[3 ITALIANI] Italian gelato in Causeway Bay

3 ITALIANI meaning three Italians is obviously opened by three Italians.

At 3 ITALIANI, you can expect a good choice of authentic Italian gelato, chocolate and coffee.

There are 30 different flavours of gelato and sorbet.
(20 traditional Italian flavours and 10 Asian flavour on offer in Hong Kong).

They are made in store everyday, free from preservatives, syrups and colouring which can be seen behind the glass.

There are 5 flavours exclusively created for Hong Kong: 3 Italiani (mango, coconut and sponge cake), Chocolate Wasabi, English Trifle, Crema Antica and Chocolate sorbet.
The chocolate sorbet is an interesting one because it still tastes of strong chocolate without the milk.
Clearly English Trifle was my favourite being English.
It is slightly different to the trifle with custard and jelly because it had cherries, dark choc, red velvet cakes, small amount of liqueur but it was still good.
The best thing is that you can add whipped cream to it which I did.

Great coffee:

Also tried the waffle with nutella and cream, a great dessert to share:

[3 ITALIANI]:
535 Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay.

[Flamingo Bloom] debuts at Tsim Sha Tsui

Kowlooners thirsty for Flamingo Bloom can now quench their thirst at the second new branch at TST!

With winter just around the corner, tea lovers can look forward to an enhanced menu full of
nourishing hot teas, such as the highly aromatic, fresh Australian Blush Pear x Jasmine Tea or
Lemon with freshly ground Ginger x your choice of tea base, such as Jasmine Tips Green,
Honey Orchid Black, Highland Oolong and Chrysanthemum Pu'er.
Most Flamingo Bloom teas can be prepared hot or cold, according to your preference.

And to make the new opening even sweeter, Flaming Bloom’s Tsim Sha Tsui menu offers
another Hong Kong favourite: Bubble waffles with ice-cream.

First, choose from six ice cream
flavours: Cookies & Cream, Milk Chocolate, Bitter Sweet Matcha, or Strawberry Fields. Next
comes the decadent toppings, including Pink Salted Milk Cap, Oreo Crumbs, Salted Caramel
Crumbs, and Double Matcha Sticks.

Get a free floaty at the TST branch with any drink purchased until the 2nd November.

[Gloucester Luk Kwok] Sorrowful Rice 2.0

Sorrowful rice 黯然銷魂飯 is a bowl of Cantonese barbecued pork, with an egg, on rice.inspired by Stephen Chow’s 周星馳 1996 movie, The God of Cookery 食神.
This dish was launched a year ago hence this is version 2.0.
To be honest, I haven't tried version 1.0 and it was my first time trying Sorrowful rice so I was really excited.

It will be available from 30/10/2017-24/01/18 on Mondays to Wednesdays for dinner which includes a crispy crab claw, soup and puerh and osmanthus dessert.

The roast pork is served in a big slab just like the way you buy it from the shops and it gives the satisfaction of having a whole piece of roast pork to yourself.

They use pork collar butt which is the best cut and the the roast pork is served with this glistening almost translucent glaze that is too beautiful and mesmerizing to eat.

To eat, you have to mix everything together especially the liquid yolk and the finely chopped onions underneath the roast pork so the sweetness of the onions come out and the creamy yolk lubricates the grains of rice.

For me every spoonful of rice was heaven because of the onions, egg yolk and the crisp egg white. There was also some lard which brings out all the flavours.
Moving onto the pork, it was just sensational, the meat was lean but tender and I finally satisfied my roast pork craving with this huge piece of pork!!

Saying that I desperately needed a knife and fork because the chopsticks were a bit difficult for me.

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Canton Room, Gloucester Luk Kwok:
https://www.facebook.com/GloucesterLukKwok

[THE POND] Modern Chinese dishes in a pleasing environment

This is a great place to go for Chinese food because the vibes and environment is modern and chic yet on the menu you can still find Peking duck and other goodies.
By the stairs, there are fresh fish on ice which you can order and choose the way you want it cooked.

The price of the fish includes the cooking.

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We had the Kinmedai which is a prized Japanese fish served as fish soup.
As expected it was fantastic because the fish was delicate and the broth was full of fish sweetness.

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For starters, we had Sichuan translucent beef slices, drunken chicken, Sweet and sour spare ribs, diced beef with goose liver and mustard sauce, chilled sea blubber.
The translucent beef slice was wonderful with a sweet and spicy kick.

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Diced chicken with dried chili (laat ji gai):
I love spicy food and this was divine because it was crispy pieces of chicken that was evenly spicy and the chicken was tender.

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The steamed assorted dumplings (pork, duck and prawn) were colourful and delicious and the duck was special for me because you rarely get duck dumplings and the green one was also good because the dumpling wrap was made of fragrant pandan.

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The Peking minced pork pastries reminded me of flat sausage rolls but the meat was very moist while the pastry was chunkier and flaky.

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Barbecued Peking duck:
The crispy duck skin was served with sugar which gives it a sweet twist while there was a colourful side of vegetables including watermelon radish which tastes like carrot.
The pancakes with duck, vegetables and sauce put together was flawless.

