Chez M's

Date: 23rd October 2010

Home Cooking @ M's House

B, M and myself decided we'd organize a dinner party, where the three of us would each prepare parts of a five-course meal for a party of six. We went all-out and just cooking took up a day... but was definitely worth it!

Menu for tonight... 

  Mushroom Soup, prepared by M

White button mushrooms, portobellos, broth, cream

Shallots before cooking in balsamic

Mixed salad, prepared by M

Mesclun mix, baby spinach, couscous, balsamic onions, balsamic vinaigrette

Chicken Drumstick, by B

Drumsticks, parsley, garlic, nam pla

served alongside: 

 Roasted Butternut Squash

Butternut squash, olive oil, rosemary

 Misoyaki Salmon, a dish from me =)

Marinated salmon, Pearl rice

served with: 

 Pickled Cucumbers (before sprinkling the bonito shavings)

Cucumber, rice vinegar-soy marinade, bonito flakes

Impromptu Stuffed Quail, courtesy of A and D

Quail, mushrooms, duck meat, foie gras

 Attempting to make quenelles....

Bitter-sweet Chocolate Tart with Earl Grey Tea Ice-cream, by me

Crispy chocolate tart, 72% chocolate filling, chocolate glaze, hand-made earl grey tea ice-cream

Outcome? Quality food, great company and an honestly great night.... =)

Thai Basil

Date of visit: 25^th September

Thai Basil @ Pacific Place 

menu

"Hot and Sour Rock Lobster Soup" ($68)

rock lobster pieces, cherry tomatoes, shallots, ginger, hot and sour broth

A very strongly-flavoured soup of equal spicy and sourness. I enjoyed this mug of soup (despite its high sodium content), but the ridiculously over-cooked lobster pieces had lost its taste and texture, and became quite bland and soft. 

"Char-grilled Prawn Salad" ($88) 

grilled prawns, pomelo, green beans, Chinese garlic chives ('gau choy'), thai basil, fried garlic, chilli lemongrass dressing

This salad is really spicy! A twist on the traditional spicy prawn salad, this one incorporates other greens and pomelo fruit for a citrus zingg. There's an abundance of Thai basil leaves which I liked. 

"Char-grilled vegetables" ($88/4 items)

sweet potato, pumpkin, asparagus, zucchini

Everything was cooked perfectly, and the charred bits were the best. They were brushed with a little olive oil before cooked so they were naturally flavourful without the addition of any extra sauces. Pumpkins were sweet, but the sweet potatoes were not (I guess they aren't in season). 

"Char grilled basil chicken wok fried noodles" ($88)

Grilled chicken breast, basil, Thai asparagus, shallots, bean sprouts, vermicelli-like noodles, fried garlic

The chicken breast was not at all dry despite having been grilled over high heat to achieve its marks. The noodles are very lightly seasoned, and if you don't like fiery foods this is an option, as it contains no chillies. Sadly the charring ended at the chicken breast and did not extend to the noodles - there was no 'wok-hay' at all, which is what I look for in a good fried noodle dish. 

"Wok fried Thai Spicy Crab" ($188) 

Whole Crab, Thai basil, lemongrass, chilli, garlic, shallots, fresh green pepper, black pepper

My ma had tried this before and said it was good but extremely spicy, so we asked them to go lighter on the chillies, and it was indeed lightened. Nonetheless, it is still a rather spicy dish, so wouldn't recommend this if you detest any form of heat. The crabs were fried well, each piece equally coated with all the seasoning and spices, and the crab meat was not to soft (not over-cooked). 

Overall I enjoyed the food here quite a lot for its big and bold flavours, and will be back in the near future to sample other items, but I still miss Lian!

