Sunday, June 30, 2013

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Well hidden eatery : 嚐館

嚐館 (Wan Chai)

Just finished a tasting and had a long gap between the next one so wandered about in Wan Chai on the way to Causeway Bay.

I was near W Square deciding to take the Hennessey Road route or Wan Chai Road route when I saw an alley with some restaurants.

There was Wing's kitchen and at the far back was this restaurant.

I was surprised to see an award because according to the staff they have only been opened for a month.


I was only attracted to this place because of the charcoal noodles.

There is a soup version listed below but it was spicy so I chose the Charcoal soba with wasabi.
If they told me there was a non spicy version I would have tried it too.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Charcoal soba with wasabi:

On the table, they had a factsheet with the nutritional values of the Charcoal noodles.

The noodles were quite nice, there was heavy sesame oil flavouring well as wasabi.
The wasabi was a bit too strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon with water:

This came free with the noodles.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
When I asked for the bill, I was surprised there was a discount.
The total was $38 but without the discount, the noodles cost $45.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Pistachio macaron from petite Amanda

petite Amanda (Central)

Thanks to Ivycwk for getting me this macaron from Petite Amanda.

I have always wanted to try Amanda's products because the packaging is really nice especially the pyramid shaped cake box.

The colour of this macaron was quite green (artificial) decorated with a sugar icing flower on top.

The taste of the flower icing tasted like ice gems and the macaron was quite nice and not too sweet with strong almond taste.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Chirle Puddings fresh from Taiwan

Chirle Pudding (Mong Kok)

Chirle Pudding is a Taiwanese pudding from Taiwan.
They are now available in Hong Kong officially from the 29th at Ginza Plaza in Mong Kok.
You can now go and try them during 27th - 28th June while stocks last.

It was so nice of them to send me some to try before they launch them.

I have never been to Taiwan so I have never heard of them before.

There are lots of Taiwanese consumables you can get in Hong Kong but the logistics is getting better that smaller businesses can import more products over.
You can now get Sugar Rose nougats in Central too.

The packaging of this was nice, it was a bright yellow box containing nine egg puddings
inside.
If nine is too much, they also have boxes of four.


Each eggshell has been washed, cleaned and sterilised.

The puddings are flown over to Hong Kong each day.


The pudding are made with French milk, Taiwanese fresh eggs, and seeds from African vanilla pods.

How do they taste?
The taste was really nice and better than the local ones which were too sweet.
I love the vanilla seeds in the pudding and the texture was smooth and silky.
There was a good balance of egg and vanilla in the taste.

Nice range of sushi @ shogan market

Shogun Market (Wan Chai)

Spotted this new shop so went in.
It is basically a store that sells sushi and Japanese frozen goods.

The sushi range was quite impressive and were around $3 per piece.

You can also fax in orders for collection.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sharks fin gunkan:

It was imitation sharks fin and the taste was quite nice.
I liked the golden colour of the sharks fin.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Black crab roe gunkan:

I felt that the crab roe was a bit too salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mochi with vanilla icecream and strawberry syrup:


The mochi was by Appolo.
I liked the size because it was quite small so not much guilt in eating them.
There were three other flavours: green tea, strawberry and chocolate.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Auntie Sweet was a bit too sweet

Auntie Sweet (Tin Hau)

Came here again because I really missed the strawberry sago yoghurt.

This time the yoghurt and strawberry sago were not mixed together like my first visit.
I felt that it was too sweet this time.

Tried the green tea tofu milkshake but the green tea taste was too strong and grassy.
I hoping there would be some pieces of silky tofu at the bottom of the drink but it was just tofu flavouring.


Lunch sets @ Hatsu

Hatsu Japanese Restaurant (Admiralty)

Tried the lunch sets at Hatsu.

It is located in Admiralty for fine Japanese dining.

There were some interesting displays with colourful fuzzy statues.

