The perfect summer evening at Gaia Ristorante

At Gaia Ristorante, they are now serving Al Fresco Afternoon Tea from 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. everyday which costs HKD$198 and includes an item from the afternoon snack menu with a choice of house wine, cocktails, mocktails and soft drinks.



The location couldn’t be better in the heart of Central where everyone passes by so their food has to be top notch to stay there.



Most evenings that I walk past, it is always crowded with people having drinks.
The afternoon menu was quite good because they have roman style pizzas which is fit for two people.

For lucky people who get off work at 5:30, the afternoon tea is perfect for early dinner.

The inside of the restaurant is nice as well as the alfresco area outside.




Here is what we had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Pina colada:

Started off with this cooling pina colada which was not too sweet with a balanced coconut and pineapple taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Spritz:



We also had the Spritz which is an Italian cocktail made of prosecco and a bitter.
This had a nice orange taste to it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Calamari fritti:

This was delicately fried calamari served with three different mayonnaises: aioli, chili and squid ink.
The squid ink mayonnaise was the best.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Pizza Margherita:


This was a very thin pizza topped with mozzarella, basil leaves and tomato.
The pizza was big enough for two.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
For Maggio:
There were lots of things on this platter:
olives, walnut, sweet fig bread and mustard fruit.


Mustard fruit is candied fruit which is sweet and great with cheeses.

On the cheese platter was saffron cheese, pecorino, goats cheese, tomino and talegio.
My favourite was the tomino and pecorino because they were flavourful.
The fig bread was really nice and soft with lots of fig in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Gaia Ristorante:
G/F, Grand Millennium Plaza, 181 Queen's Road,, Sheung Wan

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Dining with chocolate

Before trying this 8 course meal, I thought Jean-Paul Hévin just did high teas and chocolates.
Each course had an element of chocolate in it.

The Eight course “Chocolate Tasting Journey” costs HK$380 and the 5-course “Initiation Menu” is priced at HK$250 served 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily which makes it an extra option for lunch in Central.

Here were the eight courses that I had:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Cream of Peas and Mint, Cream Foam, and Cocoa Powder:

When this is served, they sprinkle the cocao powder in front of you.
It was a cooling pea and mint soup to start, perfect on a hot day.
The taste of delicate peas and mint went nicely with the chocolate smoothed out by the cream.
Beneath the glass, there are flowers to garnish which I took a picture for fun.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Pan-seared Scallop with Ivory Chocolate Butter:


This was a lovely scallop on top of sweet white chocolate butter.
The sugary sweetness of the chocolate went surprisingly well with the seared scallop.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Pan-fried Foie Gras with 75% Chocolate and Cocoa Bean:


I loved the contrast of the soft silky foie gras against the crispy crunch of the cocoa beans which gave it a lovely bitter nutty balance to it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Warm Green Asparagus, Hazelnut Oil Vinaigrette with Grated Domingo Chocolate:


They grate chocolate onto the asparagus which melts into fine tiny droplets.
The asparagus had a lovely nutty taste which was magnified by the hazelnut oil with hints of sweetness from the chocolate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Roasted Cod Filet with Black Olive Crust, Saffron and extra-bitter Dark Chocolate Sauce:

The cod was beautifully done, it was flakey and moist flavoured by the crisp black olive crust which gave it a lovely aromatic saltiness balanced by the sweet tender spinach leaves.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Chicken Fillet with Ceps and Chocolate Praline:

This was the last savoury dish with a tender Chicken Fillet, crunchy Chocolate Praline and silky mash.
The silky mash and chicken were just divine.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Petits Fours:

Finished off with Petits Fours.
On the plate was a raspberry macaron and two square tablets.

Jean Paul Hévin’s signature Le Parisien Hot Chocolate.

This was definitely a sweet ending with JPH delights especially the hot chocolate that was rich with a strong cocoa taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
As well as the eight course, they also have lighter set lunches priced from HK$148 – HK$188 per person which includes a soup and salad starter, a main course of pasta, meat or seafood, finished with Jean-Paul Hévin’s Gâteau du Voyage Chocolate Cake Slice.
Le Parisien Hot Chocolate, coffee, or tea will be paired with the lunch set.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
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Jean-Paul Hévin Boutique et Bar à Chocolat
13 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central
Tel: 2851 0633

Shoreditch in Hong Kong

I was attracted by the name Shoreditch because Shoreditch is a town in East London.

At Shoreditch, they serve British fare.


I already had dinner before so I went for a soup and dessert but next time I am coming back for FISH AND CHIPS.

For desserts I was going to order two but the treacle tart was sold out.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Cullen Skink:


Cullen Skink is a Scottish soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes and onions.
It was a nice soup packed with flavour and a wonderful creamy texture but the consistency could have been thicker.
I loved the generous pieces of smoked haddock in the soup but they were quite salty which were perfect with the bread.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Rice Pudding $88:


This was rice pudding with rhubarb at the bottom covered with honeycomb vanilla pieces.



It was a nice matching of sweet honeycomb pieces on top and sour rhubarb in harmony with the creamy rice pudding.

The honeycomb was slightly bitter because of there was too much bicarbonate of soda but it was nice and chewy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Shoreditch:
18 Catchick Street, Kennedy Town. Phone: +852 2242 3777
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The bill: $1xx
Service: OK
Service charge: 10%
Yummy factor: good
Glass of water provided: yes
English Menu: Yes
Air Conditioning: Yes
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Kiwi's unite

I was attracted to this place because of the name Motu Kiwi.
Kiwi is a flightless bird native to New Zealand and here they serve New Zealand cuisine.

It is located on Graham Street which brings diversity to this street because there is now NZ cuisine as well as Hawaiian cuisine.

As I have already had lunch, I just tried the Tua Tua sliders.

The decor was nice and they had a big metal Kiwi made of spoons and forks.

On the table, there were metal mugs and they use metal plates for the food.


Glass jar water dispenser:


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Tua Tua sliders:
I ordered this because there's nothing quite like it.
It is made of fish and clams.

The clams were small so I don't think they were Tua Tua clams but you can see lots of them in the patty.
They used squid ink burgers for the bun and the squid ink bun was actually tasty compared to other squid ink buns which are just black with no taste!
The patty had a strong taste mixed with lemongrass and lime peel but I wished there was a wedge of lemon or lime to make it even more appetizing.
There was Lemon and Paeroa mayonnaise but I found it a bit too sweet for my liking.

Lemon and Paeroa is a fizzy drink manufactured in NZ made of lemon juice and carbonated mineral water.

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
Anyway, can't wait to come back and try other dishes because these NZ dishes are new to me.
They had Anzac with Afghan icecream which sounds interesting but what could Afghan icecream possibly be.
Anzac is a biscuit and the name reminds me of anti depressant pharmaceutical drugs called Prozac and Cozac!
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Motu Kiwi:

Shop B, Ground Floor, 

Nos. 41-43 Graham Street
Central District, Hong Kong
Tel: 3706 8074

The bill: $108

Service: good
Service charge: 10%
Yummy factor: good
Toilets: yes
Noise levels: None
Glass of water provided: yes
English Menu: Yes
Air Conditioning: Yes
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