pearlorange's Profile

I randomly walked down Ship Street one afternoon and discovered a new shop called Pausa.  It's semi-open walk-thru outlet selling quick grabs like salads, cookies, coffee and ice-cream.  Yes, ice-cream sounds good on a hot summer day......so, I had the chocolate gelato on the cone.  It wasn't a hard decision to make, since there was only the chocolate, or, the vanilla.  While I was waiting for my ice-cream, a hippie look-alike offered me to try his cookie which he just bought.  No thank you.  I was brought up teaching that I should never take any food from strangers so I nicely rejected his offer.  Got my cone and quickly walked away.  The gelato ice-cream was nice and soft with rich chocolate flavor.  Cone, however, was a little soggy but got crunchier while I worked down on...it.-pearlorange…Read More

Thought I'd pick a chinese restaurant for lunch to celebrate mid-autumn with my colleagues, and King's Taste came into my mind.  I always passed by this restaurant when I take the escalator up to Soho but never had the chance to try.We ordered 3 lunch sets and 2 noodles from the a-la-carte to share amongst 6 people, and it was definitely more than enough.  The lunch sets came in 3 appetizers, 1 xiao long bao, a main and a rice / noodle.  The flat rice noodle totally soaked up the spiciness and rich flavor of the water braised beef, making this dish my favorite.  The slow-cooked pork belly was very soft, tender and juicy, and you really gotta eat it along with the skin and fat layer which brings out the different layers of flavor of the dish.  Xiao long bao was a must-try too.  The skin was thin yet thick enough to hold up the soup inside, and the minced pork remained juicy and rich in flavor. *nom nomHaving mentioned all the fatty and oily and calorie-loaded yummy dishes, we did, order a vegetable dish too.  I just didn't expect it to be served this way...Another pork dish ordered separately came as a cold appetizer - pork belly with sesame dressing.  The texture remained chewy and went well with the sauce.  The two noodles came last.  Both were classic Shanghainese / Sichuanese dishes, which I did make sure to request for less oil for these tend to be stir-fried with generous amount of oil.  Both of them were cooked to al dente.Dessert came as a slight disappointment though, or perhaps we were all just too full by that time already.  Physically wasn't attractive, but at least the sweetness of red date paste was balanced right.Overall the food served in this restaurant was good and seemed authentic.  The lunch sets were good options if you wanted to have a taste of the different Chinese dishes.  I heard that the peking duck wrap here was good too - might come again for dinner next time.-pearlorange…Read More

Finally managed to set a day to meet up with J and Sy, and J suggested Elements since his princess bb can easily come down to join us after her afternoon nap.  I rushed over to Kowloon Station after church, and since it was a sunny day, we opted for seats outdoors.  Of course, first thing I've ordered having arrived was a beer to cool myself down.  Probably because they don't have license for outdoor seatings so we had to walk over to the counter to order and pickup food ourselves.  Madam S'ate offers a number of craft beers in the menu, and I just randomly picked one.  From my experience, there's always a 50% risk with craft beers.  These ones, I think are so-so in terms of flavor.In terms of food, I've ordered the classic truffle carbonara, thinking it couldn't go wrong.  I was wrong.  It was definitely not al dente and the sauce was weak.  It was totally lacking the creamy and cheesey flavor, and the sauce was rather watery.  This pasta, at this quality, was to my standard, quite pricey.  I remember it was something like $180.  I definitely had to do alot of salt-and-pepper'ing to the dish to make it slightly more edible.Sy and J ordered the Croque Madam and the fried seafood platter.  Croque Madam looked decent although I didn't taste it, and fried seafood was not bad.  But again, how can anything deep fried go wrong given the batter-food ratio doesn't get too off, right?While I wasn't fully satisifed with my pasta, I decided to go for another beer and dessert.We ordered 3 desserts to share amongst 5 adults and a baby.  I'd say these were probably the best out of all the things I've tried during the meal.  I opted for pavlova - always my first pick.  Honey and chocolate ice for the baby and rents; rhubarb and berry tart for the couple.Not a cheap brunch.  It never is at either of the Madam's, but I was slightly disappointed with the quality of the food at this price, not to mention having to travelling all the way across the harbor.  Only thing I like is the chilled alfresco ambiance, dessert and of course, company of my buddies.  -pearlorange…Read More

