It's been a while since I was last in TST East. I had not noticed a pedestrianised street full of restaurants and eateries.  It was a hot day and we decided to try this new sushi takeaway as the shop front looked so attractive.  There were 4 of us and we had difficulties deciding on whether  we wanted the bentos or rolls.
As the rolls were made fresh, we decided to try these and waited about 10 minutes for the order to be prepared. We shared 3 maki sets each with 8 pieces
The Signature Yo Roll was recommended to us and this had uni, caviar, fatty tuna, salmon roe and was topped with some gold flakes. Never mind the gold flakes but the rolls were such a luxurious treat full of filling and the large chunk of uni on top was so fresh and rich. This is a must. Ninja rolls were made with deep fried soft shell crabs, avocado, mayonnaise and truffle. As their avocados were not ripe that day, they asked if we minded if they replaced them with cucumber. That turned out to be a good idea as the cucumber gave the rolls a freshness. I saw that the rice they used were a beige colour instead of the usual white. It tasted better and had a good texture, I wonder what they used to flavour the rice or whether it's a special kind of rice. Again they used a lot of crab and truffle gave an added dimension to the  taste of the rolls. These were quite filling and I am happy we shared. We chose the only option of a vegetarian roll and these Sakura rolls had ginger, turnip, carrots and shiso leaves. It's a palate cleanser but you need to love ginger and the heat from ginger to love these as pickled ginger is the dominant ingredient.  We chose 3 hand rolls. These were all stuffed with fresh and abundant seafood. Tokyo roll had Botan shrimps. shrimp roe and salmon roe, my friend thought the combination gave the taste another level. I loved my crabmeat handroll. We were curious to try this squid and sea urchin side dish. Wonder how they managed to mix in the uni so well and evenly. The squid's fresh crunchiness with the creamy uni gave a lingering sweetness in the mouth. A really good choice The shop showed heart and wanted to sell the best products to their customers. Small details can be seen in the offer to wrap the hand rolls for us or give us the seaweed sheets to wrap just before we eat to retain crunchiness. We were impressed with the service and food. There is a big difference in what they offer compared with chains that may sell cheaper or faster food. If we are back in the area again, will certainly try some of their other rolls.

On the public holiday Monday, we decided to explore the Western area for lunch having heard and read so much on new restaurant openings. The default safe bet was Cafe Malacca at Hotel Jen but whilst wandering around the area, we spotted this little restaurant. The name attracted us Tsim Sha Tsui Alley Dai Pai Dong. We decided to try and support a local small business The young chef owner welcomed us in and showed us their signature dishes We ordered 3 dishes. Deep fried pork chop in peppered salt, Rice vermicelli Malaysian style with coconut milk and Homemade sesame covered bean curd with braised mushrooms The pork chops were deliciously fragrant from the garlic. The rice vermicelli was tasty and gently flavoured with coconut and the shrimps used tasted sweet rather than frozen. The dish could do with more saltiness though. The real highlight was the bean curd dish. The eggy bean curd pieces were lightly coated with black or white sesame (3 pieces each) and fried to perfection. They were coated in a sauce made with different types of mushrooms. This was a wonderful creation and we praised the chef endlessly for it. Our drinks, iced Yin Yang and Iced coffee were not special and nothing to write home about. So we plan to come back with friends now that 6 can dine together. There are so many other dishes we want to try. The restaurant also welcomes bring your own seafood for them to cook in various ways. We can't wait for our next visit

