Spicy night at [THE BALCONY]

I don't normally dine in this building but one of my favourite Chefs is there so I decided to try it out.
He said the food was going to be spicy but I underestimated how spicy it would be.

Anyway tried three spicy items: chili lobster soup, spicy clams and spicy whelk.
It was impressive how the spicy taste was different for each dish and not the same dead boring chili.
The lobster soup was fantastic because it was loaded with my favourite Basil and the lobster was fresh and it even had roe as well!

The spicy whelk in wine, obviously spicy had Sichuan peppercorns so it had a Sichuan touch to it.

The chili clams were the spiciest!!!
I would rate that this one had a strong chili taste and you can visually see how spicy it was with that orange chili oil surrounding it on the left!

The bread was buttered with something unique, it tasted like the ginger oil that you get with Chinese chicken but it was actually lemongrass!!

Normally I can taste what is in the ingredients but this Chef is one of the the good Chefs that can confuse your taste buds!!

There was blueberry and beetroot soup which was an interesting pairing however I managed to taste tomatoes in it.

If you have tried Jimmy's kitchen, there is a famous dry curry and the dry curry lamb rack tastes exactly like that with a crispy coating that tastes like curry bits of short crumbs!

On the menu was the Kiev which bursts out with filling when you pop the knife into into it.
I loved the crispy coating!

The dessert finished with this Japanese inspired sweet potato mash mixed with plum and yakult, again my taste buds were confused because I tasted apple.
It was paired with soothing ginger icecream!!

Definitely will be back soon!

[THE BALCONY]
https://www.facebook.com/TheBalcony118/

[Ashima Yunnan Restaurant] Yunnan specialist in Tai Koo

I love Yunnan food (known as the DIAN cuisine) but there are not many places for it.
There is one in Kowloon City but there are more options here like soup, strange insects and Chinese cheeses!!
Started off with a memorable glutinous rice tea which was really fragrant.
Unfortunately, they give you some pickles which are charged.

Baby chairs are available:

Here was the food I had:
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As a carbs lover, I got the rice with peas and Chinese ham which was delicious because it was fluffy and tasty flavoured by the ham and sweet peas.

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The beef with lemon was an interesting combination so I decided to try it out and the taste was surprisingly good because the lemon made it appetizing.

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Chinese cheese was a must for me but there were two types on the menu Rubing and Rushan.
I had to ask the staff which one was the savoury one because one is sweet and crispy served with rose!
The texture of the Rubing was like halloumi cheese flavoured by the saltiness of the ham.
It was slightly gamey but the ham balanced it.

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Ashima Yunnan Restaurant:
18 Tai Koo Wan Road, Tai Koo Shing

A decent bowl of Taiwanese Beef noodles

There are lots of Taiwanese beef noodles in Hong Kong but not many taste good.
To me a good bowl of Taiwanese beef noodles is a combination of a strong beef broth, pickles, beef and most importantly the noodles.
Tristar is opened by a local celeb and here Taiwanese husband so you might catch other celebs dining here.

Anyway, I tried two noodles, the beef noodles and the noodles in spicy sauce.

The beef noodles were satisfying because the broth was strong and the beef was tasty. The broth was slightly spicy which made it more appetizing.

The tossed noodles were good because each strand was evenly flavoured by the spicy sauce.

Finished with the chocolate drink with extra herbal jelly which had a lovely thick milk foam cap to it.

I didn't try the pearls but they seem worth trying because the size is relatively smaller than the other ones in HK.

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Tristar Kitchen:
https://www.facebook.com/tristarkitchen/

Tsuta opens second Hong Kong branch in TST

Tsuta is Michelin-starred ramen from Tokyo with it's first branch in CWB and now they have just opened a second branch in TST.

The TST branch is conveniently opposite the traffic lights so you don't have to walk far from the MTR station.

I ordered the MISO SOBA because it is exclusive here and I like MISO anyway.

When it came, the broth was dark and strong that you could smell the miso ramen coming your way.

The ramen they use is different to the one they use for the truffle and salt which I have previously tried in CWB.

Perhaps, I am biased but I liked this one because the miso was strong and the noodles hung the broth well.

You can see specks in the noodle and they are slightly flat and broader than the one used for the truffle broth.

The sweetcorn and diced onions gave it extra depth while the broth had a really strong unami taste as there are porcini mushrooms in it.

The menu:

Vlog at Tsuta:

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Tsuta 蔦

Shop G111, G/F, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, 17 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

[b DIM SUM] Legit steamy raunchy sexy steamed buns

Dimsum is a must in Hong Kong just like Roast dinners in UK.
What makes this joint so special is the presentation of some of the dimsums.
From the outside, it just looks like the usual dimsum joint with Chinese traditional tea pots and calligraphy on the walls.

However when you take a look at the menu you will find some fancy and stylish items!!
They have the basic dimsums like hargau and shaomai but I decided to order the fancy items.
In this day and age everyone is looking for something to showoff on social media and these are just made for it!!

b DIM SUM have taken it a step further to get attention with a touch of raunchiness with steamed buns that take the form of boobs.

