Tuesday, January 29, 2019

China Classic (唐筳), Chinatown Point

China Classic (唐筳), Chinatown Point

I remember that this location used to be a Luk Yu Teahouse - not to be confused with Luk Yu Teahouse at Stanley Street in Hong Kong. It's become China Classic (#01-41/42 Chinatown Point, 133 New Bridge Road, tel : +65 6262 1717), another similar looking Chinese restaurant that also like its predecessor did what appeared to be Cantonese food and dim sum.

China Classic (唐筳),

We ordered a serving of their roasted duck and char siew. Duck was passable. It had pretty flavourful sauce that was redolent of rendered fat and spices that they had used. But it wasn't good enough as a roast that would get me looking forward to coming back though. The char siew was layered with fat and was served with a sweet sauce/glaze which I liked.

China Classic (唐筳), har gow 髮菜

The menu described their har gow to have the black moss - or also commonly known as fa cai (髮菜). Quite obvious that there wasn't much of those in the shrimp dumpling. I had been expecting a lot more since the quantities they used imparted nothing at all.

China Classic (唐筳), siew mai abalone

Siew mai was quite tasty. These came with a piece of abalone on top.

China Classic (唐筳), XO carrot cake

Quite surprised that their XO carrot cake wasn't overly greasy. In fact, it was quite dry. Which was a good thing because it didn't feel oily.

China Classic (唐筳), char siew bao

Char siew bao was competent. The fillings were sweet and moist. Maybe it's a similar sauce from their char siew.

China Classic (唐筳), oyster spring rolls

There were oyster stuffed fried spring rolls. They looked unremarkable. But we could taste the bits of oysters in them. The skins of these rolls were crispy and unexpectedly tasty.

China Classic (唐筳), spinach fried rice scallops

Finished up with spinach fried rice with egg white and scallops. Again, pretty competent fried rice. Needed a bit more salt or fish sauce or soy sauce that would make it more savoury. We got by using pickled green chilli with soy sauce.

Monday, January 28, 2019

Konjiki Hototogisu, Great World City

Konjiki Hototogisu, Great World City

We didn't understand the hype with Konjiki Hototogisu. Their bowls were passable, not memorable. The emphasis of the word 'Michelin' in any form of advertising hasn't exactly made us view them in any better light. Anyway, they've a new shop at Great World City (#01-143, 1 Kim Seng Promenade) that did ramen with oyster paste and oil. 

Konjiki Hototogisu, oyster chawanmushi

There's oyster chawanmushi which had that oyster paste added. It was actually kinda nice.

Konjiki Hototogisu, oyster paitan ramen

The shop was suppose to be good for two of their oyster bowls. The one above was the paitan bowl. An unusual blend of flavours from the oyster paste, oyster oils and a slice of aburi lemon. Creamy and tangy with sweetness from roasted corn. In an unexpected manner, I kinda liked it. But I wouldn't have known it was an oyster ramen if I hadn't been told.

Konjiki Hototogisu, oyster shio ramen

Not getting so much oyster flavour from this shio oyster bowl than a brininess from the broth. It wasn't a bad bowl of noodles per se, but calling this oyster ramen had my expectations raised and the bowl was a let down. The paitan was better.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Revisiting Tsui Wah at Clark Quay

Tsui Wah, lemon coke

We're back in Tsui Wah. So this officially made our visits here more frequent than the ones in Hong Kong. Haha. Even if it was just one more.

Tsui Wah, kagoshima pork cartilage noodles

We noticed their Kagoshima styled pork cartilage instant noodles the last time and didn't have room to try them. This was pretty good. Everything including the cartilage was tender. The sauce was savoury and delicious coupled with the dry tossed instant noodles that they didn't overcook.

Tsui Wah, luncheon meat egg rice

Their luncheon meat with egg rice was not bad but I attribute that to the soy sauce and maybe the luncheon meat. Not exactly the better Hong Kong styled fried luncheon meat if I might add.

We had a regular round fried egg which could have been achieved by myriads of food stalls. The bar for fried eggs on rice had been set at Ma Sa and this isn't anywhere in that league.

