I Scream...GELATO

Date of visit: 14th August 2010

I Scream  Gelato @ IFC Mall

My selection - green tea, rose - apple, raspberry lavender sherbets

After dinner I stopped by with some friends of mine. I sampled a few flavours before making a decision. They had four new summer flavours, and I tried two - "rose and green apple" and "lavender and raspberry" as well as other regular flavours like the chocolate and green tea etc. 

We all went for the three mini scoop deals for $35 that meant you could have three flavours in a crunch waffle bowl and toppings (dry toppings available only), and it sounded like a sweet deal so I proceeded to pick my flavours. I chose the rose and green apple as my first, and was told that I'd have to add $10.

Thinking it would make my whole total for $45 I didn't mind. Green tea gelato and lavender and raspberry were my other two flavours. This came to a total of $55, rather than the $35 I was expecting... Turns out it was $10 extra for each new flavour swap, thus if I had chosen all three new flavours it would've been $65 in total. On the other hand, a regular single scoop of their 'new flavours' are only $2 extra each, which made no sense at all. The poor explanation and lack of preciseness of their pricing bothered me a little.

Whilst the flavours were quite extraordinary and a nice contrast to the regular flavours in HK gelato for me, my friends didn't like these newer flavours at all and stuck to the regulars, like black and white sesame or blueberry yogurt etc... 

D's bowl with black and white sesame, pistachio and something else with crushed oreos.

The gelato I must say, is a much better consistency than Holly Brown, and I like their flavours in general more than Pappagallo etc., but they really must re-consider their pricing for those mini scoops....$2 extra for a large vs $10 extra for a mini scoop swap didn't make sense!

Food: ♥♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥

Price: $$

I Scream Gelato

Shop 1104, Podium Level One, IFC Mall,

Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2234 7281

Shanghainese at Crystal Jade

Date of visit: 14th Aug 2010

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Lung Bao @ IFC Mall, Central

On a Saturday night a bunch of us came here for a casual dinner. We took a ticket at around 7pm, and waited with the bunch of others who were mostly tourists. Though we were at least 10 large tables away from being seated, time seemed to pass fairly quickly. Perhaps it was our engaging conversations or perhaps it was the speedy table-turnover..... it didn't matter because 45 minutes later we were seated and I was starving!!

First off was an appetizer of chicken and noodle salad ("gai see fun pey") ($42) which is served chilled, with shredded chicken breast, cucumbers and translucent flat noodles, topped with a sesame and peanut sauce. The chicken was quite dry, and the sauce was mostly peanut-flavoured, which I’m not a fan of. My friends did enjoy this however. 5/10

Our second dish was one of my favourites - marinated beef shin in five spice ($48). I've never had this at Crystal Jade, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although they could've used more seasoning to make the five spice more bold, the marinade was otherwise light and tasty. The beef shin was very thinly sliced - thick slices are quite hard to bite, and they aren't usually good as appetizers. My friends never had beef shin before, and some even went on to comment that it looked like brain because of the lines of translucent tendon and lean meat...but I assured them they were missing out if they didn't try it, and once they did they were happy I'd managed to persuade them =). 8/10

Steamed Xiao Lung Baos ($28 x 3) come in the standard bamboo steamers, each with four dumplings. Here, the dumpling skins are thin and delicate, not as al dente as DTF's but they didn't break too easily as long as you handled them with a little care =P. The dumplings here are relatively large – I don’t think I’d feel comfortable eating the whole thing in a bite! The meat inside was tender and juicy due to the use of fatty minced pork. Flavour wise it was slightly seasoned to bring out the flavours of pork, though there was only a little ‘soup’ inside these dumplings…6/10

I had a winter melon soup ($36) with ham, whilst some of my friends had soya milk ($12 per glass). My soup was way too salty, and such a small portion (with some of its contents spilled out whilst they brought it out from the kitchen) that the price could not be justified. 3.5/10

Assorted Vegetables ($50 x 2) included Chinese mushrooms on top of bak choy and Chinese long cabbage. They were cooked so they still retained some crunchiness – definitely required some jaw muscles, especially for the cabbage. The sauce was not too salty, though next time I’ll probably stick to the cabbage in cream sauce… 6/10

Dan Dan Mian ($36) here is white hand-made ramen sitting in a wonderful red broth speckled with sesame seeds. The broth is rich but not thick, spicy (not so much that it burns or anything), and is dominantly peanut-flavoured. The ramen noodles were nicely cooked – not soft, but not the springy kind I like. The broth was actually a very balanced one, and it was exceeded my expectations for Crystal Jade. 7.5/10

