leonhk's Profile

Quick lunch today. Been to this place before and had the okra curry with pork cutlet, which was pretty decent., but today I went for the hash beef with rice. (see below)Here's the deal, you pick what you want, then you can decide on the amount of rice you want, (I think 300g is standard and you can have 200g for $5 less or you can add 100g up to 600g of rice for an extra $30) then you tell them which scale of spice you want (I stayed firmly in my safe zone and went for number 1, medium spice). As you can see, it looks a good lunch portion, but look a little closer and try to find all of the beef. The sauce was fine, though I should have risked the wrath of my colleagues and gone for spicier. Lots of onion, but a disappointingly small amount of beef, I'm guessing 4-5 small pieces. The iced milk tea was DIY, they gave you regular tea and a small pot of coffee creamer. I wasn't expecting Michelin starred perfection here, but it wasn't a great dining experience. Next time I want beef, onions and rice I will probably head to a well-known orange fronted chain and get a soft boiled egg too. …Read More

After a rather late night, I awoke with one thing on my mind, well actually two things, firstly, I'm too old for late nights, and secondly, I want ribs. So, when the other half finished work we headed to Ruby Tuesday in Tsuen Wan. Still smarting from the previous evening's revelry I opted for a glass of iced lemon tea ($52, but I was assured that it was bottomless refill). That being said, I have eaten and drunk here before and the margaritas are pretty good. I ordered a half rack of classic BBQ ribs and the other half went for the chicken, avocado and bacon sandwich. On previous rib-craving visits I have also enjoyed the accompanying baked potato crowned with a generous portion of butter and sour cream, so imagine my disappointed (albeit slight) when the ribs turned up with two scoops of mash instead. I made a minor comment about being sure that it usually came with a baked potato. This was merely an observation, not a complaint, but within 30 seconds the manager had come over to see if things were ok and said that they would return it to the kitchen and get the mash replaced. I assured her that this was not necessary, but we did later comment on the good, swift attention to the customer, well done RT. The element of the meal not so easily forgiven was the 'healthy' portion of cauliflower adorning, the plate, goading and smirking at me with its opaque alien nastiness. I am an adventurous eater, but cauliflower is evil and should never be permitted to call itself food. If I had known, I could have requested my ribs without said evilness, especially as when all of the other plates of ribs went by, they had baked potato and not a hint of cauliflower, but broccoli, an altogether more palatable side. Not sure why I had a different plate to all of the other diners, but suffice it to say, that the mash was fine (if a touch lumpy) and the ribs, as always came clean off the bone and and had a good meat to bone ratio, the sauce is tangy and sweet, if a little generic. The sandwich was huge. I'm guessing that the chicken breast in the sandwich was 5cm at its thickest. It was juicy, not stringy and went really well with the creamy avocado and the smokey salty bacon, and the ubiquitous lettuce and tomato, bravo. No issue here with potato confusion, seasoned fries and some ketchup. My personal opinion, and let's be honest, that's all these reviews ever are, is that RT generally hits the spot if you have the membership card that offers 50% off the bill. So, with membership card in hand, and cauliflower tossed with contempt onto a side plate, we handed over $350 and thought that we had done quite well out of it. …Read More

"I fancy sushi tonight" said I. So we went to Jun Sushi in Yoho Mall. It was convenient for the other half. I didn't want high end Tsukiji Fish Market sushi, I just wanted reasonably priced sushi and  maybe some gyozas. It was one of those places where you have your own tablet, scroll through and click on the dishes you want and then send your order straight through to the kitchen. We didn't want to go crazy, so we got some favourites and some things a little different. Assorted flamed sushi plate was pretty decent. charred salmon, scallop, squid tentacles and two kinds of eel. For me, and this is just my taste, please don't attack me for not being authentic, I would have preferred the pieces to have been a touch more 'flamed' but still, they were perfectly fine. Rolls next. We went for salmon, with salmon roe, and I think flying fish roe. This was a generous set of three rolls with plenty of salty, fishy roe. I have a mild obsession with salmon roe, and