[Nara Thai] Cuisine lands in Shatin

Wherever you are in Hong Kong, it is quicker from your location to travel to Nara Thai Cuisine than to fly to Bangkok. [Not to be confused with this other one in TST]

Nara Thai Cuisine is a famous restaurant from Thailand that has received the best restaurant award every year since 2007! How could I not try it when I was at Mimila earlier that day.

Began with the appetizers: Prawn carpaccio, Salmon carpaccio, Thai Fish cakes, Green mango salad with Thai sausage and North Eastern pork balls with lettuce.
[Prawn carpaccio]

[Salmon carpaccio]

[Thai Fishcakes]

I liked the way the pork salami was diced and made crispy as everything went together nicely in the [Green mango salad with Thai sausage].

To my surprise, the [North Eastern pork balls with lettuce] stole the show among the appetizers because they were crunchy on the outside while it was moist in the middle packed with fiery kick, hence the lettuce mellows the fierness.

There is always soup in the Thai Cuisine such as coconut chicken, tom yum kung etc. Tried the tom yum kung which was refreshing with a prominent herb flavour while the lemongrass was not too strong.

The Soft Shell Crab Yellow Curry with Butterfly Pea Rice, Jasmine and Roti Prata is great for sharing, the best thing is the curry as it was thick yet light, great with the rice or roti.

The Grilled Pork Neck is also worth ordering as it was lean and meaty.

The Fried Butterfly Pea rice with Crispy Fish and Thai Herbs was really photogenic, while the egg turned out to be the star of the show as it was salted egg.

Nara is also famous for noodles especially the [Ayuthaya boat noodles with Beef] which come in a strong beefy broth infused with herbs.

They also had the [Rainbow soup rice noodles with fish fillet], another noodle that has become popular in HK.

For dessert, the [Nara Coconut ice cream with assorted Thai sweet condiments] was a brilliant experience as you are presented with all these sweet toppings to add on the coconut icecream.

Finished off with this photogenic butterfly pea tea drink!

A video of the Ice Butterfly tea changing colour:

Overall, I really like the food and hope there will be another branch coming to the city.

[NARA THAI]
Shop 507, 5/F, New Town Plaza, 18 Sha Tin Centre Street, Sha Tin
Tel: 31881138

Fashionable Afternoon Tea for Fashionistas

Summer is here and time for summery shoes!! Mira Moon has teamed up with Brazilian jelly shoes fashion brand ZAXY to serve the [Yellow Summer Afternoon Tea] until the 31st of July!!.

The tea set really appealed to me because it was colourful and on the sweet side there were donuts and scones.

Started with the bacalhau which are a signature at Supergiant as they serve top notch tapas. Smoked salmon and sandwiches are a must in tea sets, both were good especially the beef.

Moving on to the scones, I loved the pineapple jam which gives it a nice summer splash while tasting good.

The white peach jelly was refreshing.

Saving the best to last because they were pretty!!!!!!!!!!!

A fun and stylish afternoon tea rounded off with this sweet and dreamy butterfly cocktail.

During the promotional period, they will be giving out a ZAXY cosmetic bag while stocks last for each set of afternoon tea ordered.

+++++++++++++++
Supergiant Tapas & Cocktail Bar
3/F, Mira Moon Hotel, 388 Jaffe Rd, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

@zaxymdreams #zaxyhk #beazaxygirl @miramoonhotel #zaxysummer

Memorable ramen at [Shiawase Ramen]

I am quite particular about my ramen because I prefer the thin white noodles, then if the broth is good then perfect.
If the pork is good as well then it is a mega bonus.
My definition of good pork is being fresh, lean, soft and not smelly!

At Shiawase, they have three different broths: tonkatsu, garlic and spicy tomato.

All three were good in different ways but the pork was the star of everything which makes a change.
The reason I loved it was because it was fresh, soft and tasty.
They were thinly sliced just like the meat we had for roast dinners at school so I was really happy to taste something similar!!

Since all three broths are different, the tonkotsu is one that you can have anytime as the broth is strong but not overly salty or oily.

The black garlic is more flavourful and complicated as you can taste the garlic prominently as well as the pork broth.

Personally, my favourite was the spicy tonkotsu tomato ramen which works for me on a cooler day because it is spicy.

The flavours in this bowl are even more complex as there are lots of tomatoes in the broth which have been boiled for a few hours and all the tomatoes are have been peeled.
The noodles are topped with minced pork which is spicy mixed with herbs, again the pork was fresh hence it was delicious.

The meat sauce tasted a bit like Arrabiata so when you add some cheese powder which can be found on the table, the two go quite well together.

As well as the minced pork, there are also two slices of delicious pork as well. I definitely like this new joint hidden behind the AIA Tower however the lighting can be a bit brighter, other than that I friggin love their PORK!!!

[Shiawase Ramen 幸拉麵]
Shop 19, G/F, AIA Tower, 183 Electric Road, North Point
Tel: 23116322

In love with Malaysian Mimi noodles at [Mimila]

There is an abundance of Singaporean food in HK but not many options for Malaysian food.
Discovered this place as I was in Shatin.
What led me here was the escalator that is a travelator to begin with before it ascends into an escalator.