Shanghainese Fried Noodles (with a little pork and cabbage) ($55) was fantastic. I loved the subtle flavours of mainly dark soy, yet it wasn’t overly salted or anything. The cabbage was nicely done, and the noodles were the thick chewy kind, almost like udon but these were in irregular sizes. I think this dish is one of those that please just about everyone! 8/10

Vegetarian dumplings ($22) came in a steamer with three large crescent shaped dumplings. These were better than DTF’s vegetarian dumplings as I recall them, and the thin, almost translucent skin certainly suited the veggie fillings better. They were so well-balanced in taste the addition of vinegar would’ve ruined its natural taste. 8/10

Pan fried dumpling (aka wor tip) ($26) came so late we forgot that we had ordered them! We were so full a plate of four dumplings just seemed so much. I managed to try one anyway, since it would’ve been a waste to leave these golden-brown-bottomed dumplings alone! The skin is thicker for these dumplings, so when it is fried it gets a harder crisp texture and doesn’t break. The meat inside was similar to the xiao lung baos – tasty but could’ve been leaner. For me, this pan fried dumpling fared better overall than the xiao lung baos, and I think it’s because of the crispy thicker skin and the smaller meat filling which I felt was more balanced! 7/10

After the last dumplings we were so stuffed, ordering the deep-fried soufflé balls and other desserts just seemed...unwise. I guess I'll have to try it next time! Instead, we sat a little longer, chatting / digesting all the food, and off we went for gelato elsewhere!

Food:  ♥♥♥♥

Service:  ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

Crystal Jade

Shop 2018-2020, 2/F,Tower Two, IFC Mall,No.1 Harbour View Street, 

Central, Hong Kong

(other branches around town too)

Tel: +852 2295 3811

Hainan Shaoye and Mochi Cream

Date of visit: 12th Aug 2010

Hainan Shaoye @ World Trade Centre, Causeway Bay

I made reservations about a week prior to our visit, and was utterly disappointed with the service over the phone. This restaurant is no cha chaan teng (local tea restaurant) or dai pai dong (outdoor Chinese food stalls), and so I expected a little more I guess. When I spoke to the lady over the phone, I asked if I could make a reservation. She then replied with me a 'when? because if it's for dinner we are fully booked till next month'. So I told her I wanted to come for lunch, Thursday, at 11.45. She then said they were full too, and so I asked what time they open? "11.30 in the morning". I then hesitated, but asked "how about 11.30 then, can I have a table for two then?" She said "yes, we can do 11.30". With a reminder that they have a 10 minute wait policy before giving our table away, I thought to myself that was rather b.s., since it was technically 5 minutes apart from my original time plan, plus it was not like the restaurant was prepared to kick us out if we stayed passed 12 or 1pm...or at all! A table free is a table free, if they weren't going to do two rounds at lunch hour they should've given me the table regardless of time. 

Okay, phone conversation aside, our service at the restaurant was acceptable. We actually arrived on the dot and were turned away because their kitchen was "not ready yet" and give them 5 or so minutes. Say whatt???? 

Now, food! 

We decided we would forgo the signature Hainan and Roast Chicken Rice set, and went for a Bak Kut Teh ($88) (for me) and a Seafood Laksa ($88) (for E). These lunch time 'sets' come with a drink too - coffee or tea. 

Our sets arrived together, and we tried each other's, to see what we liked/disliked. My Bak Kut Teh was most disappointing, since I was expecting something more herbal and peppery with tender ribs... that it not what I got.

In my dark red soup there were plenty of wolfberries and dates (and even dried lychees) in this soup to make it way too sweet for Bak Kut Teh and resemble the Chinese herbal soup (for the ladies - "bo huet"/help produce more blood). I'm not saying the soup was bad, I just wasn't expecting it to taste so sweet and mask any signs of spices and pepper (if any was added...).  Other components included dried tofu puffs (tofu-pok), coriander for garnish and pork ribs that were so dry, tough and chewy I struggled to eat them... 

The other parts of my lunch set included a dish of chopped deep-fried dough sticks ("yao-tiu"), a bowl of white rice and some chilli-infused dark sweet soy sauce and a few pieces of bak choy. While the dough sticks didn't not impress, being soggy and nothing like the ones at good local restaurants serving congee, I loved the rice! Each grain doesn't stick to one another, and was cooked perfectly - not soft but not undercooked either...pure comfort with the dark soy sauce. Ahhhh I must make a mental note to ask what brand of rice they use when I return! 

