[Ask for Alonzo] Hearty and Cosy Italian fare in Quarry Bay

Quarry lacks good Italian food and Ask for Alonzo just hits the spot with Southern Italian dishes in a trattoria environment.Discovered this joint after going to the Tong Chong Street market.
There is an alfresco table where you can have drinks before dinner.

The menu had a good choice of variety.

Started with the bread with was accompanied with basil puree rather than the usual olive oil and balsamic.
I loved the basil puree as it complimented the bread very well.

For starters, had the burrata cheese with extra parma ham for +HKD60.

Basically all my favourites on one plate on a bed of colourful Heirloom tomatoes in all colours which were juicy and umami taste to the max along with the creamy burrata.
The extra ham gave it the salty flavours and goes very well with tomatoes and the burrata too.
Next were the meatballs which were topped with chunky grated Mozzarella cheese. 
Each meatball was big and tasty loaded with herbs which accentuated the flavour as well as the chopped tomato sauce.

As well as the meats, the Zoodles are the best because they were juicy and crunchy without any grassy taste and the hazelnuts gave it a nutty balance to it.

For pasta, had the mixed mushroom and truffle fettuccine served with poached egg. It was good how it was not too creamy so you could taste everything from the truffles to the delicate egg.

Finished with the panna cotta and tiramisu which was a perfect ending complimented with aromatic coffee.

The panna cotta was creamy and sinfully delicious as it was made with double cream while the tiramisu was equally as good spiked with liquer.

Will definitely check it out again for the other dishes.

[Ask for Alonzo]
18 Hoi Kwong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
http://www.askforalonzo.com/

[HAWKR] Asian Pret X Mxnger

I didn't know what to expect here but I am always trying out SingMalay foods.
When I arrived, it just instantly looked like Pret x mangxr with soups, noodles, wraps, salads, desserts etc but Asian flavours like Rendang beef, Vietnamese salad etc.

If you eat there it feels so Hong Kong as there are so many red taxis going along that road.
I decided to get THE PENANG noodle because you get the fun of adding hot water to it like a pot noodle since there is a soup paste at the bottom which dissolves into a broth.
The hot Prawn Popiah wrap was filled with prawns, Taiwanese sausage, tofu, jicama, carrot, beansprouts and Hawkr's special Popiah sauce. I really liked it because it was crammed with so much stuff.
My friend had the Javanese Beef Rendang which was very aromatic as there was fresh turmeric and galangal taste to the beef.
For dessert finished with the pudding which contains sabja seeds at the bottom.
I liked it more than chia seeds because it does not irritate your throat and it was not too sweet.

++++

HAWKR:

36 Hoi Kwong Street,

Quarry Bay

https://www.facebook.com/hawkrhk/

Aloha Second Hawaiian joint in HK

The first time I tried Hawaiian POKE was at Pololi in Central, I wasn't quite sure if it would become popular with the locals but HK'ers love sushi and sashimi bowls.

POKE is typically raw tuna (ahi) cubes marinated with sea salt, a small amount of soy sauce, inamona (roasted crushed candlenut), sesame oil, limu seaweed, and chopped chili pepper.

It is encouraging to see a similar shop in Quarry Bay because Quarry Bay has more people than eateries so every restaurant is packed at lunch.


At Aloha, they have more options such as Quinoa and brown rice.
From the choices, they use mostly yoghurts and coconut dressings so they all taste similar and creamy.
The wasabi one also tasted creamy and the wasabi was not strong enough.


I got the tofu because the fish wasn't that interesting and they all tasted really similar.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Tofu avocado:


The tofu had a creamy taste and the lime was not strong enough.
There were big chunks of tofu which were chewy, spongy and rubbery but didn't have much taste and it got sickly after I had a lot of tofu.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Cheese craving satisfied at I.E. Kitchen Academie Culinaire

After having the cheese and ham brioche I was craving for cheese again so I attended the cheese fondue class ($650 for two ppl) where you get to eat cheese fondue as well as learn how to make it!

I was surprised to learn that the ingredients were simple, it was cheese, starch, white wine, Kirsche, black pepper, paprika and garlic.
NOTE THERE IS NO MILK IN THE RECIPE however local restaurants put milk in the fondue because they think milky is cheesy!!!
Err I don't think so somehow!

We started off with a plate of appetizers of air dried beef and bayonne ham accompanied by pickles to balance the waxyness of the meats.

After we finished the appetizer, the Chef demonstrated how to make the fondue!
It was simpler than I thought.


I have skipped the steps here but it is pretty easy.
Anyway, the fondue was finally ready to eat and it was divine dipping soft bread into the piping hot melted cheese.
The cheese was moreish because the acidity of the white wine decreased its heaviness.

There were three breads available: Brioche, white bread and walnut and rye.
The white bread and walnut and rye were good for dipping because it was soft with a good yeast taste but the brioche was a bit too heavy for the fondue because it was buttery.

After finishing the fondue we had the apple tart for dessert which was a sweet ending.

As well as the fondue classes, they also sell fondue packs for $200 which includes all the ingredients, fondue forks, burners and sufficient wine for the fondue experience.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/IE-Kitchen-Academie-Culinaire/672755172812437

Mushy rice

This is the weirdest spring onion oil I have seen.

 It was plain chicken topped with FRESHLY cut green spring onions.

The rice beneath it was mushy like congee and the sauce that was really looking forward to was tasteless.

Black dried shrimps at Pho Saigon

As soon as I got the menu, the waiter gave me 2 seconds to look at the menu and expected me to order by standing there like a lemon.

Ordered the 檬粉 mung noodles in crab roes and tomato broth.

When it came, it was just ordinary rice noodles in the broth.

There were pieces of pitch black dried shrimps which looked like mice droppings.



The crab roe was the weirdest crab roe I have seen, it was crap and clumped together, the taste and texture was so weird.




As for the beef, it was dry and salty.

This restaurant has a weird style because they sprinkle sesame on top of almost everything.

Flavoured rice at 囍點

Unfortunately Mr Taco Truck has closed down and this has taken its place!

They have a restaurant nearby but this one is better because it is on street level.

I tried the chicken and pork.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Three cups chicken with fragrant sesame rice:

The chicken was really good because it was boneless strips of chicken and the rice tasted amazing but perhaps a bit heavy for lunch.

The rice tasted like peanut butter but it was a bit too salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork with fragrant rice:

The pork was not that good because it was fatty strips of meat!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Their signature soups were disappointing because the pumpkin soup was too sweet.

666 Halloween pizza

Halloween is drawing closer so I had the Halloween set which costs a devilish $666 that includes chicken wings, garlic bread, four non alcoholic drinks, ONE Halloween pizza, pasta and a dessert.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
There are three different Halloween pizzas: Ghost house pizza, Spider web and spooky eyes!!

Ghost house pizza :

The ghost pizza was the simplest but most delicious because it had 'Nduja' which is a spicy, spreadable pork sausage from Italy.
It was a salty and meaty chili sauce which really gave life to a dead pizza that had so many ghosts on it!!

Spider web:
The spider web has ham, olives and mushrooms

Spooky eyes:

The spooky eyes has salami, olives and mascarpone on a charcoal dough pizza.
I liked this one because of the creamy mascarpone and smoked salami.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Torture:

A plate of torture!!!
Delicious al-dente pasta with a thneringer sausage and pieces of bacon.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dessert:
The Halloween feast was finished with a burning dessert, crisp pizza slices paired with icecream.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
JACOMAX's
Shop 3, G/F., Kiu Ying Building,
2D Finnie Street Quarry Bay.