Pasta mania and dizzy selections

Yomenya Goemon Japanese Spaghetti (Ngau Tau Kwok)

I have always wanted to try this place because of the spaghetti with avocado pasta.

After a tasting, we were nearby so we dined here.

There were so many choices for pasta and it was just dizzy looking at it so I let my fellow foodies choose.


They ordered three sets which I assumed was a pasta, soup and a dessert (but the set actually had two different pastas in it), which was why they did not have to choose which pasta when they ordered.


The size of the pastas were small because there were two pastas in a set.

Each person was given a cute tray with napkins, water and wet tissue.


The pastas that we ordered.





★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Miso soup:


The miso soup was quite nice, there was a smoky taste.
At the bottom there were finely diced tofu about 4mm in diameter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Avocado and prawn pasta:


I was looking forward to this and it was delicious, the avocado was nice and creamy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mentaiko and prawn pasta:


This pasta had a strong taste because of the mentaiko.
The herbs on top were really strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Carbonara pasta:


Luckily this did not taste like authentic carbonara because I do not like that taste.
The Western version does not have raw egg on top.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Crab in cream sauce pasta:
This was not supposed to taste like carbonara but it was really creamy and tasted like carbonara.
It was too milky so I did not like it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bacon, cheese and tomato pasta:
This tasted like spaghetti tossed in tomato sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spaghetti bolognaise pasta:
It did not look like spaghetti bolognaise because there was not enough bolognaise sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lastly the desserts!!!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Creme brulee:


It was delicious and silky.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mango pudding:


Don't like mango so hard to comment.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea jelly with red beans:


The green tea jelly was delicious, but I do not like red beans.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Hand shredded chicken

厚興瑜記手撕雞 (Wan Chai)


Felt like having some chicken so came here because the ET chicken nearby was open but there was no one there to serve you.


It costs $44 for half a chicken.
When you order, the chicken is mixed infront of you.





★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shredded chicken:

They do not sell rice at this shop so I bought some rice from the roast shop a few doors away for $10.


Beneath the chicken, it is mainly bones.



The chicken tasted saltier compared to my first visit.
There was a strong taste of Chinese chicken salt (Wah yim).
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Mediterranean vegetarian delights and desserts

Previously dined here and got invited to a tasting because the owner of Maya Cafe Mediterranean Lifestyle read my review on OpenRice.

I was allowed to bring guests, so I brought along some Openricers to this tasting.

On this visit, I was delighted to see so many new desserts in their cabinet.

 

Tried the Daily special which has French onion soup, Mediterranean toast, Ratatouille with red rice.

Today's specials

 

As well as that, also tried: Dhal soup, Quinoa salad, Mezze platter and desserts.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Daily special:
French Onion soup:

French onion soup with croutons

 

I was quite surprised they served Onion soup because I assumed all the foods would be Mediterranean.
Anyway the soup was really wholesome and there were so much onions in it.
The soup was lovely and sweet because of the natural sweetness of the onions and the chunky croutons gave it more depth and crunch.
Mediterranean toast:

Mediterranean toast

 

It had three pieces of toast, Mantchego cheese slices, Mushrooms in herb and olive oil.
The homemade cheese with paprika and herbs toast was delicious, it looked like scrambled egg but the cheese was lovely light and fluffy sprinkled with delicious herbs.
The eggplant and olives toast was delicious because the pureed eggplants and olives tasted nice together.
After trying two pieces of toast I tried the Spanish Mantchego cheese slices which were hard and crumbly with a light cheese taste.
Then I tried the Tomato and oregano toast which was simple and appetizing.
Ratatouille with red rice:

Ratatouille

 

The ratatouille was made with courgettes, eggplants, onions, capsicums and tomato.
I really liked this dish because it was wholesome and filling, the ratatouille was packed with delicious vegetables and it was gently spiced with cumin.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dahl soup:

dhal soup

 

Tried this on my first visit and it still tastes as good as my first visit.
It is made with lentils, pulses, red beans, soybeans which are rich in fibre.
The soup is spiced with cumin and I love it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Quinoa salad:

Quinoa salad

 

The presentation of this salad was colourful.
From left to right is: Orange salad, Mediterranean salad, Quinoa salad, Green Salad and Red Salad.
The orange salad was made with julienne pumpkins, carrots and buckwheat seeds and it really did have an orange citrusy taste.

