lemoncurry's Profile

I am I big fan of beef rendang so I was delighted to find this Indonesian restaurant in Jordan.Ordered the beef rendang lunch set (HKD 68 plus service = 75 HKD). Not sure why it's called a set because it only consists of the actual dish.Unfortunately this was very disappointing - a large pile of plain rice, a relatively large pile of cold, cooked cabbage (which was uneatable) and a tiny serving of the so called beef rendang containing two (!) pieces of meat. To make things worth this isn't even proper, thick, slow-cooked beef rendang - more a very average beef curry.The food came within less then 5 minutes after ordering - so at least it is fast.…Read More

Ye Shanghai has two outlets in HK this one and one in Pacific Place. Both have literally identical food, but this one carries a Michelin star. Does it deserve the star? In my view clearly not.We went for lunch on Sunday and could get a table without waiting. The restaurant is large and has a nice decor featuring dark wood.As starter we had chicken with bean jelly in peanut sauce (55 HKD) - one of their signature dishes. Good sauce, but the texture of the bean jelly was much softer then usually in this dish which we didn't like, also I prefer this dish with more cucumber. Overall the weakest version of this Shanghai classic I have seen in a while.As first main dish we had stir fried river shrimp (168 HK). Decent dish, but not better or worse than in any other Shanghal restaurant.Second main dish sautéed string beans with bamboo shoots (HKD 148!!!). Very bland, but the addition of bamboo is a nice element.Finally steamed pork belly wrapped in fragrant leave (HKD 30 a piece). Basically a singe cube of hong shao rou wrapped in a leave, came with a mini bun on top. Relatively lean for pork belly and therefore not "melt in your mouth", but with good flavor.Overall decent food, but nothing that seems to justify a Michelin star as you get the same (or better) quality at most Shanghai restaurants in HK (including the non-stared sister restaurant in PP).Service was friendly, fast and attentive.…Read More

This is a typical HK noodle shop with a soup kitchen in the front, a few tables in the middle and someone making dumplings in the back. It's located in the first unremarkable area of Sham Sui Po, not for from the namesake MTR station.Specialty of the house are dry noodles with shrimp roe, so that's what I get. The noodles are typical HK style - thin and very chewy. Topped with a generous serving of dried shrimp roe, which as an interesting salty and fishy taste. It's served with an extra bowl of good soup with some equally good wontons.Overall a good, fast and cheap lunch option if one happens to be in the area…Read More

Small restaurant opposite PMQ, always busy. We arrived at dinner opining time (6 pm) on a Sunday evening and couple just get two seats. There are only bar seats around the open kitchen and at the wall (no tables). The idea is probably fancy, contemporary burger joint – so everybody is young and hip, loud music is playing, you get the picture. But the place has a nice vibe to it. I like that you watch the chefs preparing your food. The menu has three sections: “for sharing”, which are starters, “Baos” and “sweet ending”.For sharing we ordered the “sesame Caesar” and the “lamb tartare”.Sesame Caesar was made from “Indian lettuce” (which looked a lot like cabbage) with pieces of dace (which also goes mud carp, but dace sounds better) and a Caesar dressing with black beans, playing of the classical Hong Kong canned food豆豉鯪魚. Overall a good, but quite heavy salad and interesting variant, but not necessary an improvement of a Caesar.Lamb tartare tasted very much like a good beef tartare, only with light lamb aftertaste. Was served with deep fried tofu skin, which looked a lot like papadums and added a nice crunch (but not much flavor).The buns are an interesting idea. They have little to do with Chinese Baozi, what they serve is a steamed bun (basically a Mantou), which is cut open, fried in one side and then filled like a hamburger, the texture of the bun is a bit denser than a hamburger bun, I found that quite enjoyable.All the variants have a sort of a fusion theme. The pork belly bun has two slices of fried pork belly and let’s face it: you can’t go wrong with pork belly, the pickles add a nice extra crunch and tartness – very yummy. The Sichuan fried chicken is a bit more conventional, although there are some Sichuan spices the coleslaw tips is very much towards a western style. Still good, but not as special.The starters are around 100 HKD and the bunds are 78 HKD, which is obviously not cheap for a small, fancy sandwich, but despite the casual atmosphere the food a creative and high quality, which in my view justifies the price tag.Service was fast and friendly. …Read More

