數年轉眼已過，又調職了！

這次調至久違的旺角，工作少不免要重新習慣，但更難適應的是午飯時的 SB time，原來這區雖然食肆林立，但 SB 不多，最初幾天少了這杯不好喝但令人難忘的 SB coffee，心「引」難耐，正在担心，誰料這天抬頭一看，見到大張 banner 掛在街角的舊商住大厦1-2 樓，SB 已打入此區，更剛於 3 月 2 日開幕，有需求就有供應的市場定律又發揮了， so glad to see a star(bucks) is born

店子是樓上舖，要通過窄窄的「舊」樓梯，兩邊的牆滿是懷舊的塗鴉，好夠 feel，好夠特色，相信會吸引不少遊客。食品設於 1 樓，佈局亦以懷舊為主，磚牆、街招、紙皮石地，這天点了啡一杯及 italian sausage stick，上上網，呷呷啡，啡仍不好喝，但買的是 an hour of relaxing moment，the starbucks experience.第二天、第三天仍是來了這裏，但這兩次都被以麻雀牌砌成的「樓上好戲」大招牌吸引，拾步再上一層樓，到 2 樓試試，原來此層別有洞天，以戲院作佈置，據說亦真的可安排播放電影，不知是否屬實。這天下午沒有放電影，但坐在模擬的紅色戲院坐椅，隔著落地大窗，旣可觀看旺角街景，亦可選擇看對面街的大銀幕，真有置身影院的感覺食物又如何呢？這間 SB 選擇較多，有未試過的 penne pie (長通粉批)，bacon & egg pizza roll，新推出的 apple crumble muffin, 在中環都爹利店的菠蘿油等，不錯此店令我想起中環都爹利店，該店亦是走懷舊路線，但旺角店大得多，坐得較舒適，亦可能店子剛開張，亦不覺有什麼宣傳，所以客不太多，較易揾位，但以我所見，客是一天比一天多，近日更多了老外遊客及備考新文憑試的莘莘學子，說不定遲些可能成為旺角景点呢。

整体而言，感覺良好，事實上自己中了 SB 毒，冇法不 encore

但有幾点意見，店子可能因為新開，而地方又大，加上要跑 2 層，service 變得 較慢。此外，泠氣有些位置太勁，要調較一下。呀，還有可看看是否可以不在 lunch peak hour 倒垃圾，以免影響印象。

希望下星期再來會有改善，see you.

隱約記得第一次到 Suzuki 是 2007 年在禮頓道的店，當時試了 hot dog and coffee，很不錯，可惜後來禮頓道店 closed 了，但就到過上環舊維德廣場的店，那時 sell 的是日式西餐，有烏冬、pasta, cakes and coffee，但巳冇我的至愛 hot dog 了！

早幾個月，Suzuki 又由維德廣場 (現叫無極限廣場，就在上環永安公司對面) 的地下搬至樓上，這天早上冇事，就到 Suzuki 食早餐。這是我第一次來，店內環境整潔光亮，兩邊是落地大窗，俯視電車路及永安公司只是不喜歡莫名其妙的在店中心加了婑 counter或 partition，擺放碗碟，變了冇咁開揚，可惜早餐款式不少，$28 - $32，不貴我們選了三款Portion 超大，沙律新鮮，麵包鬆軟，只是魚柳炸得過了点火，但整体質素亦不錯，就這樣 在 SUZUKI hea了一個懶洋洋的早上，埋單結賬，竟是免加一，有驚喜，有下次

早餐後在中、上環左踱右踱，晚飯時間竟然又踱回 無極限廣場，旣是有緣，why not 重聚，So, SUZUKI, here we come again

這次點了咖哩天婦羅炸蝦飯，及香草西京燒銀鱈魚崧子烏冬兩味都不錯，咖哩是 typical 日式口味，甜多於辣，飯是日式軟糯黏口的 short grain rice, 銀鱈魚香滑，烏冬彈牙，very good, 只是份量是太小了，日與夜有強烈的對比，

日的 portion 大，夜的份量小；
日主打西式早餐，夜變身和洋 fusion；
日早餐免加一，夜 add 10%；
但日、夜 service 都 okay；
質素亦保持；
价錢嘛？
日超抵，夜 just okay.

