聽聞這裡的 Hot Chocolate 係好味，上次去上環那一間 Classified 慶生，因為 cut cake 要收兩百幾蚊 charges，放棄左.....

既然灣仔有分店，同埋剛巧食完 Yo mama 都未飽，所以再來一試佢的 Hot Chocolate。

黎之前知佢出名係 cheese，不過我唔係好 cheese 之人，無所謂啦。哈哈，西人玩意都唔係我杯茶。

店的環境好 relax，有花多眼亂的酒，blackboard 上面的 menu 太密密麻麻，睇唔清楚有 d 乜野 written on it。裡面有隻風乾醃製的大豬脾好搶眼呢。 出面望著靜少少既街係一個星期六下午天氣又好感覺真係好舒服，像去左外國一樣，把香港的俗務都忘了一通。

同友人要了：

Chilled tomato soup ($35) - 差點看成 chili ，凍蕃茄湯有點 pepper 的辣，加點酸，充滿 tomato 的味道，上面有一 spoon olive oil。

Hot Chocolate ($45) - 上面的泡好結，成杯朱古力味好濃厚，雖然度數比 Vero 低，不過我都係中意 milky d 既味道，本來想唔落糖，最後都落左，heheee，附上鬆餅似的餅乾一塊，嗯，無乜味。

Assiette de charcuterie (jamon iberico, chorizo, salami, coppa & speck)( $290 small) - 一堆我不懂的名字，找店員問又好像解釋得不太清楚。上網看了一下：Jamon 是西班牙語火腿的意思 iberico 是黑毛豬，腿肉的脂肪充份滲入肌肉裡，似實亦軟，但越食越咸呢。Chorizo 係西班牙辣腸，好入味，會想要多一塊的衝動，不過有點油膩的感覺。Salami 算是唯一知道的名字吧，這裡的 salami 挺好 quality。Coppa 是豬頸肉用白酒醃漬製成，沒有煙燻，質地柔軟紅白分明。Speck 的產地是義大利的德語區，是古法煙燻的 bacon (有black pepper、garlic、salt，etc)，濃厚的味道。

由於不是嗜火腿之人，其實 could't tell too much difference，真的不懂「吃」吧。雖然感覺不是最頂級，但味道應該都 above average 了。我只接受到 salami 與 chorizo 的味道，其他都覺得咸 too preserved。

ham 附上的包有 olive 同埋尚有微溫的感覺，軟軟的，好有 heart。

見隔離檯吃 bocconcini 津津有味以及這裡尚提供其他像 panini 之類的包可供大家祭五臟府喔。

服務幾好。

Had a pretty frustrating day. Badly needed a break before heading for the next stop.

I meant to go to the new Il Bel Paese flagship store, but I mixed that up with the older branch near Wing Fung Street. Anyway. I strolled up Wing Fung Street looking for an alternative and ended up at Classified. Calling itself a Mozzarella Bar I assumed it should offer something Italian and would make a good substitute.

The clean and crisp white and woody tones, in addition to the high ceiling of this little eatery makes it stylish yet comfy. I was particularly impressed by the chandelier made of many light bulbs hanging over the main dining table. Wine lovers would love its wine wall too!

Having read the not-so-rosy reviews on its burrata here, I picked Boconccini ($65 + 10%) from the Mozzarella Bar menu for a try. The waitress told me that it was a mini version of mozzarella cheese, and I presumed that things wouldn't go too wrong in terms of taste. The problem was that they somehow misspelt the word "Boconccini" on the blackboard, I read from Wiki that it should spell "Bocconcini". Well I'll leave the spelling part to the experts. The cheese was served with Sun-Ripened Tomato, Rocket and Extra Virgin Olive Oil as a salad, and came with an extra bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Bocconcini is a mild kind of cheese like other mozzarella cheese, shaped into bite-sized balls. While you don't get the "cheesiness" in mozzarella in general, as compared with other richer cheeses, the bocconcini here barely had any taste of its own. I don't know whether it's the problem with bocconcini itself or it's a sourcing problem. Fortunately these little cheese "dumplings" were very chewy and I liked that texture. Actually the tomatoes were better - they came in a rainbow of colours: red, orange, yellow and purple, and even though they tasted the same (except maybe the yellow kind which was a bit sweeter), the look of it was a pleasant surprise. Rocket had salt and pepper sprinkled on top, and was just right with my addition of a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar.

