Lutosa at HOFEX 2019

As a potato and carbs lover, I was immediately drawn to the Lutosa booth Thanks to those eye catching Belgian cones that hold the fries/chips.

It sent me memories of La Cornet Belgie in Central.

I tried samples of the flat slices which were fried to perfection!!!
They were similar to potato scallops but without the batter.

At the front, there was a cabinet that showcases most of the products they have.

I believe I have tried most of them at various different restaurants except the Pom'Tapas so I was really keen in trying some.
They are delicately flavoured potato mash under a crispy crust and they come in four flavours:

Pom'Tapas Sirataki: garlic onion paprika, coriander, cumin, pepper, caraway seed and oregano
Pom'Tapas Latino: tomato, paprika, pepper, allspice, cumin, oregano, thyme, bay leaf and parsley
Pom'Tapas Basilic: basil
Pom'Tapas Arabesque: coriander, cumin, curcuma, pepper, fennel seeds, aniseed, allspice, celery seed, mace.

All of them were captivating especially the Arabesque and Green because I love cumin and fennel.
I can imagine for the Hong Kong market, restaurants would probably want to offer the Italian but in UK it would be the Arabesque or the Latino but I believe they would all taste great.

Tried the Pom'Tapas Sirataki which was just how I expected it to taste, they were crispy on the outside and silky in the middle infused with light cumin and caraway seeds.

All the samples I tried were good on their own and didn't need sauces.
Quality potatoes and bi products should be tasty on their own and things like mayonnaise should enhance the taste.
It frustrates me when I see people dunking their fries/chips in sauce without trying how it tastes alone.

After browsing the Lutosa catalogue, they offer more than just fries and it seems I have tried a majority of their items at different restaurants.
It is hard for me to remember fries/chips but if I was to seriously taste test them I possibly could, whereas the restaurants that serve different potato products make it memorable.
My personal preference is [blonde] lightly crispy on the outside and not hollow in the middle but in Hong Kong fries have to be CRUNCHY or people complain and even bread has to be hard toasted.
This explains why my blonde hair is white to them as their definition of gold is BROWN, so if you ask for blonde hair at the hairdressors in Hong Kong,  you get ginger.
The fried stuff in HK which is golden brown by their definition is burnt in my opinion!!!

The HK KFC fried chicken has a different batter to UK, again it is crunchy!
They serve grid fries only whereas UK serves chips.

I just wish that Hong Kong restaurants could be more adventurous with more variety.
Once something is trending then all restaurants will be serving it which makes dining so boring as the menu is practically the same everywhere.
I understand they will only serve what will sell but as a consumer I feel that the restaurant scene is getting boring.
As well as the restaurants, shopping malls are clones with the same shops, restaurant groups and even clothes.
The hilarious thing in Hong Kong is that when the temperature drops below 14 degrees, you will find 90% people wearing puffer jackets!!!

Enough ranting for now, here are the potato products from different restaurants which I believe are from Lutosa.

[Please Note:  Some restaurants below are no longer in business]

Mini Waffles at Shelter Lounge, Sheung Wan:

Croquette at Shakeem Bun, Wanchai

Dauphines at La Cantoche:

Duchess at Champak:

Vegetable Rosti and Cheese Rosti at Chip In"

Potato cubes at the Green Waffle Diner:

• Lutosa also does mash and roast potatoes but I would really need to try samples from them to recall anything but for now I want to buy every Pom'Tapas flavours as you can put them in the oven according to the brochure which is convenient!!

Iberian pork croquettes

Spaingo (Mong Kok)

This shop was opened last year but I couldn't find it listed on Openrice so I didn't bother listing it because quite a few I have tried to list have been rejected even though I have filled in the Name, telephone and address.
Last week it also happened, so I don't know why I bother!

Anyway, this shop is bright yellow and hard to miss.

They specialize in croquettes made with Iberian pigs 炸黑毛豬丸!!
There are eight sauces to choose from for the croquettes.


I ended up getting the potato wedges with the gravy.
It was delicious rich gravy and the wedges were nice and starchy.
Next time I will try the croquettes (炸黑毛豬丸).
Hard to appreciate food in Mong Kok because there are too many people and smokers about and it is difficult to try and take photos.
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Price: $18
Service: OK
English Menu: NO
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The wonder years

那些年炸雞 (Prince Edward)
If your Chinese or Taiwanese, then this snack joint will remind you of the Taiwanese film "You're The Apple Of My Eye".
To me it does not mean anything, and Western school life is so different.
I have attempted to watch this film but I found the first ten minutes really boring and it was in Mandarin so eventually I switched it off.

