MAD Burger (灣仔)

I have been away from OpenRice for so long!
I have to say it’s a tough time to be opening a restaurant. This place has been around for about a month and a half. The owner/ staff were super friendly though I have to say, which made it a lovely dining experience.

Visited this new burger joint at about 3 pm today with two friends, and we pretty much occupied the whole place as it’s pretty small. It has about 5 stools inside and a standing area outside.


I saw them sanitising the seats and table when the previous customers left. 👍🏻

There are 3 burgers to choose from: beef, pork or veg. They also have a pasta or salads.
Us 3 tried the beef. The set comes with a drink or soup, or you can add $8 for a coffee. You can also add fries and stuff.

This cup of Dirty was surprisingly good for a non coffee shop.

Now for the burger. It was recommended to have the beef at medium well, so we took that advice. The burger was pretty good. It was seasoned perfectly,however it would have been nice if the patty was thicker. The portion of the lettuce was very generous. Although I had pressed down on the burger, I couldn’t fit everything in my mouth in a bite. As you can see, the bun was a little burnt and so were the fries. Luckily, it didn’t really affect the taste.

Final Verdict:
3 of us had ordered the same burger and fries; and all 3 buns were kinda burnt, and so were the fries. As a new place, I think it’s still working on consistency. However, it was a tasty meal served by some friendly people , which makes it a restaurant worth visiting. I would love to go again and try other dishes.

Cocotte (中環)

My sister visited Cocotte, and told me that I have to check them out because she had a really good croque madame there. Ever since The Press Room closed its doors,  I have been struggling to find a good Croque Madame, so I couldn't wait to go. The restaurant was quite busy this Sunday that I visited with my friend, but we managed to get a table without having to wait.   The place was kinda narrow and even the waiter found it hard to get to our table.   We were given a menu, but it was not needed since I knew what I wanted already. My friend got the same~ After we ordered, some bread was brought to our table. The bread was warm and soft. You could taste the flour, which felt very homemade to me.  Finally, it was time for the star to come.  The Croque Madame came with a mountain of fries and a salad. There was quite a bit of béchamel sauce, but not enough cheese for me, because I love it when it is loaded with cheese. The sandwich was okay, but I had expected more. The fries were great, since they were so crunchy. The salad was fresh and tasty.  Service was good and attentive. 

Final Verdict:
I wouldn't mind coming again. 

Jacomax (上環)

Sheung Wan is becoming the place to dine!  This time, friends and I had pizza! It wasn't too busy when we arrived at 1900, but slowly became a full house. While waiting for friends, I had time to admire the decor of the restaurant. On the right of the restaurant, there were the pizza ovens. The lighting inside is rather dark, but very relaxing;a perfect hangout spot with friends and some drinks!  The drink menu was very large, with a lot of beer and interesting cocktails available. Pizza and beer have always been good friends, so I wanted beer this night, but the problem was that there were just so many to choose from that I had to ask the owner to pick one for me.  Coedo Shiro ($75? ) was what I ended up with! This white beer was light and fruity. I liked it! When everybody finally arrived. This is what we got:
Appetizers
1. Blue Mussels ($139) The mussels weren't big, but there were plenty.  The broth they were in was strong in flavours and alcohol, but quite salty. The texture of the mussel was okay.2. Chicken Wings ($49) These wings were nice and fat! They were not those meatless wings I despise. These wings had lots of black pepper on them, so not for people who don't like pepper. The meat was very juicy, and 6 meaty wings for less than $50 is not a bad deal. Mains
Pizza 1: Quattro Formaggi ($150) This pizza had a tomato base with 4 different kinds of cheese. The most exciting part of trying a new pizza place is tasting the pizza crust. The crust of their pizza is thin, and very crispy; comparble to crackers. Since I like thicker crusts, this cracker like crust was so different from what I was expecting. I have never tasted a crust like this before. Not that it was bad though. This pizza was very cheesy as you can see! Pizza 2: Jacomax($158) This was their signature pizza, so why not try it~! This pizza had ground beef, peppers, cheese, and what made it special was the egg in the centre. I noticed that the egg on this pizza was more cooked than other pizzas that I have had with egg in the past. I liked this pizza more than the 4 cheese one because it is not often that you get beef on pizzas. Pasta 1: Arrabiata Penne ($89) This was a plain pasta. By plain I just mean it had no other ingredients other than the penne. I don't often eat arrabiata, but this was one that I liked. The sauce was nice, and was quite spicy. You can see the fresh chillis. Pasta 2: Broccoli Bacon Penne ($103) We had a pasta with red sauce, so of course we needed one with a white sauce.  This pasta was okay. It was kinda bland. However, it was nice to get some veggies out of this meal. Dessert
1. Tiramisu ($75) This tiramisu was served in a cocktail cup, which means it isn't meant to be shared, so..we EACH GOT ONE!  This tiramisu was very creamy, and you could taste the alcohol in it, which I like. Each bite was heavenly delicious. I liked it a lot! I recommend this! The sevice was good. The owners were cool, and made sure we were well taken care of. 

