[Review] 天之樂素食 Tempeh Burger

Tempeh comes from Indonesia, so you will know what it is if you have tried it.
If you haven't it is basically fermented soy beans that form a soy bean cake in the fermenting process. Tempeh is popular in the West as it is high in protein which makes it a good vegetarian ingredient.
I like it the way the West have taken it to the next level by making modern Tempeh with green peas, quinoa and even peanuts.

As well a Tempeh, Jackfruit is another fruit from the East which is popular in the West.
In the East, Jackfruit is just a fruit, while in the West they use raw jackfruit as a vegetarian ingredient in dishes.
In the UK, we have Tempeh Man which serves Tempeh Curries and you can also buy ready to eat Tempeh at the supermarkets available in original and curry flavoured as well as Tempeh kits to make your own Tempeh at home. The fermentation process is started by culture that contains Rhizopus mold which grows and binds the beans together.
Think of the white mold like the white mold for Brie depending on what culture they use.  The prices of Tempeh in Hong Kong vary from a few dollars at Indonesian shops to a whopping HKD78 for a few tiny pieces which I had at NatrualLead in TST.

Finally, Hong Kong has a specialist Tempeh shop in Central where the owners have lived in the US before which makes sense.
Hence their menu is quite comforting for expats offering pizzas, baked potatoes and the signature burger.
It was really difficult making a choice as I wanted to try everything but clearly the baked potatoes is not a popular choice for locals because they just don't eat starchy things.
As much as I would have wanted to try the burger, I ordered the curry tempeh rice so that I could compare it to the UK but unfortunately I was given the baked one with broccoli and cheese but according to the receipt it was what I ordered but I didn't check at the time because the curry was also hkd48.

Although it wasn't the one I wanted to try but it was still delicious.
The tempeh pieces were sticky and firm yet soft similar to refried beans in a tomato sauce that was really tasty. Beneath it was quinoa rice which is healthy as well so overall I was extremely pleased with my lunch.

I was really lucky, they gave me a bag of original tempeh to try which I happily munched as a snack. The pieces of tempeh were nice and soft.

Also had some for dinner paired with marmite and the two go together so damn well.

Definitely coming back for more!
Will probably try the jacket potato and burger next time.
The menu:

The Crown and Pepper

Definitely going to check this out as they serve Indian and Chinese food.
The best thing is that they have a website as some places don't.
I like the salt and pepper range offered.
http://www.crownandpepper.co.uk/menus/fullmenu.php?venue=2

[Review] Tasty Fried Chicken at McDonalds Hong Kong

I love Fried chicken but it is really difficult to get fried chicken to my liking in Hong Kong. There are countless options for fried chicken with the introduction of Korean Fried chicken a few years ago, but they are not to my liking because they are often coated with weird dressings and the quality of chicken is not good either.
The KFC in Hong Kong uses a different recipe to UK which is too crunchy as well as bad chicken inside.
Jollibee was good but now the coating has also been modified so that it is crunchy.

Anyway, McDonalds is now finally serving fried chicken just like McDonalds in Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore where chicken is wanted by popular demand.
I would love to try the McDonalds in the Philippines because they have chicken gravy just like the KFC in UK.

In Hong Kong, the fried chicken a la carte at McDonalds varies from HKD31-HKD34.5 depending on location.

There are two pieces per portion and the chicken is decent in size compared to the anorexic chicken at KFC!!

Taking a bite, the coating was to my liking, not too crunchy or soft with a good thickness.
The chicken was succulent and moist which was extremely satisfying, however the only complaint was the spices .
I didn't expect it to be spicy.
The chicken thigh oozed out some liquid which is most probably the frozen liquid that melted when it was fried.

Anyway, the chicken thigh turned out to be a surprise because it was convenient to eat in the sense that it only had one bone.
I would definitely eat it again but I am allergic to the spices in the coating so I won't be eating it that frequently.

