Food Dude's Profile

This restaurant is located in a very quiet part of Soho and a bit of a trek up some stairs, but the atmosphere was comfortable enough, it is also very quiet inside of the restaurant also, not sure if this is due to the restaurants itself or because of the people there or because it was a Sunday evening or a combination. The food is Italian though if you are looking for authentic, this is not it. The food seems more fusion of more Asian tastes with Italian. Our table was dirty when we first arrived so this was disappointing, but the service was fine afterwards.The salads were fine, relatively fresh ingredients. salad dressing was nice and enjoyed the nuts and other fruits.The spaghetti and meatballs, although simple, was my favorite dish of our meal. Meatballs were soft and tasted fresh with some light flavoringWe ordered a Korean-style beef pizza and it was fine. Nothing too special, but tasted good. Not a lot of beef, but the sauce had a nice balance of not too sweet, not too sour.The ice cream was tasteless and runny. Did not expect it to be so watery. Was disappointedThe panna cotta was a bit too plain, no fruit or topping on it.Overall, decent value for this area of Hong Kong and not bad for a simple meal.…Read More

I've written 22 yogurt shop reviews on OpenRice so far, and I have finally found the best yogurt shop in HK.After reviewing Cherry on Top, Yogo, YoMama, TuttiFrutti, TuttiMelon, Crumbs, etc, I could not find any shop worth it and any shop that had similar yogurt experience to the U.S. But I tried Hey Yo! last week using a GroupBuy coupon (50%) off and I was surprised by the small shop. It finally met my expectations.Hey Yo! sells cakes and other items, and they only had two flavors of yogurt. I tried original and it tasted of good quality. But I was surprised by the variety of toppings. They had special gourmet jelly desserts, Maltesers, lots of brand-name candy, even had FRESH blueberries, strawberries, kiwi and many other fruits. Everything is presented very clean, and premium. (other shops are usually dirty and do not show topping well)I was also surprised to see cheesecake pieces as toppings. These are very expensive high-quality toppings and they offer the price (pay by weight) as TuttiFrutti (which offers no fruit and no good toppings).The environment was comfortable, not too many tables, but enough for a few groups of people. There were about three staff and they were all friendly and responsive.The price is the same as the other shops, the yogurt is good quality, the toppings are the best, and the service/staff are good. I can easily say that this is the BEST run yogurt chain in Hong Kong. I can't say it's the best yogurt, but it's one of the best, possibly tied with YoMama and TuttiMelon. I will definitely come back and bring friends. next time I'll take photos. I just wish I bought more GroupBuy coupons now! …Read More

I took a break from writing yogurt shop reviews, but now I'm back as I just experienced several new shops. I last reviewed Tutti Frutti locations on HK Island about a year ago and my reviews were accurate because those shops are now closed. Last weekend, I went to Tutti Frutti in TST using a group buy coupon, hoping things improved for this yogurt chain, but it seems this shop is even worse than before.First, the yogurt tasted bad. I had lychee, chocolate, original and green tea. And all of them tasted almost the same. Very bland not much flavor and all tasted of poor quality.Next, the toppings selection was simply bad. They don't offer anything good. only cheap stuff. There were no fruits. Other shops offer strawberries, kiwi, maybe blueberries. TuttiFrutti offerred NO FRUIT. some obviously cheap jelly and tapioca balls, and the cheapest chocolate candies. Hey Yo and TuttiMelon, at least they offer brand name chocolate candies. Here it looks like all "Made in China" cheap stuff. Because I had no choice of toppings, I just put a lot of marshmellows and chocolates, but it was not what I liked.The one staff working was nice though. I felt bad for him. Only one staff and he seemed bored. The shop itself is uncomfortable. There are only a few chairs, enough for one group of ppl and that's all. We had to sit outside. And even with a 50% off, I feel it was expensive as the dessert is so cheap quality.Overall, the entire experience was bad. It is a cheap product, with no topping selection and they are priced THE SAME as other yogurt shops that are better. I would easily choose Hey Yo! or TuttiMelon or even YoMama over this shop. It's just upstairs!Honestly, after reviewing over 20 yogurt chains in HK, I think TuttiFrutti is the worst yogurt chain in Hong Kong. worst yogurt, worst toppings, worst environment and worst price.…Read More

