Contemporary Chinese Fare to the next level at [Madame Ching]

Madame Ching is a modern Chinese restaurant and roast house on Star Street.

Their Head Chef Son has done a good job in bringing diners a new way of enjoying Chinese cuisine. He crosses culture and culinary lines which really works.

For drinks, began with the [Drink affogato] and [Iced Lychee and red date tea]. 

Drink affogato: 

[Cream gelato, homemade raspberry sauce, balsamic vinegar and soda water]

Iced Lychee and red date tea:

Here were the dishes that we had: 

++++ 

General Son Chicken:

This was chunks and big chunks of pure chicken meat in delicious crispy coating smothered in sweet and sticky syrup complemented by the fiery Sichuan peppercorns and chili. I loved it as it was all lean white meat without any bones or fat. 

++++ 

Brussels Sprout Uni: 

To be honest, I haven't had any uni dishes as good as this! 

I liked the way the uni was laid on the brussels sprout leaves which had a lovely colour contrast as well as taste. 

Beneath the leaves there were some cream and some soy sauce dots which you eat together for a wonderful taste infusion of sweet creamy uni flavoured by the soy sauce. 

All that is then contrasted by the dill and crisp raw brussels sprout leaves that wake you up from the creaminess.

++++

Hamachi Crudo: 

This was simply delicious slices of hamachi drenched in thick moreish sweet and savoury sauce complimented by the chives and red shiso leaves.

++++

Roast Duck:

The roast duck was really comforting and how it should be. It tasted exactly like the ones in UK and you can visibly see it had been uniformly roasted by the colour and the smoothness of the skin.. 

I appreciate the way the thigh bone has been removed except the drumstick bone so you still have an intact quarter duck there. 

The plate was clean and oil free which was really appealing before you even ate it. 

It definitely sends me memories of eating in China Towns so I was really happy.  

The pickles were good too, chunky with a nice crunch and pickled taste. 

I know locals don't appreciate this but I am sick and tired of brittle bones in every bite and being served just skin, fat and bones. 

++++ 

Brussels Sprouts roasted Jus:

Vegetables are a must and I loved the fact brussels sprouts were on the menu. 

On top they were garnished with crispy shallots!! 

Nice bite size vegetables that you can pop in your mouth.  

++++ 

For carbs, there was fried rice or the dan dan noodles. 

Had the [Burnt ends Egg Fried Rice] which was soft and fluffy. 

There was something different about the grains of rice, they tasted like Basmati rice/long grain rice although I am not sure.

++++

For dessert, finished with the [Ma Lai Go with Ovaltine Custard]: 

In contrast to the local sponge cake, this one was much better as it was firmer and more cakey. 

As I am English, I crave for cakes all the time and the thick ovaltine custard had a strong malty taste which was insanely delicious with a sweet touch that cured my dessert craving.

++++ 

To summarize, I was totally impressed with everything and this is how Chinese food should be. FRESH, PRESENTABLE and DELICIOUS 

With the contemporary twists to the dishes, Manuel and the team have successfully made me like some Chinese dishes that I would not normally eat in Hong Kong but definitely would eat here!  Hong Kong is so lucky to have the Pirata Group.

[Madame Ching]

5 Star Street, Wanchai

http://www.madameching.hk/

Avolatte hits Hong Kong

I am not Athletic but was drawn to Athletic Juice & Espresso Bar because of the avolatte.

Avolatte was first served in Melbourne which caused a stir worldwide.

Athletic Juice & Espresso Bar located on Star Street is one of the first places in Hong Kong to serve it.

As well as Avolatte they have healthy juices and smoothies fit for any sporty or athletic person.

On the sweet side, I had the hot chocolate and S7 Marathon Booster.
The hot chocolate was smooth with a strong cocoa taste that was not too sweet.

The Marathon Booster had all my favourites with Agave, Almond Milk, Avocado, Banana and Coconut Water blended with ice. All of the ingredients were in harmony and I loved the fact it was non dairy and vegan friendly whilst great on a hot day.

The avolatte was the star of the show, I loved the savoury aftertaste in the latte and then you get to eat the rest of the avocado when you are finished.

There are so many choices for juice and smoothies that I will have to come back again.

[Athletic Juice & Espresso Bar]
https://www.facebook.com/athleticjuicenespressobar

Dreamy gelato at [Dood Bottega Gelateria]

I am so glad I stumbled across this gelato shop on the way to dinner.

The gelato wasn't really labelled so I had to ask but they were really nice and gave out samples.

There was a good variety of flavours like black sesame, white sesame and mango which locals can relate too.