這天 試了 SUZUKI 的日與夜，感覺不錯，will encore

Was told that Absolute Burgers were absolutely gorgeous. So decided to try out this weekend evening. It was ~ 7:00 pm and the place was about half-filled. But we were told that all seats had been reserved and we could only go for takeouts.
"But it'd only take us less than 30 mins to finish the meal. We can vacate the seats when the reserved customers arrive."
"Sorry, we can't do that!"

Very rigid and incomprehensible rules. So we got no choice but to order for take-out.

Then we were told that it'd take about 15-20 minutes and we should go outside and they'd call us. Why can't we wait here!!

Absolute rigidity !!!

We ordered a beef burger, a chicken burger, fries and mushroom poutine.

Take-out burgers can never be great cos by the time we started consuming them, the bun was soaked with sauce and felt yucky !!!

Take that soaking factor away, the burgers were ok, but still not what I was told, "absolutely gorgeous"

The mushroom poutine was something new and worth trying.

Overall, the food was ok, but the experience was kinda of absolutely rigid, not really the kind of service one would expect these days, as Andy Lau says.

For a groupon price of $29 including chicke/fish burger, fries and soda, the deal is great. Even adding $15 to change to a beef burger is still a good deal. But don't think I'll come back at regular price, unless with good reasons.

人的習慣很奇怪，一件事重複做了一次、兩次、三次.... 慢慢就會變成習慣，變成生活的一部份。
記不起從那一年開始，近數年的 X'mas/New Year 聚會都在 Park Lane Hotel 攪，最初是一樓的 Cafe One，大堂的 Lobby Lounge，這兩三年則轉了到 27 樓的 RIVA。事實上，RIVA 的環境、服務、景觀及食物都比Cafe One 及 Lobby Lounge 優勝。
漸漸習慣變了自然，今年亦不例外， Boxing Day 後一天又到 RIVA 午聚 RIVA 今天 serve 的是 semi-buffet，我個人亦喜歡半自助餐多於 full buffet --- 前菜、甜品是自助式，主菜則有多款選擇。点了主菜後到
Appetizer counter 走走，很豐富，有齊我喜歡的 parma ham and melon, caesar salad, smoked salmon, salmon sashimi, crab meat avocado, cocktail shrimp質優味美，人亦不太多，冇需像很多 buffet 般排大隊

吃罷 appetizer, captain 有禮地問需要上主菜未，很 nice

主菜我点了鵝肝醬酥皮威靈頓牛柳，鵝肝醬塗在牛柳上，再以酥皮包著焗，肝醬甘香，酥皮鬆 & flaky，牛柳嫩滑，口感豐當，佳作。 另外值得一讚的是伴碟的薯蓉， creamy, smooth and buttery，超正 其他的主菜我冇試，但各人都讚好，自己看照片想象一下吧結尾的 dessert 有 Haagen Daz 雪糕，另多款糕点，吃得太多了，連傳統的 x'mas pudding 都容不下，留待明年 encore 再試吧

Repeat patronage is the best indicator of a restaurant's performance.

This is my third visit to Harlan's within a year. That says a lot about my rating of the place.

The first visit was for lunch, the second for afternoon tea. This time, it's for lunch again (price of dinner is a bit steep for me )

I heard that the price of their hot-in-demand afternoon tea set has gone up already. But lunch remains at $198 and includes soup or appetizer buffet, mains, dessert and coffee. A real bargain if you take into account the nice setting and the superb view of TST and Victoria Harbour.There were a good variety of choices for the set lunchWe ordered roast of the day (grilled sirloin), orecchiette with wild mushroom and truffle cream sauce, and pizza as mains. For soup/appetizer, we all opted for the buffet style appetizer.

