ariemem's Profile

Rigatoni genovese is graced with a generous portion of cheese, leaning towards a more homely vibe of dish as its sauce aint that kind of creamy texture one’d usually expect. Fragrant beef and i adore the amount of onions shreds that really elevates the sweet bit and juiciness.Spaghetti burro looks appallingly bland by appearance. Though each mouthful is buttery and somehow you taste the anchovies. It is way more filling and satisfying especially the texture is wonderful. Even better if topped with some seafood or so.*prior booking is required…Read More

Have to give a shoutout to their iconic german pork knuckle— a budget, quality option of delicious meaty mouthfuls for supper. We had a go with the pomelo one, and it surprised us with a mayo-like yuzu sauce that provides a sugary layer to complement the savoury immaculately. The knuckle itself was cooked to a decent texture, with a healthy distribution of fat and lean parts. Also it is to note their pickles served alongside, relieving the guilt of oiliness of the dish. But overall, splendid.The risotto was also decent: fungal taste blessed by a rich aroma of foie gras. I’m not a huge fan of its richness, but it’s lovely that the fats gave a different perspective of enjoying the mushroomy grains, topping each mouthful with creaminess and texture. …Read More

I recall always passing by this restaurant in north point though have never had a chance visiting it. Was tempted to try the baked pork rice on the menu so we had a go.Lunch set— $130 with soup and drinks. It’s pretty pricey in my opinion, given that the quality is not rather outstanding. First up with their soup, I personally find the borscht akin to the typical ones you’d get from a Hongkongese western diner. Nice to find plenty of veggies and even a bit of beef brisket in the soup, plus it tasted somewhat spicy (I found some chopped chilli too). However, the complimentary buns (butter buns) were quite stiff for chewing. It would be better to dip the buns into the soup I guess.The curry with rice was of typical quality similar to what you’d get from fast food restaurants. For the baked pork rice, the taste was not as great as I had anticipated. Apparently, the rice was not fried (but somehow they did mix it with eggs to make it look as if it was fried hahah). The pork was rather bland too, relying on the sauce (kinda ample) to give its flavours. It was a colourful dish with little chunks of veggies (e.g onions, carrots, celery) but not worthy of $130 in my opinion.…Read More

I wonder why no one has ever commented on the truth but this place is totally not as good as what the foodie reviews have claimed to be…We paid a visit on a weekday morning and the place wasn’t packed (and we’d got to pick our table). We ordered our mains (which were all on the brunch column), and when they were served, the portions were an absolute letdown…First up, we had the benedicts. Everything was pretty average though we both agreed that the beef tasted rather bland. It seemed like they hadn’t do any seasoning for the meat. I also don’t understand why there’s some juice-like liquid under the sourdough (I bet it’s the juice/sauce from cooking the beef) cuz it made the bread so soggy, let alone further proving that their slow-cooked beef was not satisfactory…What I’d only give credits for would be their idea of adding leaves and herbs to add aromas and colours to the plate, else honestly, there’s nothing worth praising at all.Then it’s the hotcakes. Trust me those cakes weren’t even palm-sized unlike the pictures— we were shocked by how tiny they were in real life. Served alongside some biscuit crumbles and fruits, the dish only stood out for the passionfruit on top, or it did look nice for pictures(?Given that the prices are OBVIOUSLY not friendly either, we had higher expectations for the food quality and portions but those were also disappointments. Service and environment were nice but are they worth it? Wouldn’t recommend this place at all if you want food with commensurate quality of the price. …Read More

Recommended by a friend, I’ve always been tempted to try this restaurant.The place was a full house on a weekday evening and we decided to order the grilled beef set. The staff fried the appetisers for us upon our order and those tiny dishes were pretty nice. They were also very efficient in refilling kimchi so it was a plus as well.Next up would be the mains. I must say—the beef was absolutely fantastic. You could tell the supreme quality as the meat was so good with the juiciness and tenderness. The marinated beef was flavourful without letting the marinating sauce dominating the fragrance of the meat itself too. I was a massive fan of the rip one— excellent texture, blissful mouthfuls of meat and a fair amount of grease. We also ordered their cold noodles in chilled broth. This noodle tasted different from those I have tried before and I would say this one is more subtle in taste (they serve vinegar and wasabi-like mustard alongside this). Providing scissors to you, the restaurant enriches the experience by allowing you to cut the noodles yourself and it was fun ngl. If you were rather inept, you could request the staff to help out.To my surprise, they cleaned the pan before frying the butter fried rice cuz I initially thought they would use the leftover beef grease for the rice to maximise the flavour. The taste of the it was above average, yet it was so cute that the staff used the sauce to make a Kurumi face— a 90/100 for the service of this fried rice!Would defo return to this place for its authentic korean service and wholesome quality of beef. Yet, perhaps it’s even better for gatherings as it is better to have more bellies to share the guilt and happiness lmao…Read More

