A decent bakery in Mong Kok

A la Folie Pâtisserie (旺角)
Shop 247, 2/F., Grand Century Plaza, 193 Prince Edward Road West, Mong Kok
旺角太子道西193號新世紀廣場2樓247號舖

I am so glad A la Folie Pâtisserie has opened in MK because I can never find a decent place for food.

Brightly lit and looking grand.

Nicely displayed buns and danishes.



Nice ceiling decorated with rolling pins.

It was really nice to get an invitation to try their products, otherwise I would not have known about them!!

Here was what we tried:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Milk bun:

Tried these milk buns freshly out of the oven and the smell is enough to make you hungry!
It was soft with a crunchy sweet topping and it is not as buttery as other bakeries.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mango danish:

A plain simple danish topped with fresh mango on top with custard at the bottom.
It was flakey with lots of layers.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bacon and avocado with wasabi sauce:

A filling bun filled with potatoes, avocado and crispy bacon.
The bacon was lovely and crispy without any fat balanced by the wasabi sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roasted eel with seaweed sauce:

A nice savoury bun with pieces of roasted eel on top drizzled with seaweed sauce on a soft bun.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ham roll with sakura ebi:

THIS IS A MUST TRY!
Double taste sensation with crispy fragrant sakura ebi and ham, you can smell it when you pick them from the cabinet.
I loved the ham paired with the sakura ebi because it had a strong prawny taste enhanced by the saltiness of the ham and the mayonnaise dressing makes it not so dry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
foie gras and apple danish:

THIS IS A MUST TRY!
1) so far the only bakery where you can get foie gras on a danish
2) the foie gras pate is velvety and divine
3) Very affordable!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tofu cheese shooter:
tofu, almond, raspberry

A fun a light dessert cup that tastes creamy with a hint of raspberry and tartness.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Reverie:
chestnut, hazelnut, chocolate, rum

I am not keen on chestnut but I like the way they put rum in it because it lightens the taste of chestnut.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Sweet treats at A la Folie Pâtisserie

A la Folie Pâtisserie (旺角)
Shop 247, 2/F., Grand Century Plaza, 193 Prince Edward Road West, Mong Kok
旺角太子道西193號新世紀廣場2樓247號舖

Thanks for the invitation so I could try all these sweet treats.
It was really creative that every cake had a musical name.

Here was what I tried.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Berry Me:
blueberry, yoghurt, sponge cake, Kirsch

A nice alternative cake for people who do not like cheesecake because this was a yoghurt cake.
There are so many cakes at the cake counter that there is a cake for everyone.
I liked the blueberry mousse and the yoghurt mousse in the middle but I wish the yoghurt mousse had a stronger taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
La Sonata:
Mixed berries, strawberry, white chocolate, raspberry compote

This was everyones favourite, it was refreshing berry mousse with soft cake in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lover's concerto:
Yellow peach, red peach, white peach, cream cheese

This was a creamy cake balanced by the fresh slices of peach on top.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dome de Mangue:
Mango, blueberry, Kirsch, sour cream

I am not keen on mangoes but it had a deeply strong mango mousse paired with blueberry mousse.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Blueberry lemon cheesecake:
blueberries, cream cheese, lemon, walnuts, strawberry

The cheesecake tasted better than I expected because there were lots of walnuts in it which made it not so heavy and it was quite lemoney too!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rhapsody:
Orange, red currant, white chocolate, apricot

I found this cake really refreshing because I love orange and apricot and it was nice and tangy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mousse chocolat-Banane:
Milk chocolate, banana caramel, hazelnut

This was seriously good, the caramel coating looked heavy on the outside but it was just an illusion because it was like a gel coating and the taste of caramel was not sickly sweet but had a bitter touch and there was dreamy banana and hazelnut in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
A Cappella:
Chocolate, raspberry, Kirsch, Pistachio

This was my favourite because I love chocolate rolls and it was paired with my favourite raspberry and pistachio which added more texture and depth to it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Allegretto:
Hazelnut, chocolate, vanilla

A cute and colourful cake with light cake inside it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Eclair au chocolat:
caramel, banana, milk, crispy chocolate

I am not a banana lover, but their banana cakes here are seriously gorgeous just like the Mousse chocolat-Banane above.
It was a light eclair filled with molten banana in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Le Matcha:
green tea, white chocolate, soy beans, cointreau

This cake was nice and light with refreshing green tea that was not too grassy balanced by the white chocolate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prima Donna:
Dark chocolate, banana, vanilla, caramel

A fast seller! By 2pm that day there was only one cake left!
It was a dreamy cake with banana and caramel with strong chocolate similar to the mousse-chocolate banane above but it had a stronger chocolate taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
As a summary, I liked all the cakes with banana which is strange because I don't really eat banana. Then my next favourites would be the Rhapsody and Cheesecake.

Exclusive: all day breakfast at McDonalds on 1st Jan 2014

McDonald's (Central)
To be honest I skip breakfast especially when you have to dine there because I don't have time or ANY time at all to grab breakfast for takeaway too.

The main task is finishing breakfast and leaving ASAP and not about enjoying it.

I do remember trying this breakfast ages ago and it was TASTELESS and reminded me of breakfasts on flights.

Anyway, McDonald's did a really cool event and served breakfast all day on 1/1/2014.



Admittedly I had this for dinner and one was not enough so I had TWO~!




I found GRAPE JAM to go with the muffins.


This is probably a regional thing because in the UK it would be damn weird having jam with muffins.
I also thought it was odd that the jam was grape jam when the norm is Strawberry but then it is probably a regional thing again.
Mango is the norm in Asia but elsewhere it would probably be other fruits.


