Taste of Hong Kong presented by Standard Chartered

Taking place at the Central Harbourfront from 10 to 13 March 2016 .

Twelve of Hong Kong’s most celebrated restaurants, such as Amber, Tin Lung Heen and Yardbird will come together to serve a premium menu of more than 40 signature dishes on small plates and iconic one-off festival creations-all in one location.

I was really lucky to enjoy a mix of the newly announced restaurants participating in Taste of Hong Kong: Café Gray Deluxe and Bibo, alongside the two Michelin star Amber.

Our first starting point was Café Gray Deluxe where we sampled

Laurent-perrier Brut champagne:

Foie gras torchon:

Marsala glazed veal cheek:

Cured Tasmanian salmon lemon and chili, avocado cucumber salsa:

+++++ 

At the second stop Amber, we had the famous Hokkaido aka sea urchin topped with

Caviar and crispy seaweed waffle. This is a must try while it is on the menu.

Duck ‘a la royale’:

A very rich sauce of blood that covered the duck.

++++++ 

Our last stop was Bibo, a modern French restaurant with artistic vibes where we had La Tartine Beef tartar with baeri caviar and Les Mararons (Rose, chocolate and yuzu).

+++++++++++

Taste of Hong Kong schedule:

Thursday 10 March

Evening: 6pm- 10pm

Friday 11 March

Afternoon: 12.30pm- 4.30pm

Evening: 6pm- 10pm

Saturday 12 March

Afternoon: 12.30pm- 4.30pm

Evening: 6pm-10pm

Sunday 13 March

Afternoon: 12.30pm- 5.30pm

+++++++++++

My first Ukrainian meal

I have always wanted to try Russian/Ukrainian food but there are not many in Hong Kong.

The only one I knew was Ivan da Kozak that has been in HK for years.
I have attempted to dine at Ivans but the menu is too complicated if you have menu dyslexia.

Noticed Dacha, a few weeks ago because of the lovely mysterious European decor, which couldn’t be seen clearly because of the window veils that made you even more curious.

They finally opened but they don’t have the full menu yet because it is under soft opening.
At the moment, they are serving lunch sets all day so I was really lucky because anything is new to me and I don't work in Central.

The lunch set costs $98 with 10% for a Borsch and Pierogi.

++++
Borsch:

The soup was beetroot borsch that was loaded with cabbages and carrots with a refreshing taste.
I suppose it does taste like the Russian inspired Chinese Borscht but without the meat and sweetness.

You get a small bun with the soup that is topped with extremely tasty crushed garlic that is quite salty and flavours the bun.
++++
Siberian pelmeni:
(Traditional Russian handmade dumplings in light butter herb)

The dumplings tasted exactly the same as “Chinese war teeps” but better because they were neat looking like round tortellinis and not so oily served with sour cream.
++++
Pierogi with cabbage:
(braised cabbage dumplings with mushrooms)

The cabbage dumplings were more flavourful than I expected because they tasted like sauerkraut dumplings.
++++
Perogi with potato and onions:

These were basically dumplings filled with silky mash potatoes but lacked cheese according to my friend who went to Russia.
++++
Apple pie:

The apple pie (bread) was a bit disappointing because the texture was like hard and dry Chinese bread with a yolk glazed top but the locals should love it.
++++
Honey cake:

The honey cake was interesting because it was not too sweet and it was like a combination of a serradura dessert and a soft cake.
++++
There will be a dinner menu soon so I will be back to try things that I haven’t tried before.

Restaurant:
Dacha
38-40 Hollywood Road

The L❁❤E of Wan Chai is back

This shop used to be round the corner on Spring garden lane famous for its $16 bowl of wonton noodles.
It closed down a while ago and now they are back at Cross Lane.

I was surprised to see they were back and the prices are still the same and there is still that lovely prawn smell around the area which is how I discovered this shop.
The new place is better and spacious and I hope it keeps that way because it is very clean at the moment.
One of the ladies there had excellent linguistic skills, she could speak English, Philipino and Cantonese.
Prices are still $16 for noodles and a topping.





Sauces at the table: soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce and chili oil.





I got the flat rice noodles with wontons and the wontons are still springy and fresh.



The white fishballs were ok but I just wanted the noodles because I was craving for that weird alkaline taste.

After having the noodles, the COKE is recommended because it helps neutralize the Alkaline in the mouth and bottled coke always tastes better.


Kuen Kee Won Ton Noodle

10 Cross Lane, Wanchai

權記雲吞麵
灣仔交加街10號舖地下

Space out cookies from I.E Kitchen

I got these “Space out” cookies from I.E Kitchen Academie, which were featured on the newspaper recently.
They come in a silver tin with six flavours..

The cookies were crumbly and gone within a flash when I shared them.

Here were the six flavours in the tin:
+++
Naughty Boy:

This square cookie with raspberry in the middle looked like my childhood Jammie dodger favourite.

The raspberry jam in the middle was tart and made it stand out from the other cookies.
+++
Rosette:

Shaped just like a rosette, these were buttery and crumbly that they melted in your mouth.

According to IE, they are made with butter from New Zealand.
+++
The Elegance:

These are for people with a sweet tooth and the sweetness is not cloyingly sweet with pieces of white chocolate and hazelnuts.
+++
Tangy Honey:

The Tangy Honey had a nice citrus smell with pieces of fruit peel and yuzu flavouring.
+++
The Triple C:

This flavour is for coffee lovers because it has a strong coffee taste packed with lots of cashew nuts that you can see.
+++
Joyful:

The joyful looked like biscotti with lots of pistachio nuts in it that gave it a lovely pistachio aroma.

+++
The cookies cost $208 with six flavours inside.

For discounts and free delivery eligibility please visit their FB.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/IE-Kitchen-Academie-Culinaire/672755172812437

Curry night at Spices Island

On this road, there are so many choices for Indian food but with a fusion twist to cater for locals who don’t eat Indian food.

Went here because no one was dining there and the fact that Nepalese momos were on the menu and I LOVE INDIAN FOOD.

The best thing about this place is that there is no 10% service charge.

Here was what I had:

++++++++++++
Soup:

The soup was OK, just the usual vegetable soup found in Chinese restaurants.
++++++++++++
Mutter paneer:

This was the best mutter paneer I have had because the spiciness was just right and there were lots of peas in it and the paneer was nice and soft without that rubbery texture.
++++++++++++
Saffron rice:

Ordered this because I only eat Basmati rice, which is long, thin fluffy grains of rice.
++++++++++++
Naan:

A soft naan that was great with the curry.
++++++++++++
Chicken Momo:

As well as curries, Nepalese momos are delicious. I got hooked on them when I tried them at Nepalese joints on the HK side.

The sauce is the most important because it really makes it delicious since it has a short fiery kick as well as a really flavourful taste.
++++++++++++
Indian Tea:

It tasted like Hong Kong style milk tea with Cardamom in it.
++++++++++++
Spices island:
Shop 6, G/F, Po Fat Building, 

273-285 Temple Street, Jordan
佐敦廟街273-285號寶發大廈地下6號舖
Tel: 2365 5539