Romantic private dining at The Coterie

The Coterie took me by surprise because it was a wonderful secluded restaurant in TST and the food was fantastic paired with fine Christofle silverware.

We had the four course dinner.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Steamed egg with truffle:

It was smooth steamed egg with truffle paste on top and it had some seasalt flakes to give it extra flavour.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
[b]Amuse bouche:[/b]The scallop
Seared scallop with tabbouleh salsa

Next we had seared scallop which was chunky and slightly springy served with my favourite tabbouleh salsa.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
[b]The foie gras:[/b]
Poached foie gras in port wine and pear reduction

The foie gras was flawless paired with a sweet pear infused with port wine.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
[b]The soup:[/b]
Calde verde with iberico chorizo and cep shavings

Next we had the soup which I really liked because it had lots of green vegetables and the Chorizo was mildly spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
[b]The pork:[/b]
Roast iberico pork belly galantine, porcini mushroom and madeira jus

For the mains, we were served pork belly which had a very springy texture just like pork neck meat.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

[b]Tiramisu:[/b]

The tiramisu was light and velvety and the cake was heavily soaked in alcohol.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

To summarize, this is a great place to bring someone special and for celebrities to hang out.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The Coterie:
50 Hillwood Road, 9/F Flat B Charmhill Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui

How would mushrooms in milk taste?

I was hungry again so went here for some quick noodles.
One of the new toppings was weirdly interesting, it was mushrooms in milk so I wonder how it would taste.

A pretty black rose at the back!

I was quite annoyed I wasn't given this loyalty card on the previous visit or I would have had a $5 discount now!
Hence this is an OK review and not a review .



So should I still vote for you guys ?

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles:
When I took the lid off, the tofu, peanuts, coriander and sauce were neatly placed.

It tasted nice after mixing it together but it was too spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Overcooked instant noodles :( at Yoshinoya

I love their afternoon offers because they have items like instant noodles.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Instant noodles with chicken and fish patty:



I knew I was going to hate it when I got it from the counter because the noodles were fat which meant it had absorbed the broth!
The broth was ok, but the noodles were too soft and annoying.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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Celebrate year of the lamb with Turnip pudding

Thanks to Cuisine Cuisine's representative for sending me Turnip pudding.

It came in a festive red box with the pudding held in a plastic tub.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cuisine Cuisine's Turnip Pudding with Parma Ham

I like the way the parma ham and Chinese ham shreds were in separate tubs.

After adding the parma ham and Chinese ham shreds to the pudding I steamed it because it is healthier.

The Chinese radish pudding was really nice and packed with lots of preserved sausages.

I tried the Chinese ham and it tasted like delicious crunchy bacon.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Lovely Spanish lunch at d' Oliva Spanish Takeaway & Tapas

Came here on a Saturday and got a good lunch deal because you normally get one choice for lunch but the owner allowed me to have two choices so I ended up having Bacalao ala crema (Roasted codfish) and fried squid.
The dessert was tempting because it was a whole roasted apple but unfortunately I was too full to order that.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lunch set:

On the left was mashed codfish and potato with salad and on the right was fried baby squids.
It came with rice which was perfect because I love eating potatoes and rice together.
The mashed codfish was really tasty because it was salted and the squid had a light crispy coating with a springy texture.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tea:

The tea was sweetened just right so I was happy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
d' Oliva Spanish Takeaway & Tapas:G/F., 28 Jervois Street Sheung Wan.

合記粥店 is now back in Wan Chai

If it wasn't for openrice I would not have known that this congee joint used to be located on Lockhart Road four years ago.
The reviews at that shop were quite negative especially the hygiene and service.
Luckily I didn't get any of that and the shop owner was extremely nice and I even saw him give meal tickets (飯票)to an eldery.

The congee there was delicious and really cheap too.
Surprisingly they used an electric cooker to cook it!

Each bowl of congee was cooked separately and he took his time to cook them.

The congee variety was amazing.

Overall, the congee was good but the rice rolls were too elastic like glutinous pastry.
Every congee had delicious spring onions and tasty peanuts stirred into it before it was served.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pig's stomach congee with cumin:

I don't normally order anything with pig's stomach but ordered it because of the cumin.
The congee was lovely and creamy with a hint of cumin.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Boat congee:

This congee was loaded with minced beef!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Eel congee:
The eel congee was amazing because they put Chinese wine in it.


The eel was boneless as well and I didn't find any brittle bones in the congee.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried fish:

The fried fish was crispy from head to tail and every bit was edible because the guts were removed.
It just tasted delicious and brought out the best taste of congee after you took a bite of the crispy fish.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice rolls and fried dough stick rice rolls:
The rice rolls were the only items that I did not like because they was too chewy.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

合記粥店

Thomson Road,

Wan Chai

Funky Asian Bisto

This is a really nice joint specializing in char siu, spicy chicken and grilled beef.

[according to their website] It is called Uncle Joe's because it is a heart-felt tribute to an extraordinary man’s good taste for life and food, created by Uncle Joe's four sons, all physicians and surgeons in the United States.
Uncle Joe is a real person in his nineties who believes that char shiu possibly gave him his long life, good health and good fortune.”

As well as traditional rice, they have Asian burritos too!
Unfortunately I tried this place too late because they had savoury puffs before.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Char Shiu burrito:


This was just D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S, char siu, cucumbers and lettuce in a wrap.
I think the other wraps are going to be great especially the chicken, but I am not sure about the beef because I don't like Korean flavours.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
sweet potato tots:


These were just mashed sweet potatoes coated in cutlet coating.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spicy Sichuan chicken with rice:

The chicken with rice will make you hungry because the pieces of chicken thigh meat are crispy coated with Sichuan spices which you can smell when they bring it over.

The sweet soy sauce on the rice is a perfect match with the spices and brings it alive while soothing the spiciness of the spices.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sichuan spicy Italian pasta bolognese:

I loved the spicy bolognese sauce because it had chickpeas in it but it would be good if they served it with pasta and not Chinese noodles.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

www.unclejoesasianbistro.com