My first Chicken hot pot

Supreme Restaurants (Mong Kok)

There has a been a recent craze for spicy Chicken hot pots but it sounds really spicy which is why I have not tried it yet.

Thanks to Martin and Supreme hotpots for inviting me to this tasting or I would not have experienced how delicious a Chicken hotpots is.

It is located in Mong Kok, a place that I rarely dine because there are always long queues however at this restaurant they have a nice spacious waiting lounge with sofa seats.


The restaurant was big, with lots of long tables in the middle suitable for large groups which is a must in the MK area.


There is a wide drinks selection including beer, Chinese herbal drinks but it would be great if there was hot and cold water too.


They have freshly made dumplings which were delicious.


We had the deluxe chicken pot, which had seafood in it.


For people who have not tried chicken pot before they have clear instructions on how to eat it.
Basically you eat the chicken from the pot, then when it is nearly empty, you add items such as cows stomach, fish maw and squid in the pot.
After that you add broth and start eating it like a normal hot pot.

I was hooked immediately when I started the chicken, it was so tasty with lots of spices and sichuan peppercorn.
As well as the chicken, their freshly made dumplings were divine especially the watercress because there was lots of crunchy watercress stalks in it.


They have Korean instant noodles for the hotpot which is better than the usual ones because they do not clump together and the texture is nice and springy.


We also tried the chicken in wine which contained four different Chinese wines.
I tried the broth as well and it was strong and fragrant.


Supplementary Information:After this tasting, I went as a paid anonymous customer to another branch of Supreme restaurant and that branch had a bigger cooked food selection to eat but the customer service when I rang to book was a bit snappy that I contemplated whether to dine at that branch or book through the director at the MK branch.
Anyway I decided to dine there and the manager at that branch was really nice and helpful even though he did not know who I was but I wish some of the other staff were as patient as him.

Maxim's Cacao Barry cake

Maxim's Cake Shop (Chai Wan)


Thanks to Maxim's PR agency for this cake.


The cake is called Cacao Barry which is made with Cacao Barry chocolate.


Cacao Barry is a brand of chocolate founded by Charles Barry in France in 1842.

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Cacao Barry:


It was a Bailey's chocolate mousse cake.
Inside the cake there is a layer of Bailey's mousse, white chocolate mousse, dark chocolate cake, dark chocolate mousse and a crispy chocolate base.
The outside of the cake is covered in dark chocolate sauce.


Although the cake looks quite small, you could actually get 14 decent sized slices from it.


The taste of the chocolate was really strong but slightly too sweet, it tasted like coffee even though there was no coffee in it.
The cake stayed in shape when it was sliced unlike some other cakes that collapse when you slice them.
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Fresh sashimi at Okinawa Dining BRIDGES

Okinawa Dining BRIDGES (Causeway Bay)

Thanks to D for inviting me to try this restaurant with two great people.

OKB is located at The Cubus with spacious tables and chairs suitable for families and gatherings.

There is a sushi bar where diners can see the sushi chefs prepare the food.


Here was what we had:
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Appetizers:

From left to right was cucumber with miso, stewed whelk and sweet potato puree with prawn on top.
The appetizers were light to start off with.
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Sashimi platter:

Next we had a huge sashimi platter with fresh sashimi.
My favourites were the sweet botan shrimps, tuna and salmon.
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Stewed belly:

A nice slice of pork belly that was stewed just right with a soft texture and an even distribution of fat.
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Soup:


The soup was fruity because it had thin shreds of yuzu peel in it. A great soup to help digestion.
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Wagyu beef:


The beef was set alight giving the beef an extra flare in taste.
It was really soft and tender with an even fat marbling complemented by the rich gravy.
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Sushi:


The sushi was freshly prepared and tasted great with their freshly grated wasabi.
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Udon:


A nice bowl of warming al-dente udon with delicious braised pork.
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Deep fried prawn heads:


The prawn heads were delicious, they were lovely and crispy and the matter in the head was tasty.
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Fruit sashimi:


This consisted of apples and pineapple on a bed of crushed ice.
The apples were crispy and sweet.
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Rockin' views of Lion Rock and old kowloon

Lion Rock (Mong Kok)

I have previously been to La Scala which was years ago. Royal Plaza Hotel looks really different now.
Lion Rock is new and when I was invited, the name reminded me of Lion Rock Hill.
When I got there, I was greeted with a grand entrance with a beautiful view of the Lion Rock.

There are big glass panes with a clear view of Lion Rock and the surrounding areas such as Kowloon City, the tall building near Broadcast Drive.
I don't know why but when I sat there admiring the view, it made me think of old Kai Tak airport and Hong Kong in the 1960s shown on TV.

In the middle, it over looks a railway.
Perhaps my perception is weird, but I kept thinking that the tracks led to the past.
It seemed like a past life was connected to the Kowloon area or perhaps that weird "Below the Lion Rock" song has somehow brainwashed me to think that what I see in that area is old Hong Kong!!

Anyway, we tried two tea sets:
The Truffle high tea and the Christmas High tea.

