Good things never last, I mean sometimes they do, but most of the time as soon as the shop receives too much praise then become relaxed with quality control, the performance drops right off the cliff.

I ordered a Lebanese Burger - made of grilled Halloumi cheese, Hummus spread and Zataar herbs, the buns were stone cold this time, yet the top bun became burnt and held a burnt taste and smell. I suspect bad sychronisation with toasting the buns versus cooking the meat, before assembling it together with the salad.

- The Beef Patty was way smaller in diameter than my 1st visit, it was very over-cooked and dried out even to the centre. The only good thing being it still had beef flavours. The patty was just too much narrower than the bun!

- Halloumi cheese pieces, were also really cold.

*********************
Very amateurish performance compared to my 1st visit to here, when it was still great. Yet looking at their reshuffling of the shop's internal decoration, it seems like they're about to change this more into a pub than a true burger joint. (Absolute Burger is way better than here lately!)

So today I was given quite an interesting opportunity to taste the revamped menu at W52. Being completely honest one of my friends is family friends with the owner Benjamin Lung (a local entrepreneur who is the man behind Va Bene, Gaia and Isola) and that is how the opportunity came about. My friend and I sat down over lunch with Mr. Wong who is the VP of the restaurant management company behind W52.

So a little background: I've actually been to W52 before for lunch back on October 1st of 2009 when they first opened. At that time their mantis prawn risotto was their signature item but I left the restaurant feeling rather unimpressed. Let me know if you disagree but I personally find there are way too many overpriced Italian restaurants producing average quality food in town. Sure, they might have great decor or location but at the end of the day if you can't back it up with your food it's just disappointing.

Anyway, the revamped menu is courtesy of famed Italian chef Chef Francesco Berardinelli. Chef Francesco is most noted for his consultancy partnership with the Alain Ducasse Group (Alain Ducasse is the first chef to own restaurants carrying three Michelin Stars in three cities) and has also opened restaurants in New York (Francesco at MIX), Tuscany (Osteria di Rendola) and Florence (Beccofino). Furthermore he has contributed to a good handful of cookbooks (trust me, they've shown me the stack of cookbooks at W52...haha). From my understanding Chef Berardinelli has just accepted the executive chef position at W52 (yay!) and will officially start work in September.

Environment: The space at W52 is spacious and lightly lit. We had a great table right next to a large window overlooking Wyndham St which was to my liking. I quite like the clean, white, modern decor inside. W52 occupies 4 floors: the bottom floor is the bar, floor 2 & 3 are restaurant level and the top floor is the VIP room & kitchen. From what I hear the VIP room costs about $16,000 for a private party of 8-10 people (about $2000/head).

Service: Since I was eating with their VP I expected pretty much close to flawless service and they did not disappoint. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive. Food came out promptly and there were no mixups.

Food: After asking for my opinion on a few items Mr. Wong proceeded to order up a collection of W52's biggest hits:

Stuffed Artichoke Hearts With Pecorino Cheese And Herbs - This is a signature item from their past menu and it lives up to its billing. If you like stronger tasting cheese this is the item for you. I'm personally a big fan of artichoke and after biting into the soft artichoke hearts you get a get burst of flavor from the Pecorino cheese. Yum.

Mediterranean Red Shrimps Served With A “Giardiniera” Of Pickled Artichokes, Mushrooms and Lemon - This is a new item and is basically the Italian version of a garden salad (Giardiniera means "garden" in Italian) found commonly made in all Italian households. Foodies talk about eating with your eyes first and I was visually quite drawn to this dish. The pickled artichokes and shemeji mushrooms had a nice tartness to them and also were a nice contrast in texture. The shrimps where fresh and I quite liked the interplay between the cooler salad and the warm shrimps. Quite nice.

Hand-carved Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio With Shaved Aged Parmesan Cheese - I was told by Mr. Wong this specific carpaccio is different from normal carpaccios served around town because:

1) They don't freeze their carpaccio which allows it to retain its original texture and flavor
2) Hard carving allows the carpaccio to stay fresh before being served to customers

Texturally it did taste a little different from other carpaccios I've tried but I would say the difference is not that easy to detect. Beef itself had light subtle flavoring and was quite fresh. Not bad.

