Nice secluded Yakitori bar at Bilibala Yakitori Bar

This joint is nice and secluded located on the end of Haven Street round the corner from Via Tokyo.



They have an English menu for expats.

Yakitori means grilled chicken on sticks but they serve other items as well as chicken.

Here was what I had.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
cucumber with wasabi:

This was a nice to start the meal because the cucumbers were crunchy flavoured by the freshly grated wasabi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Japanese fishball with wasabi:

The Japanese fishballs are different from Chinese ones and they were lovely white slices that looked like Chinese radish.
They were very palatable and tasted like sweet mock abalone slices with wasabi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled cheese mochi:

This was my favourite because it was soft gooey cheese in the middle encased in a crispy chewy shell.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled chicken livers:

The livers were velvety and soft with a slight bitter aftertaste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled chicken:

Indeed the chicken was good because it tender juicy thigh meat.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled rice roll with sea urchin:

The rice roll was a bit hard but it tasted ok.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Japanese cold soba:

To finish off I had the soba which was quite a big portion.
The strands were quite thick and soft.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Came here just for the potato rosti! at 美味坊

I have always wanted to try this place for the potato rosti but it is in the middle of nowhere.
From the middle of nowhere it is now right next to a new MTR exit which was the perfect excuse to come!
Before you get there, you have to go on the slowest escalators which are perfect for the elderly and people who don't know how to use the escalators.

When you get there, this cafe has a nice secluded dining area and the seats are the benches that you would find in parks and now Burger Circus have used them.

There are thrushes flying in and out the food court so it is really cool with birds chirping but not so cool if the avian flu is about.

While I sat there, it felt like I was on a British train because the seating is similar to that.

As I was there for the potato rosti, I had to order the set which comes with tea, toast and omelette.
I suppose I should have asked them if I could just have a rosti knowing that I would not like the Chinese omelette which was rubbery and hard.
The tea is obviously HK style tea.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Toast:

The toast was surprisingly good because the butter was decent and it was toasted just right with a soft middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Potato rosti:

As expected the rosti was delicious, it was probably home made by them because the potato strands were soft and wet.

It had a gorgeous crispy surface while the middle was soft delicious grated potato.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Not just crepes and galettes at O delice!

My handsome French friend wanted some French food so went here!
It has been a while since I have dined here and the menu choices have grown from just galettes and crepes to pastas and salads which are great for lunches, brunches and dinners.


They had tartines which are a great light snack to go with drinks in the evening but I had my eyes on the toast with guacamole and smoked salmon.



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Portobello and mixed mushroom pasta:
This was divine because it had a healthy poached egg with a runny centre and my favourite portobello mushroom.

The pasta was gorgeous because it was tossed in truffle oil and the portobello mushroom was earthy and substantial.

I burst the egg yolk to make the pasta even tastier and the yolk and mushrooms tasted heavenly together.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pineapple, apple and cucumber juice:

I ordered this with the brunch set because it was healthy and freshly blended.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Breakfast tea by teapigs:

To finish off I ordered tea from the a la carte menu.


The a la carte size cup is bigger and you get a pot of French honey to put in the tea which balances the bitterness of the tea leaves.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway had a great brunch!
Au revoir ML!!

The quiet side of Hong Kong at CIRQLE (Aberdeen)

For a change, I went to Wong Chuk Hang for food and this place is quite quiet because the MTR does not go there.


Tried CIRQLE for brunch after seeing these crab claws.

It costs $448 per person and there was a nice salad bar, dessert selection, eggs selection and a BBQ counter outside.



I had the freshly squeezed juice which was healthy and refreshing on a scorching day.
The cucumber was my favourite.



The food that I had:



For eggs they had a choice of eggs or quail eggs.

I ordered the quail omelette thinking that I would get a little omelette but it turned out to be a regular omelette that had a lot of quail eggs in it!!

I wish I had the chance to see the chef crack them one by one!

The brunch was not over yet because you get to choose a dish from the menu so I had the octopus and the vegetarian pizza.



The dishes come with sides and I chose the Mac and Cheese and the Fries.


To be honest I was quite full at this point so I only took a bite of the pizza which was sweet and tasty topped with sweetcorn.

Butterball turkey rocks at HMV Kafe

In the UK, hmv is a renowned music store but in Hong Kong they have the hmv Kafe.

I went to the Happy Valley branch because there are good dine in options.

Started with smoky Earl Grey which had a rosy flavour.


For food, here was what I had:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seafood cake:
Pacific crab meat and slow cooked salmon mousse with ginger butter sauce

I loved this seafood cake because it was crispy on the outside and silky in the middle with velvety mashed potatoes, crabmeat and salmon mousse.
There was a hint of fruit peel which jazzed it up.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Linguine alio vongole:
sauteed NZ Diamond clams with garlic, basil and white wine sauce.

This was impressive because they used Diamond clams which have light taste yet the clams are juicy and plump.
The linguine was al-dente tossed with white wine and garlic.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Butterball Turkey:
Served with baby carrots, brussel sprouts, asparagus and mash.

The white meat was extremely tender, juicy and soft because they serve Butterball Turkey.
Butterball turkey is a famous company that supplies soft and juicy turkey.
As well a the white meat, they also served the red meat which was grounded into a patty with truffle to make it tasty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
US Iberico pork loin:
served with salad of baby greens, diced beetroot and special plum jam,

For pork lovers, this is a big juicy pork chop served with fruity beetroot.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Strawberry mille feuille:
Homemde custard cream, fresh strawberries and strawberry coulis

The mille feuille was surprisingly good because the layers were really crispy with a buttery taste and the custard sauce was light.
Each layer had fresh slices of strawberry which balanced the sweetness of the custard sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Interesting apple crumble:

Great place for gatherings at Tamarind Pan-Asian Restaurant & Bar

Went here for a gathering on a Sunday and there was virtually no one so we had the restaurants to ourselves.

At Tamarind, they serve Thai food and Indian food.

Started off with prawn crackers and poppadoms.

Indian food always taste good and my favourite was the Tandoori chicken because it had a lovely chargrilled taste while the chicken was tender.

The saag paneer was too spicy and it was the spiciest saag paneer compared to other restaurants I have tried but the aloo gobi was the best I have tried.