Friday, September 27, 2013

Waffles with ice cream at Triple O's

Triple O's by White Spot (Causeway Bay)

Went past Triple O's and saw that they had waffles with icecream, so I decided to try it.

It costs $28 a la carte or $18 extra with theirs sets.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Waffles with ice cream:


Basically there are two slices of waffles with a scoop of icecream and chocolate syrup in the middle.


The waffle was soft and slightly hard on the edges.
Personally I would have liked it with plain cream because the chocolate syrup and vanilla icecream made it a bit too sweet.
Basically these waffles were pre-made and re-heated to serve.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

The sky's the limit

Located at the ICC on the 101st Floor, Sky Crystal most probably has the best views in Hong Kong.
(Please refer to Mjqueen7e's photos.)
It was my first visit to the ICC and the first time going above the 100th floor!

When we got up there, there were spectacular views at Sky Crystal matched by numerous sparkling crystal chandeliers in the restaurant.

Sky Crystal specializes in Shanghai cuisine and dim sums.

Thanks to a fellow foodie and the restaurant for inviting us to try their food.
I was extremely impressed by their creativity which made their food delightfully similar to the dim sums at Disneyland which are aimed for families and children.

Here's was what we tried:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed siu mai dumplings with scallop and black truffle:


I loved how Western food was incorporated in the siu mai because scallop and truffle are usually paired together.
It turned the boring dimsum delectable with the addition of truffle and juicy sweet scallop.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed peapod shaped scallop dumplings:

These cute dumplings were shaped like peapods with scallops in each pod section.
Each bite guaranteed with a piece of scallop.
It was really nice having something normal presented in a different style and tasting great too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Carrot shaped Chinese pastry with grated radish filling:


These were filled with grated radish and the radish was not too soft or hard with a distinctive white radish taste complemented with light gravy inside.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
House special soupy dumpings:

Ever since I saw them posted on the internet, I have always wanted to try them.
I really appreciated that each one was uniquely different and not just different by trivial sauces eg curry, chili or other essence flavourings.
They were different meats inside and they even had cheese or beef too.
The dumplings in this steamer were:
Orange - spicy chicken
Green - black Iberian pork and organic vegetables
Black - black truffle and steamed pork
Beige - foie gras and steamed pork
The one I tried was the spicy chicken and it is rare to get chicken dumplings in Hong Kong because it is usually made with pork by default.
Although in Nepalese restaurants they have chicken momos (chicken dumplings) and in China they have duck meat dumplings.
I loved the taste of it because chicken was really delicate and the spicy sichuan spices were really fragrant.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Plum pickled Chinese yam:

The yam was presented in a fun way, just like Jenga Blocks!
Each piece of yam was crispy with a slight viscous texture flavoured lightly with pickled plum.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pickled cucumber rolls:

The cucumber rolls were wrapped with carrots in the middle and it was nicely done because the cucumber was tautly rolled up.
The taste was really refreshing because the cucumber rolls were picked right through and there was a sweet aftertaste.
They reminded me of Chinese guerkins.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Homemade wine flavoured eggs:
These wine flavoured eggs were really impressive because the wine flavour was strong and soaked right through.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Double boiled fish maw soup with morel mushroom and conch:

The soup was really good and a must try item.
There was a big chunk of fish maw and a huge piece of conchmeat.
Initially I thought the conch would be chewy because of its size, but it was so soft that it needed minimal chewing and the broth had really strong conch taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shanghai style Soup with fresh salted pork:
Clearly this soup had salted pork in it that you could taste the salted meats in the soup.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried chicken:
Basicially it was a Chinese style roast chicken with crispy skin covered in their secret sauce which was really nice and not spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Nanjing style Salted duck:
The duck meat was gently flavoured not as salty as the name suggests.
It was nice and plain.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Poached asparagus wrapped with shredded Chinese yam in spinach soup:

This was another one of my favourites, not only does it look fabulous, it tastes great as well.
The crunchy asparagus is wrapped in ultra finely shredded Chinese yam which is also crunchy giving it a double crunch when you eat it.
The spinach soup was extremely light blended with spinach making you crave for more.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried diced abalone dumplings:

Again this is the best savoury dumpling compared to other ones because it was not oily and the filling inside was abalone and lean meat in delicious gravy.
The outer casing was crispy with a chewy inner surface similar to mochi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Braised imitated sea cucumber with pork:

This is another creative dish again, the sea cucumbers are actually dumplings shaped like sea cucumbers with squid ink which gives it the colour.
Inside it was filled with delicious grounded pork and gravy while the chewyness of the imitated sea cucumber is quite similar to the real thing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mini egg tart with birds nest:

These egg tarts were delicious and the crust was extremely buttery.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sky crystal dessert surprise:

In this platter there were:
-Imperial pea cakes (orange)
-Ejiao jelly
-Mango yam sorbet (top)
-Tremella and sweet scented osmanthus jelly
-Red date pudding
Personally my favourites were the mango yam sorbet and the imperial pea cakes.
The yam sorbet had a starchy texture followed by an interesting savoury taste complemented by the mango sauce.
The pea cakes were also nice because they were not too sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I can't wait to dine here again but I hope there are more product shots on the menu or photos posted so that I know what to order next time. But in general their menu is very impressive because it has properly translated dishes in English, a must for expats.

