Iron buddha tea softserve at 天仁喫茶趣

Saw photos of the iron buddha softserve which is only available at the MaOnShan branch.


The English and Chinese seem to contradict because in Chinese it says Iron buddha but in English it says Iron Buddha oolong.

I would have tried The chocolate room too which was nearby but they didn't have the sweet purple potato softserve that day.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Iron buddha tea softserve:

The softserve cost $20 and it was huge but unfortunately the taste was not that good.
It was powdery and bitter lacking fragrant aroma that iron buddha should have.
The softserve was too icy for my liking but if they made iron buddha ice lollies or sorbets without the milk, I think it would taste great because who puts milk with Chinese tea!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
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The bill: $20

Sizzling hot surprises

Hong Kong day has done it again!
We were there for the sizzling dishes.

There are four sizzling choices so we tried all four.

We went to the Tai Kok Tsui branch because it is accessible by MTR and the restaurant is spacious.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
All the sizzling dishes came with a soothing iced honey and barley drink that was sweet and cooling.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork knuckles & egg in ginger & sweetened vinegar with braised red rice with assorted mushrooms, diced chicken & celery $68

I knew I was going to like this because I love pork knuckles stewed in ginger & sweetened vinegar.
Tried the braised rice and it was so tasty because it was flavoured by the chicken and mushrooms contrasted by the crisp fragrant celery.
If you have the pork knuckles with the rice, you get more complexity with sweet and savoury notes.
*I highly recommend this*
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
pan-fried chicken steak with cheese, stir-fried sweet potato vermicelli with kimchi & sliced pork belly $58

This is the dish for people who like sweet and spicy tastes.
The stir-fried sweet potato vermicelli was exciting because of the Kimchi and the chicken steak was tender, covered in delicious melted cheese.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
pork cartilage with cheese, braised shredded beef spaghetti with tomato $58

As well as the rice, this is another one that should be ordered because the stir fried spaghetti has an appetizing tomato flavour with juicy pieces of tomato and tender strips of beef.
The pork cartilage was soft and flavourful.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
abalone in oyster sauce, braised red rice with preserved vegetables, pork belly & fish fillet $88:

The abalone was surprisingly big!

This is another filling sizzling dish with fish, abalone and pork belly.

The rice had a strong ginger taste which goes well with the fish and abalone.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Yuan and Supersupergirl are here

I have never liked Taiwanese food in Hong Kong because it has been localized so when I saw a positive review from a Taiwanese expat I decided to go.
The shop was quite small and designed with décor which had a rustic countryside Taiwanese feel.



After waiting in a long queue, I finally got a table.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mashed Tofu with preserved egg:

This was chilled and great on a hot day.
The tofu and preserved egg tasted delicious with the grassy spring onions and the preserved egg had an interesting aftertaste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Shredded chicken with rice:

According to a TVB food show, pearl rice is authentic and the sauce should be very sweet in Taiwan.
Not really my cup of tea but it wasn't bad because I just don't like sweet dishes and pearl rice.
Personally I liked eating the tofu shown above together with the rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Herbs soup:


I really liked this soup because there was a strong taste of donggwai and tasty barley seeds but I didn't like the fatty intestines.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Source:
Yuan and Supersupergirl are here
YUAN Is Here

Changed my mind at With Your Mind

From the reviews, it appears that the style of food has changed from Chinese to Singaporean and Malaysian.
As expected, the queue is long at lunch because the ratio of restaurants to people is wrong at Quarry Bay and Tai Koo that ANY restaurant at ANY price range will have customers waiting outside to be seated.
With this situation, restaurants in the area can up their prices and quality does not have to be good and the average meal costs around $7X which is almost higher than the sub par food in Central/Sheung Wan.


Tried two noodles and a rice which comes with pear tea.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Pear tea:

The pear tea was sweet with a light pear taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Hainan Chicken:

This was t he best because the chicken was actually tasty and the rice was flavoured without the need for any sauces.

The chicken soup was interesting because it tasted creamy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Laksa with squid ink squid balls:


The laksa broth was bit weak and the choices for Laksa were a bit basic such as fishballs, chicken etc


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Malaysian chow kayteow:

The noodles had a strong sweet soy sauce flavour and it was also spicy because of the sambal sauce
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

LINE X Maxim's Cakes

Maxim’s have launched new cakes and dessert cup collectibles again, this time it is LINE FRIENDs’ CONY and BROWN.
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Cakes:
CONY (cream cheese cake)

BROWN (chocolate and raspberry mousse cake)

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Dessert cups:
CONY (raspberry mousse milk pudding)

BROWN (Mango and pomelo pudding)

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I tried the BROWN CAKE because I love raspberry and chocolate.


BROWN CAKE:


It was a cute chocolate bear with layers of raspberry jelly, chocolate cake surrounded in chocolate mousse.



I really liked the rich chocolate mousse and the layer of chocolate cake which was balanced by the raspberry jelly to give it dimension so that it was not too chocolately.