Ăn Chơi (上環)

Great atmosphere for sure. Feel like you are in Vietnam. But food is really soso…



Order a pho. Soup is not even warm. The taste is ok but definitely nothing wow. The beef is wayyyy too tough. Thought the add on egg would be a nice, sunny side up egg but it’s just a raw egg on top of the pho. For a pho charging $100 this is not acceptable.



Eggplant is nice. Like the fish sauce dressing with the eggplants.



The halibut is tender and moist. But the whole dish is too dry to serve the vermicelli. Wish they leave the oil on the pan to the plate for the vermicelli.


Service is warm and attentive. Wish the food was great as well.

嘗申滙 (中環)

Got invited by a friend for a Sunday lunch. Private room is arranged. And only one dining group in the hall that afternoon.


Had a tour at Forty-Five. Love the art pieces and interior design. The view of the rooftop bar is spectacular. Unfortunately overpriced for an average quality of drink. Definitely have to catch up with other bars in the same area.



Drunken Crab with 25-years Hua Diao Wine
This is my very first time to try raw crabs. Always not a big fan of raw crabs.


Pretty sweet. A bit unbearable. Maybe some toasts or rice can be a good match to go with the crab to lower down the sweetness?



Crispy Eel with Sweet Vinegar
Crispy eel taste like pork to me. Average dish.



Chilled Abalone Marinated with Nu Er Hong Shaoxing Wine
Probably my favourite dish of the lunch. Abalone is cooked right. Tender, with lovely shaoxing fragrance.



Smoked Pigeon with Soy Sauce & Spices
Slightly dry. But the flavour is definitely there. Well seasoned. Skin is crispy.



Double-boiled White Cabbage with Jinhua Ham in Chicken Soup
Always need a good soup in between course in a Chinese meal.



Deep-fried Mandarin Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce
Fish is deep fried and crispy. Sauce is a bit too sweet for me.



Stir-fried Crab with Rice Cake with Seafood Sauce
It’s pretty good. But definitely need some “wok-hay”. Good seasoning tho.



Hot sour spicy soup
This one is a nono! No seasoning at all.



Clay pot Rice with Crab Meat and Fish Maw
First of all, it’s not served or cooked in a clay pot. At the end they serve this crab on top of plain rice. A bit disappointed. And I could barely see the fish maw.



Potstickers
Average. Nothing special. Their siu long bao is up to standard.


Overall, food quality definitely need to be improved a lot to match with the high class interior and great atmosphere. Or else, they’ll have difficulties to attact guests to come back.

吉地士 (尖沙咀)

Not sure where my luck came from. I got invited to a lunch at the Chef’s table at Gaddi’s by two regular guests from Gaddi’s.





After a glass of champagne in the hall, got lead to their kitchen by their lovely staffs. It’s my first time ever to dine at chef’s table at a restaurant. I definitely couldn’t hide my excitement.



Menu of the lunch


Some chit chat with the chefs before the lunch started. Felt lucky they showed me their amazing chocolate room, where the magic happens. I’m happy to stuck there for hours just to shape the chocolate.



Amuse bouche and puff
Puff is so amazing! So soft and light like a feather.



A cold soup to start and wake up our palates. Very refreshing!



This is an extra course by chef. Very generous amount of caviar ❤️



French Veal Sweetbread Ravioli, Broadbeans <<a la Francaise>>

Such a spring dish with all the colour! The veal ravioli is cooked perfectly! Normally I think ravioli dishes are always pretty heavy. This one is not heavy at all. Broadbeans and the dressing makes a good balance of this dish.




Coastal New Zealand Lamb Rack, Eggplants, Red Pepper Coulis

Medirum rare lamb rack is nicely done! So moist and juicy in the middle. Love the smoky flavour of red pepper.



Guanaja Chocolate Tart, Sea Salt Chocolate Sable

A perfect finish! Which lady can say NO to chocolate?



Some more chocolate



Menu of the lunch




A small orange cake to go!


What an extraordinary dining experience! Amazingly warm services and hospitality, outstanding quality of food, with good company! I can never have enough of this. Hope my friends can bring me to the Chef’s Table again (soon)!

十八夢 (銅鑼灣)

Causeway bay is not my fine dining area. I normally grab local food like cart noodles in CWB only. Catching up with an old friend and he wanted to try this restaurant out after reading the review. I told myself not having any high standard for this……


Once I got there, I felt the atmosphere was pretty awkward. The setting is more liked a night bar or club. Felt weird to dine in such setting.


It’s a weekday and only 3 tables including us.


We chose a set menu for 2 pax and ordered a salad from the a la carte menu. 2 glasses of wine come with the set menu.



Pomelo salad with prawn
Taste alright. Nothing special.



Sashimi platter. Seafood is super fresh. Thumb up to this.



pan seared foie gras
Taste good.



Abalone risotto
The dish I like the most. Risotto cooked nicely.



Duck confit
The veg is undercooked unfortunately.


Suckling pig
Crispy skin. But a bit heavy as a 2nd main course. We couldn’t finish this.



Dessert is really below average.


Overall food is ok but I do find the atmosphere is a bit awkward. And definitely overpriced.

SEP (中環)

SEP was on my “to-try” list right away when it’s launched. Found an adventurous friend to try their tasting menu.


Pretty classy interior. Decent size of private room is also available. One thing I dislike about is the wooden floor. It’s not high heels friendly. Feel a bit embarrassing to create noise every time I walked in the dining room.


We picked the more complex menu $1680. Btw, the chef draws all those cute illustrations on the menu.


Mark up of the wine is quite high.



Pineapple lager
Pretty refreshing start. As a drinker, this is obviously too small.



They serve two dips and recommend guests to try them out in different courses. I do like the classic fish sauce one to go with this bamboo leaf ham. Using Okinawa Yamato pork to make this traditional Viet sausage.



District 4 Midnight bbq pork
Good they serve some crunchy pickled vegetables to go with bbq pork. Do think the pork is a bit dry.



Nha Trang Surf Clams
It’s hokkigai, one of my favourite clams. Temperature is just right. Who doesn’t like a fresh shellfish?



Mekong Spring roll
One of the signature dish. Using carabinero wrapping Vietnamese spring roll. The roll is crispy. And I can never say no to carabinero. Best part is you can squeeze all the good part from the head and wrap whole thing with the lettuce.



My friend is allergic to prawn so they replace the dish with escargots. Earthy flavour with lot of herbs. Pretty good in a non French style.



French Quarter Toothfish
Cooked with dill, shallot, turmeric. Fish is moist and tender. Wrapped in leave and got a a lovely citrus flavour.



Hoi An Old Town Poulet
Using Hong Kong local 3 yellow chicken. Chef has dried aged the chicken. Chicken is juicy and crispy on the outside. Pretty decent chicken dish but I definitely had a better one.



Here’s come the signature main course. Hanwoo 1++ Bun Bo Hue. They spend 36 hours on making this broth. Beef is definitely high quality. For me, the lemongrass and citrus taste is too much in the broth. I’d prefer the traditional more meaty flavour broth.



Hanoi Campfire S’more
It’s pandan leaf ice cream/ custard inside, wrapped with a homemade marshmallow. I wish I could have this every time if I am doing a camp fire. We do enjoy this creative dessert a lot!


Overall, it’s a pretty interesting dining experience. Good peep on a classic Vietnamese cuisine to express in a modern French way.