Christmas Turkey casserole soup

Pret A Manger (Wan Chai)

After spotting the Christmas Turkey wraps at Pret, I was eagerly waiting for the Christmas Turkey casserole to be launched.


I had some time to kill before a tasting in Wan Chai so it was the perfect chance to get some soup.



★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Christmas Turkey casserole:


The casserole was slightly disappointing because it was a watery soup, I was expecting something thicker and creamy.
However it did contain meaty pieces of turkey and boiled cranberries in the soup which gave the soup a weird sweet taste.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Healthy ramen for everyone

Kenko Syokuhin Ramen (Central)

Ever since I saw the green broth, I had to try it.

This ramen joint is located on the corner of Wellington Street where all the outside food stalls are.

On the first visit, I tried the Beauty Set which was the green broth, then I tried the tomato broth on the second visit.


I am not sure how their Ramens are healthy but for the sets I tried, it came with cabbage salad and Yakult.
The salad was reasonably healthy but I always believe that there is too much sugar in a bottle of Yakalt otherwise they wouldn't come up with a low sugar version.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beauty:

The ramen was really nice and the broth was as nice as Butao's pesto broth but the broth here was made with basil.


It was really good with the rocket leaves because it gave it some extra grassy bitter taste which gave it a nice refreshing tone.
I felt that the bacon and cheese could have been left out because I did not like the smoky taste and the cheese was a sticky mass at the bottom of the bowl.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pure:



This was similar to the ramen above but in tomato broth, it also had rocket lettuce, bacon and some basil oil drizzled on top.
I did not like it as much as Beauty because I found the soup quite sweet and there was a splodge of melted cheese at the bottom.
I think there would be less calories in this ramen without the tasteless cheese.


The noodles have pieces of wheat in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Salad:



A lovely crunchy salad of julienne cabbage paired nicely with the tangy vinaigrette dressing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★a

Hearty and home style French food

Les Fils à Maman (Central)

I have always wanted to try this restaurant but didn't know where it was.

After dining at La Cantoche, I mysteriously stumbled there as if fate wanted me to try another French restaurant.

It is well hidden on Hollywood Road.

The style here is homely with lots of retro decor and rustic items.




This is their first branch in Hong Kong, with three restaurants in France and one in Belgium.


With so many branches, their food is reassuring.
The menu is a simplistic spiral bound booklet which reminded me of a maths notebook.


There is also a daily specials on the board.


After dining here, I have been back since and not been disappointed, here was the food on my first visit.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bread:


The bread was a bit hard and chewy and slightly different to the French baguettes you get in France.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mustard:


Lovely mustard contained in a ceramic pot.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Beef bourguignon:




This beef was amazing, it was soft with a strong beef taste paired with lovely thinly sliced mushrooms with a earthy taste.
The gravy was rich with lots of wine in it, after I finished the beef, I put all the fries in the pot and the gravy and fries just went perfectly together.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Poisson du jour:


The fish was soft and tender drenched in the lovely buttery sauce which had a strong alcoholic taste.
The potatoes were really nice, they were firm without being too hard and they were really silky in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Although the prices are slightly pricier than La Cantoche, the food was really good.
The next French restaurant I am going to try will be Le Port Parfumé and there are some new ones on Staunton Road.

Steamed buns bursting with filling!

Sun Hing Restaurant (Western District)
Only got the steamed buns because they were famous.

I have attempted to get them quite a few times before but they were sold out!
Anyway, I was lucky they were not sold out at 3:24 pm that day.

I am not really a fan of local dim sums in Hong Kong because they don't taste as good as the ones in UK or you need to go to really pricey places for good quality dim sum.

There were lots of round tables were strangers share tables with each other.

On the menu there were two interesting items:
This is not a spring roll and the deep fried crispy milk.


I decided not to dine there because tea is compulsory and you get charged for that.


When I opened the box, the steamed buns were a bit tacky, the buns were not pure white with yellow splodges on it and the piece of paper at the bottom looked like it was steamed in a dirty pan with a greasy surface.



It was really difficult eating it because the filling just dripped everywhere.


As for the taste I was not wowed by it however it was good that it was not too sweet.
The filling had pieces of salted hard yolk in it.
If you want to challenge yourself eating this bun without making a mess, this is definitely recommended!

Lovely French food

La Cantoche (Sheung Wan)

I dined here ages ago but since there were lots of tasting reviews earlier on this restaurant, I decided to write it up later.
+++++++++++++++
Before dining at this place, most of the French food I had in Hong Kong were from La Creperie and La Rotisserie.

