Queen Victoria rules for Cornish pasty

The Queen Victoria (Wan Chai)

Ever since I found out about the Cornish Pasty, I have been itching to go but this place is always packed with people.
Finally went on a quiet day and ordered the Cornish Pasty.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cornish pastry with mash and vegetables:
A Cornish pasty is a pasty filled with beef, diced potato, onion and swede seasoned with salt and pepper, and is baked.

I did'nt read the menu properly when ordering, otherwise I would have chosen chips and beans or green peas.

The Cornish pasty was just sensational because the diced potatoes and swede were so delicious but a tad too salty.
The pasty was flaky and light but the sides were a bit thick.
The mash had a lot of butter in it.

Went here again to have it with chips and beans, but the chips were disappointing as usual because they are always overdone or they look like they have been refried (the type of Chips the Hong Kong people like).

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Back for omurice

Kitsu No Heya (Sheung Wan)

Ever since my first visit at this branch I have been meaning to go back but they are closed on Sundays.

On this visit I intended to get the squid omelette with sea urchin but they must have heard the seafood because they gave me seafood instead.
I paid $10 extra for the semi cooked egg

Even though it was not what I ordered, the seafood one turned out to be quite decent.

I chose Tom Yum Kung sauce which tasted quite nice with the squid omelette and not as bad as they suggested.

The portion was bigger because it was the semi cooked egg version.

It had lots of vegetarian sharks fin in it that was glistening.


There were lots of prawns and finely sliced abalone mushrooms in it.
The tom yum kung sauce was light and not too spicy.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Correct location:
While I was dining there, they said people could not find this shop because the address on the photo below is different from the one on openrice......

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

It's all about being healthy and natural

arome Bake & Drink 東海堂 (Kowloon Bay)

Thanks to Arome Bakery for inviting me to their cakes, freshly baked items and drinks at this one and only branch that serves drinks at the moment until they open the second bake and drink branch at LCX soon.

This branch has been opened for quite a few months but I never got round to try it even though I had quite few tastings around there.

At the tasting session, they showcased the new drinks, Cake little series and their freshly baked items.

The Cake little series were fruity, colourful and fun.
There was one that looked like a strawberry and one that looked like a grape!
It was amazing that as well as the appearance it also tasted nice and not artificial.

CAKE Little series
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mixed Berries-go cake little:

The presentation of this was really nice, it was like a big fuzzy strawberry .
When it was cut open, there was strawberry sauce in the middle which flowed out.
The taste of this was refreshing and it was mainly mousse and cake.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Kyoho Grapes cake little 巨峰の季節:

I have to admit the Kyoho grape items I have tried in the past such as drinks and candies were so artificial so I assumed this one would be the same, but it was not.
The Kyoho grape taste was really light and natural and the chocolate sponge in the middle paired with it nicely.

In the middle, there was a kyoho grape too
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Kumamoto Melon Jelly cake little:

The presentation of this melon cake was quite cute, it looked like half a melon on top, but the top was made of clear light green jelly with chunky pieces of melon in it with the cake beneath it.
I was surprised by this melon cake because I have never liked the green melon because it has a strange unami taste which goes well with ham but it tasted nice with this cake.
The sweetness was just right and the jelly was not too sweet.
The pieces of melon were mushy and soft which worked with the type of jelly they used.

In the middle, there was delicious cake and cream to balance it out.
I definately recommended this cake because it was natrual and not as fattening compared to the mousse cakes.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Okinawa Pineapple & Orange Mousse cake:


This was my next favourite cake because it was a refreshing combination of orange and pineapple, and the layers inside it were nice especially the orange and pineapple mousse.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
White Peach Mousse cake little:

The taste of this cake was much lighter but creamier because it had hokkaido milk in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
At this branch, they have pontikeges and breads, I loved the cheese bread but my favourite was the onigiri bun.

Onigiri Bun:

This is a savoury bun and the pieces of grounded rice on top were delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Drinks:

There were so many choices and for each drink you could have a choice of red beans, aiyu jelly, kanten jelly, pudding to put in it!
In the end I chose the chocolate with pudding in it and the taste of the chocolate was really nice because it did not have a powdery or strong cocao aftertaste.
The pudding at the bottom was really really nice with a strong caramel taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

A nice cafe on Swatow alley

Mansons Lot (Wan Chai)

A nice place for coffee and relaxing lunches, but perhaps a bit too cosy.

Tried the lunch set which includes a soup, main and an expresso.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Menu:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Gazpacho soup:

This was quite impressive because most places serve hot soups and here they serve Gazpacho which is cold.
The top is nicely frothed and has a refreshing taste of tomato.
I could also taste carrot too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Quiche:

I loved this chunky quiche loaded with spinach but it would be great if the quiche base was savoury and not sweet.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
expresso :

I don't drink coffee.....
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

C.H.E.A.P sushi

Daimaru Sushi (Sham Shui Po)
Before I tried this place, I used to think it was expensive because the presentation of the sushi was quite classy.