this was a feast for eyes, mouth and stomach. Granted, none of the individual ingredients were the best i'd even had, but for the price ($48 i think, but don't quote me on that, the other half has the bill) you can't go wrong. Soft shell crab. Three words that deserve a collective round of applause each and every time they are used together. On their own, in a curry, or in this case, in a sushi roll, I love them. This was nice too, though the flavour of the crab was a little muted. I believe they were coated with another kind of roe but I have no idea which kind, I just know that they added a nice pop and crunch to the experience. Just be careful when dipping them in the soy sauce. I, in my youthful exuberance, dipped in with the roll upright and promptly lost most of the roe into the sauce. I suggest dipping at the side where the roe isn't present. Gyozas next. Since my first trip to Osaka a few years back, I have seldom been able to resist a gyoza when it's on a menu. These were not too bad, though initially the amount of dipping sauce they gave us wasn't enough to drown a thought in.  That being said, as soon as we asked for more, they happily brought us a much larger portion. They looked and tasted like gyoza, though a smidge on the small side. I had never had a chicken wing gyoza before. I know, "how have you got through adult life you freak?" I hear you baying. Well tonight put a stop to that embarrassing fact. Those of you as naive as I, who are not aware of this phenomenon allow me to clarify. This is a boned-out chicken wing stuffed with regular gyoza filling of pork and seasoning. Yes, yes, yes people, this exists and you very much should get on the outside of some of these. What's not to like? Two of my not-so-guilty pleasures wrapped together in loving temptation. The Other half assures me that this place has a queue outside every evening. I can kind of understand why. If you want reasonably priced sushi and Japanese snacks without pomp and ceremony that you can order on an ipad (other tablets are available) then this ticks your boxes. If you are wondering by Yuen Long (you never know, you might be one day) then why not try try cin.  …Read More

I'm not going to hide here, I like beer, I like beer and I like food on a stick. So when the other half said "do you want beer and food on a stick?" (paraphrasing) I said "yes I jolly well do." (verbatim) So we found ourselves in Coedo Taproom in Fashion Walk. I had heard of Coedo and had tried a couple of their beers before, plus in general I have a particular liking at the moment for Japanese beers, so this seemed a no-brainer. We ordered a beer tasting platter which consisted of 6 small glasses of different beers with descriptions and tasting notes and a plate of six 'paired' skewers. I wont bore you with my pitiful attempts at sounding like I know what I'm talking about. All of the beers were good, all of them.  Pilsners, wheat beers, blonde beers, red and black beers. Coedo make good beer, and some of it is punchy. The Beniaka red beer weighed in at an impressive 7%.  Lets get in to the food on sticks. From front to back on the above picture. Lamb with cumin, pork with a spicy miso, beef tongue with chimichurri, Chinese mushrooms (though I suspect they would have been called Shitake given the provenance of the restaurant), chicken with leek and finally marinaded duck. Let's not waste time here, they all worked. The lamb was as you'd hope, tender, juicy and with that heady, earthy cumin flavour, spicy miso is a winner, beef tongue and chimichurri are great bedfellows and the duck was wonderful.  They may have been even better if I'd bothered to study which was paired to which instead of jumping in with all the grace of a starving hippo in a tutu. Happy with the choice of restaurant after the first leg, we went for a second round of stick food. Eel. Not everyone's cup of tea (or indeed glass of beer), but I love it, and this, again hit the spot, great texture nice sticky glaze and above all, two sticks! Next, the star of the show. Chicken livers. They seemed to have a very similar glaze to the duck we had earlier, which was no bad thing.  