Maxim's Chiffon cake series

Maxim's Cake Shop (Tsim Sha Tsui)
The association who usually buys cakes with a budget of $4 per head discovered that Maxim's were doing an offer for these delicious Chiffon cakes so got these instead.

It was really nice to get these even though they taste average, but better than the crap before.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon chiffon cake:


The taste of this was ok and the lemon was not too artificial, but I found it a bit too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg white chiffon cake:

I loved this cake, it was soft and not too sweet.

The colour of the cake was really nice and white because it was made with egg white
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

A quick stop for some food

Original Playground (Quarry Bay)
I was in the area and this was a joint that I have not tried so decided to try it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Laksa tagliatelle:

Too spicy and the coconut was too strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:

A light vegetable soup with lots of vegetables gently flavoured with herbs.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Scrambled tofu

Chinese food again and the usual dishes.

Just found one dish interesting.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tofu, egg and crabmeat:

The taste of this was quite interesting but the others did not like it because there was a strong spring onion flavour, the exact taste of the spring onion oil for the chicken.
I quite liked it because I love spring onion sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Misleading menu: TASTE CAFE

I wasn't convinced in trying this place because over half all reviews on openrice have been written by new users that have specifically just written a review at Taste Cafe and since stopped writing (excluding Winnie and Karenng)!
Hmmm, those users must be hardcore fans!

Anyway, at the front of the place they had ALL DAY BREAKFAST, that's what it says in English.
"WELLCOME (spelt like the supermarket Wellcome) EVERYDAY" says the menu

Was given a menu.

It appears that they don't serve all day breakfast so I wonder if they put it there to lure people in because of the lack of eateries around there, but then you can just get the minibus to the city or Sai Kung and there are plenty of eateries waiting for you.

For food comments: please see comments by previous openricers, I can't be bothered to review the food.

Piping hot food

Homemade Dim-sum (Prince Edward)
Luckily I did not dine here during the summer because their food and drinks are piping hot and does not really cool down.
I tried it on a nice cool day but the food remained so hot that I had to wait ages before they cooled down.
As for the tea, it was still amazingly hot at the end of the meal.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish air gas bladder and sweetcorn congee:

An average normal tasting congee with finely chopped pieces of fish air gas bladder.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed Cow's stomach in black pepper:

Beneath it were lots of Chinese white cabbage!

The taste was so sweet, it was the typical Chinese dim sum because they like to make all savoury dishes tasting sweet.

If you have tried the dim sums in the UK, they taste normal because savoury dishes are savoury and sweet ones are sweet!
The sauce did not even taste of black pepper even though it was called black pepper cow's stomach.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cow's stomach mixed in the congee:

After putting the cow's stomach in the congee, you can see how much orange colouring they put in the dish!
The congee was tastier and the cow's stomach was not so sweet after washing it in the congee, and the irritating chinese cabbage that was used to make it look like there was lots of cow's stomach in the dish made a nice crunch in the congee.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Drinking bleach:

When I took a sip of the tea in the black cup, I could taste bleach, so changed the cup and I could finally taste that it was pu erh tea!

It is reassuring their cups are well sterilized with bleach!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Gastronomical feast at Madam Sixty Ate

Madam Sixty Ate (Wan Chai)
I have always wanted to dine at Madam Sixty Ate because it has eye catching artwork and loud decor.
I love the cute rabbit fur around the lights!

The portions are just right for ladies if they choose a three course but guys may have to go for a four course meal.

Here was what I tried:

Starters
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Foie gras parfait, orange, gingerbread and butter nut squash soup:

A light creamy and buttery soup with heavenly silky foie gras parfait.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cold smoked ocean trout, toasted quinoa, avocado and pickle

Another good place for Quinoa because a lot of places don't get the taste right and it ends up tasting tasteless, here is was crunchy with a bit of spice, and the salmon was paired gracefully with the avocado and pickle giving some green colour on the plate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Baramundi, house made chorizo, torched baby prawn black garlic, fennel vermouth cream

This dish was interesting, their home made chorizo tasted like the Chinese preserved sausages and the squid was crispy!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Duck breast, house made black pudding, plum, black trompette mushrooms

The duck breast was very meaty and juicy while the black pudding paired the duck just like duck in blood sauce.
The black pudding here was much more velvety with less oats in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sea Bass, heirloom carrots, dashi, ‘instant noodles’

This dish was really cute, the yellow squiggles are called Instant noodles inspired by the Instant noodle culture in Hong Kong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Desserts: White chocolate, passion fruit mousse, soda, pineapple ginger beer sherbet

This dessert was amazing especially the ginger beer sorbet, a rare flavour for sorbet which was just like having silky slushy ginger beer.
As for the white chocolate and passion fruit mousse, it was sweet balanced by the tangy fresh pineapple pieces beneath it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Raspberry and elderflower drink

A nice sweet drink with strong refreshing tones of raspberry complemented by the fragrant sweet taste of elderflower syrup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Supplementary Information:At Madam Sixty Ate, the prices for the above are:
3 courses for $468, any starter, main and a dessert
4 courses for $528, choose any starter, main, cheese, dessert OR any starter X2, main, dessert

Sichuan food on cloud 9

Thanks to Chuan Xi Restaurant for inviting me to try their wonderful food.

