In Hong Kong, buffets are just buffets with oysters and lobsters because this is a basic requirement that Hong Kongers want to have.
At The Place, Cordis, they are doing a Hawaiian themed buffet for summer which is really worth trying because there are only one or two places in HK for Hawaiian food.
From appetizers to desserts, you will find something exciting.
Lomi lomi salmon, tako poke, seared ahi nori roll:
Lau lau roasted pork:
Desserts:
Rainbow shave ice:
Macadamia souffle:
Almond rice pudding:
Pina colada cake:
Pineapple mousse cake:
They also have craft beers from Hawaii at a special price of HK$50 per bottle.
My sweet tooth totally kicked in because of all those exotic desserts.
The macadamia souffle was divine because the creamy nuts really give it texture and flavour while the shave ice was the best thing to have on a hot day.
Shave ice is not to be confused with Shaved ice because that is how they call it in Hawaii.
As well as food, tea is another big thing for me, be it Chinese leaf tea or English tea.
At 2dp, they serve Brewteaful tea, desserts and vegetarian food which all happen to be my thing.
It is a modern Chinese tea house that uses Chinese teas in their icecreams, cakes, bakeries and of course their artisan teas while modern vegetarian food is served on the menu as well.
Vegetarian and Tea menu:
It was good to see blackberries as not many places source them in Hong Kong.
For drinks had the Lavender blackberry tie guan yin, white rose tea and lychee grapefruit white tea.
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lychee grapefruit white tea:
Lavender blackberry tie guan yin:
white rose tea:
Anyway, started with some vegetarian bites which were as good as expected.
The tofu bites were tasty and the cheese, potato and leek bites were crispy filled with fluffy potato filling. It was interesting to see it paired with pickled cabbage which reminds me of this Chinese takeaway in UK.
Homemade tofu balls:
Potato and cheese potato wontons:
For dessert, I managed to scoff more than I expected because they were not sweet at all which is healthy and infused with a fragrant tea taste. The cream horns are a must try because the pastry is soft with a slight chew coated in a sweet glaze filled with fragrant tea custard.
There are two flavours puer tea or tieguanyin.
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tieguanyin custard cream horn:
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puer tea custard cream horn:
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The teapot cake, again in two flavours was also good because it was tea flavoured mousse with cake layers in the middle, I chose the tiegwanyin apple teapot cake because it was flavoured by refreshing apple puree in the middle.
Tie gwan yin apple teapot cake:
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Finished with the icecream, again there are two flavours. Personally I liked the puer chocolate because the tieguanyin was a bit bitter.
Definitely will be back soon for the vegetarian burgers and breakfasts!~ The HAND DRIPPED TEA is also very interesting.
There are lots of options for Chinese soups in Sheungwan like Soupreme 湯品小棧, Souper Authentic 球哥燉湯 and 靚湯王 at Dor dor eatery (with rude service) but NONE for Western soups unless you go all the way to TALLORE in Wanchai.
Finally Souprb has popped up serving soups with 5 choices which they change every week. The soup choices were impressive because there were 4/5 that I wanted to try: pumpkin, beetroot, Mexican chicken, portobello and chestnut, Prawn and crab gumbo (premium choice +$10)
As a soup fan, I got the tasting set which comes with two soups while my friend got the Stew set which comes with rice and a curry. They also had toasties which I really really wanted to eat as well.
We both added $30 for the made to order freshly pressed juices which were refreshing but a bit too sweet.
At the beginning of this year, I was bored so went to MK and discovered Mr.Greek so decided to go the next day but shockingly when I got there it was closed down.
Anyway, it was odd that they were located in MK because there are not much expats around there.
Mr Greek is from Canada and they serve Greek food as well as POUTINE.
Again, I discovered this shop by luck because I was trying restaurants nearby.
There were not many people as they have only been open for two weeks.
Started with spanakopita which was flaky filled with spinach and cheese.
It was flaky and stuffed with lots of spinach, a great appetizer if you like light snacks.
Also had the moussaka which was piping hot loaded with minced lamb and layers of potatoes and aubergines.
Tasted similar to British shepherds pie but the lamb was very strong.
The poutine which I was really looking forward to was disappointing because there was not enough gravy and it was lumpy.
Hopefully they will improve on the gravy and serving it in a bowl might be better.
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Gyros:
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[Mr. Greek]
45-53 Garley Building,
Graham Street,
Central.
When this restaurant opened a few years ago everyone was raving about it. Finally tried it and the dishes were up to my expectations.
I chose the Central branch because quality is often better and it has more positive reviews than the branch in Tai Koo.
Started with the noodles in sesame soup with chicken.
The sesame flavour was strong and not sickly.
I liked the fried oysters because most Taiwanese joints serve greasy oyster pancakes so the individual fried oysters were much nicer complimented by the chili sauce but unfortunately they were a bit too salty.
The tea was good with a huge block of herbal jelly but it tasted like HK style milk tea.
Finished with the soup which was light and clear.
My friend had the minced meat with gravy which she said was too sweet.
+++++
The Night Market:
11 Stanley Street,
6th Floor,
Central
MO Bar is a stylish swank bar located at The Landmark, when you go in, there is a huge bar on the right with a mirrored glass bottle cabinet where you can see all the bottles they have.
The bar was surrounded with lots of people enjoying themselves.
We sat near the back and had the afternoon tea which costs $260 per person.
There was a good selection of savories and pastries:
It was such a treat having the champagne shooter with strawberry and rhubarb because rhubarb is rare in Hong Kong and the champagne was strong with went nicely with the sweet compote.
The lobster medallion was springy and meaty, while the luscious green asparagus and comte cheese was divine.
For the veggie bites, I loved the filo shell topped with zucchini and green pea garnished with goats cheese and lemon.
Last but not least were the deliciously crumbly scones paired with clotted cream.