For me, I fell in love with the caramel because it was sweet with a strong caramel as well as vanilla taste.

You could visually see vanilla seeds in it. The texture was smooth and elastic which was impressive but not as elastic as Turkish icecream.

There was a unique cheese and tomato gelato which was quite nice because it was topped with tomato jam and there was a great savoury twist to it.

Also tried earl grey and chocolate which are non dairy sorbets and not gelato.

Strangely I found the earl grey sweeter than the caramel as it was syrupy.

As well as 3 Italiani doing chocolate sorbets, you can also get it here.
There used to be another Italian gelato parlour in Sai Kung called Bibini but the owner decided to run a pizza restaurant instead.
Will definitely return if they launch any more exciting flavours.

[Dood Bottega Gelateria]
Shop G13, G/F, Emperor Group Centre, 288 Henessy Road, Wan Chai

Loyal to Vegans as well at [Loyal Dining]

Since my last visit to Loyal Dining, they have launched a Green Menu (Vegetarian) that serves Beyond Meat Burgers.

There is also a Half Priced Steak Night deal where guests can enjoy half priced steak for every second order of the Chef Recommended Classic Steak Set (original price starting HKD188up) available from Monday to Thursday.
The promotion has been extended until the end of June as it has proved to be very popular as almost every table was having steak that night!!!

I am a fan of Beyond Meat burgers and currently on a quest to try all these different places that serve it and see which place makes it taste the best!
As we were a large group, we had both meat and vegetarian dishes.

Started with the Signature Loyal Chicken Wings simmered in their home made sweet soy sauce. Each wing was tasty and soft fully infused with the sweet soy sauce.

Now to the new VEGAN stars of Loyal Dining, the Beyond Meat burger!!!
There are three burgers to choose from: Original, Sichuan or Scallion Oil. It was really difficult to pick a favourite as both were so good but different.
The Sichuan one had the Sichuan flare to it but it was a bit too salty.

I would probably say the Scallion Oil was better because the combination was interesting and strangely went really well as scallion oil is normally paired with chicken.

Look at all that yummy Scallion Oil!

I was really impressed they even had Sorrowful Rice in Vegetarian form. The vegan char siu had that freshly roasted char siu taste and aroma as it was slightly crispy on the edges.

Beef Wellington 66 is the signature dish here and one of my classic faves because it is British!
They use quality beef and the puff pastry is good.
Beef Wellington 66 signifies Loyal Dining's old address at 66 Wellington Street before they moved!
I miss that location as I used to go there for dimsum and went there with friends from UK.

Next we had the vegetable curry souffle which was interesting. Basically vegetable curry topped with souffle!

Now for the real dessert, it was Ovaltine Souffle which was fluffy and sweet infused with Ovaltine!

I really like the new menu and hope it stays forever so that Vegans can dine here as well!
I'll be back!

[Loyal Dining]:
1/F, 5 Tonnochy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
https://www.loyaldining.com.hk/

[Ebisoba Ichigen] has landed in Hong Kong

Ichigen is a famous ramen joint from Japan with its signature broth made with small shrimps.

There are 3 types of seasoning, miso, salt and soy sauce and 2 types of noodle to choose from.
The basic noodles come with a slice of roast pork, half an egg sprinkled with pretty pink crispies made of flour mixed with red ginger and prawn broth.
The broth was rich with unami as expected with a slight bitterness which hung to the noodles well.
Also had the BBQ pork rice which is exclusive in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the pork was tender and moist drizzled in this sweet and spicy sauce.

The prawn riceball is also a must order, rich in prawn flavours.

I felt that it tasted like firm lotus leaf wrapped rice infused with prawn flavours.

As a tea lover, I finished with oolong tea.

Expect long queues for the time being.
ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ

[Ebisoba Ichigen]
Shop B-F, G/F, Yan King Court,
119-121 Queen`s Road East, Wan Chai

[Pinot Duck] Duck Duck Ducktastic

Pinot duck has been serving duck dishes since 2015 in Stanley before the recent duck trend with places like MC DXXK, Forbxden Duck, etc.
With Charlies Restaurant in WC gone (my favourite Chinatown British style Peking Duck), Pinot Duck is one of the good ducks to replace it I suppose.
They serve almost anything ranging from Peking Duck to Modern duck dishes such as Crispy duck wings, duck lollipops, duck liver pate to duck risotto.

I was overwhelmed to learn that a second branch had just opened in Wanchai because Stanley is a bit of a trek and more people can finally try it.
With its new location in Wanchai, the place where everything happens, it is now time to for it to shine and the menu is bigger and better with more duck dishes than ever.
Next stop Michelin??

