Culinary adventure with Arron Rhodes

Thanks to Dot Cod for inviting me.

Dot Cod is now headed by Executive Chef Arron Rhodes.

Prior to joining DotCod, Chef Arron worked with Michelin Star, Rosettes, and San Pellegrino world-ranked restaurants internationally.

“I am passionate about cooking and like to surprise guests” said Chef Rhodes.

At this tasting we own had our very special menu and here was mine.

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Seabream tartare with caviar and flying fish roe:

To start off with we all had Seabream tartare which was contained in a beautiful tin served on a bed of dry ice.
If there were no maximum photo limits I would upload that picture here.
The tartare was gorgeous complimented by the deliciously fresh and classy caviar and flying fish roe on top.
The caviar gave it a saltier taste and it was finished within seconds because it was so delicious and the seabream had a texture similar to lobster sashimi but even more delicate.
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Maine lobster:
(vanilla, poached red beets, ice radish, pickled air loom carrots)

Visually it was stunning, I loved the colourful balance of orange, green and browns.
The fresh springy lobster was paired nicely with the crunchy medley of vegetables and the seeds gave it an even more lively crunch.
The sauces here were minimalistic which was brilliant because it was extremely natrual and light that you could taste each element such as the beets, lobster and salad leaves.
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Chilean sea bass:
(charred bass, fresh peas, feves, poached grelot onions , black garlic cream)

The black garlic foam on top was mysterious and captivating because beneath the dreamy foam laid a big chunk of delicate Chilean sea bass.

Underneath the tender sea bass, there were freshly plucked peas bursting with natrual sweetness.
Although it was a simple dish, the fish and peas were just delicious flavoured by the delicious foam on top.
The delicate twines on top made it into an elegant fairytale.
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Lollipop teaser:
Before dessert, we were brought out these frozen lollipops to see if we could taste what they were.


I just loved that moment, it was like seeing some new invention coming out of the laboratory and watching Heston's show.
The taste of this lollipop was sensational it had a hint of savouriness from the tuna but it was sweet followed by popping candy and tastes of green tea and wasabi.
I was really glad that we got to try this because I have always wanted to try the savoury icecream at Ice Cream Gallery which is now closed and used to serve lobster icecream.
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Chocolate garden:
(yuzu, Venezuela chocolate , toffee , pomelo and grapefruit)


The dessert was too pretty too eat, it had a cute mini marzipan carrot and tomato with a real stalk!
The yellow piece in the middle was delicious white chocolate and peanut butter, and the dreamy light chocolate and the crispy bits were heaven with the occaisional burst of yuzu.
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Petit fours:

Delicious chocolates
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After the meal and experience at Dot Cod, I certainly was surprised just as Arron promised.
I loved his creativity and suspense because each dish came as a surprise.
I felt that it was like a Heston experience which was fun and full of surprises.
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When we left these cute jars were brought out for us to take home, the experience did not end there...

It was like a mini biosphere with prized Romanesco broccoli pieces that look like fractals and other marine plants.
The clear tagliatelle was Crab soup jelly tagliatelle made with the stock of Crab.

Usually I would indulge on it asap but it was so nice I put the contents on a plate which I would usually avoid because of the washing up, but I felt that the tagliatelle really deserved to be put on a dish and photographed!!
The taste of the tagliatelle was delicious and it had a slightly smokey taste.
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Sheared egg tart

Hoixe Cake Shop (Wan Chai)

AGAIN I did not buy these but the association who got them were on a budget of $4 per person.
They always buy from here.
They always get anything that costs $4, the main complaint people complained about were that the egg tarts were floppy and watery, then they changed to butter cakes which were smelly, then on the last occasion they got individually packed sliced butter cakes.

This time it was back to floppy tarts!

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Egg tarts:
I liked the way one has been sheared!! NOT


The filling looked normal, but too sweet this time and the flakey crust was too oily.
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Sliced butter cake:
Since some people never eat these cakes because they said it was disgusting, we decided to do an experiment and see if it would go moldy in a month.
It did not go moldy and the size has shrunk if you compare it to the fresh one!
Anyway more to follow as next month we will see how the cake progresses!


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Sing Kee sings victory from the rest

Sing Kee Seafood Restaurant (Sai Kung)

To be honest I never eat seafood in Sai Kung because I don't know how to look for good ones.

Sing Kee is located near Lakeside gardens so if you get off at Lakeside Garden bus stop, it is only a few footsteps away or you can walk along the seafront from the minibus terminal.

The restaurant stands out from the rest and it is a separate building itself.

There was so much seafood that night and heres what we triied.
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Preserved ginger, preserved egg and handmade squid patties:
I was surprised they had these as starters but I liked the squid patties because it was crispy on the outside and soft and springy on the inside.
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Sashimi platter:

This was a really nice treat, I loved the delicate pieces of translucent lobster, but it was slightly disguised in the bed of ice below.
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Steamed scallop with wine:

This was my favourite, I loved the burgandy colour of the glass noodles.
The scallops soaked up the rich flavour of the chinese wine and the glass noodles were deliciously flavoured by the dried prawn roe.
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Stir fried razor clams with Thai basil:

The clams were fresh and springy with a delicous hint of basil.
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Abalone delights:

I have not been to Loaf On, but the fellow foodies said it tasted the same.
The braised abalone was sweet and delicate and the gravy was rich which goes deliciously with rice.
The salt and pepper one was interesting because the crispy coating on the outside was delicious.
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Fish with sweet corn sauce:

The fish was really nice that it tasted nice with or without the sweetcorn sauce.
I liked the way it was served separate so you can try the fish without sauce and the fish remains crispy.
The breadcrumb coating reminded me of Western fish filets in crispy coating.
I wouldnt mind having a plate of chips on the side
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Crab:

The crab was delicious especially the crab roe which was a thick orangy yellow mass.
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Spareribs in honey and hawthorn sauce:
The spareribs were sweet and fruity.
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Crispy chicken:
The chicken was tender with crispy chicken skin attached.
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Premium fried rice:
The rice was nice and not too greasy loaded with lots of goodies.
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Congee with lobster head:

This was a luxury as it was made with lobster head.
It was light and sweet.
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Yakult pudding:

I really liked this pudding because it was creative!! No other place in Hong Kong serves it so far.
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The average spending per person is about $700 but if you have a budget you can discuss the items you would like or specify your budget so they can arrange accordingly.

