La Terrazza Bar & Grill (沙田)

Came here to try their lunch sets, which I heard to be good value for money. The restaurant isn't too difficult to find, if you know how to get to Shatin Town Hall. The rooftop garden provides a nice relaxing environment, something which isn't easy to find in Hong Kong. 

For their lunch menu, the set includes a cup of hot or iced apple tea, bread with olive oil and vinegar, and a main course selected from a list provided. I chose the prawn penne, while my friend chose the roasted spring chicken with vegetables. 

To start off, the bread was delicious. Stamping the name of the restaurant on the bread was a nice touch. The prawn penne was delicious. The sauce was the right amount of thickness, such that it would fill the penne, so each bite contains the prawn sauce. The prawns themselves were a good size, and were cooked well. The roasted spring chicken took some time before it arrived at our table. Plating could have been a bit nicer. The chicken itself was good, luckily it wasn't too dry. The roasted vegetables lacked a bit of flavour, but could be saved by the sauce. There are two desserts available for selection at a price of $28. There was a berries panna cotta, and a lemon cheesecake. I chose the lemon cheesecake, which turns out to be classic cheesecake with lemon sauce. The cheesecake was smooth, and flavours were good. I especially enjoyed the lemon sauce, which made the dish more special. Overall a nice find with good value lunch sets. The pasta dishes were around $75-90 (without service charge). The chicken was slightly more expensive. The add-ons available for the set were reasonably priced: wine/beer was $28 and dessert was the same price. I would like to revisit again, maybe to try their dinner menu. 

Common Room (中環)

Very impressed with Common Room. The food we tried were delicious and I enjoyed the 'Kiss from a Rose'. The only down side would be that the tables are too close together and we could hear what the table behind us was talking about.

First we ordered the grilled shrimp poutine. The sauce was flavourful, with both truffle and cheese flavour. The shrimp was tasty but lacked in size. We then ordered the Wagyu Foie Gras Sliders. Amazing! I think I enjoyed this most because the wagyu patty was moist and tender, whilst the foie gras melted in my mouth. I could gobble up seconds (which I did!)A closer look at the layers of the burger..Then we had the lobster linguine. The lobster flavour was strong and the portion was appropriate. As for the lobster itself, there wasn't much meat to share. Not the best I've had so far.Lastly I must talk about the "kiss from a rose". It consists of Vodka, Lychee Liquer, Fresh Lychee, and Lemon juice. But the best part was the rose foam floating ontop of the drink. Sweet and fragrant, this drink will definitely be popular amongst girls.Overall I enjoyed this meal a lot. Definitely will go back for more sliders and drinks!

Craftsteak (中環)

This is the first super monday restaurant that I went to.  The mains were 2 for the price of 1, so very reasonably priced. The restaurant was packed so I'd recommend making a reservation if you do decide to eat there on Mondays!

We ordered a full caesar salad to share, and then a ribeye and sirloin steak.The caesar salad was far from the traditional ones you'd see in restaurants. First the lettuce was still intact, so to eat it you would have to cut it. It was delicious though, and the bacon bits were warm and flavourful. My friend enjoyed this a lot.For the sirloin steak, I ordered medium rare. The steak itself was so-so. The meat was far form tender, and I kind of regret not ordering another cut. But I must mention that their port wine sauce is amazing! Must order this with my steak again when I revisit. My friend ordered the ribeye, which was better than the sirloin. The mushroom sauce was ok but not surprising. 

Overall I would go back again because Super Mondays is such a good deal! Caesar salad is a must if you like the bacon cooked that way. Will also stick to the port wine sauce with my steak! 

Pierre Hermé (中環)

Haven't had these in a long time! After three doses of the 'original' flavours.. it's time to try the summer ones before they're gone! From back to front:
1. Veloute Framboise - Yoghurt & Raspberry
This is pretty similar to the Veloute Ispahan, but of course minus the hints of rose. These yoghurt flavoured macarons are less sweet (on the edge of being abit sour), but still delicious. The ganache is creamy and milky, and slighlty acidic from the raspberry placed in the centre.2. Veloute Citron Vert - Yoghurt & Lime Zest
This is my favourite out of the 4 yoghurt ones. The citrus flavour goes well with the slightly sour 'yoghurt' ganache. Probably the easiest to accept because you expect it to be sour anyway! 

3. Veloute Banane - Yoghurt & Banana
Personally I'm not a fan of banana flavoured things.. except maybe the fruit itself. 

4. Veloute Ispahan - Yoghurt & Rose, Litchi, Raspberry
At first I thought this was the raspberry one.. but immediately after biting into the macaron, I could taste the hints of rose. This was delicious, and since Ispahan is a house signature it won't disappoint. 

5. Jardin Merveilleux - Mandarin Orange Olive Oil & Cucumber Water
I think only Pierre Herme could come up with these bold and unusual flavours for his macarons. Before taking a bite of this, I had no idea what a cucumber flavoured macaron could taste like. Surprisingly orange and cucumber go well together, and one flavour doesn't overpower the other. The cucumber taste was very fresh, whilst the orange flavour was acidic. The olive oil was based in the ganache, but I was abit disappointed that I couldn't taste more of it. (I miss their olive oil and vanilla macarons. SO good)

6. Envie - Vanilla, Violet & Blackcurrant
This was my favourite out of the box. A simple yet delicious combination. I think vanilla flavoured macarons from PH are amazing in general. I like the blackcurrant in the middle of the ganache, as it enhances the flavour of the macaron.7. Medelice - Lemon & Flaky Hazelnut Praline
I remember I had a Lemon macaron from PH in London, and somehow it shrunk after a day..? Luckily for me this macaron did not change shape in anyway when I ate it the day after. The flaky hazelnut added texture to the macaron.

Word of advice, make sure you put these in the fridge, otherwise the humidity and heat in Hong Kong makes the biscuit turn soft and the ganache may melt.

ALSO I hope they'll soon change their policy so that macarons could be purchased by piece. I think I would buy them more often if that's the case.. since two or three already hit the spot. 

Linguini Fini (中環)

Went here with a friend almost exactly a year since we first tried this place out together. Don't think there were lunch sets last year, but they do have it now! A lunch set costs $118 and we decided to have caesar salad and a signature pasta to share. Diavola is a signature pasta consisting of a tomato and chili sauce. It is pretty spicy, so if you can't handle the heat then I would recommend picking something else.

We also ordered another pasta which wasn't in the list of signature pastas to share.As I've always loved pasta with mushrooms, so I picked this immediately. Texture of fettucine was good, mushrooms tasted good as well. One thing I didn't like was that the dish was a bit too oily. Would have been better had there been less oil. 

For dessert we had the tiramisu. This is reasonably priced with the lunch set, since we only had to pay $20 more for it. Sounds reasonable to add dessert This was unlike traditional tiramisus (I guess you've already spotted that from the photo). Basically it's a coffee cake crumble topped with mascarpone cheese and tiramisu flavoured gelato. The texture of the gelato could have been more creamy, but nevertheless the taste was there. I like the layer of mascarpone cheese which matched well with the cake. 

Pasta craving satisfied