Sandakan food at Cafe Kool

Café Kool (Tsim Sha Tsui)

Shangri-La hotel has partnered with three Malaysian guest chefs: Johon Bin Sinma, Kuneh Binti Sumpat and Chong Vui San to offer an extensive Sandakan buffet at Cafe Kool.

I was greeted by a vibrant reception and a Sandakan 8% alcoholic drink which was really really nice because it was sweet with pineapple and rice wine and we were given a lovely handmade necklace.

I liked the way the dessert selection was near the entrance, it was a good reminder to leave some room for dessert too.


The buffet offers Banana bud salad, sea bird's nest salad to hinava shrimp, prawn roll with bambangan dressing, sambal belgacan (chili shrimp paste), ikan bilis (anchovies), sotong kangkung (squid and kong xin chai drizzled with peanut sauce), and bitter gourd hinava and mackerel.





Popular soup and noodle choices include Mee Suah (Shrimp soup), bak kut teh, laksa, Sandakan spring noodles and soto (Chicken noodles).


At the featured sections, there were Ikan panggang (grilled fish), assam curry fish head, steamed prawns and sabah lo ton garouper with soy sauce, soft shell crab, wok-fried crab with sambal, kam heong crab, fried butter prawns, oxtail assam peda, mui heong far lam (braised pork), ayam bakar (BBQ chicken), beef masak hitam (beef in soy sauce) and three flavoured chicken.

Lastly leave yourself some room for dessert with a captivating range such as Sandakan UFO tart, Jackfruit and Banana spring roll, chee tan cha (herbal tea with braised egg) and bahulu (Malaysian cake).
The Durian swiss roll was simply delicious with real pieces of durian in the middle and the fun UFO tart.


As well as their Sandakan food, their other food were great too with a good range of seafood, foie gras, shake shake salads served in glass jars, Indian food, Mexican food and the desserts!

Great fish and chips on the hills, not by the sea

Seasalt (Mid-Levels)
When I found out about this place I really wanted to go especially if a Brit saids that an Oz style fish and chips are good.

At first I was a bit hesistant to go because it was located on the Mid Levels and they did not answer their phones.

I can understand they are not taking phone orders but it would be appreciated if they answered the phones so that I know it is open especially trekking a long distance from SK to the Mid levels.

I nearly gave up coming here because I was not familiar with the Mid Levels and did not have the slightest clue how to get there.

Anyway, since I really wanted to try their fish and chips I took my chances and hoped that it would be open because new restaurants often have special opening hours.

When I got there, I was greeted with bright blue stools and chequered tiles.



The front of the restaurant had open windows, lovely for breezy and cooler days.


There is a lovely view of trees with a sense of tranquility away from the hustle and bustle of the noisy city.

The food selection is listed on the side of the wall.

There was a 20% discount to celebrate its opening which turned out to be quite a deal since I saved about $6X.

Basically they offered three types of fish: Cod (Ling), Barramundi, Red Snapper served with chips, salad or rice.
There was a choice of beer battered or grilled fish.
For the fish, there were a choice of sauces such as tartar, ginger and soy, wasabi mayonnaise, sweet chili or garlic aioli.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The lot:

This is good if you want to try everything because it had calamari, haloumi cheese, prawn skewers, fish, chips and salad.
The chips were slightly disappointing because they were hand-cut and they just tasted like frozen crispy fries, they lacked the soft oilyness that fresh cut chips have.
The calamari was delicious because the batter was extremely light and the fish was great because the batter was extremely thin.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cod with rice:

As I already chose chips for "The Lot", I decided to choose rice to go with the fish.
It was no ordinary rice which was why I chose it.
The rice was nutritious red rice mixed with red wine and coconut milk.


As you can see, the batter was thin and crispy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
A bit pricy, but I do want to come back.

Delicious Dutch Poffertjes

Orange Tree
I have been past this restaurant quite a few times but the outside just looked like an ordinary restaurant so I never would have guessed they did Dutch food in there.

The name of the restaurant didn't sound Dutch, but it was a nice name.

I found out it was Dutch from the reviews so decided to go there just for the Poffertjes.

The last time I had something similar were the Dutch oven pancakes which were like big yorkshire puddings.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Poffertjes:

Poffertjes are made with yeast and buckwheat flour which look like small, fluffy pancakes. Unlike American pancakes, they have a light, spongy texture.
They were like cute coin pockets that were soft and fluffy with delicious powdered sugar on top.
I felt they tasted great without the icecream because the icecream was too overpowering.
Although there is no cheese in the recipe, it tasted like there was cheese and it was savoury too which was even more delicious.
They were so delicious, I finished them really quickly!
I'll be back.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

20/09/2013
Orange Tree
半山蘇豪些利街17號地下
G/F, 17 Shelley Street, SOHO, Mid-Levels
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/delicious-dutch-poffertjes-e2321291

French tranquility spot at Cafe Lavande

Cafe Lavande
Discovered this place as I was at another restaurant nearby.

It appeared to be a cake shop but I did not know it was French until I walked in and saw the owner of Chez meli melo who was helping out that day.

There were various cakes and quiches but I tried the Clafoutis because it was freshly made by them.
The last one I tried was a frozen cherry one by French brand CASINO.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Clafoutis:

Basically it was a bit like a sweet flan with lots of European fruit in it from blueberries, strawberries and pears.
The sweetness was just right and I liked it because it was crammed with lots of fruit pieces.
It was slightly different to the frozen one I had because that one just had cherries and it was much sweeter.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The best blackforest cake in Hong Kong

Vanilla (Mid-Levels)

Found out about this bakery because I was at a restaurant nearby.
It would be hard discovering this bakery on openrice because there were not many recent reviews even though this place has been here for YEARS!!

They had a good selection of British pies, quiches and cakes.

The one that caught my eye was the blackforest cake.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Blackforest cake:


After removing the plastic sheet that was around the cake, I knew I made the right choice choosing it!
As well as the cherry on top, you could see whole cherries in the middle.

There were at least NINE WHOLE cherries in this cake! (Money well worth spent already and this cake was only $34)

The price of this cake was extremely reasonable too compared to other crappy local cakes which only give you chopped cherries and cheap cream.
As well as that the chocolate shavings on top were amazing because they were NANO thin and melts in your mouth. They were as soft as snowflakes.
The cake as a whole was delicious, the chocolate sponge was light and the cream was deliciously fresh whipped cream guaranteed with a juicy cherry in each bite because there were so many cherries in this cake!
I'll be back!
Best of the British.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Joy and Joy mooncakes

Joy and Joy (Central)

Got these mooncakes from Joy and Joy after a tasting.

The mooncakes were quite sweet but I loved the egg custard filling because the egg yolk was mixed in with it.

The mooncake pastry was quite thick.

Happy moon festival from OpenRice 2013

Wang Yue (Cheung Sha Wan)
Got these lovely Wang Yue mooncakes from OpenRice.

Wang Yue is made by the chef who made the Peninsula mooncakes.

Compared to the other batches, my were quite brown.

After taking them out, the pastry was quite soft, so I refridgerated them for a while so that the pastry was harder and held the mooncake together.

The mooncakes were heated in the microwave for a few minutes and there was a strong buttery smell.
The taste of fragrant custard egg filling and buttery pastry were delicious together.