siumingpablo's Profile

Saw this Chinese restaurant last time I came to the hotel’s roof top bar for happy hour and made a mental note to come here soon. Finally made it here last week with a colleague.I was a little surprised upon entering the restaurant to find that the ground floor area is more of a bar than a restaurant – kind of interesting setting for a Chinese restaurant. The main dining room is in the basement and I was told there are private rooms upstairs. The décor is quite classy and yet not too stiff. I especially like the peony embroidery on the partitions.Since it’s just two of us, we didn’t order too many food. I had wanted to order BBQ pork but it’s sold out! So instead we had Crispy Pork Belly. Crispy indeed and I was so happy to see that it’s served with those retro soy bean thingy. Can’t find them anywhere else these days.For dim sum, we had BBQ Pork Puff – the twist here is they have a zingy lemon flavour. Nice thought but I actually would prefer if the lemon flavour is toned down a bit more.Next came the Shrimp Dumpling – tasted good. Nothing to fault and nothing too extraordinary.The Taro Puff was a winner. So many restaurants do an awful job which tasted oily and stale. This one here, was definitely fresh from the wok. Light and fluffy as it should be.The last item was Sesame Puree Bun. I ordered this because it’s a retro dish that not many restaurants do now. Was a slightly disappointed though. It’s not the same kind of sesame bun I had before. The filling was a little runny and a tad too sweet for my liking. But, perhaps, as my colleague said, it’s the trend nowadays to have runny fillings in sweet buns – just like those custardy buns that’s very popular in recent years.The restaurant was almost full and yet service was very attentive and friendly.…Read More

I bumped into this place by chance. I was gonna go grab a burger for lunch at The Buthers Club but it was still very packed at 1:45pm so I gave up. As I walked back I saw a bunch of people gathering in an alley nearby - looks more like a bar scene but why not? And I was glad I checked it out. It is indeed more a bar than a restuarant. The group of people there was probably doing an office Christmas/year end party. I sat at the bar and the server kindly explained their lunch menu. Basically you get to choose from various wraps or a 1/4 roast chicken or a Middel East style pizza. It also comes with a choice of fries or rice and veggies/salad. I had the roast chicken with fries and salad. The presentation was quite good (unfortunately I was too hungry, by the time I realized I forgot to take photo, half the plate was gone...) and decent portion size. The chicken was succulent with slightly crispy skin and a faint taste of lemon and garlic. The salad dressing was a little too acidic for my liking though. The fries were all right but I was too full and couldn't finish them all. Coffee was included and they serve it black, in colourful turkish/middle eastern glasses which reminds of the mint tea served in the mosque...The lunch came to $105 (includes service charge). The food was nice enough and service was friendly and prompt. But before I go back there again for lunch, I just may check out the cocktails one night first. …Read More

I usually go out for lunch after 1:30pm to avoid the crowds. By the time I got there, most of the crowd were finishing their coffees and ready to go back to office. I ordered the "Academics Breakfast", expecting the usual sausages, bacon, eggs, baked beans and toasts. The dish arrived quickly but I was immediately disappointed. The plate was full but half of it were barely dressed salad leaves, together with two pieces of bacon, baked beans, one sausage, toasted french bread and wait, ONE egg! Seriously, for HKD108 (plus 10% service charge), I would expect a decent portion. Is two eggs for breakfast too much to ask for?Taste-wise, nothing out of the ordinary. The sausage, bacon, egg and baked beans tasted all right. The salad could use some more seasoning/dressing. I could only taste the olive oil... The bread was way too hard - not crispy. The pesto sauce on top was too little, rendering the rest of the bread just too dry. After I finished the meal (which was quick enough given the measly portion), I ordered a flat white. 15 minutes went by and no sign of it. As far as I saw, the place was half empty and I honestly didn't know it could take that long to make a cup of coffee. Mind you, I was there just two weeks ago on a busy Saturday afternoon and it just took a few minutes to get my coffee. The poor guy next to me ordered a pizza when I had just started eating and he must have waited 20 minutes or more for his food. With the coffee, the bill came to HKD162.8 (including the 10% service charge). Seriously, for this price, I could've got a very decent meal elsewhere and wouldn't have been late for work. P.S. I should have taken a photo of the said sad breakfast but really, I couldn't be bothered.…Read More

A very curious visit to the revamped The Pawn. I was there for drinks with a friend about a month after the restaurant reopened. As expected, it has been hyped up what with celebrity chef, new botanical concept et cetera et cetera. The first difference from the old Pawn we noticed was that there's a bouncer at the entrance - on an early Monday evening. Since when do we need bouncers for a restaurant? I half expected to enter a dark, noisy club because of that. Luckily, it wasn't and yet something doesn't feel quite right. It looks nice enough but somehow lacks identity. I have to say I much prefer the old pawn shop concept and as a revitalization project, it sereved its purpose well. Now, to me, the revamp is simply changing the place from an expensive restaurant to a more expensive one... but I digress...Drinks-wise, I ordered the Corpse Reviver 1908 and my friend ordered an Old Fashioned. Both were nicely-done and did the job to spice up our blue Monday. We also ordered the Spiced Pork Ribs and Grilled Shishitso Pepper from the snack menu. The portion was way bigger than expected, especially the ribs. And as much as they tasted really good, it's kind of odd to put a big slab of ribs in a "snack" menu. It was really clumsy eating them with the low table (and we weren't given any cutlery and plates until we asked). The service needs improvement though. It was a little difficult getting the servers' attention. …Read More

It's only Wednesday and I'm having a bad hangover. The only way to cure is, obviously, lots of sleep. But alas, this can't happen on a weekday. So I opted for the next best thing, a full breakfast for lunch. And off to Caffe Habitu I went. The All Day Breakfast ($98) comes with two super sized toasts along with the usual suspects: sausages, bacon, baked bean, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and smoked salmon. I wasn't really looking for something spectacular and I thought simple thing like these shouldn't fail. Except that it kind of did. The scrambled eggs tasted only of cream. I know a lot of people would add milk or cream when making scrambled eggs but this one is way too heavy. It's almost like eating solidified cream. The highlight of the dish was the jam! It has a faint taste of rose and it goes well with the slightly sweet toast. The rest were normal. And did it cure my hangover? Well, sort of. …Read More