Tried the fish set and the set below.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Set B:

This set was really filling and good for children to share because there are two bowls of rices.
On the right is the minced fatty tuna with spring onions on top of the rice and on the left it is salmon roe, sea urchin on rice.
On top of that there was a choice of soba, udon or soup.
The steamed egg was really silky and smooth.
For someone with a big appetite I recommend either one of these A,B, C sets.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish set:

The fish set was quite good served with steamed egg, rice, salad, soup and Japanese pickles.
If the fish was less salty it would be great.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea icecream:

I loved the green tea icecream because the milk taste was strong and the green tea taste was not grassy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Monday, June 24, 2013

Venturing into a Chinese bakery Head Quarters for British pastry

Garden Restaurant (Sham Shui Po)

Garden Bakery is a Chinese Brand that produces bakery, confectionary and biscuits.


You can also buy their products at China towns worldwide which is how I know about this brand.

I used to like the chive crackers and was fascinated by their wafers.

Recently I found out about this restaurant through reviews, but nearly every big company has their own canteens, but it is a matter of whether it is open to the publlic and if it is listed on this database.

If I found out about this place earlier I would have gone sooner before the prices went up, so
the reviews are useful so keep them coming openricers!!

I wish someone could list canteens for TVB, Phoenix, ATV and Appledaily here too and review them. Last time I visited TVB I forgot to order milk and drank water instead.
At ATV, the canteen is on the top floor with the smoking area outside.

My main mission to Garden Bakery was to try the Cornish Pasty. I called to make sure they had it.
My first phonecall was not very sucessful because the lady who answered it did not know what a Cornish pasty was so I did not go that week, then I called again the next week and luckily that person knew what it was because it is their signature item!!!!

As I asked "Cornish Pasty" in English they probably didnt know which pie I meant as the Chinese for Cornish is quite weird "Hongyeexxx".

When I entered the building I was expecting a temperature scan as mentioned in the reviews, but as it was a Sunday, they were expecting diners more than random intruders.
I was so surprised the restaurant was nearly full, they even had a sign outside ready to say FULL HOUSE!!
The guard at the reception even advised disappointed guests to book in advance but as I was coming for the tea there were less people.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lamb toastie:

The English for this was quite cute, it was called TOASTIEST.
Ordered this because not many toasties have lamb in it.
The toasty was just unbelievably delicious because it was buttered heavily and it seeped through the bread and it was toasted to crisp.

The lamb filling inside was moist and nicely flavoured with spices such as cumin, it was like having toast with delicious mongolian spices.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cajun chicken croissant:

The Chinese for this was cute as well, it was called "K 津" the Chinese phonetics for Cajun!

Cajun is actually a spice that normally contains: paprika, cumin, salt, garlic, onion powder, black pepper, dried thyme, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, cardamom, caraway seeds, dried basil etc.
The croissant itself was really light and crispy and the pieces of chicken were like mini thin chicken steaks made with chicken thigh meat so it was extremely tender.
There were grilled aubergine slices beneath the chicken as well.
The chips seemed to have been fried twice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cornish pasty - Beef:

Before the prices went up, it used to cost $30 making it the cheapest Cornish Pasty in Hong Kong, now it costs $40 which is still theoretically the cheapest but the size of it is quite small.
There were also two choices: beef and herbs or minced pork and pumpkin.
The pork one is clearly not really British so I chose the beef.

The filling just contained beef and potatoes and the herbs were not strong enough.
Real Cornish pasties have suede and carrots in it too.

The top edges of the pastry where it was twisted was too thick.
Although the cornish pasty was not as good as the one at Queen Victoria, it was fun making a trip to the Garden Headquarters.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cold Coffee:
Too sweet!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tea:
It was nice the milk was served separate because it was condensed milk which would have made it Hong Kong styled tea if I added it.
The black tea was slightly bitter as it was the Chinese type of tea.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Interesting menu translations:
The English for toastie was quite cute, it was called TOASTIEST.
The Chinese for this was cute as well, it was called "K 準" the Chinese phonetics for Cajun!
For Cornish, the Chinese was Hongyeexxx.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hoixe Cake Shop (Tseung Kwan O)

Saw these nice square cup cakes through the window, the cup cake holder was really nice too.

They even designed special boxes and promotional posters for them too.




☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Okinawa brown sugar cup cake:


The cake was amazingly soft and dusted with powdered sugar on top.
It was so light and moist just like a chiffon cake with a hint of okinawa brown sugar flavouring.
In the middle there was delicious fluffly white cream which was made with Anchor Cream!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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