Cheese craving satisfied at I.E. Kitchen Academie Culinaire

After having the cheese and ham brioche I was craving for cheese again so I attended the cheese fondue class ($650 for two ppl) where you get to eat cheese fondue as well as learn how to make it!

I was surprised to learn that the ingredients were simple, it was cheese, starch, white wine, Kirsche, black pepper, paprika and garlic.
NOTE THERE IS NO MILK IN THE RECIPE however local restaurants put milk in the fondue because they think milky is cheesy!!!
Err I don't think so somehow!

We started off with a plate of appetizers of air dried beef and bayonne ham accompanied by pickles to balance the waxyness of the meats.

After we finished the appetizer, the Chef demonstrated how to make the fondue!
It was simpler than I thought.


I have skipped the steps here but it is pretty easy.
Anyway, the fondue was finally ready to eat and it was divine dipping soft bread into the piping hot melted cheese.
The cheese was moreish because the acidity of the white wine decreased its heaviness.

There were three breads available: Brioche, white bread and walnut and rye.
The white bread and walnut and rye were good for dipping because it was soft with a good yeast taste but the brioche was a bit too heavy for the fondue because it was buttery.

After finishing the fondue we had the apple tart for dessert which was a sweet ending.

As well as the fondue classes, they also sell fondue packs for $200 which includes all the ingredients, fondue forks, burners and sufficient wine for the fondue experience.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/IE-Kitchen-Academie-Culinaire/672755172812437

Mind blowing lamb dishes at City Garden's YUE

As the year of the goat is approaching many restaurants are coming up with lamb or goat related dishes!!

Yue has done a bold approach with Cantonese dishes that I could have never imagined!!

They have come up wth BBQ lamb which is marinated the same way as BBQ pork (Char siu).
They have replaced the BBQ pork with BBQ lamb in the famous 金錢雞 so it now becomes 金錢羊!!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
粵味盆菜 Yue's poon choi ($2,888):

The items in the bowl were quite luxurious, there were tofu pockets filled with birds nest 內含足一兩燕窩的燕液福袋, prawns 玉簮明蝦球, prawn roe, abalone 南非鮑魚, BBQ lamb 蜜汁燒羊柳, pigs tongue 豬脷, chicken 江南百花雞, dried oysters 蠔豉, fish maw 花膠, sea cucumbers 遼參 on a bed of Chinese radish and lotus roots.
Here you can see the bird's nest inside the tofu pocket.

I loved it because it had all my favourite items especially the soft fish maw and bird's nest but the best item had to be the BBQ lamb because it was soft and tasted exactly like char shiu.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
薑凍金錢羊 ($168):
As mentioned earlier, this is a lamb version of 金錢雞.

There are four layers, ginger jelly 薑啫喱 on the bottom, a layer of fat 冰肉, a slice of mushroom 白靈菇片 topped with BBQ lamb 蒙古羊柳.

I was really happy they had this because I have always wanted to try 金錢雞 but not many restaurants offer that and you need to book in advance.
It had a delicious but complex mouthfeel because of all the different layers.
金錢雞 is a famous Chinese dish which consists of a layer of liver, pork and and fat skewered together and roasted.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:

The soup that we had was chayote and whelk which was light and healthy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lotus wrapped rice in abalone sauce:

The rice was really tasty because it was evenly flavoured with abalone sauce and there were bits of mushrooms and dried oysters in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tea smoked chicken:

The chicken was tender infused with a fragrant tea scent.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
紅菜頭年糕 ($168) Beetroot pudding:
以天然的紅菜頭打汁及打茸而成的「紅菜頭年糕」，味道甜香軟糯、

I was really looking forward to this and it turned out to be as good as I imagined.
Normally I don't touch Chinese New year puddings but this was mindblowing and delicious because it was not too sweet and it was soft with pieces of beetroot in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
珍品蘿蔔糕 ($218):
以羊肚菌、姬松茸為材料，加入香味四溢的菇水及上湯，混合足1斤的蘿蔔絲製成，

As well as the pudding the turnip cake which I never eat was also good because it was a vegetarian version and contains morel mushrooms and other fungi so the taste was amazing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
YUE'

1/F, City Garden Hotel, 9 City Garden Road North Point.