Food: ♥♥♥1/2 

Service: ♥♥1/2 

Price: $$$-$$$$ 

Thai Basil

Shop  001, Basement Floor, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway

Admiralty, HK

Phukets

Date: 24th and 30th September 2010\

Phukets @ Soho

Phukets has been in Soho for a very long time, though I never made a trip there, so I suggested to a friend as the venue for our dinner, and it proved to be pretty great, so I went back the next week to sample a few more items before writing this review!  

Prawn Chips 

A basket of crispy prawn chips arrives shortly after ordering. 

Shrimp Salad ($88) 

Very authentic, and almost exactly like the one I had a couple months ago at Tuk Tuk Thai, this shrimp salad was highly spicy yet flavourful from the many strong-profiled ingredients including lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro, thai basil and of course, bird chillies. Shrimps were medium sized, compared to the small ones at Tuk Tuk Thai, and fresh too. 6.5/10

Pineapple Fried Rice ($78)

Serving fried rice in the natural pineapple shell is certainly impressive when it arrives, but it always makes me think whether they use a fresh pineapple half for each order of pineapple fried rice? Anyway, the non-spicy dish of grains were fried quite well, not greasy and tasty. They could have been more generous with the pork floss on top, but on the whole a satisfying dish. 7.5/10

Green Curry Vegetables ($68) 

A good assorted mix of green vegetables as well as mushrooms and cauliflower. Flavours of sweet and spicy was very balanced, though green curry is not as mild as red so beware. They could have been more generous with the veggies though. 

Char-grilled beef fillet ($75) 

This thai-style beef was cooked to well-done (they don't ask your preference), but unbelievably tender. The spicy sauce served on the side was really spicy, but a tiny tiny dip was enough, as the beef was slightly salted anyway. Beef was also juicy and you could taste its natural flavour, yumm! 8/10

Pad thai ($68)

Phad Thai, a massively popular but easy-to-screw-up dish was chosen by my friend, but we both agreed it was a miss here at Phukets. The noodles were sweet without the extra sugar provided on the side, and not savoury enough. The fresh-looking shrimps managed to taste bland - like it has been boiled until all its flavour is sucked out. The tofu was hard and greasy too. This noodle dish definitely disappointed. 3/10

 Fish fillet ($78) 

Steamed with a bed of broccoli and served with a sweet chilli sauce on top, this rather healthy fish dish was rather unexciting. The sweet chilli sauce was not too spicy - reminds me of the sweet chilli sauce often served with fried chicken, just thinner. The bed of broccoli was vastly over-steamed, and the fish was boring old sole fillet. Taste-wise not bad, but not a dish I'd recommend. 6/10

In general I think the serving sizes here are on the smaller end, enabling diners to try several items in one go. And although the clientele is mainly expats, the chefs and waitresses are Thai, and serve authentic Thai cuisine. Definitely one of the better Thai restaurants in Soho/Central area.

Food: ♥♥♥ 

Service: ♥♥♥ 

Price: $$$

Phukets

1 Elgin Street, Soho

Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2868 9672

Good eats...at home

For this post I thought I would take a break from my long list of restaurants waiting to be written about... instead, here are some home-made good eats I thought I'd post about (with the recipe, of course!). 

In the Japanese aisle of City'Super I spotted these bottles of Tonkatsu sauce, and it sparked me to want to try making my own pan-fried version in my tiny kitchen...

Non-Deep fried Tonkatsu

(serves 3-4) - Pork chop (8 small or 4 large pcs) 

- 2 tbsp Sake 

- 2 tbsp Soy sauce- 2 tsp sugar 

- 1 egg, beaten

- corn starch

- panko crumbs

- Cooking Oil 

- Japanese Mayo (I like the kewpie brand, available in Welcome / City'Super)

- Tonkatsu sauce (I used Bulla brand, available in City'Super)

- bowls of cooked rice, Japanese pearl for better taste and texture if you are bothered =)  

Directions: 

1. Rinse pork chops and marinate it in the sake, soy sauce and sugar for at least 4 hours, I marinated them for a day, turning them once or twice between. 