People are right when they say Hong Kong is very fast-paced and changes rapidly.  I left town for a mere 2 weeks and came back and saw many new shops on Queen's Road, one of them being Pantry.  I believe the Pantry in CWB has been around for some time and they are famous for their pastries and cookies.  I got off early one day and thought I'd buy home a dessert to fix my sweet tooth so I went to the new branch in Wanchai.It's a bright and neat little bakery shop with all sorts of breads and cookies shelved on one side, all of which were welcome for sample tasting.The other side were the cakes and apparently they do lunch sets too.What really caught my eyes were the cute Lego block cakes ($54) which came in various colors.  The blue blueberry cheesecake sounded most safe so I bought that one home.I took a first bite and thought...hmm, it's not the usual kinda cheesecake I had before, not the traditional style, and not even NY nor Japanese styles.  I thought the cheese texture and taste resembled ricotta cheese, not that I'm saying ricotta cheese is bad, but it's not what I was expecting for when I bought this cheesecake home.  Inside the cake, there was a layer of blueberry purée, cake and a crunch covered by the "cheese". The cake itself looked cute and creative, perfect for photoshooting purposes, but the flavor was not fantastic.  Let's just say I didn't have my sweet tooth fix.  Likely I will give this bakery a second try, but will definitely go for the safer option of chocolate cake or cookies.…Read More

The first time I knew about Cali-Mex was when I passed by the outlet in Central when it was still under renovation and while I finally saw the opening of another branch in Wanchai, I went there to grab a quick lunch one day.  There aren't many Mexican joints in HK, let alone good ones so I was really looking forward to giving this place a try.  The branch in Wanchai is on Queen's Road East right next to Burger King and PP3 - quite conveniently located.  Ordering's at the front, and there're seatings on the second floor.That afternoon I was craving for something light so I opted for the Baja fish taco ($98) in medium spice, which was definitely not cheap I thought.  *still reminiscing the once-upon-a-tim CAD 99cent tacos at Taco Bell*  Food was ready pretty soon and I grabbed a free-seating-fast-food-style table upstairs.  The order came in 3 taco shells, although the presentation didn't look too very appealing.In fact, the food itself didn't taste that great either.  The salsa and sour cream was cold, which of course I wasn't surprised but nothing else was even a tiny bit warm, not the taco shell, not the fish.  While there're 3 tacos in an order, which worked out to be around $33 each, there was only one small piece of fish found in each one of them, and the rest was stuffed up with veg and sour cream.This place is not worth my second try.  I would much rather get a deluxe lunch combo at Tsui Wah WITH beverage at this price.  At least they serve their food hot.…Read More

