Hardcore ice cream flavours with a softcore effect

Ice Cream Gallery (Kwun Tong)
I have always wanted to go to Ice Cream Gallery at Repulse bay, but it was too far and I didn't know how to get there.

Anyway, I found out that they moved to Kwun Tong through OpenRice so I decided to go there, but you have to reserve two days in advance for some flavours.

As well as that, they only open until 7pm, so you have to rush there!

At this new location, it is bascially a workshop for dessert lessons, so as well as selling icecreams, they can also generate revenue from other activities because not many people would come here for icecream.

I also have the feeling, they supply icecream to top notch restaurants in Hong Kong, so icecreams are just a side business.

The icecreams here do not contain stabilizers, colouring, gelatine, emulsifiers or preservatives.

There is a cabinet of icecreams.



Here was what we tried.
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French lobster:

I thought it was going to be savoury but it was sweet, you could taste pieces of lobster in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bacon and egg:

There was lots of bacon in it but I could not taste the egg.
Again it was sweet and not savoury.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Japanese Uji Supreme Green Tea :

I thought the green tea flavour was a bit boring because it tasted a bit bitter and grassy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Escargot :

This was my favourite and you could evidently taste escargot.
It had a sticky texture and the taste of oregano was really strong.
Below is a photo of the escargot they use.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ginger Vinegar and Egg

The ginger taste was quite prominent and the texture of the ginger was a bit like dried coconut but the vinegar taste was not that apparent.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Overall, I felt that the icecreams were really creative, but they shouldn't taste sweet because its a waste of all those luxurious ingredients if you can't taste it.

The escargot had the taste I was expecting but I would prefer it to be totally savoury because I tried a savoury icecream at another restaurant and it truly was savoury without sugar.

In most top notch restaurants, they have frozen amuse bouches that are totally savoury, so why can't these icecreams be like that.

Perfect English lunch by the sea! @ China Bear

China Bear (Lantau Island)
My original plan was lunching at Central at some Chinese stall, but both Sing Heng Yuen and Yue Hing were closed (it was a Saturday that day), so I was pretty annoyed and randomly went to Mui Wo.

After getting off the ferry, I felt that Mui Wo was such a lovely place, there are some similarities to Sai Kung, but this place is a million times better.
I hate Sai Kung.

The sea was clear, there were no boats clotting the view or stinky boat fuel lingering in the air, the air was FRESH!

The vibes at this place was amazing, there were so many expats and Western restaurants near the pier.
There was a good bakery shop nearby too.
I was hoping to see some cows, but there were none that day.

Anyway, this was my first stop for food!!!!
I saw the words CHICKEN TERRINE and I just had to have it!
It was only $79 which is quite reasonable for British food!

Sat down, and the view was wonderful, just sea and hills infront of me surrounded by expats.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Potato and leek soup:

The soup was ok, nothing memorable.
It was the usual thick soup with flour in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken Terrine:

As expected the chicken terrine was delicious, it was grounded chicken, herbs and some flour mixed in.

It reminded me of Christmas stuffing, anyway, the terrine was delicious with the gravy and sweet peas.
I ate the carrots too which I do not normally eat.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

WAGYU steaks to your door

Visited the recent food exhibition and tried some Wagyu beef at WAGYU DOOR TO DOOR,
they basically deliver raw steaks to your door at your convenience with prized pink Himalayan salt seasoning so you can cook steaks at home.

There is a good range of beef ranging from US and Japanese with A2 and A4 grading.
For more info:
https://www.facebook.com/WagyuDoorToDoor

A sneak preview of Halal mooncakes at Hong Kong Goods Shop

Thanks to Hong Kong Good Shops for holding a tasting so that we could get a sneak preview of the new Halal mooncakes.



Halal means food that Muslims are allowed to eat under Islamic Shariʻah. The criteria specify both what foods are allowed, and how the food must be prepared. The foods addressed are mostly types of meat and animal tissue.

The food must come from a supplier that uses halal practices. Specifically, the slaughter must be performed by a Muslim, who must precede the slaughter by invoking the name of Allah, most commonly by saying "Bismillah" ("In the name of Allah") and then three times "Allahu akbar" (God is the greatest). Then, the animal must be slaughtered with a sharp knife by cutting the throat, windpipe and the blood vessels in the neck (while the animal is conscious), causing the animal’s death without cutting the spinal cord. Lastly, the blood from the veins must be drained. This final step is performed because blood can harbor harmful bacteria, and also to ensure that there are no blood clots, thus keeping the entire body safe and clean to be eaten.





