[Cafe Malacca] Authentic SingMalay fare at Hotel Jen

Hotel Jen is located near Hong Kong university so it used to be an effort to go but now the MTR has made it much more accessible.

Since the last dinner, there were so many new items on the menu like durian puddings with a choice of D24 and Musang.
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Started with drinks: Michael Jackson and Chin Chow.
They both have herbal jelly but Michael Jackson is mixed with soy milk and the syrup is served separately which is brilliant.

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Here was the food that we had:
Assorted satays with ricecakes:
Tender grilled meats which have a very sweet taste paired with peanut sauce.

For noodles we had the Penang assam Laksa and Ipoh Bee Thai Bak.
The Penang assam Laksa was my favourite because it was strong and tangy with a hint of spiciness.

The Ipoh Bee Thai Bak has short strands of noodles which are similar to Chinese pin noodles and the broth was not spicy.

For the mains, we had the Grilled stingray which was moist and silky.

Finished with Fried beansprouts/beanshoots with salted fish which was another comforting dish because it tastes like choysuey.

The dessert choices were captivating so we had the Abok Abok, D24 durian pudding, Musang durian pudding and coconut jelly.

If you like durian then these puddings are a must but personally I prefer D24 as a dessert because the Musang pudding can get quite heavy especially if you didn't leave room for dessert.
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Cafe Malacca:
Level 2, Hotel Jen Hong Kong, 508 Queen's Road West, Western District
Tel: +852 2213 6613

[THE LIGHTHOUSE] French food in surreal paradise

The Lighthouse is helmed by Chef Olivier Bellin, born and raised in Brittany.
Brittany is a coastal French town and The Lighthouse showcases the best from the sea just as you would find in Brittany.

From decor to the view, it felt like dining by the sea with the fishing nets and seashells.

I liked the menu because it was evidently authentic French especially the dessert because they have the floating island, grand profiterole and mille feuille.
On the menu, there was seafood from Brittany and lobster parmentier which was expected.

Started with the seafood platter:

It was definitely the star of the show because when it came, there was a familiar smell from the sea mongers and seafood stalls by the beaches.
My favourites had to be the brown shrimps which are eaten with bread and butter.
The little black sea snails were difficult pick them out but they reminded me of some shellfish I had as a kid.
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Langostine:

Next was the langoustine which was presented like they were flying.
They were sweet and there was familiar salty taste from the sea which was good.
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Fish soup:

The fish soup was thick and rich.
It was so strong that it tasted a bit like crab paste.
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Lobster parmentier:

The lobster parmentier was another heavy dish that is best shared and the mashed potato in the middle was divine.
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mussels bouchot:

The mussels were fresh and springy and the bread was perfect for soaking the sauce.

We finished with three stunning desserts. My favourite was the mille feuille because it was very similar to the cream slices we get in UK while the Rum baba was extremely strong in alcohol because the guy was very generous and put quite a fair bit in it!
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Grand profiterole:

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Mille feuille:

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Rum baba:

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THE LIGHTHOUSE:
Location Shop 303,  Lobby A, 3/F, The Pulse, 28 Beach Rd, Repulse Bay, Hong Kong
Opening Hours Mon, Tues Closed, Wed to Fri 12:00 - 15:30, Sat, Sun, and Public Holiday 11:30-17:30
Contact +852 2889 5939, LIGHTHOUSE@LECOMPTOIR.HK

[Extra Virgin] Affordable Italian pastas in Hong Kong

It is really difficult to find affordable and delicious pastas in Hong Kong.
Extra Virgin has finally answered my prayers after Pasta Mio closed in Central.

The menu is diverse so it caters for Hong Kongers.
I felt that the drinks selection could have been better because they only served Hong Kong style tea in those thick rimmed cups and lacked Western teas.

The Italian choices were clearly the picks for me.
It had almost everything I wanted except Lasagne so I made quite a few visits to try them.

