[COCO, The Mira Hotel] Fashion Matcha Afternoon Tea

CENTRESTAGE x COCO Fashion Matcha Afternoon Tea

Recently tried the Fashion Matcha afternoon tea at COCO to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the MIRA DINING GROUP.

I admit that I haven't dined at MIRA DINING outlets for a while and I have missed so much, they have come up with some really mouth watering and unique items such the chocolate durian tart, pandan waffles and even chocolate mustard for their meat pairings.

Guests are greeted with a green tea ceremony to start with.

The Matcha afternoon tea managed to impress me even though I am not mad about Matcha.

It was the Matcha that I liked because it wasn't grassy.

Presented with this stylish tea set, I always start with the savouries, moving onto the scones and then the sweets.

The savouries and sweets were equally as good which was good.

Starting with the savouries there was: roasted capsicum cupcake with goat cheese topping, matcha cream cheese with spicy cajun shrimp toast, baccola (salty cod) rilettes with sesame, matcha soba noodle salad with sesame.

The savouries were all fantastic but the roasted capsicum cupcake with goat cheese topping was the most memorable because the savoury cupcake was really tasty and the velvety cheese topping was divine.

Moving on to the Korean Matcha Cranberry Scone with homemade Orange Jam flavoured with Japanese Sudachi Lime, it was heavily dusted with Matcha powder that you can see my finger imprint after picking it up!!

The pairing of refreshing orange jam was a match made in heaven because there was a lot of solid orange pieces in the jam and it wasn't bitter complemented with fluffy whipped cream.

The Trendy Sweets comprised of: Taiwanese Matcha Elixir on Lamington & Yuzu, “Metallic Moonlight” Kyoto Uji Matcha infused in Vietnamese 40% White Chocolate Tart, Golden Wire Korean Matcha Latte Pudding by Executive Pastry Chef Jean-Marc Gaucher.

Finished with the Fashion passion drink which was a concoction of passionfruit and green tea.

It had a great refreshing fizz with notes of passionfruit, but most importantly it was not too sweet.

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Available from 26 Aug – 30 Sep, 3pm – 6pm at COCO (G/F) on Mon – Fri & Sun,
and at WHISK (5/F) on Saturdays
HK$448 for 2 Guests with cosmic chocolate treat (26 Aug – 9 Sep)
HK$428 for 2 Guests (10 Sep – 30 Sep)
Subject to 10% service charge. Mira Plus Members enjoy 25% discount.
Booking enquiries: 2315 5566 or dining@themirahotel.com

http://www.themirahotel.com/centrestage-x-coco-fashion-matcha-afternoon-tea/

L'Eclair de Genie Mid-Autumn collection 2017

Since the opening L'Eclair de Genie at Pacific Place and Prince’s Building in autumn 2015, there are now branches in Kwun Tong, Olympic and Tai Koo.
For Mid Autumn festival, they have launched two festive eclairs and limited edition Mid-Autumn festival mooncakes.

The man himself Christophe Adam was in Hong Kong to showcase the new collection.

No 286 Chestnut Umeboshi is filled with vanilla mascarpone cream and chestnuts from France, following a layer of umeboshi confit which gives it a salty kick to complement the chestnut.
It is garnished with a white chocolate golden rabbit, golden leaves and chestnut cream to give it that Autumn festive character.

No 287 Red bean sesame is very buttery and a popular pick because it is infused with smooth red bean cream and sesame crisp garnished with a rabbit and lotus pattern on pink.

La Lune Mooncake gift box are 4 colourful milk or dark chocolate shells filled with goodies.

Two contain fruit jellies (lemon yuzu lemongrass, coconut pandan) and the other two are caramelized nuts (caramelized hazelnuts, almonds).

The jellies which appear to be wrapped in plastic are 100% edible because the wrapping is just rice paper.

Fruit jellies (pate de fruit) are a traditional French sweet treats that are made with natural fruit juice.

http://leclairdegenie.com.hk/81-mid-autumn-collection-2017

Hongkongers flipping over Flipper's

Souffle pancakes are trending in Hong Kong, but my first souffle pancake was at K11 but unfortunately I was given an extra strand of hair and the taste was too buttery for my liking.

