Red Mango (Central)

Not long after I got my SODA card at FLAME, I received an invitation from SODA to use my SODA rewards at RED MANGO.


I went to FLAME for my usual roast chicken and I saw some people registering for a SODA card so I did that as well.
At FLAME, I got a free soft drink for first time registration, there after every time I visit flame, reward points will be collected and rewards will be unlocked.

The SODA APP and website have information on other participating eateries and most of my favourites were there!
Just for scanning your card, you get 5 points on every visit to any shop that has the SODA rewards scheme.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of Red Mango, they are offering all items at half price to people who have the Soda card until 28th May 2013.

At this event, SODA credited my card with 250 pts so that I could treat my fellow foodies with froyo and most importantly they could see and experience how my SODA card was used.

There is a Soda tablet at the corner and all you do is scan your card and enter your pin, choose the rewards.

This was the reward that SODA asked me to experience.

So without further ado, we all ordered our froyos.
The toppings are UnLiMiTeD provided they fit in the cup, however I was disappointed they did not have Blackberries as shown on previous reviews.


There are three sizes, but for the current reward, it was for the Junior size only.


There were parfaits too and I really wanted to try the falafel oniion wrap.



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Raspberry froyo:
I really liked the froyo and the raspberry flavour reminded me of Yoplaits raspberry yoghurt, but because it was froyo, the texture was similar to soft serve and it melted easily too.
The dark chocolate curls and strawberry complemented it nicely.
Just for fun I tried the mochi and caramel pecans because I love pecans.
The mochi pieces were nice and big.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green tea and original froyo:
I also tried the green tea and original but I felt that raspberry was the best.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Froyo group shot:
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo this Sunday 5/5

Agave Tequila Y Comida (Wan Chai)

With lots of celebrations in May, the Mexicans celebrate Cinco de Mayo on 5th of May.
Cinco de Mayo means 5th of May.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War.

At Agave you can also celebrate this day by having a Mexican buffet from 7pm to 9.30pm on the 5th of May with the Mariachi band performing that evening.

As a food blogger we were privileged to try their Cinco de Mayo dishes.

It was not my first time dining there because I have been there quite a few times for lunch if you have read reviews on this restaurant or my previous reviews.
I prefer the Cinco de Mayo selection because for lunch I always have to see if my favorite items are on the lunch set that day.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Nachos:I did not eat nachos before because the ones I have had were really thick and hard, but the ones here were really thin and crispy covered with delicious cheese and sour cream.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bread sole fish:


The fish was soft and melts in your mouth with silky texture and with a wonderful selection of dips and sauces, the fish will taste delicious.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Grilled chicken:


The chicken was tender and packed with lots of spices, for even more spicyness there are more dips available.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Marinated pork:

This was quite dry but it was still packed with flavours.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
chili con carne:

Compared to the one I had at lunch, it looks different because there are no beans in the dish and the beef looks pulled and not the minced version.
Anyway, the taste was rich and full of spices which was nice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
prawn molcajetes:
The stone molcajetes pot was stunning and the metal spoon too making it a lovely rustic dish.
I found it quite spicy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
spicy pork quesadillas:
I loved the pork quesadillas, there was cheese inside and the quesadillas was crisp and light complemented with delicious guacamole, sour cream and salsa.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sides and condiments:

Sides:There was Mexican rice, refried beans, corn tortillas, tortilla chips.
Condiments:guacamole, tomato salsa, pineapple salsa, cucumber, lettuce, lime wedges, red radish, japaleno, chipotle, habanero, serano chili.
BEWARE of the Habanero sauce because it is very spicy.
There was tomatillo too which was not tomato.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Drinks:

There was ordinary Margarita and Frozen strawberry/Mango and margarita.
I felt that the frozen one tasted better, especially the strawberry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Desserts:

These were not on the buffet menu but we tried them as well.
There was Flan De Naranja and Crepas con Cajeta, the flan was similar to thick cheesecake and was very sweet, but the Crepas was extremely delicious because the caramel taste was strong and creamy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Tomato and clam curry @ CoCo Ichibanya CoCo

Restaurant: CoCo Ichibanya

The curries here are delicious so came back again.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salad:

Chose the set which came with salad.
It was a small bowl of salad dressed in Japanese vinegar which is not too heavy or oily.
The dressing is nice and refreshing with crispy sweetcorn pieces at the bottom.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tomato and clam curry:



The tomato and clam curry was delicious, the egg was scrambled just right and did not have any oily taste.
The clams were the usual, clean without sand and there were lots of cherry tomatoes in the curry but they were not sour enough.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon Tea:
The lemon tea here is good because the syrup is separate.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Tai Lei Loi Kei revisit

Tai Lei Loi Kei (Central)

Thanks to Mjqueen7e for treating at me Tai Lei Loi Kei.

I have tried this place before and got addicted to the Bacalhau mashed potato balls.
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2279532

Mjqueen7e had a groupon cash voucher so we used that for payment.
I have never bought from groupon because I do not believe in it.