Apple Green has one of my favorite menus in HK. It always has new and cool dishes to choose, the food is consistently delicious and full of flavor, and the environment is clean and comfortable. The only thing that could improve is the wait staff, sometimes they are not attentive and not so friendly.If you're aren't familiar with flatbread, it's not so well known in HK, but Apple Green is one of the few places you can find it. The flatbread was wonderful, it was light and crispy and the toppings are fresh and delicious, with plenty of healthy ingredients. I had two types, one cold one with spinach and parma ham, and a hot one with chicken. They are both worth sharing if you are with a group. I also tried the grilled salmon which was tender and lightly seasoned. Unfortunately, I often feel hungry if I don't order enough here, but since it's mainly women and smaller-sized men in here, it doesn't matter to most customers. For me, I think the portions can be small and unsatisfying as salad is not very filling so it's not really good value-for-money. For people with normal appetites, if you order a regular portion salad, you will likely need to order at least one other appetizer (eg., flatbread) or a full entree as none will be enough food.…Read More

I have read about this restaurant and it has been recommended by friends, but never tried it before until now. However, I'm not sure I trust the recommendations any longer. I ordered the mushroom rice pizza and it included soup, but it was all very disappointing. Soup was bland, no taste, and watered down. It included a toast, which tasted old and like rubber.The pizza came and it also tasted bland and the cheese didn't taste very good. It was more oily and burnt than good cheese. The pizza also had almost no toppings and the main feature was the rice, but even that had no taste. The meal including another pasta dish came out to around HK$200, which seemed very expensive for so little food. All of the food was very simple and consistently bland. If you come here, I don't suggest ordering the pizza, at least you should not order the mushroom. The decor is average, but the spaces and seating seem very tight and not comfortable. This is NOT the kind of place you want to have a large group, have a celebration or to sit down and relax for a nice conversation. This place is mainly for young people and students who don't care about what they eat, and who don't plan to spend a long time here. There are many other places which are better for that.…Read More

I thought I would give this yogurt shop a second chance since they had a Group Buy offer, but I was disappointed to find that they are perhaps even worse than before. Watery yogurt, slow service, messy outlook.This place was so messy and it almost looked dirty, not hygienic. CAn't they find somewhere to put this junk? It's out in the open. This guy I actually felt bad for, unless he's the manager. He was all alone on a Sunday! Other yogurt shops would have 4 - 5 people, Tuttimelon has some 8 - 10 people. This place is understaffed! I waited nearly 15 minutes to place an order!!!!!There was a hole in the middle of my yogurt! I had read many of the same complaints on OpenRice many times before. Don't they learn?! It would not have been worth the regular price, but mine was a discount so I was not so angry. The ONLY great thing that happened was that I got lots of blueberries. Out of all of their toppings, blueberries is the best, mine were fresh, lightly sweet and lightly tart. The other toppings, such as the crunchy ones did not look very fresh nor clean. As the wait is very long, you should only visit this place if you have 20 minutes to wait. And even then, you could get a better-tasting and better experience at the nearby TuttiMelon just a block away in the One.…Read More

I used the Groupon voucher so I'm not really able to comment on the value of the meal, but overall, the restaurant was good. It's a nice and bright decor, quite welcoming when you enter. It's definitely NOT very healthy food, but the meal was satisfying and you can have a nice social outing here. I enjoyed the bread with the curry. The bread was light and fluffy and cooked to a perfect softness yet with some crispy texture, and had a flavorful taste. The other dishes were fried, which I don't usually like, but at least they did not have as much grease as a typical HK cafe. The Singapore fried noodles still had a distinct flavor, which was not exactly delicious, but filling and not too bad. I wish the dishes had more meat in general.The restaurant is relatively comfortable inside, they really blast the air con, which is good. Service was acceptable, nothing special.…Read More

