金牌海鮮火鍋 (灣仔)

It opened that very week and we were eager to try this new place every time we walked pass their renovation works which consisted of 3 floors. They have taken part of the old VolksWagen showroom.

It was 815am that morning and we walked in for morning dim sum. No one really knew the place have opened and there were only a table taken.

Small tables are of booth style, kind of like the Cha Chan Teng style, with a mini tv installed with every booth. All very grand looking with one simple flaw - the seating is quite narrow and it is not comfortable to sit in... 

Dim sum breakfast choices were not extensive, yet all that we have chosen were prepared with fresh ingredients and presented well. The two of us ordered Steamed shrimp dumplings (Ha Gao), Steamed rice flour roll w/ Cha Siu (Cha Siu Cheung Fun), Deep-fried garlic chives w/ crab meat and Turnip roll (a Law Pak thingy, but not a Law Pak Go). The classics Ha Gao and Cha Siu Cheung Fun were done very well. The other two fusion choices took a little longer to prepare but come hot and tasted delightful.

They open 730am and they run their breakfast from 730-11am; then lunch from 11am-230pm with lots more variety to offer; then afternoon tea is from 230-4pm daily.

I would surely visit this place as there are other items on the menu had caught my eye. But having said that, high end choices with high end price tags yet with Cha Chan Teng seating, I may not frequent this place as much as I would have.

鮨森日本料理 (銅鑼灣)

After a few moments of glancing though the signages/ ad spaces at the lobby of the Circle Tower (永光中心), we decided on Sushi Mori. The photo ad was a simple photo of a piece of sushi.

That photo, told us, a lot. That photo, of the piece of sushi, have a carefully selected piece of fish (can tell instantly the fish was of fine quality) on top of a good portion (not too much, not too little) of brown sushi rice.  Yes, we instantly knew that we were stepping up that night.

We walked in and 2 tables were taken with one on each side of the resto. We decided to sit at the end of the sushi bar over watching the action.

After carefully scanning through the menu, my partner and I decided to opt out their tasting set menu and went for a la carte. We went for the assorted sashimi, uni steamed egg, winter crab hot pot soup, miso soup and pork belly with spring onion/ ginger.

It is always fun to watch experienced sushi chef at work.  The assorted sashimi platter arrived beautifully with 7 kinds of sea creatures in a pair serving. 

It was absolutely amazing. Wow. The platter was fresh, very fresh. I recommend staying away from dipping soy sause or wasabi as then you can taste and enjoy the fish.

Uni was fresh and flavourful. I would thou like to have a bit more of the steamed egg as there were other ingredients within the egg (making the steamed egg part even less).  I felt that there just isn't enough egg to contrast and complement the uni.  

Pork belly with spring onion/ ginger was well made.  Thou pork belly was chewy (coz of the marble of fat and a tad under cooked), it was very fresh and flavourful. The spring onion/ ginger complemented the belly very well.

Crab hot pot - crab was fresh and soup was yummy. 

Miso - got left out and coz the rest were being taken care of, we sort of left the miso unattended and it got cold. 

Hot tea were served thoughout and service was attentive.

Will definitely try their sushi next time.  Highly recommend Sushi Mori to those whom want good quality Japanese sashimi/ sushi.

祥發點心 (跑馬地)

Sheung Kee's dinner Dai Pai Dong spot has been emptied for a while and we recently found out that in it's place has now - 祥發點心 "Fat Kee Dim Sum".

祥發點心 opens daily Mon to Sun from 630am to 4pm for breakfast and afternoon tea.  Dai Pai Dong setting.

We are not tea connoisseurs but tea served here tasted like proper tea.  We have been to places where tea was more of coloured hot water. Very pleased with their tea here. They have a menu of about 30 items and all items are being prepared (steamed or fried) upon ordering.  

Today, the two of us went and we ordered: Shrimp Dumplings Har Gow, Spring Rolls Chun Juan, Cha Siu Rice Noodle Roll Cheong Fun and a plate of steamed veggies.

Har Gow was huge and the dumpling skin is thin. Not fishy and very tasty.
Chun Juan was not greesy and crunchy. I enjoyed the mushroom filling thou thought the skin was a tad thick. 
Cha Siu Cheong Fun was amazing.  Cheong Fun was thin and translucent and it is packed with finely chopped Cha Siu.
Steamed veggies. Huge plate, steamed just right and you can tell the veggies were very fresh and they put effort in the presentation as well.

I am very excited for being the first one reporting this new and quality restaurant to OpenRice. It was not the first time that we patroned here. Only for breakfast thou. I would imagine lunch will be a different experience as Happy Valley has many school kids and construction site workers all trying to lunch in the window from 12noon to 1pm.

We made a point that every time we come, we would order something different and till now, we have not been disappointed. Pork & Shrimp Siu Mai Dumplings are scrumptious and a must have.

No English menu.

三興飯店 (灣仔)

This Dai Pai Dong used to be located at Bowrington Road Market.  They have apparently moved for 1.5 years.  Their new venue is amongst other similar style restos and is not hard to find at all. 

Ambiance: Simple decor with large photos of food and their menu as their wall paper.  Simple and direct, perfect for a dai pai dong setting.  The place is clean, well lite and because it isn't at the market complex anymore, the place isn't noisy and that made our experience very enjoyable than when we were to dine at their old venue (before).

The menu: same extensive menue with seasonal specials and this time around winter choices like lamp stew pot etc.  The four of us finally decided on:fried calamari, goldern (egg yolked) shrimps (黃金中蝦), steamed scallops with garlic and vermicili (蒜蓉蒸扇貝), fried garlic with baby Pak Choy, the house pork drum sticks (避風塘豬展骨), a tofu fish soup, some rice and cold beers.  

Each dish was made fresh and came out steaming hot.  All of the dishes were tasty, flavourful and well prepared.  Yum, yum.

The owner and staff were lovely and attentive - rare to find in HK. 

Highly recommend this place to those whom wanted to entertain guest to try out the local flair or a bunch of family or friends, hanging out for a good night.  We are coming back again!

Passion (灣仔)

The two of us went there at 2:20pm and even after lunch hour, the place was busy. We waited for about 20 mins as we needed to wait for other guests to finish their meal before they give their seats to us.  

We stood on the side while waiting for the next available seating and of course, as we wait, we were ripping into our crunchy baguette and dipping it into the rich Hot Chocolate. The tip here is to order the Hot Chocolate in a to-go cup so that that you can lid it back to avoid spillage while waiting.

Their Hot Chocolate is like molten lava. Thick, creamy, need I say more.

Their Baguette is sourdough based.  It is crisp crusted (fresh) with light, soft, tasty inside.

After we were seated, we ordered another Lait and demolished the whole 2 feet long baguette.

Generally, the place is always packed. Tough biscuits in getting seating pronto but the Hot Chocolate and Baguette at Passion are really to die for, and worth the wait.

I am also a huge fan of their Butter Croissants.  But that, will be for another day.