Fuss free comfort dining

IKEA Café (Kowloon Bay)

I have always wanted to try this place but Megabox is inconveniently located.

Last time I attempted to try this place, there were quite a lot of people so I gave up.

This time I came during off-peak hours, so the queue was not that long!

Basically, you grab a trolley and push it along the counter and take/order the items that you want.

The ordering style is very common in other countries but I don't know why it takes a Swedish company to be the first in Hong Kong.

It is also mind baffling that other places have not copied this style because when something is successful and making money, there are always market followers.

Having the trolley made me feel at ease because I could get whatever I wanted and stacked it on the trolley without having to worry how I was going to bring it to the table.

There were quite a few items they did not have: salmon steak, Cheese and spinach pancakes, fish filet in breadcrumbs, spinach salmon pie and fried cheese.

My trolley of food!~

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Vegetable medallions:

The vegetable medallions were nice, mixed with lots of brocoli and potatoes.
However they were soggy and heavy compared to TUCK SHOP who cooked it better.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Swedish meatballs with cream sauce:

The meatballs were nice and soft, complemented by the delicious gravy and sweet jam.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Golden chicken wings:

The chicken wings were not memorable because they were tasteless.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Swedish curry shrimp with pasta:

The pasta curry was surprisingly nice, it tasted like a light curry which is similar to Japanese curries with the odd pieces of potatoes, prawns here and there.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Prawns:

The prawns were meaty with lots of prawn roe beneath the shell. They were sweet and slightly salty due to the brine that it was in.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salmon lasagne:

The salmon was a bit too fishy and the tomato sauce did not match the lasagne.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

All those items above and it did not break the bank.
The price is similar to eating at Saizeyria.

I am dirty, please take me home to be recycled

I was attracted to the new Durian dessert with Glutinous rice because of the Jar.
Previously tried it before because Mjqueen7e got me the Frozen one from some local supermarket.

According to their Facebook and product shots, the glutinous rice is on the bottom layer with fresh durian meat on top.

There is a label on the jar in Chinese saying " Please take me home to be reused"

The glutinous rice was in a plastic tub which was put inside the glass jar.

The fresh durian was placed on top of the glutinous rice and strangely garnished with parsley which was so funny in a dessert.

It seems that you can take the inner plastic tub out which contains the dessert, and the bottom half of the jar is clean.

As I was going to reuse it, I decided to wipe the jar with tissue incase there were traces of dessert on it and I was SHOCKED to see the TISSUE WAS BLACK!!
How can they put food in DIRTY containers.
Food grade containers are a standard and clean containers for food are a must!
Even if you didn't know the definition of FOOD GRADE, I think it is the basics to serve consumables using a clean container.
Would'nt this make an interesting article for Appledaily after having just reported Hoi Tin Tong's contaminated turtoise desserts.
It makes me wonder if people in Hong Kong know the definition of Food grade containers or even food hygiene.

I suppose I was also lucky because according to their Facebook, the glutinous rice and durian is actually in the jar and touching the insides of the jar directly.



The only fortunate thing was that the glutinous rice did not touch that black stuff.
Their recycling label should read:
I am dirty, please take me home to be recycled
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Durian and glutinous rice:
The durian was quite mushy and sweet and the glutinous rice was dehydrated and hard that I wonder how long it had been in the fridge.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Vegetarian patty from the Subway

Subway (Wan Chai)
Since my last visit for 6 inch subs, the subs on this visit have improved.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Veggie patty:

Nicely identified by the written word Patty which makes life easier for the cashier and yourself especially when your buying more than one.
On this visit I had the vegetarian patty with mustard and BBQ sauce.
For the greens I had tomatoes, olives, lettuce and cucumbers and the bread I chose parmesian and oregano.