Juicy, metallic, sweet and tender. I could go on, but i'm dribbling over my keyboard. Simply wonderful. But storm clouds were on the horizon.Peppers with bonito flakes, a skewer classic, but lets be honest,  hard to get wrong. A solid stick.Okra with cheese, this is where we started to become unstuck. Okra, great, cheese, great. Okra and cheese....not so great. Okra was still on the rare side and the cheese looked and tasted like a cheese slice from the supermarket that had been attacked by a blowtorch wielding okra hater. It was just a bit odd and didn't fit with the quality that had gone before. Even the presence of an extra stick couldn't save it. Sweet potato with brown sugar and butter. Oh good lord! You see that on a menu and it just begs to be ordered, so, gullible as we are, we did order it. It wasn't bad, but it would have been better if it had been a touch more charred and drenched in sauce instead of teased with it. Last, and on this occasion, very much least, we ordered beer steamed clams. We both love clams, and as mentioned right at the start, beer is good, very good. So how you can put these two glorious things together and get such a bland, flavourless forgettable dish of nothingness is beyond me.  It tasted of water with a hint of onion and somehow even managed to blanche out any taste of clam too. What a mess. So, to sum up. Come for the beer, stay for the meat, stay away from the clams. Oh and for those of you thinking that skewers are a nice cheap dining experience, think again. This pile of sticks and empty beers glasses ran just north of $800. …Read More

Have been to Lily and Bloom on a few occasions through the years, but only for drinks, so this evening we went there for the other half's birthday dinner.  We were seated in a booth where we could sit next to each other instead of across from each other, which was nice. I went for a negroni (well, why wouldn't you?) and the lady asked for a recommendation from the waitress, something she was unable to  do, so she dashed off to find someone who could help. In the end she went for a Mai Tai, which came in a large, glass tiki mug. Both were good and well soused in liquor. We started with a pair of fois gras lollipops (an old favourite of ours at Amber until it was sadly taken off the menu). a silky chilled block of fois gras with a thin strawberry glaze and a light dusting of crushed pistachios. To be honest, the glaze and the nuts were barely detectable from a taste perspective, but the fois was very nice. A decent start.We followed on with a couple of appetizers. A classic steak tartare with quail egg and a punchy horseradish cream.  It was accompanied by, what can only be described as, sourdough doilies. Pretty to look at, but practically useless when challenged to hold even the smallest weight of tartare. so thin in fact that we renamed them 'sour hai bin dough?' and laughed uncontrollably at my amazing handle on Cantonese (sarcasm is tough to convey in writing). Having said that, another hit, with the flavour and the horseradish cream was great. Then came the sea urchin terrine. Three plump uni atop a light pink mousse, joined by some tiny green seaweed bubbles, that could have been sea grapes but don't quote me on that.  They were joined on the plate by a couple of crackers that looked like they were made from various colours of sesame seeds. Honestly, not over-enamored with them, they were a bit chewy, lacked crunch and took away from the lovely oceanic joy of the uni and the mousse. On the whole though, three for three. On to the mains.  We went for the confit duck leg with lentils and a mustard seed sauce. The duck was as you would expect, not too fatty, rich in flavour and a pleasant experience. the lentils were not so successful. No issue with the flavour, but they lacked identity. They were kind of whole, kind of crushed, kind of pureed. The texture didn't quite hit the mark, and the mustard sauce went ok with the duck, as it was a touch on the sour side and cut through the richness, but it conflicted somewhat with the lentils. A rare miss on the balance of things.Next came the showstopper. Cacio e pepe 'from the wheel'. a half wheel of finest Italian formaggio (pecorino i think), melted down with some kind of flaming alcohol, then the pasta was added to the oozing melting mass of heart attack. All done right in front of us. It looked really impressive, a fairly unique experience and a great dish. peppery, of course and a sauce literally made from booze and cheese. A hit on so many levels. We finished by sharing a dessert. We went for the fresh baked cookie with salted caramel ice cream. it came with the ubiquitous chocolate piped birthday greeting (name spelt wrong, but hey, not a big issue) and a candle in a strawberry, all to a chorus of 4 or 5 staff singing happy birthday. The cookie was rich, doughy, hot, gooey and very sweet, the ice cream, not too much salt, but enough to know it's there. A nice end to the meal, one that we left full and satisfied.The duck didn't stand out, but to be honest we were pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed the rest of the meal. Would I recommend it? Well, if someone else is paying, yes, go, indulge and enjoy. If you are paying....maybe, still yes. It did seem a touch on the expensive side. You may say 'but it will be because of the location'. I disagree, there is no view, and no real draw to the location. You are paying more because of rent, which is disappointing but sadly not unusual. Give it a try, but if you balk at the bill, don't say you weren't warned. …Read More

