[Food News] The Butchers Club Fry Stack launched to celebrate National French Fries Day

Happy French Fries Day with this Fries stack from The Butcher Club with comes with a choice of Truffle mayo or Wasabi mayo.
Get it for $38 only by presenting this post.

The Butchers Club Fry Stack reminds me of the mini fries stack a while ago in my burger!!

The best chips with Curry sauce in STRATFORD, inshops [Rainbow English And Chinese Fast Food]

Rainbow English And Chinese Fast Food has been here for at least 20 years or longer.

Although it is a Chinese Fast Food, I go there for chips in curry sauce.

It is really impressive how they have been consistently delicious in terms of the chips and curry sauce.

The last time I visited was in 2016.

Every time I go there, the chips are slightly crispy on the outside drenched in delicious sweet curry sauce that is not cloyingly sweet.

Yet every chips is fluffy in the middle.

The most amazing thing is that you every chip is covered in a glaze of curry sauce, even the last chip and the chips at the bottom of the dish!!

There is something magic about the curry sauce in that you wouldn't call it a sauce as it does not really drip apart from at the beginning.

Anyway, you can think of it like Poutine with curry sauce.

Finished with a Chinese Tea which was quite nice.

A customer who drove an hours drive for their food!

Rainbow English And Chinese Fast Food
Unit 7
InShops
71 - 73 The Mall, Stratford
E15 1XA

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!!

[Potato King] Potato King takes his spuds seriously

I love Potatoes, be it fries, chips, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes I'm in.
Potato King specializes in two types of fries: Japanese long fries and Belgian fries which are very different to each other.
When I got there, the signs were encouraging as I could smell potatoes and the the oil in the air wasn't that strong but then I specifically went early in the day so that the oil should be fresher.

There is an English menu by the side which is split into two sections.

Clearly for the Belgian fries, it has to go with mayonnaise.
As well as mayo, they have bolognese and cheese but I secretly wish they had gravy for poutine or curry sauce like the English Chippies.
I was so excited about the Japanese Long fries as they only cost $28 which were $50 at the Japanese Fest at PMQ.
There are various of sauces as well but to be safe I went for the mayonnaise and seaweed.
I was tempted on the ketchup but it depends which brand they use as some brands like Delmonte are just sweet.
Potato King reminded me of La Cornet Belge in Central as they have Frikandel and chewylicious Stroopwafels.
Will try the Frikandel next time so that I can compare it to the one I tried before.

Stroopwafels:

Drinks at the counter:

Condiments on the table:

While I was waiting, you could see them cut the fries from whole peeled potatoes.
They take their frying professionally as they measure the oil using a temperature gun.

Here were my Belgian Fries which were much better than the ones at La Cornet Belge except that it wasn't served in a cone!!
The fries were how they should be crispy yet starchy in the middle, the best thing is that it comes with real mayonnaise.

Next were the Japanese fries which are a must try as well because they are freshly extruded to order with mashed potato mixture and topped with a sauce of your choice.
As well as the Belgian fries, these satisfied my cravings too because they were fluffy in the middle with light crispy coating!!

Definitely coming back because it is really impressive to come across something that is inexpensive yet the real deal in MK.
So let's hope they can keep it up!

[Potato King 一薯]
www.instagram.com/potatokinghk



Supersupergirl

Shake Shack is finally in Hong Kong

Just 10 days ago, the atrium of IFC was transformed into Madison Square Park, NYC for a pop up event.
Now Shake Shack is here to stay and serve burgers from the 1st of May on the 4th floor of the IFC.

The menu was really exciting because they have Frozen Custard (which is nothing like English custard.)
The custard is similar to ice-cream but with eggs added with a denser consistency.
As well as Frozen Custard, they are famous for Shakes and Burgers.

I tried Shack burger which has lettuce, tomato, 100% all-natural Angus beef patty and Shack sauce.
The green leaf lettuce they use is frilly and decorative which makes it instaworthy.

On my first bite, I appreciated the salt because it brought out the beef so well and the tomatoes and lettuce all blended in.

The secret also lies in the burger bun they use. The burgers are served on a non-GMO Martin’s Potato Roll which absorbs more sauce than wheat starch buns while it doesn't get soggy.

The crinkle cut fries were optional but the cheese sauce is a must because it is a blend of cheddar and American cheese sauce.

To finish, I had the milkshake which was so damn good because it was not cloyingly sweet.

Before leaving, the hand washing machine is the best thing and possibly the first burger joint place in Hong Kong to have it.

It really cleans the oil off and dispenses cleanser first, then water to rinse and finally a paper towel will pop out for you to wipe your hands dry.

I don't know if they have this on the HK menu, but they have ShackBurger® dog biscuits in the US!

To round it off, I am definitely coming again because HKD50 for a burger is quite reasonable and the size isn't too big to put you off it and at the end I know I can leave with clean grease free hands is fantastic.

[Shake Shack]
Shop 4018, 4/F, IFC,
1 Harbour View Street, Central

Potato Corner fries in Hong Kong

I love fries, chips and basically anything made from potatoes.
When this opened, I really wanted to go but there were long queues as it is typical of HongKongers to check out new things.
This joint is a franchise from the Philippines and it is good to see more joints from south east Asia popping up like J.Co donuts and Jollibee.

It is interesting to see if this joint will survive because there were similar shops like NYF and Ireland's potato which are both different. NYF was fries with gravy while Ireland's potato was chips with a choice of various toppings like sour cream, meat sauce etc.
Potato Corner is neither the two, it is french fries shaken with seasoning and there are four flavours: cheese, sour cream, chili or BBQ.

There are four sizes: Jumbo, Mega, Giga or Terra.
I wasn't sure if the Chili was going to be really spicy and whether the BBQ would be sweet so I went for the Mega because you get to choose two flavours where I chose sour cream and cheese.

There have been complaints from people who have tried it that the fries were not crispy enough or not hot enough and it is all about timing,

For the issue of them not being crispy, these are French Fries, the same cut and thickness as the McDs ones so if they were crispy, the middle would not be fluffy but anyway I won't bother going into details people Hong Kong people like their fried stuff CRUNCHY and not CRISPY, while in terms of colour, they judge BROWN as being done whereas BLOND is not the thing.

As for the temperature issue, they seem to do a batch of one flavour at a time, there are only a few scoops so if you have ordered four flavours, the first flavour they scoop in the bowl is definitely going to be cold and soft while it takes time for the other three flavours being done unless there happen to be other flavours ready.

After waiting for a bit, I finally got my fries.

The crispiness was acceptable because I like it slightly crispy with a soft fluffy centre.

As for the flavours, I was disappointed with the sour cream because it had no sour cream taste, it was slightly sweet and garlicky.

The cheese which had a bright orange colour was my favourite because it was like eating fries with a WOTSITS flavour, a British brand of cheesy corn puffs.

If I knew the sour cream was going to be sweet, I would have chosen the CHILI instead as BBQ is probably going to be sweet judging by the sour cream.

As I am curious, I will be back for the CHILI and BBQ, not that I want to get the BBQ but the single size costs $28 so you might as well pay $34 for two different flavours.

Potato Corner PH: https://www.facebook.com/PotatoCorner/
Potato Corner HK: https://www.facebook.com/POTATOCORNERHONGKONG/