There is another popular one in MK called I love you Dessert Bar but the location is inconvenient, as well as that, there is a latecomer am.pm which does affordable souffle pancakes.

Anyway, decided to try FLIPPER's because it is on the HK side and celebrities go there.
As usual I was taking pictures of the menu when I noticed this girl sitting opposite behaving really weirdly, she was literally looking down, using her hair to hide her face like she had some weird problem which makes you notice her even more.
It turns out that she was Chrissie Chow 周秀娜!!

There wasn't a queue that day and it wasn't busy as expected.

Compared to all the other places, this one is the priciest but you get decent cream.

Decided to get the melon because I like melon and it does not have syrup like the strawberry and banana versions.

It turned out to be really good because there was no buttery taste and it was light and fluffy, whereas other places, the texture is just like foam and it disappears into nothing.
The best part is the cream because it is thick creamy cream and the melon was super sweet as well.
I was reminded by the staff not to use a knife to cut the souffle pancake as it ruins it.

FLIPPERS: i.t blue block  
Address: 6/F Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay
Hours: 10AM–10:30PM
Phone: 2367 2133

[i CREMERiA Café] A dinky cake for $160

To be honest, I think quite a lot of things are over priced in Hong Kong.
This dinky little melon cake costed HKD$160 which is around £16!!!!
Ok, it tasted nice but any cake in UK under £2 could taste as nice as this.
It is funny how HKers are willing to pay HKD$600 (approx £60) for a bunch of grapes!!

[i CREMERiA Café]
Shop 13, 4/F, Langham Place, 8 Argyle Street, Mong Kok

Exotic dishes at Verde Mar

Since my last visit, there are new dishes again.

This time, it is chicken wings, who doesn't love chicken wings!
I loved the crispy coating with a complex taste because there are so many spices according to the chef.
At first I could taste cinnamon then I could taste the cajun so the sauce was not really needed.

But in the end I tried the sauce anyway and it became really addictive because it was very hot and made the food appetizing.
The Mexican Truffle Salad (Huitlacoche) is also my favourite because it has lots of mushrooms which make it taste earthy and it is totally vegetarian.
Huitlacoche is very interesting because it is related to corn as it is a fungus that infects corn and causes it to swell yet it is a delicacy that you can eat!!! Hence the name Mexican Truffle.

For meat lovers, there was the Carnitas Taco with Blue Corn Tortilla. I was really lucky that day because the Tortilla is made from blue corn which was brought to HK by one of the Chefs friend.
Other than the colour, it is very filling with shredded pork and the sauce from the chicken wings complement it nicely.

Finished with the Pumpkin cheesecake mousse which will really surprise you because there is a good ratio of fresh pumpkin in it.

But then all their desserts are good like the sweetcorn icecream which has real sweetcorn in it.
For drinks, had the cooling Watermelon Mojito, Pin Colada and I had my favourite Horchata which is rice based drink with cinnamon.

It is really good to see them grow from a small joint in Quarry Bay to this cool restaurant in Wanchai!
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Verde Mar:
https://www.facebook.com/verdemarhk/

Playful Fish-shaped soy sauce bottle

Tsuru in Central is dedicated to Japanese-style cocktails, prepared by Japanese mixologist Katsuhisa Hirakawa.

Cocktails at Tsuru are made with a number of alcoholic beverages imported from Japan, including sake, vermouth, spirit, gin, liqueur and whiskey as well as other ingredients, such as Japanese citrus fruits, Sudachi and Hyuganatsu, to bring upon the original Japanese aroma. In addition to the massive cocktail selection, Japanese snacks, skewers and main dishes are served at Tsuru to deliver customers a relaxing Japanese drinking and dining experience.

Celebrating the arrival of the summer season, customers will be delighted by the brand new seasonal Japanese cocktails and sangrias available from now until 30th October. Revolving around 3 distinct themes – “ELEGANT”, “SHARING” and “PLAYFUL”, the 3 different levels of experiences to enjoy the new cocktails and sangrias should not be missed!