Before I went, they gave me a really good impression because they sent me their menu and it had English as well.
When I got there, they had an electronic menu which was even better because if it were not for those pictures I would not have ordered those items.


The two dishes that I ordered because of the pictures were the mushrooms and the dessert, so a picture means a thousand words.

The restaurant was quite cosy and I liked the clouds on the ceiling.




I was quite surprised that they served fresh seafood because there were tanks at the corner with live seafood, so when you order them, they get it from there.


Here was what I tried:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chilled yam with blueberry:

A simple but delicious appetizer because they used fresh yam with blueberry jam.
The yam and the sweetness of the blueberry was cooling and soothing while the yam had a lovely crisp texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Marinated Numbing Mushroom:

I am so glad I saw the picture for this or I would have missed out on this great dish!
Thinly sliced mushrooms tossed in their secret numbing sauce with lots of finely chopped coriander stalks mixed into it.
A very innocent but flavourful dish.
[I would be very happy just eating this with plain rice if I was alone!]
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef tripe with sichuan pepper sauce:

Compared to the other two appetizers this was slightly stronger, drenched in fragrant sichuan pepper sauce.
The beef tripe was meaty but soft, a great appetizer to go with beer.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spinach and cuttlefish soup:

The soup was an interesting combination of leafy spinach and cuttlefish, you could really taste the cuttlefish in this light clear soup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sauteed mutton and onion with cumin:

Thinly sliced tender mutton pieces cooked with lots of onion and cumin.
This was great with rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Le Shan Sweet Skin Duck:

The duck was a surprise, the skin was literally caramelized with syrup. The duck's skin surface just tasted like caramelized caramel with a hint of sichuan peppercorns.
A must try because I found it really unique.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spicy Mantis Shrimp, Chengdu Style:

Lastly this dish is another must try! Huge mantis shrimps in a shallow pot with goodies such as sliced lotus roots, chili, leeks, Chinese celery and green peppercorns.
[The lotus roots taste good with rice]
I liked it the way it was cooked because the mantis shrimp was moist and extremely tender and springy.
The meat is protected by the shell so it won't be that spicy yet it still has flavour. For extra kick, dip the mantis meat in the sauce which gives it the spicy flavour in full force!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Crystal jelly in Strawberry sauce:

On the menu, it was supposed to be yuzu sauce but they sold out of yuzu sauce and replaced it with strawberry which was even better because I love strawberry!!
It was nice and soothing after some spicy food.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
If I wasn't full I would have tried the Stir fried flat noodles with beef and cumin!!
A jazzed up version of the normal stir fried beef with flat noodles.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For vegetarians, you won't feel left out!!
You can order the items below with rice!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Marinated auberjines
Spicy cucumber
Chilled yam with blueberry
Spicy Vegetarian Pot
Marinated Numbing Mushroom
Crystal jelly in Strawberry sauce
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Can't wait to dine here again!!
Mantis shrimps are a must!

Tasteless at 章記香港仔魚蛋王

章記香港仔魚蛋王 (Mong Kok)
Made the mistake of eating in Mong Kok!
Should have starved myself instead.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles with beef tendons and cow's stomach:

Hard and chewy beef tendons.
Tasteless Cow's stomach.
After adding a drop of chilli oil, it saved the noodles and made them slightly tastier.
The chilli oil is quite strong, just two drops is enough to make the noodle extremely spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

A very filling lunch at Uptown 90 (Wan Chai)

Uptown 90 (Wan Chai)
I have always wanted to try this because the name Uptown 90 sounded American.
Uptown means neighborhoods or regions in several cities.

When I went there, I discovered it was a Chinese pub serving Chinese style western dishes!
The mains costs around $6X-$7X including a starter and dessert buffet bound to make you feel full afterwards.

The food is average, but picking bits here and there from the buffet bar and eating some of the mains will fill you up!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Buffet bar items:









★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The restaurant is EXTREMELY noisy so don't bother with this place if you prefer a quiet place for a gathering.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mains:


Clearly some Chinese fusion with a mix of meat in tomato sauce.
I only had the rice with sauce which tasted ok.


The bread with cheese was just mozzarella cheese melted on top with some diced peppers.
It had been toasted for quite some time because it was quite HARD!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★