Great new eatery at Mustard Cafe and Bar

Spotted this new bar opposite Labmade because it was painted Mustard yellow and stood out.


Initially I thought it was just a bar but they had food as well.

The items on the menu were diverse and not what you would expect in a small joint.



To be honest I was captivated by the Spanish red prawn and the French whole spring chicken.
There were so many expats dining there so I knew the food was going to be good.

Here was my gourmet dinner!!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tea:

Started off with tea which was promising because they served it correctly with milk and sugar.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Padron peppers, sherry and almonds:

The Padron peppers were grilled with Sherry and topped with crunchy almond slices.
I was surprised that such a simple starter would start my appetite going because the sauce was sweet and slightly sour like sweet Balsamic vinegar.
The padron peppers are not spicy and taste a bit like green peppers but better because it was smaller and softer.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spanish red prawn:

I had to have this because not many places serve just red prawn on its own.
Here they serve you a WHOLE one with the head on a bed of crispy rice vermicelli.
The crispy rice vermicelli is decorative as well as functional because it absorbs the prawn's head matter so that you can appreciate every bit of the prawn.

Although the prawn head matter was the best part, the prawn was amazing because it was cooked lightly so that the texture was like prawn sashimi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
French whole spring chicken:

Next I had the chicken which I thought was going to be a spring chicken served on a plate but it was served on dried grass surrounded with Apple cider wood smoke.

When they bring it over, they will lift the glass lid and the smoke is released.
Unfortunately the smoke escapes a bit too fast to take a picture.

After they show you, they will take it back to the kitchen and slice it.

I started off with the white meat and it was soft and supple, between the chicken and the skin, there is a layer of Thyme and stuffing.

The chicken skin is so crispy and tasty because it has been rubbed with herbs and butter before it was roasted and when they serve it they will pour some more truffle oil on top to make it more aromatic.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Icecream:
To finish off I had icecream and there were so many flavours that I ended having two!!
They had flavours like: pistachio, nougat, orange, dark chocolate, chestnut and cherry.
I had the chestnut and cherry because you don't often come accross icecream in these flavours.
The chestnut was so nice, it wasn't too sweet and it had lovely pieces of chestnut in it that gave the icecream a lovely mouthfeel.

As for the cherry it was sweeter but I loved it because it was natrual.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway, I can't wait to come back again but the menu will be different because the Chef does not have a fixed menu.
He simply sources what he thinks is fit and serves it in a yummy scrummy way!!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Mustard Cafe and Bar:
G/F, 12 King Street Tai HangHong Kong.

Relaxing tea set at Owl Cafe

Previously I wanted to try this place but it wasn't open.


Went here for the tea set and both the drinks and sweet treats were good!!
The tea set was only $35.

The cafe is rather odd in terms of the furniture because they have nice sofa seats but the tables are foldable ones!



Anyway, the other bits and pieces were nice.






The entrance is rather weird because it is actually a lift for wheelchairs.




After looking at google map, this shop used to be an electronic games arcade but I don't know why it had a wheelchair lift.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Earl grey pudding:



This pudding was amazing because the sweetness was just right and the fruit jelly layer on top was refreshing.
The chocolate garnishing for both desserts were interesting because the colour was BLACK!
But anyway, it tasted nice because it wasn't too sweet but you could tell they put more vegetable oil in it instead of cocoa butter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Milk pudding with marshmallows:

The milk pudding texture was really firm because there was a lot of gelatine in it but the sweetness was just right because the milk pudding is not sweet which goes with the chocolate sauce on top.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
OWL hot chocolate:

I liked the foam cap but the taste was too milky.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Earl Grey tea:

A strong earl grey with a fragrant bergamot flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Tasteless noodles at Fairward

The rice vermicelli was tasteless and didn't absorb the broth so you could ony taste the sweetness of the vermicelli and nothing else.