E's Laksa was also not what we were expecting, but not bad. Hainan Shaoye's version is spicier than the laksas I've had locally, but same spice-level as they do it in Singapore. The soup however, is very watered-down to a thin broth with a mild taste of coconut only. Now a little mention of other restaurants serving Sing/Malay cuisine - Good Satay in TST East offers a good bowl of laksa that has a very rich broth - too rich to drink but delicious nonetheless. Meanwhile, Sabah Malaysian Restaurant in Wanchai has a hearty curry broth that is right in between Hainan Shaoye's and Good Satay which we thought took first place between the three. 

Hainan Shaoye's big bowl of seafood laksa came with toppings of tofu puffs, sliced fish cakes, two large shrimps and some fishballs. These all fared very well, and the two shrimps which E gave to me were fresh and bouncy. 

We vowed to return, not for a repeat of the food we had ordered this day, but for the highly controversial Chicken rice meals! 

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$

Hainan Shaoye

Shop P311, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Road,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2111 3166

Mochi Cream @ SOGO Department Store (level B2) 

We wanted a sweet ending to our lunch, and a steamed milk custard from Yee Shun seemed way too much after our large lunch sets.... I suggested we visit the basement of SOGO to hunt for some good Japanese sweets, and were attracted by the lovely display at Mochi Cream. 

I was about to go for the black soybean flavour, when I hesitated and asked the shopkeeper which one was her favourite. She said apple pie and purple yam. I wanted to see how they were to pull off purple yam ($14), and being a sweet potato fan I was quite drawn to it...naturally it was my choice! E opted for the caramel macchiato ($17) mochi, and we paid and ate. 

Caramel Macchiato mochi

purple yam mochi

Whilst I liked mine because of its lovely purple colour and not-too-sweet and natural yam taste, I wished it wasn't so cold... it was almost frozen, and so it was a bit too hard for me. E  loved hers though. There were bits of caramel and a coffee-flavoured centre, which she continued to rave about after!

Mochi cream has loads of flavours, from chocolate to raspberry mille feuille, and I will be back for more!

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $

Mochi Cream

Shop B2-29, SOGO Department Store, 555 Hennessy Road, 

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2831 3946

HKUAA

Date of visit: 10th Aug 2010

HKUAA Chinese Restaurant @ Lan Kwai Fong 

I have wanted to come here for some time ever since a friend told me their Cantonese food was quite good. Since we had a tourist friend in town it was the perfect excuse to try it out! We came here on a Tuesday night to find the restaurant relatively full, but luckily reservations were made.

I had the honour of deciding what to order that night, and so I went with their signatures, as well as a couple of dishes that were suggested by others. 

First was the pigs lung with almond soup ($100 for a tureen), which was a first for most people on the table. The pigs lung soup here is slightly oilier than Luk Yu’s and lacked the strong taste and aroma of almonds which I really liked. It was also less creamy than Luk Yu’s in my opinion. However, for those who don’t like almond tea because of its strong scent, this would’ve been acceptable to the palate. 

Pan-fried pomfret fillets  was a suggestion of the waiter. There was about 9 small pcs of fish max, and it wasn’t bad but nothing exciting or memorable. The choy-sum sitting beneath was way too undercooked too.

The sweet and sour pork was my favourite dish this night. They used young ginger (zi-geung) instead of pineapple like Luk Yu, and although the ginger wasn’t half as good (lacked the real punch and crunchiness), the pork and its sauce was so wonderful. The pork was still crispy and crunchy after sitting at our table for some time, and the sauce was really balanced – right levels and sweet and sour which everyone enjoyed. 

Next a few of the dishes came together… a lotus leaf rice (i.e. fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf) which was reserved when reservations were made. The rice had some diced chicken, mushrooms etc and was quite flavourful and not as oily as some Chinese restaurants prepare it, but was nothing special.

“Zai” (vegetarian claypot dish of assorted vegetables with vermicelli) was also one of the favourites on our table. There wasn’t a lot of sauce, but each piece of ingredient was coated with enough flavour from the fair amount of fermented beancurd (‘fu yu’) used, that spoons of sauce just wasn’t necessary. I particularly liked the big Chinese mushrooms and cabbage, whilst ma loved the vermicelli! 

Spinach with century and salted eggs was not even close to Luk Yu’s. The small dish only had a little spinach, and most were salted eggs, rather than a half-half of each kind. The broth was not sweet and lightly salted as I had hoped, but the fried garlic was good (and good for one’s health too!).

