Thought I'd pick a chinese restaurant for lunch to celebrate mid-autumn with my colleagues, and King's Taste came into my mind.  I always passed by this restaurant when I take the escalator up to Soho but never had the chance to try.

We ordered 3 lunch sets and 2 noodles from the a-la-carte to share amongst 6 people, and it was definitely more than enough.  The lunch sets came in 3 appetizers, 1 xiao long bao, a main and a rice / noodle.  The flat rice noodle totally soaked up the spiciness and rich flavor of the water braised beef, making this dish my favorite.  The slow-cooked pork belly was very soft, tender and juicy, and you really gotta eat it along with the skin and fat layer which brings out the different layers of flavor of the dish.  Xiao long bao was a must-try too.  The skin was thin yet thick enough to hold up the soup inside, and the minced pork remained juicy and rich in flavor. *nom nomHaving mentioned all the fatty and oily and calorie-loaded yummy dishes, we did, order a vegetable dish too.  I just didn't expect it to be served this way...Another pork dish ordered separately came as a cold appetizer - pork belly with sesame dressing.  The texture remained chewy and went well with the sauce.  The two noodles came last.  Both were classic Shanghainese / Sichuanese dishes, which I did make sure to request for less oil for these tend to be stir-fried with generous amount of oil.  Both of them were cooked to al dente.Dessert came as a slight disappointment though, or perhaps we were all just too full by that time already.  Physically wasn't attractive, but at least the sweetness of red date paste was balanced right.Overall the food served in this restaurant was good and seemed authentic.  The lunch sets were good options if you wanted to have a taste of the different Chinese dishes.  I heard that the peking duck wrap here was good too - might come again for dinner next time.

-pearlorange

I randomly walked down Ship Street one afternoon and discovered a new shop called Pausa.  It's semi-open walk-thru outlet selling quick grabs like salads, cookies, coffee and ice-cream.  Yes, ice-cream sounds good on a hot summer day...

...so, I had the chocolate gelato on the cone.  It wasn't a hard decision to make, since there was only the chocolate, or, the vanilla.  While I was waiting for my ice-cream, a hippie look-alike offered me to try his cookie which he just bought.  No thank you.  I was brought up teaching that I should never take any food from strangers so I nicely rejected his offer.  Got my cone and quickly walked away.  The gelato ice-cream was nice and soft with rich chocolate flavor.  Cone, however, was a little soggy but got crunchier while I worked down on...it.-pearlorange

Finally managed to set a day to meet up with J and Sy, and J suggested Elements since his princess bb can easily come down to join us after her afternoon nap.  I rushed over to Kowloon Station after church, and since it was a sunny day, we opted for seats outdoors.  Of course, first thing I've ordered having arrived was a beer to cool myself down.  Probably because they don't have license for outdoor seatings so we had to walk over to the counter to order and pickup food ourselves.  Madam S'ate offers a number of craft beers in the menu, and I just randomly picked one.  From my experience, there's always a 50% risk with craft beers.  These ones, I think are so-so in terms of flavor.In terms of food, I've ordered the classic truffle carbonara, thinking it couldn't go wrong.  I was wrong.  It was definitely not al dente and the sauce was weak.  It was totally lacking the creamy and cheesey flavor, and the sauce was rather watery.  This pasta, at this quality, was to my standard, quite pricey.  I remember it was something like $180.  I definitely had to do alot of salt-and-pepper'ing to the dish to make it slightly more edible.Sy and J ordered the Croque Madam and the fried seafood platter.  Croque Madam looked decent although I didn't taste it, and fried seafood was not bad.  But again, how can anything deep fried go wrong given the batter-food ratio doesn't get too off, right?While I wasn't fully satisifed with my pasta, I decided to go for another beer and dessert.We ordered 3 desserts to share amongst 5 adults and a baby.  I'd say these were probably the best out of all the things I've tried during the meal.  I opted for pavlova - always my first pick.  Honey and chocolate ice for the baby and rents; rhubarb and berry tart for the couple.Not a cheap brunch.  It never is at either of the Madam's, but I was slightly disappointed with the quality of the food at this price, not to mention having to travelling all the way across the harbor.  Only thing I like is the chilled alfresco ambiance, dessert and of course, company of my buddies.  

