有時候在銅鑼灣真的不知吃甚麼好.....記得有報道說過銅鑼灣店鋪租金是處於世界頂尖位置，換來的是，能夠在銅鑼灣生存的食店，大多是連鎖大集團的分店。好聽的是品質有保證，難聽的是味道平平，往往是一些千篇一律的菜色，徒具軀殼。

認識琼姐這家私房泰國菜館已經有幾年，記得幾年前有朋友問西打在銅鑼灣吃甚麼好，有時候真的不好意思建議一些大集團分店，便大膽的提議他去吃琼姐。回來後他雀躍的說，謝謝我的介紹，那個生蝦刺身超級好吃！不久後也又再造訪多一次。

早陣子，網友突然打來說想再銅鑼灣吃泰國菜，當然又是推介琼姐，結果朋友也是讚口不絕。可笑的是...自己一次都沒有吃過。真的汗顏....還夠膽不停推介給朋友。

禮拜五的晚上，不想又窩在家，拼命打電話給朋友終於找到人吃晚飯。剛好朋友在港島，想了一下，就把地點定在琼姐。朋友怕辣，但西打很任性的說，你不要阻止我點菜，我會發脾氣噢！

人越大，有時候越任性。

引領著朋友走入登隆街，在小街道中和車爭路，左閃右避。朋友已經覺得有點奇怪，怎麼這裏會有泰國菜館。終於看到20-22號的大廈，西打在想怎麼走進大閘深鎖的大廈時，先在門鐘亂按一通，沒有反應。朋友又問：究竟吃甚麼？難道大閘只是虛掩，伸手一試，果然是沒有鎖。朋友繼續無奈地跟著西打走到一樓....靠著猜測知道那個門口才是琼姐泰國菜的門口...一開門，果真是私房菜，根本是個家居店。

本來訂了六點半，六點多一點就衝到上去。應該是老闆娘的人說先坐一下，要差不多六點半才有東西吃。西打先跟朋友點了兩罐汽水，和研究這個破爛不堪的餐牌。

那個餐牌真的很難看懂...根本不知那些有供應。不理太多，先來一碟生蝦刺身。

看上去跟一般外面吃到的生蝦刺身沒有多大分別。
每一隻都均勻的鋪上了蒜片、蒜蓉、辣椒蓉和香草蓉。
一定要連著辣椒、香草和蒜蓉一起吃，才夠刺激和正宗，不然，只算吃了半道泰式生蝦刺身。西打和朋友輪著講電話，把菜冷落了接近十分鐘。拍好照，西打連忙挑起一隻生蝦送入口，帶著幾年的期待，這個味道....西打在立時吐出了一句：真的好好吃！

生蝦非常爽脆，帶點冰冷的溫度，卻沒有討厭的雪味。街外很多泰國菜館為了保持生蝦的冰冷度，會在盤子上放上冰塊再鋪上生蝦。吃頭幾隻還好，到了後來，看到溶成一灘水，浸著生蝦；這個模樣真的教人倒胃口。

再來味道，浸著生蝦的魚露一點點酸，不過份，剛好引出了蝦的鮮味。鋪著上頭的一眾香草和辣椒，刺激又好吃，這個生蝦簡直是示範菜，向一眾食店示範著甚麼叫平衡。不論是酸或辣，那一方面都是恰到好處。

朋友說自己對泰式蝦刺身沒有特別好感，又怕辣，但也直認不諱這道生蝦刺身非常好吃！他吃到舌頭麻痺也要吃下去！

現在的餐館做炒蜆都越做越差，有時候用些很小顆的蜆，都不知是吃殼還是吃肉。在泰國菜館往往碰到的是很大顆但好看不好吃的大蜆。西打早就在上網上看好了，這店很花成本的用花甲去做炒蜆，當然要點來吃。

炒蜆的醬汁很濃稠，不算太辣，有點像麵醬的味道。花甲還算大顆，難得的是這樣大火猛炒依舊把每顆蜆的生熟度控制的剛好，入口每顆肉都是嫰滑細膩。金不換也下得很足夠，那種香氣直透鼻腔。朋友很可愛，猛說那些拌菜好好吃。西打才解釋這叫金不換，是香草，跟外國的羅勒，台灣的九層塔屬同科類植物。雖是同科，但葉的大小和香味會有些出入。一貫來說金不換的香氣比較猛烈。