OK, so this is a review of my lunch visit today, but in the spirit of richness, choice and variety I have decided to also tip my cap towards other dishes that I have eaten at this restaurant, as it is a lunchtime staple, which I visit at least every other week. Greeted, as always it seems, by Steven (or it could be Stephen, we aren't that close) the boss at the door we are shown to a spare table and we set about choosing. This is one of those great little places where everything is on a well set out sheet of paper, you tick the box for what you want, hold it in the air and lickety-split the food arrives. Today I went away from my usual (which will get a well earned mention soon) and tried some soup noodles. From a choice of 4 or 5 soup bases I went for the duck soup (insert Marx Brothers quote here),  Phnom Penh noodles and fish balls and sliced pork. Sadly there was a translation issue, and what in English read 'sliced pork' actually meant 'minced pork'. Oh well, no major problem. The duck soup was deep and rich in both colour and flavour. I could have gladly sat down and devoured a bowl of just the broth without addition of noodles, vegetables, bean sprouts or meat/fish. That having been said, these did enhance the meal of course and created a tasty, beautifully aromatic yet simple bowl of Thai influenced soup noodles. Soup and noodles came to $31 and the pork and fish balls were an additional $6 per. For those of you who prefer to eat food instead of doing basic maths, that came to $43. My colleague went for the yellow curry soup base, which was lightly spiced, but not too serious for a lunch. Both of us chose iced lemongrass for our drink (add $8). This is a favourite of mine. The slightly floral resiny quality of the lemongrass comes through and is cut with not too much sweetness. This is available hot too, but why would you? My usual 'go to' dish at Sawadika is the Lemongrass Pork Neck Yellow Curry. If you have a soul somewhere in your body and a tongue in your mouth, you will like this (unless you don't care for yellow curry, or for religious purposes don't eat pork, in either case I would recommend not ordering this dish). The curry is rich and creamy, the sauce is thinner than I usually experience in Thailand, but this is no bad thing, as you get a very generous portion of steamed rice that benefits from the extra curry. The pork neck is seemingly grilled and then added to the sauce, imparting an extra dimension to the flavour profile. That is basically it......apart from the potatoes. Now I know that potatoes in curries is as devisive a subject as "Who was to blame for the global financial crisis?' and 'Ketchup or brown sauce on a fried egg sandwich? But from my humble soap box, potatoes in curries are simply a must, especially when they are as magnificently gentrified as they are here. They must first cook them in ambrosia (Nectar of the gods, not rice pudding) before adding them to the finished curry as they are some of the best potatoes I have ever eaten. Do it, try them, tell me I'm wrong I dare you. Sawadika is a lovely, friendly hole in the wall that seldom disappoints, and even if it does, let Steven know, he cares, and he wants to serve good food to everyone. Let him serve some to you one day, you'll thank him for it. …Read More

My Italian restaurant hunt continued apace with a visit to Assaggio last night. I had a couple of leisurely hours, so was looking forward to a chilled enjoyable dinner. On arrival the restaurant was pretty much empty, it was 6.30 on a Tuesday evening. I was asked if I wanted a bench seat, which initially I was quite sure that I didn't, until I saw exactly what she meant. The bench seats were in front of a large window overlooking the harbour with unhindered views right across to Kowloon side. This, was a very nice thing to look at indeed, in fact I almost forgot to look at the menu. Still paying lip service to a less alcohol-fueled lifestyle, I opted for a bottle of Italian water. I went for still, but when realising that I was throwing away $65 for the 'privelege' I wish I had gone for sparkling and at least got some bubbles for the outlay. The waiter did walk right across the restaurant with a slice of lemon for the glass though, so it was all worth it in the end, (sarcasm). Being a sucker for a menu with pizza on it, I chose the Golosa variety, which was topped with onion, bell pepper and pork sausage for $158. I suppose this is comparable to the chain