27/09/2013
翡翠雲臺 Sky Crystal
尖沙咀柯士甸道西1號環球貿易廣場(ICC)101樓B2號舖
Shop B2, 101/F, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-skys-the-limit-e2322671

Burger mania at Caliburger

Caliburger Address:
Shop A, G/F, 68-76 Hennessy Road, Wanchai

When I saw the sign for this place, I just couldn't wait for it to open.
This place is going to adored by expats who miss their burgers.

The restaurant had bright decor and matching vibrant uniform.

They also have chargers for people to charge their phones.

Thanks to Caliburger and the communications team for inviting me to this event and giving us this lovely T-shirt.

At the tasting event, we could try any burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries and milkshakes.

The menu is simple at the moment, it is just burgers, sides and drinks because they are going to slowly introduce their full menu later.





If you don't feel like a meaty burger, there is a grilled cheese burger which is just cheese and salad.

Heres what we tried::
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fries:



I knew instantly I was going to like these pale dry looking fries because they are freshly cut and fried.
They taste like NYF when they first came to Hong Kong because they were done the authentic way, but the locals here do not appreciate that they are soft hence they are fried longer these days to give a crunch.
Anyway, I really liked them just how they were and I hope it remains that way.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled cheese burger (Vegetarian):



The cheese burger was nice and light, but the cheese was slightly different to what I expected it to be because they have used the American orange coloured processed cheese.
It is still a good choice because the cheese burger tastes good with lettuce, tomato and the cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Calichicken sandwich:



The chicken sandwich is also good because this one is minimalistic, it was just chicken and lettuce in the burger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cali chipotle BBQ Chicken sandwich:



The BBQ chicken sandwich tasted more exciting than the above because the chipotle sauce made it more appetizing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Wildstyle fries:



Basically, it was seasoned fries smothered in melted real American cheese, grilled sweet onions and their signature Cali sauce.
This was my favourite as well as the plain fries because the sauce and sweet onions gave it bursts of sweet and cheesy flavour.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
BBQ chicken wings:



Although this is labelled as BBQ wings, I felt that they looked like Buffalo wings, and the Buffalo wings below looked more like BBQ wings.
Anyway, the chicken wings were juicy smothered in delicious sweet tangy sauce.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Buffalo wings:



The buffalo wings were quite spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I will definately be back for the fries.

Caliburger now in Hong Kong

Caliburger Address:
Shop A, G/F, 68-76 Hennessy Road, Wanchai

THIS IS NOT A TASTING, the tasting will be posted later.

Came here after a tasting because I loved their fries and milkshake.

It would be great if you could upgrade combos to get the milkshake because the combo does not allow you to upgrade and get wild style fries or the milkshakes.

At the moment they are doing a special deal to make it a combo by adding an extra $10, normally it would be $20.

It was packed at lunch with so many homesick expats and ABC's.

Queueing and paying for the food was fast but it took longer for the food to arrive because they are still in teething stages.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fries:



The fries were darker than the tasting and were crispier with a soft inside.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hamburger:




The hamburger patty was nice and lean paired nicely with raw onions, but you can choose cooked onions if you don't like them raw.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Vanilla Milkshake:




Just discovered why their milkshakes were so nice because it was made with 100% icecream.

The only disadvantage is that every milkshake is made when ordered so you have to wait a while.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★



Artisan tea with sweet hearts

Got this tea from Bei Coffee in Sai Kung because I really liked the red hearts in the tea.

It looks good just sitting there as a display but I decided to try it.


As I do not have a strainer, I put the tea leaves in a filter bag.

The taste was interesting, it had tones of berries and rose.
There was a faint taste of sweetness because the red hearts are basically pieces of sugar.

Can you taste Styrene?

Sometimes I get really fed up with the CFC packaging that restaurants use.

The CFC packaging gives off a really unpleasant smell and goes directly in the food which ends up tasting of styrene.
I've always wondered if other people could taste the styrene as well or is it just me?

Recently I had some food contained in that crap and obviously this brand is from China because the lettering looks Mandarin.



Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Having a green cake at Dessert Forest

Dessert Forest (Mei Foo)
I initially planned to come here on the 15th of November in 2011 because there was a dinner in the dark event nearby.
It happened to be a Tuesday so it was closed, but the guy at the newspaper kiosk was really helpful because he spoke really good English!

Almost two years later, I am here again and its open!

Cute calender!

A nice rack of books

Cute hand drawn notice

As well as the nice interior, they support the environment and participate in upcycling.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pandan cake:
Anyway, I was mainly here for the pandan cake which is made by their Singaporean chef.

Indeed it was delicious, it was soft and fragrant, but the coloring was a bit too much compared to other pandan cakes.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon and red tea jelly:


The jellies were nice but I would have liked a stronger lemon taste.
It basically tasted like Vita's lemon tea made into jelly and the texture of the jelly was very firm too with a piece of coco de nata in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thanks to Mjqueen7e for treating us.
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