Located near HKU exit A, this place was pretty vacant in the afternoon and it was nice to find a comfortable spot to chill and chat. In terms of menu choices, there aren’t a lot of them in my opinion and we gave their stuffed zucchini and lasagna a go. The pan was absolutely hot when the former was served and it was attentive of the staff to have reminded us several times. Topped with a handsome amount of shichimi-like flavourings, the sizzling hot potatoes were awesome complements to the veggies, whereas the latter itself was more subtle in taste. Personally, I couldn’t taste the bacon as the menu stated as one of the dish’s ingredients…though I appreciate the variety of other stuffings for the zucchini. Indeed, the flavour was better with lemon juice to spice things up.Next up was their lasagna. To my surprise, their pasta wasn’t that nice unlike the what the reviews here had claimed. The good thing is that they served some tomato purée-like sauce with the lasagna itself (I bet this sauce is the same as the pasta sauce except the fact that it wasn’t baked), though the pasta was definitely not cheesy enough. You could find a generous amount of cheese on top but hardly was there such flavour in the pasta itself. The texture of the lasagna was also not satisfactory as I found it kind of too soft. But I did like their broccoli which was roasted with pepper and the bitter fragrant taste was wholesome.With decent service and ambience, this place is surely a good place for spending an afternoon but I wouldn’t do an encore just for its food (given that the prices ain’t that friendly either), perhaps I’ll give their signature tiramisu a try next time. Another side note is that they offer a 10% off for hku staff and students so if you are a student/staff member then remember to show them your card at the cashier …Read More

It isn’t easy to look for a quality lunch spot in kowloon bay, though it turns out that 炑八is a nice option if you crave a full and nom lunch.For lunch sets, they include soup, a refillable appetiser and a main course. I gave the fried pork chop a go and it was of average quality. Their stewed beef is more tempting— fragrantly stir fried and had an adequate amount of fat retained. It pairs well with the rice (with eggs if I remember correctly) and I would recommend this one!…Read More

The pulled pork here tastes pretty much the same as the pulled pork burger in Beans, though the whole portion gets a size down so I reckon it won’t be enough for a full lunch. I personally ain’t a fan of the green sauce on top, perhaps they’ve added their twist to the benedict sauce (and scallions too lmao)Also, this cafe is mostly self-serviced— you grab a table by yourself and order at the counter. Would be a nice spot for an afternoon tea considering the portion and the long queue during lunch hours…Read More

kinda fed up with the options in cityplaza and kornhill, we headed to the residential neighbourhood. The area was surprisingly quiet, as many probably went on vacation during the holidays, and this restaurant is one of the few which housed comparatively more diners.From the first glimpse of their menu, we were astonished as they offer quite an array of authentic dishes which ranges from common ones like fried rice/rice cake, dim sum, dan dan mian, to some rare ones like fried soufflé ball 高力豆沙, thus we ordered a few to share.A big shoutout to their sliced fish魚片, which arrived first at the table. The fish was tender, and every mouthful was infused with the chinese wine flavour. The only thing to complain is that the fish was a bit too salty in my opinion, perhaps the seasoning was too excessive.Another worth trying dish would be their 干菜千層肉— you can treat it as 東坡肉 but the pork belly was thinly sliced. I have to praise the chefs’ knife skills, the slices were thin so you wouldn’t feel that greasy and heavy! Also the meat was tender and well seasoned, and I love how the fat melts in the mouth, you could tell this dish is really well-done! As for their mains, we had their 孜然炒飯 and 雪菜年糕. I would say they are pretty normal like what we can get from other shanghai cuisine, so no special comments on them. Just that for that fried rice, the 孜然 flavour was really subtle in the sense that you could barely taste it, so I wouldn’t recommend that one.Last up was our dessert, we had been looking forward to that all the time. I need to praise the texture of the balls! They were absolutely soft and fluffy, not to mention hot, so in terms of texture the balls were fabulously done. Yet, the amount of red bean paste inside was regrettably small, and most of the sweetness came from the caster sugar sprinkled on top of the balls. Would be a 5-star dish if they were more generous with the filling. Bummer.Overall I would say the food was good though some could be done better for sure. But I’d say this restaurant serves quality food and it’s worth a try!…Read More