The hostess was really nice and voluntarily asked if we intended to share the mains and arranged additional individual plates for us to serve the shared food
The basket of bread was served warm and with a range of varietiesThe bread combined well with the great selection of salad and appetizers at the buffet table. The parma ham, foie gras terrine and smoked salmon were all of a very high quality.For the mains, the roast was grilled to a crispy charred skin outside but the inside remains juicy, at a medium well texture This is my first time having orecchiette, and it didn't disappoint me. The pasta was al dente and because of its thickness, gave a very good sense of al dente chewiness. The mushroom and truffle sauce was creamy and coated every bit of the cat's ear. A great dish indeed, not just the taste, but also the portion, great choice
The pizza was however a disappointment. I heard that Harlan's made great pizzas but this one was not served hot from the stove, probably because it took us longer to finish the sumptuous appetizer buffet. To me, a pizza which is not piping hot cannot be great. So, amongst the 3 mains, we gave the lowest score to the pizzaThen came the dessert. It's a slice of walnut coffee cake and a water melon sherbet. Cake was smooth and combined well with the juicy melon sherbet.
We concluded the meal with a nice cup of coffee. My americano was ok but Cat's latte was too milky, with no trace of coffee at all -- a small minus, but overall a great dining experience again.

Once the One, thrice the One, always the One. Will encore.

The beauty of group purchase is that you get to know and visit places that you don't usually notice.
Consumers are attracted by the good Price to visit the new Place while the vendors get to Promote their Products.
Le Moment is located at Peel St, a place which is not easily noticeable if you are not a resident in the area. The magic of Groupon brought us here.
For $49, one gets a $98 brunch complete with a main, juice and coffee.
It seems that the promotion works really well. We've tried a few times to make reservations but on weekends, it's fully booked each time we called.
This time, it was a weekday, and a half-day off for me. We called in for reservation and bingo, it worked.

There were only a couple of customers when we went in at 2:00 pm. The place is long and narrow, but with a high ceiling from which hung a couple of chandeliers. The open kitchen is at the end, right facing the glass folding door entrance. Seats are all aligned on one side of the wall, with some empty wine bottles as decoration. A nice, relaxing and homey feel. All is fine except the toilets which are located at an arch opening just across some of the seats in the middle of the restaurant
We were greeted by a young lady who politely showed us the groupon offers. There were only 2 choices -- we picked both.Croque Monsieur (a French toasted ham and cheese sandwich) is one of my favourites at SB. This is however my first time trying a Croque Madame. As it turns out, Madame is simply Monsieur topped with an egg.
The Croque Madame was served with garlic bread, green salad and mushrooms on the side. The egg had a runny yolk and was cooked to my liking. The ham and cheese were however a bit short, leaving quite an area of the toast barely exposed.The Egg Benedict was served with 2 pieces of garlic french toast and green salad on the side. The Hollandaise sauce was not generous enough and was less creamy and less yellowish in colour than the ones I used to have. The bacon strip atop the English muffin was however grilled to the right crispiness and not fatty. Not bad, but I'd prefer the one served at Flying Pan.
The coffee was freshly ground but the juice was a bit too diluted.

