Vegetarian pastas @ V8美食軒

V8美食軒 (Wan Chai)
Not my first option for food, but I normally get the vegetarian option because most vegetarian foods are over priced.

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Vegetarian burger patty with pasta:

The pasta improved slightly compared to my last visit and it was not so soft but still too soft for my liking.
It was covered in delicious tangy tomato sauce but it was slightly oily because I felt bloated after eating this.
The vegetarian patty is just the usual vegetarian patties.
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Chocolate emulsion dream

Jean-Paul Hévin Boutique et Bar à Chocolat (Central)
I have always wanted to try this place when I saw a magazine article about a cup of hot chocolate flavoured with green tea.

However, when I got there, it was not served because it was a seasonal product.

The last time I had a hot chocolate containing real chocolate was at VERO.

When you enter this shop, it appears to be an ordinary chocolatier, but there is seating upstairs which is quite cosy, there is a mini rock garden above the entrance which can be seen on the 1st floor.

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Chocolate emulsion:

On my first attempt to dine at this place, they did not have the Raspberry one and it was helpful of them to tell me before I went upstairs to the cafe area.
On my second visit, it was available so I dined there.
When it came, the chocolate emulsion was contained in a classy vacuum glass cup which was clear and you could see round it.

On the top, there was thick looking chocolate cream which was dense chocolate paste, tasting a bit like soft praline with strong cocao taste.


From the side of the glass, you can see the raspberry compote at the bottom with some white cream mixed in.


The taste of this was amazing, because the chocolate was extremely light, it was bascially like fine whipped chocolate foam, and at the bottom I loved the tart raspberry compote and cream which made the dessert really dreamy.
The chocolate foam is similar to the British dessert Angel Delight but much much lighter.
The best thing about this dessert was that it was not sweet at all or even cloyingly sweet.
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Summer iced teas:

There were basically two flavours but if you look at the menu above it is really misleading as well as confusing!
Mint tea and green apple puree should be green but this is represented by the first picture because the green tea and apricot puree is referring to the second picture which should be the colour of the first.
Anyway I ordered the second one, so I was expecting green tea with apricot puree.

When it came, the colour of the drink light green so I presumed it was the apricot.
After taking a sip, there was some faint apricot taste but I could also taste mint too which should not be there.
As well as the foul mint taste, it was too sweet.
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Chocolat chaud nosy be:A pure cocoa from Madascagar with tangy and red fruit tones.
The special chocolate drink was not available so I decided to get one of their signature hot chocolates, so I chose the one with red fruit tones, hoping it would taste as tangy as the dessert above.

When it arrived, it was a jug of hot chocolate with a little cute cup. There was actually quite a lot of hot chocolate in the jug.

Anyway, took one sip and it was a total disappointment, there was no red fruit tones in it. It was extremely plain sweet hot chocolate.
I definately agree with HKE's comment that it should be quality and not quantity. The cup of chocolate at VERO's was slightly better.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Made in HK but not made for Kwun Tong

Made in HK Restaurant (Kwun Tong)
I think this restaurant is great but it would do better in the Hong Kong area.

The decor and modern settings are too hip for Kwun Tong.


They had great choices like Beef Wellington and Cordon Bleu which cost around $13X, but they no longer serve them because the locals probably do not know what it is and no one orders them.
They have the Beef Wellington at Loyal Dining which is in Central, and this place reminds me of it.


The pricing is also similar to Loyal Dining in Central which is expat friendly and they have a great English website with the latest food menus.

Since the Beef Wellington and Cordon Bleu were discontinued I opted for noodles and a croque monsieur.

I am sort off expecting to see negative reviews from the locals because the food may be a bit too western or hip for them to appreciate just like Cantopop.
(Let' hope I am wrong and hope they have another branch in Hong Kong soon).
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Fellow foodie Dessire ordered a salad which turned out to be a star as well because it was not the usual Chinese style potato and fruit salad mixed in sweet salad cream, it was as healthy as it could get with almost near nothing dressing.
The fruits that was used were qute European too with grapefruit, blueberries and strawberries.

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Instant noodles in curry broth:

The instant noodles was surprisingly nice in the curry broth, which was a soup version of the typical Chinese cafe curry.