Final Verdict:
The pizza and pasta were okay, but I loved the tiramisu the most. The prices of the items were priced kinda strangely I feel; I don't know if you know what I mean. Ha

U-Hang (西環)

High Street is being taken over by restaurants! I see a new restaurant each time I walk that street.   I haven noticed U Hang, but never knew what kind of restaurant it was until I did some research online. For some reason, I was guessing it to be a modern Vietnamese restaurant, but I was totally wrong obviously.   The 3 of us arrived at about 1300 this saturday, and there was just 1 table dinning, so we didn't have to wait for a table at all. We were greeted by the waitress and brought water. The restaurant was U shaped with the bar area in the centre. It was kinda a cool set up, because you couldn't really see the tables or anything on the other side of the U, which made it feel like 2 different restaurants with increased privacy.  The side that we were on was the side that gave you a peek at the kitchen. You could see the chefs working away. There is a weekend brunch menu. After studying the menu, we decided on the following dishes:
Starter:1. Oyster and Kimchi ($98) I saw a picture on openrice that this dish had 3 oysters, and there were 3 of us , so how perfect was that! However, when it arrived, there was just 1 oyster with some raw bok choi underneath. Okay....no wonder it is called "OYSTER and kimchi" because there really was only ONE oyster. The oyster was served cut in half, and there were about 4 pieces of veggies. The batter of the oyster was rather dense, but still acceptable tastewise. The kimchi bok choy was a creative idea, because how often would you have kimchi prepared this way, but still, for almost $100, this dish was truely a rip off. Even though the restaurant wasn't busy at all, the dishes came 1 by 1, so luckily we were sharing.
Mains: 1. Korean Pancake ($98) The reviews for this dish were all rather negative, so I hesitated whether or not to get this pancake, but this dish turned out to be the best dish of the day!   You have a choice of having the pancakes with fermented cherry jam or crispy bacon, and we chose bacon because it seemed more interesting. There were 4 pieces of pancake with 3 very long strips of bacon sandwiched in between each layer. On the top piece of pancake, there was some icing sugar and nuts. Although the menu said walnuts, I'm pretty sure those nuts were almonds? No pancake dish would be complete without syrup, and it was no ordinary syrup, it was rum wine syrup! The sides of the pancake were very crispy! I have to say I love pancakes with a crunch and hate soft pancakes that most places offer! The texture of the pancake was very chewy and moist. This dish is for you if you like the taste and texture of korean seafood or kimchi pancakes because this was exactly that without the fillings inside. If you are expecting a more westernized pancake texture, then you'd be disappointed with this. The rum wine syrup was very tasty and went well with the savory bacon and this style of pancake. All 3 of us really liked this dish! I could have this every weekend. 

2.Kimchi Pork Egg Benedict ($128) Even for a person like me, who doesn't really like egg benedict and fatty pork, I thought this dish was quite tasty. Instead of your usual ham/salmon or bacon, pork belly fried with kimchi was on the well toasted bread.  A good egg bendict is usually composed of a fine hollandaise sauce and perfectly cooked eggs. However, while you're eating this, you forget about all that, because the true star is the kimchi and pork. The pork was so crispy and flavourful that in comparison, the hollandaise sauce seemed bland and unecessary.  If you can get past this, then you'd enjoy this dish like I did. Eating the kimchi pork with the egg and spinach was very good.  The menu said this dish had sesame oil, which made me wonder where the sesame oil was added to. Was it the pork? infused in the hollandsaie sauce? drizzled on the bread or egg? I really couldn't taste it to know.3. Steak and Egg ($168) Let me break down this dish for you. French fries served as the base. We all love fries, but the menu said hash brown, so we were a little thrown off. Then on top of the fries was some sauce and the meat covered by the egg. Korean recipes always use beef short rib so it made sense that the beef in this dish was beef short rib and not other cuts of beef.  We got the meat cooked medium so it was still pink in the centre. The beef didn't have much taste and was a little tough. The menu said this dish had caramelized onions, but we struggled to see them or taste them. The menu again seemed misleading. The fries were a bit soft and not crispy enough. Also, the sauce was tasteless. This dish was just okay. The 3 of us were quite messy and sloped sauces on ourselves and the table. Although they werren't major spills, the waitress automatically brought us over a pile of napkins without us asking, which I thought was very nice. Also, seeing that we were sharing, she offered us clean dishes after we had the appetizer. Good service! 

Final Verdict:
Comparing my experience to other reviews, I get the feeling that the restaurant is not very consistent with its dishes. Also, the menu seems a bit misleading. However, the Korean Pancake will bring me back eventually! 

白鬍子炸魚薯條 (中環)

I usually take the ferry when I go to TST because not only is it more economical, it is also way more enjoyable.  I go to TST quite often, so I have passed by White Beard Fish n Chips numerous times before I finally got to try it today. I got the daily combo ($45) that included calamari, fish n chips + ($10) for a drink. After getting my order, I walked over near the ferris wheel and took at seat to enjoy my food. The calamari was very soft, which was nice, but lacked flavour. Also, the batter just came right off, and same with the fish. The batter and fish seperated. The flesh of the fish was good, but lacked flavours as well. The fries were okay. Some were crispy, but some were soft. I wanted a lemon tea, but was told they were out, so the staff suggested this lemon soda, which was actually not bad because it helped cutting through the grease.  Final Verdict:
Very cheap fish n chips, but the problem was that everything wasn't dry and crispy enough.