As I was curious, I took them and it led me right into Mimila as it is the first shop that greets you when you get off the escalator.

I loved the baby blue theme and modern bar table by the kitchen.

Mimila is a Modern Malay noodle joint according to the menu and the desserts were captivating as well as the noodles.

Before indulging on the desserts, I had to get a noodle which is the star of Mimila. There are two types, soup or tossed noodles. For May, they are doing Laksa Chicken Rice which looked tempting on the menu as the rice and laksa are separated so the rice doesn't get soggy

I had the tossed noodles with prawn roe dry mimi noodles.

As well as prawn you can choose Spanish white pork slices or White Pepper Ribs for a more Malaysian twist to it.

I was really pleased because I love thin noodles and they serve prawn roe noodles which give it an even more prawny taste. I forgot to take a picture of the hot soy sauce but a few drops to the noodles made them wonderful as the chili in it gave the noodles a lovely spicy flare.

For drinks, I had the Barley Lemon water which was comforting and not too sweet.

Now to the desserts which were equally as good as the noodles. I absolutely love fragrant pandan chiffon cakes and here they serve it with whipped cream and desiccated coconut which makes it taste even fantastic.

The durian Swiss roll was sold out so had the durian cheesecake which was also good.

Definitely coming back again for the other noodles.

[Mimila]:
Shop 704, 7/F, New Town Plaza Phase 1, 18 Sha Tin Centre Street, Sha Tin
Tel: 24789398

Di King Heen Deluxe Poetries Cuisine

In every language you will find beautiful poetry.
I am so fortunate to be in the 21st Century as all these Chinese poems have been translated into English and are readily online when you google them.

At  Di King Heen, they are now serving  Deluxe Poem inspired Cantonese dishes featuring various poets from the Tang Dynasty.

Here were the dishes we had:
[The dish names are exactly what they are from the menu]

Started with the [Braised Gum Tragacanth Soup with Diced Seafood and Snow Crab Meat] which is inspired by poet Liu Changqing 劉長卿 for his poem Lodging on Lotus Hill for a Snowy Night《逢雪宿芙蓉山主人》
It was a really nice soup with lots of crabmeat and Braised Gum Tragacanth which definitely make you think of snow.

Next was the [Marinated Osmanthus Wine with Fresh Abalone, Suckling Pig Trotter, Wagyu Beef Cheek] inspired by poet Li Bai 李白 for his poem Drinking Alone Under the Moon《月下獨酌. 其一》
It was a nice appetizer as they were all marinated in wine interpreted by the Drinking in the poem.
The suckling pig trotter was my favorite as it was delicate and gelatinous.

[Braised Twins Tofu with Fungi and Burdock] is inspired by poet Wang Zhihuan 王之渙 for his poem On the Stork Tower《登鸛雀樓》
It was a nice meatless dish with silky and supple tofu.

[Sweet and Sour Tiger Prawns with Fig and Pineapple] is inspired by poet Tang Yanqian 唐彥謙《索蝦 (節錄)》
Obviously, the prawn was the star of the dish tossed in this deliciously fruity sauce.

Next was the [Golden-fried Pumpkin and Soft Sell Crab with Salted Egg Yolk] inspired by poet Du Qiumian 杜秋娘 for his poem Robes Made of Golden Threads《金縷衣》hence the salted egg yolk coating being the golden robe.
I loved this dish because I love anything that is coated in crispy salted egg yolk.

The [Roasted Chicken with Assorted Mushroom and Black Truffle Sauce] was inspired by poet 孟浩然 Meng Haoran for his poem Spring Dawn《春曉》which is all about spring and birds singing hence the chicken!!

The last course [Fried Five Grain Rice with Diced Scallop and Assorted Vegetables and Oatmeal] is inspired by poet Li Shen for 李紳 for his poem Sympathy for Peasants《憫農》which talks about how difficult every grain of rice is harvested hence we should appreciate every grain of rice.

It was a nice dinner with all these poetry inspired dishes.
The current Deluxe Poetries Set menu:
https://royalplaza-80a0.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/DKH_DeluxePoetriesSetMenu.pdf

We also had the [Lion Rock X HABA Purity of Hokkaido Afternoon Tea] which is a crossover with HABA Skincare, a brand that is fragrance and additives free.

In the tea set you get Baked Hokkaido Scallop with Urchin Paste, Hokkaido Snow Crab Meat and Cheese Roll, Pan-fried Shrimp Cake with Roasted Sweet Corn and Yuzu Soy Sauce, Deep-fried Chicken with Yogurt, Seven Spices and Muffin, Barbecue Beef Vol Au Vent with Pumpkin Puree, Sapporo Ramen with Ginger Miso Soup (2 persons), l Hokkaido Melon Mousse Cake, l Sweet Potato Cake, l Double Cheese Cake Roll, l Hokkaido Pumpkin Caramel Custard, l Baked Cheese Tart and l Tokachi Red Bean and Green Tea White Chocolate Mousse Cake.

All the items were fancy and fun especially the mini bowls of ramen as one of them is actually a dessert while the other one is ramen!!
The Lion Rock Purity of Hokkaido Afternoon Tea is available from now until June 30, 2018.
https://www.royalplaza.com.hk/en/lion-rock-purity-of-hokkaido-afternoon-tea/