Following an oh-so-very-healthy "extreme sport" session of jogging on Bowen Road on Saturday, my girls and I thought we'd reward ourselves with a nice brunch. We called 30min before going and still managed to get ourselves a table, lucky us we thought. It was also definitely a good idea by me to at least have a shower before we headed there despite no make-up cuz first thing I saw after sitting down was a table across from us with a whole bunch of friends I know. The oversized Ksubi shades were definitely my lifesaver.Having sat down we were a hungry bunch hogging the bag of warm crunchy baguette and sparkling water ($65), while not losing our etiquette of course.The girls all opted for the healthy option – fresh juice ($65), Roseberry-Apple ($65) and T-Fizz ($65) - while I was the only one to order a tiramisu martini ($128). What’s a meal without a drink, right? Right.Roseberry-Apple – cranberry juice, apple juice, rose and sodaT-Fizz – English breakfast tea, apple juice, elderflower, lemon juice and ginger aleTiramisu martini - pretty self-explanatoryHalf satisfied already from the bread and drink, we can now take a look around and appreciate at the restaurant’s décor – bright, modern and chic with a mural ceiling made out of white and grey petals. Being a fan of modern art, I was automatically drawn to the attention of an oriental woman painting hung on the wall. The chairs here were the female-unfriendly kinds with huge openings at the back so there’s nowhere to put the purse except for on the lap…but then, you gotta use the napkin too, so yes in summary = annoying.To be honest, food on the menu didn’t look too attractive and neither did the price, given it was only lunchtime. Thought I didn’t wanna waste my 7k of fat-burning jog, I went for the fish du jour ($188), which I already forgot what kind it was. Missy hr went for the egg benedict ($138), Missy Leona for the sandwich jambon-comté ($98) and Missy Mastermind for the 63º egg ($148), all of which were very average I would say. We shared the artichoke macaroni side ($128) which was at least slightly better with all the cheese. Like, how could it not? And hey, I didn’t even realize the side was actually even more expensive than a main until now??Although the fish was cooked just right, the texture and the taste were not very overwhelming. The egg benedict, was an egg benedict. The bread for Missy Leona’s sandwich seemed to be from the same family as the basket of baguette we got which made her entire meal very dry, AND chewy. The 63º egg was the best dish. Well, that WAS their signature after all.Overall, not very wow food but the ambiance was there, given the chic décor and location which was artfully tucked in a quiet street in Poho. Hmm, another been-there-done-that.-pearlorange…Read More

After dinner at Ho Lee Fook on Friday, us girls decided to explore westbound of Soho to this new vibe little hub surrounding Aberdeen Street and landed in Little Lab Central. Although the bar looks just like any other bars in the area, the drinks on their menu definitely are not the usual ones you get outside.The Newborn ($120) – premium spiced rum combined with a traditional Chinese ginger stew taste, you know the reddish-black collagen-loaded vinegar soup with pork knuckle – is a must try, despite of course, the absence of the collagen loading element. Rum, while lightly infused with homemade vinaigrette, made this a very refreshing drink after a heavy meal.Missy Leona ordered the L.A.B.’s Iced Tea ($120). The specialty iced tea cocktail was a refreshing gold rum based long drink with hints of botanical and tea tannic mixed with home blended dai-pai-dong tea syrup, though somewhat just another name for Long Island I thought. Missy Mastermind ordered the Ginseng in Black ($135), a manly blood-boosting drink which totally suited her style.Poor Missy hr didn’t get off work till 10 so we ordered her some nibbles and an Orienated Romas ($120), another Chinese fusion alcoholic drink which tasted like cream soda + milk.Apologies for the lack of info due to the fact that I was already half tipsy at this point. And hey look, at least I remember us getting freebie sweets from the bartender!-pearlorange…Read More

I called in sick one day and after visiting the doctor in CWB, I decided to grab some healthy food from Gaba on the way. To be honest, the location was a little awkward. Seated on the first floor of an old building on Lockhart Road, I had to beep the old-style intercom at the door on the ground floor for them to unlock the gate for me to go up the building, reminding me just exactly how many many years I haven’t gone up to these private venues for late-night drinking, which was THE thing 6.5 years ago when I came back to HK.The cafe was quiet, not a surprise though on a weekday afternoon, but it was a cozy venue.   They even had my fav pink lily on each table, e-props.I ordered the pasta du jour which was whole wheat pasta with pan-seared scallop. Scrumptious al dente spaghetti mixed with ginger, garlic and spring onion (like the dipping sauce for Chinese white cut chicken), the scallop was skillfully seared such that the inside remained raw.I was already warned but how can a fever day go without sweets? So, I went ahead and ordered the Puffle – chocolate puff x waffle. It was a big portion and the fact that the ice-cream was home-made and sugar-free made me feel that much better. There’s always a trade-of course. The waffle was not orgasmic, probably because butter and cream and all those sorts of unhealthy ingredients were opted out of the recipe. I love the chocolate puffs and vanilla sauce though. They were very crunchy, and the dark chocolate sauce poured on top did not make the puffs too sweet.Sank into Adele’s singing in the background the entire time, it was a relaxing and healthy experience at Gaba. Will definitely be back next time to try out their unique coffee selection and dessert. See the turntables? Hopefully can catch DJ in the house next time too! ;)-pearlorange…Read More

