Sonata is a restaurant located in the four-star Rosedale Hotel Kowloon. The hotel is around 10 to 15 minutes' walk from Olympic MTR station, and is run by the same group as Rosedale on the Park in Causeway Bay.

The restaurant serves international cuisine, and offers a Semi-buffet Lunch, a Sunday Brunch Buffet, an Afternoon Tea Buffet as well as a Deluxe Seafood Dinner Buffet in addition to their a là la carte menu. The decor of the restaurant is bright and modern, and the service was efficient.

The Deluxe Seafood Dinner Buffet costs HK$268 per adult and HK$168 per child from Monday to Thursday, and costs HK$298 per adult and HK$188 per child from Friday to Sunday and on public holidays.

新的"星空奇遇記：黑域時空"就快上映，身為"星空奇遇記"迷的我當然會去觀看! 但除了到電影院，現在到灣仔駱克道的COYOTE BAR & GRILL 都同樣可以感受到氣氛，因為餐廳最近推出了一個以星空奇遇記為主題的菜單，每道菜式都以電影的角色來命名，而且還跟醬汁公司TABASCO合作，所以每樣食物都有點辣，實在很夠"刺激"！雖然COYOTE給人的印象主要是個喝酒的地方，但這次菜式的味道很不錯，價錢也很合理，想在灣仔找地方吃飯的話不防試試！

Coyote Bar & Grill is a Mexican restaurant and bar located in the heart of Wanchai. The restaurant has two floors, with the bar located on the ground floor and a dining area located upstairs.

With an upbeat atmosphere and a good selection of food and drinks, this restaurant and bar is a popular venue which is usually bustling throughout the entire week. Last week, I went there for a preview of the Star Trek Into Darkness promotional menu, which will be available from 13 May 2013 to 9 June 2013. As a Star Trek fan, I was really excited about the meal, as each dish was named after a character in the movie. Besides a Star Trek theme, Tabasco brand sauces are also used in each of the dishes and drinks, so be prepared for a spicy kick!

(1) We started off with Captain Kirk's Chicken Wings (HOT) ($75). The six pieces of USA chicken, tossed in a Tabasco habanero sauce, were full of flavour in each bite and were tender and moist in the middle. Their flavours were complemented by a jalapeno and cilantro dip, which was creamy and delicious. Beware though - the chicken really was very hot!

I have heard so much about the Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司 that it was on my list of must visit destination in Hong Kong.

Australia Dairy Company is a cha chaan teng know for it's legendary Scrambled Eggs, Steamed Egg White Pudding with Milk, long queues and cheap prices.

西村先生及班底的新店;
環境光猛優雅, 舒適寬敞;
廚師發辦刺身的質素很好;
散壽司亦很有特色,
值得一試。

New shop operated by Nishimura san from Nishimura restaurant;
Elegant, bright and spacious decor;
Very good quality Omakase assorted sashimi;
Very interesting Chirashi "loose" Sushi;
Worth a try!



Nishimura? Mimura?

We discovered this place by chance. I was attracted to their "Chirashi Sushi" and would like to see what it was about. I dragged my father and other relatives along.

As we arrived, it seemed that my relatives already knew most of the managers here. This was when we discovered that the chef behind Mimura was actually Nishimura san from the famous "Nishimura" Japanese restaurant at Marco Polo!

Decor:It's located right next to one of my favorite yakitori shop, Nishiki. Surprisingly bright and spacious with loads of tables, compartment seats, VIP rooms and seats at the sashimi counters. The tables were spaced out nicely. It's almost triple the size of Nishiki! Since the place was so big, it's a bit difficult to flag down the waiters. I strongly recommend that they add an electronic pager system.



Selections:

They have a comprehensive mix of cooked food like tempura, different stews, as well as sushi and sashimi. Sashimi should be their strength here.

As we've got contacts, we left the decision making in the hands of the manager (contrary to my wishes - I'm very picky about what I have for dinner and I always prefer ordering myself.)



Appetizers: This came in a nice wooden tray. The Edamame was good. The fried squid tentacles were cold but weren't oily, much to our surprise. This was cleared in no time. The salad made of fresh veggies was quite popular with the ladies at the table. The kinpira (burdock and carrots fried and marinated with shoyu and sesame) was quite spicy. The green pepper was also not bad.



Omakase:

First came the Omakase (assorted sashimi)Very presentable indeed.

The quality of all sashimis were very good. The slices of Tai in the middle of the platter were light and refreshing. The six large Hokkaido scallops were nice and sweet.