The egg that they use is organic and it was really nice too, there egg tasted natural without rancid oil smells from the pan, and the luncheon ham was nice as well.
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Croque monsieur:
The croque monsieur tasted good but too plain for Made in HK.
For the food they serve, this was too easy for their style, it was just toasted ham and cheese and not baked as the menu indicates.

The potato salad on the side was wonderful, I was expecting the Chinese type but it was normal Western style egg, potato in mayonnaise.
Absolutely and simply delicious especially the potatoes because they were soft and silky.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The reason for the OK ranking was because they did not have the items I wanted to try so I couldnt compare it to Loyal Dining.
I believe that if something is discontinued, it should not be on the menu.

McCafe Hong Kong : Green tea tofu cheese cake

Went to McCafe to try the new Green tea tofu cheese cake

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Green tea tofu cheese cake:


Visually it was quite nice with neat layers of tofu and green tea cake in the middle.
The taste was like strong vanilla mixed with a lot of sweetened condensed milk, but there was no green tea taste or tofu taste which was disappointing.
Since it was a cheesecake, I was also expecting some sort to cheese cakey taste, but there was none.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Happy Cheesecake by Saint Honore

This cheesecake looks visually weird and a bit too colourful for my liking!!
The different colours are: Passion fruit, chocolate, lime and strawberry.

Back for more musubis

Hana-musubi (Wan Chai)

Originally I planned to go to Texas chicken and ribs nearby but it was too hot that day to eat roast chicken, so I went to Hana-musubi instead.

Ended up getting a salad with two musubis and a soup.

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Special miso chicken:

The pieces of chicken in the musubi were quite chunky and tender, but the miso was not strong enough.
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Japanese style pork tomato curry:

There were lots of thinly sliced pieces of pork but the tomato and curry flavouring was light despite there was so much curry sauce in it.
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White collagen chicken meatball soup:

This tasted as good as my first visit because on my last visit the soup was too salty.
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Kewpie caesar salad sauce from China:
For my salad I chose caesar salad sauce which was by Kewpie, but surprisingly it was manufactured in China.
The taste was not that creamy with a hint of sweetness and the sauce was really runny.


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Great food at Café&Meal MUJI, but I am still hungry

Café&Meal MUJI (Causeway Bay)
Muji is a well known Japanese brand that sells stationary, household and consumer goods.

Muji is distinguished by its design minimalism, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logos and basic colours used in their products.

As well as goods, you can now eat there too at Café & Meal MUJI.

To match their style, the restaurant is also simple and minimalistic.

Before ordering you choose a table and they will put down the reserved sign to indicate that it is taken.

Basically there are sets.

There is a set where you can choose 3 or 4 items from the cold and hot selection and there is a butter curry chicken.
The sets comes with rice/ten grain rice and a soup/drink.

For the 4 item set, you have to choose two dishes from the cold deli and two from the hot deli.

Cold Deli:

Hot Deli:

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Four item set:

1) Baked mackerel with tomato curry sauce (hot)
There was not much tomato or curry taste, but the mackerel itself tasted ok.
2) Japanese style Sargassum salad (cold)
This was my favourite because I liked the sargassum algae and it was refreshing.
3) Omelet with assorted vegetables (cold)
I know this is meant to be cold, but it was icy cold.
4) Miso eggplant gratin (hot)
The miso taste was not strong but there was minced meat in this dish as well.
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Ten grain rice:

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Oolong tea:

The oolong tea was surprisingly good because it had a strong leafy taste.
After I finished the drink, I ripped the teabag and found whole leaves inside.
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Chicken salad with black sesame sauce:
This was a good mix of french beans and chicken in black sesame sauce.
The colour of this sauce reminded me of of the black caesar salad at Beautifood.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Butter Mixed Vegetables Chicken Curry:

I am going to make the same comment as 梵高將軍
The amount of chicken in this is PATHETIC!
If I am in a non meat eating mode then this is great, but I was in a meat eating mode that day and I was mega hungry and there was one ONE PIECE of chicken in the curry and the other three were potatoes.
The amount of rice was stingy but to be fair the curry sauce was delicious an buttery and not spicy at all.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
On my next visit I hope to try the tofu prawn patty from the hot deli section and the chicken burger.