It was with great expectations that we arrived at Le Pan for lunch yesterday after seeing its long TV advert in French and a recommendation by my nephew. The building itself is interesting with 2 metal lion statues, a four faced Buddha mini shrine and a Zhu Ming sculpture all in the front entrance. The restaurant area we were sat at seemed white and sterile and part of a lobby area. There is a main restaurant area within too. Service was very attentive and after we ordered our lunch courses, we were served with 2 alcohol free citrus mocktails We were then presented with a trio of Amuse Bouche. Liquid orange ball, sardines on aubergine and a tiny carrot tart The bread basket was attractive with 4 types of breads made on the premises. I thought the baguette was crunchy and delicious with the French butter but the olive bun was only average By now, we were pretty happy with all the offerings so far and then our lunch choices arrived. I started with the Foie Gras terrine served with some balsamic vinegar drops. The presentation was so pretty, it made me very happy. The waitress said the terrine takes 2 days to make, not sure what that meant but it was impressive anyway We both chose the Bouillabaisse with seafood tortellini and thought it was delicious. But with soups poured in during the service, it is often hard for the soup to be hot enough After the soup course, we chose the beef served with foie gras and mushroom  flavoured mash potatoes. The waitress advised me that the beef is normally 50% cooked and I asked for mine to be slightly more cooked. It came slightly more cooked than my friend's and it wasn't bloody, so I was fine with it. It was absolutely delicious and the portion size was just right My dessert choice was Paris Brest with served with cream and home made ice cream, I think Vanilla flavour. This was delicate and the texture of the pastry was slightly crunchy. The filling and cream was delicious and complimented the pastry and ice cream well.  I had previously not wanted to choose a desert but with the 3 or 4 course sets, a dessert had to be one of the courses. In the end, we were happy to share the dessert Although not mentioned in the menu, coffee was included in the sets and I found my regular coffee way too strong and bitter. I added all the hot milk and 2 cubes of sugar and still was only able to smell it and have one or 2 sips. My friend found her Latte with a slight sour after taste The Petit Four selection was dainty and tasty, varied and interesting. We tasted them all. I was very impressed with the miniature Vanilla Madelaine and the mango jelly sweet. The mango flavour was so intense, it was a good ending to a wonderful meal. The caramel sweets were a little too soft and not very exciting in comparison It was a very pleasant and leisurely meal with attentive but non intrusive service. The staff explained well, remembered all our requests and were polite and friendly. It was a nice treat for a weekday lunch and a great find. Just unfortunately that the location of the building is not well known nor is it serviced well by public transport. It's definitely worth a return

It was a quick lunch after a class and I wasn't expecting much even though the classmates kept raving about the char siu bao. I couldn't imagine an exciting vegetarian version.

Our starter was an avocado salad made with chopped fruit. Interesting texture and a refreshing start. Almost like a Western dish

We ordered a fried salted fish and chicken fried rice. It was cooked with short grained rice and instead of spring onions, the rice was fried with chopped vegetables and mock meat. The taste was light yet full, very satisfying. Fried Singapore noodles was competent and not much different to the non vegetarian version

Fried noodles with Lo Hon vegetables was spectacular, the noodles very crunchy, many varieties of vegetables used as well as soy bean puffs and lotus root slices. The sauce was the right thickness and lightly salted

Then the star of the show, Char Siu Bao. When it arrived, I understood. They were actually more like a steamed self assemble char siu burgers. Absolutely amazing. The texture of the soft bun complemented by the deep fried soy meat with a mild sweet sauce coating.

I intend to ge back soon and often There was so many more dishes I can't wait to try.

Another late night dinner for us. Decided to go somewhere easy and remembered Stone's from a few months ago where we were impressed with the burgers. We arrived around 9:30 and there were a few tables empty. Most people were having drinks at the bar by this time.

There was a dish of Giant prawns in creamy white sauce. We asked for the sauce to be changed to a tomato sauceThe pasta was thin spaghetti and the tomato sauce was tangy with a lot of tomatoes and some sliced fresh mushrooms. A sharp and appertising sauce. The prawns were large and impressive looking, however tasted quick tough and bland, typical of frozen seafood

We chose the Wagyu burger and this was done nicely like we rememberedThe meat was tasty and pink in the middle as requested. The bun texture was like a home baked bun. Fries were seasoned and seem to have a light batter around it. The burger was delicious. Definitely worth coming here if you are looking for a good burger

As it was late, we decided not to have dessert and we didn't find anything we wanted to order anyway

It's a small place with a big menu and it's a long time since I have had a Western vegetarian meal in Hong Kong. I lie, it's not strictly Western, there are Chinese dishes too. 
The restaurant was busy but we ordered while we waited for a counter seat. It was hard to decide as there was a lot on offer. We decided on pumpkin soup, Spaghetti Bolognaise, corn and green salad and spicy green beans and rice. The pretty boss convinced us that Lo Hon juice is very good for our health and we had never tried it.