 

The Mediterranean salad was made with beans and lentils.
The Quinoa salad was made with Quinoa and seeds.
The green salad was made with cabbage and cumin and again it was my favourite.
The beetroot salad was just beetroots which were natrually sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mezze platter:
The platter was served on a long dish which looks nicer than the square plate used on my first visit.
It now looks like a pretty Mezze tapas.

Mezze platter

 

It has multigran bread made with Zaatar. Zaatar is a mix of spices which I have always wanted to try because I did not try that at Mana.
The platter had hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, Lebanese salad, feta cheese and black olives.
The hummus was delicious and the baba ganoush too, some might find it bland but I thought it was nice, they give you lemon as well to make it more appetizing.
The bread that came with it was flat and perfect for dipping with the hummus and baba ganoush and the olives give it extra saltiness.
I had the feta cheese last which was the best I have ever tried because it was so moreish.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Desserts:
I was really looking forward to this, especially the Halva.

Carrot halva

 

The carrot halwa is made with water, milk, sugar, cardamon and almonds. The colour of it is very vibrant and the texture is moist, it is similar to pureed carrots.
The sweetness was just right for me.
The fruit cake is made with raisins, macadamia nuts, cashew nuts and apricots.

Desserts

 

Next I tried the Brownie which is made with almonds, pecans, dates, coconut, raw chocolate and shredded coconut.
It was slightly different to the non vegetarian brownie because of the dates and coconut.

 

The orange muffin is made with grounded almond meat, orange, orange zest and contains no flour.
It tasted better than my first visit because it was not so bitter and the size was more managable and not so big.
The muffin tasted nice and citrusy with a moist texture.
Lastly I tried the Baklava because it was the sweetest, they had pistachio nuts with honey.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

A nice selection of Taiwanese fare @ 小王牛肉麵

Xiao Wang Beef Noodle (Diamond Hill)

Xiao Wang Beef Noodle is from Taiwan which has been established since 1973 by Mr. Wang Shih Chun, current Chairman of Cook’s Association of Kaohsiung City.

Xiao Wang Beef Noodle became a legend in the industry after clinching the dual championship in “Marketing Competition” and the“Most Popular Delicacy Award" in the 2008 Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival.

I have never been to Taiwan before so I cannot comment whether it tastes authentic or not, but all I can say is that it tasted nice.

At the Diamond Hill branch of Xiao Wang Beef noodle, they have a snack counter at the front selling Taiwanese sausages and a small snack shop selling beef jerky, sauces etc.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hot winter melon tea:


The hot winter melon tea was a nice drink to start off with, it was sweet and had a really soothing taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
White bitter melon with honey yuzu sauce:

I have always wanted to try this because I have never tried white bittermelon before.
The honey yuzu sauce was really nice because it was not sweet but tangy.
The bitter melon was lovely and crisp because it was chilled in iced water prior serving.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Guava with preserved plum:

The guava was cut into cubes and nicely arranged in a chequered pattern.
The guava was refreshing and the hint of preserved plum made you hungry and ready for noodles.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thickly sliced marinated beef stomach:

I got a surprise when this arrived because it looked different from the stomachs I have seen before.
It looked like abalone slices.
The beef stomach served here is prized because not all cattle's stomach have this quality to qualify.
The texture was really meaty and similar to abalone, hence it is called Taiwanese abalone in Taiwan.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan-fried baby oysters with egg:

The pan-fried baby oysters with egg have been slightly modified and the shape is like a pizza making it convenient to eat.
It tastes delicious eaten hot and I really loved it because it was not greasy, and the spring onions and plump oysters made it enjoyable.
The oysters were clean and did not contain any sand.
I would have eaten more but I had to leave room for other foods I was going to try.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Xiao Wong signature beef noodle in soup:

The beef used was meat taken from in between the ribs, so it was very delicate and soft like scrambled eggs hence the name "foo young" in Cantonese, "Fu Rong" in Mandarin.
Only 10 bowls are served per day.
I tried the beef first and it was as soft as stated and it was infused with the soup.
Many reviews have said the soup did not have much herb taste but that night I could taste the herbs and it reminded me of bak kut teh but it did not have much beef taste.
After reading Lemon Tea's review, I really want to try the XWBN in Taiwan because the broth looks stronger and reminds me of liver broth at Wai Kee's in sham shui po.
The noodles were similar to the Chinese flat ho fun, but they were slightly irregular and squiggly.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef tendon and beef noodle soup:

The broth was the same as above and the beef had an equal layer of meat and collagen which was lovely and soft.
(see Lemon Tea's photo)
The beef tendons were clean and soft.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef belly - off menu:Tried a piece of beef belly without the noodles and it tastes like the beef above but even softer.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salted Egg in Squid:

I have always wanted to try this at Grand Hill Taiwanese Restaurant in TST but I was too lazy to go there.
The slices of salted egg in squid look really nice and pretty complemented by the green beans in it.
The egg yolks are seriously delicious and not too salty.


The egg yolk was slightly opaque too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweet potato latte:

In Taiwanese Sweet potato is "day gua" which is directly translated as ground melon so I thought it was a potato.
It was actually purple sweet potato hence the lilac colour.
On top of the drink there was whipped cream.
The taste was slightly similar to taro but it was more fragrant and rosy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Red beans with herbal black jelly:

This was a simple but delicious dessert.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taiwanese style cheese cake:

Although it was a cheese cake, the taste of cheese is very light and it tasted of chocolate more.
I have tried them before locally and did not like it because it was just fake cream, but this one was really delicious and I have changed my mind.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I will be back for more desserts, salted egg in squid, pan fried oysters and beef.

Pineapple cakes in Pretty collectable tins

Kee Wah (Diamond Hill)

Thank you Mjqueen7e for getting me these pineapple cakes that come in a pretty tin.

There are three colours and each one has a Chinese proverb on it.


Inside the tin, there are four different flavours:
walnut, melon, coco de nata and pineapple





★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coco de nata:


This was the one I was most excited to try because I have not seen many pineapple cakes with coco de nata in it.
The pieces of coco de nata was delicious because it was lovely and chewy.


The sweetness was just right and it tastes like the usual pineapple cakes with coco de nata in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Walnut:The walnut one was similar to the above and had pieces of walnut in it giving it a delicious nutty taste and balances the sweetness of the overall pineapple cake.
The pieces of walnut gave it a nice crunch too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Corned beef and aubergine delights

Restaurant: Quezon:

Came here again for my favourite Flipino food.

Basically you choose two items with rice.



This time I chose corned beef and aubergines in shrimp paste.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Corned beef:
Corned beef
I have tried this before many times because it tastes delicious but I never knew what it was.
The texture of the meat is slightly different and I finally found out that it was corned beef.
It is different to the British corned beef in terms of texture and it had peas and sweetcorn which was delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Eggplant in shrimp paste:

Delicious soft eggplants in shrimp paste.
The shrimps in the sauce were really tiny!
It was delicious but slightly too salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Indonesian exclusive dishes on the weekends

Indonesian Sate House (Shau Kei Wan)

Came back on the weekend to try more Indonesian dishes because some dishes are only served on the weekends.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mixed satay and rice:

This was basically three skewers served with satay sauce and rice.
The skewers consist of one chicken, pork and beef.
I felt that the satay sauce was quite spicy and there was a strong lemongrass taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Nasi kunung (served on weekend):

I really liked this because it contained a bit of everything.
It had Perkedel which is an Indonesian potato croquette, it was my favourite.
There was a piece of beef shin, chicken wing, shredded omelette and peanuts.
The rice they serve here is fluffy and they used the thin long grain rice similar to the ones served in Indian cuisines.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Nasi Rendang:

The lemon grass taste was really strong and the meat was basically from the skewer because you can see the holes in the meat from the skewer stick.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★