Used a Groupon Voucher. I made reservations, but apparently we still had to wait. And this was annoying, as it took almost 20 minutes to get seated.Service was pretty bad, and it was often difficult to get someone to take our order. Staff seemed either busy or busy ignoring us. When the food arrived, we were a bit surprised that it wasn't too bad. In fact, I enjoyed the ravioli. It was small and there was only 1 or 2 raviolis in each bowl.We got 3 different raviolis. Definitely the best of all of the dishes.Pizza is more like a cracker... almost like a flatbread, but it was still not too bad. Almost seemed creative as a pizza. They should market this as low carb as there's barely any bread.Broccoli had a lot more cream and cheese than I would have liked. A bit too fatty and offsets any health benefit.The pasta was very simple and not unlike what you could make at home for yourself.The service is the main reason why I didn't like this place. The staff really need to serve better and not be rude. And they should pay more attention to the customer than to their mobile phones and to each other! I'm in a nice mood now, but if not, I would have given it a 'cry' rating.…Read More

It's not the best pizza, but at least it wasn't overpriced. Seems that Hong Kong pizza joints are opening up all over the island and so I've been trying them. In HK, I'm a fan of Pizza Express, California Pizza Kitchen, and a few independent restaurants. I didn't expect much from Slices, especially since I know it's part of the group that owns Yogo, which is better known for froyo. First of all, this place is pretty tiny. It's hard to even find a place to sit. And when you find a seat, the staff don't seem to want to let you sit long. I felt I was being stared at, by the cashier, the manager and even the other staff, and that is uncomfortable when you want to find a place to relax for a few minutes at least. However, there was not much business when I was there around 3 pm, so I guess there's nothing else to do. But I hope that they could find something else to do, other than stand around and stare at customers.Next, the pizza I got was a personal one. It had maybe 2 or so pieces of meat but overall, it was nothing special. At least it wasn't soggy or tasteless. I just wasn't anything special, overall quite tasteless, very doughy. Definitely prefer pizza express, but perhaps can't compare since this is more of like a fast-food pizza. But I also prefer pizza hut, pizza box, even Fat Angelo's so I guess this is altogether not that good if it beats out most other pizza places in HK. Only thing redeeming is that the pizza is a decent price, especially if you go for a set meal.…Read More

We didn't make reservations, but we got seated anyway, but we were told we only had 1.5 hours to eat. The interior and even the toilets were retro-look and well designed and comfortable. We ordered a few different sizes and food types.Lasagna was nice and cheesy, and quite filling, just a bit too small for MediumChicken Pasta was well flavored and yummySpinach salad was excellentFajitas was the best dish, juicy and well flavored.Overall, the food was delicious, but I believe that the Medium Sized dishes weren't quite large enough compared to the small dishes. Easily the meal should have been around $200 maximum especially since we didn't order drinks, but came out to over $300 so that was disappointing. It's not value-for-money, but it's a very cool concept with tasty food and good service. I would come again, but only if I had a discount or if it was a special occasion.…Read More

I have tried almost all of the other Mexican joints in HK and have not been very impressed with any. Coming from California, I have GREAT mexican food all the time (NOT Taco Bell) so I hoped that this new Mexican place could try a little to be more authentic.... and I was quite disappointed.First, I tried the Horchata. It looked weird and tasted worse. It was watered down and was the strangest Mex drinks I've ever had. It definitely wasn't fresh nor real. possible a powder mix, but wasn't even mixed well.Next, was the tacos. The meat wasn't dry, but it was very wet so it made my tortillas soggy. This made the whole thing fall apart. This was not served well and yes, the meat should be juicy, but shouldn't be dripping all over. That's NOT how they make 'em in Mexico.We were still hungry so we ordered chips, which were a bit soggy and seemed stale. For some reason, they didn't seem like they were fresh, like they should. Taco Trucks' chips are better, in fact all of the food is better at Taco Truck, but this place is a step up from El Taco Loco, which is the worst Mexican food I've ever had.They follow the same issues I have with most Mex places in Hk, they don't give tortilla chips, and they don't give rice, beans or anything. In fact, my meal with drinks cost nearly $80 and it was less filling than a McDonald's hamburger. Finally, I found the service below average. The ladies cooking in the kitchen hardly ever came to clean up the eating room nor did they smile at all. And it seemed that the owner or manager was sitting in the customer area, but didn't bother to welcome or serve anyone, or clean up the mess.To be fair, I've given a nicer OK rating, even though they deserve worse, but I hope they improve the next time I come. Perhaps they can give better value-for-money too.…Read More