Deep Fried whole Chicken ($290) (‘Za Ji Gai’) was not our first choice, but since we didn’t pre-order their signature salt-baked Chicken we opted for this Chinese restaurant staple instead. Whilst the prawn chips on top were really bad and without flavour at all, the chicken fared a lot better. I loved the crispy thin piece of skin, clearly only possible because they had rendered the fat layer in between the meat and the skin properly. The chicken meat was also really tender, if not slightly bland, but a little Worcestershire sauce helped brighten it up. 

left - almond and eggwhite soup, sesame soup

front - red bean soup, back - walnut soup

To end, we had some sweet soups ($28 per bowl). Here they have three choices only on the menu (almond-egg white, walnut and sesame soup), but were told they also had red bean soup (dessert of the day I’m guessing), so we ordered two almonds, two sesames, one walnut and one red bean soup. I had a try of the sesame soup and almond-egg white. Whilst my almond-egg white soup was way too thick and sweet, the sesame soup was acceptable – right sweetness and right consistency. Nonetheless I don’t think the $28 a bowl sweet soups were worthy at all… desserts are clearly not their forte, and you can find better versions at local dessert joints/stores! 

With four beers our bill came to just under $1,400. Not cheap, though they do have set dinners which have better deals ($888 for 8 diners?!). Wouldn't mind coming back - esp for the sweet and sour pork!

Food: ♥♥♥♥
Service: ♥♥♥
Price: $$$


Hong Kong University Alumni Association
Room 101, Yip Fung Building, 2 D'Aguilar Street, 
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2522 7968

Sui Kee Café - a must-visit!

Date of visit: 10th Aug 2010

SuiKee Café @ Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building / Cooked Food Market 

menu

After lunch at Yung Kee the boys were only 6-outta-10 full... so I took them to Sheung Wan Market for some good eats!! I had read about this place and have made a mental note to come for a long time...so off we were. $20ish cab ride later we were at the doorstep of an indoor-market. On the second floor there are plenty of 'dai pai dongs', each specialising in different foodstuff - there's one doing Thai food, one doing dim sum etc....  We went to shop CF17 and found a table for ourselves and placed our order: one milk tea (iced) each, and two French toasts to share. 

Iced Milk Tea ($9 each) comes in a re-used Schweppes bottle. The old man delivered these goods quite soon after our order, so I'm guessing they were made earlier that day and refrigerated. No ice here, so the tea and milk concoction is rich, and as you can see by the colour of the drink, the tea is quite strong - exactly what I like! If you prefer milkier drinks then this may not be for you.... (as it was not for A anyway). 

French Toast ($18) is made to order and different from any French toast (HK-style of course) I've ever had. Whilst I grew up with the deep-fried kind, with either a sweet spread in between (peanut butter or Kaya) or plain with golden syrup on the side for you to pour (think Lan Fong Yuen or Stanley Market's 泗益), Sui Kee's version is two slices of white bread pan-fried with a little egg wash until golden brown and then condensed milk is drizzled on top.... now this, in our unanimous agreement, surpasses the deep-fried version! This was something that we raved about from after eating it until night....if you have any doubt as to what I've just said, please do try it for yourself! 

Plate no.2: doesn't that look divine?!

cute little man who served us =)

Food: ♥♥♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $

Sui Kee Café (瑞記咖啡)

Shop CF17, 2/F, Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building And Civic Centre, 

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2850 8643

Yung Kee, Revisited

Date of visit: 10th Aug 2010

Yung Kee @ LKF
In July I had a quick lunch at Yung Kee, and had a memorable congee and char siu rice. So when an out-of-towner came to visit, I was happy to take him here for another casual lunch. 

Wanton noodles ($31) - Yung Kee only makes the thin egg noodles here, but we ordered one to share any way. The noodles weren't as good as I hoped - looked nice but noodles weren't the slighted bit springy and had no bite to it - perhaps a little over-cooked?? The dumplings contained more pork and shrimp thus making the dumplings really soft when bitten in to. They also weren't particularly flavourful... don't think I would order this again. 

Char Siu (BBQ Pork) with rice ($2x) – we ordered the ‘bowl’ size, and although the char siu here is quite lean they managed to make it quite tender. I thought the char siu this time was better than last – they had given us cuts with slightly burnt edges, giving each piece a smokey BBQ flavour which we liked. Some sauce would’ve been nice though, the rice was so plain underneath!

Roast Goose with rice ($3x) – I didn’t try it this time, but my brother liked it well enough.