-pearlorange

People are right when they say Hong Kong is very fast-paced and changes rapidly.  I left town for a mere 2 weeks and came back and saw many new shops on Queen's Road, one of them being Pantry.  I believe the Pantry in CWB has been around for some time and they are famous for their pastries and cookies.  I got off early one day and thought I'd buy home a dessert to fix my sweet tooth so I went to the new branch in Wanchai.

It's a bright and neat little bakery shop with all sorts of breads and cookies shelved on one side, all of which were welcome for sample tasting.The other side were the cakes and apparently they do lunch sets too.What really caught my eyes were the cute Lego block cakes ($54) which came in various colors.  The blue blueberry cheesecake sounded most safe so I bought that one home.I took a first bite and thought...hmm, it's not the usual kinda cheesecake I had before, not the traditional style, and not even NY nor Japanese styles.  I thought the cheese texture and taste resembled ricotta cheese, not that I'm saying ricotta cheese is bad, but it's not what I was expecting for when I bought this cheesecake home.  Inside the cake, there was a layer of blueberry purée, cake and a crunch covered by the "cheese". The cake itself looked cute and creative, perfect for photoshooting purposes, but the flavor was not fantastic.  Let's just say I didn't have my sweet tooth fix.  Likely I will give this bakery a second try, but will definitely go for the safer option of chocolate cake or cookies.

The first time I knew about Cali-Mex was when I passed by the outlet in Central when it was still under renovation and while I finally saw the opening of another branch in Wanchai, I went there to grab a quick lunch one day.  There aren't many Mexican joints in HK, let alone good ones so I was really looking forward to giving this place a try.  The branch in Wanchai is on Queen's Road East right next to Burger King and PP3 - quite conveniently located.  Ordering's at the front, and there're seatings on the second floor.

That afternoon I was craving for something light so I opted for the Baja fish taco ($98) in medium spice, which was definitely not cheap I thought.  *still reminiscing the once-upon-a-tim CAD 99cent tacos at Taco Bell*  Food was ready pretty soon and I grabbed a free-seating-fast-food-style table upstairs.  The order came in 3 taco shells, although the presentation didn't look too very appealing.In fact, the food itself didn't taste that great either.  The salsa and sour cream was cold, which of course I wasn't surprised but nothing else was even a tiny bit warm, not the taco shell, not the fish.  While there're 3 tacos in an order, which worked out to be around $33 each, there was only one small piece of fish found in each one of them, and the rest was stuffed up with veg and sour cream.

This place is not worth my second try.  I would much rather get a deluxe lunch combo at Tsui Wah WITH beverage at this price.  At least they serve their food hot.

Following an oh-so-very-healthy "extreme sport" session of jogging on Bowen Road on Saturday, my girls and I thought we'd reward ourselves with a nice brunch. We called 30min before going and still managed to get ourselves a table, lucky us we thought. It was also definitely a good idea by me to at least have a shower before we headed there despite no make-up cuz first thing I saw after sitting down was a table across from us with a whole bunch of friends I know. The oversized Ksubi shades were definitely my lifesaver.

Having sat down we were a hungry bunch hogging the bag of warm crunchy baguette and sparkling water ($65), while not losing our etiquette of course.The girls all opted for the healthy option – fresh juice ($65), Roseberry-Apple ($65) and T-Fizz ($65) - while I was the only one to order a tiramisu martini ($128). What’s a meal without a drink, right? Right.Roseberry-Apple – cranberry juice, apple juice, rose and sodaT-Fizz – English breakfast tea, apple juice, elderflower, lemon juice and ginger aleTiramisu martini - pretty self-explanatory