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Christmas High Tea:

-Mini turkey and bacon burger
-Black truffle puff pastry chipolata sausage roll
-Twins ham rolls with cranberry sauce
-Snow crab legs with fennel salad cup
-Mini smoked salmon Wellington with caviar
-Scallop and tomato shooter with champagne jelly
-Christmas fruit cake
-Pecan pie
-Christmas cookies
-Apricot and chestnut log cake
-Lemon tart
-Strawberry panna cotta

There was a nice assortment of sweet Christmas bites, my favourite was the pecan pie and Christmas fruitcake.

The crab legs were nicely done and easy to eat without needing to remove the shell.
The burgers were nice and juicy and the salmon wellington tasted like a delicious salmon puff.

The Christmas log cake was really nice, it was light mousse with layers of apricot and chestnut mousse that was not too sweet.
For the savoury items, the sausage rolls with caviar were as nice as the sausage rolls in the UK and the scallop shooters were great because the tomato salsa beneath it was spicy and tangy.
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Truffle afternoon:

-Black Truffle Chocolate Cake
-Black Truffle Crème Brulee
-Rainbow Cake
-Hazelnut Mille-Feuille
-Strawberry Tart
-White Chocolate
-Cheese Cake
-Coconut Mango Mousse Cake
-Blueberry Financiers
-Raisin Scone
-Smoked Salmon with Black Truffle and Sour Cream on Wheat Bread
-Egg Salad and Black Truffle on Toast
-Lobster and Mango with Black Truffle Sandwiches
-Mini Wagyu Beef Burger with Black Truffle
-Deep Fried Vegetables and Black Truffle Spring Roll Black
-Truffle Braised Escargot Tart


The black truffle chocolate cake was really interesting, strong dark chocolate mousse infused with black truffle and the blueberry financiers were amazing because there were so many blueberries in it.


I loved the creme brulee because it was silky and smooth, and there was my favourite clotted cream to go with the scones.


The savoury platter was great especially the salmon sandwich because it was salmon wrapped outside the bread and not presented like the usual sandwich.
The escargot tarts were good too.
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Fine Chinese food at Hyatt's The Chinese Restaurant

It was my first time dining at Hyatt thanks to LT and Hyatt.

Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui is conveniently connected to the MTR and K11 mall so you don't have to get wet or get too hot from walking outside.

The tables at this restaurant are spacious and nicely spaced out with some nice compartment seating on the side too.

Here was what we had:
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Chilled abalone

sweet and tender abalone.
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Crispy salt and pepper tofu

The tofu was really addictive, the coating was crisp and light gently flavoured with spices while the inside was piping hot silky tofu.
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Roast pork

When I picked them with chopsticks, I could already feel how soft they were and they were thickly cut slices too which were satisfying.
Each slice was soft, meaty and tender and they were gone in a flash!
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Eggplant with soy glaze and garlic

The eggplants were light which was complemented nicely by the thick tasty sauce.
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Traditional snake soup

I was so lucky to have snake soup here and the first bowl this year too!
It had so many goodies and the texture of the snake was similar to canned dace fish.
The thinly sliced ginger and orange peel made the soup livelier with some crunch.
I did not use the condiments because it tasted good already.
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Clay pot lobster ginger vermicelli

This was really amazing because the lobster meat was springy and sweet. The meat came off the shell easily.
The glass vermicelli beneath was GOLDEN and clear, each strand was evenly flavoured too.
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Stir fried diced Japanese saga beef with organic black garlic

I didn't realise this was the most expensive dish that night but the beef cubes were soft, sweet and tender complemented nicely by the fruity pieces of fermented black garlic.
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Smoked chicken in jasmine tea leaves

Before I tried it, I could smell tones of Jasmine coming from the chicken. As I ate it there was a sweet jasmine taste as well as the chicken.
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Simmered pea shoot superior broth

Pea shoots are always my favourite and here it was simmered in delicious Chinese ham soup which had a lovely salty flavour.
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Fried white and red rice seafood with shredded dried scallop

I was quite full when I got to the rice, but each grain of rice was distinct and fully flavoured.
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As well as top notch Chinese food, the desserts here also impressed me!

I am not a person for Chinese desserts so I don't normally see anything I want, but there were a few things I wanted to try here.

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Chilled black sesame pudding

The sesame pudding was quite nice, firm and not too sweet.
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Toffee strawberries

These were fresh strawberries coated in golden clear caramelized sugar just like toffee apples hence the name toffee strawberries.
I loved the juicy tart strawberries complemented by the crispy sweet toffee coating.
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steamed hakka style dumplings


These dumplings were quite close to the authentic ones with a savoury taste to start off with and a slightly sweet filling.
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sweet glutinous dumplings with sesame, peanut and coconut

I have only tried this recently at Gold Leaf dessert which was not bad.
The dumplings here taste better because it has a ginger taste and it was not as sweet as the ones at Gold Leaf!
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Baked egg custard tarts glutinous dumpling
These looked like mini Chinese pineapple tarts because of the pastry surface.

Beneath that, there is a glutinous rice ball with liquid custard in it.

It was a lovely combination of sticky dumplings with hot gooey custard in the middle.
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