French roast chicken now at Sai Ying Pun

La Rotisserie (Western District)
Thanks to La Rotisserie for inviting me to try their new shop in Sai Ying Pun.
I have always been a fan of their roast chicken and roast potatoes, and now their quiches as well

The new joint is located on the Third Street in Sai Ying Pun with dizzying views of the Hong Kong sea and buildings beneath it.
It is conveniently located next to the new escalators where you can see the sea on the way up and strange old buildings too!!

The Sai Ying Pun area is interesting and somewhat surreal!!! I wonder where the new Chippy is located???

What makes La Rotisserie so special is that the chickens are roasted on a rotisseries which perfectly roasts the chicken as it is rotating and the chicken essense is collected on the tray below onto the potatoes giving deliciously crisp chicken flavoured roasted potatoes.

The chicken they source are corn fed, free range chickens.

Apart from Roast chicken they also sell some irresistable French mustards and candies from La Madeleine de Proust.

The pates were tempting because they were only $38 per jar but as I had somewhere to go afterwards I did'nt buy them otherwise I would have bought the chicken and mushroom and the deer pate.
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Roast chicken:

The roast chicken was succulent, juicy and tender flavoured by their delicious herbs.
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Mustard chicken (flavour of the month):
The new flavour was chicken covered in mustard.
I would have loved more mustard because I could'nt quite taste it.
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Quiche:



There were three quiches and the tomato and cheese was simple and my favourite.
One of the best quiches in Hong Kong because it is authentic.
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Carrot and cumin soup:

I love anything with cumin so the carrot and cumin soup was delicious, and their soups are vegetarian which is good because for Vegetarians they can just get a quiche and soup to complete their meal.
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Croque monsieur:

This is also my favourite which I did not try at the Sheung Wan branch!
Again another authentic one that does not taste sweet like the local ones.
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Apple almond:

I was really lucky to try this as well because it was really delicious.
It was not too sweet and the filling was a bit like custard with pieces of apple in it.
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It was really fascinating watching people from all walks of life there.
There were quite a lot of elderly people living in that area and I was so surprised to see a frail old man buy half a chicken from La Rotisserie because the locals I have met are not really adventurious with new foods and for a frail old man to fork out $100!!!!!

On leaving, it was so nice of them to give us a goodie bag filled with goodies:
There was a jar of mustard and candies from La Madeleine de Proust

La Madeleine de Proust candies:
PATIENCE sweet round biscuits:rose and peach.
CROQ’AMOURS bite-size crunchy clouds of meringue: raspberry and coffee.
DÉLICE À LA ROSE: heart-shaped biscuits: rose and almond
ÉTOILE À LA CANNELLE: spicy cinnamon, sweet almonds and Alsatian spices, these star-shaped biscuits come from Strasbourg’s famous Christmas market.

Guava season

Come Buy (Wan Chai)

I rarely get drinks from Come buy but when I saw the poster of the new Guava drinks I decided to give it a try.

There are two flavours: guava with yakult or guava with plum.
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Guava drinks with yakult:

Nice logo

Requested it unsweetened because Yakult is already sweet.
The sweetness was just right but quite sweet.
Anyway the yakult taste was light and the guava taste was light too but you could feel the grounded guava pips in the drink.
The drink itself was slightly viscous.
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Take A Break with a waffle

Take A Break Cafe (Prince Edward)

Came here because it looked striking in the kowloon area.

You normally see these type of buildings in urban areas like Yuen Long and Sai Kung.
Anyway they basically serve waffles like the ones at Coffee Alley.

Thanks to Connie and Dull for arranging this trip or I would have been to lazy to go because it is located in the middle of no where.

Inside the cafe, it was actually quite small and cramped, the decor was interesting with huge chandeliers and paintings.

There is only one staff at this place so all the taking orders, cooking and drinks are done by him so you have to wait quite a bit.


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Coffee:

I do not drink coffee but this was someone else's coffee.
The drink selection was a bit disappointing because the choice was limited and did not have fruit juice tea like Coffee Alley.
It was a choice of coffee, tea, milkshakes or lemon tea.
On leaving I discovered there was apple soda on the board outside which was too late.
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All day breakfast:

The breakfast was ok but a bit overpriced for $98 and the sausage was basically one whole sausage sliced in half.
Interestingly the bacon which I do not normally like was good because it was lean.
The breakfast costs $98 and includes a coffee, so if your coming for the pretty latte art then it pays off.
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Waffles with strawberries:


The waffle was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
For the icecream I would prefer vanilla instead of strawberry because it tasted a bit artificial.
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Taking chances with Satay city

Satay City (Wan Chai)

The food at this place can be fifty/fifty!

Sometimes it is good, sometimes it can be bad.

On this visit it was bad!

There was only one improvement, the sauces did not spill out from the containers this time!

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Fried Vietnamese sausage with white curry sauce:
The Vietnamese sausage looked more like a fish cake but the main problem was that the frying oil was rancid and the taste of the sausage was disgusting!

The white curry sauce tasted ok, there was a strong grounded ginger taste in it, but it was made with quite a lot of lard, therefore quite fattening.

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