Kanpachi: The kanpachi on the top right part of the photo were firm and filled with fish oil. It came in thick cuts. I'm more used to think cuts but no complaints.

Unidentified white-bodied fish?:We couldn't remember the thick white-bodied sashimi on of the top left corner of the photo, possibly swordfish? Anyway, those were fresh, firm, and again filled with fish oil.

Chu Toro:Four fat slices of good quality chu toro. Nice colour and texture. Filled with fish oil and bursting with umami. I believe most sashimi lovers would love this very much. We certainly did.

Prawns:

The prawns were big and fresh. We're all very happy with it.After finishing the prawns, they offered to use the heads for soup or

Naturally, I was wondering how much this would cost. When I checked the bill, the assorted sashimi was HK$1,200. I think this is reasonable considering the quality and quantity. At Kenjo for example, you'll only get 1/3 the fish at the same price, with similar quality. .



2 Grilled Silver Cod - HK$320

We ordered this for a child who doesn't like raw stuff. She seemed very happy with this chinky piece of grilled silver cod - so happy that we ordered another portion for her. I had a little bit and was happy with the quality as well. Mind you, I don't think it's saikyo yaki so don't expect any miso taste. It's just a piece of grilled silver cod.

Good with just a simple bowl of steamed rice (HK$30!)



Stewed Yellow Tail (Hamachi) 250:

Essentially a stew which consisted of hamachi, enoki mushrooms and hamachi chunks. The sauce was mirin and shoyu.
The hamachi had a lot of fish oil; however, I found the meat a bit tough. Nothing spectacular.



Salmon Roe Sushi (x4 - HK$280)

These looked fresh and tasted fresh. The vinegar in the sushi rice was just right. The quality of the ikura and the nori were very good. However, at HK$70 per piece, it's not cheap at all.



Deluxe Assorted Sashimi (Chirashi sushi) $350

All those thick cut sashimis and stews with fatty hamachi were already quite filling, nevertheless, I had to order the Chirashi sushi. That was the reason why I chose Mimura in the first place.Essentially, this chirashi sushi (literally loose/ spread out sushi) seemed to be a crossover between an assorted omakase sashimi platter and a sashimi don made of sushi rice. It had a prawn, a few large pieces of hamachi, a decent amount of very flavourful ikura, two slices of sweet tamago maki, a number of shell fish and one large piece of fatty white-bodied fish (the unidentified one - swordfish?) all on a bed of decent sushi rice with good vinegar taste.

This was extremely filling. Unless you're a toro fanatic, I think ordering this should satisfy your craving for sashimi, sushi and Japanese rice in one go at a relatively decent price (HK$350).



Conclusion:

3 Sapporo Dry $135

The whole bill came down to HK$2,565 (including 3 Sapporo dry for $135) plus 10% service.

The quality of sashimi here was very good.
The chirashi sushi is also worth a try!

Recommended.

I so appreciated their services when I called them to preorder my food as my friend and I worry we would missing their lunch closing time.

Actually, I have visited this restaurant many times, and just for port cutlet. The fat and meat ratio is just PERFECT for a cutlet. If too much meat and less fat, it will be too dry. But if too much fat and less meat, there will ONLY be oil in the mouth. It shows the restaurant is using the most selective ingredient to keep their food quality. At first, they will serve refillable cabbage and veggie starters. They have 3 types of sauces for the cabbage. Cabbage with their homemade vinegar is perfect for me. Yummy.

The miso soup may be too salty for me.

Port cutlet with the sesame cutlet source is a good match, but don't put too much sauce on the cutlet, you will miss the REAL meat flavor.

Rice, they have 2 type of rice. One for healthy and one for matching the cutlet's taste. I always order the plain rice as it is ideal to match the port cutlet.

First time to visit. Environement is good and my friend was in love with the view outside. We can really stay the whole day because it was so chill and relaxed. But food is not as good as I expected.

We ordered a combo set and an apple pie set as well.

At first, we tried the combo set (skewer, butter sandwich, potato salad, shrimp cake and squid cake...) Skewer does not have much source on top of the meat, and we can not even taste the meat flavor. Butter sandwich was completely tasteless. Potato salad was too sour. Shrimp and squid cake were better than the others, but still average. Next, we tried the apple pie set, the apple pie, they mentioned HOMEMADE, but the taste just like a frozen pie we bought from supermarket. Well, we will return just for the view but not the food.

中式意粉有特色但不算彈牙。
麻香豬耳帶香又爽脆；
上湯蘿蔔湯清甜醇和；
感覺有誠意，如在附近，
可以壹試。

Signature Chinese pappardelle with sweet soy sauce;
Good turnip in light broth and marinated pig's ear;
Reasonably priced;
Worth a try if you're around the area.



