[The Leah] English comforts in Causeway Bay

Since Excelsior closed, English food in CWB is scarce. Enter THE LEAH which offers English comfort food. It is located at Lee Gardens where you take the lift from the elevators near PRET, so you have to resist not going into Pret as well because that is English! 

When you get there, you have to walk through a lovely garden before you get to the restaurant and there is a play area for kids. 

I loved the huge deck chair which reminds me of the beaches but the one here is much bigger and covered with artificial foliage.

As you an imagine, everything on the menu is a must eat for me because they had pies, desserts which were all popular English items. 

The bigger items like Beef Wellington and Dover sole have to be ordered in advance. Being raised in a seaside town I miss my Dover soles which look like flounder fishes but slightly different. 

It was good that we came in a group so that we could order more dishes. 

Here were the dishes that we had: 

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[Scotch egg and Soldiers]: 

This dish is the ingenious marriage of egg and Soldiers with the Scotch Egg. Egg and Soldiers is a breakfast dish where a soldier is a thin strip toast that resembles soldiers on parade. Other versions include marmite Soldiers and Vegemite Soldiers in Australia. Seemingly a simple Egg and Soldiers dish is made fancy with the Scotch Egg so this dish is the best of both worlds.

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Scallop & Black Pudding: 

Black Pudding is a blood sausage served for breakfast and I liked the way it is used to compliment the scallops which gives it a richer flavour.

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For pies, there was chicken and Fish pie. 

It's a bit difficult to explain, but there are two different types, the shortcrust and the ones topped with mash like Cottage and Shepherds etc. 

[Chicken Pie with leek and bacon]: 

Another classic, delicious creamy chicken with smokey bacon in a flaky crisp pastry.

[Fisherman's pie]: 

Also another classic pie with creamy seafood beneath silky mash on top.

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Beef Short rib & bone Marrow Gnocchi:

The pieces of gnocchi were huge which made them great for accompanying the sauce and the beef was tender and soft.

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Butterbean and Aubergine Casserole: 

The butterbeans were surprisingly flavourful because it tasted like a Mediterranean dish with cumin and spices as well as vegetarian chili con carne.

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Beef Wellington: 

Interestingly, the Beef Wellington is quite popular in Hong Kong and no exception here with quality tenderloin beef wrapped in pastry with tasty mushrooms and parma ham.

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Dover Sole: 

I love Dover Sole so we were lucky it was in stock as this fish is sooooooo hard to get in Hong Kong. The fish is similar to the flounder found in Asia. Anyway it was cooked in caper butter so the fish was moist and soft.

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Green Beans and Shallot butter:

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Moving on to dessert, we had the trifle and apple pie. 

Strawberry & Sherry Trifle: 

I love trifle so I am so glad that this place serves it as well as Marks and Spencers. 

The base is loaded with strawberries and the cream is light and fluffy laced with vanilla seeds.

Granny Smith apple and nutmeg custard: 

The apple pie had chunky pieces of apple complimented by nutmeg custard sauce which is something different to your usual custard however I would prefer to have some real thick nutmeg custard but not ice cream.

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Overall, everything was really good and just like the food in UK with a slight modernization but then if you have been dining in the UK, lots of dishes have been reinvented.

[The Leah]

Shop 308 & 311, 3/F, Lee Garden Two, 28 Yun Ping Road Causeway Bay.

Tel: 23377651

1970s bar with drinks inspired by British icons at [Hugger Mugger]

Discovered this secret bar on the way to Chaiwala.
The red door against the blue bricks will just get you curious and draw you inside.

I don't know why but it just brings me back to London. When you step inside, it feels like home.

I love the tea cups and Chinaware.

At Hugger Mugger, it is set in the 1970s and they serve cocktails inspired by British icons such as Banksy, Pink Floyd, David Attenborough etc.

The cocktails menu is simply beautiful, especially the faded newspaper style print.

I settled for the Amore Amaro which is concocted with Plantation Pineapple Rum, Mancino Rosso, Vermouth, homemade Almond syrup, strawberry cherry shrub.

It was nice and fruity which I sipped slowly that night after a beautiful dinner at Chaiwala while reminiscing every dish I ate that night.

[Hugger Mugger]
Basement, No. 43-55, Wyndham Street, Central,

[Granny Marys] in Hong Kong

Just when I was not shopping for food, I happened to discover Granny Marys at Eat East.
I never bother going into Eat East because they only sell Chinese Ready Made Meals but I went in that day because I was bored.
When I saw Granny Marys JUST collection in the freezer, I seriously looked twice because it was English food in a Chinese store!
Anyway, I was thrilled there was another option for English dishes.
The JUST collection does not have pasta/rice which is makes it great for sharing.
The advantage is that these can be microwaved which makes them very suited for Hong Kong as people don't use ovens here.

Without thinking, I bought most of the range but sadly forgot to buy the Cottage Pie.

