[Review] 2 Course lunches at Belgos for £9.95

Belgos opened it's first restaurant in 1992 on Chalk Farm Road specializing in Belgian mussels and beer.
Now there are more branches including Covent Garden.

About two decades ago, they had the 'beat the clock' offer (where you pay the price of the time shown on your food order) and an express lunch set menu offered.

Now they are doing a two course lunch for £9.95 which is probably the right move with 7 dials market nearby.
Got there around 12 for lunch but the lunch menu was not available to us until we inquired about it.

As there were three of us, we ordered one of each appetizer choice.

Moules Vol au vent:

Mushroom Vol au vent:

Chicken wings:

For the mains, ordered the two different mussels and a salad.
Personally I would also recommend the rotisserie chicken because it is a signature dish as well as mussels.

Moules Garlic and herb:

Moules Mariniere:

Barley Salad:

Mongozo coconut beer:

Belu Sparkling Water:

Decor at Belgo Centraal:

Overall, we were all impressed with the lunch and the mussels were fresh and delicious.

Korean style Moule Frites at [The Joomak]

Moules-frites is a popular main dish of mussels and fries from Belgium which is also a favourite in France.
As a fan of this dish, I decided to try the Korean version at The Joomak which is served with fries or Sweet potato fries.
The mussels are either cooked in kimchi tomato or Makgeolli butter sauce.

I chose the Makgeolli butter sauce because I liked the idea how they used rice wine to replace white wine.

The mussels were huge and meaty whilst having an impressive springy texture and the sauce was fragrant and light.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, you can get free refills but you have to reserve that in advance so that they have sufficient supply of mussels and fries to serve.
I also had my favourite Kale Pancake which you can only get at Joomak and added extra bacon for +$8 to give it that slight saltiness and smokey flavour which worked really well.

Finished with the Turmeric latte which was a bit like Masala Chai but better because I love Turmeric.

Will come back again with my vegan friends for the vegan menu.

[The Joomak]
Shop 34, LCX, 3/F, Ocean Terminal,
Harbour City,
3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Comforting food at de België

Previously tried Belgica in K Town so I knew the mussels were going to be good here because it is part of the same group.
de België is on the corner of Elgin Street looking small on the outside but spacious once you venture in.

That night, we had a bit of everything because they have other dishes as well as my beloved mussels.

Started with the Tomato aux crevettes and the pulpo a la gallega.
The Tomato aux crevettes were tender translucent shrimps in a delicious dressing encased in a tomato.

The pulpo a la gallega was tasty slices of octopus tentacle on top of new potato slices sprinkled with chili and paprika on a bed of creamy aioli.

It was a great start followed by the mussels.
Again, it was hard to choose because you could choose from mussels cooked in wine, beer etc.
I went for the beer as I was after strong flavours.
It was a huge pot of mussels served with their homemade fries that are fried twice to get that lovely texture.
The mussels were sweet infused with beer and they were free from grit and beard.
While I was eating them I thought I was lucky that the mussels were beard free but later the Chef told me they had removed the beard before cooking you can just enjoy them.

After the mussels, I had the herb roasted chicken.
The chicken was really comforting because it tasted how a roast chicken should taste, ie fully flavoured by the herbs as they were rubbed evenly and it was roasted just right.
The vegetables that came with it were fantastic because they were cooked thoroughly and flavoured in honey, something difficult in HK because the potatoes are normally too hard as the Chefs just grill them to save time.

Had a sweet ending which is hard in Hong Kong because it is really hard to get proper Western desserts.
The Waffle was done just right because it was not too sweet as the sweetness of the cream complemented it nicely and the Chantilly cream was fluffy and airy.

If you drink, I seriously recommend the coconut beer which I tried at the Belgica [other branch]!

+++++++++++++

de België:
21 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong.
https://www.facebook.com/deBelgiehk/

UN grand marché dans Une petite boutique

Flavour (Sheung Wan)
G/F, 18 Possession Street, Sheung Wan

I have always wanted to come here but couldn't find it.
Fate brought me here again after spate of French meals recently.

