Tai Lei Loi Kei revisit

Tai Lei Loi Kei (Central)

Thanks to Mjqueen7e for treating at me Tai Lei Loi Kei.

I have tried this place before and got addicted to the Bacalhau mashed potato balls.
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2279532

Mjqueen7e had a groupon cash voucher so we used that for payment.
I have never bought from groupon because I do not believe in it.

The packaging had slightly improved and was more attractive.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bacalhau mashed potato balls:
The Bacalhau's tasted as good as my first visit.
The fish inside was silky with mashed potato and tasted like delicious Western fish cakes.
However there was grounded bones which was not that good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork chop in Pineapple bun:
The paper bag for the bun was quite thick and tough which makes it durable for rainy days!
To be honest, I thought the combination of the sweet pineapple bun and pork chop was weird so I ate them separately.
The pineapple bun was hot with a lovely crumbly top and the pork chop was nice and tender.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Interview with apple daily / sharp daily April 29th 2013

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20130429/18243947
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b44j9WlKmWk

專題人物：Supersupergirl 開飯　食評全港稱冠

碼頭工人抗爭，不過為了搵食。有位港女，每周獲四家餐廳爭相邀請用膳，免費嘆盡鮑魚、花膠、龍蝦、黑松露、鵝肝……她不是May姐，也不是小儀，而是在食評網站OpenRice長踞榜首的食家supersupergirl。打從2010年起，她天天走入大街小巷搵食，筆下近2,000篇食評，平均每天上載兩篇，最高紀錄一天交81篇。食家甚麼都吃下肚子，她也不是省油的燈，「打邊爐會食牛鞭、雞子，有次去澳門本來想試豬腦，點知賣晒！」她深以為憾。　記者：譚淑美　攝影：胡智堅

supersupergirl的真名及年齡隱而不宣，只透露英文名Helena，在一家英文雜誌社工作，每天下班後寫四個鐘頭食評，「最高𥧌試過一日上載81篇，因為嗰時比賽（去年OpenRice舉辦的食家挑戰賽）鬥寫得多，其實有啲之前已寫好，但嗰日一次過post晒出嚟」。
寫網上食評只為興趣，並無稿費，惟獨她在該項比賽奪冠，有萬元獎金。記者問道，每天寫兩篇食評，香港地那有這麼多食肆？「好多立立雜雜嘢我都會寫，好似罐頭、薯片、糖果，仲有baby food……小時候食過，唔記得味道，𠵱家會買嚟試媖。有時宵夜食個杯麵，都會品評包裝、麵條質地」。
Helena生於英國，父母在當地開食店，她愛吃英國菜Fish& Chips（魚柳及薯條）、Roast Dinner（烤肉晚餐）。2005年定居香港，發現OpenRice這個平台，便開始寫食評，真正密集式外出搵食，是三年前的事；打從奪得食家寶座，餐廳的邀請函更如雪片飛至。

Helena教精新進食家，相片比文字重要。

大小通吃 堅持不寫鱔稿

近期麥當勞推出飯餐，她也不肯錯過，她嫌牛肉飯的燒汁太甜，飯量太少及不夠軟熟，只給中評，卻說雞肉飯卷美味，給予好評。家住西貢的她，也試過專誠到元朗Sense Dessert Cafe一嘗大熱的分子甜品；港大附近的莎厘娜餐廳結業之前，她也飽餐一頓。外國人敬而遠之的中式鳳爪和粥品，她照吃可也，只是犧牲了食相，「我食中菜會好論盡，食麵啲湯彈到周圍都係。西餐啲蔬菜會切好，但香港食條芥蘭都成棵嚟，唔知點食」。
佛利民說過，世上沒有免費午餐，果然有些餐廳對她溫馨提示：「寫好啲！」她回應道：「盡量啦！」最後仍會寫出真心話。問她餐廳有那些死罪？「第一係唔新鮮，第二係服務態度差，第三係空間太逼」。
Helena身高163厘米，體重100磅，鮑參翅肚並沒轉化為腰間贅肉，這是對食評家以至都市人的最大祝福。Helena的終極夢想是領教英國分子料理名廚Heston Blumenthal的手勢，早前英女皇登基60周年，菜單正出自他手。但她吃過美味之最，卻是在英國唸小學時吃的烤羊配薯蓉，菜式不算驚艷，但她吃的不止是食物，還有回憶。

Fine arts and Fine foods are a work of art

SR Gallery Cafe (Causeway Bay)

Thanks to SR Gallery for inviting me to try their 5 Course dinner set.