Halal certifcation:





In Singapore, there are more Muslims, hence more Halal products, in Hong Kong there are just as much Muslims, ranging from Indonesian maids, locals, expats, but no one has really taken the step to get Halal certification to produce Halal food because to get certified, one of the members must be a Muslim of authority.

I was excited about the mooncakes because of the sweet purple potato, in general I rarely eat mooncakes, because I have always hated sweet lotus seed paste with the savoury egg yolk.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Mooncakes with purple potato filling:


As expected, it looked visually nice because of the colour purple contrasted by the vibrant egg yolk.



Not only was it colourful, it was delicious too and not cloyingly sweet.
However, some people felt that there were too many sweet potato fibres in it which made the texture dry and rough.
Maybe this could be improved by adding okra because it has a lubrication properties.



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Cheese sticks



I loved these cheesesticks, but the cheese could have been stronger.

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Almond Cookies



These cookies had a nice buttery taste with pieces of almond it in.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bread and butter
The bread was soft and deliciously paired with anchor butter!



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Cold Meze platter @ Bahce

Bahce Turkish Restaurant (Lantau Island)
After the delicious food at China Bear, I walked past this shop and saw people having some dishes that looked delicious.

So waited a while until I was a little hungrier and tried this place.

I am not familiar with Turkish food so I didn't know what the dish was that I saw earlier, but since they had a Meze platter I ordered that instead.
There was either a hot meze or a cold meze so I chose the cold one because the hot one seemed a bit heavy.

The Cold Meze basically had: Hummus, Green beans, Kisir, haydari, dolma, eggplant, served with salad.

The pita bread was for dipping the Mezes.


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Hummus:

The hummus was ok, but not sour enough so after adding the lemon it tasted so much nicer.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green beans:

The sauce that it was in was tomato puree, but the tomato tasted quite artificial.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Kisir:

Basically, this was couscous and I loved it because there was lots of cumin in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Haydari:

This was basically garlic and dill yoghurt dip, the dill was a bit too strong.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dolma:

This was rice wrapped in vegetables leaves, it was too minty and oily for my liking.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Egg plant:

This was my favourite dip, but there was not much egg plant taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Ice Cream Gallery @ Food Expo

Ice Cream Gallery (Kwun Tong)
Went to the Food Expo with Mjqueen7e because she had some complimentary tickets.

I was surprised to see that ICG was exhibiting there, so decided to try the flavours I did not try on the Kwun Tong visit.

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Jamon and Melon Sorbet:
(made with 24 months Spanish Jamon Iberico and Melon)

The sorbet tasted really nice because you could really taste the melon.
There were pieces of Iberico ham in it which had a slight hard texture because it was frozen.
It would be great if the ham and melon taste were equally prominent.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
French Foie Gras Ice Cream:

The same comment as the icecreams at Kwun Tong, you could not really taste the foie gras even though there were pieces of real foie gras in the icecream because the sweetness was more prominent.
It tasted like chocolate icecream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Back for more "snacks" @ Café&Meal MUJI

Café&Meal MUJI (Causeway Bay)

The portions are pathetically small but delicious.

Since I wanted to try some other items, I tried this before a tasting knowing it won't fill me up!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Food!:

Clockwise from where the chopsticks point are: Indian chicken, Bacon and Potato Salad with Creamy Sauce and Spinach and Chicken Burger with Teriyaki Sauce.
The indian chicken was a bit boring, it was just plain roast chicken and you could not taste any spices.
The bacon and potato salad was delicious, creamy and cheesey, and the pieces of spinach were cooked but still had a crunch.
The spinach and chicken burger was ok, but a bit too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roasted tea pudding:

The pudding was topped with sweet runny liquid on top which is the essense of its sweetness in that pudding.
The texture of the pudding was so light that you could drink it (similar to the texture of Chinese silky tofu flower) and the taste was seriously delcious because it was like drinking tea flavoured silky tofu flower.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dishes that I ordered from the counter:


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★