However, there is a TV series called The Wonder years with Fred Savage that Westerners could probably relate to.

I was attracted to this place because of the pear shaped potato, not because of the film or any memories it could bring.


I was surprised they had vol-au-vonts as well.


To start off, I had the potato croquette and the cheese ball, but it was so nice I had the cheese and sweet corn pie as well.
I have always wanted to try this place but as it was the summer, it was too hot on the streets to appreciate anything piping hot.
After trying it, I was so gutted I didn't try it earlier because I go past that place quite often.
The chicken is probably going to be good but it seems quite difficult eating chicken on the street.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pear shaped potato croquette $12:


When she gave it to me, she asked if I wanted any tomato sauce but I went without because I wanted to try it on its own.


I was expecting purely potato but I was surprised to find cheese in the middle.
The cheese was heavenly and not the tasteless stringy mozzarella.
The potato tasted like instant mash which is fail proof complimented by the cheese and crispy breadcrumb coating.
It was also impressive that all their fried items did not have a rancid oil taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cheese ball $4:



The cheese ball was delicious but at the same time I did not get any surprises because it tasted the same as the pear shaped croquette.
However if your on a carb diet, then I would recommend the cheese ball because the pear one has more potato.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cheese and sweetcorn pie $14:



The size of this was slightly smaller than a McDonalds apple pie, and inside it was filled with that gorgeous cheddar cheese and lots of sweetcorn.
The taste was slightly sweeter for the pie because of the sweetcorn which was really juicy and each piece of sweetcorn bursts out with it juices.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Overall, the fried items are impressive and I hope that on my next visit, they will taste consistent.
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Map

那些年炸雞 

32 Nullah Lane, Prince Edward
Price: $40
Service: OK
Yummy factor: great
Portion sizes: reasonable
English Menu: Yes
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Set Tapas @ UNOMAS

Finally came here for lunch, this is probably my first time having real Spanish food, the ones I have had before are the fake ones.
I liked the lunch style, you can choose a 3 set Tapa from the Tapa list of 15, 14 for food and one for dessert. For two people, we chose 6 Tapa’s.

The restaurant was spacious yet cramped, there were tables spread across the room, however the table for two we had was quite small, not designed for Spanish Tapa’s, you could have at most 3 Tapa’s on the table. I had trouble getting to my cramped my seat, and I am a thin!

The service was a bit cold, could have been better. Not sure if tap water was free, but other tables were given it. Also coffee/tea was included in the set, but they didn’t remind us, and we felt they had different attitudes to causcasians and asians.

Food:

Ensalada de lentejas con jamon:
Brown lental salad with ham, red onion, tomato, olive oil and vinegar, a nice tangy starter.

Chipirones al ajillo: baby squids with garlic and parsley:
this was the best, the squids were fat and soft with generous sauce.
Croquetas de Jamon:
almond crusted chicken and ham croquettes, could see or taste the almond crust, infact it was just plain crumbs with smooth sily potato inside.
Croqutas de Arroz:
Saffron rice and manchego fritters, This one I could taste and see the almond pieces as the coating, inside was rice, and moist too, the sauce tasted like pumpkin sauce.
Tortilla con chorizo Potato tortilla with spicy chorizo and paprika:
this was just like an omelette, very buttery.
Cordero al vinto tinto: lamb in chorizo in red wine sauce: it tasted more like beef.

Dessert: Orange and almond cake with syrup.

Overall the food was ok, the service and attitude was not!

Silky Potato croquettes @ Shake'em Buns

Was a bit peckish, so got the potato croquettes, uniformly shaped, and golden brown in colour.

The potato inside it was quite soft, and there was onion gravy that came with it.
(forgot to take pic).

I thought the onion gravy was a bit sweet, so i put ketchup on it.

Fried curry rice ball @ 近又吉列黑豚專賣店 Kinmata Tonkatsu

Came here just to try their fried snacks, ordered the curry burrato, fried curry rice ball, which is similar to the italian version, except the italian version is not that crunchy on the outside.

 

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Deep fried curry rice ball:

The curry rice ball was quite nice, and the cheese in the centre went well with the curry rice.

 

 

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fried Edamame beans and potato croquette