When I got there I was greeted by many artistic pieces as well as a gallery.
Currently Abstract art is on exhibition and the theme will change according to their schedule.

SR Gallery used to be just an exhibition for art but now they have integrated a restaurant with the gallery.

They serve dinner, desserts and a great choice of floral teas.

I liked the spaciousness of the restaurant with the gallery beside it.


For dinner you can choose a four course or five course meal.
There is optional foie gras as well.

I had trouble choosing each course because there were so many good choices.
Usually in other restaurants there are 1 or 2 delectable choices but at SR Gallery there were about 3-4 per course that I liked.

The vegetarian choices were really tempting as well and not just there for the sake of making up a choice for vegetarians!

Here was what I tried:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Foie Gras:

It was nicely presented with two sauces on either side, garnished with a sliced of apple on top.
The sweet sauce had pieces of orange rind in it so I preferred the other savoury sauce with the foie gras.
The foie gras was crisp on the outside and velvety in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Herbed Tuna Salad with Aged Balsamic Reduction:
I loved the strong tastes because the rocket is strong, grassy and bitter itself paired with the spicyness from the spices they put on it.
The tuna and the salad was a nice pairing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
SR Crab cake:
The crab cake was delicious with lots of crab meat inside fused with silky potato and herbs.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Clams with sun-dried tomatoes and cherry tomatoes:
The clams were appetizing especially with the tangyness of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh cherry tomatoes.
The clams were sand free too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mushroom soup:
The soup was really nice with strong mushroom taste, it was thick and infused with pureed mushroom.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
French Duck Leg Confit with Truffle Mash Potato and Avocado Salad:
The duck seemed to be flavoured before it was cooked, because the duck tasted salty as if it was soaked in brine.
The skin was lovely and crispy and it basically tasted like the crispy aromatic ducks at Chinese restaurants in the UK.
The accompanying mash and salad was nice, and the mash was delectable because they put truffle in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
As well as the salmon, they also had roasted rack of lamb with black olive sauce but I preferred the Salmon.
The other main choices were hard to choose from because there was Vegetable Strudel with Basil Cream Sauce and Buttered Pumpkin and Spinach and Cheese Cake with Sautéed Mushroom.
In the end I chose the salmon.
Pan Fried Salmon with Black Olive Sauce:

The salmon was cooked just right and the black olive sauce was amazing, it was strong and flavoured the salmon nicely because the olives were finely chopped with pieces of garlic in it.
It reminds me of black bean sauce but olive sauce tastes much nicer because it has natural olive oil in it and it has a nutty taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lastly we finished with dessert so we chose the Panna Glazed Mango White Wine Sabayon and Banana Caramel Tart.
To go with the desserts there was so many teas to choose from.
The best tea to go with the dessert was the Black caramel tea which had the sweetest smell you could ever imagine.
I also tried the Body nourish tea as well because they also specialize in healthy teas as well as floral teas.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Panna Glazed Mango White Wine Sabayon:
I do not like Asian mango but I tried it because of the Sabayon which was really worth trying.
The cubes of mango were in a cup shaped filo pastry covered with dreamy light Sabayon.
The Sabayon was really milky, light and well frothed which was heaven with the delicate flakey filo pastry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Banana Caramel Tart:
The size of this caramel tart was quite big which is why some people share this for tea in the afternoon.
The crust was lovely and buttery with sweet caramel on it.
It was definitely a nice banana tart because the banana slices, with caramel and crust were a perfect match.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Black tea caramel:

When this came, the smell was really sweet.
It contains sugar, hazelnut, cocoa and vanilla, but the taste was not actually sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Body nourish:This had burdock roots, ophiopognis and Wolf berries.
The taste was interesting because it tasted like American ginseng (fa kei sum).
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After trying the dinner I will come back and try their other main courses and the teas because there are so many!!

Delicious omurice at Kitsu No Heya

Before this place changed owners, I never found it attractive, there was no dining area so it was only convenient for people working or living in the area.

After I read Ivy's review I realised that the owners have changed and they now do Omurice.

Ever since I tried it at Tin Hau I was craving for it again.

The pictures in Ivy's review looked really similar to the Omurice at Tin Hau which was why I was so keen to try it.

Luckily there was a seat so I was able to dine there.

The menu does not have English

Basically the food is cooked in the small kitchen.

I ordered the Omurice with sea urchin, squid ink flavoured omelette and curry sauce.
With every omurice there is a choice of ketchup, cream sauce, spicy sauce or curry.

