Broadway Tower - Cotswolds

I was really lucky my brother took me to the Cotswolds because the Broadway Tower was nearby.
He showed me pics of it on google and I was definitely interested.

It was this striking tower against lovely blue skies and endless fields of grass surrounded by deer.
The tower was a bit like the fairytale Rapunzel.

We would have gone up the tower but it was late so it was closed and so was the nuclear bunker but Thankfully there are some photos on Tripadvisor posted by others so you can see what it looks like.


https://broadwaytower.co.uk

BBC Birmingham at The Mailbox

Birmingham seems to be the centre of everything just like London so I am not surprised that the BBC has a station there.

As I was visiting Birmingham, we stumbled upon BBC Birmingham's Visitor Centre tucked away on Level 3 of The Mailbox.

There is lots to see and you can try your hand at presenting the news or a weather bulletin which is not easy as it looks keeping up with the autocue.

I tried this and it was a brilliant experience.
There is a piece of paper where you note down a reference number to download your video.

My first attempt was good but I cracked up on the second attempt.
I think I managed but I spoke earlier than the cue so the pictures became delayed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/tours/birmingham

The famous joint for Rice rolls

I visited Superior Steamed Rice Roll Pro Shop in 2011 and felt that it had potential because the rice rolls were fantastic.
Shortly afterwards they were recommended by Michelin.

Recently went back for the ricerolls because I was craving for them.

I had four different rolls and the plain one with spring onions and dried shrimps were the best.

The quality of the rice roll sheets were still elastic, thin and translucent which is good but the ones filled with meat were disappointing because the duck wasn't fresh and the liver was too rubbery.
I consider myself lucky when the meat is fresh in Chinese restaurants but the people here can't seem to taste that it is not fresh.
As I always say, it is so sad that you have to go to expensive restaurants for fresh food because having fresh food is such a basic requirement.

Superior Steamed Rice Roll Pro Shop:
Address: G/F, 384 Portland St, Prince Edward
Phone: 2380 7790

McDonald's Angus beef burger by Christian Yang

Tried the Pacific Sunshine and Alpine delight angus beef burgers by Christian Yang.

The Alpine burger was just a common combination of mushrooms and cheese which is expected for such a name Alpine burger.

The Pacific Sunshine was a bit different because you would associate Pacific with seafood and lobsters and here the burger contained apple.

Despite being a bit weird, the bits of apple and bacon tasted nice but I would have preferred green tart apples.

[華 Hana Soft Cream] Raindrop cake

I don't often go to Sham shui po but went here because I wanted to try QQ rice one more time before they close down.
While I was there, I discovered this joint selling Hokkaido 8 soft serve, stevia tea and this raindrop cake (water cake/Mizu Shingen Mochi).

As it was only $15, I decided to give it a try.

It literally looked like a blob of water an a bit like breast implants surrounded in brown sugar syrup and bean powder!!

Basically it was like eating a very soft jelly with a hint of sweetness, if you want it sweeter you can spoon more of the syrup.

華 Hana Soft Cream
628 6/F Dragon Centre

Sham Shui Po

Toyosu Suisan debuts in Hong Kong

Tried Toyosu Suisan because of the fact it has endless queues and good comments from bloggers who know their Japanese food.
Started with the soup which comes with every bowl.

It had a strong miso taste with lots of fish in it.


It was really difficult to choose because every bowl looked good.
In the end I went for the Minced maguro and snow crab bowl with yam.

+++++++++++++++++++++
Minced maguro and snow crab bowl with yam:
To be honest, it was soooo tasty I didn't need any soy sauce.
The ingredients are freshly flown from Hokkaido and the wasabi is freshly grated not the powder.
There were bits of yuzu peel and tomato that did wonders.




+++++++++++++
maguro eye:
This was the prized Maguro eye that I have always wanted to order and it is hard finding a place in Hong Kong that serves it.
It had a rich sweet taste and it was very gelatinous.


+++++++

I cant wait to come back again and hope that it will be consistently good.

https://www.facebook.com/toyosusuisanhk/

Beautiful fine dining at Le Rêve

After reading a glowing review on this place by FoodMeUpScotty, I knew this place was going to be good because he dines at the best places.

There is a eight course set menu and the one I had was A harmony of earth and sea.

Started with warm crusty bread rolls which were inside this brown bag on top a huge dried brown leaf.

The first course was EVOLUTION which was scallop tartar with radish, pears and Japanese ginger with a slice of beetroot on top.

A refreshing sweet and cool start to dinner.


It was then followed by tomato soup which was actually tomato essence. I loved that concentrated tomato taste.



Next came SAISON which was presented like a beautifiul painting.


It was Saury fish with tofu sauce, aubergine puree and my favourite couscous.

The elements blended well nicely and the bitterness of the herb helped cut through the strong flavours.

The third course was TRADITION.

It was Kimedai, I absolutely adore this fish and it was nice that the sauce wasn't too overpowering so I could taste the lovely fish with the spring onions and ginger.
I even drank the bit at the bottom because it had a brilliant infusion of the fish and spring onions.

Moving on to a slightly heavier course, it was CONNEXION which was lobster and spelt wheat.
The lobster was springy and the spelt which had a nice mouthfeel was in this creamy sauce.


Moving on to the EARTH element of this dinner, SAUVAGE was next.
An evenly marbled fat Satsuma beef from Kagoshima served with salt, wasabi cream, black pepper and sauce.
The beef was nice on its own and personally I think just adding salt brings out the best taste of beef.

Before we had desserts, RAFRAICHISSANTE was served.
It was a very sweet refreshing sorbet with sweet peeled grapes on top.



It was then followed by POUSSE, a fluffy white chocolate mousse with olive oil which you mix into it.
An interesting dessert.


The last course PAIX was petit fours which were a perfect ending with tea of coffee.


In addition we also had this CREME BRULEE mocktail which was so addictive with mini grilled marshmallows on the side.

Can't wait to come again when they have a new menu.

https://www.facebook.com/lerevehongkong