[Review] Tai O delights found at North Point

If you have been to Tai O, it is fishing village famous for prawn paste, seafood and salted seafood.
At Tai O Tak Fat, they serve delights from Tai O Village as well as local Hong Kong stuff so it makes sense to try Tai O dishes here.
There were so many Tai O delights to choose from on the menu.
They also sell jars of home made Chili oil which can be found on the shelves.
Started with some salted lemon drinks.
For food, tried the signature salted fresh fish which is like Chinese style Bacalhau but you get a whole fish here.
The texture of the fish is firmer and tastes salty so it goes well with rice.
We also had the steamed fish head in two ways, one side was black beans and the other side was chili.
It's nice but too many bones so you don't get much fish out of it however the vermicelli beneath was delicious having soaked up all the delicious flavours from the fish head and the black bean flavouring.
Finished with the dried prawn glass vermicelli pot which was light and healthy.
As well as the food, the staff there are such a friendly and lovely bunch.
They speak English as well and there is an English menu.

[Review] Brunch at Little Bay Croydon

Stumbled upon Little Bay in South Croydon so decided to check it out.

Went in and fell in love with the red velvet decor so decided to dine there.
Little Bay might look ordinary from the outside but you are going to get a big surprise!
The quirky theatrical decor wins it all!

Brunch was a bargain, priced from £5.95-‎£7.95 with a choice of eggs benedict, florentine etc

As I wanted something light I went for the Avocado Toast which was Crushed Avocado with Poached Egg, Cherry Tomatoes, Olive Ketchup and House Hollandaise Sauce.
I think the hash brown was thrown in by accident.

For £5.95, it was more than delicious especially the olive ketchup which was olive paste that complimented everything nicely.
Tea was also included so I felt my brunch couldn't have been more complete!

The only difficulty was trying to capture the beauty of Little Bay as the lighting made it a challenge.

Pictures of Little Bay Croydon.

[Review] Bancone

Pastas restaurants are trending especially when they specialize in freshly made pasta of all shapes and sizes cooked in different ways.
There are many notable pastas restaurants out there like Bancone and Padella so why not check then all out.

Bancone is more upscale located near Charing Cross station.

They are so successful that there are now two branches with one near Soho at the Golden Square.

However the menu is different for both restaurants so I ended up going here because they had the cavolo nero malfalde with taleggio and toasted buckwheat.

The pasta was visually stunning but it lacked taste.
I could taste the grassiness of the kale but the whole thing was just bland so I had to add some salt to it which made it much more palatable.
Although it was not a good first experience, I think I should go back and try the other dishes.


Bancone Michelin Status: Bib Gourmand

[Review] Possibly the Best Hainan Chicken at Mei Mei, London Borough Market

Borough Market is constantly developing and evolving with more and more eateries with the rapidly changing food trends.
There is a new area at Borough Market which houses small joints like Mei Mei.
Mei Mei caught my eyes because of those old green tiles found in the East.

Mei Mei is a Singaporean kopitiam inspired joint headed by Elizabeth Haigh who competed on MasterChef in 2011, and went on to win a Michelin star at the Hackney based restaurant Pidgin.
If you like this type of decor there is another one called Bun House which is HK in the 1960s.

How could I not try Mei Mei because UK has relatively better and fresh ingredients than Hong Kong so I tried their Hainan Chicken!

I was really lucky that day as Elizabeth was there as she had a shoot.

The menu is simple, Hainan Chicken, Fried chicken, Curry and even Congee!

 They even had my favourite soda flavoured with my favourite pandan so that was another bonus!

The soda turned out quite small but it tasted amazing, it was not too sweet with a fragrant pandan taste.

As for the hainan chicken, it was definitely the best!

Why? because they use good chicken from ginger pig Yorkshire chickens and the chef slices it properly giving patrons chicken and not rubbish like Hong Kong's randomly chopped chicken laced with dangerous bone fragments.
Clearly the chef will give you the best and not serve if there is not enough chicken whereas HK will give you wings and extra bony bits which should be thrown away.
Visually the chicken is not bruised or grey.
The most impressive thing was the breast meat was silky soft and moist.
I am so glad I tried this.

Will definitely be coming back for the congee and fried chicken!