They also have the semi cooked omelette which I would have ordered if I saw it beforehand.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Miso soup:
This came with the omurice and it was miso soup with quite a few pieces of seaweed in it.
The soup was not that salty which was good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Omurice:
The omurice came quite fast and it was garnished with mustard cress and tomato slices.
The size is slightly smaller than the one at Tin Hau.
I really liked the fried rice because there was no oily taste or smell.
Each grain of rice was evenly flavoured and the texture was just right, not too soft or hard.


Initially I thought they were cubes of pumpkin, but when I asked them they said it was sea urchin.
They have mixed the sea urchin with flour to made it springy like fishballs which was interesting.
Otherwise when sea urchin is cooked with rice, it disappears due to its paste like texture.
The curry sauce was quite watery but it was quite appropriate because it was there so that the rice and omelette would not be so dry without overpowering it.
The omelette had a nice squid ink taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coconut layered pudding:For dessert, the omurice comes with this cute coconut layered pudding.
It was a strange ending to the perfect omurice with a Thai dessert.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After talking to the chef, he said he used to work at the Tin Hau restaurant which was why the taste was the same.
I will probably be back to try the Tom Yum Kung Omurice on my next visit.
As well as Omurice they also have sushi, fried snacks and udon noodles.

McDonalds: Black forest crunch sundae

Tried the Black forest crunch sundae because it was new.

The poster does not really say what is in it but when I tried it, there was chocolate syrup and raspberry syrup garnished with crispy wafer pieces.

I was slightly disappointed because I was expecting some canned cherries but it was just chocolate and raspberry syrup to mimic the ingredients. Usually cherry is the main ingredient and not raspberry.

It would be great if it was topped with canned cherries and chocolate shavings.
[The reason for canned cherries is because the sundae costs $7 so you can't expect much]

The sundae was quite sweet too.

You are my first.... Mr. BINGTongWuLoh

Mr. Bing (Central)

I have always wanted to try these candied fruits on a bamboo stick that are about 20cm long.

They come from Beijing and some cities in China.

In mandarin it is pronounced bingtanghulu.

The traditional ones are Chinese Hawthorns dipped in sugar syrup which results in a hardened sugar coating.
To me Chinese Hawthorns remind me of tiny crab apples!

Anyway, thanks to Mr Bing for importing these Candied fruits because it was my first time trying them.
I have seen them before at fairs but never tried them because I wasnt sure if they were clean and it is difficult to eat things on skewers when there are lots of people walking about.

At Cheung Chau Island, there is a thing similar to this, it is basically assorted fruits on a stick which are in frozen form.

At Mr. Bing's they have strawberry or Hawthorn.

I chose the strawberry because I didn't know if the Hawthorn had pips in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Strawberry candied fruit:

After I read Ivy Cwk's review I just had to come and try it.
It was rock hard because it was frozen, but the exterior of the wrapper had syrup so it was mega sticky.
I was really fortunate Mjqueen7e who I was dining with that day had wet tissues!!
To be honest it was fun eating a frozen strawberry but the sugar coating on the outside was way too sweet and the strawberry was very sweet itself.

The strawberries had rice paper on the outside to keep it from sticking to the wrapper.

It was good the stick in the middle was nice and rigid and did not snap half way through!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Palak Paneer @ Ebeneezer's Kebabs & Pizzeria

Had a craving for Indian rice again so went to Ebeneezer's for a curry.

I chose the Palak Paneer.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Palak Paneer:
This is basically pureed spinach and Indian farmer's cheese.

It does not look appetizing but it tastes nice and light.
There was finely grounded chilies in it so it was quite spicy.
In UK, this dish is called Saag Paneer (saag meaning spinach) but in Hong Kong it is called Palak Paneer.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

You are my first.... Mr. BINGTongWuLoh

Mr. Bing (Central)
I have always wanted to try these candied fruits on a bamboo stick that are about 20cm long.
They come from Beijing and some cities in China.
In mandarin it is pronounced bingtanghulu.
The traditional ones are Chinese Hawthorns dipped in sugar syrup which results in a hardened sugar coating.
To me Chinese Hawthorns remind me of tiny crab apples!
Anyway, thanks to Mr Bing for importing these Candied fruits because it was my first time trying them.
I have seen them before at fairs but never tried them because I wasnt sure if they were clean and it is difficult to eat things on skewers when there are lots of people walking about.
At Cheung Chau Island, there is a thing similar to this, it is basically assorted fruits on a stick which are in frozen form.
At Mr. Bing's they have strawberry or Hawthorn.