Duo of Handmade Pastas - Mr. Wong wanted me to try 2 of their new pastas. On the left was a Pici pasta with a Sienese tomato sauce. On the right was spaghetti that had extra flour and semolina added to it (for extra chewiness) with white wine sauce topped off with a small piece of goose liver. First off I just wanted to say I am a big fan of handmade pastas. The texture is really hard to replicate with dried pasta.

The Pici pasta is a staple of most homes in Tuscany and has the shape 'similar' to Japanese udon. It had a nice chewy texture and went quite well with the tomato sauce. Just simple and straight forward which is the way I like my pasta. Pretty good.

To me the spaghetti was the better of the two pastas. The extra chewiness reminded both my friend and I of an egg based noodle we had before in Indonesia (in a good way). Never quite had pasta with this type of chewiness and it had a subtle 'egginess' flavor to it. Again, love the simple white sauce accompanying it. The goose liver I think didn't bring much to the table per say but I think I will definitely reorder this pasta dish when I return to W52. Tasty.

Roast Rack of Pork With Fresh Summer Tomato Salad - This was quite interesting since the rack of pork was prepared with a salt crust. The outcome was quite nice and almost reminded me of Chinese roasted suckling pig. The skin was crispy and salty while the meat was quite moist. I normally eat quite clean so personally I thought the skin was a little salty for me but how can you not eat that crispy skin? Haha. I wish I wasn't so full but this was quite good.

Roasted Rack Of Lamb With Basil Potato Purée And Green Onions - A nice roasted rack of lamb. Maybe a little on the pink side for me but overall a tasty dish. The rack was a little gamey but flavorful. Quite nice.

Chocolate Soufflé - To me this was the best dessert of the day. Besides being really light and chocolatey (there's even more melted chocolate to pour on top if you want) I like the attention to the minor detail. Under the powdered sugar I realized they also caramelized a thin layer of sugar (similar to Creme Brulee) to give you a bit of added textural crunch when you bite into the fluffy souffle. Thumbs up.

Mango And Mascarpone Cheese Tart - A nice fresh dessert. The cheese had a neutral flavor and I liked how fresh tasting the mangoes were. Decent.

Babà With Limoncello And Vanilla Cream - I personally am not a big fan of cakes soaked in anything more than a drizzle of liquid (gets soggy super quick). The fresh vanilla cream did provide a nice contrast against the spongy nature of the cake. Babà, if you didn't know, is a Italian cake made of yeast dough. You see it quite often presented with rum or limocello. Maybe it's just my cup of tea but it was a decent dessert.

With all the nice things said I think it is important to point out that I find their appetizers a little on the expensive side (mostly $100+) relative to their portion size. The pork chop entree to me was relatively good value for money (about $450) since you could share that easily with 3-4 people. Mr Wong and I had a pretty interesting conversation about the struggles with pricing. He described how managers will want to add expensive ingredients to dishes (to justify the increase in pricing) while chefs will argue that the simple approach is actually better. I'm on the chef's side...sometimes less is more.

Needless to say I left W52 needing a wheelbarrow to take me out...haha. To be very honest I was really quite surprised with how the meal came out. A lot of people might argue that what I got to eat might not be a honest representation of what is truly served to the customers (valid point) but I think W52 deserves credit since they were able to deliver even though they had to added pressure of cooking for a reviewer with elevated expectations. I will come back to W52.

荃灣廣場近幾個月都在攪卡通人物主題展覽，呢期正好係「叮噹」。雖然我一向專重知識產權，但我更專重我的童年回憶。這篇食評中我會叫「叮噹」而不叫「多拉Ａ夢」。在我此等年紀的人，都是叮噹大雄伴著我長大。

之前睇過雜誌，知道荃灣廣場有個叮噹主題餐廳，限時營業，八月中就完。早在上星期已經一碰運氣，怎料收錯風，營業時間只在下午茶時段，平日要食難過登天。

今天，看過INCEPTION後，終於見到佢有開門，不過亦到見到真身，原來只得小小的兩張坐檯，三張企檯，賣的，都只是小食，算不上甚麼餐廳。不過叮噹迷不要失望，有三樣食物真是非常得意，可以話買左都唔捨得食。