Beer and Fish is one of these hip new places on Staunton. Very small bar/restaurant, probably 10 seats – basically a fancy fish and chip shop.Almost 20 craft beers from all over the world are offered, 4 of these on tab. We tried the two local ones: Moonzen “Jade Emperor” IPA –amber color, strong, hoppy and fruity, nice beer and the Lion Rock Oriental pearl Oatmeal stout – black color, quite light for a stout and without a decent head, but nevertheless an enjoyable beer.We ordered a plate of shrimps, oysters and fries (which took surprisingly long to arrive), typical UK-style beer batter, shrimps quite small and therefore not much taste, oysters were great – large and juicy with a nice crispy batter, unfortunately there were only two of them; in addition very large potato wedges with the skin, more soft than crispy, but good tasting.Staff was very friendly, beer came fast, food took a while.Overall a nice place for a drink of good quality beer, some nibbles and some people watching. …Read More

SAMA is small restaurant at the end of Gough Street. Very casual with just a few tables.The specialty of the house is “soup curry” – basically a spicy soup with vegetables and some meats to choose from (or just veggie). The restaurant offers three soup bases (tomato, shrimp, coconut). As a standard they are served with rice (on an extra plate) which can be exchanged for udon noodles (at a small charge). The interesting part is that they serve the curry in not less than 30 levels of spiciness.On my first visit I went for the coconut-veggie-udon and then asked which level of spice is appropriate for someone who can eat fairly spicy. The waiter recommend level 20, so I went. What I got was a fairly large bowl with something that had a lot of similarity with a red Thai curry due to the coconut base. Flavorful, spicy (but not very) and very rich, lots of vegetables in quite big chunks – potato, eggplant, lots of cabbage (including some hard to eat parts from the stalk) and half an egg. I also liked the combination with the udon noodles, which added some extra chewiness. Overall quite enjoyable. The coconut bases makes it very tasty, but also quite heavy.After that experience I came back for a tomato-veggie-udon, level 30. And what should I say – this is easiest the spiciest dish I have ever eaten in my life (and I have been – among other things – to Chongqing’s spiciest hotpot). This was so overpowering that I am not able to write much about the taste of the tomato-soup. Still finished the bowl, but didn't feel very good afterwards, serious challenge, even for an experienced spicy food eater.…Read More