They had a glass platter of sushi which is unusual according to a review datedsept 2010.
http://static2.orstatic.com/UserPhoto/photo/2/1O1/00BUXV94BA9A7317BBC385l.jpg

The fish skin was also interesting featured on the review by Garycwm dated oct 2010.
http://static1.orstatic.com/UserPhoto/photo/2/1QT/00CEPX57C67C3CED527FBBl.jpg

I only came here because Wai Kee was full of people and I suddenly remembered this place.

I have not read the recent reviews so did not know the style had changed.

After sitting down, I realized the menu was totally different and they didnt have the platter sushi that was offered years ago!

Shockingly the items were CHEAP ranging from $3-$12 for a piece of sushi!
The ramen was the cheapest I have seen so far for $18!!!!!

Heres what I had....
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Signature ramen:

Tasteless but good for the eldery and people on a low sodium, low oil diet.
Eating suggestion: mix the soy sauce and wasabi and use it as a sauce for dipping the noodles if you feel its tasteless.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Abalone gunkan, clams gunkan, flower of love sushi:

Both the abalone and clams gunkan were quite nice because the sauce was slightly spicy.
There was not enough sauce and the sauce was a bit too watery.
The flower of love was edible but the orange roe on top was not that fresh and shrivelled up.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seared salmon:

The sushi was ok but I think the rice was burnt!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Seared flower of love with scallop:

Tasted ok, but the fish roe was not that fresh and slightly shrivelled up.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The bill was only $50 and there was no 10% service charge.
Amazingly I did not food poisoning the next day either!!
I definately recommend the $3 sushis, or the seared sushis that cost $4.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Chill out with Häagen-Dazs' new summer drinks 2013

Thanks to Häagen-Dazs and the communications teams for organizing a tasting to try their new summer desserts and drinks.

There are four new icecream flavours:
Banana Chocolate Brownie
Passion fruit cheesecake
Mango and raspberry
Salted caramel

Each new dessert features the new ice cream flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Moon shadow:

This was basically three scoops of icecream sandwiched in between two halves of a banana.
The three scoops of icecream include: green tea, chocolate and banana brownies.
The banana brownies icecream had a nice natrual banana taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cheese temptation:

This was a triple cheesy temptation because both icecreams had cheesecake in it, there was passionfruit cheesecake icecream and strawberry cheesecake icecream as well as a cheesecake.
The taste of the passionfruit cheesecake icecream was lively and tropical.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Summer fiesta:

The presentation and colour of this dessert was vibrant and colourful paired with mango and raspberry icecream and summer berries icecream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fantasy Eiffel:

This was my favourite because it had the salted caramel icecream with lovely marshmallows and crunchies at the bottom.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Summer mango paradise:

This drink was a nice icy cooler and the taste tasted like sorbet even though it was made with icecream.
Most people said the taste was bland, but I liked it bland because it wasnt too sweet and I do not really like mangoes anyway so the faint mango taste was just right for me.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Very berries:

Compared to the drink above, this drink was much stronger with delicious berry taste.
The berries on top were frozen too making it extra cool.
It would taste great if there was yoghurt in the drink too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mat Cha Wandering:

This drink was little too milky but I liked the raspberry syrup that was mixed in because it made the drink livelier.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The tuxedo:

The chocolate drink was nice but I wished there was some coffee or tiramisu blended in to give it some dimension.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
NEW flavours:

On the left is the salted caramel and the banana brownies on the right.
The Salted caramel is really nice while the banana has a natrual taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Nice rice rolls with fried dough sticks

新華粥品 (Wan Chai)

I did not realise this was a new shop.
Vaguely in my mind, there was a congee shop in this area and they had interesting things such as sweetcorn and egg in the ricerolls according to IVYCWK’s review which was why I wanted to try it.
When I got there, they did not have it on the menu so I thought they stopped it.

Anyway, I tried the rice rolls and there were two types, one was freshly made to order and the others were fresh but made some time ago.
The freshly made ones were more expensive and the other ones such as BBQ pork rice rolls were also cheap at $13 per dish.
The congee also is also freshly cooked!


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice rolls with dough sticks:

The big plate of rice rolls were extremely cheap, they were only $10 and if you order it with a meal it only costs $6.
The fried dough inside WAS EXTREMELY delicious.
I was not sure if I was lucky the oil was fresh or whether it will be this good next time.
The fried dough inside was soft and the centre of it was clearly white indicating fresh oil and that it was not fried twice.
The rice roll wrap was nice and thin and the it was so delicious you could taste the natrual dough stick taste which is usually covered by the oil taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Freshly made rice rolls with dried shrimp and spring onions:





The rice roll sheets were nice and thin, and the spring onions on top were sliced finely and fresh because they were still green and not dehydrated.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★