基本是，食物名稱都是跟叮噹卡通有關，但只有三樣食物有叮噹圖案。誠實豆沙包、動物餅乾、翻譯蒟蒻。始終是版權野，售價一點也不便宜。

我地買左一個誠實豆沙包，一個翻譯蒟蒻。誠實豆沙包，不是星爺在整蠱專家裡的道具，誠實豆沙包其實係豆沙餅，但裡頭的料是綠茶吉士+紅豆，表面印有叮噹的樣子。吃下去是凍的，綠茶吉士很多紅豆很少，正合老婆口味，整個包都不太甜，紅豆不多也不會蓋過綠茶味，沒想到卡通食品都有如此水準，真希望這個誠實豆沙包可以長賣長有。食左唔知係咪真係會誠實呢？

翻譯蒟蒻其實是啫哩，在售賣處的，是叮噹圖案，但我買到的，是叮鈴圖案，正好跟誠實豆沙包上的叮噹圖案湊成一對。啫哩是正常的果汁味，但因為要固定卡通人物的樣子，恐怕下了過多的魚膠粉。相比起誠實豆沙包，啫哩只是一般貨色，無疑是比下去了。

我沒買動物餅乾，因為應該只是普通曲奇，兩塊賣$10太貴了。其實正確黎講，我不是在這間波菲買的，但那個誠實豆沙包的招紙寫著是波菲出品，所以就把食評寫在這裡了。

商場仲有其他叮噹玩具布景，叮噹迷必定樂而忘返。如果大家想食要快啦，明天就是最後一天，有去趁早了。

八吉在東京有多間分店,國內遠至名古屋也有其分店,想不到做了過江龍來了香港,不過我沒有去過這個品牌,因食友的讚賞,雖然還有二個月不夠就往日本食過夠本,但自己想食下刺身來止癮,連續三天假期,正適合來飲杯涼快啤酒.

還以為要排隊那麼誇張,原來是旁邊的とん吉,店內早已傳日本人聲音,佔了半數都是日本人來的,侍應和師傅大多是日本人,最少不會口水多過柴,我來目的主要食下刺身,看看餐牌,都不算昂貴的價錢,二百八十八元的六品刺身,都頗為抵食,順便問有什麼材料,聽來的就是三文魚,油甘魚,甜蝦等,聽到已經沒有興趣,

是日以塩竈為主.塩竈這個地方曾經去過,最適合就是食壽司,所賣的是甘鯛,間八,本笠子等,而牌子旁寫著適合燒,煮以及刺身.選上了二款魚類,未吃前當然叫上一杯大朝日生啤.

杯子在雪櫃冷藏,很對辦,配上冰涼的朝日生啤,簡直人生一樂也,居酒屋不飲啤酒頗為沒有意義,當然酒的不是人人喜愛,間中一杯已經非常滿足.這裏的小食不是只有一款,有數款可供選擇,螢光魷魚,疑以三文魚.最後選上酒粕醃蝦肉,吃落夠爽,用來下酒也不錯,

要一條のどぐろ賣二百九十元,要求一魚二食,一半用來刺身,另一半用來鹽燒.所切出來的份量雖然不多,白身不是濃味的,淡淡的帶有油脂.猶如拖羅般,慢慢溶在口中,當然中不太明顯的,好食的のどぐろ,師傅的刀切還可以的,其實我較喜愛のどぐろ燒來食,肉質夠嫩滑,魚的油份滲出來,一條用來燒不滿足,更何況只有半條,很快就清光のどぐろ

連子鯛キダイ擁有粉紅色的肉質,可以叫れんこダイ,春以及秋為産卵期,鯛魚可以分多種,鯛魚可以厚切,但不是每個品種都可以,切成細條,吃落沒有多剩的根位,還有淡淡的甜味,相比剛才のどぐろ,這個就比不上它,但在香港吃這種質素,已經收貨有突,在日本應該不止這種級數,不過山葵就真的令人失望,不是用上新鮮山葵,只是以牙膏來代替,

今次吃個鰻魚茶漬飯,遲些在名古屋會找上一間鰻魚屋再次吃過這茶漬飯,看賣相應該不差.不過又食過才知.試了一口飯,以為望落粒粒飯應該會有味道,但試完都頗淡,但配上茶再食又幾好食喎,當然是靠那杯茶味道,鰻魚烤得一般,不及BUSY SUZIE.食完真係飽到上心口

侍應服務夠好,見有不少日本人在場飲酒食飯,也有一定保證,來這裏要食魚的還是選上特別一點的魚就最好,也希望在香港開多幾間這些過江龍店,可能不及日本那邊,但最少有多一點選擇.