The reason why I said it had improved this time was that it did not leave me thirsty and bloated, the sauces and patty were well balanced.
The taste of the sub as a whole was much fresher and not so salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Improvements:
As this branch is super busy with long queues, they should have a form for people to tick while they are in the queue, it would be simpler for people to tick the type of bread, type of sauces, salads that they want especially for the non-English speakers who hold up the queue.
It is also good for customers because they do not need to shout out their choices because there are some people milling by the counter waiting for their subs.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Butter chicken curry at Camper's

Camper's (Quarry Bay)
Came to Camper's again hoping to try the purple sweet potato dessert but they've stopped doing it.

There were so many things I wanted to try such as the vegetable curry and the butter chicken, so I opted for the butter chicken
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
butter chicken curry:

The butter chicken was very substantial, a good balance of chicken, vegetables and delicious rice with pumpkins.
The butter chicken sauce was sweet and not that spicy which is suitable for people who find curry too spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

more noodles at MinMix

MinMix 1950 (Hung Hom)
The noodles at MinMix are actually decent but I did not like the level of service they offered at the TKO branch, so went to this one.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Noodles:

After ordering on the system, the noodles came shortly.
The broth was nice and strong and more generous than the TKO branch.
I had porks blood, thick luncheon ham and Chinese radish.
As usual the Chinese radish here is very sweet and the noodles tasted great with them.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Relax at Jack's Terrazza after work

Jack's Terrazza Ristorante (Wan Chai)
Previously Jack's Terrazza used to be located at Brim (Sanlitan) which was really far away for me, but now they are located right in the commercial area of Wan Chai.

It is upstairs with a nice balcony which allows dining on fine days, and on rainy days you can book the tables with the swinging benches.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Restaurant photos:

Balcony

Here was what we tried:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Involtini Di bresaola alla noci:
Rolls of bresaola, asparagus and goats cheese with hazelnut sauce

This was a strong starter, delicious crunchy asparagus wrapped in air-dried, salted beef complemented with pungent goats cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Insalata Di arugula con tonno scottato
Seared tuna served on a bed of arugula salad tossed with cherry tomato in a lemon herb dressing.

The tuna was seared just right with delicious black pepper rubbed on the surface paired with grassy argula leaves.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Risotto ai fruitti di mare
Risotto with assorted seafood in a lobster cream sauce

A filling but light dish of risotto in creamy rich lobster sauce that was al-dente.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon sorbeto

When the second half was just about to be served, we had refreshingly cool lemon sorbeto preparing our palettes for the mains.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pollo tagliato All'Erbe
Roasted game hen with herbs and parmesan cheese

The game hen was perfectly roasted and the chicken breast was still tender and juicy and the deliciously flavoured chicken skin was infused in its own juices.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sogliola intera fritta
New Zealand whole sole pan fried served in a lime butter sauce with half roasted potatoes and garden vegetables

This was my favourite because the lime butter sauce was nice and tangy.
It was a simple pan-fried sole which I would always buy in the UK and cook like that.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ossobucco alla milanese
Braised veal shank in a red wine tomato sauce, served with polenta

The veal shank could have been softer and the polenta was a bit oily so this is the only dish that need improvement.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Dessert platter:
Blueberry cheesecake, Gelata all cassata, tiramisu


The Gelata all cassata was just dreamy, it was like a big truffle chocolate in icecream form dusted in velvety cocoa which was not too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The Chan's by the sea!

海傍陳記 (Western District)
Came to this restaurant because it seems to be famous for its pan fried rice rolls.

I couldn't quite figure out why its Chinese name means by the sea because it was a few streets away from the sea.
However inside the restaurant, there is a backdrop of the sea as you view it from New Praya Kennedy Town street.

On the tables, there were cute chopstick holders made from cardboard.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Imitation sharks fin soup:

The soup was big!

It was the usual imitation soup with meat, egg but then I found some pork blood jelly which livened it up because I've never seen pork blood jelly in it!
Although it was weird, it tasted nice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
XO sauce pan fried rice rolls:

The rice rolls were nicely done but it was too oily for my liking.
The soy sauce and dried scallops on the rice rolls were delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cute metal spoon with a star handle:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★