Café&Meal MUJI (銅鑼灣)

Muji has always been known for being simple with its decorations and designs which has always been one of its strengths. But when this translates across to its food, it does not always work. This may be a healthy choice, but food is not one area where less is more.

I tried the 3 choices with rice. My first choice was an indian chicken which was probably the tastiest of the choices, but was quite dry and only had two small pieces overall. Also tried the fried chicken, but this had a weird taste and was served with a tartar sauce which really did not compliment the taste. Finally had a miso eggplant dish which was my failsafe, but unfortunately this failed and was not nice at all. The flavours just did not mesh, and overall the servings were way too small.

We also tried the butter chicken, but disappointingly this was mainly sauce and not too much chicken at all. This could have been forgivable if the curry sauce was nice, but this was not the case, and overall the meal was just too bare to pass the grade.   

私房蔡 (大坑)

Came to this place with high expectations based on good things heard from friends. Really wanted to try their famous chicken, but were told when ordering that there were none left! This was at 7:30pm! It must be really great then...

Instead settled on three simple dishes to try out, one was a hit, the other a big miss...

Started with the meat patties, which was actually an afterthought where ordering. We only ordered this because everything else we wanted was not available. But they were surprisingly juicy and tender and full of flavour and was actually really nice. A must try for anyone who has not before.

We also ordered some scallops with vermicelli as an entree. They were ok, very average, tasty sauce, but the scallops were not that fresh or that big at all. Not worth the price.

The main dish we tried though and were looking forward to was their pork liver pot. Sounded great in principle, but when we tasted it, it was dry and lifeless. Was obviously made from frozen liver, and this led to a stiff consistency and not enough flavour soaked within the liver itself. A terrible disappointment.
Same can be said about the service. The serving staff seem to give preference to the regulars, and at one stage, we were served the wrong dish from a waiter, who then had the courage to blame us for not ordering clearly. What happened to the customer is always right?? Given all the great things we heard from this place, it was average at best, and would need to think hard before coming back.   

California Vintage (灣仔)

Noticed this branch of California Vintage which was a lot bigger than their Central store. Overall was really well lit, had friendly staff, and was spacious and comfortable. It was also happy hour for oysters (half price) so we could not say no!

Started off with a few oysters each, which were nice and fresh, not the juiciest, but given they were half price, pretty good value for money.

Then got into some real food. Tried the mushroom and camembert bruschetta which was really nice with some caramelised onions in the middle. A really simple dish, but done real well. Perhaps a bit overpriced, but I guess you are paying a bit for the environment too.

Also got their mixed sliders, which were soft shelled crab, salmon, and minced beef patties. They were all quite good on their own, but also very small (even allowing that they were just sliders). They came with a few different sauces to sample, but none were good enough to write home about.

Overall experience was very pleasant though. Will be back to try out the scallop and avocado salad or their tacos. It is a nice place to feel like you are in the states or anywhere else with a more western vibe. And their wine tasting selection is huge! 

天巢法國餐廳 (南灣)

A great dining experience with an amazing view. The whole place was very decadent and it looked great and the staff were suberb and very helpful. But the overall feel was like we were eating in China. Most of the customers here should be from the mainland so I think there were small touches here and there (like the table ornaments) that had a very distinct "China" feel to it.

The food though was great. Even the bread (foccacia, bacon bread sticks), palette cleansers etc were tasty. And got us so excited that by the time my first dish - the soup - was amazing. The foie gras at the bottom to match the soup was great. Could've been a little hotter, but aside from that was perfect.

Next on the list was the guinea fowl which was my choice of the main. It was a lot less than I expected (I thought I'd get the whole bird!), but what i did get was nonetheless, very tasty. Especially when had with the foie gras. One thing I left on the plate though was the brandied cherries - not a big fan - but I wonder what it would have all tasted like together?

For dessert, I had the mille feuille, which had proven popular with other diners on the day, and I was not disappointed. Perfectly flakey in all the right places, and balanced out with a nice vanilla bean ice cream, this was just the right finish to our meal.

Robuchon is a definite must for french food lovers, and for best value, try it out for lunch! The portions may be smaller but you do not lose out on taste!    

Yonge Piggies (上環)

We got there right when they opened and had the place to ourselves, which is lucky because its just a small bar table. But given we were just there for hot dogs and sandwiches, its more than adequate.

Started off with a honey mustard dog which was really nice and juicy, but you can't really go wrong with a hot dog! Plenty of onions, mushrooms, mustard and tomato sauce and it was perfect for a sunday brunch! Unfortunately there were no milkshakes available at the time otherwise that would've been the perfect start to the day...

Next up, we tried the pulled pork sandwich. Not really what we expected, no chunks of pork and it wasn't too stringy or juicy... it really just tasted like a slightly different hotdog. The flavours were about the same - which was probably our fault for choosing the same toppings. But the pork itself was not exciting.

Perhaps the most exciting thing on the menu was the poutine - given the lack of poutine menu options around the island. This was pretty nice, and a great partner to the hot dog itself, but don't know if it would be worth the travel all the way to sheung wan just for the poutine...

All in all, tastes like a great after snack, supper, lazy sunday meal, but not exactly gourmet stuff that constitutes a full meal..