I was not in the mood for a drink, but spotted a box of Maribelle hot chocolate on the shelves above the bar table, and decided to have a hot chocolate ($45 + 10%). That Maribelle chocolate, however, was for display only and the one on offer was actually from Vero, so there's no harm giving it a try. To my disappointment (or otherwise), it was not the "syrupy" hot chocolate availble at the Vero chocolate shop itself, but your good ol' hot cocoa with milk. The 70% cocoa content it boasts itself came under the veils of too much sugar - and they gave me another pack of it! Maybe I'd be better off going for the authentic version at Vero for a more full-blown chocolat-y experience.

Like many other establishments on the street, Classified is a great place for some happy hour getting together, or for a pit stop just as I did. There is more to be desired, mainly on the choice of cheeses - how can a self-proclaimed mozzarella bar only offer some 3/4 kinds of cheese a day? Apart from that, I'd give this place a clear pass.

aug 12, 09,2人嚟食lunch, 叫咗 :

1) 熱咖啡 (hk$34)
-友人嘅咖啡,唔喺影咗好耐之嘛,但面頭嘅foam就明顯下塌
-友人話佢嘅foam打得唔好,所以唔夠滑,入口嘅口感喺粗"鞋"咗d
-但味道就唔錯咁話

2) soup + pasta (hk$100)
i) 西蘭花湯
-個湯好淡,但亦因為咁,所以個西蘭花味可以明顯d,但還是比番少少鹹味我好d喇
-麵包唔暖熱,又"un"
-呢個比較失色

ii) penne arrabiata
-1"匹"落去就知道挺身,有咬口............gd
-份量不多,但鮮番茄汁緊包住每長通粉,酸味自然
-很不錯

3) cooked ham panini (hk$56)
-本來叫牛,但咬落喺火腿嚟嘅........無所謂啦,照食
-個包烘時,被夾得扁扁,薄薄的,所以幾熱同小脆身
-裡面嘅芝士溶溶哋,火腿又唔喺死鹹嗰隻,喺肉嘅原味
-所以也很不錯
-同友人1致認為因為個包扁d,比對面epxxx嘅panini還出色

* 同枱另1角落有1個老外+中國人.........估唔到佢哋嘅長通粉嚟嘅時候 (我哋嗰碟嚟先............所以已經分埋同開始食緊)............竟然同個女侍應講話佢哋嗰碟好似無我嗰碟咁大.............仲同個女侍應講咗1輪............真喺無諗過老外咁介意/咁有原則性...........我就好懷疑佢憑咩咁肯定自己嘅諗法.............我唔相信佢對眼裝有weight sensor...........望1望就有數據..............我自己望落就唔多覺............就算喺人手隨意拿嚟煮.........差異都唔會好大...........充其量我嗰碟比佢多10條好未呢~~~~咁都睇唔開............真替個女侍應無辜

Its getting very hot lately indeed and after finding out from a visit that The Cheese Room (the sister shop of here, also related to The Pawn I believe) doesn't carry fresh Mozzarella cheese but only more relatively matured cheese - I came here to satisfy my Summer Mozzarella craving. Its usually cold, refreshing and reminds me of 'snow'.

Initially wanted to grab a bite at Pizzeteria before settling here for 2nd round, but ended up skipping that activity. Wanted to order a Pasta and a Mozzarella/Burrata cheese salad here but believe it or not, there isn't really a full kitchen in this place compared to The Cheese Room so they only serve minimal food of minimal preparations. Skipped the pasta option again, went for the following:


BURRATA CHEESE di Andria (small serving) with Sun-Ripened Tomato -
As Little Meg has said, there is something not too right with the Burrata here, unfortunately. Mine was actually completely solid in the middle rather than slightly 'runny' nature like similar to poached egg whites, completely defeating the purpose when the cheese was initially MADE in Italy to have a skin wrapped around a runny and creamy mozzarella filling. There were 'strands' of the stracciatelle but these actually were deeply burried within the hardened 'curd'.

The sun ripened tomatoes consisted of 3 types. A fresher red, a yellow and a deeper red one - I wasn't told but these are I assume Heirloom Tomatoes. The deeper red type I got that day actually had a 'spoilt' skin. I'm not sure if its normal but 1 piece I tried tasted slightly fermented.

Came with some green Arugula salad leaves. The whole dish seemed a bit underseasoned, but somehow it wouldn't have made up for the bad quality cheese anyway. I suspect not many people order this so it was quite unfresh.


Carrot Soup -
This tasted ok but wasn't prepared fresh in my opinion. It seemed like a 'warmed' up version.