I have been going regularly to Dan Ryan's for lunch and dinner, occasionally brunch, for many years and I find that the food is consistently delicious and service relatively good by Hong Kong standards. On this recent visit, I got the BBQ chicken which is almost always good and decent value, comes with cole slaw and fries. The BBQ chicken was tender, flavorful and fresh. The BBQ sauce is kept on the side so you can choose how salty and sweet you want it. There's a side of french fries fried with just enough oil to be crispy. It is typically enough for two smaller people or one big person. We also got a fish and chips platter and a salad to go with the rest. Fish was soft and tender, great flavor and not too fried. The prices have gone up about 10-15% on all items over the past couple years :(, but at least the portions have been kept the same (each dish could be enough for 2 people), which is good because I come to Dan Ryan's because I like to know that I will get what I expect. The bread and muffin is a signature appetizer that comes with your meal and is always delicious, tastes freshly baked with a nutty, semi-sweet flavor.The service is also quite good, but this is one thing that can vary here. Usually though, the staff are friendly and attentive and fill our water and check on our table every 15 - 20 minutes.Great place for dates, parties and just a quiet chat. highly recommended.…Read More

EskiMo feels a bit different from other shops. First, the colors and name were unlike others I've seen. You can tell when decorations for a shop are expensive, and I sensed that the investor/owner for this shop really invested to make it look and feel nice. The big problem is that I think that the shop should have better and more seating. I was a bit uncomfortable sitting in a high (above the floor) chair on a counter. And it's not an easy place to have a conversation with someone. But let me move reviewing the product and service...This place is not self-serve so someone goes and gets the yogurt and you can only choose one. I chose the Mango flavor, which was recommended by the staff. In my cup, I saw that the yogurt was too melted and runny. When I tasted it, the yogurt was also too soft. Perhaps it was the staff, or perhaps it was the machine, or perhaps that's just the yogurt they serve or all of the above. If it is the yogurt, then it was very disappointing It melted too quickly. The other issue was the flavor. It's a good tasting yogurt, but I think it was not yogurt / tart enough. And Cookies & Cream just tasted plain weird, did not taste like Oreo yogurt at all, and I have tasted really good Cookies & Cream. I noticed their machines are white color and I've not seen it any other yogurt shop so perhaps that has hurt their ability to make better yogurt.One of the main reasons why I wouldn't give this shop very low rating is the service was great. The guy at the counter was very friendly and because I was the only customer in the shop (which actually surprised me since it was after dinner, around 9-ish), he spent time to explain each flavor and topping. That was impressive, his knowledge but also his patience and helpfulness. If he's still there, I hope he gets a raise or a promotion because he's one of the best staff I've seen in a yogurt shop so far. He even offered water to me later. Very cool.Unfortunately, without a quality yogurt product (toppings were okay), and a better way to serve it, I'm not able to give a high rating. I'm so used to self-serve so if I have to pay extra for each topping, then I don't enjoy the experience. I prefer to control topping portions, and I can't do that here. Loved the mochi though. The staff told me it's homemade and I loved the flavor and texture of the mochi. Overall, it's worth a try and maybe one more try. But unfortunately, the yogurt product's taste and texture is not for most people. Some people in HK may enjoy the differences, but not many. I personally didn't like the yogurt and probably won't be back until they create something new. In some ways, I like this shop, so I hope they are able to deliver an improved product.…Read More