相聚總是令人愉快、興奮的，而與遠方來訪的至親相聚就更令人温暖、期待了
因此這次在囍宴的飯局「囍 . 相聚」就來得特別有意義，令人回味了
囍訊
加國傳來囍訊，J 預告會回港探訪，大伙人顿時鬧烘烘的商討飯局，十分雀躍。
經一番七咀八舌的商討後，shortlist 了分别是中式由星廚 Jacky Yu 主理的囍宴廚藝及 Conrad Hotel 西式的 Brasserie on the Eighth, 前者得 A&W 兩位力讚，於是一致拍板捨西取中，一嚐囍宴。
拍板後立即訂枱，以為十拿九穩，誰知 已fully booked，要在 waiting list ，hmm, 囍宴廚藝的叫座力，果然名不虛傳
正以為這次要改地点了，卻在兩星期後收到囍訊，有位了，失而復得的感覺，益使人雀躍
於大日子約一星期前囍訊再來，餐單以 email 傳來，於是又一番七咀八舌，鎖定了每位 $520 (連茶芥加一) 的套餐，菜式是啥，待容後介紹
對於囍宴及 Jacky Yu 的大名，風聞已久，亦知道在多間囍宴系列中，位於灣仔道的囍宴廚藝是旗艦店，由 Jacky Yu 親自主理，各人都有很大的期盼。但期盼歸期盼，對於私房菜這東西，我個人始终有保留，担心是名過於實，潮流炒作多於實幹廚功，這次的「囍 . 相聚」卻令我改觀了
先說說環境吧：
囍宴 廚‧藝 設在灣仔道商厦，該處臥虎藏龍，樓下有 Ricky Cheung 的 Le Mieux Bistro, 樓上則有前輩級大喜慶的高師傅。步出升降机就見大紅金漆的囍宴 廚‧藝招牌，顯得特別喜氣洋洋。進內見館子是長長的，裝修簡約得体，亦是紅色的主調，除了掛牆的獎狀外，亦有泥陶娃娃，琉璃擺設， Jacky 的廚藝著作，最特別的是一 jar jar Jacky 自家醃製的梅子、柑橘，旣能用以入饌，亦作裝飾之用，真佩服這個心思。座位相隔寬趟，大枱在兩端，中間是三四知己享用的小枱，佈局喜洋洋，感覺舒適。好，該說菜式了，10 位用的菜包括：
頭盤
黑松露桂花燻蛋
瑤柱絲涼伴油菜花
芥末燈影牛肉
主菜
雲上東坡醉千層
金牌口水雞
桂圓紅棗雪葩
香茅柑桔松鼠魚
長壽人蔘燉鷄湯
楊州豆乾絲炒蘆蒿
甜品
喜宴私房黄金湯圓
未上頭盤，先送來開胃小吃，是梅子花生，花生軟而不過腍，配上梅子少少的酸味，香軟醒胃，是個好的開始。先上的頭盤是黑松露桂花燻蛋，燻蛋做得糖心，配上薄薄的黑松露，再洒上蟹子点綴，色、香、味俱全，好配搭
緊隨的是瑤柱絲涼伴油菜花，有点像上海的馬蘭頭，油菜花的菜香，加上瑤柱絲的鮮甜，配以麻油的芝香入味，亦令人叫好
接著的是芥茉燈影牛肉，以我所知此味是四川菜，講求牛肉薄得可透燈光，在此要提一提職員Patrick (是部長打扮、高高瘦瘦的一位，希望冇記錯名)十分專業，每味菜上枱時，都為我們細心親切地講解，據 Patrick 指出，囍宴的燈影牛肉是先薄切牛肉，風乾，塗上芥末蜜糖，再返火而成，個人覺得這是手工菜，味道嘛？則見人見智，我個人覺得這種做法少了牛肉本身的肉味、亦缺少了吃牛肉的肉汁質感，但仍十分欣賞這道菜帶來的視覺享受及背後的工夫主菜來了，
第一道是馳名的得獎菜雲上東坡醉千層，Patrick 解說這味是 Jacky 從楊州請來的師傅之佳作，先做好東坡肉，再以上乘刀法將肉像批萍果般，片出縲旋式長條而不斷的肉片，再將肉片鋪成塔狀，塔內則是梅菜，刀功好，賣相吸引，味道及肉質不太像東坡肉，倒較像梅菜扣肉，十分惹味，正想叫幾個白飯送汁，Patrick 已識做地送上靚仔一大盤，更說明白飯任添，但以盤上飯，感覺好像粗了点，但可能這樣就更有 home feel 吧
第二道主菜是鎮店的金牌口水雞，這味一般是麻、是辣， Patrick 說他們做的是改良版，少麻，辣則應客人要求而定，十分体貼。除雞絲外，有粉皮及皮蛋，粉皮吸取了口水，夠惹味，皮蛋甘香糖心，比鏞記的不遑多讓。
兩碟惹味的主菜過後已飽了一大截，正在閒聊之際，亮点又來了，笑容可掬的 Jacky Yu 此時現身，親切地跟每枱打招呼，問意見，當然更少不了拍照留念， Jacky 都全冇托手踭，一一照辦，據 Patrick 講， Jacky 很多時出外，故未必每晚都在店坐鎮，這次大伙兒是有緣相遇了
Jacky 現身引起的哄動才剛平靜，Patrick 又送上另一亮点，
這次是桂圓紅棗雪葩，小小玻璃酒杯盛了一球的雪葩，透著清香的龍眼肉紅棗味，最下面是少少的蘆薈粒，清、爽、香、甜，用來清清雲上東坡醉千層及金牌口水雞的濃油赤醬最合適不過，令人食慾重振，Jacky 想得週到清過味蕾後，
緊隨的是香茅柑桔松鼠魚，一般松鼠魚都是橙紅色杰杰的酸甜汁，這裏用了清新微酸的柑桔作汁，配上香茅，別有風格，賣相亦頗特別，各人看了又看都覺得奇怪，為啥魚頭有角呢？又是 patrick 的解畫時間了，原來那不是真魚頭，只是把魚較裝上眼睛，扮作魚頭吧了
吃過魚，跟著是長壽人蔘燉鷄湯，每位以盅上，甘甜入味，喝罷熱呼呼的，渾身是勁
接著是蔬菜，這味是楊州豆乾絲炒蘆蒿，豆乾絲切得幼細整齊，好刀功，蘆蒿是啥？ 原來是種水產植物，長長瘦瘦的，但纖維非常高，味道偏咸，個人覺得是整頓晚飯最失色的一道菜甜品是喜宴私房黄金湯圓，以蕃薯糖水上，很香薑味，湯圓用綠茶皮做，芝蔴饀，香甜軟糯，好味
看菜牌整整 10 道菜都吃完了，誰知仍有驚喜，H 從鏞記買來大壽包，我是麭怪，喜出望外，這時 Patrick 又送上另一亮点，每人送上一小杯柑桔威士己，冰涼醒神，至此看看手錶，吃了一驚，事緣我們一枱都是心急都市人，一頓飯鮮有食超過 2 粒鐘，這次卻是傾傾講講，食食歇歇，不覺已 3 粒鐘有多，歡樂時光真的過得特別快環境舒適自然，服務親切到位，食物色香味全，最重要的是能與至親相聚，開懷暢飲，造就了這次難忘的囍 . 相聚，亦令我對私房菜留下良好的印象，祝願年年有今日，歲歲有今朝，身心康健，人月常圓，will encore

