Back for more delicious nougat

ABC Bakery (Central)

Thanks to Mjqueen7e or I would not have known about these gorgeous nougats.

I was nearby so got a box.

They also had these cute swan choux puffs which I did not try them.



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Nougats:


The nougats were so nice and addictive that I could not stop eating them.
The sweetness was just right and it tastes like a satisfying SNICKERs bar without the chocolate and caramel.
Each nougat is wrapped in edible rice paper and crammed with tons of peanuts.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Oops 金鑽車仔麵茶餐廳 has closed down!

That's no more spam and egg rice or curries for people in Wan Chai!

QQ Rice 10th anniversary

QQ Rice (Choi Hung)

Since my last visit years ago, they are now approaching their 10th anniversary

Usually I do not eat glutinous rice or Shanghai style rice with fried dough inside.
The rice at this place was rather different as you get to choose different rices, and as a standard you can choose 6 different fillings, which is quite a lot since you normally would probably get to choose 3 or 4.

The fillings are displayed in front of you, so you can see what there is to choose.


I have not been here for years so I forgot you could choose up to six choices, so I chose four.

First of all I chose the Ice lake wild rice which was sold out, so I had mixed grain instead.
They used to have shrimp bran as a filling but they don't have it anymore.
For my fillings I chose Crisp Caraway, pickled vegetables, vegetarian Meat, and chicken in wine sauce.
I also ticked the curry powder but they forgot to add it.


After paying for it, the staff scoops the rice from the tubs and adds the relevant fillings.




The rice filled with fillings was quite nice, it was still lovely and soft and the fillings inside were delicious.

SADLY THIS BRANCH IS NOW CLOSED!

Glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves @ 金鑽車仔麵茶餐廳

金鑽車仔麵茶餐廳 (Wan Chai)

I usually dine here for noodles, rice with egg and luncheon meat but when I went in I saw someone have Glutinous rice wrapped in Lotus leaves so I had that because I didn't know they served it.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Glutinous rice wrapped in Lotus leaves:

When it came, the smell of lotus leaves was very fragrant.
The filling was rich and had lots of fillings such as roast pork, preserved sausages etc, but I mainly ate the rice because that was my favourite.
The glutinous rice was soft and moist, richly flavoured by gravy from the fillings and infused with the smell of lotus leaves.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Red Mango (Central)

Not long after I got my SODA card at FLAME, I received an invitation from SODA to use my SODA rewards at RED MANGO.


I went to FLAME for my usual roast chicken and I saw some people registering for a SODA card so I did that as well.
At FLAME, I got a free soft drink for first time registration, there after every time I visit flame, reward points will be collected and rewards will be unlocked.

The SODA APP and website have information on other participating eateries and most of my favourites were there!
Just for scanning your card, you get 5 points on every visit to any shop that has the SODA rewards scheme.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of Red Mango, they are offering all items at half price to people who have the Soda card until 28th May 2013.

At this event, SODA credited my card with 250 pts so that I could treat my fellow foodies with froyo and most importantly they could see and experience how my SODA card was used.

There is a Soda tablet at the corner and all you do is scan your card and enter your pin, choose the rewards.

This was the reward that SODA asked me to experience.

So without further ado, we all ordered our froyos.
The toppings are UnLiMiTeD provided they fit in the cup, however I was disappointed they did not have Blackberries as shown on previous reviews.


There are three sizes, but for the current reward, it was for the Junior size only.


There were parfaits too and I really wanted to try the falafel oniion wrap.



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Raspberry froyo:
I really liked the froyo and the raspberry flavour reminded me of Yoplaits raspberry yoghurt, but because it was froyo, the texture was similar to soft serve and it melted easily too.
The dark chocolate curls and strawberry complemented it nicely.
Just for fun I tried the mochi and caramel pecans because I love pecans.
The mochi pieces were nice and big.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea and original froyo:
I also tried the green tea and original but I felt that raspberry was the best.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Froyo group shot:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The memoirs of Czarina

Czarina Restaurant (Mid-Levels)

Thanks to IVY_CWK or I would never have known about this restaurant and I rarely dine in this area because it is too much effort to go there.

When she first told me I had a quick look at the reviews thinking it was another Chinese style Western place for food but then they were closing down after decades of business so I decided to give it a try.

It was interesting because it was Russian Cuisine.

I wondered how the Russian cuisine ended up in Hong Kong because they were not ruled under the Russian Empire.

There is always non authentic Russian borscht soup served in Chinese Restaurants because they use tomato to replace beetroots.

Anyway, when we arrived, there was a crew filming the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant, the decor was quite old and historic by Hong Kong standards, but commonly found in Europe.
The table mats on the table reminded me of the ones used in UK with a cork base.

The menus were mostly handwritten and difficult to comprehend.

It was like Chinese joined up writing.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Russian Borscht soup:
Although it is not authentic, the taste was better than the Borscht soups served in other Chinese restaurants.
There was lots of tomato in it.
As well as this, I also tried the Portuguese fish soup which was much nicer because it had lemon in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawn and potato salad:.
The potato salad was surprisingly nice, it tasted natural unlike the other syrupy sweet salad cream HK style salads crammed with sweet tinned fruit.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seafood platter:

The salmon was a bit dry and had bones.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Baked crab with cheese:

baked crabmeat n cheese
This was extremely delicious and contained real crabmeat and not surimi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cameraman caught on camera while I happened to be filmed by the Cameraman!

camerman at the corner filming

See corresponding video
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Closed down : 好芝味甜品店 Pleasant Taste Dessert

Super thinly sliced banana
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Interesting dessert!
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Paper thin pancake
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