yellow bean sauce)


I loved the shrimp sauce's pungent smell and the lettuce was fully flavoured with shrimp sauce and yellow bean sauce.
The lettuce was cooked just right, not too crispy or too soft.
+++++++++++++++++++
Sweet apple soup


The meal ended with delicious sweet apple soup that was not too sweet with lots of lovely soft diced pieces of apple in it and Chinese almonds.
+++++++++++++++++++
The Boss is really nice and flexible and allows you to change dishes on the set menu subject to a price difference.
A nice place for quiet gatherings with attentative staff.

Crackling fish skin crackers

Chip In Fish & Chips (Sai Kung)

After dining at the new Kebab place nearby, my stomach was burning because the food was too spicy.
As I walked past, I saw the new green tea latte so got that as a soother.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea latte:

It was nice and cold on a cold day, definitely nice and soothing for my stomach.
The taste was milky with a hint of green tea grassiness and bitterness without being too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spicy Fish crackers:
Thanks to Vicki for giving me these fish crackers (fried fish skin).

As you can see they use fresh fish hence there is fish skin!!
I liked the way, they made that a snack!

The fish skins were addictive and crispy with a nice spicy kick.
They tasted nice with vinegar and ketchup too!
I hope to see other flavours such as curry, lemon and black pepper, Chinese salt and pepper or chili and lime.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Friday, December 27, 2013

Tasteless E-fu noodles at 潮城燒臘粥店 (Wan Chai)

潮城燒臘粥店 (Wan Chai)
I was still hungry after a light lunch so got some noodles from this place.

At the window, there is a big metal pot of beef and beef organs.

After ordering the noodles were ready in a flash.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
E-fu noodles and cow's stomach:

The E-fu noodle strands were thicker than the ones at Kau Kee and tasteless.
Next the cow's stomach was also tasteless.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Godiva's addictive softserve

Godiva Chocolatier (Central)
After my last softserve I was craving for another one, however they stopped serving them a few weeks ago but they said they were going to serve it during the Christmas period.

Anyway I was back for the softserve.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chocolate softserve:


It was creamy and the chocolate taste was strong but the temperature of the soft serve itself is not that cold, it won't give you a brain freeze.
The soft serve was just like a solid mass of smooth liquid icecream in a cone.
The surface of the soft serve was flawless and uniformly smooth.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Godiva Christmas Crystal tree:


To get this crystal, you have to spend around $4K on Godiva Chocolates.
But Thanks to siuyeahdragon a really famous blogger for doing a Christmas giveaway!! (「讓歡樂傳揚,送聖誕禮物給大家!」)
I didn't think I would get it, but I dropped in an email for a laugh and I really got it!!
Thank you so much Siuyeahdragon!! The crystal tree is really pretty, sparkling with studded red and green crystals.
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/userinfo.htm?userid=448739
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Noodles here day and night, summer and winter

Leaf Dessert (Central)

This noodle joint is famous for desserts but their noodles are quite good too.

It is located on the corner of Elgin Street which is really STEEP, the tables and stools are on the uneven steep part of the pavement where it feels like you are going to slide off the seat and the bowls are going to slide off the table!

As this place is al fresco, winter is the perfect time to try this place because there is no sun and the blazing hot humidity.

I tried it in the evening and tried it in the daytime.





In the evening, the broths taste better because it is stronger and more concentrated after being in the pot all day.

When you order, the woman does not verbally confirm you and walks off, so you are left guessing if she got your order or not!
But a few minutes later, she does turn up with your food.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Menu:

Simple menu with ENGLISH as well and the prices are quite cheap!


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles with beef (night):


I was quite impressed by the noodles because they were soft and hot, there was no alkaline taste to it either.
For $2X I was surprised there was so much beef in it and it was soft and fully flavoured with some stickyness because of the membrane near the meat.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles with beef (day):

The noodles and beef tasted good but the broth and taste was not as strong as the taste in the evening and the beef was not soft enough.
In the daytime, the beef is chunkier, but as the day progresses, the beef breaks up into smaller pieces and becomes softer, so in the evening, you get smaller soft chunks of tastier beef.
So dine in the evening if you are after the beef!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles with beef balls:

These beef balls were big and really nice because they were springy with lots of black pepper in it.
A good alternative to "gung yuen" because I hate those weird tasting pork balls.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dessert:

Not really a fan of dessert but tried it for the sake of trying it.
The glutinous flour balls were quite sticky and chewy complemented by the fragrant dessicated coconut and sesame seeds.
After a few, they got a bit sickly.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
As a summary I prefer dining here in the evening because it is quieter and there are less people.
For desserts, they have lots of sweet soups but I have never liked them especially red bean soup.

Parfait!

La Grande Bouffe (Central)
At first I was meant to go to this snotty place for a quick lunch which is a Chinese restaurant pretending to be French, but luckily they closed earlier than their normal hours so I was so FORTUNATE not to eat that crap and stumbled on this amazing place!!!!!

There has been a recent surge of French restaurants opening in Central such as La Vache, La Port Parfume and more.

Located near the cane juice store is this really nice French bar/restaurant called La Grande Bouffe.
If you google this name, you will find a French/Italian film with the same name which is about scatological humour and comic depictions of sex and over-eating.

The decor of the restaurant is really nice.




The French decor is interestingly contrasted by the Chinese old green tiles.

For lunch, you can choose a two course or three course meal for ($98 and $108 respectively).

Here was what I had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Baguette:

The baguette was really nice, crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside.
It tasted nice with the salads and the main dishes and the guy was really nice and gave me an extra basket which most restaurants do not normally do.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef Stroganoff:

Tried the rice on its own and it was so delicious, it was fully flavoured with vegetables and herbs and each grain of rice was plump and long.
I loved the chunky vegetable pieces in it.


The beef stroganoff was rich crammed with loads of beef, the sauce was really good for dipping the baguette and after I had some of the beef, I put the rice in the bowl of beef and the taste was so good, it was so satisfying, but if there was more rice, I would be more satisfied because I was still very hungry!!!.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork loin with French wine sauce:


The pork was a little tough, but I can't complain because the pork chop I had at La Cantoche was also tough.
Again it was on a bed of delicious pan fried rice with vegetables and the sauce on top was tangy with pureed tomatoes and herbs.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apple tart A la normande:
Lastly for desserts, there is a choice of lemon tart, apple tart and chocolate cake.
As I have tried the lemon tart and chocolate cake at French most places, I opted for the apple tart which was a great tart to finish off with.



The apple tart was served with some "English cream" according to the waiter!
Anyway, the apple tart was divine, it had slices of apple embedded in rich custard filling and you could see there were zillions of vanilla seeds in it giving it a delicious vanilla custard touch.
As well as the tart, the cream also had lots of vanilla seeds in it and it complemented the tart so well because it balanced the sweetness of the tart.
The tart crust which is usually tasteless was good too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

I would love to dine here again because it includes dessert and the price is really affordable!
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