足本版本:http://cky20080.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_13.html

這半年以來星級飯局也來到了第七顆星,這次地點是位於港麗酒店內的中菜廳,其實單看這店的名字倒是有點像泰國菜館!
酒店內的中菜廳通常也是樓底較高,空間感相對也比較大坐起來感覺較為舒適.食友在八時左右也陸續到齊,可以開飯!

蒜泥白肉卷----白肉捲成幼筒狀內裡包裹著一條青瓜,把常見的平凡賣相再重新包裝.面層鋪滿了炸過的蒜粒視覺上確是美觀,但吃起來的感覺不及生蒜味道的濃烈.
迷你炸蝦丸----很有趣的一道菜式!從外觀上是看不見蝦丸藏了在那裡,原來是藏了在中層,小小的蝦丸咬下去彈力倒是驚人,但食味只是一般!吃不到有蝦的鮮味.
薑蓉米酒蒸蟹鉗----可說是這晚的主角,賣相是精緻的,酒的味道約隱約無,薑粒味道温和適中有香味而不辛口,蟹鉗的肉質結實但鮮的味道不太突出.最好吃是與蟹鉗同蒸滑如凝脂的蛋白.
上湯百花釀帶子----帶子開邊釀上厚厚的一層蝦膠,蝦膠又是同一問題,彈性足鮮味弱!咬下去只感到在是在吃蝦膠而帶子踪影全無,比例失衡.港島廳的梨香釀帶子是一個蝦膠跟帶子菜式的示範作.
濃雞湯浸雞----雞肉浸得嫩滑入味,浸雞的湯的味道濃鮮豐厚,留在舌頭上久久不散!像自家蒸燉的雞汁效果.
腐皮銀杏扒雙蔬----這道看似是素菜但卻是用金華火腿上湯來浸煮,腐皮軟滑有荳香,白菓帶有一點苦味,兩款菜也是煮得再淋一些會更吸引,像湯的芡汁吃起來不糊口.
鎮江醋溜骨----酸甜的味道均衡,排骨肉質鬆軟,輕輕一咬已肉骨分離.
金葉庭炒飯----飯粒咽韌有咬口油份適中,加入了咸蛋黃同炒更添一份咸香.
杞子桂花糕----外形大小不一賣相不太討好,甜味太重只吃到蜜糖的味道.
合桃酥----入口非常鬆化,輕輕一咬己散開甜度亦適中.

是夜菜式雖驚喜感不大但勝在水準平均.
因報名人數眾多,店方考慮到為保持出品質素緣故,所以飯局分了兩睌來進行.感謝攪手KC兩晚也出現主持飯局!在短時間內吃兩次大致相同的菜式,說聲辛苦了也不為過.

經過一段暗無天日忙到嘔, 然後個人情緒低落, 再路住忍受完一輪自家電腦慢過龜速的日子後, 太公個人終於得閒, 心情又好返, 部腦亦狀態回勇, 可以打返食評了!!

其實還有好幾篇積壓已久"食評債"要清, 不過還是忍不住, 想先寫最近吃得最有感覺的Tonkichi。

拜仰Tonkichi 大名已久；可惜，一來太公是個討厭排隊的人；二來，太公長期受青春痘困擾。是以，雖然身邊人吃人讚，但無端走去排長龍吃一些會令自己爛面情況變本加厲的東西，怎麼也說不過去。

不過，今次倒有大好機會；得OR某俊男 (哈!! 哈哈!!!!) 之安排，大鬧The one 新開張之tonkichi；因為剛開張沒幾天，還未有人識摸上來，所以訂位方便，不用苦苦輪候。

與一眾食友一行九人，要了兩客三人份的tonkichi雜錦吉列定食 - 有豬扒, 豬柳, 蠔和炸蝦。全都是新鮮炸起的，豬扒肥瘦適中, 肉汁豐富, 炸漿不過厚, 外脆內乾帶汁的口感實在一流; 豬柳再嫩滑一點, 更上一層樓了；炸蠔更是精彩, 蠔本身夠鮮甜, 而這個吉列蠔將肉汁鎖住了, 甫咬下去, 有點爆漿之感, 鮮甜的蠔汁爆到一咀都係, 實在美味；對於我這個平素就喜歡吃海鮮的人來說，更是fantastic!!