金鐘廊店鋪大執位，有不少店子都要清貨減价，生意真不易做啊！
和 Cat & Qoo行了一會，想到在遠東金融中心的 Monster Burger ，誰知原來又已轉了東家，變了北海道牛奶，怪獸 (Monster Burger) 被海道驅走了
這是我試過的第三間北牛了。第一次是在 CWB 新會道的總店，食物質素及价錢都合意，但店小人多，排隊排到氣咳，只光顧了一兩次。其後北牛殺入中環，在食厦 The Loop 插旗，menu 不變，店子長長的，不大，但白白的桌椅配上大幅的玻璃窗，環境舒適多了，亦因地点對我十分就腳，幫襯了不少次。
在金鐘的這間，地方更大，亦是有大大的玻璃窗，引進大量天然光，環境一流，食物種類及价錢都冇加冇減，服務員都戴上草帽，有点牧場 feel
店子正在 test run, 據說平日 lunch hour 大排長龍，相信和剛搬至 Tamar 的新政府總部不冇關係，海道老細有眼光我們点了北海道套餐，包小樽义燒湯通粉、油多、腿旦及飲品。 Qoo 要了餐肉通粉，我則点了餐肉治。义燒是中式不是日式的，但跟忌亷湯底很配，通粉亦夠彈牙，不會像一些快餐店煑得 lam pat pat 做多士的麵包夠新鮮軟熟，炒旦夠嫩滑，餐肉是港人至愛，煎得香口，正
地点就脚，環境舒適，价公道，味道好，走了怪獸，來了海道， will encore

