Sichuan food on cloud 9

Thanks to Chuan Xi Restaurant for inviting me to try their wonderful food.

Before I went, they gave me a really good impression because they sent me their menu and it had English as well.
When I got there, they had an electronic menu which was even better because if it were not for those pictures I would not have ordered those items.


The two dishes that I ordered because of the pictures were the mushrooms and the dessert, so a picture means a thousand words.

The restaurant was quite cosy and I liked the clouds on the ceiling.




I was quite surprised that they served fresh seafood because there were tanks at the corner with live seafood, so when you order them, they get it from there.


Here was what I tried:
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Chilled yam with blueberry:

A simple but delicious appetizer because they used fresh yam with blueberry jam.
The yam and the sweetness of the blueberry was cooling and soothing while the yam had a lovely crisp texture.
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Marinated Numbing Mushroom:

I am so glad I saw the picture for this or I would have missed out on this great dish!
Thinly sliced mushrooms tossed in their secret numbing sauce with lots of finely chopped coriander stalks mixed into it.
A very innocent but flavourful dish.
[I would be very happy just eating this with plain rice if I was alone!]
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Beef tripe with sichuan pepper sauce:

Compared to the other two appetizers this was slightly stronger, drenched in fragrant sichuan pepper sauce.
The beef tripe was meaty but soft, a great appetizer to go with beer.
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Spinach and cuttlefish soup:

The soup was an interesting combination of leafy spinach and cuttlefish, you could really taste the cuttlefish in this light clear soup.
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Sauteed mutton and onion with cumin:

Thinly sliced tender mutton pieces cooked with lots of onion and cumin.
This was great with rice.
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Le Shan Sweet Skin Duck:

The duck was a surprise, the skin was literally caramelized with syrup. The duck's skin surface just tasted like caramelized caramel with a hint of sichuan peppercorns.
A must try because I found it really unique.
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Spicy Mantis Shrimp, Chengdu Style:

Lastly this dish is another must try! Huge mantis shrimps in a shallow pot with goodies such as sliced lotus roots, chili, leeks, Chinese celery and green peppercorns.
[The lotus roots taste good with rice]
I liked it the way it was cooked because the mantis shrimp was moist and extremely tender and springy.
The meat is protected by the shell so it won't be that spicy yet it still has flavour. For extra kick, dip the mantis meat in the sauce which gives it the spicy flavour in full force!
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Crystal jelly in Strawberry sauce:

On the menu, it was supposed to be yuzu sauce but they sold out of yuzu sauce and replaced it with strawberry which was even better because I love strawberry!!
It was nice and soothing after some spicy food.
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If I wasn't full I would have tried the Stir fried flat noodles with beef and cumin!!
A jazzed up version of the normal stir fried beef with flat noodles.

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For vegetarians, you won't feel left out!!
You can order the items below with rice!
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Marinated auberjines
Spicy cucumber
Chilled yam with blueberry
Spicy Vegetarian Pot
Marinated Numbing Mushroom
Crystal jelly in Strawberry sauce
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Can't wait to dine here again!!
Mantis shrimps are a must!

Tasteless at 章記香港仔魚蛋王

章記香港仔魚蛋王 (Mong Kok)
Made the mistake of eating in Mong Kok!
Should have starved myself instead.

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Noodles with beef tendons and cow's stomach:

Hard and chewy beef tendons.
Tasteless Cow's stomach.
After adding a drop of chilli oil, it saved the noodles and made them slightly tastier.
The chilli oil is quite strong, just two drops is enough to make the noodle extremely spicy.
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A very filling lunch at Uptown 90 (Wan Chai)

Uptown 90 (Wan Chai)
I have always wanted to try this because the name Uptown 90 sounded American.
Uptown means neighborhoods or regions in several cities.

When I went there, I discovered it was a Chinese pub serving Chinese style western dishes!
The mains costs around $6X-$7X including a starter and dessert buffet bound to make you feel full afterwards.

The food is average, but picking bits here and there from the buffet bar and eating some of the mains will fill you up!
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Buffet bar items:









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The restaurant is EXTREMELY noisy so don't bother with this place if you prefer a quiet place for a gathering.


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Mains:


Clearly some Chinese fusion with a mix of meat in tomato sauce.
I only had the rice with sauce which tasted ok.


The bread with cheese was just mozzarella cheese melted on top with some diced peppers.
It had been toasted for quite some time because it was quite HARD!
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Super oily fish and chips

Carnegies (Wan Chai)

Had the fish and chips!
The batter was extremely oily and thick and the chips were rancid!
The others felt that way too because most people left it half finished.

Dinner at The Boss

The Boss (Central)

Thanks to The Boss for inviting me to try their dishes.


When I recieved their invitation, it was before they were recommended on the Michelin list.

The location of this restaurant is extremely convenient and close to the MTR station on Queen's Road Central.

This restaurant is owned by a horse owner which is why they have pictures of horses on the walls.


It would be great if they had a mini media player showing silent videos of the horses in action.

Before I made an appointment, I analyzed their menu and it appears that they specialize in high end dishes such as Bird's nest, Abalone and Sea cucumber.

Each set meal has at least one of those items on the list.