As I have already dined twice at the Stanley branch, I decided to try the new dishes but the one dish I had to order again was the Crispy Duck wings!!!!

Here was what I had:
*****
Crispy Duck Wings tossed in Sichuan pepper and cumin seasoning:
This is probably the only restaurant in HK that serves meaty and divine duck wings. They are extremely crispy and tasty especially with the unique Sichuan pepper and cumin seasoning.

*****
Xi'an Lamb Skewers:
This was a non duck dish but it was amazing because the chunks of lamb were juicy and tender and the yoghurt wasabi dip was fantastic as I never expected yoghurt and wasabi could taste that good together.
The dip was a good marriage of the East and the Middle East since yoghurt is always paired with lamb.

*****
Classic Peking Duck:
As well as Hoi Sin sauce, they also serve it with black pepper sauce, crispy garlic and minced garlic which makes sense because lots of duck dishes are served with black pepper sauce so you can have fun and experiment on the sauces.
Personally, I liked having my pancakes with hoisin sauce and cucumber and the pancakes were very satisfying because the texture was elastic and springy and holds everything together well.

*****
Pan Fried Duck with Sichuan Spices and Lychee hawthorn:
I ordered this because the Sichuan Spices and Lychee hawthorn was an interesting combination.
When it came, it was duck breast slices topped with lychee and hawthorn.
The taste was like sweet and sour with a twist of fragrant Sichuan pepper and sweet lychee contrasted by the tartness of the Hawthorn berries!
Personally, I found this dish really good with plain rice.

*****
Duck Fried Rice:
The duck fried rice was well executed with juicy pieces of pineapple and finely chopped spring onion.
It had a prominent charred aroma (wok hei) to it and they use Vietnamese Rice which is soft and fragrant.

*****
For desserts I went for the two new items, the Rolling Donkey and the Golden Almond Fingers.

Rolling Donkey:
The presentation of this was a surprise, it was glutinous rice mochi pieces covered in coconut shreds and crushed peanuts inside a black and white chocolate shell which you break.
Eating the mochi pieces and chocolate pieces were so good together because you get the sweetness from the chocolate which isn't too sweet and the coconut shreds reminded me of the Bounty Chocolate bar.

*****
Golden Almond Fingers:
This was a playful twist from fried milk replaced with almond milk. Inside the golden crispy batter was this silky sweet almond pudding filling.
It would be great if there was some sort of punchy sauce on the side or partially drizzled on top like Passionfruit or Cherry to complement it.

*****
I plan to try this again during lunch too see how their lunch menu fares and hopefully go here again with friends in the near future!!!!!
ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ

[Pinot Duck] - Wan Chai
-Ground Floor, 18 Lun Fat Street
Wanchai, Hong Kong
 +852 2570 5928

[Pinot Duck] - Stanley
-Shop G07 The Piazza, Stanley Plaza
23 Carmel Road, Stanley, Hong Kong
+852 2772 0060

Enquiry: Info@pinotduck.com
Opening Hours: Mon - Sun 12 nn - 10pm
https://www.instagram.com/pinotduck/
https://www.facebook.com/pinotduckhk/

[Sun Curry] Star Street is never gloomy with Sun Curry

Discovered this new curry joint on Star Street when I was going to Maison ES recently.
The curry joint stood out because of the hippy style flowery SUN logo and the bright LED star.

Finally went there during Easter.
On the menu, there is a simple choice of curry which is paired with rice, noodle, vermicelli, flat rice noodle and udon.
They also specialize in Beef Brisket too, there is ordinary beef brisket and the Superb Beef brisket which is in limited supply each day.
I was really chuffed to see Lemon Chicken, Curry Fishballs and Fried Ice Cream on the menu.
It really felt like going to my local Chinese Takeaway in UK because curry and lemon chicken are popular picks.

Tried the Lemon Chicken and Beef Curry.
At first, I thought the curry tasted like Japanese curry but then it tasted like Pakistani curry which is very spicy.

Also tried a bit of the Superb beef brisket which was very soft and that beef broth it was in was amazing so I would recommend their beef brisket noodles as well.

The lemon chicken in appetizing lemon sauce was comforting and healthier because it was pan fried and not the deep fried version.

I really enjoyed my curry fix so I will be back for the fried ice cream and I secretly wish fried apple / banana is going to be on the menu and sweet and sour chicken too!!!
As you can imagine, this joint is very popular with residents and people working nearby.

[Sun Curry]
2C Star Street, Wanchai
Tel: 24123423