Half satisfied already from the bread and drink, we can now take a look around and appreciate at the restaurant’s décor – bright, modern and chic with a mural ceiling made out of white and grey petals. Being a fan of modern art, I was automatically drawn to the attention of an oriental woman painting hung on the wall. The chairs here were the female-unfriendly kinds with huge openings at the back so there’s nowhere to put the purse except for on the lap…but then, you gotta use the napkin too, so yes in summary = annoying.To be honest, food on the menu didn’t look too attractive and neither did the price, given it was only lunchtime. Thought I didn’t wanna waste my 7k of fat-burning jog, I went for the fish du jour ($188), which I already forgot what kind it was. Missy hr went for the egg benedict ($138), Missy Leona for the sandwich jambon-comté ($98) and Missy Mastermind for the 63º egg ($148), all of which were very average I would say. We shared the artichoke macaroni side ($128) which was at least slightly better with all the cheese. Like, how could it not? And hey, I didn’t even realize the side was actually even more expensive than a main until now??Although the fish was cooked just right, the texture and the taste were not very overwhelming. The egg benedict, was an egg benedict. The bread for Missy Leona’s sandwich seemed to be from the same family as the basket of baguette we got which made her entire meal very dry, AND chewy. The 63º egg was the best dish. Well, that WAS their signature after all.
Overall, not very wow food but the ambiance was there, given the chic décor and location which was artfully tucked in a quiet street in Poho. Hmm, another been-there-done-that.

-pearlorange

After dinner at Ho Lee Fook on Friday, us girls decided to explore westbound of Soho to this new vibe little hub surrounding Aberdeen Street and landed in Little Lab Central. Although the bar looks just like any other bars in the area, the drinks on their menu definitely are not the usual ones you get outside.The Newborn ($120) – premium spiced rum combined with a traditional Chinese ginger stew taste, you know the reddish-black collagen-loaded vinegar soup with pork knuckle – is a must try, despite of course, the absence of the collagen loading element. Rum, while lightly infused with homemade vinaigrette, made this a very refreshing drink after a heavy meal.Missy Leona ordered the L.A.B.’s Iced Tea ($120). The specialty iced tea cocktail was a refreshing gold rum based long drink with hints of botanical and tea tannic mixed with home blended dai-pai-dong tea syrup, though somewhat just another name for Long Island I thought. Missy Mastermind ordered the Ginseng in Black ($135), a manly blood-boosting drink which totally suited her style.Poor Missy hr didn’t get off work till 10 so we ordered her some nibbles and an Orienated Romas ($120), another Chinese fusion alcoholic drink which tasted like cream soda + milk.Apologies for the lack of info due to the fact that I was already half tipsy at this point. And hey look, at least I remember us getting freebie sweets from the bartender!-pearlorange

I called in sick one day and after visiting the doctor in CWB, I decided to grab some healthy food from Gaba on the way. To be honest, the location was a little awkward. Seated on the first floor of an old building on Lockhart Road, I had to beep the old-style intercom at the door on the ground floor for them to unlock the gate for me to go up the building, reminding me just exactly how many many years I haven’t gone up to these private venues for late-night drinking, which was THE thing 6.5 years ago when I came back to HK.
The cafe was quiet, not a surprise though on a weekday afternoon, but it was a cozy venue.   They even had my fav pink lily on each table, e-props.I ordered the pasta du jour which was whole wheat pasta with pan-seared scallop. Scrumptious al dente spaghetti mixed with ginger, garlic and spring onion (like the dipping sauce for Chinese white cut chicken), the scallop was skillfully seared such that the inside remained raw.I was already warned but how can a fever day go without sweets? So, I went ahead and ordered the Puffle – chocolate puff x waffle. It was a big portion and the fact that the ice-cream was home-made and sugar-free made me feel that much better. There’s always a trade-of course. The waffle was not orgasmic, probably because butter and cream and all those sorts of unhealthy ingredients were opted out of the recipe. I love the chocolate puffs and vanilla sauce though. They were very crunchy, and the dark chocolate sauce poured on top did not make the puffs too sweet.Sank into Adele’s singing in the background the entire time, it was a relaxing and healthy experience at Gaba. Will definitely be back next time to try out their unique coffee selection and dessert. See the turntables? Hopefully can catch DJ in the house next time too! ;)-pearlorange

I've first read about Soft Creme from people's photo tag on instagram, and this ice-cream shop was so new that it wasn't even posted on OpenRice back then so I googled on it to get the address.  One day Missy Mo and I decided to go chill at Tai Hang, and Soft Creme immediately came into my mind.  We grabbed a quick bite then came here to check it out.  Probably because it was still new and not alot of people knew about it yet, there wasn't too long of a line-up.  