反而吉列蝦在這出眾的蠔和豬扒豬柳中就稍見失色 - 雖然蝦是新鮮, 加上厚薄適中兼均勻的炸漿，仍算是出色的，只是不夠搶鏡而已。

不能忽略"伴碟"的椰菜；對，我一直以為這些椰菜只是伴碟，但食友告知，這椰菜原來也是主角之一，配以柚子汁或昆布汁同吃，消滯兼balance diet. 椰菜本身夠新鮮，與昆布汁的味道異常地配合；我這人平素是不碰椰菜的，可今次卻是大口大口的在吃，看來，這昆布汁化腐朽為神奇

再額外點了吉列薯蓉和炸雞扒。吉列薯蓉吸油太多，效果一般，屬全晚最失色的一道；吉列雞扒卻很有驚喜 - 本來，大家都有點怕雞扒會太老，可這吉列雞扒竟是嫩滑非常，出奇地好吃。

好，埋單，新張期內還可用埋pokka cafe 的優惠，每人只需$120就可走人........又飽又滿足！就算代價是，之後要同臉上的青春痘漫長抗戰，但都非常值得!!!

勝香園，可說是香港其中一個飲食傳奇。香港碩果僅存的鐵皮屋大排檔之一，連招牌都消失左。本來就已經人多，但自從某電視台的飲食節目介紹過之後，人龍有增無減，星期六（星期日是休息的）人龍驚現排到去牛記茶室門口，無一個鐘都唔駛旨意食得到。

以前在中環返工，早餐時間人流唔多，慢慢嘆絕對無問題，買走外賣也方便，就算中午排隊耐極都有個浦。現在人不在中環，時間就是金錢，已經很少再來。今天，老婆心癮起，也順便到上環辦點事，就去碰碰運氣。

是日早上下過大雨，中午剛好雨過天晴，可能因為咁，人龍無平時咁長，星期六也只需排半小時已可以，真是時來運到。值得一提是人龍本來是向牛記方向的，現在是向銀杏館方向排了，這樣可對商戶影響減低，但不明白為何不是向石級方向排隊呢？

點了一個紅腸腸仔碎牛炒蛋蕃茄通粉，一個牛油檸蜜脆脆，一杯咸檸七，三樣都是食左咁多次之後得出黎既推介。

紅腸腸仔碎牛炒蛋蕃茄通粉，分別是三樣餸，紅腸、腸仔、碎牛炒蛋，這裡的牛肉都好味，但我覺得碎牛炒蛋更好，有別於一般的煎蛋煎腸煎午餐肉，碎牛炒蛋可說是唯一一樣要用技術的餸，蛋炒得夠滑，碎牛足料，完全是大排檔精髓所在。紅腸、腸仔則是自己的情意結，兩者都是煎過，不是普通的滾熟便算。

值得提醒大家，有時你會見到，點解隔離果位果碗咁多蕃茄既？其實係通粉同公仔麵既分別，如果你叫公仔麵，個湯底會紅色ｄ亦會有蕃茄，但通粉就無蕃茄而且湯底會無咁濃，可說是有好有唔好，但我始終鍾愛通粉，通粉跟蕃茄湯是天生一對，通粉中通，邊吃通粉邊喝湯才是王道絕配。

牛油檸蜜脆脆可算是勝香園的招牌菜，一開四放出來好似一隻甲蟲一樣，上面的牛油檸蜜一點不吝嗇，吃每一口都有牛油檸蜜味，包是「脆」不是「硬」，「硬」和「脆」可能只是一線之差，但這裡你只會感到是「脆」不是「硬」。尋常不過的麵包搖身一變變成如此美食，才是香港人食腦既地方，也是長龍的原因之一。