Mian's main door:

I've always been interested this famous shop which serves a thick Chinese noodle which looked very similar to pappardella pasta. I finally managed to find the shop was but was confronted with an immediate problem - I couldn't open the main door!

I stood at the entrance like an idiot trying to open Mian's door using a variety of methods: push, pull, stepping back to activate the sensor, sliding it to the left and sliding it to the right... Finally, the waitress opened it for me from the inside. There was a button somewhere...

I strongly recommend adding some signs to assist customers. I noticed that I wasn't the only one who faced the same problem.

Decor: The place had about 7 counter seats, a large table for 8 and another 4-5 smaller tables. The whole place was air-conditioned. Fairly comfortable and modern looking. Unlike your normal Chinese noodle shop.



Service:

It certainly took them a while to bring me the menu. Certainly not enough staff. There was just the boss who also acted as the cashier and another waitress serving the whole shop. Not very efficient at all. Definitely a lot of room for improvement.



Menu:The lunch menu was rather focused. It's in Chinese and in English.

It consisted of a Chinese pappardelle pasta, a thinner one which reminded me of mee goreng (Indonesian yau mien) and pearl rice. You could choose different toppings such as sweet soy sauce with pork, dried bean curd with chili, vegetarian, salt-marinated chicken, meat paste with preserved vegetables and a few other toppings.

They also do two different types of snacks, namely, pig's ear and turnip in a light broth.

I ordered what appeared to be their signature dish : Thick noodles with sweet soy sauce and "butterfly brisket".

I also ordered both snacks.



Thick noodles with butterfly pork brisket:

The noodles were similar to pappardella pasta, or a lasagna cut into thick pieces. Unfortunately, contrary to my expectations, the noodles weren't that al dente. The noodles were quite bland as well. I was expecting something like the very springy noodles at the Japanese ramen shop "Bario". But perhaps that's not altogether a fair comparison.

Luckily, the light, sweet soy sauce, sesame, chopped spring onions, red pepper and preserved cabbage all added complexity to the otherwise bland taste of the noodles.

QQ? I found a few shreds of "QQ" noodles in my bowl of Chinese pappardella. Those weren't that QQ - i.e. Taiwanese way of saying springiness/chewiness. Seemed very much like yau mien or Indonesian fried egg noodles. Interesting texture.

Butterfly brisket: I thought this term is used to refer to beef brisket only. For beef brisket, it refers to the part of the brisket nearest to the stomach. It's more expensive than normal brisket because of it's scarcity and crisp texture. I suppose it's the same for pork then. Chan Chuen Kei (陳春記 - no English name on OpenRice) at Sheung wan (located next to Tsang Kee) faired much better. Soft, tender and flavourful. They give you a generous amount here but all were fairly tough and tasteless.

But the way, if you like butterfly beef briskets, Shui Kei at Central is an excellent choice. Since I prefer strong flavours, I mixed the whole shacha sauce (a Chiu Chow variation of Satay sauce) in to the bowl of noodles. That helped somewhat. I think more spring onions and perhaps a little bit of garlic or vinegar might help.



Spicy pork ear had a lovely sesame aroma with a slight hint of chili aftertaste. It's certainly not as spicy (and it's not supposed to be) as the normal Sichuan version. The texture was just right. Very crunchy. Recommended. (HK$12)

Turnips (HK$10) Served in a soup similar to a winter melon soup. Flavourful with no MSG detected.

The generous amount of turnips weren't bad. Some were mildly bitter but on the whole very satisfactory, especially the price.



Conclusion:

Noodles with brisket weren't exceptional but the two snacks were great.

Snack were good value.

Total : HK$80 with no service charge.

Might be worth a try if you're around the area.

Baby Mon Cher is quite famous from Japan. Especially for their Roll Cakes !

Anyway I couldn't finish a whole roll cake by myself and at more than $200+ it's not exactly cheap.

So I ordered a cute single piece cake. The creamy filling are said by my friends, better in the whole roll cake. As it is it was quite dense and not having much real cream taste much, which I know dissipates over time in the fridge and during transportation, but surely it can at least taste of some cream!

On the other hand I did liked the overall balance. It's precisely the very dry and hard sponge cake in the HK shop, which I can't over with at this stage !!

- Chocolate Mousseline Cake.
Although this tasted so great in both taste and texture, with even a slightly crispy base... I did think that this wasn't as unique as some of the cakes we have experienced in Paris, Japan or even Taipei. Executional accuracy however was quite spot on.

