Thanksgiving 2014 Turkey at Blue Butcher

Every year Thanksgiving is getting better because more restaurants are serving turkey.
A few years ago it was really scarce that I had to keep an eye on the calender so I wouldn't miss it.

At Blue Butcher, they are now serving a whole turkey which is enough for 6-8 people priced at $1860 or half a turkey for $930 with homemade stuffing, mash, candied bacon, Brussel sprouts and trimmings.
Dessert is finished with a scrumptious pumpkin pie.

(All turkeys must be ordered 72 hours in advance.)

That night we had Turkey and some of their other dishes so lets start with the Turkey first.

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[b]Green Goddess:[/b]

Started off with this drink which was a concoction of cucumber, dill, Vanilla gum and citrus.
The taste of dill in the drink was surprisingly good and it was such a healthy drink.

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[b]Roast Turkey:[/b]

Now to the star of the show, the turkey was sliced surrounded by the vegetables, stuffing, mash etc.
I tried both the breast and leg which were both incredibly soft and supple but I have to admit the leg was tastier.

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[b]Pumpkin pie:[/b]

The Thanksgiving meal ended with my favourite pumpkin pie which was not too sweet with a strong cinnamon flavour to it.
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Other dishes we had:

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[b]Kurobua BBQ pulled pork sliders:[/b]

These sliders were packed with pickled chili and aged cheddar which had a tangy smokey taste.

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[b]Veal sweetbread nuggets:[/b]

The nuggets came with black truffle emulsion and lemon.

You don't often see sweetbread on the menu so this was a must order item because it is delicious.
They are similar to chicken liver which has a soft mushy yet velvety texture and with the crispy coating they taste a bit like fried pieces of chicken.

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[b]Jarred foie gras and chicken liver:[/b]

The pate was lovely and velvety balanced by the sharpness of the onions.

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[b]Macaroni and cheese with egg:[/b]

This was amazing because the cheese was rich and the addition of the half cooked egg made the macaroni tastier.

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[b]Pig belly and cheek:[/b]

The pig belly was on a bed of lentils and Granny Smith apple slaw.

It was a nice mix of pork, starchy lentils and tangy apple pieces.
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Inconsistent broth

Went here twice because the vermicelli was good but on the second visit the broth was not that good.

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[b]Vermicelli on the first visit:[/b]

The broth was strong with some yellow glistening chicken oil that had strong chicken taste.
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[b]Vermicelli on the second visit::[/b]

On the second visit, the broth was gone and soaked up by the vermicelli and it tasted bland.
The vermicelli comes with toast and egg which is weird but it is a Chinese thing.

As well as the vermicelli, I tried the macaroni cheese with tuna and spinach.
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[b]macaroni cheese with tuna and spinach:[/b]

It was Chinese style so the sauce is basically starchy creamy white gravy with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Overall it tastes quite nice if you treat it as macaroni in cream sauce with canned tuna chunks!!
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[b]Instant noodles with pork chop:[/b]

The instant noodles were too sweet for my liking.
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[b]The bill:[/b] $1xx
[b]Service:[/b] OK
[b]Service charge:[/b] no
[b]Yummy factor:[/b] ok
[b]Napkins provided:[/b] yes
[b]Portion sizes:[/b] Big
[b]Noise levels:[/b] Noisy
[b]Glass of water provided:[/b] yes
[b]English Menu:[/b] Yes
[b]Air Conditioning:[/b] Yes
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Magic mushrooms

I came here especially for these magic mushrooms, they won't send you on a trip but they will sure tantalize your tastebuds.

They are basically buns filled with chopped mushrooms and truffle coated in edible brown powder to look like they were just plucked from the soil.

These buns were delicious with warm mushrooms in the middle covered in fragrant truffle sauce.

Apart from the food, this restaurant was surreal, the menu is like a catalog of pastel bowls and dishes with food.

The presentation is wonderful, food is presented like art and in a Western way.

The bowl with flies on it as part of the design will make the elderly or food inspectors look twice which they probably don't find it amusing, the same as carrying a fake gun into the airport.

Anyway, everything was good but the bill took a while to arrive because I messaged my friend who was also dining there to say bye but I was still there for quite some time.
He later messaged me to say that his bill took ages to come after requesting it too.

Chiuchow cuisine at the Miramar mall

I have always loved Chiuchow style food and there are so many variations.
At Chateh they specialise in Top Notch Chiuchow food that is affordable.

