Lyon-inspired “pop-up” bouchon-style bistro

Café Causette has been transformed into a “pop-up” Lyon-inspired bouchon-style bistro for Le French GourMay,

From now until the end of May, Café Causette’s Chef de Cuisine Marcus Chant will offer a special á la carte menu featuring delicious homemade French comfort foods.

A special two- and three-course menu will also be available at HKD 388* and HKD 468* respectively which can be found on Mandarin Oriental's website.

We got to try the a la carte and the portions were generous.

Here was what we had:
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St Jacques: $228:
Seared scallops, Jerusalem artichoke purée, barigoule dressing

This was such a lovely light dish to begin with especially the Jerusalem artichokes which were tender with a delicious woody taste.
There was also fried crispy artichoke slices to give it some depth and the juicy plump scallops were embodied nicely in the light sauce.
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Pâté de Campagne: $178:
Pork pâté, cornichons, grape chutney, radish, crusty bread


A meaty pork pate with fruity pieces of prune and pistachio nuts in it.
It was complimented nicely with the sweet grape chutney, after finishing the pork pate I found the tangy cornichons appetizing making me ready for the next dish.
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Tart Provencal: $178
Warm tart of roasted peppers, eggplant, goat cheese

Delicious tart with a creamy goats cheese paste at the bottom that was not too gamey or heavy balanced by the vegetable medley on top.
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Andouillette: $218
Pork & veal sausage, choucroute, crispy potato straws

This is probably not everyone's cup of tea but had to try it.
It is made with pork intestines which are quite chewy and there was lots of delicious saukeraut to balance the pungent intestines.
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Bouillabaisse:
For one: $258 or for two $438
Classic fish stew, aioli, crusty bread

A delicious strong bouillabaisse perfect with the baguette which soaked the sauce nicely.
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Raie au Beurre Noisette et Salade Fenouil $288:
Pan roasted skate wing, brown butter sauce, fennel and lemon salad

Skate wing, another rare item in Hong Kong.
The skate was soft and supple flavoured with the delicious buttery sauce.
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Tarte Fine de Pomme $98:
Apple tart, vanilla ice cream

The apple tart was flakey with a delicious sweet and chewy base with hints of fruity apple.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Ile Flottante $98:
Floating Islands, vanilla sauce

Another one of my favourite desserts with delicious egg white in creamy vanilla sauce complemented by the delicious berries.
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Lemon and Lime ginger ale:

I settled for the lemon and lime ginger ale which was refreshing and citrusy.
Great with all the dishes.
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Cafe Causette:

Mandarin Oriental Hotel

A big hotpot to myself at Cook Idea

In Sai Kung, it is mainly boring seafood, crappy Chinese food and Western food.

Sai Kung is getting better these days because there is more Western food.

Chinese food is definitely not an option because villagers don't seem to cook it right.

However, this place is really cool especially their hotpots.

On my last visit I had noodles but I could smell the hotpots smelling good so came back for it.
They were really nice and let me order a hotpot and just noodles.

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Hotpot with chicken in herbal soup:


The soup was rich with a strong chicken and herb taste. It had the usual herb bitterness which was balanced by the sweetness of th red dates.
On this visit, I had white meat which was lovely and tender.
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The hotpot was a bargain because the noodles and hotpot did not cost more than $60.

The silver dragon of Lei Yue Mun

銀龍咖啡茶座 (Lei Yue Mun)

Randomly came here because the restaurants nearby just serve seafood and I was not really looking for seafood.

Basically it reminds me of those old village houses in Sai Kung because of the green tiled floors.




The menu was simple, they had rices and noodles.



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Rice with chicken wings and five spice meat:

The food was not really exciting but the chicken wings were delicious and crispy with all the fat burnt out during the frying process complement by their sweet soy sauce which made it delicious with the rice.
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Go KART Noodles!!

The last time I had great cart noodles were from HAPPY NOODLE in Happy Valley but sadly that closed down.

Now there is Cartson's Noodle which is going to be great because it is opened by two really cool people who have a touch of Western influence over it.

The restaurant is really modern and chic and the logo says it all!
Designed with thought as well as incorporating the Chinese characters of Cart noodles as well as a pictorial of a real cart.
It features a TOP VIEW of a boy pushing a cart (on the left) which is also part of the Chinese character of the word CAR and the squares represent the the cooking segments in the cart!!

The interior is chic, no more grubby tables and uncomfortable environments.

You can choose to sit at the tables or the bar table.

The bar table makes the joint looks spacious.

Beneath the bar tables, there are hooks for your bags.

To order, you tick what you want, go to the counter and pay then wait for your number on the red display.

Ordering sheets:
There are four combos and my favourite one is the premium combo 2 because it has all my favourites.

Or you can choose a lighter option.

The are three broths:
Angel: tomato
Cartson's secret: mala spicy soup with various spice levels
Devil: fragrant spicy tomato broth

The angel means not spicy while the devil means spicy.

The counter:


Loved the bright plastic bowls for kids

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Squid ink noodles :

The presentation of this was just amazing!!
Jet black noodles contrasted by the bright orange squid skewers and the leafy green coriander leaves.

The noodles are not black, but covered in so much black squid ink that it has this strong squid taste.

Whoever has this will get black lips and a black tongue!!
Anyway, the noodles are definitely worth trying.
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Premium cart noodles:

I chose this because it had everything in it that I liked from pork knuckles, meat patty, fish roll, onsen egg.

I thought the fish patty was the best because you don't often find it in noodles shops as a topping.
For the noodles I chose Chinese buccatini because it draws more soup.


The soup was lovely with a strong tomato base and spicy tones to it.
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Tofu with cumin:

I loved the tofu because the coating is different to the usual fried tofu.
It tasted the same as the Japanese Agedashi tofu which is lightly dusted with potato starch or cornstarch and then deep fried until golden brown.
The one here had lots of cumin giving it a lovely flavour and reminds you of Xinjiang cuisine.
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Condiments:


Even though you don't really need it, the sauces were also tempting and creative.
XO sauce with salted fish and the spicy pickled vegetables which were great complementing anything.
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Grilled items:

As well as noodles, they do great grilled items, great with beers which they plan sell later.
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Prune drink:

I don't normally order this but it was not too sweet and the smoky taste was not that strong.
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On my next visit, I am going to try the noodles in sauce with seacucumber and ducks feet.

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Cartson's Noodle

Shop C2, G/F, 440 Jaffe Rd, Causeway Bay, Causeway Bay

Wanchai's second branch of 金輝點心

This is the second branch of 金輝點心 in WanChai, the other one is located on Spring Garden Lane.

I have never visited that branch before because it is always a battle between cars and pedestrians on that street.

Anyway, this branch is tucked away on Gresson Road by the busy market next to quite a few popular restaurants.

It is a fast paced restaurants with waitors whizzing in and out.

They have dim sum sets.



At the front, there is a counter that keeps all the dim sums hot.


Their hygiene has improved because on the first visit, the fried eggs were slapped in a plastic bag, but on the second visit they were on a metal plate in a plastic bag.


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Prawn dumplings:

I did not like them because the skin was too chewy.
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Steamed rice with spare ribs and chicken feet:


This was really good because the rice beneath it without soy sauce was flavoured.
After the sweet soy sauce was added, it tasted even better.
The chicken feet were nice and soft and the bones detached easily however the spare ribs were fatty and bony.
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