- Lychee and Raspberry cake was also executed well.
Although the Mandarin Cake Shop is almost a mandatory visit, when it comes to the best cakes and chocolates and breads in town, somehow, and does anybody else also agree, I wish it can be pushed to another pastry level?

COCO Ichiban Curry was one of the 1st Japanese curry shops to hit HK market. Since then the likes of other imports like Go Go Curry, Shiro-Kuma and Izumi have opened up.

I think no one will argue that Izumi Curry is the best of the crop. My 2nd favorite however, is probably divided between Go Go Curry & here at Coco.

This time I wanted to eat Hashed Beef Rice with Omelette instead 【オムハヤシ】- the red wine base was quite apparent and the beef slices were tasty and not dry. The egg omelette was a little small but at least runny...

In fact, I probably prefer their Hashed Beef sauce here than the base Curry!

Update: I revisited Xenri No Tsuki for lunch on May 7, 2013. While food quality remained the same, the restaurant does not seem to honor the "choose your own sushi set of 16" menu price at HKD280. Instead, I was charged over HKD1500 for a la carte! I can no longer recommend dining here for ethical reasons. (proof sent via email)

Original Review: Several online reviews mark this place as an outpost for quality bargain sushi, so I made it a point to visit early enough in my trip to return if I agreed. Located on the sixth floor of a fairly non-descriptive building, I can't imagine much foot traffic. Yet this place was packed on a Sunday night. When you enter, whole fish are lined up in the first section of the bar, suggesting the freshness of what they were serving. While I never saw a whole fish broken down in the two hour dinner, every piece of fish I had tasted fresh.

One of the advantages of sitting at the bar is that you see every order being made. A little over half ordered sashimi platters. The other half were mostly individual pieces. If you're ordering omakase, you probably get better service sitting in front of the person responsible for your food. After seeing what everyone else is ordering, you can influence your own selections by pointing out things you like. I think I must have eaten one of nearly everything in the display case.

Xenri No Tsuki is very good though no bargain, clocking in the US$150-200, HKD1200-1500 range. So it's cheaper than a Tokyo 3 Michelin, but you're not getting even close to that level of quality. I would probably order à la carte next time to stick to the real highlights. In ways, this performs at a 1 Michelin level; enough elements are off (such as the odd height seating with rail that hits your knees, slightly too soft sushi rice, ingredient selection, awkward service timing, etc.) that it's never going to be in the two star league, but it achieves that, "better than your average so-called high-end sushi place" status with a price to match.

Gallery Text:

1. Chicken Knuckles: Deep fried and crisp, these are crunchy bits of cartilage made edible through process.

2. Clams and Vegetables: Seasoned with dashi and vinegar, these were a refreshing bite.

3. Tuna Blood Line: Meaty, almost beefy flavor with sukiyaki marinade. It's like the dark meat part of canned tuna, but fresh with a springier texture.

4. Houbou (Blue Fin Robin) Sashimi: Light, translucent slices of lean, mild white fish. There's a certain air dryness to the houbou that takes well to the ponzu-negi sauce. It's like slightly dried hirame (fluke).

5. Snapper Sashimi: Semi-fatty and fleshy with a clean finish.

6. Hokkaido Uni in Shell: It's weird seeing someone go through the pain of removing all the inedible parts from the shell for presentation when it's so much easier to just take the uni out of the shell, wash everything else out of the shell, and put the uni back in on top of some daikon. Lighter in flavor and creamier than California uni, this just comes across as too light compared to the California version, which is happily, half the price.

7. Conch Sashimi: The chef threw this on the cutting board a few times to tenderize it, but this was cut a bit too thin. Crunchy, slightly briny, giving way to a sweet finish.

8. Hokkiado Botan Ebi Sashimi: Sweeter and less gummy than the one at Shou Zen. I still think this should be torched.

9. Kinmedai Sashimi: I love this fish, but this is sliced too thick. Slightly sweeter than snapper. Firm, with nicely balanced oils.

10. Shima Aji Sashimi: Bigger and fattier than regular Aji, this fish swims deeper in the ocean. The larger size gives this belly cut less crunch on the entry than the cut at Shou Zen and a wonderful creamy mouth feel.

11. Baby Squid Sashimi: Only in season for a few weeks, this has a great little burst of briny flavor with a hint of acid from the ink sac. I'd still prefer it lightly poached and served cold.

12. Ida Aji Tataki: Served in seaweed wrap and dressed with negi, grated vegetables and soy. The seaweed overwhelms the mild aji varietal.