Heres what we tried
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Started off with marinated sliced goose meat, chiu chow marinated beef, Chiu Chow honeycomb beef tripe, marinated sliced cuttlefish:

The beef tripe and cuttlefish were my favourites because I liked the springy texture.
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Salted cabbage and pig's tripe soup:

This had a strong peppery taste to it.

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Stir fried cod with crispy garlic:

This was my favourite because the cod was soft on the inside with a delicious crispy coating.
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Chicken with vegetables and sichuan pepper

The chicken was tasty and not spicy at all even though there is Sichuan pepper.
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stewed roast pork with leafy mustard in pot:

This was a nice vegetable dish because it had a strong leafy taste with a slight bitterness.

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Crab with glutinous rice:

I love rice and the glutinous rice was really tasty.

After adding the sweet vinegar the glutinous rice was even moreish.
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Fried Crispy "E-Fu" Noodle Served with Sugar & Vinegar

I tried the noodles without sugar and vinegar and it tasted nice because there was some chicken stock taste to it.
It was partially crispy and partially soft on the other side but when you picked it up it was not too hard which was good.
After trying sugar and vinegar I felt that vinegar tastes better as it makes it not so greasy.
It tastes better than other restaurants because it is not that oily.
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For desserts we had Osmanthus jelly with almond pudding, almond tea with egg white and sweetened gingko with mashed taro.

Not a fan of Chinese desserts but the taro mash was nice because it was sticky, starchy and not too sweet.

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Anyway I will definitely be back!!

Great ambiance and food at Dabyida

My friends wanted casual dining and good food but refused to dine in the Hong Kong area because they were working in Tsim Sha Tsui.

We went to Dabyida which is located at No.8 Minden Avenue that is only half minute's walk from the MTR Station & Nathan Road.

Previously tried this place and KC also recommended it.

When we arrived, we were allocated a comfortable table.

The restaurant had high ceilings and it was spacious.

Bar area: 

At the back, there was more seating for those who want privacy.

We were given the menu and the choice was impressive, the menu was clear and concise showing the choices for pastas, risotto, main courses to pizzas.

There was a separate drinks and dessert menu:

We settled for some starters, pastas and mains.

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Sparkling water $45:

Started with Perrier sparkling water.
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Caprese salad $108:
This was fresh farm buffalo mozzarella and steak tomatoes with sweet basil and extra virgin olive oil.

First came this refreshing salad of chilled tomato slices with creamy soft buffalo mozzarella.

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Foie Gras with carmelized pineapple $168:

Next was the foie gras which was served on a slice of pineapple, the pineapple was perfect with the foie gras to balance out the heaviness.
The foie gras was silky with a lovely pan-fried surface.
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Home-made beef cannelloni $158:
Home made cannelloni pasta rolled with minced beef and spinach in tomato sauce and parmesan.

I ordered this because not many places serve this.
It was delicious rich minced beef wrapped in sheets of pasta flavoured by the tangy tomato sauce.
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Home-made ravioli $158:
Ravioli stuffed with spinach, ricotta cheese served in cherry tomato sauce.

This is another one of my pasta favourites because it is filled with spinach and ricotta.
Each ravioli was filled with spinach and ricotta cheese that was soft and the ravioli skin was al-dente.
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Tuna steak $228:
Pan-fried ocean fresh tuna steak with aged balsamic vinegar atop grilled eggplants with mint sauce.

The tuna was really tasty and the surface was coated in poppy seeds and seared.
The taste of the tuna was quite strong which was balanced by the balsamic vinegar and mint sauce.
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Beef tenderloin $298
Grilled 8oz beef tenderloin served with baby spinach and blueberry demi glace.

Ordered the tenderloin for the meat eaters and it turned out to be a huge tenderloin on baby spinach.
I tried some of it and the beef was tender but the beef could be juicy.
The spinach beneath it was sauteed with butter hence it had a buttery taste.
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Duck breast $228
This was a whole roasted duck breast with sweet balsamic plum sauce accompanied with garden salad.

To end the meal, we had the duck breast which also had a strong taste paired with balsamic plum sauce, the duck breast was firm and meaty which went well with the sweet plum sauce.
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The Bill:

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When we left, they showed us their Christmas menu which looks good because they have chicken rolls with turkey and cranberry sauce.
The set dinners are priced differently but they said I could check the openrice site for the latest information and prices.

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Dabyida:
Shop 5-6, G/F., The Pinnacle, 8 Minden Ave. Tsim Sha Tsui.
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