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon carries three of the prestigious Michelin stars and is therefore member of an exclusive group that consists of little more than 100 Restaurants globally. On this level you should expect absolute perfection and my review should be red under that perspective.The restaurant is located on the 4th floor of the Landmark, we were sitting in the l'atelier area, i.e. on high chairs around the open kitchen. I like watching the chefs preparing the food, but being served over the counter is a bit unusual (however the staff was very attentive and friendly). The interior of the restaurant is using the same black and red design that you can find at Joel Robuchon’s salon de the.The evening starts with an impressive bread basket, containing more than 10 different kinds of breads which is made in-house. While the taste is generally good while some of the textures are very chewy.The menu is surprisingly long, containing three different set-menus as well as an extensive à la carte section. As this is our first visit we opt for the long, 8 course “menu decouverte” (2080 HDK per person plus 10%).The wine list is thick as a phone book, mostly French and contains hardly any bottle below 1000 HKD. As a wasn't sure what to pick which an 8 course menu (and didn't want to go full pairing) the friendly sommelier recommended three wines by the glass (one champagne, one white, one red) to accompany two courses each which generally worked quite well (price per glass between 250 and 500 HKD).First to arrive was an amuse-bouche of white asparagus mouse with tomato puree and a fried bread stick (or something like that). Asparagus mouse was very light andhad a nice flavor, the stick a nice crunch.First dish was “surprise of imperial caviar with egg mimosa”. This is a cold, hard boiled chicken egg, yolk removed and replaced with caviar and topped with a mayonnaise-like sauce made from the yolk. First of all I have to say that I am not a big fan of cold, boiled eggs and this one even had a bit of the sulfuric smell that is that is making hard boiled eggs particularly unpleasant. Also the whole things was quite cold. Overall this dish seems quite old-fashioned and I didn’t find it very enjoyable.Next up “white asparagus with miso emulsion, espelette pepper and sea urchin”. Long plate with a couple a pieces of asparagus, around 5 sea urchin pieces and drops of a brown miso emulsion. We were told to eat all ingredient together. The sea urchin tasted great, the asparagus was good, but has a very inconsistent texture – some pieces were overcooked while others were very firm, the miso emulsion was quite salty and I decided not to use it after two bites. Good ingredients, but execution a bit sloppy.Next “girolles mushroom, and iberico ham raviolis with celeriac foam” (which is grammatically wrong the ravioli is already the plural of ravioli, but that's the way they put it on the menu). The ravioli(s) are fried on one side like Japanese gyoza, but the stuffing is very European – ham and mushrooms, always a winning combination and the Japanese inspired texture works well. In addition there are a couple of very small and very tasty girolles mushrooms and a quite unnecessary celery foam. Best dish so far.After that “grilled main lobster” with green peas and baby bak choy”. A very classical French dish - grilled lobster of good quality, served with a “bisque” style sauce of strong saffron flavor. Perfect texture of the lobster (the claw not so much) and very enjoyable sauce. Green peas and baby bak choy didn't add much. Good dish, but lacking creativity.Second seafood dish was “John dory fried with shiso tempura, cuttlefish ink risotto”. Good fish, but clearly fried for too long and therefore dry – I am sure every specialized tempura restaurant would make that better. Served on a little bit of black risotto, which was good, but didn't form a logical combination with the fish.For the main dish I went for the “pan seared Japanese Wagyu”. Consists of three stripes of (very, very good) beef, a fried pepper and a bit of sauce. This is served with Joel Robuchon’s famous mashed potatoes (which contains insane amounts of butter). What should I say – it is a very simple dish, but beef and mashed potatoes are heavenly.First desert is “pineapple compote with yoghurt ice and greed chartreuse jelly”, very fresh and light. Interestingly served with some herbs (tarragon?), more a palate cleanser, but nice.Finally “mascarpone with fine chocolate tuile and coffee ice cream”. These a basically mascarpone squares covered with a very thin layer of some kind of biscuit, quite flavorless. Al least the coffee ice cream added a nice bold flavor.Overall this left me a bit puzzled. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon uses outstandingly good ingredients, the preparations are mostly very classic while I would expect a bit more creativity for three stars (and more than 2000 HKD for that matter), lots of the combinations seem a bit random (lobster with pees, tempura fish with black risotto) and there are a couple of technical errors (overcooked fish, sulfur smelling egg, overcooked asparagus) that should not happen at this level.So overall I could see one star, the second one is already hard to argue (e.g. compared to Amber, which is in my view significantly better) and the third clearly underserved. …Read More

This is a casual little basement restaurant. Community table, bar with high chairs, manga drawings on the wall.Came for lunch on a Sunday and the restaurant was relatively empty.Went for the spicy beef rice bowl (HKD 128 plus service) which consists of the rice bowl, a small salat, a miso soup m, the choice of three skewers and a drink.Salad came first - small bowl of mixed greens, sweet corn with a light dressing. okThen the rest of the set. The rice bowl is similar to a Yoshinoya-bowl, but freshly made, the beef is quite lean and tasty and the onions still have a bit of bite, lots of sauce that is by no means spicy (so the name is a bit misleading), overall quite good. The miso soup is pretty standard and a bit on the salty side. For the skewers I went for sweet potato, mushrooms and green peppers. The sweet potato was in deed quite sweet and had an interesting mushy texture, the shiitake mushrooms had a good taste and texture, but was unfortunately almost cold, the peppers where three little slightly spicy peppers (similar to Spanish padrons) topped with bonito flakes- the best of the three skewers.Overall a satisfying and good value meal in an realized environment - will be back.…Read More

