Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Cantopop popped before I could submit this review

Initially I had a really long review for this but since I did not re-save my draft after thirty days I lost my draft.

Although a lot of people did not like this place, I loved this place!
I felt that this restaurant had great potential and if it opened overseas it would do great there.
Pity my review could not have been submitted earlier.

Before this place opened they had so many advertisements, even trams were plastered by Cantopop, I loved the vibrant design and it reminded me of the 1960s era.

I hardly ever eat at Cha Chaan Tengs (Chinese cafes) because the food is oily. I was attracted to this place because they used Western concepts in their cooking, and not faking Western food when it is actually Chinese.
As well as that they do not use MSG and their vegetables are sourced from known organic suppliers in the New Territories.
It was great to see this sort of food being taken to the next level.

They had so many fun items such as home made macaroni, beef jerky, sweet potato leaves, fermented beancurd and honey on toast!!!
Some of the items on the menu take you back in time too such as "Disco sweet and sour pork with rice".

Inside the restaurant it was so modern too and the plates were memorable. ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Homemade macaroni with beef jerky When it came, it was so colourfully presented, there was purple cabbage which contrasted the dark brown macaroni.
The taste of the stir fried macaroni was amazing, there was rich black beans and thai basil taste.
Since the macaroni was homemade, it was slightly squashed at the ends.
I liked it the way they called the beef as "beef jerky". It sounds so American and basically beef jerky is the snack dried beef.
The greens they picked were tender ones too! ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried egg, Sous vide cooked BBQ pork and rice I loved the sous vide pork, it was slow cooked and extremely soft and tender.
This is probably why the Hong Kongers did not like it because they were probably expecting the usual roast pork and not for that price.
Anyway I liked it and it was fat free.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cantopop Bomb (Scotch egg) I was surprised to see this on the menu, but on the menu there was so many other surprises and many other items I would like to try such as the Sweet potato leaves, fermented beancurd with honey on toast.
Anyway, the scotch egg was an egg encased in their homemade luncheon meat and covered in breadcrumbs.
The homemade luncheon meat was really soft and not that salty.
The egg yolk was runny which makes it better than an authentic scotch egg. For the sauce it was tomato sauce, not ketchup but home made sauce with pieces of tomato in it, and I loved that as well because it was not too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Spoiled brat Supersupergirl spoiled by BRAT

I have always wanted to dine here but this restaurant was hard to find.
When they had the popup store at Landmark, I went but they did not serve the full menu, so I went to this branch.
Menu @ the Landmark popup store
Menu @ the Landmark popup store
 
The full menu is listed simply on an A4 sheet of paper. Since I wanted to try so many sausages I ordered the sausage sampler.

I dined at BRAT because I am not fond of pork/beef sausages although I do eat them especially the proper British ones, but at BRAT they have vegetarian and chicken based sausages.
Interestingly there are two vegetarian ones and they are the most expensive at $108 each a la carte.

On the menu, they have 15 different sausages which is quite a choice, and just over half were chicken/turkey based sausages so I had a hard decision choosing which four for the sausage sample.

The choices were: Artichoke, Bourbon, Brat, Chipotle, Chorizo, Frank, Gruyere, Habaneros, Italian, Lemon, Pesto, Portobello, Sun dried tomatos mozzarella, Vegetarian Italian and Vegetarian Choptle.

The four that I selected happened to be mostly chicken and turkey based.
As well as the sausage sampler I ordered the Fries with truffle mayo.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The sausage sampler came with two pickles and two sauces, the four sausages I ordered were Lemon, Portobello, Artichoke and Vegetarian. Lemon (Chicken & Turkey based sausage)
This sausage had Lemon, tarragon, fennel seed and red pepper in it.
I was hoping the lemon would taste strong but it was not and I could only taste lemon rind.

Portobello (Chicken & Turkey based sausage)
This sausage had Portobello mushrooms, dried mushrooms, porchini and sage in it.
This was really nice, not only could you smell the mushrooms you could also taste and see bits of it in it as well.
The colour of this sausage looked like if it was made from pork if you compare it to the lemon.

Artichoke (Chicken & Turkey based sausage)
This sausage had Artichoke hearts, garlic, sun dried tomatoes in it.
The artichoke taste could have been stronger but all I could taste was the dried tomatoes.
The colour of this sausage looked like if it was made from pork if you compare it to the lemon.

Vegetarian
This sausage had Aubergine, red wine, garlic, fennel, gluten in it.
I found this one the saltiest but it was the nicest, however it was slightly dry but I loved the caraway seeds in the sausage.

For the pickles I was given Relish and Saukeraut and for the sauces Whole grain and Dijon mustard. Other sauces and condiments I would have liked to try as well: truffle dijon, mature cheddar and sauteed mushrooms.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fries with truffle mayo: They served French fries and the fries were perfectly done.
Although the fries were nice on its own, the mayonnaise was really nice too, it was thick and creamy with strong truffle taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Mille Feuille @ Paul Lafayet

Last month Paul Lafayet had a FREE ARTISANAL Pastry promotion for people who wrote a review on Open Rice for Paul Lafayet, hence I got the Mille Feuille for free.

For more details of this promotion you can check PL's Facebook page.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mille Feuille:
The Mille Feuille was quite sweet and the custard filling tasted exactly like Paul Lafayet's creme brulee.
The pastry was nice and flakey and the filling was really smooth.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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