The packaging had slightly improved and was more attractive.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bacalhau mashed potato balls:
The Bacalhau's tasted as good as my first visit.
The fish inside was silky with mashed potato and tasted like delicious Western fish cakes.
However there was grounded bones which was not that good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork chop in Pineapple bun:
The paper bag for the bun was quite thick and tough which makes it durable for rainy days!
To be honest, I thought the combination of the sweet pineapple bun and pork chop was weird so I ate them separately.
The pineapple bun was hot with a lovely crumbly top and the pork chop was nice and tender.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Interview with apple daily / sharp daily April 29th 2013

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20130429/18243947
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b44j9WlKmWk

專題人物：Supersupergirl 開飯　食評全港稱冠

碼頭工人抗爭，不過為了搵食。有位港女，每周獲四家餐廳爭相邀請用膳，免費嘆盡鮑魚、花膠、龍蝦、黑松露、鵝肝……她不是May姐，也不是小儀，而是在食評網站OpenRice長踞榜首的食家supersupergirl。打從2010年起，她天天走入大街小巷搵食，筆下近2,000篇食評，平均每天上載兩篇，最高紀錄一天交81篇。食家甚麼都吃下肚子，她也不是省油的燈，「打邊爐會食牛鞭、雞子，有次去澳門本來想試豬腦，點知賣晒！」她深以為憾。　記者：譚淑美　攝影：胡智堅

supersupergirl的真名及年齡隱而不宣，只透露英文名Helena，在一家英文雜誌社工作，每天下班後寫四個鐘頭食評，「最高𥧌試過一日上載81篇，因為嗰時比賽（去年OpenRice舉辦的食家挑戰賽）鬥寫得多，其實有啲之前已寫好，但嗰日一次過post晒出嚟」。
寫網上食評只為興趣，並無稿費，惟獨她在該項比賽奪冠，有萬元獎金。記者問道，每天寫兩篇食評，香港地那有這麼多食肆？「好多立立雜雜嘢我都會寫，好似罐頭、薯片、糖果，仲有baby food……小時候食過，唔記得味道，𠵱家會買嚟試媖。有時宵夜食個杯麵，都會品評包裝、麵條質地」。
Helena生於英國，父母在當地開食店，她愛吃英國菜Fish& Chips（魚柳及薯條）、Roast Dinner（烤肉晚餐）。2005年定居香港，發現OpenRice這個平台，便開始寫食評，真正密集式外出搵食，是三年前的事；打從奪得食家寶座，餐廳的邀請函更如雪片飛至。

Helena教精新進食家，相片比文字重要。

大小通吃 堅持不寫鱔稿

近期麥當勞推出飯餐，她也不肯錯過，她嫌牛肉飯的燒汁太甜，飯量太少及不夠軟熟，只給中評，卻說雞肉飯卷美味，給予好評。家住西貢的她，也試過專誠到元朗Sense Dessert Cafe一嘗大熱的分子甜品；港大附近的莎厘娜餐廳結業之前，她也飽餐一頓。外國人敬而遠之的中式鳳爪和粥品，她照吃可也，只是犧牲了食相，「我食中菜會好論盡，食麵啲湯彈到周圍都係。西餐啲蔬菜會切好，但香港食條芥蘭都成棵嚟，唔知點食」。
佛利民說過，世上沒有免費午餐，果然有些餐廳對她溫馨提示：「寫好啲！」她回應道：「盡量啦！」最後仍會寫出真心話。問她餐廳有那些死罪？「第一係唔新鮮，第二係服務態度差，第三係空間太逼」。
Helena身高163厘米，體重100磅，鮑參翅肚並沒轉化為腰間贅肉，這是對食評家以至都市人的最大祝福。Helena的終極夢想是領教英國分子料理名廚Heston Blumenthal的手勢，早前英女皇登基60周年，菜單正出自他手。但她吃過美味之最，卻是在英國唸小學時吃的烤羊配薯蓉，菜式不算驚艷，但她吃的不止是食物，還有回憶。

Fine arts and Fine foods are a work of art

SR Gallery Cafe (Causeway Bay)

Thanks to SR Gallery for inviting me to try their 5 Course dinner set.

When I got there I was greeted by many artistic pieces as well as a gallery.
Currently Abstract art is on exhibition and the theme will change according to their schedule.

SR Gallery used to be just an exhibition for art but now they have integrated a restaurant with the gallery.

They serve dinner, desserts and a great choice of floral teas.

I liked the spaciousness of the restaurant with the gallery beside it.


For dinner you can choose a four course or five course meal.
There is optional foie gras as well.

I had trouble choosing each course because there were so many good choices.
Usually in other restaurants there are 1 or 2 delectable choices but at SR Gallery there were about 3-4 per course that I liked.

The vegetarian choices were really tempting as well and not just there for the sake of making up a choice for vegetarians!

