Cronuts

Swissbeck (Central)
If it were not for the Cronuts I would not have come here~





Currently there are only three places in Hong Kong that sell them: The Mandarin Cake Shop's Kronut for $26, Petite Amanda's cronut for $16, and Swissbeck's cronut for $30 in six flavours.


Invented in May 2013 by chef Dominique Ansel for Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City, cronuts are a croissant-doughnut hybrid.

I just expected the Cronut to taste like a light chewy puff pastry hence I chose the fresh fruit one which is basically filled with cream and diced strawberries.
I devoured my cronut there so there is only one side shot of it.

As this is the only cronut I have ever tried I cannot compare it to the original one in New York or the other ones in HK, but I have read a review on the Mandarin one which seems to have a strong oily aftertaste.

They remind me of yum yum's (twisted donuts) with a icing sugar coating.
On my next visit, I will probably get the Berliner donuts.


They also sell other pastries and cookies too.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fresh fruit cronut:



The cronut was basically two halves with cream and strawberry in the middle sandwiched together.
Each half had so many layers just like puff pastry but they were not that brittle which kept it in one piece.
The cronut was slightly sugared and was seriously delicious with the cream and strawberries in the middle which was sightly sweetened.
I felt like I was eating a strawberry turnover with cream but with more proportion of pastry.
Luckily it was not that oily and did not have a strong aftertaste like the one at the Mandarin which I read from Fungry and Fabulous's review.
It was great the cronuts were not sold out that day because I rang them a few times before going and no one answered.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Over priced vegetarian food at The Herbivores

The Herbivores (Central)
Came here to celebrate a foodies birthday.

Tried three sets which were all good, but the waitresses were a bit stuck up.
As commented by Samurai in an openricers vegetarian review, the staff at vegetarian places seem to have a temper or an attitude issue.

But saying that, Sin Mei's vegetarian cafe does not have that problem.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Omelette:

Nicely done with an eggy taste, the pan they used was clean, so it did not have a rancid oil smell.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Homemade Bruschetta:

Although it was delicious, I was a bit disappointed because they used toast.
Most bruschettas use baguette slices or something similar.
It was topped with tangy tomato puree and herbs which had a strong taste.
(Was trying to figure out what was homemade: The toast or the tomato puree?)
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweet Morning:

The pancakes were surprisingly delicious, they were soft, fluffy and golden.
It was great that it came with yogurt because yoghurt is a healthier than cream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chocolate Mousse:

Most vegetarian chocolates do not taste nice because it lacks some vital ingredient but the chocolate mousse here was great.
Technically it was not a mousse but similar to a light paste that was silky and really chocolatey.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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Total HKD: $1xx
Service: could be better
Yummy factor: ok
Sweetness levels: just right
Napkins provided: yes
Portion sizes: reasonable
Glass of water provided: No
English Menu: Yes
Air Conditioning: Yes
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Green tea with fruit from MIX

Mix (Wan Chai)
Came here for a drink after being roasted at Texas BBQ chicken because there was no air con.


The air con here was quite cold.
This time ordered the Green tea with fruit.


The drink was much nicer than the green tea with lychee.
It was not so bitter.
After poking the fruits, it gave the green tea a hint of sweetness.
There were chunks of pineapple, lemon and watermelon in the tea.
ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ◎ⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓢⓤⓟⓔⓡⓖⓘⓡⓛ
Price: $32
Service: OK
Service charge: no
Sweetness levels: just right
English Menu: Yes
Air Conditioning: Yes
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Good concept but too oily at Daikuya

Kiev filled with miso and radish:

Daikuya (Tseung Kwan O)
I am not really a fan of pork or deep fried cutlets, but tried this place because of the Japanese style pork kievs.

As well as these pork kievs, they had other snacks too such as fried cutlet egg, fried cheese etc, but none of them were available when I tried to order them.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
At the counter, they had samples of the different kievs:


Kiev filled with creamy mushrooms:
Kiev filled with Spinach:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Decided to get the Kiev with miso and radish because the spinach and mushroom ones looked a bit creamy.

The set comes with soba, rice or ochazuke, julienne cabbage and a drink.

The soba was a bit too soft for my liking.

The julienne vegetables were really nice because of the sesame sauce.

The green tea was the best out of the set because it was not too sweet and the green tea taste was strong.


The star of the meal! The Kiev!
It was a bit too oily!


I was a bit disappointed the filling was same colour as the coating. The miso was not even dark nor was there any miso paste or beans in it because I could only taste some slight grated radish.
The filling was bit weak and tasteless.
More annoyingly, the pork was very fatty!


THIS FOOD COURT IS LIKE A FREEZER! THE AIR CON IS ON FULL BLAST!

Cheesy Tots @ Burger King

BURGER KING (North Point)
I was surprised to see Burger King offering Cheesy Tots because what is sold in HK is decided by Hong Kong's Burger King's headquarters on what they think will sell.

I got a box of Cheesy Tots which has 9 bites, in the US you get 8 for USD$1.99.

They're basically tater tots with a breaded coating and some melted cheese in the middle.







The Cheesy Tots taste a bit like mac and cheese but not too cheesy.
Not very exciting and they were not hot enough.

Novelty mooncakes from Orchid Padaria

Orchid Padaria Bakery (North Point)
I never ever buy traditional mooncakes because I hate them especially the white lotus paste and salted egg yolk.

Anyway, I saw some interesting traditional mooncakes at Orchid Padaria Bakery.

They were small ones and you could buy them separately which is good.

They had interesting flavours: Jasmine, cherry, mango, sweet potato, spicy beef, aged fruit peel, chocolate, pork floss and seaweed and many more.



Got some for friends and a sweet potato for myself.



It was really disappointing because there was no sweet potato taste, but for that size I was surprised to find some egg yolk in it.
I did not bother to take a photo of it sliced in half.

Not a very chirpy place @ Bird and Basket

Bird and Basket (Prince Edward)
Came here randomly before having dessert nearby.
It was quite gloomy upstairs and the air conditioning was extremely cold.

I was intrigued why it was called Bird and Basket and not The Birdcage or Bird and Cage because there were more bird cages used as decor than baskets .

Just ordered two items.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chinese radish puffs:


The chinese radish in the middle was very bitter and salty with high MSG content.
The pastry had so much lard in it that you could smell.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice rolls with sakura shrimp:

The concept of this was good but they ruined the sakura shrimps because they have been deep fried to the point that they tastes bitter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chili oil:

Had to ask for it twice!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★