Chicha in pictures - one of my favourite spots in town

I've been to Chicha several times now and each time the food (well, almost every dish) is executed well and I love the intensity of flavours in the dishes...

Pisco sours

A truly happy meal... Liberty Private Works

For my birthday this year N kindly booked Liberty Private Works for a few of my best (foodie) friends and myself - this meal was truly unforgettable (the food, the company) and I have no idea why I had waited so long to visit - this will definitely not be my last!

 

A Taste of Spain - BCN

For a belated celebration of M's birthday, we decided on BCN (short for Barcelona), a Spanish restaurant that does only tasting menus.

On this night we were given a choice between two menus -  "Trip to Spain" ($628) and "Summer Chef" ($708). As we were first-timers here and being pork lovers we went with the "Trip to Spain" to sound out their suckling pig... 

We began our meal with our own platter of goodies. My favourite was hands down the ham but the Manchego with a drizzle of honey and thinly sliced spicy chorizo were delicious all the same.

Izakaya with reliable, delicious drinks & food

A couple weeks ago I was invited to a tasting (thank you David for the invite and arrangements!) at Rakuen in Lan Kwai fong. Now the Causeway Bay branch has been around for a while with quite a good following but this branch, in a somewhat nondescript building of LKF is much quieter (and comfier!) Anyhow, rather than giving us a set menu of selected dishes we were given a budget which we thought was much better as this allows for room for people with picky palates or allergies (*myself included)... Since they have a recent Okinawan chicken specials menu, we went ahead and ordered several dishes from there as well as Rakuen's signatures and staples. 

August Restaurant Week HK - Socialito

I've always associated Socialito to being more of a drinking spot as opposed to a foodie venue, probably because I've heard too many friends tell me its "mehhh". And knowing the States sell tacos on average US$1-3 per taco ($1 being average); HK$60-85 for two before servicehere seemed a little on the steep end.
Tacos aside, Socialito serves up some Mexican eats in their main dining area. A couple weeks before Restaurant Week I'd heard they'd done some revamping - new menus and all and I thought this would be the perfect occasion to try out their (new) food.

Tapeo

so....after a long trip to the States I'm back in town, but this time round I will be mostly posting photos since i have so many to put up yet so little time!! So from now will mostly be photo (read: foodporn) posts, with a comment (or two) when I feel its necessary! Enjoy!

Tapeo @ Central 

This was a lunch a while back... their lunch deals (Mon-Fri only) are super value-for-money if your wallet's tight yet you want some decent food! 

 

Tea at Four Seasons Lounge

Four Seasons Hotel's Lobby Lounge is one of the more popular tea places on Hong Kong Island (Mandarin Oriental, Island Shangri-la being the others) where people from all sorts of backgrounds (youngsters, business partners and tai-tais) frequent. 

As my friends and I have an affinity for high tea, we decided to have our catch up over tea. We arrived to a small queue, but were seated quite quickly after about 10 minutes wait.

Set for 2 - comes with 2 tea/coffee drinks

Savories

 Very average with a few hits and misses. My favourites were egg salad truffle on toast and the smoked salmon finger sandwich. 

Sweets

This tier was largely a miss for me - room temperature, lacked freshness, macarons were wet/soggy and nothing was memorable... 

 

Scones - raisin in front; plain at the back.

Probably the only thing I would consider returning at tea time for, these scones were drier than other ones I've had in Hong Kong yes but warm and crumbly in the middle for you to take advantage of the devonshire cream and apricot and raspberry jams. Hmmm...

Food: ♥♥♥ 1/2 for the scones, ♥♥ for everything else.
Service: ♥♥♥
Price: $$$

The Lounge, 

Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance St., 

Central

Tel: +852 3196 8820

Sushi Kuu II

Sushi Kuu's kaiseki lunch

Regular lunch menu

Dim Sum at Man Fa Hung Hotpot Restaurant

This hot pot joint in Soho, Man Fa Hung is relatively popular at lunch and dinner. Although I haven't been for dinner, I am certain I've found a cheap and cheerful dim sum joint in Central. 

dim sum sheet

Mandarin Grill

 It has been a while since I last posted.... so I have chosen to begin with my latest blog-worthy restaurant visit, the Mandarin Grill at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. I've been dying to try this place for some time and am happy to report the food was no less than delectable and the meal in itself was  fun to watch it being presented and of course, eat!

Loyal Dining

Loyal Dining @ Wellington St. 

Since its opening, Loyal Dining has received copious press attention and visitation from diners who wish see what the fuss is all about. Hell, even my mother wanted to come here to try. My first visit was lunch with a friend, and later I returned for dinner with family to try more dishes before I could decide whether I liked the place or not.

Cantopop

Cantopop @ L Place

Having heard Cantopop's menu had changed (quite drastically I must say), I was back to try the items that I hadn't yet tried (e.g. the much talked-about Sous-vide char siu rice) and the other newer items. We proceeded to order up a storm... 

Sous vide charsiu and fried egg on rice ($68)

Linguini Fini

Linguini Fini @ L Place

After the opening of Cantopop, IHM hit harder with Linguini Fini, an Italian eatery focusing on great homemade pastas, fresh organic vegetables and surprisingly impressive desserts. I went for lunch and dinner the same day after being rather impressed with the set lunch. 

super-cute fireman art.

Amber

Amber @ Mandarin Oriental 

A couple weeks back it was my brother's birthday and Amber was where we decided to celebrate. We went for Sunday brunch but not feeling like having any wine some of us opted for the juice pairing and some without. 

Pierre

Pierre @ Mandarin Oriental

This post should've been posted perhaps.... a month or two ago, but having been mega-busy i didn't find the time to update this blog. 

After having lunch at Cafe Causette downstairs, I was back at Mandarin Oriental the same night to try Pierre for the first time. I had high hopes for tonight's dinner, for it did gain another michelin star this year... 

Man Wah Chinese Restaurant - featuring Da Dong

Man Wah Chinese Restaurant @ 

Mandarin Oriental HK

For a week, Da Dong was at Mandarin Oriental's Chinese restaurant, and if you don't already know, Da Dong is famed for their lean roasted ducks.... 

Saikou, third time's not a charm

Saikou @ Wellington St

I know i have previously given a (sort of raving) positive review about Saikou about a month or two back, as one of my favourite lunch spots in Central for sushi... If only I could write this post having the same positive views... ! 

I arrived at Saikou today with my brother, hoping to introduce him to this place I used to to like. Without the 20% discount for after 1.45pm arrivals, it seemed a lot more expensive for what they give you. We hesitated at first, but finally decided to go for the pick-your own Tempura Set ($220) and the Sushi Platter ($190). 

Liberty Exchange

Liberty Exchange @ Central

Liberty Exchange's bar is packed every night. Promising drinks, food and great location why not? Tonight was a family reunification and heres what we had: 

Oolaa II

Oolaa, revisited @ Soho

It was L's birthday and Oolaa was the decided place to go. 8pm on a Friday this place was packed.  Upon seating we decided quickly to share everything... 

Hide-Chan

Hide-Chan @ The Loop, Central 

Hide-Chan had received an amount of media attention prior to its opening... and because of this i couldn't help but have certain (not necessarily high) expectations for this ramen chain.

L and I arrived to find a mini queue to be seated even though there were clearly empty spaces inside. That was ok I thought, maybe they're just not used to crowds just yet. Soon enough, we were seated and gave in our form in which we specified our order: Two white hide (orig tonkatsu) ($75) with lean(er) char siu (thin pork loin), 'hard' noodles plus an additional soft-boiled egg for $10 ($5 for half of one).