pizzarias around the globe, but being a restaurant with just 2 outlets, I was hoping for something altogether more artisanal. I had quite high hopes too, as the bread basket was very nice indeed. It would have sufficed for two or three people. Three slices of warm, soft crusty white, three slices of cakey herby focaccia, a couple of long nobbly and crunchy crostini and some crisp wafer thin flatbread. Now I'm not a man who would transplant well into Chicago life. Deep dish pizza is not my bag. I'm much more of a advocate of the thin crust, cooked fast in a furnace, style pizza. I want my crust to bubble and look like it might be a tad burnt in parts. Having said that, I still like to be able to pick up a slice in my hands, slightly bend it and devour it like a caveman. For me this pizza was just too thin. The crust had popped and bubbled, but the lack of substance  meant that the whole rim had just become hollow and splintered when approached by either mouth or knife. The tomato sauce was very basic, yet I didn't get much of a flavour from it. Given the fact that it was cooked hot and fast, the large squares of onion and bell pepper were still partially raw with a decent bite to them. The sausage was quite plain. The meat looked of a good quality, you could see texture in the meat, with some good bits of fat blended in it. This sausage was not ground to within an inch of its life, you could see the ingredients, but lacked any pop. Now I don't expect every meal to blow my socks off, but this pizza, sadly, didn't even loosen my shoe laces. On to dessert. After gazing across the harbour towards ICC and being momentarily hypnotised by the light show and wondering how much it would cost to have your own message flashing up 100 storeys high, I ordered the rum and chocolate pudding with red berries. The edible highlight of the evening. A rich and very smooth chocolate mousse with a soft cake base gereously swamped in rum, surrounded by raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, (the more observant of you will notice that only one of those is actually a red berry). At $88 this rounded out at about $10 per bite, but felt much more worth it than the water that I was still sore about. I might return one evening and try a risotto or a pasta dish, but as for the pizza, I just can't find anything to recommend it. I wasn't bad, it just wasn't at all memorable, which is why I am writing this review so soon after going to the restaurant. If I left it any later, I might have forgotten that I ate it at all.  …Read More

I have been looking for some weeks now for my favourite Italian-inspired eatery in Wan Chai. This week I decided to try Bellaria, as I have seen it during the day and thought it looked promising. It was around 7pm on a Tuesday so I didn't expect to have to wait for a table and true enough, I was ushered straight in and offered a table, not right in the window and not right at the back by the washrooms, which was nice. The waiter was very friendly and attentive. When choosing an accompanying beer (yes, I am that classy) he recommended a couple from their small but unusual and interesting selection. When I asked if his first choice was strong he chuckled and said that it was pretty punchy. I decided on a boring, lower ABV bottled lager, which I won't name for fear of shaming myself and losing any credence I may have as a food and drink reviewer. I went for a classic 70's starter of prosciutto ham and melon. I'm not too snobbish to admit that I have always loved this plate and nothing this evening swayed me from this way of thinking. We must all agree that few things in life can turn a nice evening into a Dante-esque picture of Hell faster than under ripe melon with your starter. I am delighted to say that the melon was beautifully ripe and full of musky juiciness and the ham was fine but unremarkable. (My persuasion is towards Spanish hams as a rule of thumb, sorry.)For my main course I went for Penne Al Salmone. Penne pasta with salmon, baby asparagus and a light tomato sauce with a hint of cream. I dont like my pasta dishes to be too heavily sauced and this was, for me, just right. The tomatoes had a nice acidity which was cut through with the hint of cream. Basil perfumed the whole plate subtlely and the salmon was a mix of small flakes and larger pieces, all of which were soft, moist and well flavoured. The baby asaragus was largely made up of the stems, I guess the spears were being held back for another dish, but they were fine and cooked with still a little bite to them. I steered clear of dessert for no other reason than it is early January and I am still at that, must try to look after myself a little better phase. The bill came to $270 and change. I thought that $88 was a tad steep for six pieces of melon and prosciutto with a small dressed salad, but hey, this is Wan Chai. So, is this my new favourite Italian in Wan Chai? Maybe not, but that shouldn't disuade you from trying it. I liked it, perhaps you will too. …Read More