I've first read about Soft Creme from people's photo tag on instagram, and this ice-cream shop was so new that it wasn't even posted on OpenRice back then so I googled on it to get the address.  One day Missy Mo and I decided to go chill at Tai Hang, and Soft Creme immediately came into my mind.  We grabbed a quick bite then came here to check it out.  Probably because it was still new and not alot of people knew about it yet, there wasn't too long of a line-up.  Ice-cream numbers 1-4 were made from Hokkaido milk (uh oh, I sense radiation) and A-D used cereal milk, not really sure what that was though.  I really wanted to try the special of the month which was the Moet champagne flavor but annoying Missy Mo rejected my craving and ordered the Flamed Bacon.   We were watching the food experts preparing the cups behind the counter and thought that we gotta try the Australian honeycomb next time.  Meanwhile, I also kept glimpsing at the cute cashier guy while waiting for our ice-cream... ;PThey put dry ice at the bottom of the cup underneath the ice-cream to prevent it from melting too quickly since it's "soft" ice-cream and not the usual ones you take out from the Park n shop freezer.  I tried to take picture of the smokey effect (oooo, spooky) but was a tad bit late.  Anyway you get the point, I think the dry ice was just another gimmick but in terms of taste, the ice-cream was indeed very soft and was surprisingly good with the bacon bits.I went to Tai Hang again the following weekend but this time there was a long line-up outside the shop, and I'm never a fan of queues PLUS the cute cashier wasn't there this time...I will be back.…Read More

Once in a blue moon I've asked Mr. K out for dinner on Friday.  Only because it's his birthday though.  Mind you, I don't normally take initiative in asking guys out...!!!  And, having made 14 phone calls on Monday I only managed to book 2 restaurants and got myself waitlisted for the remaining 12.  So I suppose that's why Route To Success-101 always says one should plan ahead of time (which of course I did but Mr. K had to change the day from Sat to Fri).  Simply insane.  But luckily, Tate was one of the 12 waitlisted which called me back for an available table so I took it immediately.One thing I really have to point out is Tate's star service.  I did call a number of times to make all sorts of ma-q-fan requests like arranging for a loner table, birthday cake message and keeping my credit card for payment at the end.  Considerate pearlorange even requested for a menu without the price which they actually didn't have but said could have it arranged so when I arrived 10min earlier to leave them my cc, I was very impressed that they printed two sets of whole new menu for us and even had them nicely binded.  Definitely e-props for that.Dinner came in a choice of the 6-course sensualist menu or 9-course gastronomy with optional wine pairings, which changes every season so it was still something new for Mr. K even though he's been here before.  We both opted for the sensualist without wine pairing and ordered white separately.  We didn't take picture of the amuse bouche but if I remembered correctly it was a mini cheese puff served with edible branch sticks.  The first out of six courses served was the flamed salmon tartare which was garnished with five different ingredients - chives, wasabi cream, gherkin, rice crispy balls and caviar. Foie gras mustard ice-cream.  The blueberry sauce and mustard ice-cream balanced out the rich flavor of the liver terrine, making it a refreshing second dish.Next was the Dalian abalone topped with a Taiyouren egg and a puny piece of uni.  Oops, I played a little rough and bursted the runny egg, kinda on purpose though heehee. I like it better as a dip.Onto the second half of the sensualist was the sakura ebi tagliolini.  At this point I was actually already 70% full and offered a good portion of my pasta to Mr. K.  Nonetheless, it was cooked to al dente with a soft tint of lobster flavor, and even a non-fan of pasta like me thought it was a delicious carb dish topped with the fried sakura ebi.Second last course and a heavily meated one was the lavender Challandais duck breast.  Tender and juicy and randomly scattered not so randomly on the serving plate.Do not think that the final course, carrot cheesecake, was a carrot-flavored cheesecake because the very carroty carrot sorbet was actually served separately from the cheese which was put inside a white chocolate shell.  We did have fun taking the sphere shell apart...Now, this was the part that I liked the most, and no, not because it's that candle-blowing wish-making moment.  I thought the Zen Garden built on a layer of caster sugar was a very innovative form of serving the petits fours.  I almost had an orgasm seeing those perfectly made round circles on the sweet sand, almost.  Well, I DO have OCD.A very good birthday dinner with excellent service.  They've earned my 20% gratuity.…Read More