拆禮物日，中午在時代廣場鍾菜飲茶，沒啥好寫！在 CWB 逛了一會，5:00 pm 左右，忽然想吃甜品， 但CWB 泊車又難又貴，決定到大坑碰碰。
平日的沅沙街不易找車位，今天可能人人都出外旅遊了，不用 5 minutes 已找到車位，信步行至街口這間糖百府。店子裝修簡單而「隆重」，全粉紅色的牆身有 D 酒吧 feel, 店內約有 20-30 座位，一邊是 open kitchen, 有幾位年輕師傅在內另一邊有個相信是少年糖伯父的 logo，下有數張雜誌推介的裝裱。另一邊就是玻璃摺門，入夜人客多時，相信會打開摺門，spill over to 沅沙街Menu 印刷精美，甜品種類眾多，從傳統的芝蔴糊，到西式的心太軟，以至日式的宇治金時，一應俱全。我們点了朱古力心太軟，配 Dryers 雪糕，賣 $45, 不便宜，但做得好好，外波焗得鬆脆，內裏的流心很夠朱古力味，稀稠度恰可，熱呼呼的朱古力䊢，配上冰凍的 Dryers，那種冰火甜美的感覺超正，個人覺得比以心太軟成名的 La Bons Brasserie 不遑多讓Apple Crumble with Dryers ($48)
蘋菓金宝是 Qoo 的至愛之一，但百府做法有点不同，沒有批底，少了質感及口感，crumbles 夠脆但不夠鬆，但新鮮做好熱呼呼的，配上 Dryers，還有一小塊 macaron ，亦算不錯吧！還有宇治金時 ($38)，我原以為是綠茶雪糕加紅豆蓉，但府上的綠茶不是雪糕，而是有点像加了 cream, 媡奶的刨冰 (OR 食友請多指教是啥)，口感界乎雪糕及刨冰之關，但味道及口感也不賴，如能多点紅豆及小丸子就更佳了環境舒適，款式多，味道美，價錢卻不便宜，但比 SB, PC 等 coffee shops 抵，是吃甜品小聚的好去處，will encore.

Saturday afternoon, after some pre-X'mas shopping in the CWB area, H took us to the Happy Valley Jockey Club for tea and a break.
We arrived at the Six Furlong on the 2nd fl of the Clubhouse at 3:00 pm and the place was almost all filled.
Then we noticed that the place was offering tea buffet at $88. A super deal indeed, no wonder there's such a crowd.

The place was neat and classy, with high ceiling and large windows letting in lots of natural light.Right at the entrance was a well-ornamented X'mas tree which gives a warm and joyous festive atmosphere. The variety of food is plentiful, basically offered in 5 stalls, each offering a few choices --
Sandwich corner -- with pastries, smoked salmon, tuna , ham finger sandwiches etc.Pasta corner - with fussili, deep fried squid -- the fussili is a bit on the dry side, needs more sauce but the deep fried squid is tasty and crispy, a must try which makes one forget about the cholesterol level for a while Dim Sum corner - with fried rice and dim sum - the food offered here was the least attractive, so I actually passed this section and saved my stomach for other more attractive foodiesNoodles bar - offers a variety of noodles including Laksa, fish balls, wanton, and beef briskets/turnip etc. I love Laksa but the laksa here was a disappointment, the soup was neither hot nor coconut-flavoured but the beef brisket and turnip was a pleasant surprise -- cooked to the right degree of tenderness and very tasty with the "Chu hau" sauce. The turnip was refreshing and sweet Dessert corner - the chocolate eclair, strawberry tart were great. The panna cotta was not as creamy as I would like. But overall, the dessert corner was the winner of all 5 stalls.We ended the joyous tea time with a nice cup of coffee.Very enjoyable and relaxing afternoon in a nice, airy setting, with a great choice of food at a super price. Will encore if a Jockey Club member will bring me in again