Choconana cake Mcflurry 2013

McDonald's (North Point)

I do not really like banana but I just felt like trying the new McFlurry for the sake of it.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Choconana cake Mcflurry:

Luckily it was not too sweet but I wonder if it will taste the same on my next visit.
On my last visit I had the black and white icecream but when I had it again it was too sweet.
Anyway, the banana taste was subtle and not too artificial, the soft cake pieces were delicious with the ice-cream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

☆★Curry Sing★☆

Curry Sing (Sheung Wan)

When I read Ivy’s first review for Curry Sing I was attracted by the vibrant yellow coloured Tumeric rice.

I had the impression it was an Indian joint but after reading the latest reviews I found out that was Hong Kong style curry which explains why there are no sag aloos orTikkas on the menu.

They serve curry fishballs and beefballs, which is interesting.

The menu is simple, it is either beef, chicken, fish, PORK or vegetable!

I emphasized the pork because HK’ers love pork as well as beef.

For snacks they have skewers and the one I most wanted to try was the deep fried chicken skin which was another bizarre item on the menu for a curry place.
But since Hong Kong people are really health conscious, this is now temporarily unavailable.

Their curries are made with 38 spices which are displayed behind the counter.

They used to have restaurants in Tsuen Wan.

The concept of Curry Sing is an affordable Hong Kong style curry.

When my order was ready, I was expecting the "usual" white plastic bags but it was a well designed sturdy glossy paper bag.

The tubs they used were also nice sturdy plastic tubs which do not give out a CFC chemical smell that CFC ones do.

The food was nicely labelled with stickers denoting which meats they were.

Before the food was packed and cooked they let me take photos of the curry without the sauce so that I could see the chicken, beef, potatoes.

There are five levels of spicyness for the curries, and for beginners I would recommend the cadet one, I also tried the ordinary man.

As for the portion size, it was huge for $38, especially the rice~!!
It is definitely good for two to share and drinks are an extra $4.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken thigh tumeric rice box:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef tumeric rice box:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Assorted skewers:
Beef, Lamb, Chicken, Pork.

All the skewers were strongly marinated but my favourite was the chicken and beef.
I could not quite taste the lamb and it did not have any gamey taste to it either.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
As a summary, the taste of curry started off sweet, then the spicyness accumulated and got a bit too spicy.
I liked the pieces of cucumber in the curry because they were quite soothing.
For the choice of meats, there is not much difference in taste because they cook it with the same curry base, so it depends on your preference.

I definately recommend ordering the cadet level for beginners!!

There are also some off menu items such as curry crab, abalone and prawns which can be ordered in advance.

Chocolate Journey Through Hong Kong

Chocoyou (Sheung Wan)

I missed the chocolate trail at Harbour City but Thanks to Chocoyou, I did the chocolate journey of Hong Kong.
Although I am not keen on Chinese food, some were quite nice.

“Chocolate Journey Through Hong Kong” is a brand new chocolate series inspired by the foods of Hong Kong.

The founder and Master Chocolatier Alexis Kwong Alvarez created an assortment of colourful chocolates with delicate flavours and ingredients from his hometown Hong Kong.

There are nine flavours and the coloured squares of chocolate looked really cute in the box.

At the back of the box, the flavours are listed and denoted by the colour on the chocolates.

The knife I used was crap because it was a plastic disposable knife which did not give a clean cut and some crumbled.
(ooops)
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Blue: Hong Kong Milk Tea with Dark Chocolate

The milk tea taste could have been stronger because the dark chocolate taste was quite strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Clouds: Earl Grey Tea with Milk Chocolate

The earl grey was delicious and pretty, I liked the baby blue and white clouds on it.
The taste of earl grey was strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Silver: Black Sesame with Dark Chocolate

Visually this was my favourite because silver is my favourite colour.
The filling was interesting because it was filled with sesame paste and not whole black sesame seeds.
I do not normally like black sesame but it tasted nice with the dark chocolate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
White: Red Bean Ice with White Chocolate

I am not keen on white chocolate nor red beans but it tasted ok.
My friend ( a local from Hong Kong) tried it and loved it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Orange: Hong Kong Peanut Waffle with Milk Chocolate

I do not really like peanut butter but this was the best because the peanut butter really smooth and velvety, and it was not too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Red: Szechuan Pepper Dark Chocolate

The spicyness of this was quite strong but if you can eat chili then this is the one for you.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Yellow: Curry Coconut Dark Chocolate

The taste of curry could have been spicier and stronger but it was light, the coconut taste was actually quite strong and it was a bit like satay sauce mixed with chocolate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green: Wasabi Dark Chocolate

The wasabi was quite nice because it was quite savoury without the sting of wasabi followed by the sweetness of the chocolate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mondrian: V.S.O.P Cognac Dark Chocolate

This was really nice because it has the fragrant flavour of cognac that is not too strong which is perfect for people who do not drink alchohol.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The place for retro Cantonese-Hangzhou dishes

Loong Yuen Cantonese Restaurant (Tsim Sha Tsui)

Thanks to Alex for inviting us all to this delicious dinner at Loong Yuen Restaurant which is located at Holiday Inn hotel in TST.

To be honest, I have never heard of this restaurant because it is not imediately visible, on the way out I discovered Delicatessen Corner which I will try later.

That night we were there to try the Hangzhou dishes and Cantonese food too.
The Hangzhou dishes are specials for this month (July 2013).