Yoppi seems to be trying to play catch up with Tuttimelon, which is also a self-serve froyo from California. Tuttimelon, I actually went to in California before it opened in Hong Kong, and the chain in HK is not bad. Yoppi, never seen nor heard of it in California. It's not big in California, compared to Red Mango, Pinkberry or Yogurtland, which is probably why Yoppi is trying to make it big in HK. I looked up their branches on OpenRice and it seems that they already have more shops open now, but this supposed "chain" from California, doesn't quite reach the level of a global brand, the yogurt is only average and service is quite dismal. This shop is self-serve, but staff should be doing their basic job and it was a disappointment.First of all, my yogurt was tasteless. I tried the signature tart, peach, and a third one (possibly lychee or passionfruit, but forgot already). The two flavored yogurts actually tasted bland and similar so I don't even remember what the flavor was. The signature tart was not bad, but Yomama and Berrygood original tart flavor (which are also located in Central, Berrygood just a couple blocks by) are much better. Yoppi's yogurt does not balance the taste and tart as well as others. It was tart, but somehow didn't taste like real yogurt and at least one of my flavors was runny... watery. For the most part, the other two flavors were cold enough (firm). this taste issue seems to be a case of poor water/milk mix recipe? I questioned whether this was actually genuine yogurt. Perhaps my particular yogurt was mixed wrong? Hard to know, might visit a different branch to compare. I believe the yogurt is lower quality when compared with others.Second, the toppings area was dirty and messy and staff were nonexistent. I liked the special containers that you turn the knob in order to get the toppings out, but the tradeoff in mess is not good. There were cookie crumbs and and other candy spilled all over the counter. I looked around to see if someone was working there and there was not even anyone at the cash register! I waited and waited and WAITED... almost 2 minutes before someone from the backroom finally came to the cashier. That's very annoying with a frozen product that is melting. My yogurt melted a little during my waiting and that's probably why one of my yogurts became runny and so service affected product on this trip. Why was there only one staff there? I noticed the other staff came back about 5 minutes after I sat down so I guess she took a break. Bad service and bad training, if any. And I'm sure most of my regular readers know that poor service basically results in my low, low rating. Third, the pricing was confusing and annoying. We are in Hong Kong which uses the metric system. Yogo, Tuttimelon, etc, they all use metric per 100 grams for pay by weight yogurt. Why does this shop think they can confuse us with paying by ounce (oz)? So they can charge us more? Ding! Exactly! I wonder: am I the only one who has calculated it? The result: this shop charges more than the other shops, when you do the math! I get very upset when shops deceive customers with things like weight and now it's so obvious with ounces. So they are not only trying to save money by being understaffed, they are also trying to make more money by overcharging while hiding it. I paid over $30, I think it was $34 and I didn't expect to pay over $25 (there was hardly anything in my cup!)I'm not all negative though. I will say that this shop had quite a nice decor. The colors and lighting is quite bright and comfortable and I kind of like the shop atmosphere. The location in Central is definitely more convenient than almost all others in this district, but when another self-serve shop opens here after my below-average experience here, I am just waiting so that I can move on to something better. …Read More

I'm pretty tough on the recent slew of froyo shops that have opened especially because I don't believe that many of these shops have a reason to exist. Cherry on Top is one of them. Although I'm very critical, I still do give other shops credit such as Orangi-yo and YoMama's decent rating (just in case some people think I don't give nice reviews). So on to this one...Cherry on Top is a chain from California. I have a love for Yogurtland and Pinkberry which are both big chains in the U.S. and California is where they started so I'm familiar with Cherry On Top chain (in California) even before it came to Hong Kong. Now I'm not sure what happens to some of these chains when they mix their yogurt in HK, is the milk or yogurt fresh? I suspect they are using powder because it's not the same taste nor texture. Anyone else who's tasted in California care to comment? It's WAY better there.Oh, I almost forgot to take a photo before I finished it. And actually I got over $25 worth, but I was surprised it was SO expensive even though there's so little. Cherry on Top is similar to another yogurt shop here that likes to confuse customers by giving the price by ounce (oz) not by grams. So when I did my metric conversion, this place comes out more expensive. Back to the yogurt...So that's all that was in my cup after a couple spoon scoops. now you see why not only is this not worth it, but I found the yogurt icy, almost tasteLESS and melted pretty fast in some of the machines I tried. Again, there's a major issue with the staff not taking care of their machines. The yogurt came out watery in one. I tried the original tart, lychee and another one that was so unmemorable I don't actually remember it now (was it coconut?). toppings were not impressive, quite a small selection and unattractive looking. And there was an older man at cash register. perhaps around 40+? I assume he was the owner? Well, I was quite upset because I saw that the customer in front of me got a chop card. When it came to me, I got nothing. I kind of waited too, and they gave me nothing. That is really sad service, hope he's got someone else training his staff. there's no where to sit down so I stood nearby the shop for at least 5 - 10 minutes and there were no customers while I stood outside. i would say that the product, service and management need to improve before anyone starts coming regularly. And just one YoMama or Crumbs moving in nearby will pretty much close this shop down. Pretty sad considering Cherry On Top is one of the better shop in the US., can't say the same for Hong Kong.…Read More