Fun dumpling making session

Noodle House Ippei-An (Causeway Bay)
09/07/2013
麵屋一平安Noodle House Ippei-An
銅鑼灣軒尼詩道499號永光商業大廈4樓
4/F,Circle Plaza, 499 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/fun-dumpling-making-session-e2307079

Thanks to Soda rewards I was able to have fun making Japanese dumplings and trying the noodles at Noodle House Ippei-An.
It was quite enjoyable and the noodles afterwards were delicious and rewarding  .
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Dumpling making:
When we arrived, part of the restaurant was set up for us to make the dumplings with all the ingredients and bowls on the table.
I don't really like using my hands, but it was just mixing flour and water together which was ok.
After it became a sticky dough, we broke bits off, rolled it into a ball, flattened it slightly and put it in the boiling water.
After boiling it for a while, they were taken out and put in iced water.
After a few minutes they were taken out and ready to serve.
Toppings were added and they were ready to eat.
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Various desserts topped with different toppings:
green tea powder, red beans, yellow bean flour etc

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Kumamoto Ramen:

It was my first time trying their ramen and it was quite nice because the pork broth was thick and gelatinous.
The noodles were the thin type which absorbs the soup.
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Wonderful poutine @ Little Tomato Cafe

Little Tomato Cafe (Causeway Bay)

Originally I was invited by kikisheep to try Van Gogh's Kitchen but it clashed with another tasting so I couldn't go.

This time I was invited again by another openricer and tried Little Tomato which is also owned by the same owner.

Ultimately the food was good, but my favourite was the poutine because there are too many localised versions in Hong Kong.

New York Fries used to be good but now they over cook them.

Poutine is actually Canadian and not American!

As well as the food, the drinks menu was neverending, there were at least three I wanted to try.

Here was what we tried:
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Garlic bread with cheese:

The garlic bread was toasted to perfection, it was crispy on the crust and the bread in the middle was soft.
The garlic butter spread and cheese were delicious.
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Potato salad:


This was also my favourite because I loved the potatoes which still had their skins attached.
The sauce was creamily delicious and not the local sweet salad sauces.
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Escargot vol au vents:

It was hard to guess what they were from the Chinese description but when they came I realised they were vol au vents.
I loved the cheese and escargot filling and the escargot was tender.
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Poutine with ribs:


The poutine was the best especially the gravy and the fries were perfectly done, not too crisp and perfectly golden.
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Carbonara:

Personally I am not keen on Carbonara but it was nice with generous pieces of bacons in it.
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Eel and fried rice:

The eel was nice and soft, gently smoked and not too sweet.
The rice was fried nicely.
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Grilled chicken steak:

The chicken was a bit tough and the flavour could have been stronger.
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Omurice:

The omurice had a lovely cat drawn on it and the rice inside was delicious.
I was quite full when it came so did not try much.
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Dessert platter:


Was quite full so only tried the brownies which were quite soft.
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Foreign lover:

The name sounded nice so ordered this, it was a blend of pineapple, banana and grenadine and soda.
I would have preferred the pineapple juice to be stronger because the banana was quite prominent.
I also tried the Brindisi Trip which was grapefruit soda and icecream and I loved it too.
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Hana-musubi's tofu and chicken burger

Hana-musubi

Thank you Ivy for getting me this delicious treat from Hana-musubi.

This is one of my favourite places for food.
I tried to come here on a Saturday afternoon but it was closed.

There is a branch at Brim but it is too far!!

Anyway, more Hana-musabi's are opening and there are two new branches in Wan Chai, one at C.C.Wu building and the other at the Revenue Tower.

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Homemade tofu and chicken burger:


I loved this burger because it is made of chicken and tofu.
Most places it is just beef and boring beef.
The burger was covered in generous and delicious tasting gravy on a bed of cabbage.
It was really delicious with bits of tofu and minced chicken and the strong gravy complimented it well.
There were lots of cabbage and sliced mushrooms which gave it a nice healthy balance.
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McDonalds new dipping sauces for 2013

McDonald's

Came here for the new chicken McNuggets sauces.

Technically the honey mustard is not new because it has been served before.
The rest were slightly different so they were worth trying.

Usually they only launch two sauces at a time and then the other flavours at a later date, but this time you can order 18 nuggets and try all four sauces.

To be honest, it's a bit sickly eating so many nuggets so its better to share.

The packaging for the 18 nuggets and the four sauces were quite cute.




L-R: chili, honey, curry, sesame
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Honey mustard:
To be honest, the honey mustard is really boring, they have this as a choice for people not daring to try the other ones.
It just tastes slightly sweet with a hint of mustard.
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Singapore curry sauce:
This tasted like the sweet curry sauce at UK's McDonald, but the colour is not opaque like the British sauce, it looks similar to Satay sauce.
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Sesame miso sauce:
Out of the four flavours, this tasted the best and the sesame taste was not as strong as the miso.
However it lacked the saltiness taste of miso and it was slightly sweet but still likeable.
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Korean chili sauce:
This was also a winner out of the four but it can be quite spicy.
The taste was quite beany and tastes like the HoiSin sauce that goes with Peking duck.
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Delicious white chocolate pudding in drinks

Starbucks Coffee (Wan Chai)

When I found out about the new drinks at Starbucks I was captivated by the white pudding in it.
There is a choice of dark mocha or green tea, both with white chocolate pudding at the bottom.

I couldn't decide which to get so I got both, I was expecting the green tea to taste better because I don't really like coffee but the dark mocha tasted the best out of the two.


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Dark Mocha White Chocolate Pudding Frappuccino® blended beverage:
The dark mocha did not have strong coffee taste which was great and in the drink there where bits of solid chocolate to chew on.
The white chocolate pudding was nice because it balanced out the mocha taste and it was creamy and tasted like Nestle's milky bar chocolate.
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Green Tea White Chocolate Pudding Frappuccino® blended beverage:
This was the usual green tea frappuccino but it tasted too sweet and with the white chocolate pudding it was a bit sickly.
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Delicious pancake from Das Gute

Das Gute (Sheung Wan)

Thanks to Connie for getting me this delicious pancake.

I really loved it.

The pancake had delicious bonito flakes on top brushed with sweet teriyaki sauce.

The filling inside was gorgeous because there was tuna and Japanese mayonnaise.

Sugar & Spice nougats

Lady Sugar (Tsim Sha Tsui)
Thanks to Ivy for getting me these Sugar and Spice nougats which are Taiwanese.

Each nougat is gorgeous and chewy with nuts in it.
The milk taste is strong and creamy and the nougat overall is not too sweet.

The peach jelly cube was also nice covered in sugar.