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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Mira Moon, a fine boutique hotel

As well as good food, I love to enjoy myself too.

There are quite a few stylish boutique hotels in Hong Kong and Mira Moon is one of them.

It is part of the Miramar Group, hence the name Mira Moon because they use the Chinese festival mythology as a theme for the hotel and the staff there wear these lovely qipaos (cheongsaams) designed by Grace Choi.

I was really lucky to try their dresses, dine at Super Giant, drink champagne at the champagne bar and experience the Moonshine suite which has gorgeous red sofas in a red and white setting, , black dining table with matching chairs.
Mira Moon is stylish boutique hotel that is a mix of Chinese folklore with Dutch design by Marcel Wanders and creative firm Yoo Studio near Causeway Bay.

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Photos of me at the Moonshine suite:

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Champagne bar:
The bubbles were free flow at hkd$250.

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Secret garden:

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Mira Moon,
388 Jaffe Rd., Wan Chai, Hong Kong; Tel.: +852-2643-8888;
www.miramoonhotel.com/