Cappucino -
Usually, this place has a really funky and overall great Wine Selections by the glass albeit quite expensive, usually running in the $70-110/glass range. They also have dessert wines or cognacs I believe by the glass. I've been here twice before just drinking and having some ham. They also open different wines here compared to the Cheese Room during the same week. On this occasion however I didn't find anything I really wanted, that day I just didn't had '食神'.

So I ordered a Cap Coffee and its my first time trying this brand/blend here. The coffee was so unbelievably Bitter, it was around 2 to 2.5 times more bitter than the 廿四味 I had in the morning.

To the credit of the coffee maker - in reality he had done nearly everything correctly, it seems like he was quite knowledgeable. The milk texturing and temperature was fine and so was the base shot, it was an above-average manual attempt. It was obvious that the BRAND of coffee as well as the STALEST of the beans alone was to blame here on that day. This had to be the worst coffee I've had in the past 6 months in HK, that's counting in local coffees.


NO PHOTOS TAKEN, as I wasn't planning reviews but it occurred to me may be I should put it online somehow, to see if they might want some feedback and improve somehow! Great concept though. Could do with some more interesting food involving mozzarella cheese, just like the proper Mozzarella Bars overseas.

While most girls crave for sweets like chocolate and gelato, I found myself having dreams of cheese. To be more specific, I yearn for burrata. For those who are not familiar with burrata, it is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it a unique soft texture*. Unlike other fresh cheese, burrata is super creamy and milky with a mild cheese flavor. It’s like a creamy cheese gelato to me. With just a little extra virgin olive oil and a touch of salt, burrata transcended me to heaven. I thought I was in love.

In New York, burrata is quite accessible in artisanal Italian gourmet stores and restaurants which shipped burrata fresh from Italy**. In Hong Kong, however, the search for burrata wasn’t easy. Most stores wouldn’t carry it because of its short self life. This week, I was no longer bearable with this long distance relationship. I was having dreams about it. I couldn’t wait anymore. I needed my cure at Classified Mozzarella Bar.

The menu at the restaurants had plenty of other choices ranging from panini, salad, even pasta and soup. There were also buffalo mozzarella, regular mozzarella, etc, but I knew exactly what I wanted. The smaller size ($140 / 120g) of “Amazing Burrata”, as stated on the menu, wasn’t available, and the large size (250g) was $310. It was $9 USD ($72 HKD) in New York. Imagine adding an extra $100 and you can get a fancy lunch at Cepage just right next door. You can treat yourself and your friend to have a tea set at Robuchon or have a dinner feast at Luk Yu for about the same. But at that moment, all I could think of was the buttery, creamy burrata. When you love something, you don’t care about size or price. It’s unconditional. Isn’t it what love is about?

When I received my plate of burrata, I was utterly excited. The lovely cheese ball, glittering with the mild golden olive oil, was placed elegantly on a pile of rocket salad and sun ripened tomatoes. As usual, I cut into the top to expose the creamy innards. It looked so right, so fresh, and oh so luscious. However, I wasn’t able to scoop out the juicy filling like I normally could. Instead, I needed to use a fork to pull out the mozzarella strands. The flavor was absolutely wonderful, ethereal. Yet, the consistency wasn’t what I was looking for. I was longing for the heavenly creamy cheese filling, and this was not.

I know it wasn’t the fault of the restaurant. Afterall, they simply shipped the burrata, they didn’t make them. They were constrained with the quality of the producers. But that didn’t explain the almost indiscernible olive oil that they used. It also didn’t explain why the lovely rocket leaf and tomato salad was completely unseasoned. Something as decadent as burrata needed proper condiments, like high quality sea salt and an aromatic extra virgin olive oil. The burrata here didn’t get the treatment that it deserved.

While the manager and the staff were extremely sincere in explaining their offerings and menu, not knowing where in Italy your cheese came from was like not a sommelier not knowing what region your wine was from. It didn’t proclaim professionalism. Upon leaving the restaurant, I was glad that at least I got some temporary cure for my love affair. Will I come back? Only if I find myself dreaming of burrata again.


*To learn more about burrata, you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrata
** It takes a tremendous amount of skills to make burrata, so most restaurants and stores will ship burrata from Italy rather than making their own.
*** The last three pictures are for comparison purposes. They were from New York and not Classified Mozzarella Bar.

