Australia Dairy Company

This beloved and quintessentially Hong Kong-esque cafe ('tea restaurant' / cha chaan teng) needs no introduction, here is a little food porn from a recent visit. 

All Day Combo ($30)

This set comes with a drink (iced milk tea / coffee!), your choice of creamy scrambled eggs or two sunny side-ups, with ham and soft buttered white bread.... Eggs benedicts has nothing on this IMHO. The barbeque pork in macaroni is merely a filler...

Egg and corned beef sandwich ($16)

 Another favourite, although those with hypertension should probably stay away ;) Very good take out option if you can't be bothered to queue.

"Fast" combo - bottle of fresh milk and choice of fried/scrambled eggs with buttered toast

On to desserts.. 

Steamed milk and egg white custard pudding

 Very rich in milk flavour, the hot version is definitely the one to order. Their version has one of the best flavour and textures I've had around town.

Steamed egg custard (available hot/cold)

Now, what are you waiting for?!

Food: ♥♥♥♥
Service: ♥♥♥ 1/2 
Price: $20-50 pp 

Australia Dairy Company
47-49 Parkes Street, 
Jordan, Kowloon
Tel: +852 2730 1356

Chez Shibata

Date of visit: 15th September and 1st October 2010

Chez Shibata @ Elements

Chez Shibata is a Japanese-French patisserie which has been franchised in Shanghai and in September, Hong Kong. My first visit to Chez Shibata was shortly after its opening, and tried out the first five reviewed desserts below, and on a second visit, tried the two signatures plus one croissant. My experiences with each cake varied, but nonetheless good overall.

 after I snapped these two pictures I was informed no pictures are allowed...!

"Tranche Maccha" ($40)

green tea mousse, chocolate mousse, sponge, green tea powder and crispy chocolate balls

this was naturally my first choice, since i love matcha and chocolate (both separately and together!). but i must say this was one of my least favourites from Chez Shibata, since this was poorly executed. the cake comprised of green tea mousse, chocolate mousse, and (orange?) sponge, all of which were overly 'wet' and not very pleasant in the mouth. green tea mousse could have been stronger, and so could the chocolate mousse. sponge layers were so thin and drenched you could hardly taste them. i have no idea if they are always like this, or if it was just my unlucky day, but a pastry chef should know when his batch of cakes have gone bad and therefore not allow them to be sold... 4.5/10

"Mont Blanc" ($38)
chesnut, cream, chocolate flakes, chocolate sponge
this was E's first choice, as she loves all things chesnut! as far as I remember, the top underneath the chocolate flakes were chesnut puree and beneath that layers of sweet cream and chocolate sponge. the whole dessert was not too sweet and was quite good, balanced, but again towards the bottom of the cup was wet cake... 7/10

"Macaron Emotion" ($34) 
cream, macaron, strawberries, custard, jam. 
my favourite so far, the crispy macaron shells were surprisingly not overly sweet, and the filling of fresh strawberries, custard and strawberry jam worked very well, was balanced, and very enjoyable. 9/10

"Verrine Plaisirs" ($36)

white chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse, passionfruit jelly, mango

mousses were not set properly (i.e. liquid when spooned), and I didn't really think the sour fruits went with the white and milk chocolate mousses at all... 2/10

 "Mi Cuit Fromage" ($36)

cream, berries, cheesecake

this cheesecake was a toned down version of the American cheesecake - a lot smaller and much less sweeter for the Asian palate. one thing we noticed was the lovely strong fragrance of the cheese when we opened the box, and the taste and texture definitely did not disappoint. before you reach the biscuit base there's a thin layer of berry puree as well. would definitely recommend if you like baked cheesecakes! 8.5/10

