Le Port Parfumé, Kau U Fong, Hong Kong Central

We were told that the people behind this restaurant (Shop C, 6-10 Kau U Fong, Central, tel : +852 2824 3018) features the Les Amis alumni previously from Bistro Du Vin and Cépage in Hong Kong. We were informed by the owner that there is no fixed menu as they serve what they can get fresh and hence, availability cannot always be predetermined. Sounds familiar.

rabbit terrine, duck rillette, Bayonne ham, saucisson

Their charcuterie was so so. I liked the rabbit terrine because it was a more complex in flavour as a meat based item and there was a lot more texture. The rest were really just so so.

baby squid, chorizo omelette

This came recommended as something akin to a signature item from the restaurant. The first impressions reminded me of oyster omelette. Kinda busted the little French aura right from that first mouthful. There was nothing much to fault on the omelette. I just thought that it was really uninspired and if chorizo was to replace salt for the dish, a lot more chorizo would be appreciated..

butterfly clams in white wine sauce

Clams were fresh and springy. Otherwise, boring white wine sauce that can be found in a million other places. In fact, many of them do better in terms of flavour.

Josper grilled lamb ribs, peas & garlic confit

The lamb was probably the first item that got my attention. It was fall off the bone tender but suffered from the lack of sufficient fat to retain enough of the lamb-y flavour. The peas were very nice and it was all held together by the jus/sauce. Even the rosemary didn't overwhelm. Pity about the lack of natural flavour for the meat.

unveiling of the Houjicha tea smoked pigeon

unsmoked

cut

The smoked pigeon was okay. The meat was pink and there was a lingering smoky aroma left clinging on the skin.

cote de beouf

Looked very nice at the start

sliced

Still quite promising when it was sliced and plated. 

But the doneness was uneven and the fat was concentrated onto regions rather than being more well distributed. I'm not sure what happened to the juices that are suppose to be in the meat because it was neither on the plate nor in the meat. And I cannot believe that this whole prime rib came unsalted. The normally charred exterior was beefy, but flat. Between five persons which included three that could take on meat, there were left overs.

frites & salad

madeleines, chocolate mousse

blue cheese gelato

This was the second item that got my attention. We were told that the owner wanted to have this on the desserts even though he knew that most people probably wouldn't order it. The ice cream was pretty good. I would have loved for a little stronger pungent flavour from the blue cheese, but hey, this is my first blue cheese ice cream and it's a good start.

Yat Lok, Stanley Street, Hong Kong Central

These iPhone pictures doesn't do the roast meats justice in the slightest. The food looked a lot better in real life and the taste kicked serious ass. I've been hearing from certain authorities that Hong Kong doesn't do good roast geese any more and that one would have to travel to China for those. The stuff from Yat Lok (34-38 Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong, tel : +852 2524 3882) certainly begs to differ from that statement.

To be a little more descriptive, the meat was tender and quite easily gotten off the bone, sheathed underneath a fairly crisp roasted skin that had a suitable amount of flavourful melt-y fat that defined the flavour from the bird. This was what I had been looking forward to whenever I think roast geese in Hong Kong. The other recommendable was the flavourful char siew. A moderated balance of sweet and savoury caramelized meat that fell apart in the mouth. I kid you not when I say that this is leagues, I repeat, leagues ahead of what I had experienced down at Yung Kee.

Sun Kee (新記餐廳), Kimberly Street, Tsim Sha Tsui

The popular thing to order in this shop (Unit 13-14, G/F, Champagne Court, 16-20 Kimberly Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, tel : +852 2722 4555) behind celebrity photos plastered walls it seems, is their cheese noodles with grilled pork neck. I'm thinking it's probably a la plancha rather than an actual grill, but that's another story for another time.

The noodles were just plain instant noodles and the pork was acceptably tasty with some char. What I couldn't quite understand was the cheese sauce; or rather what made it such a hit with the locals. It's not really just cheese as I could tell. Pretty sure there was a whole lot of corn starch in there as well. While I didn't mind trying this out, I still don't understand it and I don't think I ever will.

Tai Wing Wah (大榮華酒樓), Yuen Long, New Territories

This old school canto restaurant (2/F, Koon Wong Mansion, 2-6 On Ning Road, Yuen Long, tel: +852 2476 9888) down in the New Territories, which is also the flagship outlet apparently takes no reservations. We were brought down by a friend for dim sum. Or brunch.

The food dim sum here was rustic but didn't quite take on the same qualities found Lin Heung. The outstanding items that we had ordered were their 5 taste chicken and a steamed fish (I don't know what fish this is) with pickled lime. Both were delicious. Scratch that, the fish has been elevated to very good. The chicken was tender to the breast and thoroughly infused with the flavour of the savoury braising sauce while the fish was simply freshness flavoured with a light soy dressing and the appetizing lime. 

The rest of the dim sum were..... hmmm....okay I guess. There's a Yanjing beer that they serve that was pretty cheap and oddly lacking the effect that beer normally has. 6 large bottles between 3 persons and not the slightest buzz? 

We were told that the restaurant was well known for their liquid lard and premium soy sauce over steamed rice. Unfortunately, it's something that they only do during dinner. I'm not really averse to a re-visit (perhaps dinner rather than dim sum) but the location is really out of the way.

Ser Wong Fun (蛇王芬), Cochrane Street, Hong Kong Central

We were here (30 Cochrane Street, Central, Hong Kong, tel : +852 2543 1032) for a couple of reasons. The obvious one was to have dinner and their snake soup. The second was to spirit away a small batch of liver lup cheong which we had previously gotten before and had liked.

This was the first time we were having the snake soup. Snake tasted like chicken. Seriously, albeit with a more stringy texture. The bowl of piping hot soup was topped with fried crackers and shredded kaffir lime leaves which really created loads of textures with the sliced mushrooms and snake meat. Beside the accented flavour of the lime leaves, the soup pretty much just tasted mushroomy.

Another item I was looking forward to was their lup cheong rice. It's basically just that; a duo of preserved sausages (the regular and liver ones) over piping hot steamed rice. Drizzled with a little bit of light soy sauce, it was just that irrefutable medley of sweet, savoury and umami lethality. The flavours are again running through my head again as I typed this.

This was just cabbage fried with fermented bean curd. Flavours were actually quite underwhelming.

The other really awesome item that they had was their doubled boiled soup of stewed pig lungs with dried figs and sweet dates. What caught me off was the burst of fruity flavour (in a good way) that kept me spooning mouthful after mouthful of the sweet broth. The pieces of lungs were tender like stewed tendons. I'm marking this place for returns.

Heh...it's sweet and sour pork. Not the most memorable I recall having but it's definitely not a bad rendition if I might say. 

We were put on the waiting list for quite a while before getting our seats. It's one of those uncommon times where the frustration of the wait was worth it.

Supermarket sashimi from citysuper

Here's some sashimi bought off the citysuper down at Causeway Bay (Basement 1, Time Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay)

No, it wasn't anywhere close to being cheap, but I guess it would be slightly cheaper than back home and definitely gave better bang for buck in terms of both quantity and quality. In fact, apart from those Japanese fairs that featured tuna slicing demonstrations, the general offerings from Isetan doesn't quite come close. Not even in Meidi Ya. With exceptions occasionally.

The fish was generally just a little fattier and fresher tasting, scallops and botan ebi were plump and sweet; there was even a fairly generous amount of uni thrown it. And this was the quality of sea urchin that people describe as having a floral bouquet, not the shrivelled slivers of ochre zombie flesh that some places pass off for uni sashimi.

If anyone was wondering, this little haul was 509HKD.