Located in the basement of lower Elgin Street, this Chinese fusion restaurant welcomes you with a whole wall of golden fortune cats and mah-jong, both of which in the Chinese culture are believed to bring one with prosperity and luck.  What a good start on a Friday evening after a hell's day at work with the Wicked 2-faced Devil.You can be sure to get a peace of mind from bombarding group messages in your Whatsapp and work emails from your BB because mobile signal here wis very weak, especially towards the back where we were sitting.  The industrial, rustic and slightly orientally artsy decor of this Chinese restaurant was what made the ambience different from the usual noisy and bright family-friendly Chinese cuisines.And...cheers to TGIF and a break from the Wicked 2-faced Devil, we had the mule, lemongrass mix and some kinda cold tea mix.Apparently Missy Leona and I were still pretty stuffed from the lunch at Bread St Kitchen so we went easy on the ordering this time.  Many dishes here were spicy so if you're not a fan of it, you should confirm with the server while making your orders.  The two appetizers arrived first - Yunnan style wagyu steak tartare and shredded chicken salad.  Although I felt that having the wagyu beef completely raw defeated the purpose of having wagyu, I still highly recommend the dish which had a dynamic flavor from the sweet and sour marinate and herbs ($138).  The cracker was so crunchy and good that I could not resist from having more.  The shredded chicken salad was also a slight twist from the traditional dish.  Marinated with sesame sauce and slightly hot, lettuce heart was used as the base of this salad ($88).Since we couldn't have the pork belly at Bread St Kitchen during lunch, I've ordered the grilled pork belly here to make up for it.  Thick-cut and tender, this dish was served with roasted chili and roasted almond ($128).  The soy chicken was another highly recommended dish.  Came in generous half chicken portion, this poultry dish was cooked to the right tenderness and flavor.  I don't usually go for the breast in Chinese chicken dishes but this was done so well that us three girls kept digging into it ($160).A very satisfying dinner with good food and company at a good price - truly a "blessing."  Look, we even had fortune cookies.  Left the restaurant as a happy soul.…Read More

