Yee Shun Milk Company, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

egg and beef sandwich

hot steamed milk with ginger

chilled steamed milk

chilled steamed egg

luncheon meat sandwiches

We were kind of fortunate to have been staying at a hotel that was a convenient few minutes of walk from one of the Yee Shun Milk Company outlets (G/F, 246-248 Sai Yeung Choi Street South, tel : +852 2393 3301) that we could revisit easily for desserts (and sometimes snacks). So this post was kinda formed from the authority of three separate visits. And if anyone was wondering what's good here, I'd say that the desserts were on the whole pretty decent. Especially their hot milk pudding with ginger juice which had a texture that I could only describe with the word 'ethereal'.

If I had to put my preferences into context, the flavours were a little more subdued that what I had expected. The steamed egg tasted less eggy and the ginger juices used were less sharp (or spicy) than what I would have preferred. With those things being said, I'd still have to give them a thumb up for a well moderated texture and flavour balance.

Skip the beef and egg sandwiches. It's as what I was expecting (but hoping against hope that it wouldn't be), an unidentifiable meat matter that had been tenderized to death.

First meal in HKIA

This was a slightly different first meal in comparison with the previous trip and a first time with airport food here. With what sounds like digression on hindsight, visiting Hong Kong has so far been interesting because I get to re-align my spectrum of taste of both the expected and sometimes, unexpected. I might have mentioned before that the food here wasn't all that different from home but was also different in flavours that it might have been another thing altogether.

These were just a quick meal between breakfast and lunch that was the option based on the arrival timing. What in Chinese/Cantonese is referred to as the 3 treasure rice and a bowl of ubiquitous wanton noodles from Maxim's Food² (Unit No.5T151, Passenger Terminal 1, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau) at the Arrival Hall in the Terminal 1. Back to the previous topic on the alignment of flavours, the salted egg was definitely less salty here. Soy sauce chicken packed a burst of flavour that can only be uncommonly found back home.

I'm definitely learning not to ignore airport food here. Appearances can be deceiving.

God Fire ramen from Ikkousha

This bowl from Ikkousha (111 Somerset Road, #02-15, TripleOne Somerset) had to be by far the spiciest ramen that I've had. Then again, I've never really made it a thing trying spicy ramen. While this packed a respectable amount of (woody and almost herbal) heat in the still savoury pork bone broth, it wasn't anywhere close lip numbing. God Fire was really just an impressive name for their chilli based tonkotsu broth. I prefer their regular option down at Ramen Champion.

The charshu that they had in this bowl was much more thinly sliced and it resembled those from the tonkotsu bowls at Keisuke's Tonkotsu King.

Moments before The Hunger Games

This was probably the first time I'm getting those blue fin tunas from the Kyushu Fair down at Isetan. It did taste a lot better than I expected with the otoro slices that came with the pre-requisite oiliness. In retrospect, I had preferred the chutoro and the maguro slices for their much more robust tuna flavors in comparison with the fattest part of the belly which tasted a lot more mild, but was textually more sublime. These of course were rather expensive as well.

Some new seafood rice stuff from Ootoya

Here're a couple of items that weren't on menu the last time we were at Ootoya. Both of which featured seafood on top of rice in bamboo steamers. The intention was I'm sure, to impart flavour into the rice. That hadn't quite worked out for the ebi seiro which featured sakura ebi. Those strips of omelette that came along with the rice actually tasted a whole lot more than those shrimps and the rice was largely flavoured by the cubes of shiitake mushroom. The clams with hijiki option faired much better in the department of flavour. Both still tasted rather healthy if you catch my drift.

Brasserie Gavroche, Tras Street

This would be the first time in a long while that I've been brought to a place where I knew almost nothing about. That had almost resurrected in me the appeal of mystery in a food place since I had usually made it a point to understand or at least know what I am getting myself into. Brasserie Gavroche, (66 Tras Street, tel : +65 6225 8266) as one might surmise from name, serves French food.

Before I get on to the food, I must not neglect to mention that the restaurant serves a very tasty cheese choux puff for befores.

One of the starters we had was sautéed bamboo clams with jamon Iberico. The flavour and presentation did well away with theatrics. Each ingredient stood on it's own being individually identifiable even when put together. The bamboo clams were fresh tasting with it's mild sweet chewiness, the sharp garlic in the lightly tart tomato base, spicy bitter rockets and the bodied nutty ham were all together yet apart. If that makes any sense.

Then there was also a rich and creamy terrine of Périgord duck liver which we polished off with extra servings of hot bread that tasted like it just came off the oven.

The bone marrow on Poilane bread wasn't what I had imagined. For one, there was a lot less bone marrow than I had expected out of something that was called bone marrow on menu. But the flavour from the marrow was surprisingly robust for the measly portions. They paired off well with the garlic confit that both enhanced and detracted from the flavour of the marrow. Confusing? I thought so too.

Stepping off my usual beaten and bovine path, I opted for a fish quenelle with crayfish sauce. What was that you ask? Oven baked fish mousse in a broth that tasted very much like lobster bisque. Pretty good stuff there.

Disappointment came in the form of the rum baba. It was bread-y rather than cake like. Came with too little cream and too diluted portions of rum. Should've stuck with profiteroles.