Isola

Isola @ IFC 

Isola is always full.... given the harbour view and the fact that its in IFC, there's no doubt why it shouldn't be. I finally got the chance to try out Isola but was quite underwhelmed with our dinner.

 

Zenku

Zenku @ Nexxus Building

My cousin was visiting from the States, and she had heard from her other cousin, a food-writer for a local magazine, that Zenku was a fun and good restaurant. We shortened our list so it was either Mirror or Zenku, but because she became unavailable on the evening I had made reservations at Mirror for, I happily joined her for lunch at Zenku...

Macau - Aurora

Aurora @ Altira Hotel

on our last half-day at Macau, we weren't able to get a table at Robuchon (seriously, book one month ahead if you want to go during CNY) so we resorted to Aurora, which recently gained a michelin star...

Macau Day 2

On the second day... we found out we couldn't get a table at Wynn Hotel's Chinese restaurant (who would on a Sunday, by making reservations just the day before on a CNY holiday period??)....or anywhere that was remotely popular for that matter...so we settled for the Chinese restaurant at a hotel called 'Lan Kwai Fong' - odd I know, because we're more familiar with it as the district.... 

Macau Day 1

Over CNY we made a last-minute decision to go Macau, primarily to watch the House of Dancing Water, but also just as importantly, to eat. 
We were luckily able to get great tickets for the show and hotel rooms at the L'Arc, last-minute by pulling some strings since every other respectable hotel had been fully booked since last year.... 
So on the first day, without reservations, we had no idea where to go... we ended up at Rossio, the buffet restaurant at MGM. Nothing was spectacular and no photos were taken... serves us right for not planning ahead!! 

OD-ing on macarons...

Jean-Paul Hevin; Island Gourmet

Friends who have a sweet tooth like my own are hard to find.... so when A and I met up I suggested to go for macarons...little did I know we'd end up having a meal's worth of macarons....

First stop was Jeal-Paul Hevin, where we ended up getting a box of six. Because the chocolate was their best-seller we thought we'd have one each, and the other 4 flavours, to share. The amer chocolate macaron shell was not too sweet because of the cocoa in the batter and the thick luscious ganache inbetween was stellar. Two other macarons I also declared my favourites on the spot were the bergamot tea - very apparent....like a cuppa earl grey tea and the raspberry one which had a similar dark chocolate ganache which worked to balance to sweetness of the shell. 

Jasmine Place

Jasmine Place @ Central

Jasmine Place has never disappointed from the several visits i've made here, and tonight's casual family gathering did not disappoint either. In light of the winter season they had a special menu for winter specials...

Sahara

Date of visit: 29th December 2010

Sahara Mezz Bar @ Soho

I've always been interested in trying Moroccan food which I don't know much about, save for their love for tagines. My first proper go was from an excursion to the widely-popular Sahara restaurant siting on Elgin street... It was only a Wednesday night but the restaurant was brimming with customers to the front entrance where some people were enjoying puffs from their shisha... 

We were seated to a really tiny table which barely held its food, but decor aside, on to the main event... 

"hummus" ($68)

with grilled chicken pieces and pita bread (below)

whilst the chicken was awfully dry and not pleasant to eat, the hummus was very light and tasted quite healthy, being chickpeas and all... The pita bread was also toasted it came burning hot and fluffy inside.

pita bread

"seabass tagine" ($140)

on the menu, this was said to be served with a red bell pepper dressing, fresh chives and a chermoula sauce... but instead this was a borscht-like soup with fish fillet and lemon and capers on top

this was served in a claypot rather than the traditional tagines... presentation-wise, i would say this is quite a failure the dish itself departed too much from its description

The fish was pan fried, and although the fish was quite tiny for its price, it was at least yumm, seasoned with only salt and pepper it tasted almost like cod for some reason...

Underneath was a vegetable soup which tasted a lot like borscht soup... and because the claypot was rather small there was extra soup on the side (below)

the extra bowl of borsht-like soup

"couscous sahara" ($160)

with roasted lamb shank and beef merguez

the couscous was perfect - each granule was separate and had a tiny bite to it, not mushy at all. the lamb shank was fall-off-the-bone tender, but the beef sausage (merguez) was too salty and hard for me.... the sauce however, was surprisingly 'western', in that it tasted like your regular western braised lamb shank dish with red wine...

To determine whether Sahara's the best for tagines and hummus I have yet to try other places serving up similar food like La Kasbah and Habibi, but I don't think this meal was particular good warranting a second visit in the near future.... 

Food: ♥♥1/2

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

Sahara Mezz Bar

G/F, 11 Elgin St, Soho

Central

Tel: +852 2291 6060

Ootoya

Ootoya @ Tsim Sha Tsui

It was 3pm and I was in TST thinking of options for a late lunch.... Ootoya was near and since i've never been I thought i'd give it a go... 

Upon looking at the rather limited afternoon menu, we decided on the following.