咸檸七是另一推介，呢度既咸檸是自家製，夠咸夠味不在講，最貼心是咸檸已經幫你壓爛壓碎，輕輕一攪味道已經出晒黎。

人怕出名豬怕肥，自從第一次幫襯之後，食過唔少蕃茄通粉，就連美心都曾經跟過風，但我覺得最好的，還是在這裡。

有人話呢度服務態度一般，其實呢度既阿姐好好人的，而且超好記性，大聲唔代表無禮貌，只是有時實在人太多兼顧不了，如果你有機會唔係繁忙時間黎到，你就會發現勝香園的人情味了。

這就是香港大排檔，這就是鐵屋風情畫。

食友們曾在 Green Waffle Diner 攪過小局，可惜最近工作比較忙，未能出席，趁星期三可以早收工，就提議女友一同行上斜路試試。

來到時約七點半，小店內已有好幾檯客人，事前沒有訂座的我們差點就要白行一趟，最後獲安排坐在 L 型梳化座，真走運。餐廳裝修比較簡單，牆上掛了幾幅舊香港的照片，配合偏黃的室內燈光，令人感覺舒服。

吃 Waffle 之前，先要一些熱葷暖肚，本來想要 Carbonara，但又怕吃得太飽，遂改要了 Steak and Egg Hash Skillet ($69)。小平底鑊內包括牛柳粒、薯仔、菇及洋蔥，面頭是兩隻半熟水煮蛋，再淋上溶掉的車打芝士，配搭相當豐富。將蛋汁撈在薯仔上一起吃，薯仔入口軟腍，外層只得輕微的脆感，味道也比較淡，沾在茄汁後會好一點；牛柳粒是帶筋的，調味方面也很輕手，只屬一般貨色；反而最普通的洋蔥炒得夠香，成為這道菜的亮點。

女友要的 Katherines's Breakfast ($68)，等了四十五分鐘仍未上檯，原來店員漏單了，但很有禮貌的為我們跟進，就當是扯平吧。Katherines's Breakfast 是雜果 yogurt 加半塊全麥窩夫的組合，吃得十分健康，雜果 yogurt 包括了士多啤梨、藍莓、芒果、蘋果、香蕉，另外還下了 granola 及蜜糖，味道酸酸甜甜的，也夠新鮮。全麥窩夫我沒有試，因為我另外要了一份 Banana Fosters Waffle。

Banana Fosters Waffle ($50) ，即窩夫配香蕉加朱古力雪糕，全是我喜歡吃的。先說班蘭窩夫，英文是 Green Waffle，同店名相同，想必是招牌之一，用刀輕輕一切，已經覺得好鬆脆，入口亦然，但這美式窩夫吃起來比較單薄，班蘭的味道亦欠奉，或者是我期望太高，反而有點不覺滿足。香蕉是以 cinnamon suger 煮過的，味道不算太甜，但我自己偏好新鮮的香蕉，簡單又好吃就是了，這樣好像太 over。沒有加 $17 要 movenpick，雪糕是自家製作 (?)，入口夠冰，但溶化速度極高，記緊早吃早享受！

我們還叫了一杯 Rocket Fuel ($28) 共享，是芒果、菠蘿、青檸汁打出來的 smoothies，味道以芒果最突出，質感厚厚的，也夠滑溜，是不錯的選擇。

買單約 $244，平均每人百二的消費，跟日系 UCC 差不多，如果單講窩夫，雖然品種唔同，我仍是會投 UCC 一票！

勁愛窩夫! I Love Waffles!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142587759858

Actually even though I kind of gave these shops 亞軍 or something, its not really true because I'm not rating them relative to each other. Every meal had good or bad things present !

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涼伴小黃瓜 -
This is the proper 用刀拍嘅黃瓜, not the sliced one, so the texture is a little bit better and also absorbs more sauce flavouring. This is refreshing but the sauce is weak. 4/5

湯包皇 -
A larger version of a Xiao Loong Bao, this had quite a bit of soup inside. The soup was quite weak though, nowhere near as sweet as the ones in other shops. The meat also had too much alcohol taste in it, and the pork meat wasn't very good. Overall this was just average. 3/5

SHANGHAI WONTON & TAN TAN MEIN -
The wontons are ok-good, very lean meat used too with some blended veggies. The Tan Tan Mein's broth initially looks very clear in my photo - yet, this is the older Hong Kong style of eating Tan Tan's. The sesame sauce is actually right at the bottom, so the customer needs to mix it from bottom up to let the sesame paste catch onto the noodles and also diluted into the soup itself.

