12 Course Signature Tasting Menu by Chef So

Chef So, who has 30 years of extensive culinary experience, serving numerous celebrities and VIPs across the world is now showcasing his signature dishes at Golden Bauhinia.

It comes as a 12 Course Tasting menu for only HKD488.

The menu is available from 8 Apr to 14 Jun 2019 except 12 May 2019.
Terms and conditions apply.

Further discounts with HSBC where they can enjoy 15% off upon spending HK$600 or above for dinner (Exclusive of service charge and for 2 diners or above).

Here is the 12 Course Tasting menu:

Appetizers:
A pretty delight of Bitter Squash with Plum Sauce, Black Truffle Bean Sheet Rolls and Barbecued Pork Fillet with Honey Sauce.
The bittermelon was laid out like a maple leaf and it was appetizing eating it with the barbecued pork as the plum sauce complimented the pork nicely.
The bean sheet roll was crispy without oiliness with a fragrant truffle aroma.

Next was the Minced Fish Thick Soup which was light and comforting.
Adding the finely chopped lettuce and spring onions made it even more healthy.

Moving on to the mains, it was the Deep-fried Crab Shell Stuffed with Crab Meat.
It was stuffed with so much crab meat, onions and mushrooms cooked with a little bit of milk to give it that creaminess.
I loved the taste as it was similar to chicken a la king but with crabmeat.

The Pan-fried Scallop with Black Truffle was big yet tender and I loved the crispy surface.

The Baked Spare Ribs with Plum Sauce and Lime was another dish that everyone liked.
Using Plum sauce and lime made it almost like Sweet and sour but with a fruity twist.

The Braised Pomelo Peel with Shrimp Roe in gravy was my absolute favourite.
Rich in fibre, soft and mushy like braised white radish.
The taste was amazing, it was light, and there was no bitter taste at all with the full flavour coming from the dried prawn roes and rich gravy.

Next were the Sautéed Seasonal Vegetables in Olive oil with Wolfberries:
I was expecting the olive oil to be strong but it wasn't and the wolfberries did a nice job by giving it touch of sweetness.

The last main dish ended with Fried Rice with Vegetables and Egg White.
It was definitely to my standards because it was tasty with the simplest ingredients like egg white and spring onions.

Finished with Dessert of Crispy Sesame Balls and Dried Longan and Red Dates Tea.

Definitely a satisfactory 12 course by Chef So and what I appreciate is that all this dishes are so healthy and non oily yet tasting good.

Golden Bauhinia Cantonese Restaurant (金紫荊粵菜廳):
Expo Galleria, Hong Kong Convention And Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai
https://restaurants.hkcec.com/zh/GoldenBauhinia

Pleasing buffet selection at [Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees]

As an expat, I have always found that buffets lacked a cheese selection as well as Indian Curries.
My recent visit to the buffet at [Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees] surprised me and it didn't cost a bomb during the weekdays from Mon - Thur!!

It only costs HKD478 which is under HKD500 and weekdays are quieter anyway.

The selection definitely impressed me but as a standard oysters and lobsters are a must in Hong Kong and they had that too!!!

Freshly shucked oysters:

Seafood including lobster and Alaskan crab legs:

Foie Gras:

Japanese grill & Sashimi!
As well as grilled prawns and fish, I was surprised to see grilled whelk too.

These were my favourites and I was elated they had so many items that many other buffets don't offer such as palm hearts, butter lettuce, curry and a good cheese selection.

Indian curries complete with mint sauce, chutney and pickles:

Cheese Selection!!!

Brie on Carr's Water Biscuit!!!

A decent carvery with horse radish, mustard and gravy, nearby there was my favourite potato gratin!

Dessert was just as good and they even had my favourite pandan cake, cherry tart and BREAD PUDDING!!
They even had the newest Haagen Daz ice cream flavours.

The bread pudding was just like the ones in UK topped with custard and not overly rich.

Other visually good looking desserts: Jelly fruits, Lavender cheesecake, Rose egg white cake and souffle with birds nest.

 Mango Napolean:

 Souffle with Birds Nest:

 Banana Charlotte:

 Rum Pie:

 Rose Egg White Roll & Lavender Cheesecake:

Part of the stuff I got from the buffet selection: roast beef with butter lettuce, lamb rack, salted egg yolk prawn, palm hearts and lobster in black bean sauce.
Overall, everything was good so you can expect to be stuffed if you go there~

For more information, please visit:
https://www.harbour-plaza.com/8degrees/Dining-Cafe-8-Degrees-en.htm

2019 [Eggsentially Art] at Lee Gardens

Eggettes, Egglettes, Eggpuffs, EggWaffles whatever you call them are all the same thing.
These waffles which look like connected semi spheres is a popular street snack in Hong Kong that costs around $18-$60.
Some restaurants have taken them to the next level by serving them in a fancy and high end way.

