Monday, April 30, 2012

Openrice 2012 annual dinner featuring Hangzhou Cuisine

Getting to know more about Chinese foodWas invited to the Openrice 2012 annual dinner so got the chance to try Hangzhou cuisine thanks to Openrice.
To be honest, I generally avoid Chinese food but now I am learning to like it.

Before I did not know that there were so many different cuisines according to where it comes from in China.
The Chinese food I came across before was mostly Cantonese style and the food from the local Hong Kong restaurants which was mostly fusion and oily.

The wonderful banquet was headed by the famous Chef CHAN KWOK KEUNG
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Jellyfish in vinegar
This was quite refreshing as a starter, the jellyfish was brown and translucent after being soaked in dark vinegar..
You could see the chef has put effort in the presentation by adding cucumber and sliced red peppers as garnishing to give it some colour.
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Duck in brine
The duck has been flavoured by soaking it in salted water, and the taste of the duck was not too salty and just right.
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Sliced Abalone in spices
Although this was quite spicy, the abalone tasted really nice and it had that unami taste.
The flat noodles beneath it were refreshing.
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Duck eggs smoked in tea leaves
These eggs were really nice because the egg yolk was half runny.
The smoked flavouring was not too strong.
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Braised wheat gluten with mushrooms and bamboo shoots
This is was quite nice and not too sweet.
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Boneless chicken in wine
The wine was strong but you could still taste the chicken.
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Stir fried lobster with wild mushrooms
It had really strong truffle taste and there was freshly plucked peas that were sweet and tender.
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Triple crab delights
For the second round, there was crab and there were three different items: crabmeat and avocado salad, steamed egg white with crab claw in wine dressing, and crispy bread topped with crab roe.
It was advised to consume the salad first but I ate it last because the taste of the other two were lighter in my opinion and the salad does not taste savory because of the sauce.
steamed egg white with crab claw
I tried this first because it seemed like the taste was the lightest.
I liked the way they paired it with egg white (meringue type) which is usually sweet, but this time it was savoury.
The crab claw and the clear gravy was really nice. In the clear gravy there were some grains of cooked rice.
crispy bread topped with crab roe
The bread beneath the crab was a slice of deep fried mantao so it was slightly sweet.
The crab roe taste was not as strong as I expected, it could have tasted stronger.
crabmeat and avocado
Last but not least the salad, it was fruity and creamy because it had pieces of apple in it as well as avocado.
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Smoked Tea Leaves duck
The duck was tender and the tea leaves aroma was just right and not too strong.
The duck skin came of the duck easily too without leaving any fatty residue.
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Abalone, braise fish maw and deer sinew soup
The soup was really impressive because the temperature was just right to me and it was not oily.
In other restaurants the soup is always too hot and oily.
I finally got to try the deer sinew which is a more delicate and cleaner form of beef tendons.
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Shanghai vegetable rice
THIS IS NOT OFFERED AND WAS SERVED AS AN AD-HOC ITEM because it contains ham.
I really liked this but many others said it was not salty enough despite ham was added.
Anyway I was amazed how the vegetables were shredded so finely and after the cooking process it kept its green colour.
The ham was grounded so finely that it tasted like grounded tuna.
This is the best fried rice I have had because it is non oily.
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Loongjeng tea
To finished the food there was Loongjeng tea which matched it quite well and acted as good palate refresher.
Overall the food here is impressive because it is not oily.
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Chilled lychee with rose puddings
Lychee and rose always go well together.
The bottom part of the pudding was lychee and the upper part was rose pudding.
The sweetness was just right and it was light and refreshing.
The texture of the pudding melts in your mouth like jelly.
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Deep fried sesame dumplings filled with molten salted egg yolk {Jin deui}
I am not a fan of Cantonese desserts but I liked this one because the frying oil was fresh and did not ruin the delicate sesame seed taste.
When you ate it, you could smell the lovely aroma of the fried sesame and the Jin deui shell.
The molten salted egg was really nice and it tastes better than red bean puree.
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Glutinous rice rolls filled with red bean paste
This was nice and chewy, red bean paste rolled in glutinous rice flour and coated with yellow bean powder.
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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Juicy J's delicious eggs benedict and hot dogs

Olopon dog @ Juicy J's (First visit):
http://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.com/2012/04/juicy-js-delicious-japanese-inspired.html

After the last hot dog I was already craving for another, so went for another one and had the eggs benedict as well.