Pumpkin soup was rich and tasty, this isn't surprising as pumpkin soup is usually vegetarian although sometimes chicken stock is used. It was a good size portion, enough for 2 not very hungry people and it was only $20. The salad was fresh and crispy and we got a choice of dressings, we picked vinaegretteThe spicy bean rice was ready and again a portion enough for 2. The rice was healthy red rice and the beans were fried with what must be vegetarian meat. Whatever it was, it was tasty with the rice and we both really liked the dish
The big surprise was the Spaghetti Bolognaise. It looked and tasted just like the meat version. I think this dish would please any carnivore. It's a good feeling to eat something delicious and to know it is actually healthy

There is however one item I may not order again. Lo Hon juice was hard to swallow. I guess it must be very good for health. Next time I will order lemonade
This is a remarkable little restaurant. Food cooked with heart and tasting wonderful. It takes a few visits to try all the things that interested me on the menu. So am looking forward to the next visit

Fanling is a new territory for me. The restaurant was not easy to find in a quiet corner of a quiet mall in a huge residential complex. When we got there, it was indeed quite cool They had 10 most popular dim sum and 10 most popular dishes displayed. We went for mostly dishes from the top 10. The Crystal Chicken was no. 1 and it was firm and slightly crispy if you can imagine that in a nice way. Slightly salted with clear cellophane noodles underneathSweet and Sour Pork was buried in a mountain of ice, another top 10 dish. The pork was tender but some pieces were still warm, some were cold on the outside. Tasty but did not need the ice. Lee House Restaurant in Wanchai does this dish much better with the pork all crispy and icy cold on the outside. However, it was a bit of funSingapore Pepper Crab was spicy. Delicious but most of the gang could not take so much heat. More for me but wonder how local Hong Kongers can take it. It was much more spicy than versions in Singapore and it came with a dish of chilli sauce  too  Prawns in Cereal is another Singaporean dish. The prawns were first deep fried in batter and the cereal sprinkled on. Nice but again unlike the original Singapore version where the cereal is stuck onto the prawns. But never mind, my friend liked it so much she asked the waiter to pack the cereal to take homeBraised beef on the Bone was another top 10 and also one of my favourites that evening. Beef was soft and tasty and sauce was peppery and deliciousWe ordered 2 vegetarian dishes. One was Sweet Potato leaves in black bean sauce and the other was Steam Eggplant with Preserved vegetables. Always a great combination. I loved bothBy now, most of us were full after a most wonderful plate of Fried Noodles in Soy Sauce with squid tentacles. It was one of the best I have had. But our teenager friend was not full and he ordered 3 more dishes, Steamed bean curd with Scallops in Black Bean Sauce, Prawns in Thousand Island Sauce and Water Cooked Fish which is a Sichuan dish of fresh water fish slices cooked in water flavoured with many spices and chillis. I tried one slice of fish which was not as chilli as it normally be, so most of us could try and like itWe had a really enjoyable evening with interesting and mostly delicious food. The restaurant had a very diverse menu with lots of choices from different cuisines. Would be happy to come back if in the area again

Arriving 5 minutes late, I was surprised my 3 other friends were already there and had even ordered. Even more surprised was that we were the only table there in this new and nicely decorated restaurant. My friend explained that she had been to the branch at Elements and thought it was great

It is a wonderful concept to share plates of small food and they ordered braised tripe in tomato sauce, deep fried whitebait with vegetables, spinach and pinenut salad with a runny poach egg on top, truffle ham and cheese toasted sandwich and a pasta with tomato based sauce. Excuse inaccuracy of dishes names as I arrived after ordering and didn't look at the menu. Also since everyone was hungry, no one wanted to wait for photo taking.

The tripe was well cooked, soft and soaked up all the delicious taste of the tomato based sauce. The deepfried vegetable and whitebait came as 3 big cakes with a green dip (tasted like avocado), these were crispy but a little greasy and was the only dish we didn't finish. I had more than my fair share but guess my friends are health conscious and not big on deep fried foods. Toasted truffle sandwiches were delicious but I think can't go wrong if the ingredients are available. For the spinach salad, it was baby spinach and the dressing tasted like balsamic vinegar. 2 of us were careful not to touch the runny poached egg as we don't like raw egg yolks. The egg sat on top of a piece of aubergine and we managed to take a bit of that without breaking the egg. Nice and refreshing salad and leaves very fresh and sweet.
The pasta is one I had never tried. It resembled very thick sphagetti, a bit like udon. Sauce was tomato base and quite acidic. I was not so impressed with this dish, no second helping but my friends liked it more. Perhaps I was expecting bucatini with a hole in the middle and was a bit disappointed that it was solid.