I chose the strawberry because I didn't know if the Hawthorn had pips in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Strawberry candied fruit:

After I read Ivy Cwk's review I just had to come and try it.

It was rock hard because it was frozen, but the exterior of the wrapper had syrup so it was mega sticky.

I was really fortunate Mjqueen7e who I was dining with that day had wet tissues!!

To be honest it was fun eating a frozen strawberry but the sugar coating on the outside was way too sweet and the strawberry was very sweet itself.
The strawberries had rice paper on the outside to keep it from sticking to the wrapper.



It was good the stick in the middle was nice and rigid and did not snap half way through!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Hong Kong's McDonalds: Rice Fun Wrap [Chicken]

McDonald's (Central)

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a tasting, I paid $25 with a Newspaper coupon.
I was not on the list for the tasting event!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After trying the Beef Rice Fun Bowl, I was back to try the Rice Fun Wrap!!!

Review of Beef Rice Fun Bowl:http://supersupergirl.openrice.com/home/reviews.htm#review2293874
(The rice was nice but I would have preferred a better sauce eg curry or black pepper).

I had more faith with the wrap because I have tried the rice burger before and I loved it, so I expected it to be similar but wrapped in tortilla with chicken.

There was a choice of beef or chicken and I chose chicken because it was a crispy chicken patty and I figured I would not like the beef because the sauce for that is sweet.
McWraps are common in other countries and I really want to try the Indian Wrap because it has deep fried cheese in it called the McPaneer wrap with Paneer meaning cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice Fun Wrap [Chicken]:The wrap comes packaged like this!

You eat the wrap by tearing the strip in the middle so that the wrap is still covered on the bottom half.
Again there is a possible option for future flavours or maybe vegetarian if people do not each chicken or beef.

For photo purposes I opened the top end to take a photo of the wrap.


I took a bite and there was a rice patty, lettuce and cucumber inside which was delicious, especially the flavoured rice patty.


In the middle there was some spicy mayonnaise sauce inside which was sweet and spicy.
The spicyness is similar to the spicyness of their chicken wings.

However when you eat it, the sauce sinks to the bottom due to gravity, so the tastes gets stronger and stronger!



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Simply delicious glutinous rice

Keung Kee (Wan Chai)

This joint is located in the middle of no where and it is neither close to Causeway Bay or Wan Chai because it is bang right in the middle with lots of roads to cross from either direction.

I have always wanted to visit this place but getting there was a problem.

I am not the person to like Chinese preserved sausages but I will still try them out when there are a lot of good reviews and I often change my opinion afterwards.

I finally made the effort to go when I saw two consecutive ENGLISH reviews because the previous ones were mainly Chinese and not that convincing but the pictures were promising to be on my to eat list.

The glutinous rice is also Eric wan's (尹天照) favourite but he said that this place was not open all the time.
(This was said quite a few years ago)

After reading the English reviews again and again I finally went on a nice cold day!

The restaurant is quite small and cosy, and it was perfect watching the tram go past because it felt like being a scene from an old Hong Kong movie.


At the front of the shop, there is a cooker of some sort that holds the glutinous rice with holes on the acrylic windows to let the steam out.

It does not look appealing but it is surprisingly delicious!


The menu was simple but it really helped reading those two English reviews by GW98 and Paramexics because it frankly is quite scary going into one of these places.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Glutinous rice with an extra preserved blood sausage:
Basically the rice with loaded with preserved meats but I could not get enough of the preserved sausage so ordered an extra one.
I never eat preserved waxed meats because they stink, especially the duck leg but the preserved meats in this tiny bowl of delicious rice did not stink at all!!
The glutinous rice which I dislike was suddenly delicious, it was like every grain of rice was coated with flavour and it was chewy and not too hard.
The spring onions and dried Chinese mushrooms gave it more flavour too.
The tiny bowl was quickly finished leaving you craving for more.
It would be great if the preserved meats could be evenly distributed because I have been here quite a few times and sometimes there was no preserved meat or no preserved duck.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan fried rice rolls:
Before I ordered them I assumed they were steamed but they were pan-fried as well.
Part of the rice rolls were lovely and crisp, and the middle was soft as it should be.


They were delicious complemented with the standard sesame and red bean sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Congee:


The congee had almost everything under the sun in it such as dried oysters, preserved egg, pork, pork bone but it was slightly disappointing because with all those ingredients, the taste was bland.
The ingredients in the congee were generous, there was nearly half of an preserved egg there.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork skin:
I am not really a fan of pork skin but I was relieved there was no rancid lard taste to it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★