Tsui Wah, kang kong preserved bean curd sauce

This wasn't so much obligatory greens than it was because I generally like kang kong and love preserved bean curd. The vegetables were nicely blanched here flavoured with the latter.

Tsui Wah, sweet sour prawns

This lightly battered sweet and sour prawns were a much better rendition than the disappointing plate at Mei Garden. The batter was there to lend texture without being excessive. There's even bits of hawthorn fruit stir fried in this dish.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

ABC Food Corner, Havelock Road

ABC Food Corner, Havelock Road

A relatively new Indian Muslim food place (743 Havelock Road) has opened up just beside Pullman Bakery.

ABC Food Corner, egg

That's curried egg. It was okay.

ABC Food Corner, mutton masala

Curried mutton was also okay.

ABC Food Corner, maggi prata

We grabbed a Maggi prata, the lighter counterpart to the Maggi murtabak. Little reason not to pick a comfort carbo bomb of MSG ladened fried instant noodles wrapped with prata. It was textually pleasing but the flavours that were in the noodles were pretty much lost after the curry.

ABC Food Corner, milo prata

This Milo prata wasn't bad, just not as memorable as the Milo butter one at The Roti Prata House. For some reasons, the flavouring of food here felt a little muted. I wonder about the curry that they included for this.

Friday, January 25, 2019

A nasi padang from Changi Airport T4's Food Emporium

nasi padang Changi Airport T4 Food Emporium

We were looking food late in the evening at Changi Airport's Food Emporium at Terminal 4. A number of stalls looked like they were either closed or vacant and we ended up with a plate of nasi padang from the stall that sold those. Comfort food.

This was actually much tastier than I had imagined. The sayur lodeh gravy was creamy and rich. Very decent sambal goreng and sambal kang kong which was a little fibrous. I thought the sambal on the side would have been nicer if it packed more heat but while it wasn't kickass, it wasn't a deal breaker either. It was already quite a steal at $4.

This must have been my first meatless nasi padang.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Zheng Dou (正斗粥麵專家) at HKIA

Zheng Dou (正斗粥麵專家), char siew goose rice

I guess it's obvious that eating at the airport means the end. Of this trip that is. Before we boarded our flight back, we decided to fuel up with some real food from Zheng Dou (7/F, Departures East Hall, Terminal 1, Hong Kong International Airport) which we've eaten before some years back. That's char siew and roasted goose rice. We requested for breast meat for the goose. Very satisfying. Both the barbecued pork and roasted goose were tender and well flavoured.

Zheng Dou (正斗粥麵專家), siu yuk

On the side, a serving of tasty siu yuk. Or is that siu yoke.

Zheng Dou (正斗粥麵專家), sui gao soup

And a bowl of sui gao soup which wasn't too bad as well.

It seemed that this shop is related to Ho Hung Kee.

Zheng Dou (正斗粥麵專家), Hong Kong International Airport

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

The luncheon meat bun from A-1 Bakery

A-1 Bakery

Came across these at the MTR outlet of the bakery.

A-1 Bakery, luncheon meat bun

Was drawn to them by the thick chunky slice of luncheon meat wedged in the bun.

A-1 Bakery, luncheon meat bun

There's suppose to be black pepper mayo but that mayo was so dry and curdled looking that it might have been black pepper cream cheese. The answer to the unasked question was yes, bun was delicious.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Pork chop rice from Tai Hing

Tai Hing, pork chop rice

Hmmmm....this pork chop rice from Tai Hing was pretty good. The chop was crusted with the flavour of caramelized soy sauce and the meat was tender. Not to mention the splashes of soy sauce with the molten yolk-ed fried eggs which definitely upped the ante. I had the impression that I liked the one at For Kee better but it's been a while and at this point, I cannot be sure.