Here was what I tried:

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Foie Gras:

It was nicely presented with two sauces on either side, garnished with a sliced of apple on top.
The sweet sauce had pieces of orange rind in it so I preferred the other savoury sauce with the foie gras.
The foie gras was crisp on the outside and velvety in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Herbed Tuna Salad with Aged Balsamic Reduction:
I loved the strong tastes because the rocket is strong, grassy and bitter itself paired with the spicyness from the spices they put on it.
The tuna and the salad was a nice pairing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
SR Crab cake:
The crab cake was delicious with lots of crab meat inside fused with silky potato and herbs.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Clams with sun-dried tomatoes and cherry tomatoes:
The clams were appetizing especially with the tangyness of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh cherry tomatoes.
The clams were sand free too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mushroom soup:
The soup was really nice with strong mushroom taste, it was thick and infused with pureed mushroom.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
French Duck Leg Confit with Truffle Mash Potato and Avocado Salad:
The duck seemed to be flavoured before it was cooked, because the duck tasted salty as if it was soaked in brine.
The skin was lovely and crispy and it basically tasted like the crispy aromatic ducks at Chinese restaurants in the UK.
The accompanying mash and salad was nice, and the mash was delectable because they put truffle in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
As well as the salmon, they also had roasted rack of lamb with black olive sauce but I preferred the Salmon.
The other main choices were hard to choose from because there was Vegetable Strudel with Basil Cream Sauce and Buttered Pumpkin and Spinach and Cheese Cake with Sautéed Mushroom.
In the end I chose the salmon.
Pan Fried Salmon with Black Olive Sauce:

The salmon was cooked just right and the black olive sauce was amazing, it was strong and flavoured the salmon nicely because the olives were finely chopped with pieces of garlic in it.
It reminds me of black bean sauce but olive sauce tastes much nicer because it has natural olive oil in it and it has a nutty taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lastly we finished with dessert so we chose the Panna Glazed Mango White Wine Sabayon and Banana Caramel Tart.
To go with the desserts there was so many teas to choose from.
The best tea to go with the dessert was the Black caramel tea which had the sweetest smell you could ever imagine.
I also tried the Body nourish tea as well because they also specialize in healthy teas as well as floral teas.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Panna Glazed Mango White Wine Sabayon:
I do not like Asian mango but I tried it because of the Sabayon which was really worth trying.
The cubes of mango were in a cup shaped filo pastry covered with dreamy light Sabayon.
The Sabayon was really milky, light and well frothed which was heaven with the delicate flakey filo pastry.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Banana Caramel Tart:
The size of this caramel tart was quite big which is why some people share this for tea in the afternoon.
The crust was lovely and buttery with sweet caramel on it.
It was definitely a nice banana tart because the banana slices, with caramel and crust were a perfect match.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Black tea caramel:

When this came, the smell was really sweet.
It contains sugar, hazelnut, cocoa and vanilla, but the taste was not actually sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Body nourish:This had burdock roots, ophiopognis and Wolf berries.
The taste was interesting because it tasted like American ginseng (fa kei sum).
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After trying the dinner I will come back and try their other main courses and the teas because there are so many!!

Delicious omurice at Kitsu No Heya

Before this place changed owners, I never found it attractive, there was no dining area so it was only convenient for people working or living in the area.

After I read Ivy's review I realised that the owners have changed and they now do Omurice.

Ever since I tried it at Tin Hau I was craving for it again.

The pictures in Ivy's review looked really similar to the Omurice at Tin Hau which was why I was so keen to try it.

Luckily there was a seat so I was able to dine there.

The menu does not have English

Basically the food is cooked in the small kitchen.

I ordered the Omurice with sea urchin, squid ink flavoured omelette and curry sauce.
With every omurice there is a choice of ketchup, cream sauce, spicy sauce or curry.

They also have the semi cooked omelette which I would have ordered if I saw it beforehand.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Miso soup:
This came with the omurice and it was miso soup with quite a few pieces of seaweed in it.
The soup was not that salty which was good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Omurice:
The omurice came quite fast and it was garnished with mustard cress and tomato slices.
The size is slightly smaller than the one at Tin Hau.
I really liked the fried rice because there was no oily taste or smell.
Each grain of rice was evenly flavoured and the texture was just right, not too soft or hard.


Initially I thought they were cubes of pumpkin, but when I asked them they said it was sea urchin.
They have mixed the sea urchin with flour to made it springy like fishballs which was interesting.
Otherwise when sea urchin is cooked with rice, it disappears due to its paste like texture.
The curry sauce was quite watery but it was quite appropriate because it was there so that the rice and omelette would not be so dry without overpowering it.
The omelette had a nice squid ink taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Coconut layered pudding:For dessert, the omurice comes with this cute coconut layered pudding.
It was a strange ending to the perfect omurice with a Thai dessert.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
After talking to the chef, he said he used to work at the Tin Hau restaurant which was why the taste was the same.
I will probably be back to try the Tom Yum Kung Omurice on my next visit.
As well as Omurice they also have sushi, fried snacks and udon noodles.