House-made Tofu ($20)

There was not a lot of flavour in the tofu, and the portion was pretty tiny.... (4/10)

"rice with vinegar ootoya special soy sauce flavoured raw tuna" ($100)

close up of the tekka-don (tuna sashimi on rice)

Minor errors with the english name on the menu, but language aside this set was quite enjoyable. 

the maguro was marinated in a soy sauce-based marinade and so additional soy-sauce dipping was unnecessary. the thin slices of fish was clearly the star here, succulent and the marinade was very light and didn't kill the taste of the raw fish.... the rice was also really good, plump grains which retained a slight bite, and pre-seasoned with vinegar.... (8/10)

chawanmushi

served alongside the tekka-don was this little cup of steamed egg. perfectly smooth but a little too light on the flavour... the dashi might have been missing.?? (6/10)

miso soup

also came with the tekka-don, not bad.

"rice bowl with deep fried breaded chicken and cold udon (in a wooden box)" ($72)

close up of the chicken katsu, on a bed of shredded cabbage and rice (7/10)

whilst the chicken katsu was pretty good, with tender chicken wrapped in a golden and crispy panko-crust, the rice underneath was normal long grain rice, and slightly too 'wet'... would've loved it more if it were the Japanese rice (unseasoned) that came with tuna rice set above. On the side was a vinegary and slightly sweet katsu sauce to go with it. 

cold udon noodles spread in the wooden box...

these udon noodles were pretty good texturally, though my favourite remains the thin inaniwa udon noodles. the mentsuyu (in a sake-like jar next to the cucumber in picture) was far to light in taste, so when the udon was dipped in and slurped out it was still very bland..... my guess is that it was too diluted. (7/10 for noodles only)

Ootoya is an affordable and tasty option for popularized Japanese food....though I think I'll need to return during dinner, with hopefully with a fuller menu and better execution of the dishes.

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥

Price: $$$

Ootoya

1/F, Imperial Hotel, 32 Nathan Road, 

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2312 2675

W52

Date of visit: 23rd December 2010 

W52 @ Central 

lunch menu

not a lot of choices, menu could be more 'fun' if you will, but then again if each one is well-executed, who am i to complain?? 

bread basket

very generous selection, I particularly enjoyed the grissini and the (sun-dried?) tomato-flavoured rolls (orange ones). The balsamic and olive oil that were poured for us were also great...the thick and luscious sweet vinegar - i loved! 

dip

this came with the bread basket, and we noticed that each table received different dips. I suspect this was their take on a baba ganoush, but the eggplant was hardly seasoned the whole dip was almost tasteless.... 

plate of antipasti

this was my first plate from the antipasti buffet, which included some seared tuna, grilled eggplant and squash, sauteed wild mushrooms, salad greens and a cucumber salad that was pre-dressed. Surprisingly, all the items were good, taste and quality wise. I happily polished a second plate of goodies from the buffet. 

"Hand-made taglierini with cauliflower ragout, anchovies and pecorino" 

This dish tasted incredibly light and healthy, not really what I'd like if I were ordering pasta but this was M's choice. Home-made pasta does not necessarily mean it is better than dried varieties, and I actually don't see anything wrong with using dried pastas, unless its a filled-pasta like ravioli. Having said that, I equally don't mind hand-made varieties so long as they retain a bite to them, or is 'al dente'. W52's did not disappoint in this matter, and I would happily return to try out their other pasta selections.... 

This particular dish was studded with cauliflower and the anchovies and pecorino were too subtle, which resulted in the above-mentioned too-light-a-flavour.

"Roast stuffed turkey with almonds and pomegranate"

This was a turkey roulade served with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. It was only two days till Christmas so I'm guessing this was put on the menu in light of the holidays. I love turkey and for some unknown reason this protein is harder to find in Hong Kong than, say in the US, so I went for it. 

This roll of turkey was half-white and half-dark meat, and rolled together with the roasted skin as the wrap. On top were some pomegranate seeds which didn't make much sense for me though I didn't mind them as a bit of textural difference. The meat was seasoned, so it was very flavourful and most importantly, moist. Now only if the skin was crispy....

The cranberry was studded with whole cranberries, and was very sour/tart which was quite nice together with the turkey if you like that sort of combination.

From clockwise, starting with top left corner: tiramisu, pear tart, profiterole, choux, blueberry cheesecake, two raspberry mille-feuilles, chocolate tort, bread pudding and a creme brulee in the centre.

All desserts are laid out next to the anti pasti buffet table, and the spread looked appetizing enough, so M and I decided we'd try out most of the choices - I think we had everything except for a strawberry panna cotta and fruits? 

Anyway, most of their desserts were surprisingly acceptable. I particularly liked the tiramisu, choux pastry and bread pudding. The chocolate torte was hardly chocolatey enough and was quite dry... Others, like the creme brulee and profiteroles were enjoyable enough.  

Our lovely meal ended with a cup of coffee for me, which wasn't bad. W52 serves pretty good antipasti for a lunch buffet style, and upon a recent re-visit to Bistecca (which had deteriorated a lot in quality and disappointing to say the least) I can definitely say I'd much rather come back here. 

Food: ♥♥♥♥ (antipasti and dessert), ♥♥♥ 1/2 (main)

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$-$$$$

W52

G/F-3/F, 52 Wyndham St, Central

Tel: +852 6788 5252