Ice-cream numbers 1-4 were made from Hokkaido milk (uh oh, I sense radiation) and A-D used cereal milk, not really sure what that was though.  I really wanted to try the special of the month which was the Moet champagne flavor but annoying Missy Mo rejected my craving and ordered the Flamed Bacon.   We were watching the food experts preparing the cups behind the counter and thought that we gotta try the Australian honeycomb next time.  Meanwhile, I also kept glimpsing at the cute cashier guy while waiting for our ice-cream... ;PThey put dry ice at the bottom of the cup underneath the ice-cream to prevent it from melting too quickly since it's "soft" ice-cream and not the usual ones you take out from the Park n shop freezer.  I tried to take picture of the smokey effect (oooo, spooky) but was a tad bit late.  Anyway you get the point, I think the dry ice was just another gimmick but in terms of taste, the ice-cream was indeed very soft and was surprisingly good with the bacon bits.I went to Tai Hang again the following weekend but this time there was a long line-up outside the shop, and I'm never a fan of queues PLUS the cute cashier wasn't there this time...I will be back.

Once in a blue moon I've asked Mr. K out for dinner on Friday.  Only because it's his birthday though.  Mind you, I don't normally take initiative in asking guys out...!!!  And, having made 14 phone calls on Monday I only managed to book 2 restaurants and got myself waitlisted for the remaining 12.  So I suppose that's why Route To Success-101 always says one should plan ahead of time (which of course I did but Mr. K had to change the day from Sat to Fri).  Simply insane.  But luckily, Tate was one of the 12 waitlisted which called me back for an available table so I took it immediately.

One thing I really have to point out is Tate's star service.  I did call a number of times to make all sorts of ma-q-fan requests like arranging for a loner table, birthday cake message and keeping my credit card for payment at the end.  Considerate pearlorange even requested for a menu without the price which they actually didn't have but said could have it arranged so when I arrived 10min earlier to leave them my cc, I was very impressed that they printed two sets of whole new menu for us and even had them nicely binded.  Definitely e-props for that.Dinner came in a choice of the 6-course sensualist menu or 9-course gastronomy with optional wine pairings, which changes every season so it was still something new for Mr. K even though he's been here before.  We both opted for the sensualist without wine pairing and ordered white separately.  We didn't take picture of the amuse bouche but if I remembered correctly it was a mini cheese puff served with edible branch sticks.  

The first out of six courses served was the flamed salmon tartare which was garnished with five different ingredients - chives, wasabi cream, gherkin, rice crispy balls and caviar. Foie gras mustard ice-cream.  The blueberry sauce and mustard ice-cream balanced out the rich flavor of the liver terrine, making it a refreshing second dish.Next was the Dalian abalone topped with a Taiyouren egg and a puny piece of uni.  Oops, I played a little rough and bursted the runny egg, kinda on purpose though heehee. I like it better as a dip.Onto the second half of the sensualist was the sakura ebi tagliolini.  At this point I was actually already 70% full and offered a good portion of my pasta to Mr. K.  Nonetheless, it was cooked to al dente with a soft tint of lobster flavor, and even a non-fan of pasta like me thought it was a delicious carb dish topped with the fried sakura ebi.Second last course and a heavily meated one was the lavender Challandais duck breast.  Tender and juicy and randomly scattered not so randomly on the serving plate.Do not think that the final course, carrot cheesecake, was a carrot-flavored cheesecake because the very carroty carrot sorbet was actually served separately from the cheese which was put inside a white chocolate shell.  We did have fun taking the sphere shell apart...Now, this was the part that I liked the most, and no, not because it's that candle-blowing wish-making moment.  I thought the Zen Garden built on a layer of caster sugar was a very innovative form of serving the petits fours.  I almost had an orgasm seeing those perfectly made round circles on the sweet sand, almost.  Well, I DO have OCD.A very good birthday dinner with excellent service.  They've earned my 20% gratuity.