其實中國廣東潮汕一帶也有把這種香草入饌，中國的品種更小株，香葉更小片，氣味也比較溫馴。在西打鄉下就叫在「摘蘭」，很古怪的名字。最古怪是...西打家中有幾株，是母親大人的心血。

當然要來個冬蔭功，泰式酸辣湯。這家店非常有性格，西打六點多進店，老闆娘就說在煲湯，還沒有準備好。西打不理也先點了，想不到要差不多大半個小時後才送上來，果然有堅持！

在西打心目中，這道冬蔭公的第一位是九龍城的小曼谷。先舀一碗給朋友，然後西打帶著誠惶誠恐的心態喝第一口，wowowow，夠酸夠辣不難做，但要有夠濃厚的湯底著實不易。經過長時間的熬制才有如此紅得耀眼的湯底。入口先是嗆喉的酸味，慢慢再滲出各種材料並行不悖的香氣。

西打在想....以後是要改到這裏喝冬蔭公嗎？真的不想把小曼谷從第一名除下來呢....
去泰國餐館吃炸蝦餅又好像是指定動作...

炸餅質感很乾爽，一點都沒有過油過膩的弊病。咬下去很爽脆，鮮美度還可以。西打一貫都不愛醮醬，但看到那個粉紅色醬很有興趣知道是甚麼，試了一點點，很特別的味道，猜著覺得是泰式辣雞醬混入沙拉醬。

朋友想來點可以飽肚的東西，問了有甚麼炒飯，只賣兩款：蝦膏炒飯和菠蘿炒飯。想了一下，還是要點濃味的，就點了蝦膏炒飯。

非常好吃的炒飯，顆粒分明，還有每粒米飯都沾滿了油香，西打個人吃了三碗，是讓人吃不停口的炒飯。

總計：HK$330

整家店非常狹小，只容下四五張桌，西打訂了位，食客還是多到有點可怕。人越多，也越來越吵，吵到西打叫朋友早點吃完早點走吧。是夜是禮拜五，這種客滿的情況是在所難免。建議可以避開五六日，不然，是真的超多人！

西打現在已經好想再吃那道生蝦刺身...說真的，在九龍城吃過幾家店的出品，是完完全全給比下去。

終於在銅鑼灣找到好吃的東西了！

Mommy asked me to pick a restaurant to celebrate and since I got a birthday coupon from AMEX, French Window has become an obvious choice to have a relaxed while refreshing meal.

Didn't note down the special easter menu but there were 1 to 3 choices for each of the 4 courses. We ordered:

Bell pepper sorbet served with baby carrot and zucchini

The sorbet is refreshing and doesn't have any grassy flavour. It is lightly sweetened and goes well with the diced zucchini and baby carrot. Totally prepared your taste buds for coming dishes

Poached organic eggs with asparagus

The egg is the showcase of the chef's skill. It is cooked to perfection and you would still see the yolky heart. The asparagus is a nice balance to the egg and lighten the fulling feeling brought by the egg

Cream of mushroom soup

The cream is smooth and with a strong mily flavour. I do find it a little bit too strong though different types of mushroom, especially the porcini gives the soup a special twist.

Waygu beef cheek

The beef is glazed with a special type of teriyaki sauce. Unlike the regular teriyaki sauce, it has a caramelized taste and is very delicious. Beef is of a high quality type and very tender, even it's fully cooked.

Sea bass risotto

Tender fish and the risotto is well cooked. Not too mushy or raw. The mozzarella cheese has a great smell and your nose has been eating before you dig in.

Strawberry tart

Custard of the tart is smooth and fluffy. Many cake shops make their custard too sweet and hard. The crush is eggy and crunchy, very well prepared.

Chocolate senation

Basically, it's chocolate mousse wrapped by chocolate crisp. It's one of the best chocolate mousse I've ever tried in Hong Kong, and it's better than many 5-star hotel's restaurants.

Service is good but definitely have rooms to improve. Compared to the french restaurant I visited in Montreal or Paris, it is just a tit below par.

A hiccup of the meal is that the first risotto served to us has a hair. The waiter was very professional, sincerely apologized and replaced it for my mom.

FYI, with the coupon, each of us have a class of free wine and a dessert chosen by you. Both my mom and I picked the chocolate sensation. You may want to adjust the expected spending.