The breakfast was served with Soy milk which was fair enough because it is the Far East.



Surprisingly, the breakfast tasted good because I had time to really TASTE it and enjoy it.

I had all the time in the world to put ketchup on the muffin, then adding pieces of scrambled egg on top then sprinkling black pepper and salt which enhanced the flavour.

Previously the egg was tasteless because I had no time to put salt and pepper on the egg.
I also tried some grape jam with the muffin which tasted ok but I still prefer egg with muffins and I think the grape jam would probably go better with their sweet pancakes.

Maxim's Chiffon cake series

Maxim's Cake Shop (Tsim Sha Tsui)
The association who usually buys cakes with a budget of $4 per head discovered that Maxim's were doing an offer for these delicious Chiffon cakes so got these instead.

It was really nice to get these even though they taste average, but better than the crap before.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon chiffon cake:


The taste of this was ok and the lemon was not too artificial, but I found it a bit too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg white chiffon cake:

I loved this cake, it was soft and not too sweet.

The colour of the cake was really nice and white because it was made with egg white
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

A quick stop for some food

Original Playground (Quarry Bay)
I was in the area and this was a joint that I have not tried so decided to try it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Laksa tagliatelle:

Too spicy and the coconut was too strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:

A light vegetable soup with lots of vegetables gently flavoured with herbs.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Scrambled tofu

Chinese food again and the usual dishes.

Just found one dish interesting.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tofu, egg and crabmeat:

The taste of this was quite interesting but the others did not like it because there was a strong spring onion flavour, the exact taste of the spring onion oil for the chicken.
I quite liked it because I love spring onion sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Misleading menu: TASTE CAFE

I wasn't convinced in trying this place because over half all reviews on openrice have been written by new users that have specifically just written a review at Taste Cafe and since stopped writing (excluding Winnie and Karenng)!
Hmmm, those users must be hardcore fans!

Anyway, at the front of the place they had ALL DAY BREAKFAST, that's what it says in English.
"WELLCOME (spelt like the supermarket Wellcome) EVERYDAY" says the menu

Was given a menu.

It appears that they don't serve all day breakfast so I wonder if they put it there to lure people in because of the lack of eateries around there, but then you can just get the minibus to the city or Sai Kung and there are plenty of eateries waiting for you.

For food comments: please see comments by previous openricers, I can't be bothered to review the food.

Piping hot food

Homemade Dim-sum (Prince Edward)
Luckily I did not dine here during the summer because their food and drinks are piping hot and does not really cool down.
I tried it on a nice cool day but the food remained so hot that I had to wait ages before they cooled down.
As for the tea, it was still amazingly hot at the end of the meal.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fish air gas bladder and sweetcorn congee:

An average normal tasting congee with finely chopped pieces of fish air gas bladder.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed Cow's stomach in black pepper:

Beneath it were lots of Chinese white cabbage!

The taste was so sweet, it was the typical Chinese dim sum because they like to make all savoury dishes tasting sweet.

If you have tried the dim sums in the UK, they taste normal because savoury dishes are savoury and sweet ones are sweet!
The sauce did not even taste of black pepper even though it was called black pepper cow's stomach.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cow's stomach mixed in the congee:

After putting the cow's stomach in the congee, you can see how much orange colouring they put in the dish!
The congee was tastier and the cow's stomach was not so sweet after washing it in the congee, and the irritating chinese cabbage that was used to make it look like there was lots of cow's stomach in the dish made a nice crunch in the congee.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Drinking bleach:

When I took a sip of the tea in the black cup, I could taste bleach, so changed the cup and I could finally taste that it was pu erh tea!

It is reassuring their cups are well sterilized with bleach!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Gastronomical feast at Madam Sixty Ate

Madam Sixty Ate (Wan Chai)
I have always wanted to dine at Madam Sixty Ate because it has eye catching artwork and loud decor.
I love the cute rabbit fur around the lights!

The portions are just right for ladies if they choose a three course but guys may have to go for a four course meal.

Here was what I tried:

Starters
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Foie gras parfait, orange, gingerbread and butter nut squash soup:

A light creamy and buttery soup with heavenly silky foie gras parfait.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cold smoked ocean trout, toasted quinoa, avocado and pickle

Another good place for Quinoa because a lot of places don't get the taste right and it ends up tasting tasteless, here is was crunchy with a bit of spice, and the salmon was paired gracefully with the avocado and pickle giving some green colour on the plate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Baramundi, house made chorizo, torched baby prawn black garlic, fennel vermouth cream

This dish was interesting, their home made chorizo tasted like the Chinese preserved sausages and the squid was crispy!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Duck breast, house made black pudding, plum, black trompette mushrooms

The duck breast was very meaty and juicy while the black pudding paired the duck just like duck in blood sauce.
The black pudding here was much more velvety with less oats in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sea Bass, heirloom carrots, dashi, ‘instant noodles’

This dish was really cute, the yellow squiggles are called Instant noodles inspired by the Instant noodle culture in Hong Kong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Desserts: White chocolate, passion fruit mousse, soda, pineapple ginger beer sherbet

This dessert was amazing especially the ginger beer sorbet, a rare flavour for sorbet which was just like having silky slushy ginger beer.
As for the white chocolate and passion fruit mousse, it was sweet balanced by the tangy fresh pineapple pieces beneath it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Raspberry and elderflower drink

A nice sweet drink with strong refreshing tones of raspberry complemented by the fragrant sweet taste of elderflower syrup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Supplementary Information:At Madam Sixty Ate, the prices for the above are:
3 courses for $468, any starter, main and a dessert
4 courses for $528, choose any starter, main, cheese, dessert OR any starter X2, main, dessert