十月十八‧晴

整個下午也是會議，說的以為滿口道理，其實無聊頂透。散會後，立即轉了上來這邊，因為記得有間不錯的小店，賣紅白酒及咖啡甜品的。

全店木傢俱，半開放式格局，剛好是初秋的天氣，坐在外邊的位置，聽著輕音樂，非常寫意。問是日甜品是什麼？原來是酸忌廉做的意式奶凍panna cotta，來一客，加杯泡沫咖啡。

奶凍做得挺身，但吃起來幼滑，功夫不錯。酸忌廉的微酸，配上濃香奶的味道，加上四周的一片片乾薄荷，是清新香甜的一個西式餐點，簡單而美味；泡沫咖啡也是淡淡的，奶泡幼滑。呷一口，看著外面街，原來六時未夠都已經收了太陽，華燈漸亮，平時我在那裡的？為何不知道的呢？

就在斜路的盡頭，橫走不行，要不往上鑽，要不退下來，人生，就是這樣。

還是待我享受完我的咖啡及美點才說。

埋單76蚊，是優質的半小時，物超所值。

This area is always a nice place for chill. Quiet and tranquil ... in particular the atmosphere.

I had a nice lunch with my love on the new year eve. And not many ppl there. Anywaz, my love always craved for nice cheese and here we were.

We had Mozzarella Cheese, Spinach spaghetti with truffle and Hot choco.

The Mozzarella Cheese - excellent, fresh mozzarella *should match with white wine!!! The balsamic vinegar is well-matched with the high quality salad leaves and tomates!! If u like mozzarella, I am quite assured u love this place!

The Spaghetti - I always love spinach spaghetti. The creamy sauce is appropriate; since the dish is small so not really filling your stomach. The asparagus is a good match. O, there is truffle ... vy little favor so that I cannot really recall, haha.

Hot choco - too much milk covering the chocolate favor. If you are craving hot dark chocolate favor, that is not the place.

the ingredients are really fresh with a fantastic selection of wine (even by the glass)! I had salad with cheese and tomatos with rocket. the restaurant is really small though, sitting about 14-18 people max... a nice place to grab a salad, sandwich, and soup!

路過這裡，見熟口熟面的Classified大logo，應該是由荷里活道開過來的姐妹店吧。

洋溢著懶洋洋氣氛的Wine & cheese吧，惜是日胃口不佳，來點輕食試試新店基本用料，叫了黑板上的是日精選，意式白包配芝士火腿。

酒櫃放置著不少高級洋酒及原條連著黑蹄的jjjjj西班牙黑毛豬，比起街尾的Spuntini感覺更專門高檔。即叫即做的意式三文治，香草白包帶點烤過燶香，夾著水牛芝士及軟熟的泊來火腿，加上橫切薄原片洋蔥美味亦不失口感，番茄處理過，不會水汪汪的，很喜歡這種簡約組合，若再下少量羅勒更適合自己口味。

趕頭趕命的吃完，埋單走人，身旁的鬼婆卻一面閒情逸志飲白酒吃沙律，真叫人羨慕，這也是星街一帶的特色。

P.S除唔比影相比較耐人尋味外，服務態度是很不錯

就是這家店﹐取代了街角小店。

它在上環的第一間店叫做 Classified﹐雖然久仰大名﹐但從來沒有去過。不得不讚這店的設計﹐這亦是其中一個我到來一試的原因。

一踏進店內﹐就會看到左邊這道牆都放了很多的紅﹑白酒﹔接著就會看到一個凍櫃。

坐下來﹐抬頭看到了盞別緻的吊燈﹔再向前望﹐則是擺放整齊的酒杯。


看了餐牌一會﹐但也找不到想吃的東西 -- 以為會有 Sunday Brunch﹐也以為會有新鮮爐的麵飽 (對不起﹐他們有的是garlic bread with olive oil﹐不能走 garlic)。。。

主菜有 Grill 肉﹑魚﹐但又不想吃太多﹐所以沒有點﹐就只點了一個沙律﹐一個咖啡。

Latte 先上場 ($35)﹐froth 一般﹐咖啡略嫌苦了一點。

然後是 Swordfish Cappaccio -- 我以為會有多點菜﹐但換來的是片片 Swordfish跟幾粒酸豆豆﹔其實味道也很不錯﹐但就是這樣的沙律就要 $78﹐還要很不飽肚。

埋單$124﹐非常不滿足﹐雖然我知道他們的 salad 認該質料上乘﹐但說真的﹐連我這個(算是)捨得吃的人也覺得肉痛﹐也實在太不該了吧?!

聽說他的賣點是 Cheese﹐cold cut and Wine﹐雖然 waitress 也跟說我叫的 salad 也算是 signature dish﹐等絕對不可以填肚 -- 或者我對這第一次期望太高吧!!

還是留待有人請客﹐再來看看它的主菜如何。。。