It was also nice hearing more about the restaurant from the chef because there was a human touch to it and how they cater for different customers.
The most touching story is the elderly diners, they actually removed the bones for them so that it would be easier for them to eat.

Whatever your needs, just ask and they are happy to accomodate if they can, and there are some off menu dishes they can serve too if you ask.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried diced bean curd in spicy salt:

These were my favourite and I ate loads of them because each cube of tofu was coated evenly and the tofu inside has strong bean taste.
The coating was great too and the salt and pepper was not too heavy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice in osmanthus syrup:

The lotus roots were thinly sliced and the holes were stuffed with glutinous rice and steamed.
It was covered in syrup which was not cloyingly sweet and the sweetness was quite soothing.
The taste of these lotus roots tasted like those lotus roots candies during Chinese New Year.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried dried bean curd skin rolls with sauce:

These tofu rolls were really crispy which made a lovely crisp noise when you ate them, they were paired with ketchup which were really nice because I often put ketchup on my tofu.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Braised ox-tail in tomato and red wine sauce served with steamed bun:

The ox-tail was soft and gelatinous, here it was served with steamed buns, but you can choose pasta or whatever pleases you.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed stuffed bamboo piths with asparagus and morel mushrooms:

I loved this because it was light and healthy.
It was probably my first time trying these morel mushrooms.
I felt that they were slimey and tasted similar to the bamboo piths.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried crispy chicken:

The chicken was surrounded by colourful prawn crackers, and apparently people love it because the prawn crackers are quite retro to them.
In UK, you see prawn crackers in almost every takeaway shop or restaurant in China Town so the expats will probably like this dish.
It was also reassuring the food would be good because there were quite a few expats dining there.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sautéed prawns with salty egg yolk and broccoli:

The size of the prawns were huge and springy!!!
I wish the salty egg yolk could taste stronger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed garoupa with crushed crispy bean:

I loved the fish because I have never tried anything like it.
The topping which I thought was pork floss was actually crushed crispy beans and it was delicious and flavoured the fish nicely.
The texture of the crispy bean was similar to crispy bacon bits.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweet and sour pork served in a pineapple:
It is hard to get good sweet and sour pork in Hong Kong.
The sweet and sour pork in UK tastes much better but the quality of the sweet and sour pork here was exceptionally good.
Each bite was lean and tender pork unlike other restaurants where they cover fatty and low grade pork pieces which end up unchewable.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried puff pastry topped with minced ham and mushroom:

I am not sure what they were, but they just tasted like puff pastry cones dusted with icing powder.
They did not seem to have minced ham and mushrooms on top according to the menu.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Water chestnut dessert with lemon:

I loved this dessert because it was not too sweet but the lemon could have been stronger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Organic soya bean pudding with ginger in wooden tub:

The soya bean pudding was delicate and silky.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Double boiled whole pear with tangerine peel:

Initially I was not keen on this because I thought it would be sweet, but it was perfect.
It was not sweet at all and the sweetener was served separately.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thanks to Loong Yuen and Alex for this delicious dinner and the complimentary highlighter pen given to us!

Dumon chocolates now in Hong Kong

DUMON Chocolatier (Central)

Dumon chocolates are made by Stefan Dumon with the help of his wife Marie-Anne. His small family business consisting of just six have won several awards for their amazing confectionery and now expanded internationally.

Stefan is truly an artesian chocolatier having spent all of his adult life and a large chunk of his youth surrounded by chocolate and the paraphernalia used in the making of fine chocolates.

Stefan blends a superb mix of traditional recipes along with his own unique flavours and designs.

The confection is truly hand made and every part of the production process is overseen by Stefan himself.

His latest award was from France's Gault & Millau.

Now in Hong Kong, they have opened a chocolatier at The Galleria.
When you get there, you are greeted by a cute girl on the poster which is Stefan's niece

There is a cabinet of chocolates elegantly displayed and the chocolatier staff are great and know their chocolates well.

Heres what we tried:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Strawberry Marzipan、Hondekop、Earl Grey Tea、Diamant :
[clockwise from top left]


Strawberry Mazipan: this was quite sweet and the almond was really strong, although it was quite sweet, it reminded me of the marzipan I had as a kid.
Hondekop: chose this because the dog was cute and it had nuts in it.
Earl Grey Tea: This was the best and had really strong earl grey taste.
Diamant: Not fond of white chocolate but I chose it because the shape was nice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
AARDBEI:


This was chocolate filled with light strawberry creme that was not too sweet.
Again it reminded me of the strawberry creme chocolate I had when I was a kid but annoyingly I was too young to remember what brand it was.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Champagne Truffle、Dark Cocoa:


The champagne could have tasted stronger and the dark cocoa could have been stronger. The filling in the middle was quite sweet and over powered the coating.
There is a caramel one which I think would taste nice too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Krokant 、Bombe Melk:

Both tasted quite similar because both had cream inside.
Krokant was filled with Tiramisu and Bombe Melk was filled with almond cream.
As a dark chocolate lover, I would like to see a dark chocolate version.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★★☆★
Hart PR dark 、Hart dark:


Both these chocolates were the same but I preferred the one with hearts on it because the chocolate coating was uniform.
They will both filled with light hazelnut praline.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dumon also caters for events and wedding with their special collections.

Thanks to Dumon and the communications team for the box of chocolates which I gave to Ivy as she could not come to the tasting.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★