Here was what I had: Spaghetti aglio de olio, spaghetti pomodoro e basilico, fettucine bolognese and the Feta cheese pizza.
Everything was cooked to order.

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spaghetti pomodoro e basilico:

Perfect pasta with fragrant basil and rich tomato sauce.
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fettucine bolognese:

This was al dente fettucine in a lovely meat sauce loaded with lots of minced meat.
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Feta cheese pizza:

The pizza was impressive because the cheese was just melted to how I like it while the base was thin and crispy.
It would be great if they used tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes because they were clumsy and kept falling off the pizza.
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Spaghetti aglio de olio:

Unfortunately, this was boring and tasteless, perhaps the Vongole might be a better choice.
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Will definitely come again for the ravioli and hope that they will add lasagne to the menu.

Extra Virgin:
https://www.facebook.com/Extra.virginss/

[Falafel TLV] A big portion of hummus that satisfies your craving

Discovered this fantastic joint because I was checking out a restaurant nearby.

Basically they serve hummus and falafel which are both my favourites.
This place is called Falafel TLV so you can tell it is from Israel because of TLV ie Tel Aviv.
The menu was quite simple and they even serve desserts and drinks.

Anyway, the hummus and the falafel are a must so I had the Hummus Tahini and falafel.
The hummus are made with fine Bulgarian chick peas.

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Hummus Tahini:

It was so comforting to see this huge portion of hummus because it is just how it is served in London.
The taste and texture was really creamy that it was perfect with their soft fluffy pita bread.
The portion of hummus was generous that second orders of pita bread were needed.
It was good for sharing and sufficient to dip three pita breads.
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Falafel:

The falafel was uniform in size and they were nice and crispy. The oil is changed daily which guarantees the quality.
Each bite was delicious and had a lovely smell of cumin.
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On the table, the AMBA sauce (mango sauce) was addictive because it was really refreshingly savory yet strong that it goes with anything especially falafel and shawarma.

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They also sell condiments imported from Israel and they even have my favourite Zaatar!!

For drinks it was either Lemon and mint of Banana tamar which is milk, banana and dates.
I went for the banana tamar which was quite palatable.

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Finished with the Malabee which is a rich pudding made of cream milk, rose syrup topped with coconut and crushed peanuts.
It was similar to a milk pudding but the creaminess was stronger and it has a curd like texture.
[My Malabee didn't contain the rose syrup because I requested it without]

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Restaurant: FalafelTLV
Facebook: FalafelTLV

Decorated suckling big by GoodBBQ

My dad was in HK so decided to get him a cute decorated suckling pig from Good BBQ which is something that you probably won't find in the UK decorated like this.

It was delivered on time and the design was a lovely surprise because it was for Father's day and I left the design over to them.

The eyes flash.

The tie had two sides to it.

After chopping it up, it was enough for the eight of us and the sauces were hidden beneath the pig.
The suckling pig was crispy and the meat was tender and well seasoned that it didn't really need the sauces.

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video of the suckling pig:

GOODBBQ:

https://www.facebook.com/GOODBBQ.HK

choo choo Masala train express

As an Indian food lover, this has been on my list to try when I heard about it.They serve curry, rolls and a good variety of vegetarian and sugar free desserts.

There was a vegetarian roll I had to try and this is the only place that serves it.
To my knowledge not many places serve Bhurji and this one is completely vegetarian while the one in Central serves egg bhurji.
I had the paneer bhurji roll which is basically filled with cottage cheese in aromatic spices and the texture is like scrambled eggs.


You will also find bits of red and green bell peppers as well.



I wish they had paneer bhurji rice because that would be more filling.
Anyway, my friend had the chicken biryani box.



For dessert I had the rice pudding which was really dreamy and I loved the texture as it was fluffy loaded with some nuts and dates.
I liked the way it was not cloyingly sweet as compared to other Indian desserts and it is sugar free sweetened with dates which makes it super healthy.

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MASALA TRAIN: 146 Lockhart Rod, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.