Uh oh no phone number listed on the OpenRice page?  To show my dedication for good food I actually rang up LKF Hotel for the number so in case any of you wishing to call them to make a booking, number is 2230 1800.  And...you're welcome Well well well, so yet another celebrity chef restaurant opening in HK.  This time I booked a table for 7 pax for Friday lunch with my 604 girls to have a sneak peek at Gordon Ramsay's debut restaurant in Hong Kong.Walking up LKF with Missy Chan we automatically went to take the lift up to LKF Tower only to realize that it could not go directly to the Mezzanine floor so we got out from the LKF Hotel lobby and walked down the stairs to where Balalaika used to be.  Somehow we got lucky that day and were being put in the private room at the back of the restaurant although I didn't request for any special table.  Or perhaps they just didn't want us to disturb other customers with our subwoofered gossips and laughters?  The private room sat behind two glass doors with a good number of wines shelved along the walls.  Here's a selfie of it:We also had a Caucasian waiter to standby and serve at our request.  How privileged!  He mentioned that Mr. Gordon Ramsay will be flying in for the following Thursday's private opening event, and unfortunately even the restaurant manager could not have a say in putting us on the invitation list.Workaholic Missy Chan had to grab a quick bite then head back to office to work so she ordered the short-rib burger first...and the dish arrived literally within 5 minutes.  How efficient, but the burger was not served hot for some reason.  The short-rib was cooked to medium and tasted very juicy - alot better than the ones from Butchers Club Burger (follow here for my review http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2384700).  The burger was seasoned just right with a slight chargrilled fragrance.The rest of us decided to order a few appetiziers and main to share.  Missy Meow, my G11 foodie girl and drinking partner-in-crime, arrived very very disappointed knowing that the pork belly was sold out (even though the restaurant actually just opened?).  She did keep mentioning about wanting to try the pork belly since morning brekkie time.  Missy Leona the workout-a-holic then suggested that we leave an annonymous feedback form with 'eff eff eff eff eff eff eff...' written all over it. That was only a joke of course.  Let's start with the least amazing dish - tamarind spiced chicken wings - tasted like Asian style teriyaki sauce wings this dish came as a slight disappointment.  The Burford brown egg was a resemblance of the calorie-loading tomato sauce and cheese in a lasgna.  Sea bass carpaccio was finally a refreshing dish which was nicely marinated to a slight chewiness.  The runner-up goes to the roasted veal carpaccio.  The after-taste from the truffle essence and white and black truffle shavings lasted till night time.  No, I'm not exaggerating - definitely a must-try appetizer.  And finally, the winner goes to the grilled beef short rib.  Honey-glazed and grilled to a subtle crisp on the outside, the inside was braised to a soft tenderness loaded with a full beef flavor.  A must must-try.Work-a-holic Missy Chan left early, and amongst the remaining 6 of us ordered 2 roasted ocean trouts, 2 pork and fennel sausages, 1 beer battered code and a shepherd's pie, all very Britsy.  The highly-recommended-by-oncall-waiter ocean trouts came in a fusion wannabe yet turned out to be weird composition side of Chinese pak choy.  The pan-seared fish skin was cripsy, and the inside was intentionally left medium rare to keep the fish texture soft.  Not a highly recommended dish by me though.  The sausages were relatively better, juicy, and the lentils were surprisingly good given I'm never a big fan of beans.  They were cooked just right not to lose the chewy texture, and I believe alot of butter were being put into it to make it taste so good.  The chips that came with the battered fried fish were good in a way that they were not soggy like the wedges you usually get outside but the chef got a little too excited with the sea salt, and each one of us thought they were too salty.  The lamb in the shepherd's pie was nicely baked and the melted cheese on the top along with the mash made the dish all that much better.The bill came at about $300 per head, and given we ordered from the a la carte menu which was the same as for dinner, we thought this price was reasonable.  I paid for $250 for Jamie's Italian lunch last time, and food from this Gordon Ramsay's chain were definitely more delicate and tasty, not to mention our private room and on-call waiter at our service.  Overall the mains were not that pricey but the appetizers actually were not that much cheaper than the mains which in summary meant that the appetizers were expensive although I felt that they did taste much better.  Good for another go and will definitely go light on the mains so can try out their desserts next time.…Read More

Had my virgin...hike at Twin Peaks with Mr. K on Saturday and after 2.5 hours of intensive Step Master, I decided to reward myself with a sweet treat at Gino's. They have gelato and yogurt which comes in quite a wide range of flavors.I always like my ice-cream in waffle cones, and I chose the passion fruit flavored yogurt thinking I wanted something more fruity under a 30 degrees sunny afternoon.  Mr. K was very stuffed from the heavy lunch though so we shared the cone.I believe it was something like $45 for the one small scoop of ice-cream which I thought was very pricey, and I couldn't even taste the passion fruit although Mr. K kept insisting something was wrong with my tastebuds. The waffle was average - at least it wasn't soggy.The shop wasn't very big but could still fit two small tables and bench seats so we ate the cone there thinking that the cream could last longer under the air con than in the heat outside but very soon I found out that the air con might've been broken since it was getting warmer and warmer as we sat down nibbling on the scoop.  Don't think the cone was worth the price but I guess anything works after a 2.5 hour intensive workout.  Things in Stanley do tend to be overpriced anyway.*Photo courtesy of Mr. K…Read More