2. Prepare a flat plate and place about 1/3 cup corn starch (or more as needed) on top, and spread, forming a thin layer. Beat an egg and place on another plate. Then pour out a cup of panko on a third plate. 

3. Drain pork chops and dredge them very lightly, just so they are dry. Then place them in the egg wash so they become 'wet' again. Take them out and hold it up for a few seconds so the extra egg wash slides off. 

4. Place the egg wash-covered pork chops in on the plate of panko, and cover the entire chop with panko, generously. 

5. To cook, heat up several tablespoons of vegetable oil in a flat non-stick pan. Make sure when the oil is heated, turn fire to medium to medium-low. 

6. Then add the battered pork chops to the hot oiled pan, and pan-fry them until golden-brown on one side. Turn them over and do the same. I did mine (relatively thin pork chops) for about 3-4 minutes on each side. 

7. Place on top of hot cooked rice, and drizzle with the Japanese mayo and Tonkatsu sauce in equal amounts. 

DIG IN..... =) 

This next part was inspired by...... Cafe Matchbox. Since young I've always detested green peas, and picked them out of fried rice or any dish whenever I saw them. However, after tasting the green pea soup with chicken pie from this hip cha chaan teng, I became fond of green pea.....soup! Honestly, I think one should be open-minded to try green pea soup...it's quite different from the boring old pea you find in fried rice! 

I love making puréed soups, so green pea soup was one I wanted to tackle. So off I went to the grocery store and bought the following.... 

My Asian Green Pea Soup 

(serves 4-6)

- 2 tbsp vegetable oil 

- 1 cup shallots, roughly chopped (may substitute onion if you wish)

- 1-2 tbsp ginger, sliced (I like more)

- 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

- 3 cups frozen peas 

- 3 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth if you want to keep it vegetarian)

Directions: 

1. Fry the shallots in the oil until it looks like its turning translucent. 

2. Add ginger and garlic, and sauté for a couple minutes, be careful not to burn. 

3. Add chicken broth, and simmer for a several minutes until shallots are visibly translucent.

4. Add peas, and bring to a simmer again, for 3 or 4 minutes, and taste one to see if they are soft. If not, cook a few minutes longer and switch off the fire. 

5. Purée the entire mixture in a food processor or use a electronic hand-mixer if you have one. 

6. Put the puréed mix back into the saucepan and bring to a simmer, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water if you would like it slightly thinner, and add ground black pepper if you wish. 

7. Dish-up and serve! 

Hope you enjoy these easy but tasty concoctions!

208 Duecento Otto

Date: 24th September

208 Duecento Otto @ Sheung Wan

For lunch, B, M and myself made a trip to 208 Duecento Otto in hopes to find good Italian food after much hype about this restaurant since its opening earlier this year.

Stepping through the entrance and making our way upstairs to the dining hall we knew a lot of effort and money had been put into the design of the restaurant...but how about the food?

There were only two lunch sets, rather than the three which had been published on their site.... we opted for the 3-Course express lunch, each ordering different mains. 

Chopped pizza dough with basil and a little olive oil. Turned stone-cold quickly, which I didn't appreciate. Texture wasn't exactly good either - way too chewy. 

First Course

Salad of arugula and shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese, dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette with lots of pepper and salt. 

The chefs were a little too heavy-handed on the salt, but otherwise a simple and stellar salad. The serving was quite large too, but most importantly the two main ingredients - leaves and cheese were very, very fresh. Couldn't and wouldn't ask for more!

My Second Course

Margherita

The first pizza came out with the center completely soft, clearly because the pizza sauce was too liquid. So I asked them to bake it slightly longer to which they agreed, but the waiter commented that this was how pizza napoletana is meant to be.... FYI no pizzas should ever be soggy.... yes they may be soft (as in the case of Neapolitan-type bases) or crunchy/crispy, but soggy? In the end they were unable to re-fire the first uneaten pizza and made a new one for me in the end. The second one was still quite soggy in the center, but slightly better and acceptable. They could use more torn basil for flavour, but otherwise a very ordinary and unimpressive margherita. 