看了食友 Lemon Tea 的食評，其精彩的相片及文字勾起我的油飯癮，星期一收工後立即向柯士甸路出發，找尋這間來自新加坡的文華雞飯。小店的位置相當隱蔽，大約在松屋的斜對面、北京水餃店的隔壁，再走進一條窄巷，才可發現其存在。

店名叫「文華雞飯」，主打的當然是去骨的海南雞，分別有白雞和燒雞兩款選擇，連油飯只需 $33，要脾位更不用加錢，這價錢在尖沙咀區來說實在便宜。這裡的老闆是香港人，移民新加坡十多年後，上月回流並開設這間店鋪，故此口味比不少自稱為海南雞專門店的更正宗。

除跟飯的椰菜清湯外，我們也試了另加 $5 的細肉骨茶，深色的湯底，藥材味和胡椒味兼備，下了豆卜、腐竹和圓肉等材料，雖然沒有新加坡黃亞細的濃郁，但我更欣賞這種口味，而厚厚的豬肋肉剛好炆至離骨，肉質腍熟入味，只收 $5，真是不惜工本。

我們要了燒雞飯、白雞飯各一，同樣要了脾位，燒雞的雞皮不是脆口的那種，比較軟淋，外表皺皺的，連著一層薄薄的肥脂，充滿甘香，而白雞的雞皮下也帶有一層啫喱狀的肥脂，估計是冷卻的雞油。在烹調過程中，雞油因受熱變成液態，收火後因冷卻而再次凝固，這些啫喱狀肥脂口感軟軟的，加上滑溜的雞肉，水準相當不俗。

好奇下問問老闆，點解要脾位都唔使加錢？佢話其實脾位同雞胸一樣咁滑溜，全無分別，就算用上雞胸肉，也保證絕不鞋口，所以一向脾位都係先到先得，亦無需另加錢，果然係有信心的表現。

三色醬方面，黑醬油的味道濃厚，略帶甜味，質地不太杰身，配合滑溜的雞肉相當出色；酸辣醬只帶少許酸，辣感較強，味道頗刺激的；薑茸則比較失色，味道較淡，普普通通而已。另外，不得不讚這裡的油飯，口感乾身爽口，唔油膩而且夠入味，單是吃這個飯，已是值回票價了！

另加 $3就有一杯台式珍珠奶茶，要求「少甜」，甜度來得恰到好處，茶底或者不夠香濃，但珍珠口感夠 QQ，味道合格有餘，始終光顧的不是台茶店，實在不能要求太多。

不敢判定這裡的海南雞飯是全港第一，但如果你喜歡吃油飯的話，文華雞飯實在不容錯過，我一定會再捧場的！

Believe it or not, I do not detest Starbucks: if I am honest to myself, I used to enjoy their weakish coffees with cakes on the odd occasions, plus there's no doubt their Green Tea Frappucino & Sausage Rolls ain't half-bad. I shall admit I still eat it once every 1 or 2 weeks as lunch! They also offer comfy sofa's for power-nap sessions if you manage to hog one. Upon seeing Starbuck Commercials introducing their new global blend based on Chinese Yunnan Beans, I thought why not? Bring it on. SO MY 1ST EXPERIENCE OF IT CAME FROM FREE SAMPLES HANDED OUT by Starbucks Staff as a Dripped coffee, which tasted awkwardly grey & dishwasher-water like, but I was still not persuaded eitherway. Are Yunnan (雲南) beans blended together with other Asian Pacific 100% Arabica beans really that bad, just like their Black Truffles sux? Am I being too Xenophilious? Or is it really because Starbucks can't make coffees, considering most outlets now operate on Super-Auto machines and the remaining few outlets are being phrased out from their Semi-Auto machine stages, where one can't tell the difference between ash-water and real espresso. Well I was about to find out the truth TONIGHT, as I self-volunteered to work for Starbucks for 20 minutes, all in the comfort of my house!

NOTE: as mentioned on previous ARCAFFE review, the machine @ home is a domestic type around 1/20th the price of a true commercial-grade machine. The biggest drawback is it doesn't hold consistent enough temperatures plus it pulsates like a Cosine-wave: it's 'ON' for 0.3s then turns to 'OFF' for 0.5s-0.3s, even at Max Settings. The very short 0.3s 'ON' cycle is a terminal weakness as the coffee-cake is not subjected enough to continous, pressurised extraction such as what true espresso's need to be extracted at. Therefore, my experience says that Espresso Shots made from my Sunbeam Machine are @ Max 70-75% of what commercial machines can produce in terms of flavour depth. Its MILK FROTH QUALITY is also too weak, around 25% capacity. >_< So, others should mentally extrapolate these following data for your own reference.

