One of the first memories I had with Mr S is the chilly and serene mornings we had in a local diner. Feels like ages ago, it’s been a tumultuous year for us. Sometimes when I think back, it seems like I’m walking through a stranger’s story. I only have a vague memory of that period – I casually brushed off the “I think about you all the time” and his long, blazing gaze. I was discussing my troubles with a friend today and I said “life is shitty, so maybe what could help us endure our darkness a little longer is the fiery genuineness and love that come from another individual”. (And why is that the person who stays single the longest but gets asked about relationship advice the most?)
We don’t have early breakfast any more, but we still kiss passionately wherever we go. Today we went to the Upper House’s Grey Café. UP is my favorite hotel in Hong Kong. I love their setting and decor, its simplicity and originality speak volumes to me. (East hotel in Taikoo has a similar design, so check it out if you fancy such style). We’ve been to this café earlier this year and it was top notch. But today….well expectation is a bitch.
We ordered a bakery & toast set and a soho breakfast set. Compared to our previous visit, the portion of food significantly shrank (sadly we don’t have photos of that time to compare). We were told that’s due to the decrease in price ($50 we think). Really? Are people who spend $300/person on breakfast really that price-sensitive?
1. Omelet: it was overly crispy and filled with spinach inside, freshly cooked mushroom on top did elate the taste, but I remained unimpressed.
2. Pastries: another disappointment, texture and flavor were chalky and dull, some were too sweet. Frankly they didn’t taste like freshly baked.
3. Greek yogurt: it wasn’t Greek yogurt (or it was diluted), I might be wrong but usually Greek yogurt has a pretty firm and thick content.
4. Salad and freshly squeezed fruit juice: good but didn’t compliment the overall set well since the rest of the food was barely lovely.
Another thing that caught our attention was when we were just sitting down, S asked the host sweetly if we could get seats in a wider area, the host Angeline bluntly said “NO”. I know it’s a draining job, but this kind of attitude is completely unacceptable.
View in the café was quite nice, but I would rather go to Sevva or Aqua if view counts that much. So it was a quite disappointing experience and I would not repeat unless I have to.

Yesterday was quite a handful, so we were in a “quickie” mood. We grabbed some takeaway. We selected the lunch sets, first one was fried rice with ginger, millet and celery. It’s a very pleasant surprise, the rice mingled very well with veggies. Deliciously chewy, its aroma and moisture made us drool. This is the best dish among three. One fun way to eat it is adding nuts to the rice. A handful of nuts (30 grams) is very good for your health.
The next is a set which you can choose two out of three dishes, accompanied with rice and soup. Takeaway is $8 cheaper but I will probably not order it again. I chose eggplant and balsam pear but they were old and oily. They added faux fish meat into it which I don’t really mind, but Mr S hates faux meat. So luckily he has me ;)

We’ve been here twice and on both occasions, services were bad. Waitresses were mostly grumpy and lazy, though managers/cashiers were much more helpful and easy-going.

Hong Kong's autumn is always nice - the breeze, fallen leaves and coolness which is much needed, by this time of year most people have had quite enough of heat and feeling sweaty.
Today we went to one of our regular places - House of Jasmine. Usual comfort food:
1. Oolong tea: I don't like eating food with tea, for tea decreases iron absorption. But it's still a nice choice to go with Chinese food, its aftertaste helps with the greasiness. The servers are quite efficient at adding water for us.

2. Fried rice with soy sauce: our all time favorite. We've had it dozens of times and it never failed to delight us. Quite gingery and sweet, every grain of rice is nicely moist with sauce. If you hate spring onions or ginger, this may not be your thing. The rice is a bit harder than the usual rice you find in Cantonese restaurants.

3. Stir fry veggies (asparagus, yam and lotus roots): very refreshing with a touch of Chinese cooking wine. It's a simple dish but utterly fulfilling.

4. Eggplant buns with pine nuts (we asked the chef to hold the pork): a bit too oily to my liking but it's a very delicious combination of spice and crunchiness. Eggplant has a similar texture to meat, so for vegetarian beginners eggplant is a good food source. But eggplant absorbs a lot more oil than other vegetables (so do potatoes), so do not OD on this.

The overall quality of HoJ is absolutely satisfactory, but their service could be frustrating at times, most of their staff do not speak much English, and they are understandably busy all the time. So mistakes such as taking the wrong order or even forgetting to input order do happen. But I definitely will come back again and recommend you to go.
Ms W