We were full after this but as we were female, decided to share some desserts. We ordered a fresh fruit pizza and a panacotta. Really liked the fruit pizza and didn't even mind that the rind was still on the orange, pizza base was light and thin. There were chestnut pieces on the pannacotta but I only had a little taste as I don't like the strong taste of milk, hence not a fan of pannacotta.

By the time we were leaving, there were 2 other tables of customers. I think it shouldn't be long before Papi becomes popular as it is in a convenient location and the concept of sharing Western food would suit Hong Kong diners. We left as happy customers!

Our quarterly mahjong night always ends with a feast. Those of us who do not play mahjong will arrive at 8 in time to hear all the exciting results on the mahjong table. As our organiser is a regular to the club, food was very efficient and started to arrive soon after we sat down. Our friend had ordered all that was in season and famous dishes of the restaurant.

We started with some cold starters of pickled pig's trotters and marinated fungus in vinegar. I forgot to take photos of these but the trotters were very crispy and fresh tasting, not greasy nor oily. The fungus was a bit too sour. Steamed prawns were our first hot dish. Although the menu stated medium prawns, these were quite big. Fresh and firm and a good start Since our theme was seasonal, snake soup was next. The soup was hot and thick with lots of snake. My favourite part of snake soup were the crunchy fried dough that is served with the soup. They also had chrysanthemum flower petals and shredded lemon leaves. This shows that they take the dish seriously. Immediately after drinking snake soup, diners should feel very warm on a cold day. Maybe I imagined it but I think I felt a bit warmer. Deep fried oyster used to be a very popular dish in HK when I was a child. Then the oysters in Hong Kong became polluted and the dish disappeared off menus for decades. I think this club uses US oysters. It was delicious, just as I remembered, this is one of the few places that offer this dish cooked retro style More seasonal dishes came in the form of stewed mutton in clay pot. This is another winter dish not available in many places. Mutton was stewed in the pot with dried bean curd sticks, bamboo shoot and mushrooms. This was served with fermented bean curd paste. My classmate who is a connoisseur of this dish approved, although I think I have had tastier elsewhere. I liked the bean card sticks more than the mutton this time The steamed Sabah garoupa was cooked well, not over or under done. The sauce was just right too. Shows this restaurant has an experienced and skilled chef. This is the simplest dish to cook but very hard to get just right. Pressed roast duck looked a bit burnt but was actually crispy and smelt delicious. The meat was soft and marinated nicely. This was another one of my favourite dishes Another winter dish in clay pot was Yam with beef. Yam is used to cook many clay pot dishes. A more popular dish is with wind dried duck but we had it with beef this time as we already had a duck dish and wind dried duck is very fatty. The sauce was creamy and delicious and the yam was fragrant and delicious. Most people were surprised at how nice this was even though we were full by this stage. That was may be why I stopped taking photos, needed all my energy to digest the food.
There was a plate of fried Choi Sum to follow and desserts were steamed Malay Pudding (馬拉糕) which is one of the club's specialties and an almond paste soup. As I don't like Chinese sweet soups, I had a piece of pudding which I have to agree was very good.

So we thanked our member classmate for organising a wonderful winter feast and patiently wait another quarter before we meet for our Spring gathering of good food, good mahjong and good fun.

It was late on a Saturday night and we wanted to try somewhere we had never been to before and yet very typically local. So we decided on Wanchai. We parked at the CC Wu Building car park and saw lots of places still open on Heard Street. It was 10pm and the owner at this restaurant kept telling us to go in. I asked him what was good at his restaurant and he promised me everything would be good.

We settled for 3 dishes. Fatty Beef with XO sauce was really smelling delicious when it arrived. The beef was thinly cut as in those you put into hot pots and the sauce was slightly spicy but full of flavour, those that you only get when you fry food at a very high heat for a short time. We ordered some rice to go with the beefCuttlefish cakes had a firm and slightly springy texture, a very good bite. It was crispy on the outside and not soaked with oil. The oil was fresh and so the cakes were a good colour. Again, very well executedThis beans dish originates from Szechuan but here in this Hong Kong style eatery, it was not as chilli or fried as dry. But as a vegetable dish, this was more tasty as the beans were sweet by nature and retained the moisture. The minced pork was a bit salty, so again went well with rice.

The place was a bit rough and ready and so don't go for a first date. The food however was an excellent example of good hearty Hong Kong dishes. So do go for a try but not too late as it closes at 11pm