Anyway went in and discovered it was a mini French grocery shop selling cheeses, baguettes and you can even order food and dine there.

The chewing gum that you can buy in France can be bought here!!


Huge selection of quiches, cheeses, hams, drinks and desserts~

Quiches galore!!

For food, the meals not including drinks or soups were about $55-65 which is an amazingly deal compared to other French dos.

While I sat there, there were so many French expats coming and going for French groceries.
The hot seller were the baguettes and cheeses which is their staple food!

NOW YOU SEE IT

NOW YOU DON'T!! Gone within 10 minutes!~


The owner is really NICE and GOOD LOOKING just as the review says~~

Here was what I had!!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish in creamy white sauce:

The fish was succulent and flakey covered in creamy sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spinach and feta quiche:

The quiche selection was annoying because there were too many to choose from and the size of each quiche was HUGE!! About the size of a brick!!
It was loaded with spinach and flavoured by the cheesy crumbly feta.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fries:

The fries were a bit disappointing because they were not French. The ones I had in France are much thinner and freshly cut to be fried.
These were just the usual chips!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Moule frites:


The mussels were meant to be paired with fries but I had them with a baguette.
It was a huge portion and the sauce was generous too.
Although the mussels tasted like they were frozen ones, the way it was cooked made it taste like it was half fresh and the sauce was really nice because there was white wine, finely diced onions and herbs.
After finishing the mussels, the sauce was just amazing with the baguette.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
chicken leg in red wine sauce:

The chicken in red wine sauce was also good, it was well marinated that the chicken skin and chicken beneath it was full of flavour.
The sauce was lovely and rich, perfect with the rice they served.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Nougat glace:

The nougat icecream tasted like frozen whipped cream with nuts in it.
It was really affordable too compared to other French restaurants.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ
Price: $1xx
Service: Tres bon
Service charge: non
Yummy factor: manifique
Napkins provided: oui
Portion sizes: reasonable
Noise levels: None
English Menu: Yes
Air Conditioning: Yes
ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ

Mussel sushi @ Sushi Take Out

Got the mussel sushi because it was not sold before, however there was lots of sand and the texture was quite mushy.
As for the grounded salmon it fared better.

Grilled beef @ Chili Club

As always the food is great here, decided to post the pictures here and not on a commercial website that reviews food.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Charcoal Grilled Fillet of Beef served with Spicy Sauce

The beef was tender and grilled just right.

The sauce accompanying it was the best, there was lots of lemon juices and finely chopped herbs.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Stuffed Green Mussels in thick Curry Paste

The curry sauce was good but the mussels were frozen ones that lacked the fresh taste.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Baked Rice with Minced Pork and Black Olives

The portion used to be small but now you get loads of rice.

I love the dark soy sauce and chopped up olives.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

lunchtime cravings for $69 @ Joe Bananas

Havent been to JB's for ages since their kitchen stopped, but recently read mandalay's review and saw they had buffets during lunch.

A wide choice of meats, salads, that were changed rapidly as soon as they were depleted. The tandoori chicken I had with yoghurt sauce was good, but that disappeared fast.

The mussels, which I had no expectations, tasted very juicy without that frozen bland taste. But of course they are the frozen ones. The fried rice was just as spicy as mandalay described.

I enjoyed the coleslaw as much as everything else, proper coleslaw, not the syrupy ones at KFC.

Apart from western food, they also had chinese food such as fish suimai's, mini wrapped glutinous rice with chicken.

The range of drinks was good as well, which were included and soft drinks that were refillable, I had the lime soda. There were also hot drinks such as coffee/ british tea at the drinks table.

Best of all was the piping hot bread and butter pudding. However I thought it had been slightly hongkongnised cos I could taste faint coconut in it. Although there was lumpy custard to accompany it, I was happy to see it.