Assorted Seafood Congee ($55) – The waiter suggested this, and it was indeed a very tasty bowl of congee. The name is sort of misleading, since there’s some roast pork (salted), which adds to the flavour of the congee, making it less ‘plain’ compared to the single-item congees. Anyway, there was also some sliced fish as well as a couple of shrimps, and on top was some peanuts, chopped up deep-fried dough-sticks (yao jar gwai) and a sprinkling of fish roe (?) I believe. The ingredients were fresh, even the dough stick was still crisp and crunchy. We all agreed this bowl of congee was really tasty and I would definitely come back for it.  

We finished in less than one-hour - you got to love Chinese restaurants for their speed in Hong Kong! Thank you A for lunch! =) 

Food: ♥♥♥ 1/2

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$

Yung Kee

32-40 Wellington Street, 

Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2522 1624

A michelin dim-sum affair

Date of visit: 9th August 2010

Tim Ho Wan @ Mong Kok

Queues here aren't so bad if you turn up between 2-6pm, I really did expect worse! But this time around we got our ticket for four earlier and then later came back with priority in the queue (provided you have all your diners present)!. 

Half-eaten char siu wrapped in steamed noodles (cheung-fun)

Char Siu Cheung-fun ($15) was petite, so delicate and smooth on the palate. The inside were pieces of lean char siu, but the star was really the noodle wrapping which was steamed perfectly and the mixture made for an ultra-slippery cheung fun. 8/10

 Baked sweet-topping buns with char siu filling

Baked Char Siu (BBQ Pork) Buns ($12/three) was probably our tables' favourite dish. Each bun was the exact same size, with a very thin layer of the sweet buttery crispy topping, and inside were lean char siu and lots of piping hot sweet sticky sauce...9/10

Glutinous Rice Filling (Pork + Mushrooms inside)

Glutinous Rice Dumpling (Lor mai gai) ($20) was sticky and moist. Inside was some lean pork and Chinese dried mushrooms, as well as this gravy which gives lor mai gai its slightly sweet and salty taste. This glutinous rice dumpling was actually really tasty, and I would definitely order it again. 7/10

Spring Rolls

Spring Rolls with White Sauce and Shredded Chicken filling (Chun Guen) ($14) is I believe, not available every day. Fillings for spring rolls are rotated, and today's was not bad but not great either. I would've preferred some fresh bouncy marinated shrimps... 5/10

Pan-fried Turnip Pudding

Fried Turnip Pudding (lor bak go) ($10) was not as crispy as I would've liked. Perhaps they could've made a drier turnip cake then fry it in a hotter pan? Any how, the turnip pudding was really soft - too soft. I did like the fact that it had small thin slices of turnip within it though. 6/10

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings

Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) ($18) was alright. For the price they charge here I expected something more. The shrimps were fresh, but the skin was so over-steamed it sort of ruined the dumpling for me. I believe my dim sum place downstairs can do a better job than this! 6.5/10

Steamed Spinach Dumplings

Steamed Spinach Dumplings ($12) was better. Although the skin was again way over-steamed, the filling had ginger and garlic flavours that paired so well with the spinach. Also, the spinach didn't have any of that bitterness which the oxalic acid in the plant can sometimes give off when cooked... 7/10

Chiu Chow Dumplings - vegetables, peanuts and a little pork as filling.

Chiu Chow Dumplings (Fun-gwo) ($10). If the spinach dumplings and har gow  above don't look over-cooked, this definitely looked really over-steamed at the table and the skin looked too thick.... did not try. 

Deep-Fried Glutinous Dumplings

Deep-fried Glutinous Dumpling (ham sui gok) ($12) was another dish I didn't get to try, but apparently my friends loved it so you might want to give it a try.

Steamed brown sugar cake

Steamed brown sugar sponge cake (Ma-lai go) ($10) here was really small in portion - definitely not enough to justify its price, and taste-wise it was just alright. I would've preferred if the cake wasn't so 'wet' and had a bit more structure - perhaps too much liquid in the cake batter? Also, it was a little lacking in sugar... this isn't usually the case with brown sugar cakes but here it was. Definitely not the best I've had. 5/10

After the above, we ordered some more dim sum plus four more of the baked char siu buns to-go!

Will be back for more - I heard the congee + rice/noodles aren't bad!

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $

Tim Ho Wan (Dim Sum Specialists)

Shop 8, Taui Yuen Mansion Phase 2, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street, 

Mong Kok, Hong Kong

(branch in Sham Shui Po)

Tel: +852 2332 2896