I booked an early table for two, as it is half price oysters and wine from 6-8pm every day. Taking advantage of this we ordered a couple of French oysters which were $30 each. They were large, plump, juicy, very flavourful and perfect with just a couple of drops of lemon juice. We were lucky the evening that we went, that a couple of Californians were in the restaurant showcasing some exclusive reds and whites and paired my girlfriend's oyster with a crisp, slightly metalic white, which worked very well indeed. For food we wanted a variety of snacks, so ordered Korean beef tacos which were small, but the beef was very tender and melted in the mouth. (We ordered a starter portion of two, for a main you are served three). We also had Dungeness Crab Stuffed Piquillo Peppers which was was rammed with full bodied crab meat and apple. Three came on a plate and they were good snack size for the two of us. They came on a bed of lightly dressed rocket leaves. We felt obliged to try the house garlic fries and weren't disappointed. Imagine your favourite garlic bread recipe, and then transfer it onto thin cut, crisp fries. They were excellent and didn't need the addition of the home-made ketchup, nice as it was. Though being from England, I baulked at the prospect of paying $68 for a bag of chips. Still not sated, we opted for the deep fried calamari. Instead of rings of flesh we were served a plate of lightly battered tentacles and a sweet and sour sauce. Far from disappointing, these were again very pleasant and light, not tough as they can be if badly prepared. To finish (right before happy hour ended) we had a couple of full glasses of red, my girlfriend choosing a 2009 Venge Silencieux, while I went for a 2009 Fleury Lucky 8. delicious and full bodied, these had deep fresh berries notes with an after taste of dried fruits such as raisins and prunes. Not a restaurant I would go to every day, but service was prompt and helpful, the addition of the visiting suppliers was a bonus and the ambience was chilled, jovial and friendly. …Read More

I had been informed that Mango Tree in Bangkok had an excellent reputation and was looking forward to trying out the Hong Kong sister. We were welcomed and ushered to a table for two right by the window and were able to take advantage of the stunning view across the harbour towards Central. We were in a slight hurry as we had cinema tickets which restricted us to just over an hour for lunch, but we mentioned this when we ordered and the waiting staff took this on board and we were served promptly, but still didn't feel like we were rushed. After a recent trip to Hua Hin, we saw a couple of things on the menu which we had enjoyed on our trip so, taking our time restraint into account, ordered simple and light. The soft shell crab salad was portioned nicely for our starter and the various flavours blended well, but also stood out individually. The green papaya was fresh, the peanuts, shallots, dried shrimp and chilli were well balanced and the whole dish was refreshing, with just the right amount of spice. For the main, we shared a green chicken curry and crab meat fried rice. The chicken thigh meat was tender and moist and the curry had an abundance of various aubergines, which are a personal favourite in Thai curries. The portion size again was just right for lunch for the two of us. The crab meat fried rice did not disappoint in any way. Not greasy, and ladened with large juicy flakes of beautiful crab. For dessert we shared the classic mango with sticky rice. Three large slices of perfectly ripe mango (we thought maybe with a hint of pandan) and good salty sweet coconut cream. If i was forced on pain of death to find a fault, it would only be that, being seated with the fantastic window view, did at times lead to the compromise of being around the corner from the main body of the restaurant and the staff weren't able to see us when we wanted service. This was only a very minor concern for us, given the limited time we had to dine, but under normal circumstances would barely be an issue, and certainly no cause for complaint. Mango Tree is still a bit of a hidden gem, (for lunch anyway) and from a selfish point of view, I would like it to stay that way, though with the quality of food and general dining experience, I suspect this will not be the case. All I can say is, get in there now and be the one in your circle of friends who knows about this place first. …Read More