M's Second Course

Spaghetti with parma ham and bell peppers

Quite a small portion, and sauce was acceptable, thanks to the parma ham and adequate salt. Spaghetti was cooked al dente so it had a nice bite. 

B's Second Course

Penne with Eggplant 

This vegetarian pasta was definitely one of the blandest pastas I've tasted. The sauce was predominantly tasteless, and the oiliness of the sauce didn't help either. Eggplants, parmesan and basil did not impart adequate (if any) flavour....and the penne was a bit too chewy for me, could probably have used another minute or two in the hot water. 

Third Course

A scoop of gelato of your choice

We picked saffron (right), green apple (bottom), raspberry (left). 

The saffron was quite milky and although the saffron was not particularly strong it was quite enjoyable. 

The raspberry was tart and had bits of rasperry pulp for texture which I didn't mind, but for the masses I think straining the mixture prior to churning would've been better. 

The green apple sorbetto was my least favourite - despite the bits of green apple the icy sorbetto itself tasted a little artificial for me...

coffee....

or tea??

Despite the mediocre food, reservations are a must. This place was fully packed by 1pm, and was told they had a long wait-list for dinner time. 

Food: ♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

208 Duecento Otto

208 Hollywood Road,

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2549 0208

Café Causette

Date: 18th Sep 2010

Cafe Causette @ Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong 

Cafe Causette has been on my wish-list for some time. I've been wanting to visit for their a la carte menu (only been here for tea), and to my luck my mother was in Central for lunch. 

Upon ordering, a fresh and very warm sour dough was promptly served, and I loved it. Crusty and crunchy exterior, hot and extremely soft inside....lovely! 

Cafe Causette has a pretty extensive international menu, with so many things I wanted to try.... Finally, the three of us decided on the following. 

Hainan Chicken Rice (breast or thigh available) $208

Chicken breast sitting on pak choy, chicken flavoured rice, chicken soup, condiments

The chicken here was quite disappointing for the three of us. Surprisingly, the chicken did retain the natural taste of chicken, but the breast meat was unbelievably tough, incomparable to what I tasted in Singapore. Perhaps chicken thigh would be a better choice? 

The rice was not oily but was flavourful, which I appreciated, and the soup was mild and had quite a bit of chicken essence - yummy =) 

Phad Thai ($188)

Rice noodles, prawns, tofu

Phad Thai here was quite moist and not oily, i.e. more liquid was used to fry this noodle dish. The prawns were huge and juicy, and the rectangular pieces of tofu and strings of egg and spring onions made for a colourful dish. G and my ma thought this was too 'wet', but I personally like fried noodles with a bit of gravy, so this was good. Most importantly, the seasoning was balanced - savoury, and only the slightest hint of sugar. 

Barbeque Spiced Cod ($188)

Pearl barley risotto, maple cucumber dressing

The natural flavour of cod is unbeatable in this dish. This is one of the few cod dishes I've had where the seasoning of the fish (in this case a mixture of spices) did not mask the natural flavours of the cod. It was done so that the brown top had a crisp texture, whilst the middle was cooked perfectly - flaked well and was smooth.... yumm! The cod sat on top of a barley risotto which had barley substituting arborio rice, and an abundance of pine nuts for a variation of texture. Again it was seasoned very well, and I can't find any faults for this dish. 

Save for the dry chicken breast, and very moist phad thai (can be good or bad depending on your taste), I had a very enjoyable lunch, and couldn't find space to order their lovely cappuccino....maybe next time! 

Cafe Causette is usually full on weekends, so for lunch you simply have to try your luck as they don't take reservations. Alternatively, there's Clipper Lounge which does allow reservations. 

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

Cafe Causette

1/F, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 5 Connaught Road,

Central 

Tel: +852 2825 4005