The good thing is that it had real sesame taste here (not just peanuts). The bad news is that its not enough, as the overall soup was too thin in consistency. The noodles are Hand - Made in this shop, and they are very good indeed. Great texture and noodles taste. Overall this Tan Tan Mein is enjoyable, but not perfect. 3.8/5

排骨菜飯 -
The Porkchop are not good to be honest. Its dry and overly treated chemically, they were left unfinished. That contrasts with the very good quality 菜飯, which unlike the past when it was aromatic from all the additional pork oil mixed in, nowadays you'll be lucky to get ANY taste out of them. Luckily, they put in a lot of veggies in the version here, so it felt green and healthy. Not overcooked either, good bitey rice grains. Pity about the pork. 3/5

山渣水 -
This tasted like a 酸梅茶 in a way, as it had a smokey flavour! 4/5

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CONCLUSION:

Noodles here are hand made and worth a visit alone. The much lauded Large Xiao Loong Bao was barely ok compared to today's standards. Other stuff seem Hits and Misses. Nevertheless - its not a bad little shop.

I have read that Pho Le Hong Kong is related to the famous Pho Le in Vietnam,
so I was really looking forward to giving here a try:
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PHO BO (Rice Noodles with Rare Beef) -
Along with the noodles comes a basket of 九層塔 (Thai Basil) and Bean Sprouts, a wedge of Lime, and chopped Birds Eye Chili. No signs of 鵝蒂 or 毛翁 on this day. The French-Vietnamese inspired Pho arrived not long after, its a dish with a formula which bears some resemblance to French Onion Soup, although others think its associated with Pot Au Feu, but I don't think so! :
- Soup was lukewarm at best.
- The onions were hacked into big chunks rather than sliced thinly. This means in the middle of eating your soft noodles, you often end up biting into thick, crunchy and very raw onion pieces. A good Pho shop should always horizontally slice up the onions paper thin.
- The Soup was fairly weak, murky and artificially sweet, the latter not really from onion. Its slightly oily but otherwise one dimensionally sweet with a faint beef bone marrow and fat flavour hiding in the background. Too diluted. Even adding in that single 九層塔 herb I was given could not rescue the blandness, unless if you believe spring onion plays a major role in the pho broth, which it shouldn't! A truly good Pho's broth, should have a small hint of spice just to tickle your palate, a strong roasty beef bone and marrow/fat depthness, then enhanced by a handful of fresh green herbs as mentioned above, and hopefully appears as a transparent clear broth carrying all the essences of the above combined. Unfortunately - this failed in every single aspect.
- Rice noodles seem slightly overcooked, some of them clumped together. They are also the less-transparent, very Cantonese whitish type.
- Beef slices were actually quite tasty but there were what - 4 narrow slices at most? Much like they skimped back majorly on the essential ingredients used to cook the weak underlying broth, its seems like they also think its cool to cheat the customer by giving them less beef than any other shop out there but still charge a highish price.

LIME SODA -
Just like the Pho above, this lacked real lime taste. Its more like a plain soda.

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- SERVICE IS VERY GOOD HERE.
- THE PHO AND ITS BROTH ARE PROBABLY NOT WORTH A CRYING FACE ON ITS OWN, AS IT IS ACTUALLY EDIBLE.....
- YET, CONSIDERING THE WAY THEY TRADE UNDER AND MARKERTIZE THEMSELVES AS SHARING LINAGE WITH THE ORIGINAL FAMOUS 'PHO LE (錦麗)', SURELY, THIS SHOULD HAVE PERFORMED MUCH BETTER. TOGETHER WITH THAT MERELY WARM SOUP AND THE MISERLY PORTIONING OF BEEF MEAT GIVEN..... THESE 3 THINGS IN THE END PROMPTED ME TO AWARD THEM A CRYING FACE. GOD BLESS YOU.