Tai Hing, Prince Edward

Monday, January 21, 2019

Shake Shack, IFC, HK Central

Shake Shack IFC Hong Kong Central

So we succumbed to the siren call of Shake Shack (Shop 4018, Podium Level 4, ifc mall, 8 Finance Street, Central) and their beefy bacon-y aroma. This wasn't planned by the way. For some reasons I still couldn't quite fathom, I wanted to try their hamburgers. Maybe it's to taste the beef without all the creamy salty cheese.

I like it better with cheese.

I thought the patties were a little too lightly salted. More salt would definitely have made them tastier. On the other hand - the pickles, onions and tomato came through without the cheese. But this would likely be a one off and only the ShackBurger for me in the future.

That Monkey King ale from Moonzen - it was described to be "boasting a beautiful heart of caramel and hoppy aroma of Queen Mother's peaches stolen by the Monkey King himself". Didn't taste anything like Queen Mother's peaches (not that I would know) or peaches of any sort. It was hoppy, a little heavier than light and left a metallic aftertaste though. Prefer the ShackMeister.

Shake Shack IFC Hong Kong Central

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Social Place, The L. Place, Hong Kong Central

Social Place, The L. Place, Hong Kong Central

We heard about Social Place (2/F The L. Place, 139 Queen's Road Central, Central, tel : +852 3568 9666) from social media. It looked like a place where the food is a bit more fun and definitely contemporary with various Chinese influences without taking themselves too seriously. Mostly their rendition of dim sum, small plates and selected Chinese dishes.

Social Place, Hong Kong

Ants on a plate.

Social Place, plum wine

Their house made plum wine was sweet. According to the menu, paired well with their roasted pigeon. It did.

Social Place, black soya milk

That's organic black soya milk.

Social Place, foie gras rice wine

Foie gras with rice wine was nice. The main flavours came from the foie, the rice wine and salt & pepper.

Social Place, roasted pigeon

We enjoyed their flavourful roasted white king pigeons. These didn't have so much meat but made pretty good greasy nibbles with crisp skin.

Social Place, snails

These tasted to me like mala snails in a sauce with the flavour of Shaoxing wine. I was imagining their texture to be more akin to what I have had of Japanese baigai but these were a little crunchy like gizzards and were more difficult to extract from their shells.

Social Place, cherry tomatoes osmanthus sauce

Those were skinned cherry tomatoes with osmanthus sauce. They were chilled and refreshing.

Social Place, century egg tofu

That's chopped up century egg with tofu and sesame sauce. Pretty impressed with how they fanned out those delicate bean curd slices when I couldn't even pick any of them up without breakage.

Social Place, squid ink cuttlefish har gow

These were cuttlefish har gow. I don't know if the cuttlefish merely referred to the ink that was used for the skin but there were definitely more than just prawns in the dumpling. Maybe cuttlefish too. Surprisingly tasty.

Social Place, fried rice abalone black truffle

Pretty impressed by the fried rice with abalone and black truffle. It didn't have the grainy texture of regular fried rice as it was all pretty moist even without the sauce. The abalone flavours permeated  though. I'm usually not big on abalone but I liked this. 

Social Place, eggs (ain't) that simple

This was known as eggs (ain't) that simple. Apparently a signature dish at Social Place. It's commonly also known as la zhi ji (辣子鸡), a Sichuan dish of spicy fried chicken. Those "eggs" on the side were actually spherified mango puree in a gelatinous skin that held their shape. The chicken weren't as spicy as I would have expected of la zi ji but it wasn't bad. While the serving looked large, there wasn't so much chicken as there were dried chilli. 

Social Place, sweet and sour pork

Sweet and sour pork on rice and fruits. The skin of the pieces of pork were crispy and the meat had some fat. Rather liked this.

Social Place, double boiled pear aged mandarin peel

Dessert was double boiled pear with aged mandarin peel. Nice flavour from the mandarin peel. This tasted clean after all the food.

Social Place, bayberry

The other stuff we tried was something called the "bayberry". I just Googled it and realized that it looked similar to actual bayberries. The skin was akin to mochi or some chewy Chinese fried pastry. The menu described the filling as custard but it tasted like some berry jam.

Social Place, The L. Place, Hong Kong Central