巷仔內 (觀塘)

I love Taiwanese food so I'm always on the lookout for any new restaurants that have popped up. This place was one of them. Located in one of many industrial buildings in Kwun Tong, this place caught my attention because I saw a photos of Tainan''s fried shrimp rolls. Something I had on Tainan and LOVED a lot.

The restaurant was very large and spacious.





Menu is in Chinese only. There is no 10% service charge. Ordering is done by scanning  a QR code which is in Chinese only. They serve many familiar Taiwanese items but there were a few that was not commonly found in Hong Kong's Taiwanese restaurants. The staff are Taiwanese and speak Mandarin only.





We ordered drinks. Boyfriend had the Lemon Wintermelon Tea ($23, on the right) and I had the Passion Fruit Oolong ($25, on the left). Drinks were a bit on the sweet side. But for Taiwanese standards, this is normal amount of sweetness.




Tainan Shrimp Rolls ($32) is why we searched out this place. A recent trip to Tainan, we had these and loved them. The ones here were just as good. The skin was a lot crispier which I liked. The filling was a nice mix of pork and shrimp. Not too oily. The only thing missing was the brown sauce that was found throughout Tainan.




Boyfriend ordered the Beef Tripe, Beef Shank, Beef Tendon Noodles ($88). The soup was a bit spicy but had a rich beef taste. The beef shank was braised so long, it literally melted away. The tendon was soft and gelatinous. The tripe was a heavily marinaded.  The noodles were the thick kind and was not overcooked. It came with half a hard boiled egg with a nice soft yolk.




I had the Cuttlefish Seaweed Rice ($75) because not many Taiwanese restaurants in Hong Kong serve this as well. Lots of seaweed and the rice was drizzled with some soy sauce. The cuttlefish was a ball shaped patty.  Very firm chunks of cuttlefish mixed with the ground meat. Half a boiled egg was also included.





Food was good and some items not found in most Taiwanese restaurants in Hong Kong. Portions were decent and the service was very nice. Would definitely come back.

Gary Kwok Flowers & Café (灣仔)

There are plenty of cafes in Wanchai but most of them are usually very busy.  But hidden in Hopewell Center, there is a cafe that I like to go to because it's often quiet and I can always find a seat. Gary Kwok Flowers & Cafe is located in Hopewell Center and more popular with the office people that work in the building.  It's actually part of a flower shop and that's why the cafe itself is decorated with an assortment of flowers.
 


They offer a cake set in the afternoon. Any drink with the daily cake for $82. Pourovers are extra.

They have a decent variety of coffee and noncoffee items. For those not into cake, they offer other basic cafe style food.



Boyfriend ordered a Tofu Matcha Latte. A cold drink with bits of soft tofu on the bottom. The matcha was rich and slightly sweet. Combined with thetofu, this was more like a dessert.

I just wanted a latte and it was served in a pretty tea cup. Very nice latte art. The coffee was strong with a slight nutty taste.

The daily cake was a banana cake. They warmed it up and added fluffy chocolate whipped cream and drizzle of chocolate syrup. The cake was moist and rich with banana taste.

As they ran out of the daily cake and we had ordered two sets, they substituted with a tofu cheesecake. This I liked a lot! Most places that have this, you really can't taste any soybean flavour and just taste cream cheese. But this cake, the soybean flavour was intense. The cake itself was creamy and rich. A small drizzle of chocolate syrup was used to decorate it.

Always a favorite place of mine with decent coffee and good cake. And best of all? Quiet so you don't have to yell while you talk.

Tam Viet 2 Dumplings (灣仔)

We came across this place called Tam Viet 2 Dumplings. Apparently they serve not only Vietnamese food but Chinese dumplings? Talk about the oddest crossover EVER!

We came during afternoon tea time. Menu is in English and Chinese. Sets do not come with a drink. Ordering is done by checking off a piece of paper.


I had an ice lemon tea ($6). Usually I don't bother to show you this but they used calamansi instead of lemons. I liked it!




Boyfriend ordered the Viet Grilled Galangal Pork Soup Noodle ($45). The soup was a bit too salty but there was plenty of pork bits. Meat was soft and tender.

I had the Fried Garlic Chicken Wing Soup Noodle ($45). The chicken wings were well seasoned and juicy though a bit too oily.
This came with a bowl of noodles on the side. The broth here was too salty and really tasted like MSG. The noodles were a bit too soft for my liking. Portions were decent especially for a tea set item.

Food was a bit too salty for my liking but boyfriend liked it so we may be back. If so, I'd probably try a dumpling to see what that's all about. Especially since the staff kept selling us to order dumplings.

絲茶 (中環)

Silk is new to the bubble milk tea scene in Hong Kong. I noticed it first in Central and now they have several other branches. The Central branch seems to always be very popular so we gave it a try.

Menu is in English and Chinese. No 10% service charge as this place is takeaway only. Though there are a few seats outside their shop.


They also have this offer: free flow cheese foam for 30 minutes. I didn't see anyone doing this and we didn't try it.

They also have prizes to be won.

Apparently on every lid there is a sticker to peel back what you win.

We only had a discount for next time.

I ordered a Smooth Black ($28) as it was listed as their most popular drink. It had grass jelly, black sugar boba and black crystals in a charcoal roasted oolong milk tea. The tea was ok. Not too strong but at list not too weak. Not too sweet as well. Even the boba wasn't too sweet. There was some crunchy things which I assume is the black crystals.

The drink was ok. But expect a long wait for your drink. They have way too many delivery orders which they do first. I think that is probably why there is always a line whenever I walk by.

荳子烘焙 (馬鞍山)

I love Beans Cafe. I always loved their cakes and they do serve fairly decent food. Now they have branched out and created a bakery in Ma On Shan called Beans Bakery.

It's takeaway only and they had a variety of Western and Hong Kong style bread. Everything was labelled in English and Chinese. As it's takeaway only. there is no 10% service charge.


I decided on the Honey Soaked Ham Bun ($18). It was a hefty size.  It had a sticky coating on top and looked a bit like a Hong Kong style coconut roll. The bread was fairly soft and sweet. It was stuffed with a slice of honey ham and a processed cheese slice. It was ok. Tasty enough. If I come by again, I'd try something else.