restaurant occupies two levels in PMQ including a nice terrace.Went for Sunday brunch and sitting on that terrace. Place was fully booked (luckily we had a reservation). Apparently the place is very popular with ExPats, I didn't see a single Hongkonger.We started with drinks - the mediocre and very small Americano costs a whopping 41 HKD on which they charge 10 service - so 45 HKD for a small coffee. The menu only lists detox juice (for 75 HKD), but they where able to get me some OJ (which I have to admit was good).For food we ordered the mushrooms on bread on the the berry pancakes.The mushrooms came as a hand-size pice of bread, topped with some sort of mashed mushrooms and topped with fried mushrooms, a bit of arugula on the side. Mushrooms where quite dry, but tasted good. Overall not bad, but nothing to write home about.The pancakes came has three palm-sized pancakes, layered with vanilla cream and a few sliced berries - probably 2 strawberries, 2 raspberries in total. The pancakes where kind off Central European style - thicker than a crepe, thinner than a US pancake. Vanilla cream was thick and tasty, but a bit heavy. Again an ok dish, but not nearly worth the 128 HKD (plus service - so 140). I should mention that this usually includes one scoop of ice cream, but as I find ice cream for brunch a bit strange I asked to serve them without.So on the plus side they have a nice terrace, on the minus sides we paid more than 400 HKD for two (very small) coffee, two juices and two small and mediocre dishes.I think there are some significantly better places for a brunch in HK.…Read More

One of the many new hip, casual restaurants on Landale Street. Bistro-style tables, some high chairs – you get the picture.I came for dinner and the place was quite empty (I assume it must be packed for lunch), so no wait time.The menu features mainly fusion-style noodle dishes. I went for the “Taipei” for HDK 78 (plus service), which is “fresh Shanghai la mian with 5-spice slow cooked pork in Taiwanese sauce”.The noodles where good, put I don't think they are hand-pulled (what I would expect from la mian). The pork wasn't tender enough to be seriously slow cooked, taste however was good. So what is Taiwanese sauce? Turns out its some kind of a dark stock, which was very salty, had a strong taste of 5-spice (maybe that came from the pork) and had some reconstituted dried mushrooms in it. The bowl was topped with some shredded cucumber and coriander, which added some welcoming freshness and crunch.Overall I found this dish a bit confusing – some elements where good (flavor of the pork, cucumber), some were a bit sloppy in execution (texture of the pork, salt level of the sauce) and the overall combination of the elements wasn't really working.As I like the “noodle with the twist” idea I made come back to try another one, the “Taipei” however didn't convince me.Service was fast and efficient. …Read More

Hong Kong has a wealth of great seafood, but Sai Kung is really special due to its atmosphere and selection.Chuen Kee is the first (or last, depending from which direction you are coming) of a number of seafood restaurants at the Sai Kung promenade. It's the first one I ever went to and so far I had no urge to try another one whenever I came back.The selection of seafood is simply amazing: a broad variety of fish, crustaceans and mollusks. And everything is super-fresh i.e. still alive when you enter the restaurant, even the cuttlefish (which I haven’t seen anywhere else). Especially the selection of crustaceans is amazing – from simple shrimps to various Mantis Shrimp lobsters, king crab and giant southern crabs.The type of preparation is mostly Hong Kong standard but he quality of the seafood itself and the quality of the preparation are top notch. Scallops steamed with garlic and thin rice vermicelli in the shell - qute large scallop with the right dose of galic. Razor clams cooked in a spicy black bean sauce, great sauce, clams with great texture. One of my favorites (and a dish which is less standard) is the cuttlefish sashimi - thin slices of raw cuttlefish on ice with soy sauce and wasabi. Also the non-seafood items (vegetables, fried rice, beef chow fun noodles) are very good. The beef chow fun noodles is a bit on the dark side, but otherwise verty good, fried rice with egg white very light.The restaurant itself is a simple place with a big outdoor seating area, plastic chairs and tables, but a nice view over the bay. The service is fast and efficient. Be aware that the place is quite dog friendly, during my last visit (at lunch time) there where dogs sitting at about 1/3 of all tables.Prices consist of the prices of the seafood plus a fee for the preparation. So if you go for the cheaper pieces (e.g. shrimps, pomfret, …) you can have a fantastic meal for less than HKD 300 per person, if you want king crab and elephant-trunk clam you will spend north of 1000 per person. But prices are generally lower than in central HK…Read More