 "Éclair au caramel" ($32)

choux, caramel, salted butter cubes

upon examination, this eclair is slightly different to the standard pastrycreme filled choux pastry and a glaze. this thinner and longer version had no pastry creme, but only layers of a strong and wonderful caramel. the cubes of salted butter melted instantly in the mouth, and matched nicely with the already-perfect caramel (strong in flavour yet balanced in sweetness). my only complaint would be the texture of the choux - if it could be crisper this pastry would have been peerrrrrfecttt! 8/10

"Couer de bois" ($38)

sponge, peanuts, mousse, raspberry mousse, raspberry jam, red sugar, raspberries. 

this, being one of Shibata's signatures, as well as its perfect red heart shape prompted me to pick this. the red exterior is simply coloured sugar (very thin layer), and inside is a very light mousse-type layer, sort of like whipped mascarpone, not very strong in taste. in the middle you will find raspberry mousse and raspberry jelly, which gives the cake a tangy/sweet punch of flavour - quite refreshing indeed. lastly, at the bottom is a thin sponge as base sprinkled with some peanuts, which I disliked passionately. I believe the purpose was to add crunchiness and textural differences to the cake but the taste of peanuts really did not match the sour raspberry and light (mascarpone) mousse...! 7/10

"Raspberry almond croissant" ($20)

croissant, custard, jam, almond topping. 

definitely not something for breakfast. this pastry is sweet with its raspberry jam and custard filling,  as well as the sweet almond and butter topping. again, better if the croissant could be more crisp. 6.5/10 

on both times I had the desserts to-go, but had them around 10 minutes after being packed. there are a couple tables in-store if you wish to have them there, but this will cost you an extra $5 per piece, plus 10% service...

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥

Price: $-$$

Chez Shibata 

Shop 2003, 2/F, Elements, 1 Austin Rd West, 

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2196 8921

Sang Kee

Date of visit: 13^th September

Sang Kee Congee @ Sheung Wan

I woke up with a craving for something soupy...and thought of Sang Kee. I dragged my poor brother out with me to Sheung Wan, promising him some good congee (though I had never been). After getting slightly lost in the unfamiliar streets I finally found Sang Kee (there are a few branches around the same area, but each specialise in something different e.g. rice vermicelli or beef brisket). Sang Kee Congee was small and full at 11am, but we were just arriving as some were leaving, and were seated amongst other grandpas and grandmas quietly slurping their huge bowls of congee....and we knew we had arrived somewhere special.

shredded pork and century egg congee $25 (large)

a piece of century egg... 

Lean pork and century egg is a common and popular combination, and Sang Kee's made for the best version I've had (which I can remember). the consistency of the congee was perfect - thin and rice is cooked to the point of being only tiny particles left. I couldn't detect the use of cornstarch or other thickeners either. The ingredients gave the plain congee flavour, and it was slightly salted so it was really enjoyable on its own. 

fish belly and sliced fish congee (yu-lam and yu-wun) $32 (large)

There was plenty of fish belly (i.e. fish attached to bones) in this big bowl of congee, which was much plainer and loaded with spring onions in comparison to the lean pork-and-century-egg-combination above. The fish itself, being white, does not impart much flavour to the congee so the bowl of soy sauce is there for diners to dip the fish for more 'taste'. The consistency of the congee is the same as above - thin, with the rice 'broken'. 

From the two the pork and century egg definitely outshone the fish belly/sliced fish congee, though both are indeed different and had equally good congee base. 

pan-fried fish (dace) cakes $10 

These pan-fried fish cakes were a disappointment (at least, on my visit any way), and don't think I would order them again on a next visit. Fish cakes itself were soft and all I could taste was oil.... i.e. the fish cakes were a sponge which absorbed way too much oil! (ps. should have ordered those fried dough sticks/crullers instead!)

Fish cakes aside Sang Kee definitely did not disappoint and those huge bowls of congee provided a filling and comforting breakfast. 

Food: ♥♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥

Price: $

Sang Kee Congee 

G/F, 7-9 Burd Street, Sheung Wan

Tel: +852 2541 1099

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

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

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