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THE POND 魚塘鴨子:

https://www.facebook.com/The-Pond-HK-1894543014099106/

Guizhou lamb specialist open 24 hours in the heart of Mong Kok

I went here because they specialize in Lamb from Guizhou.
The name of this place is called 貴州遵義黔營羊肉粉 but the English name SIMPLEJOY [on Instagram and also printed on the napkins] is rather random and has nothing associated to Guizhou.

Anyway, it is hidden behind the stalls of Ladies Market so there is some sense of privacy when dining there
It is open 24 hours so a convenient place for early breakfast or midnight dinners!!

They have an English menu.
In Hong Kong, the items on the menu would be deemed as Hardcore but it is pretty common and they seem to eat anything over there!!
Not for the faint hearted because they have BRAINS, PLACENTA, PAIR OF EYES, TESTICLES, PENIS, you name it!

I tried the toothpick lamb which somehow wasn't served on toothpicks.
They were small juicy tender cubes of lamb seasoned with chili and spicy.
Each piece of lamb was scrumptious and not too spicy.

Next were the eyes! A pair of lamb eyes.
It was a surprise because I hadn't a clue how it was going to be served.
In my mind it was two eyes rolling about on a plate but it turned out to be eyes in the soup but they were not floating around.
I was also disappointed that the eyes were cut in half as I couldn't find the lens or vitreous humor.
There wasn't much taste to it but the texture was like springy chewy chicken cartilage.

The ribs were quite pricey but delicious because it was laced with spices.
Adding cumin and extra chili made it taste even better.

Anyway, next time I will be back for the noodles!!!
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貴州遵義黔營羊肉粉:
86 Tung Choi street,
Mong Kok
Instagram: simplejoymongkok

[Shanghai Lao Lao] Hairy crab season is here

Hairy crab season this year started off for me with Hairy Crab Roe dishes from 上海姥姥 Shanghai Lao Lao.
There are so many branches in Hong Kong.

I was captivated by their Hairy Crab roe poster at Wong Tai Sin and all over the MTR stations.

As I was in Causeway Bay the other day, I went there with friends and we had other dishes as well.
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Sliced Pork Terrine:

Started with this classic terrine where the jelly melts in your mouth while the pork bits are really tasty.
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Mung Bean Noodles with Shredded Chicken:

This one was my favourite, springy mung bean noodles in a thick peanut and sesame dressing complimented by refreshing julienne cucumber.
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Smoked Fish with Mixed Spices:

The fish was crisp and sweet with a play of spices that were not spicy.
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Noodles with Hairy Crab Roe:

I love noodles and these have to be eaten asap while it is hot and delicious.
There was so much crab roe to cover every strand of noodle.
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Assorted Mushrooms wrapped in Crispy Bean Curd Sheet with Hairy Crab Roe:

This had to be the star of the show, the dish that was advertised on the poster, it was crispy with juicy mushrooms in the middle served with a generous pile of crab roe to compliment it.
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Scrambled Egg White with Hairy Crab Roe:

Another classic dish was the scrambled egg white covered in an abundance of crab roe, great with rice.
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Steamed Pork Dumplings with Hairy Crab Roe:

The pork dumplings are a must in Shanghai cuisine and these were bursting with rich crab roe and pork in the middle.
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Mini Glutinous Rice Balls in Fermented Rice Wine Soup:

Dessert ended with a sweet touch of soft chewy glutinous rice balls in sweet fragrant osmanthus flowers and rice wine soup.
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Finished with the warming Fresh Lemonade with Ginger and Honey and the Chrysanthemum tea with Wolfberries and Honey.

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上海姥姥 Shanghai Lao Lao:
https://www.facebook.com/shanghailaolao.hk/

[Veggi Monster] Veggie burger paradise in Sheung Wan

I love modern vegetarian joints so naturally I was captivated by the burgers at Veggi Monster.
When I got there, I discovered that I had already tried the owners' two other Chinese style vegetarian restaurant in Kwuntong and Mongkok.

Most vegetarian joints just offer 1-2 burgers but here you have four to choose from as well as wraps and salads so decisions are tough!!!

As it was tough, I ended up coming here twice and here was what I had.
I loved the huge burger boxes!!

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Burger in Black:
A burger is not complete without cheese and there they use non diary cheese which tastes just as good and melts like real cheese.
The patty which is made of organic black beans tasted like thick and firm mashed Mexican refried beans with a touch of Chinese black beans and the black olives give it more flavour.

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Tofu Lover:
The tofu burger was more on the classic side because it had the normal burger sauces like ketchup and mustard but it was still tasty with beetroot and red lettuce.

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Avocado and Cashew wrap:
The wrap is a lighter option compared to the burgers, again there are three to choose from.
I had the avocado because there was an interesting combination of seaweed, pickled cucumber and cashew which gave it a complex taste.

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Pot of Nature:
I was really glad the boss recommended this to me because it was a whole bowl of peach tree gum flavoured by sweet olive.
It was like eating luxurious golden birds nest which is good for the skin.

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Located in Sheungwan, they offer a good selection of healthy drinks like taboocha, pressed juices and other items.
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As I have never tried Kombucha before I went for the beetroot taboocha which is made with Kombucha.
It was very fizzy and not too sweet.

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I also recommend the mangosteen juice as well because you don't often see this drink in Hong Kong.
At the moment, they are doing a buy one get one free promotion for the burger in black until the 27th October.
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VEGGI MONSTER:
https://www.facebook.com/veggimonsterhk/