Pinakbet from Cinta J

Cinta J Express (Wan Chai)

Pinakbet is a northern Philippine dish made from mixed vegetables steamed in fish or shrimp sauce.

The one at Cinta J express consists of bittermelon, aubergines, French beans, pumpkin and some pork steamed in shrimp sauce which the bright pink colour is coming from the shrimps.

Overall, it was ok, but the vegetables were not soft enough and the pork was too oily for my liking.

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Sam's home cooked food

Sam's Kitchen (Western District)

I was intrigued by this old and shabby restaurant so went and tried their dinner.

The dining area is upstairs.

Inside the restaurant, it feels quite cosy.


On the wall, I found some really cool fruits jellies displayed there.
(Not sure how long they have been there because the sugar has melted and the colours have faded).

Ordered the tofu because I love tofu, the product shot is exactly the same as the one on the review.
Am I seeing an identical photo?

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tofu:

I really liked this dish because it was my favourite tofu served with spring onion sauce.
The pairing of bland tofu with spring onion sauce was so nice because it enhanced the taste and it went down very well with rice.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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Best grocer in Kennedy Town

Kennedy Town is a big trek for me so I grouped a few places to dine.
I planned going there on the 2nd of June which was a public holiday Monday but couldn't because they don't open on Mondays.

Sundays would be a great day to go because they have fried chicken but they don't have a place to sit or a bar table to facilitate people dining there.

At Sunday's Grocery, they sell fast food, alcohol, condiments and these iceballs which are served in fancy cocktails.





I would have ordered the sandwich but since I was going to have more food that evening I settled for the Chicken fingers.
Next time I am going to try the Jewish penicillin.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken fingers:

The chicken fingers came in a sturdy and trendy box lined with grease paper.
There was kewpie mayonnaise and ketchup to accompany the chicken.

The chicken was perfectly fried and tender inside.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cool matchsticks:

While I was there, I picked up some really nice matchsticks which were in a cute cigarette packet the same size as a normal matchbox.



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Venchi world in Central

A while ago you could only get Venchi chocolates from specialists shops like The Royal House in To Kwa Wan.
Now, there is a Venchi on Stanley Street, Central serving chocolate, coffees and gelato.








Quoted from the press release: “Founded in 1878, the secrets to Italian premium chocolate brand Venchi are fresh and quality natural ingredients, having developed over 250 unique flavors exuding truly Italian taste, including chocaviar, chocolate cigars, and chocolight series that is low in calories and has no added sugar.”
The shop offers “Pick & Mix”, where customers can pick their favorite chocolates to be measured by weight.











For diabetics, they have Venchi Chocolight which has no added sugar and low in calories as well as a gluten free range.

Mini book metal tin cudotti chocaviar gift box













The creme brulee was my favourite because it had gooey sweet caramel in the middle.
The other too were rich with a heavy cocoa taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Creme brulee:



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creme cocoa:


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75% Cocoa:




★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Wild hot kudzu drink @ 葉香留

葉香留 (Wan Chai)

Since my last visit, the Kudzu drink has gone up from $9.5 to $11.

I like the taste of it because it tastes lke boiled bitter watercress and not because of its health benefits.



It probably does not have any herbal benefits because the lady was really moody and depressed like she was going through menopause.
As I said, I went for the taste and not the Qi, Yin Yang BS!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
kudzu drink:



It was warm and savoury with a sweet aftertaste.
You can also add salt to enhance the taste but it seemed that salt was already added.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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Taro McFlurry

I was really looking forward to the new Taro McFlurry so got it as soon as it was launched.



Basically it is McDonald's softserve, oreo cookies and taro syrup mixed together.
I had mine without oreo cookies because I don't like them.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Taro McFlurry:




The McFlurry had a nice taro syrup fragrance but unfortunately it was too sweet because the softserve is already sweet and the taro syrup made it even more sweet.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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Battered oysters at Hooked

Hooked (Mid-Levels)

Came here again and was glad to see some changes!!!!!!

PICKLED EGGS ARE NOW SOLD HERE!!!



FINALLY, THERE ARE CHIP FORKS FOR PEOPLE TO USE!!!!

This time had the oysters, 3 for $40.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Oysters:

The oysters were huge and they were about the size of big chicken wings.
I was surprised that they did not shrink after being fried.
Anyway, the batter was golden and thin while the oyster was creamy and juicy.




The oysters were just amazing and the salt enhanced the taste effortlessly.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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