After dining here, I was craving more for French food because at this restaurant they do lots of different dishes for lunch.

For dinner, they have lots of other dishes with a Vietnamese twist to it.

Inside the restaurant, it is fun and youthful with a white brick walls and colourful grafitti.


Came here for lunch and dinner so some of the dishes are from lunch and some are a la carte dishes that I had in the evening.
The lunch deal is quite good and less than $100 for a two course.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Duck shepherds pie:

This was a hearty dish of duck confit with mashed velvety potatoes on top.

I really liked this dish because the duck was so much nicer than the usual minced beef.
I was surprised the French have shepherds pie as well but at this other French restaurant I dined at, they also had it too.
The duck was slightly too salty but otherwise the dish was amazing, piping hot Shepherds pie complemented with cooling mesclan leaves.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pork chop with rice:

This dish was a little on the Asian side because of the rice but not bad and the pork was a little bit tough.
Again at this other French restaurant, they also served rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lemon tart:

The lemon tart was amazing because the lemon curd was really refreshing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Brandy bread pudding:

Again I was surprised with Bread pudding because it was quite British but the taste was slightly different from the usual bread puddings because it had dessicated coconut and almond on top with delicious pieces of young coconut in it too giving it a lovely chewy texture and a nutty taste contrasted by the Brandy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice Krispies:

This was from the A la Carte menu and I ordered it because the Rice Krispies reminded me of the cereal and I was curious if they were the same.
It was grounded pork with coconut, crispy pieces but the rice krispy pieces were not as crispy as I hoped and there was too much lemongrass in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Nougat glace:

A colourful icecream mixed with grounded M&Ms which tasted a bit like frozen heavy whipped sweet cream with pieces of chocolate in it.
The plate was colourfully decorated with red and yellow syrup which matched their grafitti design.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cordon blue with potato balls:

The cordon bleu was really crispy on the outside and the chicken was tender.
The star of the dish was actually the potato balls because they are fluffy inside with a delicious crispy potatoey crust.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Tea time everyday at Shortbread Teas

Shortbread Teas (Central)

Ever since my first visit, the cakes and teas are addictive that I need a weekly dose of it!~
Once I have satisfied my craving for the week, I end up craving for something else the next week.

There are so many different teas that are really nice.

My favourites are:
Breakfast tea
Duchess Grey
Christmas pudding
Highland toffee

The highland toffee has a lovely sweet smell. When milk and sugar are added, it is just like drinking silky toffee milk tea which goes well with almost anything.
Then there is the Christmas pudding tea which is also sweet with a lovely cherry scent that goes well with cakes.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cherry and almond scone:



This was a weekend special so I had to have it, the scones were crumbly and delicious, perfect with cream and jam.
I loved the pieces of cherry and almond in it which made it extra special.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Apple and cinammon:



This was another weekend special which I could not miss, it was a delicious scone with moist pieces of apple in it with a light dusting of cinammon on top.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Bacon sarnie:


A simple but addictive sarnie made even more addictive with the HP sauce on the table.
I loved the smell and the saltiness of the bacon that was not too salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Mega ciabatta:


This ciabatta was divine! Probably a man's portion but as I have a appetite, it was just right for me. My breakfast favourites in a bun.
I loved the scrambled egg because a fried egg would be messy to eat and it was light and fluffy, probably the best scrambled egg I have had in my life.
The combination of the three just went perfectly well together because the bacon and black pudding contributed to the saltiness and the scrambled egg was just satisfying.
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You can get other combinations such as double sausage, double bacon or whatever you fancy, but black pudding and scrambled egg are my favourite!
It costs around $80 with a pot of tea!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Highland toffee tea:



A lovely tea, but it's hard to say it is my favourite because at different times I crave for one of the particular teas above!
You can never get bored or run out of choices for tea or the cups because there are so many different cups as well as the colourful teapots.
This particular cup above is by Real old willow A8025.


★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Marshmallows:


These marshmallows are made by Shortbread Teas so they are really soft and meringue like.
It was fun putting them in hot chocolate because they literally dissolve dispersing into a foamy white cap.
They taste delicious on their own too.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Christmas bundt cake:



This cake was addictive too because the chocolate taste was really strong with a slight coffee aftertaste and the icing and nuts on top were decorative and delicious especially the pistachio nuts and dried cranberry pieces.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
There is a membership scheme which is tempting for regulars like me because you get a all year round 10% discount card, a colourful tea pot of your choice, two tea samples and a sand timer.


The new menu is really good for menu dyslexics like me because it is clear and concise.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★