Friday, July 05, 2013

Udon tempura is coming

Marugame Seimen
Since my last visit, there are new items on the menu.

They have wasabi inari!


They also had UDON TEMPURA which was not for sale as it was on trial.
They looked like snacks called potato sticks.

Anyway I tried one and the texture and taste was exactly like those potato sticks.








★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Curry Udon:


I am not fond of Sanuki udon, but this time it was quite nice because it was chewy and al-dente.


The curry sauce was just right and not too spicy.
It would be great if they had a vegetarian version without the beef or burdock curry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Udon with meat and burdock:


Beef is not really my favourite meat, but the burdock was nice.
At the end, it was not very pleasant because the lard started solidifying.





★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Squid tempura:





The squid was delicious, the batter was light and it was infused with seaweed powder.
The squid was nice and chunky too but not tough.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon omusabi:
This was delicious but disappointing because it did not hold together!
No improvement from my previous visit.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Overall, this place is good for fast food and you can grab what you like from the Tempura bar.

Arrival of US beef on the bone to Hong Kong

Steik World Meats

Thanks to the communications team for inviting me to try the delicious shipment of US beef on the bone.

Steik World Meats is the first restaurant in Hong Kong to receive a shipment of US beef on the bone, which has been banned for importation into Hong Kong since 2003. Hong Kong welcomes back US beef on the bone after ten years.

Since the recent arrival of US beef on the bone to Hong Kong, Epicurean’s Group Executive Chef Brian Moore has for the past two weeks been meticulously overseeing the dry-aging process at Steik World Meats, whereby the beef has been kept in their custom dry-aging facility and observed on a daily basis.

Benefits of enjoying beef on the bone include its retention of moisture during the cooking process and decreased shrinkage when it is dry-aged. In terms of taste, both types of US beef on the bone on offer at Steik World Meats, namely prime and choice, have an intense flavour due to the distribution of fat, as well as a deliciously tender texture.

As well as the beef, there were appetizers and desserts for the tasting event.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Home made bread:


The bread was lovely and yeasty with a crispy crust.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thai Bloody Mary, poached lobster:


The soup was served in a really cute ceramic cup and it was a refreshing cold soup.
I loved the tangyness with a hint of lemongrass which did not over power the soup.
The tomato was strong and the pieces of lobster were nice and delicate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan-fried lightly spiced blue swimmer crab cake, crustacean foam, micro cress:


I love crab cakes and the crab cake here was just exquisite.
Although there were extremely finely diced red and green peppers in it, it was a perfect balance, you could taste the peppers subtly.
As well as the peppers there were carrots in it as well which added to the golden colour.
The crustacean foam was also addictive, it was smooth and rich.
Each of the elements tasted nice alone and they also tasted nice together too.
The micro cress was a delicious garnishing without taking the limelight from the crab.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hand-crafted ox cheek tortellini, beef consomme:


The tortellini were visually uniform and neat.
It was garnished with lovely mustard cress on top which added some spice to it.
The filling inside the tortellini was quite interesting, because the texture of the meat was velvety.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dry aged US prime rib of beef on the bone servers choice - prime grading:


The beef had gone through the dry-aging process so it was not dripping with blood and the marbling of the meat was uniform which you can see on the close up and it also had a clean cut.


The beef was soft and tender, it had natural sweetness and tasted perfectly fine without the addition of mustard, but after adding sea salt the taste of beef was even better. The sea salt that they provided was quite coarse but not overly salty because I dipped lots of it and it was not salty because the salt crystals were not that concentrated.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dry aged boneless servers choice US rib eye:


The texture of this one was slightly tough to cut and it did not taste as nice as the beef above.,
If I had tried this beef alone I would have been content.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
potato gratin with gruyere cheese:


The baked potato slices were delicious in the creamy sauce and the crispy cheese on top gave it extra saltiness and flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Vegetables:


The bowl consisted of my favourite french beans and asparagus, it was simple and delicious!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★


