Thai fusion in Hong Kong

In most peoples mind, Thai food is just Tom Yum Kung and green papaya but Bug and Bee is the new trend of Thai food from Thailand.

A few years ago Hong Kong was not ready for Thai fusion when it was commonly available in Thailand.

Apart from Bug and Bee, there are other similar restaurants that do Thai fusion such as Greyhound, Glasshouse and many more.

The Bug and Bee menu in Thailand has a bigger range, while the Hong Kong one does not serve all those items.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Curry crab crepe:


This was curry crab served on a crepe.
There were lots of chinese celery, green peppers and real crab meat.


The taste was amazing because there was so much crabmeat in it that was clean and did not have any crabshells.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spinach crepe lasagne in Tomato sauce:



This was quite cool!! A crepe lasagne with spinach and lasagne sheet layers.
I just felt that the tomato sauce was too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon and basil quiche:

When it came, the quiche looked flat like a pizza.

The quiche was quite nice and not very eggy, however the salad was not that pleasant because there was so much garlic in the dressing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The customer service could be improved because I went there when they newly opened and they did not even give me a free drinks coupon for my next visit.
On my other visit, they only gave me the free drinks coupon because when I checked the bill I found out that I was over charged as there was a bug on their POS system.
The decor and location could be better.
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Bug and Bee

G/F to 2/F., 456 Jaffe Road,Causeway Bay

My food visions fulfilled at the GLASSHOUSE

Thanks to the Gaia group for this $500 gift certificate to dine at the Glasshouse.

The Glasshouse offers all day dining with bar food created from their existing restaurants such as Greyhound, Wang Jia Sha, Zelo, Isola and more.
It offers mouth watering Asian Cuisine with a Western twist, perfect for expats with a relaxing roof top garden surrounded by the glitzy harbour views.



Here was what we tried.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Potato croquettes with seaweed and scallop with sweet & sour mango sauce $58

Each croquette had a cute disposable plastic fork which made them manageable to eat.
They were crispy filled with delicious potatoey filling and scallop pieces but I could not taste the seaweed.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Crab cakes with edamame beans and organic corn with yuzu mayo $78


The crab cakes were enhanced by the edamame beans which gave it a sweet twist.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pad Thai black ink noodles with barbeque pork, tofu, egg and soy bean sprouts $118


This was definitely the star of the evening because I don't like Cambodian noodles and it has been replaced with squid ink noodles which were al dente.
There was a cute ceramic pot with an egg to mix in the noodles.


After it was added, the noodles were much silkier.
Then lime juice was added making the noodles even more refreshing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Wagyu beef burger with black truffle mayonnaise and homemade pickles

I am not fond of beef but I loved the homemade pickles which balanced the beefiness of the beef.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Crepe filled with Otap cookies, ube ice cream and pomelo $78

It was great that they serve Filipino Otap cookies inside the crepe giving it a lovely crunchy centre paired with cooling ube ice cream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Midnight gloria (grapefruit juice, passionfruit puree, fresh lime juice, butterfly tea topping, lime zest) 58




They had so many choices for tea which took me a long time to decide!
Anyway, the one I had was nice and refreshing and not too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Thanks to the voucher, we only had to fork out another $31.
(but due to some teething problems I think we paid the bill for the table next to us because they had oysters and the items on the bill don't quite match what we had.
I only realized the bill was not ours when I was writing up this review).

I can't wait to come here again because the food and drinks are amazing and I haven't tried everything yet!

Glasshouse.
Shop 4009,
Level 4, IFC Mall,
Central,
Hong Kong
Telephone. (852) 23834008

New dishes at Koon Thai Cuisine

Under the BKT group, there are two Thai restaurants: Koon Thai and Bangkok Thai.

Koon Thai targets the younger generation while Bangkok Thai offers a nice dining environment.


Anyway, this branch is located really close to Yau Ma Tei's MTR exit C, so you can get away from the dining crowds at Mong Kok whilst still being a few minutes away.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tom Yum Kung with young coconut (NEW):

It was quite cool having Tom Yum Kung served in a young coconut.
As well as the usual items you find in Tom Yum Kung, there were lots of young coconut meat in it too which complements the refreshing soup with some sweetness.
I liked the TYK soup because the lemongrass was not too overpowering while there was a strong appetizing tomato taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried grey mullet with grapefruit (NEW):

This was everyone's favourite because the fish was so crispy and the bones were edible and it was coated in a zesty zingy sauce with lots of shallots, Thai spices and huge chunks of sweet and juicy Thai grapefruit.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawn sashimi with garlic and chili sauce $98:

I don't normally order this but the prawns were springy complemented by the super hot chili sauce, so don't dip too much.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Stir fried baby cabbage $75:

As well as the usual Thai fare, stir fried baby cabbages is a simple dish to balance out the meaty meal.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Koon Thai Yellow Curry with Beef Flank Stew $82:

The yellow curry was versatile with a sweet but non spicy taste and the beef flanks were soft.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roti Paratha $33:

The roti paratha was done nicely because it was light and not greasy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried Rice in Chili Paste with Prawn $82:

I was quite surprised by the fried rice because it is not as spicy as it sounds.
I loved it because it was heavily fragranced by Thai basil even though the name suggests it should be chili flavoured.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Eggplant & Scallop cooked with Thai Basil (NEW):

The eggplant and scallops would definitely go well with rice but for improvements I would prefer the eggplant to be sliced before serving.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sticky Rice with Mango and Coconut Milk $55:

I don't eat mango
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thai dessert platter:
Thousand layer pudding with coconut milk
Sago cake with coconut milk
Coconut agar jelly

A nice refreshing platter to end the meal especially the coconut agar jelly.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Young coconut $38
They are currently doing a buy 1 get 1 free promotion.

I had my favourite young coconut drink which is just natrual coconut water.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Restaurant: Koon Thai Cuisine
1/F, Casa Deluxe Hotel, 483-485A Nathan Road, Yau Ma Tei

The spiciest Thai style minced pork

Koon Thai Hai Nam Chicken (Tin Hau)

There are about three branches of Koon Thai Hai Nam Chicken in Hong Kong but the menu differs at different branches.

The menu below is not served at the Wan Chai branch which is why I dined here.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Minced pork with spicy and sour sauce:


When I saw this, I knew I was in trouble because the minced pork was orange so I knew it was going to be hot and you could also see finely grounded chili powder on the minced pork.
After trying a little morsel of minced pork, I knew I had to leave it because it was way too spicy!!!!!!!
I have tried this dish at other restaurants but not as spicy as this.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shredded chicken with spinach noodles:

I had better luck with the shredded chicken.
There was so much shredded chicken on this plate.


The green noodles did not have any outstanding taste and the texture was just like chewy ultra al dente instant noodles.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Baked Rice with Minced Pork and Black Olives

Chili Club (Wan Chai)

I have not had food from this place for a while so decided to pay it a visit again.
The new staff were much nicer and the air conditioning was not as cold as before.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Khao Ob Numlieb
Baked Rice with Minced Pork and Black Olives

As usual, this dish is lovely, minced pork with olives on rice with some soy sauce poured onto it.
The rice at the bottom is nice and crispy while the rice in the middle is soft and fluffy complemented by the minced pork and salty olives.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Gwit Dtee-Oh Kai Kaprao Krob
Spicy Fried Flat Noodles with Chicken and Basil

The noodles were disappointing because they were just oily and tasteless.
The basil leaves were not fresh because they were dry and shriveled up that there was no fragrant basil aroma.
The noodles which were meant to be spicy were not at all spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Start your CNY with Poon Choi in Thai style!

When I was invited to this tasting I was like 'huh' because it was a Thai restaurant but the item we were going to try was Poon Choi (big bowl feast).

Poon Choi is a traditional type of dish originating from Hong Kong rural villages found in different parts of Hong Kong. In the old days, it was served in huge wooden, porcelain bowls but these days they are often served in disposable metal basins that allows it to be kept warm on top of those gas portable cookers.

The traditional Chinese poon choi includes ingredients such as pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, abalone, ginseng, shark fin, fish maw, prawn, crab, dried mushroom, fishballs, squid, dried eel, dried shrimp, pigskin, beancurd and Chinese radish.

Before I tried the Thai style poon choi, I was already curious whether it would be spicy or served in some sort of Thai sauce.

When we got there, we saw the poster and it looked like the usual poon choi.

It is currently on promotion as shown.

Here's what the Thai style poon choi looked like:



Basically it had some Thai items such as Thai style porks trotters, Thai style Royal chicken, Thai sausage and fish balls.

The usual items such as ducks feet, dried mushrooms, abalone and dried oysters are still there so fuddy duddies won't get upset!

To be honest, I prefer the Thai style poon choi because it does not contain fatty pork, pigs skin and duck which make the whole bowl really oily.
It was also great that it was not spicy and is suitable for everyone.

I chose young coconut water with my poon choi for an extra Thai touch!~


***
In the product shot, there are prawns, but that they were served separately.

Restaurant:

Bangkok Thai Restaurant
2/F, De Fenwick, 42-50 Lockhart Road,
3102 1618