Their restaurant name in Chinese also has a sexy twist as it is called 凸點 [pronounced dat dim] which means protruding nipples.
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Inside these steamed buns are runny custard filling which will give us the visual pleasure of milk coming out if we play with these buns.

It would be great if the filling was condensed milk or coconut puree to get the visual effect of real milk.

Once a month they could serve specials like bigger ones as my males friends have been suggesting.
For men, it is a fact that the bigger the better!
As for the taste, it tasted delicious and not too sweet while the bun was soft and moist.
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The next photogenic item was the black and white Tai Chi bun.
It was filled with abalone, mushrooms and some whelks which give it a nice unami flavour.
I really liked this one because of the rich gravy.

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Another photogenic item was the BBQ pork swan pastry which was filled with BBQ pork.

An elegant item to order, delish morsels of BBQ encased in a crisp pastry.

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Last but not least was the black steamed bun which is made of charcoal and honey.
It was impressive that you could taste the honey yet it was not too sweet.

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Anyway, I will definitely be looking forward to their new dishes.

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Restaurant : 凸點 b DIM SUM
Address: 198 Sai Yeung Choi Street, Mong Kok,

[Rolling in Congee] My dream congee

Many people have mixed reactions on this new congee joint ROLLING IN CONGEE because they serve modern congee but I was really excited on giving it a visit.

Went one afternoon and it was closed so went back another day.

From the Chinese name I was expecting the congee to be expensive but the most expensive one costs $29.

I liked the way it stood out because the menu obviously had design to it with a purple theme matched by their aprons.
Their congee also appealed to me because they had really nice English names to match it like Taurus, Bronze Age, Ruby Rose, Magenta romance etc.

As well as savory congee they had sweet congee which really makes sense because in UK we have RICE PUDDING which is similar to congee but thicker and sweet with milk, so the sweet congee is a great option for people who are allergic to milk
The next thing I loved were the pots and utensils she used because it was colourful and modern with an advantage because these pots are the non stick type!!

For each congee, all the ingredients are in small tubs, so no matter who is running the joint, the congee should taste consistent because the portions are the same.

Moving on to the congee, I really liked the current choices and the creativity such as Taurus which has beef and onions and the pairing of these two never fail.
There was also chowder congee which is obviously seafood!
With all these choices, it was really hard for me to decide so I ended up getting the Bronze age, Silky Milky (plain congee with extra salted egg yolk and fermented beancurd), Magenta romance and Matcha congee.
The best thing was that you could order salty egg yolk and fermented beancurd to go with the congee because I just love them so I got that with the plain congee.

All their congees are made with Australian pearl rice which gives its a silky viscous thick consistency that doesn't go runny after a while.
I believe they will come up with some more exciting creations soon because you can do so much with congee like adding oats, quinoa and using different rices.
Once, I even dreamed of breakfast congee made with bacon, sausage and egg!!!
Anyhow, I prefer consuming congee at room temperature or slightly hotter because there is no point to scald your tongue and not being able to taste anything for days.
Perhaps, I come from a country that is cooler compared to Hong Kong so I can't eat, touch or taste things that are really hot.

Moving on to the congee that I got, here is what I thought:
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SPOON:

Normally you get that weird shaped plastic spoon which usually cuts my mouth but the spoon they give you is really ergonomic and actually holds a good spoonful of congee which is worth mentioning because the whole congee experience is improved.
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Bronze Age:

To start I had the savory first which had Hokkaido dried scallops, mini dried scallops, salty egg, century eggs, fish cubes and pork pieces.
The congee was tasty as expected because you could really taste the scallops and everything as the salty egg gives it flavour as well as the pork which was fresh and meaty.
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Silky milky with extra salty egg yolk and fermented beancurd:

The silky milky was plain congee which was viscous with a lovely translucent colour to it.
Tried adding both separately and it really is acquired taste for the fermented beancurd but I thought it was delicious because it has a quirky saltiness with a hint of Chinese wine.
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Magenta romance:

This is a sweet congee which is similar to rice pudding but without the milk with sweet potato and purple sweet potato.
It was nice and colourful with a lovely purple colour.
Tried it hot and couldn't really taste anything so I took it home and put it in the fridge which made it much nicer because you could taste the ginger when it was cooler.
I have no complaints on this and loved it.
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Matcha:

The matcha congee which is served in the afternoon contains dumplings and red bean paste.

Again, I couldn't eat it hot so tried it at room temperature and after refrigerating it.
The consistency of this is thick and viscous which made it taste like a perfect rice drink with a hint of matcha, just the thing for breakfast which is filling an quick.
Rice drinks could be the thing because in Mexico, they have horchata and in Venezuela they have Chichi.
Tried both and they were so divine and filling.
Also the Chinese have a similar concept called rice water, a health drink that is now popular served by checkcheckcin.
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To summarize, I will be back soon and hopefully they will have some new congees.
The sweet congees should definitely be eaten at room temperature or chilled and it was really good that they were not too sweet!~!
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Rolling in Congee:
Shop 1, G/F, Tung Keung Building, 54-60 Shau Kei Wan Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan

https://www.facebook.com/%E6%9C%89%E9%8C%A2%E4%BD%AC%E9%9D%9A%E7%B2%A5-Rolling-in-Congee-454585298243262/