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ESPRESSO SHOT 1 - 94C Degrees Nominal
On a typical benchmark grind setting, this poured rather poorly. This Blend likes finer-grind adjustments! This end resultant cup was thin ashy-water with a mild-acid beneath, although already better than typical Starbuck shots! ^_^' Really poor shot personally, discarded down the sink. SCORE: 1.5/5
ESPRESSO SHOT 2 - 92C Degrees
I felt the beans were slightly over-roasted and unfresh, despite it being a new batch roasted in America then imported back into China! I adjusted down the machine temperature to see if it carried any fruity body. This 2nd shot, with completely re-tuned Grinder & Machine Temperature settings was ok-good, completely different from what one would expect from ANY Starbucks outlets. Mildly sweet & not acrid for once, for some reason I stopped this shot a bit short for an Espresso. The Crema and Viscosity were thicker than expected and it held up, but I think botherline so! The description says it should be Mid-bodied, Mildly Acidic and Herbal: pretty spot on, except it tastes Chinese Medicine like Herbal and not the Italian fresh grassy-herbs I had in my mind! SCORE: 3.5/5
ESPRESSO SHOT 3 - 92C 'Nominal' Degrees, Tighter Grind, ~9-10g Grind Size in Single Basket, 15ml Shot, 30 secs.
Adjusted the Grind and Tamping pressure again, Temperature held constant. This was deliberately poured as a ristretto-spectrum style for fun and testing the YUNNAN BLEND's all rounded-ness. It ended up being pretty-good for a Starbucks coffee, but one can tell its NOT high quality arabica beans as its lacking the desired complex layering & flavour profiles, it wasn't too 'Ethiopian Arabica Bean' aromatic! Not surprising, considering Yunnan coffee is now mostly sourced from lesser catimor rather than bourbon or typica arabicas, due to its versatility and resistance to rust. Surprisingly, the finish lingered enough for around 5 secs. *One must remember this experiment was done on a home-machine, so it should fare better in commercial machines. SCORE: 3.9/5

CAPPUCINO - 92C Degrees
It was mildly sweet but perhaps its my machine's limitations, it didn't carry as much aroma or flavours as I'd envisioned, instead carrying a bit of 鐵打酒 influence. Or perhaps its just a poor base shot, or the barista not being able to make this coffee properly? One should never discount all possibilities! >.< SCORE: 4/5
CAFFE LATTE - 92C Degrees
This unfortunately, I made with a mediocre-plus Espresso shot base. It was pleasant and I would happily drink this, but knowing it wasn't perfectly made to its 100% potential. Milk-froth a bit thin compared to commercial steam wand. SCORE: 4/5
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ALL IN ALL, FOR HKD $90/250g,
THE 'SOUTH OF THE CLOUD' BLEND BY STARBUCKS IS ACTUALLY OK-GOOD.
ITS FLAVOUR IS UNIQUE BUT LACKS DEPTH OF ESSENTIAL ARABICA BEAN COFFEE OILS. YUNNAN BEANS NOWADAYS ARE MOSTLY BASED ON 'CATIMOR' ARABICA VARIETY THAN TYPICA OR BOURBON, DUE TO ITS RESISTANCE TO WEATHER AND RUST. I DON'T EXPECT THIS TO TASTE GOOD @ ACTUAL STARBUCKS SHOPS, AS IT DOESN'T CARRY ENOUGH FLAVOURS OR POTENTIAL TO BLUFF ITS WAY ON SUPER-AUTO MACHINES, OR THE SCARCE REMAINING SEMI-AUTOMATIC MACHINES OPERATED BY STAFF WHO DON'T CALIBRATE THE BEAN FOR ITS TIGHT, NARROW WORKING WINDOW!