Headed to the Coffee Academics for an afternoon snack— and we ordered their Pain Perdu (French Toast with grapefruit), and an iced Matcha Soy.Rather than being utterly sweet, the choice of grapefruit neutralised the sweetness of the dish. Their toast was pretty much like normal french toast, but I liked how they topped it with some pistachio to add some crunchiness and texture. As for the drink, I personally found the combo of matcha and soy milk surprisingly decent. You could taste the flavour of green tea yet each mouthful felt much lighter and healthier thanks to soya. I ordered mine without any sugar/syrup, and the only bit of sweetness came from the sugary matcha powder on top of the foam. Would surely recommend the drink if you wanna go for something less heavy. …Read More

Bookmarked this restaurant due to a friend’s recommendation and I’d say it’s a lovely place to visit for gathering or relaxation.We visited on a normal weekday during lunchtime, and were offered to choose between normal seats and Japanese tatami, which we opted for the latter.First up would be the carbonara. This one was a rather authentic carbonara recipe— sheer egg and parmesan. Usually Korean carbonara would have cream and onions strands served in the dish, whereas for this one they’re going for authenticity. I also liked their tteokbokki, which looked like thickly-chopped udon at first glance though the chewiness was splendid. Yet I surely wouldn’t recommend having this dish all by yourself. Sharing is high preferred.Next up we had the croffle, the reason I yearned to come haha. Out of the four options we had a hard time selecting the flavour as they sounded nom, and eventually we ended up choosing the caramel one.To my surprise, the croffle was smaller than expected, and every one of us got only a spoonful or so (there were three of us sharing). Topped with vanilla ice-cream, the croffle was warm and buttery (kind of tasted like a croissant to me). The cheesecake in between was soft and fair. Overall it was a nice combo but not particularly impressive to be honest.My friend also recommended the traditional rice cake.Decorated with edible flowers, the rice cake were stuffed with decently sweet red bean paste. It was a nice dish to try but again, not particularly remarkable in my opinion.The food here is definitely instagram-able and decent in taste. Yet I would say what stood out more would be the atmosphere and service. Not only were the plates lovely, the privacy and intimacy you got in the tatami cabin were also nice considering the fact that cuisines in HK are usually cramped. Servers were always attentive and prompt, and prices are relatively reasonable in my opinion.Would recommend this place for anyone who fancy a chill eatery for reunion!…Read More

Given the popularity of their pork ribs, I ordered it when I was giving a first go at Outback. What a disappointment. The pork was absolutely dry and bland, not to mention those were mainly ribs and you couldn’t get much meat from that. Don’t trust those foodies for their recommendations, at least the pork ribs in this branch is a solid fat NO.But I really loved their Bushman Bread. It was soft and warmed to a decent temperature, tasted nice even without putting the cream on. The good thing is that you can ask them for more, but that is the good thing here.The service was also terrible. You could call a server, still it would take more than a century for your request to be fulfilled. For instance, we asked for checking the bill and sought help from 3 servers, eventually they gave us ours after 10 mins…Disappointing Probably won’t be returning unless I crave their Bushman Bread.…Read More

Have bookmarked this for some time and finally paid a visit on a weekday afternoon. When we arrived there ain’t many guests so it wasn’t that crowded.Went with their ginger sweet soup this time and I loved the rich ginger taste and kinda spicy aroma. The taro balls were less chewy than I initially anticipated, those they were mega in size. The other add-ons were decent too and I appreciate that everything’s decently priced here. I also requested for mashed taro (+$10) and it was quite sweet to my taste, though I like how they kept the texture of the taro instead of having a smooth creamy paste.One point to note is that they don’t do cash or credit card here. Service was nice and the staff were friendly and helpful. Will surely return to try other taro ball sweet soups!!…Read More

Given how famous this restaurant is, I decided to have it a go with my pals.Opted for their pork rib-eye (which is recommended by some on Openrice, surprisingly). It looked appealing and appetising for the presentation. However, the pork was dry and not moist at all, when I anticipated more for such a price ($148). The amount of veggies was also a disappointment— only an itty bitty piece of broccolini. Mashed potato was acceptable, thankfully, yet the overall quality was such a let-down.…Read More

Haven’t had Singaporean dishes for awhile already, and this restaurant looked quite popular in the mall, so we decided to have a try.The soup noodles was fair. Topped with shredded chicken, veggies, tofu, and half a boiled egg. The broth was okay, not too rich to complement the chicken. However, the chicken was dry to be honest… I liked their boiled egg which was pretty nice.…Read More