As soon as I got home, I was so excited to try them but sadly I could only try 2 boxes because they are quite big portions.
It was really hard to decide which one to try because they are all British classics.
Luckily, they don't stock the full range or I would probably have to buy it all!!!!
In the end I chose Chili Beef (with pulled beef) as it was pulled beef and not minced beef.

Basically you remove the card sleeve, pierce the film, microwave it for about 4 minutes, let it stand for 1 minute and put it in for another 3 minutes.
I paired the chili beef with Indian Rice.

The taste was fantastic with chunks of pulled beef but I underestimated how hot it was and it is spicier than other ready to eat chili con carnes and curries that I have tried.

I also tried the Parsnips in spiced honey because I have to try everything at once if I can because I just can't resist food and all being my favourite British classics!!

It had a lot of frost surrounding the parsnips despite I was consuming it on the day I bought it.
This is a common problem in Hong Kong and nothing to do with the Granny Marys.

[Problems with Chilled & Frozen foods in Hong Kong - further reading]
http://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.hk/2018/03/problems-with-chilled-food-and-frozen.html

Now back to the food!

The parsnips were sweet with a nice hint of cracked black pepper.
The sweetness was quite soothing after that hot Chili Beef.
I can't wait to try the others soon but I am so busy with restaurant invitations that I don't have time and appetite to eat at home.

www.grandymarys.co.uk

[Best of British 2017] Summary

The Best of British Hong Kong celebrates and showcases the UK’s culture and capabilities in one of the world’s most dynamic and exciting cities!

Best of British Hong Kong has been up and running since 2015 and it is getting bigger and better every year.

The first year, it was very small held at Chater Garden and now it is taking up the most of Tamar park with lots of activities and food stalls.

To buy food, you have to get cash coupons at the counter.

The cash coupons are in pounds £, the funny thing is $10 = £10 so the food prices look funny!

Imagine Mac n Cheese, Scotch eggs for 60 quid!!

As a foodie, it was a really hard decision because there were so many food stalls serving all my favourites such as pies, mac and cheese etc and the participating stalls were recognized restaurants such as Jamie Oliver, Shoreditch, Chips Republic, Golden Pig.

In the end I had the pork apple burger with black pudding, chicken and leek pie and the roast wrap.

Pork and apple burger with black pudding from The Golden Pig:

Roast Wrap from the House of Yorkshire:

I was disappointed with this wrap because I thought it was going to be the Yorkshire pudding wrap which is trending in UK but it was just an ordinary pancake wrap!

Although the wrap was disappointing, the fillings were delicious with kale, roast potatoes, gravy, horse radish and meat. 

Chicken and leek pie from The Golden Pig:

One of the fun activities this year was having fun inside British Airways snow globe.

That's a wrap this year!!

Best of British Hong Kong:

https://www.facebook.com/bob.asia.hk/

http://www.bestofbritish.hk/

Skye 1st anniversary set lunch

As a fan of Gary Rhodes, I went to SKYE for lunch to try the 1st anniversary set lunch inspired by Gary Rhodes.

As it was a clear day, there were beautiful views from the window.

Started with bread which was served with butter, salt and pink peppercorns.
It was such a treat with pink peppercorns because they have a lovely aroma that doesn't have a strong spicy kick to it.

It was followed by white tomato soup which tasted like tomato consomme mixed with milk.

Autumn foie gras:
This was silky smooth foie gras with tart berries and I loved the way the caramelized brittle gave it a touch of sweetness enhancing the flavour.

Moving on to the truffled mac and cheese which was cheesy yet balanced by the spinach leaves and earthy mushrooms.

The lamb loin was tender and juicy drizzled with appetizing gravy.
Since the pink peppercorns were still on the table, I put some on the lamb and it tasted fab.

Finished with the bread and butter pudding which is the best I have ever tasted because there was a strong vanilla taste and the top had a crisp caramelized sugar crunch to it just how Gary demonstrated in his video on how to make bread and butter pudding.

[SKYE]
310 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay.

Sainsbury's in Hong Kong!!!

As a Brit, I was so happy to find out that you can now get over 200 Sainsbury's items at Market place by Jason, ThreeSixty, Jasons.Food & Living and selected Wellcome supermarkets.

It is about time because Tescos, Marks and Spencers, Waitrose and other brands can be found in Hong Kong.

To me, Sainsbury's is my local supermarket in UK, I go there for my groceries.

Went to the Hong Kong launch at Market Place by Jasons whisked away in a London cab.

There was a lighting ceremony followed by a tour of the products.

We got to try four recipes using Sainsbury's products designed by Chef Tom Burney.

My faves were the mackerel and red cabbage filo tart, cheeseboard bites, Wimbledon Sandwich and the Summer Cooler.

At the designated supermarkets (Market place by Jason, ThreeSixty, Jasons.Food & Living and selected Wellcome supermarkets) you will find highlighted Sainsbury's ranges:

by sainsbury's, Taste the difference, SO Organic and freeform.

It was exciting because I managed to find my comfort foods as well like curries, pies and pizza and most importantly a good selection of cheeses.

We were given a goody bag at the end of the event filled with goodies!!