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.

ENISHI (上環)

Because of Censu, Enishi carrying a big name and big noise as one of the newly opened teppanyaki in town.


We tried the omakase teppanyaki lunch $888 on a Sunday. The counter was full of guests who looked forward to the teppanyaki lunch.


Wine is at least mark up double. Won’t complain. It’s normal. The Takano couples served 12 guests today. We were served by Chef Toru Takano.






Soon chef Toru showed us the main ingredients for the lunch.



Bean curd, some vegetables. For protein, there’s sawara fish and wagyu steak.



Potato salad
Special plating with the chips. Look like a plant/ flower. Not bad.



Hamachi crudo
Hamachi is fat and fresh. Good match with yogurt and a bit citrus. Perfect for summer!



Bean curd soup
I love bean curd! This soup with silky smooth bean curd, is great to clean my palate for the main course.



Sawara
Fish is still very moist. Love the super crispy skin making a contrast.



Some vegetables before serving the steak



Wagyu steak, wasabi leave
Wasabi leave is so interesting. Definitely my 1st time to try it. Love the gentle kick add to the super juicy wagyu beef.



A classic for teppanyaki



Dessert


Food is above average. Food quality is great. Staffs are nice but servers seems a bit dull. Just want to simply introduce the dish. It’s definitely a pretty decent restaurant. But standing out from other teppanyaki restaurants may have to do something different and engage more, in order to attract guests keep coming back.

合時小廚 (西灣河)

Thanks for a friend inviting me, finally can visit Hop Sze which I am dying for.


My friend already preordered the dishes so we can just sit back, relax and enjoy some wine.



Handwriting menu





Prawn Toast
Classic dish! Really generous amount of prawn paste on top of the toast. Super crispy! Great start for the dinner!



Pig lung, almond, soup
This soup is what I need exactly. Never had one with strong flavour of almond like this one.



Deep fried Pak Choy
Another classic Chinese dishes. Crispy outside, soft inside


Threadfin, chicken oil, Xiao Xing Wine
This is one of the signature dish I was dying for to try and it didn’t disappoint me. Threadfin is so tender and it was cooked just right. The fragance from chicken oil with Xiao Xing wine was amazing! It spread across the dining room right away. Very impressive!




Infused tea chicken
Chicken is soft and juicy. Skin is slightly crispy. The infused tea did dilute creasy feeling. We do enjoy this dish a lot.



Crab with rice roll
Crab is huge and meaty. Easy to get the meat out as kitchen smashed the shell a bit. The rice rolls absorbed all those seafood juice and sauce. I can exchange crab with more rice rolls!



Stir fried glutinous rice
This dish shows how skilful this kitchen is. Each rice just slightly stick with each other. Texture is just right. Not too high nor too soft. Definitely a very strong finish for the dinner.


Thumbs up to all the staffs there. All of them are very friendly and caring. Feel like taking care by own uncles and aunties. Such a warm atmosphere.

Artifact (中環)

Heard so many good comments of Artifact, this new restaurant in the Basehall which was just opened recently. Finally it’s my turn to try out their dishes.


Situated at the corner of Basehall. And they will have a bar opening soon just next to the kitchen.


The menu is so comprehensive, especially their caviar menu. More than 6 choices of caviar! Pretty
Impressive!




2 of us chose the set menu with some add on. Set menu is only $488. Can add on caviar in some dishes for +$448.



Small bites
Top- Miso, comte, baerii
Bottom- Namerou, goma, kaluga hybrid caviar

Quite an interesting flavour. A bit blue berry taste with the savoury caviar.

Japanese style fish tataki with a glimmer of sesame flavour. Do love the presentation, colourful and artistic. Good start!



Hokkaido Scallop, wasabi, superior sturgeon caviar (+$308)

We have added on this scallop dish. The staff Avan has strongly recommended we tried this dish if we are a scallop lover. Both the dish and Avan didn’t disappoint us.

Love the light sweetness of the crunchy apple wrapped inside the fresh scallop. Generous amount of caviar! A very beautiful dish!



Ebisu Oyster, cucumber, sanbaizu
Very interesting dish! So many things going on on a plate. There’s sweet, fresh oyster, jelly popping in your mouth, crunchy cucumber, and a foamy sanbaizu vinegar.



Bread, kombu, yukari
I always love trying bread and butter in different restaurants. Love to see how different chefs make a twist to the butter.





This lovely butter was produced in small amount only. Here they serve in original flavour and another one with kombu and yakari, which is made of dried shiso leaves. Love the savoury and fragrance of the butter. Couldn’t stop refilling the bread.



Main Japanese Pork, carrot, goma
My friend chose this pork for main course. Pork was grilled perfectly. Love the crispy artichoke at the top.


Kumamoto Wagyu beef, kogomi, shoyu (+$188)
Beef is simply amazing! First time trying kogomi, which is normally grown in northern Kyushu. Interesting texture! Complex flavour of shoyu. This add on is so worthy!



Koshihikari rice, tamago, ikura
Ikura is one of my favourite ingredient recently. This dish cannot go wrong. With few drop of the shoyu sauce and we finished the whole bowl quickly.



Yogurt, yuzu, kiku
This refreshing dessert gives a good ending of this lovely lunch.





3 glasses wine pairing for lunch (+$388)


Definitely will come back to try the dinner! Such a great Saturday afternoon!