Before the steaks were served, we were presented a tray of knives which originate from various places in Europe, some were Swiss, some were French etc.
Although I chose a small Swiss knife, I seriously recommend a macho one which can cut better!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steik World meats dessert platter:


Lemon lime tart with citrus salad
This was my favourite because it was really refreshing. It was paired with citrus salad which was made up of grapefruit, citrus fruits and lemongrass.
Initially I thought the citrus fruits would be really sour with the tart but when it was eaten with the tart the pairing could not have been better.
It made the tart taste so much more natural because the fruits gave it more dimension.
Date pudding with nougat mousse and caramel biscuit icecream
The date pudding was not cloyingly sweet like other places and it was served warm.
The texture of the pudding was nice and soft, and the nougat mousse acted like classy aerated cream, while the caramel biscuit icecream made it richer.
The caramel pieces in the icecream really stood out.
Strawberry pavola
The sweet meringue was garnished with delicious red and ripe strawberries slices and there was cream in the middle.
A lovely light dessert.
Blueberry cheese cake
The cheese cake was nice and light covered with blueberries on top.

All the items on this platter were highly recommendable and not too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Petit fours :


Strawberry icecream dipped in chocolate
This was everyone's favourite, it was gorgeous icecream covered in chocolate.
It was so nice that it was like eating a frozen praline.
Sesame cookies
The cookies were quite hard but would go well with coffee.
Chocolate brownies
The brownies were cute and sweet which will go well with tea of coffee.
Macarons
The macarons were a perfect ending with tea.
They were nice and chewy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Home-made Cuisine with Openricers & their families

To celebrate the opening of the Tai Kok Tsui branch, Home-made Cuisine has invited 40 openricers and their families to mark this event.
The theme was home style cooked food hence the reason why family members were invited.

As well as Tai Kok Tsui they have a branch in Wan Chai which is much smaller.

Earlier visit @ Home-Made Cuisine Wan Chai:
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2257187

Thanks to Mjqueen7e for bringing me along because I got to try the items I did not previously try.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Barley wheat tea:


The colour of this was interesting, it was bright yellow, but I liked the taste because it was quite wheaty and nutty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pumpkin and salted egg yolk in batter:


This was my favourite because it was not too salty, the combination of mashed up pumpkin and salted egg yolk was quite nice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried fish fillets with strawberry sauce:
This was quite a fun dish but I could not really taste the strawberry in the sauce because the salad cream in the sauce was stronger.
The fish was slightly cold.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lotus root patties:





The lotus root patties here are different because it was a slice of lotus root with the patty placed on top.
Hence when you eat it, there is a good mouthfeel of lotus root.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shanghai noodles with truffle paste:


The concept was quite good but I would prefer a thinner type of noodle because these were too soft.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Prawn wrap @ Pret A Manger

Pret A Manger (Central)

Thank you Pret A Manger for the lovely refreshing food.

As said before, this is a Brit brand and Best of the British....

I wanted to try the prawn item before but it was sold out, luckily I was told by a Pret representative there is a kitchen at most Pret joints so I was able to get the Prawn wrap.

Next time if your favourite item is not there, do ask the kitchen and they are more than happy to make it for you .

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Interesting finds:

The soup range is also good, if it wasnt so hot, I would have ordered the Brittany fish stew. The choices vary at different joints and the other Pret at Admiralty station was serving cumin and cauliflower that day which is also my favourite.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Iced lemonade (apple):

After trying the passionfruit and grapefruit, I decided to try the apple this time.
The apple was really nice and refreshing too and I loved the greeness of the drink.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawn wrap:

All I can say is taste the difference! These prawns were meaty and springy unlike the frozen tasteless ones. Each prawn had a lovely natrual coral pink colour and the sauce was just perfect and not too sweet or sour, which made it the perfect prawn cocktail sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lychee panna cotta:


The lychee panna cotta was delicious and soothing, as well as lychee you could taste citrus rind.
In the middle there was delicious lychee jelly and a lychee.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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