At Lee Gardens, it is the third year running for Eggsentially Art where they have grouped together many popular eggette stalls in one place for two days.

Most of the eggettes cost $40-60 which makes it easy when buying cash tokens as they comes in bases of $20.

There is a stall directory with the eggettes and prices.

The first eggette stall that got my attention were the ready made eggettes which come frozen, which means you can have them at home by reheating it.
My favourite was the eggette smores sandwich and they did had eggettes with charsiu from GoodBBQ.
There were other creative flavours like fruit peel etc.

Cubus 28 had a pineapple one which is really similar to BOVE/MODOS in the sense that you get chewy pineapple in the middle.

The Tea eggettes are also worth mentioning as the eggettes are infused with tea served with ice cream from IGLOO.
They had white rabbit ice cream which was so good.

As well as eggettes, there are some new stalls serving HK style teas and egg tarts for that eggettastic experience.

Hong Kong Style milk tea from KAMCHA:

Tarts from Queen Sophie:

Lets see what Eggsentially Art 2020 will bring!


2017 [Eggsentially Art] at Lee Gardens
https://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.com/2017/03/eggsentially-art-at-lee-gardens.html

[Waterfront Bar & Terrace] Good views and good food

Recently went to a media gathering at [Waterfront Bar & Terrace] and I must admit I was really impressed.

The restaurant is right by the promenade so you have views of East Hong Kong where you can dine al-fresco or sit inside.

The chef stayed in Mexico for a few years so there are a some Mexican dishes to offer as well as fine European dishes.

I appreciate the choice of side dishes as they had gnocchi, lobster mac n cheese to crushed potatoes with lemon.

Here was what we had:

Started with the Oysters (fin de Claire), all fresh and glistening that just a squeeze of lemon was delicious.

For salad, the smoked halibut on iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing was a nice change from Caesar salad.

Next was the ahi Tuna, layers of avocado, tuna tartare in yuzu cilantro vinegar topped with refreshing mango.

It was paired with crispy tortilla chips that I would describe as crumbly and disintegrates in your mouth when you eat it.

Campechana (Mexican shrimp cocktail) is not often found in Hong Kong so we were lucky it was offered on the menu.

[So far I have only had this at Verde Mar]

It is basically Mexican shrimp cocktail in a zesty red cocktail sauce with crab lump meat as well.

The jumbo crab cakes were divine as it was 99% crabmeat so a must if you love crab.

The calamari was nice and simple, coated in a delicate pink and black pepper tempura batter.

It came with chipotle and lime mayo but again it tasted good with just a squeeze of lemon.

My favourite was the Balik salmon which was smoked salmon topped with salmon roe served with sour cream.

As well as raw oysters we had the hot Kilpatrick oysters which were topped with delicious bacon and Worcester sauce.

The smokiness of the bacon and creaminess of the oyster together were wonderful.

Moving on to the seafood, there are so many fish dishes to choose from like seabream, swordfish, red snapper to cod.

We had the cod and salmon.

The salmon was stunning on a bed of burgandy blackberry sauce with refreshing blackberries.

I had a bias for cod because I just love chunky flakes of cod and it was moist served wrapped in paper with delicate vegetables beside it.

The jumbo sea scallops were more flavourful as they were wrapped in Pancetta which gave it that lovely salty kick just like bacon.

For the mains, there was Tuna Wellington, Lobster pizza and the USDA beef rib eye with the best side dishes.

The magic of the Tuna Wellington was the morel mushroom gravy which complimented it nicely and there were chunks of morel mushrooms in the gravy.

The pizza was not your usual topped with whole boston lobster, button mushrooms, Gruyere cheese and BRANDY!!!!

Imagine that!! Pizza and Brandy.

This is what makes Waterfront so special, there is something unique for every dish.

The USDA beef rib eye with sel de Guerande was stunning but the side dishes also stole the show because I love gnocchi, potato gratin and squid ink linguine.

While most steak houses offer creamed spinach, I liked the Sauteed baby spinach with garlic that was served here as it was lighter and healthier.

To finish, desserts are a must and I like the way the desserts are named by colours.

The desserts we had were: red, cream, copper, yellow and golden.

Again being English, I was biased on the bread pudding which was a substantial size good enough for one and also good for sharing depending on your appetite.

The apple tartin was my next favourite as the apple in the middle was poached.

Red wine ganache/raspberry/cream cheese icing:

Lemon and basil pie with meringue:

Apple tartin with calvados ice cream:

Pineapple carpaccio with coconut ice cream:

Bread and butter pudding with rum raisins and creme Anglaise.

After dining here, I definitely recommend [Waterfront Bar & Terrace] as every dish has something special about it.

The restaurant has lovely views and it is conveniently located near Whampoa MTR station exit D2.

[Waterfront Bar & Terrace]

G/F, Harbourfront One Harbourfront, 18 Tak Fung Street, Hung Hom

https://kowloon.harbourgrand.com/dining/waterfront