This time I tried the Piri Miso dog which has grated radish, miso sauce and seaweed.
I asked for the spring onions instead of the seaweed.
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Piri Miso Hot dog - $28
The miso sauce was darker than the Ponzu sauce and the hot dog bun was crispier this time.
Again I really liked this hot dog and the hot dogs I have tried at Juicy J's because they are the best fusion hot dogs I have ever tried because of the sauce, bun, grated radish and spring onions.
MOS Burger and Freshness burger also have hot dogs but they do not taste as good as the ones here and it is just Japanese Mayo.
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J's Eggs benedict $48
This was a set for $48 which was really reasonable in terms of price.
It was a muffin split into two each with a poached egg on top with Hollandaise sauce.
There was some fried potato wedges and some salad.
I was really surprised by it because the sauce was thick and the taste was how it should be, the quality is as good as The Flying Pan.
I felt the muffin was too crispy that day, but the eggs were poached just right with a runny centre.
I really loved the sauce and wish there was more Hollandaise sauce!
The potato wedges were really nice too and the oil was fresh so the wedges kept the potatoey taste and the flavoured coating on the wedges were extremely delicious.
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Tea:
The set came with tea which was also impressive because there was a choice of English breakfast tea, Earl Grey, Jasmine, green tea with lemon.
 
So it was such a perfect finish to my eggs and benedict with some real proper tea!
The tea was served in a proper way too, the tea bag was immersed in boiling hot water and milk and sugar were given as well.
 
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Apart from that I felt their customer service was really attentative and they listen to EVERY customers needs.
I found something odd on my potato wedges and they were really apologetic and investigated into it, not like the Chinese customer service where it is not an issue.

Roast chicken and pasta @ Smart King

Tried the fried chicken last time, so decided to try the roast spring chicken because they have a rotating rotisserie over there.

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Roast spring chicken:
The spring chicken was nice and tender and not dry.
There was lots of herbs and gravy on the surface of the chicken.
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Pasta:
The pasta was too soft and the cauliflower and broccoli that came with it was too hard.
There was a choice of black pepper gravy or ordinary gravy for the pasta.
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Friday, April 27, 2012

To try: KFC XL Garlic butter chicken leg

加大碼雞髀皇餐
I like all the elements in this set apart from the Portugese tart because I hate red beans, but I am sure it will be a popular items with the locals.
The potato party is now flavoured with teriyaki octopus sauce, I want to try that as well but I dont like the criss cut fries.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Smart enough to be Smart King?

Previously this place used to Roast owned by a star studded couple.
Anyway now it is Smart King which also serves Fried chicken and roast chicken.
They do not serve burritos. I really miss those Burritos at Roast.

The current machinery and recipe is probably the same as before so I tried the Fried chicken.
It costs $35 for 3 which is cheaper than KFC.
The chicken was not overly oily, but I prefer the chicken before served by Roast because there was caraway seeds on it.
The chicken coating was crispy and the chicken was juicy and flavoured, as with all Fried chicken there is a standard dose of MSG in it.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Italian Tomato in Wan Chai

Decided to dine at the Italian Tomato because it was new in Wan Chai.
Made the mistake of ordering the sets because the range was limited and not as good as the A la Carte items.
I should have ordered the free choice dinner set which has more choice!
The A la Carte range is cheaper and better but does not include drinks such as Coffee or Tea.

To order you have to order at the counter and then the food is brought over to you.

Ordered the spaghetti with ham and broccoli in cream sauce which comes with soup and a coffee and added $25 for an extra piece of cake.

The choice of soup was fixed and it was pumpkin that day.

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Pumpkin soup
Tasted ok but the bun was just the local chinese sweet bread.
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spaghetti with ham and broccoli in cream sauce
The cream sauce was foul, it was not cream but tasted like milk.
The sauce was so thin that it just sunk to the bottom and the pasta and sauce were seperate identities.
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chocolate berries cake
The cake was ok and I liked the strawberry powder on top of the cream which gave it some sourness and the chocolate was not overly sweet.
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