Surprised filled egg tart! It's bleeding chocolate

I have always wanted try Maria’s because of their egg tarts with runny centres.

I was hoping to try all their flavours, but they only had chocolate that day.
Other flavours I have heard of are: Mocha, Custard and Cheese.

The egg tarts were in a special cabinet at the takeaway counter, so I went to that counter to make an order.
I was waiting for a while and was not served.
It appears that the counter was not in service and you have to queue inside to get the egg tarts.

I wish there were some notice in English saying please queue inside and that the counter window should be closed because it was quite misleading. There were also other people who queued there and then found out you have to queue inside.
It would have been helpful if the staff could have redirected people inside the shop when they tried to order.

In the end, I got two chocolate egg tarts and a mini chicken pie!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken Pie:
I don’t eat Chinese chicken pies, but it looked too cute, so I got one.
The size of this pie was really small about 4cm in diameter, there was mini BBQ pork as well as other mini pastries.
I was surprised I liked it, the taste was similar to the one I had at North Point.
There was a huge chunk of chicken thigh meat inside and the pastry was so flakey and crispy that it was like eating a piece of western roast chicken with crispy skin!

 

 

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chocolate Egg Tart
On the way back, I found out the hard way that it was REALLY filled with Liquid chocolate.
When I opened the box, I found that one of the tarts was already oozing chocolate liquid because there was a hole for it to seep out!

Woops!! Its Bleeding with chocolate!!!!!!!!

 

I wasn’t sure how to eat this egg tart because it was going to be messy, so I just used a spoon and dug in the centre.
I then realised there was mochi in the centre of the egg tart, which was really cool, it was the mochi that was holding the liquid chocolate inside.
I really liked this tart because there is less egg tart filing in proportion to the egg tart and there is yummy gooey mochi and liquid chocolate inside.
The sweetness was just right and I really regret not getting more because I hardly ever come here.
The base of the egg tart was short crust, which I prefer as well.
I just loved the chewiness of the mochi and the short crust pastry crumbling in my mouth with the liquid chocolate giving it flavour.
The tart does not look appetizing, but it tastes better than it looks.

 

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
Shop: Maria's Bakery
Address: Shop A ,G/F Heung Lam Building, 23 Connaught Road
www.marias-hk.com/
Service: Could be improved
Yummy factor: Delicious, I want more
Sweetness levels: OK
MSG levels: None
◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎

Camouflaged Hutong grill in the modern world 捌拾胡同風味烤串店

I have always wanted to try this place but it was hard to locate.
It is situated very close to the MTR exit but well camouflaged because the building is grey and this joint is also grey and dark that it blends in.

The exterior is designed so that it looks similar to a Hutong in the Ming dynasty.
(For the description of Hutong, please see wikipedia)

When you enter the joint, you can smell cumin and other spices.
The joint is quite cosy with tables and bar tables.
On the walls there are lots of posters and old Chinese ornaments.

They do not have an English menu and the Chinese menu was confusing for me.
I must be dyslexic at reading Chinese menus because it took me ages to understand their set meal.
The set meal had items that I wanted to try, so I ordered that.

However I wish the tables were bigger, unless you were sitting on a table for four people, there is not enough table space for all those dishes

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Duck breast in beer and sichuan spices:
This was an interesting appetiser because of beer and the sichuan spices.
The sichuan spices contain sichuan peppercorns which give your mouth a tingling sensation.
I liked the way the sauce gave a tingling sensation from the peppercorns followed by the bitterness and fizzyness of the beer.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled cuttlefish balls
It could have been grilled more evenly because part of it was burnt and black and the cuttlefish balls were cut in half, so you only get two cuttlefish balls per skewer.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Triangle shaped fishballs:
The texture was just like rubber, very chewy and elastic, but they tasted OK.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled Beef
It was quite fatty, but tasted ok.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled octopus mouth:
Not sure if they were cooked properly because they were slightly translucent.
They tasted really nice but it was too salty.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hutong noodles
These were the best noodles I have ever tasted, I was expecting boring noodles with a side of oyster sauce, but the sauce was amazing.
I loved they way they put the spring onions and sauce aside so you can control the amount you put in.
The sauce was no ordinary sauce, it contained garlic and cumin.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fermented beancurd chicken wings:
The wings were disappointing in presentation and taste.
They just tasted like ordinary grilled chicken wings, there was not enough fermented beancurd sauce.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled whelks:
I had high expectations for these whelks, but they were over grilled, dry and chewy.
I was expecting them to be grilled in their shells which would prevent them not being so dry.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lamb chops:
These lamb chops tasted amazing, they were soft and juicy absolutely no gaminess.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lamb skewers:
Compared with the lamb chops, these were dry but very spicy.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled oysters:
The oyster was grilled with butter and garlic.
The taste was not as strong as i was expecting.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled scallops:
This was also done the same way as the oysters, grilled with butter and garlic.
However the scallop was overdone and tough.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I was quite impressed with this place, because all the grilled items did not have that oily smell or taste.
The only disadvantage are that the tables were too small.

◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎
Shop: 捌拾胡同風味烤串店
Service: OK
Yummy factor: Delicious! I'll be back
Saltiness levels: Some were too salty
MSG levels: none
Spicyness levels: Very!
Tissues: Yes
Address: Shop 22, G/F, Block 2, On Ning Garden, 10 Sheung Ning Road, Hang Hau
◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