What really caught my eye in the middle of a random local street in Wanchai was the neat and transparent decor of this little newly opened ice-cream shop. It’s not just any random local dessert shop though. Just as its name suggests, desserts being sold here are put together by odd, yet surprisingly go-well-together ingredients. Other than the usual 5 dessert being served on the regular menu, a different special flavor is served for a limited time every weekend.Having reached my early thirties, my risk aversion suggested that I opt for the low-fat gelato on matcha panna cotta, fresh mango, sesame crumble and caramelized almond meringue, finished with an edible pansy flower and butterfly waffle, named “Oddies Garden,” at a price of $49. I’m never a big fan of paying for overpriced take-away dessert but this Oddies Garden was surely worth its money. Cute presentation similar to those served in Ms B yet half the price, this cup of scrumptious dessert was a piece of art standalone with the detailed edible butterfly and carefully layered goodies.The gelato was very very smooth and reminded me of the ones I had in Florence many years ago, although they did melt quickly in this summer heat so I really had to nibble against the clock. Sweetness of the matcha panna cotta was adjusted just right which went extremely well with the exotic taste of the fresh mango. The pansy flower and butterfly waffle were better off left alone as visual art appreciation though, unless you are really feeling extremely hungry that day.I never understand why there’re always long line-ups for the small scoop of overpriced $44 gimmick ice-cream at Lab Made in Tai Hang, while a hearty good quality dessert at Oddies is sold for only 5 bucks more and yet, it’s almost always empty whenever I passed by this hidden gem. Oddies is definitely one of my top picks, and let’s hope that I won't gain another 10 pounds from my bi-weekly visits…! …Read More

I randomly found out about this restaurant hidden on the 17th floor of Hopewell Centre one day en route to my adhoc jogging session at Bowen Road, so decided to give it a try one night with my D mates in our little pre-celebration for Mid-Autumn Festival.  While waiting for the rest, including myself, to arrive, Missy J started chatting with the waiter and learnt that the restaurant was under the same group as Zen / Zen Too.  Ah, no wonder the name Papillon...which in French means butterfly (Chinese name of Zen is also called butterfly).Set dinners were served here with price ranging from 12x to 200ish.  Came with soup and a dessert, I thought the prices were very inexpensive.  Apologies for not remembering to take a photo of the menu but I vaguely remember it included something like pasta du jour (which was grilled salmon with squid-ink spaghetti in tomato sauce), salmon wrapped in pastry, roasted chicken, steak, linguine vongole, some kinda risotto and duck breast.Soup du jour was corn and pumpkin which was served hot and nicely blended.  The soup was so thick that it was like a dip sauce for the bread.  Flavor was good too.I guess we're all so health conscious in avoid having carbs at night so we all coincidentally opted for the roasted chicken and duck breast.  I highly recommend the roasted chicken which was served in decent portion.  While still moist and tender on the inside, the chicken was slightly crispy on the outside yet not too dry.  Definitely one of the best roasted chicken I had in town other than the one from Chez pearlorange of course.  The reduced orange juice added a refreshing spritz to the duck breast.  The chef did not go crazy with the butter which made the mash tasted just right.  We also ordered a bottle from Côtes du Rhône to share.  This light-bodied blend of red from Southern France was very easy to drink with a fruity and smooth finish.  Went well with the meat.Evenings tend to be slightly quiet due to the location but definitely a highly recommended hidden gem in Wanchai - hearty food served at very good price. …Read More