13. Toro Sashimi: Two glorious rectangles of the most meltingly fattiest pieces of toro in recent recollection. Clean collagen. Tuna pudding. Glorious.

14. Madai Sushi: Lean, clean fish. The sushi rice is slightly over-watered and just holds together but could use more tooth.

15. Mejina Sushi: Clean, but lean and not very flavorful.

16. Kampachi Sushi: Hello early 2000s throwback when this was wildly popular in San Francisco! A sweeter, slightly firmer hamachi with a clean finish.

17. Ikura Sushi: Nicely briny with a slight false dashi aftertaste from the seaweed/rice/roe combination.

18. Akamutsu (Red Bluefish) Sushi: Torched, this has a rich sea bass taste. The soy glaze is lightly caramelized on top. Underneath, a sprinkle of negi adds pungency and sweetness. This alone is worth the trip.

19. Engawa (Fluke Fin) Sushi: Melty, fatty and torched with soy to release more room temperature collagen.

20. Kani Miso (Crab Back Fat) Sushi: Concentrated crab back flavor with cucumber keeping it from soaking into the rice until it blends in your mouth.

21. Tempura: The pumpkin is perfectly fried so the inside is just cooked through, but it's still pumpkin. The scallop with momiji (orange, daikon-like root vegetable) in ohba leaf is perfectly cooked, but nothing special.

22. Broiled Salmon Fin: Rich and fatty, this in up there with the cheek in the delicious throwaways in the salmon aisle.

23. Black Sesame Ice Cream: Faintly sweet with sesame oil flavors in a non-heavy way. This has been sitting out, as there are ice crystals laced throughout.

Had this quick lunchie with my mate from Brunei, she is one of the princesses over there, no jokes (but shhhhh keep it low)

Was in a conversation with my at 12:55, yeah, lifes a right? but fine, easily dealt with

cos it was raining outside, and I was a bit late, we had no choice but to stay indoors,

came to the landmark nearby and walked pass this shop,

i havent tried this before, so i might just give it a go

I had some grilled beef bentoBeef was a bit chewy, tough and quite dry, plainly overcooked

wished it could be a bit more tender, well, seasoning was nice though

The princess ordered a Grilled cod fish in miso paste bentoAccording to her, sauce was alright and not too rich,

cos sometimes miso cos sometimes it could be overdone,

She thought the grilling was well done with no charred bits Bento comes with salad, miso soup and rice

Salad uses some sort of wasabi-ish vinegar, not bad

Miso soup was good as well, lots of mushroom inside, gained back some points la

Food was just pretty average, not sure if we ordered the cheaper dishes and were given the cheap stuff?

but I mean princess of Brunei is here comon....

at least seats and atmosphere was good though, and then....?

work continues....

文ey for valueness: 6/10

Let me put it simple.

Do: Pork Belly, Beef Cheek, Churros con chocolate
Don't: Sangria, Tortilla ( I ordered Crab Tortilla but since the way to make different tortilla is more or less the same I wouldn't recommend it), Lamb stick

I also ordered Pulpos de la Gallega and Gambas Pil Pil, they were not impressive but doesn't hurt trying.

I am a tapas freak, I used to study in Granada and I basically lived on tapas everyday.
Went there with two friends for lunch, the price is unbeatable 100HKD+10% without drinks.
So I ordered the most typical tapas and some not so typical ones.
It started with Gazpacho, the cold tomato soup. I was never a fan so I just had a tiny little sip, garlic tasted stronger than tomato which was a bit weird.
Truth is the tortilla was truly a bit disappointing, any homemade ones I've tried is much better.
Sangria as well was too light, not sweet and all and not fruity enough. My friend ordered Lamb Stick, I'm not a fan of lamb, but the reason I don't recommend it is that I couldn't really tell what kind of meat i was eating.

BUT, i loved the atmosphere there, it's tiny but a lot of tapas bars in Spain are, the open kitchen is to facilitate the communication between the customers and the chefs but sadly we were a bit late and didn't get to sit by the bar.
Anyway the service was overall efficient and pleasant though I do expect more interaction if it wasn't full-house.
Definitely loved the Pork Belly, best I've tried in HK so far. Beef Cheek was as well quite impressive.
Finally the churros con chocolate, it's FAT, but not quite as fat as the authentic Spanish one, the chocolate they use is probably with higher percentage of cocoa. And also the sugar was not sticking to the churros, which might not be the common practice, but was good for me cuz I could get rid of some guilty calories

Okay I just realized my review does not look THAT positive, but actually I loved it and would definitely go there again especially not that I know what NOT to order The food looked great in pictures but I'm too lazy to upload them, maybe next time!