Japanese Wine Sangria ($430/500ml, portion for 2-3 persons)

Fish-shaped soy sauce bottle has been one of the quintessential items when enjoying sushi all around the world. As a tribute to the iconic bottle, this Japanese wine sangria is a concoction of Japanese red wine, Zuisen Red Tea Liqueur and Japanese citrus fruits- Sudachi imported from Japan and the Miyazaki Prefecture special Hyuganatsu. This sangria comes with a playful twist as it is served in a super-sized fish-shaped bottle.

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Sakura Mojito ($120):
Unlike the usual preparation of mojito, where it is mixed with syrup, the Sakura Mojito at Tsuru uses sugar Shōchū (SHIMAnoNAPOLEON) from Amami Ōshima as a substitute. The mojito is then added with Dover Sakura Liqueur and further upgraded with Japanese citrus fruits - Sudachi imported from Japan and the Miyazaki Prefecture special Hyuganatsu. Garnished with Japanese edible sakura flowers, the sensational drink is modified with a hint of the quaintness and elegance of Japanese culture.

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WA Negroni ($130):
Vermouth and gin are traditionally the two main ingredients of Negroni. WA Negroni at Tsuru, however, is a mixture of Campari and a vermouth made with a Japanese gin (Wa Bi Gi) and the Asahi Yama Senjuhai Sake from Niigata.

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Shiso Mariage ($120):
Made with the Asahi Yama Senjuhai Sake from Niigata, Dover Shiso Liqueur, cranberry juice and fresh lemon juice, the Shiso Mariage cocktail spots a classy shade of red with a refreshing sweetness.

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Cocktail Information above provided by PRelations Group Restaurant PR Agency
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Japanese Cocktail Bar Tsuru Address: G/F, Parekh House, 63 Wyndham Street, Central
Tel: 2523 9968 Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday, 5:00pm to 4:00am

The Mesmeric Myth Afternoon Tea Set

With origins from Madrid, Spain, ARTĒ Madrid was founded by a craftsman specializing in the creation of jewelleries for the affluent. 

ARTĒ Madrid, considered as one of the leaders in the fashion jewellery industry, operates near 70 shops in Europe, Greater China and other parts of Asia with more to come very soon.

The Mesmeric Myth Afternoon Tea Set at Supergiant Tapas & Cocktail Bar is the perfect collaboration of Mira Moon collaborates and ARTĒ Madrid.

ARTĒ Madrid’s Ocean Miracle Collection inspired afternoon tea has been portrayed with The Ocean Cupcake with chocolate fudge cake, delicate Carrot Cake Pop coated with baby blue chocolate and macarons served in a jewellery box.

The savouries are flawless with my favourite silky ham croquette while the smoked salmon has a sweet touch of honey and truffle!

The scones are crumbly and soft paired with cream and a rather tropical mango and paprika jam.

The Ocean cupcake is the star of the show being moist and rich.

The afternoon tea is available between Friday and Sunday from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, priced at HK$348 for two persons. Every two guests will receive a complimentary ARTĒ Madrid signature Deseo Tote Bag (valued at HK$150) and HK$300 cash voucher during the promotion period upon patronage.

http://www.miramoonhotel.com/the-mesmeric-myth-afternoon-tea/

Pacific Coffee x Vitasoy... More than just coffee

PC celebrates their silver jubilee this year by collaborating with Vitasoy, a local brand that all Hong Kongers know.  Hence there are a collection of Vitasoy-inspired coffee drinks and food as well as a limited edition co-branded glass mug.

The Black Soya Panna Cotta with Quinoa & Chia Seed is served in this cute little mug jar with a lid so I had to get it. It was so silky and delicious with a rich bean taste and it comes with a matching wooden spoon.

For drinks, had the ​Iced Vitasoy Soyabean Milk Latte which is Vitasoy Soyabean Milk mixed with their signature 18/25 Altura coffee, with black sugar jelly added to the bottom and crispy whole oat sprinkled on top.  The taste is smooth with a crispy twist yet it was quite delightfully bittersweet.

https://www.pacificcoffee25th.com/

#pacificcoffee25th