I'D SAY ITS NOT AS BOLD AS IT CLAIMS TO BE, COMPARED TO THEIR TYPICAL DARK ESPRESSO BLEND ANYWAY. YUNNAN COFFEE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PART OF STARBUCK'S 'NORMAL BLEND' AS A FILLER, ITS JUST THAT THIS TIME - IT RECEIVES A MARKETABLE 'SOUTH OF THE CLOUD' LOGO AND CENTRAL ATTENTION AS A CORE BEAN IN A BLEND, WITHIN AN ALL ASIAN-PACIFIC SOURCED BEAN SHOOTOUT! MID '4' I GUESS? BUT ONLY WHEN MADE BY BABEDOLPHIN, COZ HE'S PROBABLY UP HIMSELF AND THINK HE'S KNOWLEDGEABLE & A WANNABE COFFEE EXPERT, OR ELSE, HAS ENOUGH 'BLUFFING SKILLS' TO BE ELIBIGLE AS A FEARSOME POKER PLAYER 1 DAY!

未試過在短時間內會同一地方再來飯局,這裡可算例外!
在一衆食友Encore之聲不斷之下,感謝惡男兄再辦一次新一季的大班樓飯局,能再次品嚐天哥對原味的堅持及工序繁複的厨藝.換季後的時令新菜己出籠.
記得上次來最印象深刻的是乳鴿及雞油花雕蒸蟹,幸今次菜單也有保留此兩款菜式.
崧子櫻花蝦----烘得很乾身,這次好像加入了一些鹹蛋黃在內,味道更加咸鮮.
酥炸獅頭魚配意大利黑醋----依然是做得酥香骨脆,這次學精了懂得先找出頭部那粒堅硬的舍利子,沒有一口咬下!
砵酒煎日本金蠔----每隻也體形圓潤飽滿,原來煎出來的效果比放在飯面蒸熟的更香,外皮有些微煎過的焦香,中心部份柔軟帶點濕潤,鮮味滿瀉!
龍井菊花燻BB鴿----體積比上次吃到的更細小,只有常見的乳鴿一半大小,是真正的BB鴿!煙燻味道來得更濃更香,肉質呈粉紅色入口非常嫩滑,連骨頭也軟得可輕易咬開.
川貝燉鷓鴣----長者常說是潤肺止咳,只記得兒時常有喝,味道早已記不起.此湯喝來沒有雞湯加瘦肉那樣的濃味,顏色比較清味道帶點甜.
陳皮冬菇肉絲蒸海方利----多數吃此方法蒸的是鎗魚,用來蒸方利感受大不同.薄薄的魚肉嫩滑鮮甜,帶點獨有的味道.這是第一次想叫白飯.
雞油花雕蒸大花蟹配陳村粉----未上檯已聞到花雕的香味四飄!是夜的花蟹貨源甚佳,肉質鮮甜結實,嫩滑的陳村粉與雞油確是天作之合,不消一會巳掃個清光!吃得興起再叫來白飯一碗倒入碟內,把最後一滴汁也不放過!
陳酒白切雞----香味是十足,肉質保持得到嫩滑,可惜味道只停留在表面未能進入雞內.
牛肉湯清燉牛坑腩----這個以清湯底做出來的牛腩汁有輕微的酸味及辣味,每件也帶著一點甘香的脂肪,有連筋位置,入口無渣不黐牙,這引起眾人研究一番夠究是不是坑腩?結論是像牛肋多一點.
羊肚菌炆樹記腐皮----上次已領教過這件豆香十足的多層摺叠腐皮的威力,這次再嚐味覺的震撼感依然!很少會吃齋的菜式會有如此豐富的味道.
蘭度炒煙燻肉----煎得略焦入口帶脆,一口咬下滿嘴油香,很喜歡這煙燻肉咸咸香香的味道.
豬油渣蒸日本蛋----第三次想叫白飯!豬油渣炸得很鬆很乾身,蒸蛋的火候控制得剛好,豬油渣的香氣與蛋混合,叫人難以抗拒!
豉油皇牛柳邊炒陳村粉----炒得乾身少油,陳村粉比河粉薄身吃起來質感很鬆,雖然已經破例地在飯局內吃了碗半白飯!但來到這個單尾,又忍不住吃了一碗!
生磨杏仁茶、杞子/薑汁雪糕----杏仁茶是一貫的質感杰身帶有濃濃的味道,兩款雪糕這次也是奶味重了一點.
水準能保持已不是一件容易的事,更何况這次是有進步?
市面上很多食肆也標榜無味精、原汁原味.但真正做到的又有幾間?大班樓是真真正正做得到,絕對是實至名歸!