Bread & beast is a small and hip sandwich joint at the end of a small alley with an interesting mix of traditional retail shops and new gastronomic outlets.The restaurant is open and has only a long table with some bar chairs to sit. Nice design, but not a place to stay for longer.The menu is quite short: 4 sandwiches plus a few side orders. I went for combo of a “kentucky san” with a side order of lotus root chips for HKD 100. Sandwiches are made to order and mine came within not much more than 5 minutes.The kentucky san is basically a chicken katsu curry on a bun. A large, thick, hot and very juicy Japanese style breaded chicken filet, curry mayonnaise and some finely shredded cabbage on a ciabatta-style bread. Nicely served on a wood-board (as hip burger places do it these days). The chicken was delicious, tender and juicy and worked very well with the mayo, the cabbage added a bit of texture, but not much taste. Overall a very satisfying sandwich experience.The word chips is a bit confusing as it means differing things in American and British English, the lotus root chips are “American chips”– thin and cold (i.e. crisps in British English). They look nicer than regular potato chips, but taste basically the same. They are covered with a bit of “fu yue mayo”, no idea what that is, but it didn't add much flavor. Would probably try a different side dish next time.Overall a good option for a quick lunch in wan chai, but a pit pricey for a sandwich. …Read More

Recently opened restaurant. I like the style – simple and casual while light and spacious.You have to order at the counter and get the food delivered to your table. Although there were only 4-5 people ahead of us we had to wait quite a bit – seems the staff still needs a bit of training with the ordering process.The choice of food is quite limited: 2 pasta dishes, a hamburger, club sandwich, cooked breakfast, a Japanese black curry with a hamburger and maybe one or two more things. Seems a bit random to me.So I went for the mushroom pasta (HDK 62), which arrived after a relatively short waiting time. Portion size was ok, as was the texture of the pasta. Unfortunately the taste was far from impressive – basically plain Pasta with pieces of mushroom, but no real sauce. The dish was desperately crying for some parmesan cheese, but unfortunately they only offer the parmesan powder in a shaker, which makes the dish worth.So nice place, but unless they work on their staff training and menu I am unlikely to return. …Read More

this otherwise unremarkable restaurant is famous for its claypot rice, so we visit the place on a cold winter day for some comfort food.We had to wait for about 20 minutes in the cold (I've been told that the waiting time can be a lot longer), at least we could already place our order.The restaurant is serving classic versions as well as some unusual ones. We went for the classic BBQ and sausage, a shrimp with noodle and a rib with pumpkin.As we had already ordered the first pot arrived quickly after we got our table. The BBQ pot was almost perfect - nice rice with a crust and a generous portion of sausage and ham. Next was the shrimp version with an absolutely perfect layer of crispy rice at the bottom and a nice serving of shrimps; the combination of noodles with rice worked very well. Finally the rib and pumpkin pot with some small but tasty pieces of rib and pumpkin, the rice was similarly good as in the previous two.Staff was remarkably friendly and helpful in the explaining the how and when to eat.unfortunately the clay pots are only available for dinner …Read More

This is literally a pizza bar as you sit on a bar around the open kitchen (there are a couple tables upstairs).The menu mainly features pizza, pasta and salat. We tried the pizza with ham and mushrooms and the warm vegetable salat.The warm vegetable salat was basically an ordinary green salat with a few pieces of warm pumpkin and onion. The dressing was mainly oil and water (I guess the salat hasn't been dried properly after washing). Not a recommendable dish.Fortunately the pizza was better. Quite small with 11 inches and made right in front of us.The dough was good, making a nice, soft crust. Cheese and ham where of good quality and generous. Mushrooms where unfortunately from a can. Overall still a good Italian style pizza.The place has a very bistro-like look with some Italian deco elements. Service is fest and friendly.Prices are quite high given location, portion size and quality (most pizzas are 160 HKD plus 10%)…Read More