Anyway we tried set meal A and changed two dishes to the noodles and lettuce:
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Chilled shrimps in Shaoxing wine:


The shrimps were peeled which was convenient, and the wine was lovely and strong that the prawns had soaked the wine resulting in a nice alcoholic taste.
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Boss Appetizers
Aubergines in sesame sauce, black fungas in vinegar, stir fried mushroom with truffle


The appetizers were really nice especially the black fungas in vinegar which had a tart taste with a gentle spicy kick.
The earthy mushrooms were further enhanced by the truffle dressing paired with sweet baby asparagus tips.
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Braised bird’s nest & bamboo piths with superior soup


I loved this golden soup because it was crammed with lots of bamboo piths and birds nest.
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Braised pomelo skin and black mushroom with shrimp roe


I have always liked braised pomelo skin which is mushy and complemented by the delicious Chinese gravy, on the side there was a piece of premium black mushroom (tin bak gu) which has a white scored top.
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Sauteed prawns with salty egg yolk


The prawn was beautifully presented with cereal and a block of rice crispy cracker on the side.
The crispy salted egg yolk coating complented the springy prawn nicely.
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Stir fried noodles with black truffle


This was delicious plain stir fried noodles with black truffle and beanshoots.
Each strand was uniformly coated and flavoured with black truffle.
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Baked Chinese lettuce casserole (home made shrimp sauce, yellow bean sauce)


I loved the shrimp sauce's pungent smell and the lettuce was fully flavoured with shrimp sauce and yellow bean sauce.
The lettuce was cooked just right, not too crispy or too soft.
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Sweet apple soup


The meal ended with delicious sweet apple soup that was not too sweet with lots of lovely soft diced pieces of apple in it and Chinese almonds.
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The Boss is really nice and flexible and allows you to change dishes on the set menu subject to a price difference.
A nice place for quiet gatherings with attentative staff.

Crackling fish skin crackers

Chip In Fish & Chips (Sai Kung)

After dining at the new Kebab place nearby, my stomach was burning because the food was too spicy.
As I walked past, I saw the new green tea latte so got that as a soother.

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Green tea latte:

It was nice and cold on a cold day, definitely nice and soothing for my stomach.
The taste was milky with a hint of green tea grassiness and bitterness without being too sweet.
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Spicy Fish crackers:
Thanks to Vicki for giving me these fish crackers (fried fish skin).

As you can see they use fresh fish hence there is fish skin!!
I liked the way, they made that a snack!

The fish skins were addictive and crispy with a nice spicy kick.
They tasted nice with vinegar and ketchup too!
I hope to see other flavours such as curry, lemon and black pepper, Chinese salt and pepper or chili and lime.
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Tasteless E-fu noodles at 潮城燒臘粥店 (Wan Chai)

潮城燒臘粥店 (Wan Chai)
I was still hungry after a light lunch so got some noodles from this place.

At the window, there is a big metal pot of beef and beef organs.

After ordering the noodles were ready in a flash.
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E-fu noodles and cow's stomach:

The E-fu noodle strands were thicker than the ones at Kau Kee and tasteless.
Next the cow's stomach was also tasteless.
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Godiva's addictive softserve

Godiva Chocolatier (Central)
After my last softserve I was craving for another one, however they stopped serving them a few weeks ago but they said they were going to serve it during the Christmas period.

Anyway I was back for the softserve.
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Chocolate softserve:


It was creamy and the chocolate taste was strong but the temperature of the soft serve itself is not that cold, it won't give you a brain freeze.
The soft serve was just like a solid mass of smooth liquid icecream in a cone.
The surface of the soft serve was flawless and uniformly smooth.
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Godiva Christmas Crystal tree:


To get this crystal, you have to spend around $4K on Godiva Chocolates.
But Thanks to siuyeahdragon a really famous blogger for doing a Christmas giveaway!! (「讓歡樂傳揚，送聖誕禮物給大家！」)
I didn't think I would get it, but I dropped in an email for a laugh and I really got it!!
Thank you so much Siuyeahdragon!! The crystal tree is really pretty, sparkling with studded red and green crystals.
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/userinfo.htm?userid=448739
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Noodles here day and night, summer and winter

Leaf Dessert (Central)

This noodle joint is famous for desserts but their noodles are quite good too.

It is located on the corner of Elgin Street which is really STEEP, the tables and stools are on the uneven steep part of the pavement where it feels like you are going to slide off the seat and the bowls are going to slide off the table!

As this place is al fresco, winter is the perfect time to try this place because there is no sun and the blazing hot humidity.

I tried it in the evening and tried it in the daytime.





In the evening, the broths taste better because it is stronger and more concentrated after being in the pot all day.

When you order, the woman does not verbally confirm you and walks off, so you are left guessing if she got your order or not!
But a few minutes later, she does turn up with your food.
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Menu:

Simple menu with ENGLISH as well and the prices are quite cheap!


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Noodles with beef (night):


I was quite impressed by the noodles because they were soft and hot, there was no alkaline taste to it either.
For $2X I was surprised there was so much beef in it and it was soft and fully flavoured with some stickyness because of the membrane near the meat.
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Noodles with beef (day):

The noodles and beef tasted good but the broth and taste was not as strong as the taste in the evening and the beef was not soft enough.
In the daytime, the beef is chunkier, but as the day progresses, the beef breaks up into smaller pieces and becomes softer, so in the evening, you get smaller soft chunks of tastier beef.
So dine in the evening if you are after the beef!
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Noodles with beef balls:

These beef balls were big and really nice because they were springy with lots of black pepper in it.
A good alternative to "gung yuen" because I hate those weird tasting pork balls.
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Dessert:

Not really a fan of dessert but tried it for the sake of trying it.
The glutinous flour balls were quite sticky and chewy complemented by the fragrant dessicated coconut and sesame seeds.
After a few, they got a bit sickly.
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As a summary I prefer dining here in the evening because it is quieter and there are less people.
For desserts, they have lots of sweet soups but I have never liked them especially red bean soup.