ssha16's Profile

stumbled upon this cozy place one night with my wife. we were hesitant at first but decided to give it a try and order just a few things. we got the kinafeh(?) - dessert with cheese and sugar syrup, and falafel plate. both were very nice! the falafel was homemade you could tell bc of the shape and tasted hot and fresh. salad was nice as well and fresh. the dessert was delish - smaller than expected but thats fine. reminded me of the burmese piratha with some mild cheese and sweet sugar on top! only downsides in my opinion was the ambiance - those white fluorescent lights and kpop playing in the background make this otherwise authentic tasting place a bit awkward. great value for money though…Read More

Stumbled upon my favorite mexican place reopened in Sai Ying Pun! Was empty and I was hungry so stepped right in.I had:- Fish tacos (corn)- Korean "special" taco (flour)- Carnitas tacos (corn)General: - Perfect size - not like the small traditional ones but also not huge and overly sauced like some other chain- Fresh tasting, good salsa verde / pico, not too much not too little - Fish (fried) was crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside - not fishy. good with a dash of lemon.- Carnitas was juicy and dripping with sauce (downside of this is tortillas can get soggy - need to ask for less sauce) - preferred the fish taco though - less soggy- Korean taco (just comes with one) good tangy asian flavor. wd def try one of the other specials they have (they seemed to have expanded their menu); nice if i want to mix up the flavor but not a stapleWas looking to get horchata too but they didn't have it - they said they would be bringing it in soon. Can't wait to try the taquitos again too.…Read More

We were just walking down High st. looking for a place to eat after 10PM, and to our dismay most of the places we wanted to go to were closed so we just went into the first place we could find open.  We had walked by Granville many times but it only just opened and the staff were friendly and welcoming (and they were open until 11!) so we just tried it. Totally did not expect how DELICIOUS the food would be!  The menu is quite big and has a mix of American comfort food and standard continental (burgers, steak, ribs, fried things, pasta, salad, soup, appetizers, etc.). So we just sat down - two of us shared: buffalo wings, tomato basil pasta and the half-rack of ribs.Buffalo Wings = awesome; tangy sweet sauce with a crispy breading outside as well - best I've had in HK in 6 yearsPasta = very respectcable; simple, flavorful and a lighter option for those avoiding food that's too comfortingRibs = fantastic; didn't even need a knife just came off the bone with the fork - nice and fatty and juicy, great sauce and flavor - probably one of the best I've had in HK as wellService was very friendly and fast.Great selection of craft beer as well.Will definitey come back.Only criticism: the pictures of the food on their menu and outside make it look kind of cheap…Read More

Yes, there are a lot of choices on the menu. The waiting time is short if you are there before 1pm or 7pm. A few years ago, the food was pretty good. These days... Dumplings are not "thin and fulled with succulent meat" or whatever it says on the place mats in the restaurant but often thick and just taste starchy. Tea is set on the table before you even get there so is not even hot, which it should be since you are paying HK$ 6 for it. Soup is filled with so much cornstarch you see clumps of clear cornstarch in the soup. Oh, and when you order they tell you to expect a 25-30 minute wait. Frankly, going to another that Taiwanese restaunt across the street (DTF) is a much better choice. The food there is consistently tasty and comes within a reasonable time. I ordered a plate of vegetables which didn't come even after I told them to double check with the kitchen. It comes AFTER I told them to cancel it and my ENTIRE place setting was taken away. They refused to take it back and charged me away. This, after making a fuss about how they had to "jump the queue" to get the vegetables to me? Take it to another table that ordered it! Maybe they'll be happy they get a plate of soggy over cooked vegetables in less than 30 minutes. …Read More

Food is the best mex i've had in town so far.Had: 1. Carnitas enchiladas: delicious, juicy meat, just the right amount of cheese and flavor. Large but not supersized. Coudl have used a bit more sauce2. Fish tacos: fantastic, they used fried fish which is good - not beer battered more like a panko batter, but still good. Also perfect size - too many joints in town take the mexican street taco too far and make these tiny ones that end up being not great value - or they go the other direction and make ginormous heaps of food with too much cheese or something. These were just right3. Taquitos: amazing!! so crispy, juicy, had some cheese in it, came with guac and sour cream.Everything was made fresh to order right there and the tortillas were tasty. Only criticism would be that plates don't include like the rice and beans or something that you may get elsewhere, but i would definitely return over any other mex place. Also a bit far from where i live.Place also reminds me of a cali tacqueria a bit…Read More

Food of course is impeccable and delicious. Ambiance and decor are also amazing. The service was generally great. It is also unbelievably pricey, but I presume it's all priced into the food, service, reputation and view. But it's REALLY pricey. Standard appetizer is about 300-400. Entrees are about 600-800. Wines were several hundred or more per glass. They had a 'pre-valentine's day' tasting menu that was about 1400, which is not terrible, but they required all guests at the table to order it if you wanted it, that was not great. In any event, if you go, you should enjoy every last bit. Which brings me to my most disappointing comment: I booked a few weeks in advance, and specifically asked for a window table - they said it was all reserved but assured me that every table in the restaurant had a great view of the harbor (i'd never been so trusted them). Day before - they called to confirm and I asked again about the window table - they gave me the same story. Night of - arrive, they take me to my table, in the corner, perhaps the ONE table with no view. Was it not clear from my multiple requests it was important? They said the other tables were reserved, except during the course of the meal until I finished, I saw more than one table that remained completely empty, each of which had a better view than us. Also, when they brought out our food, they mixed up our plates. My advice, if you do plan to go, make completely sure you get what you want in every respect because you're really paying for it. Was sore about it the whole night and left a terrible taste in my mouth, regardless of the food.As a supplementary note, in terms of "fine dining" in HK, even though Spoon has a great decor and (usually) great view (I saw when I was walking to and from my corner table), I think the whole experience was better at other places that perhaps don't have to rely on view or something else to boost their rep. Our meal was somewhat rushed, not a great selection of bread or petit fours, etc. For food, prefer Amber or Caprice. For service, Caprice or Petrus. If you're going to spend that much at least. Just my two cents.…Read More

I was excited to try Ippudo after all the hype; I was even more excited once I started looking at the menu; and I was even MORE excited when I got my food! I've tried the ippudo in NY, and the one here is even better I think and reminds me even more of the types of ramen I like in Japan. Broth is creamy and flavorful; noodles can be customized (I like it extra hard, just like ichiran in japan). Remember to order an extra serving of noodles for the leftover broth. Get a spring egg topping if your ramen doesn't come with an egg - delicious! The chashuu buns are amazing - very fresh, soft and tasty. The line looked long, but I was dining alone so got a counter seat right away at 8PM on a weekday.Highly recommend! …Read More

We had an impromptu dinner here for 7 people - we had a hard time finding a place around central/soho at the last minute for 7 people but found ourselves here at about 9pm, with no problem at all - pretty empty actually.Ambiance and decor was very nice; drinks were fine.Bread was good (these little flatbread slices that were seasoned well).Appetizers were decent - beef cheek was quite good; the parma ham and melon came with a few measley scoops of melon. Main dishes were all a let down - most people opted for a pasta or pizza - all were kind of flat on flavor or way too much seasoning/spice. I had the veal - it was OK - deep fried so can't go that wrong but not that much flavor and a little tough for veal. Only great was the chocolate pudding which is basically a molten chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream; fantastic.Everything is overpriced though for the quality.…Read More

Have eaten at Pawn for dinner before - but this time, there was something different. They've got a new chef, a new menu, and it's MUCH better! It wasn't bad before, but not great.Menu choices: much more attractive and palatable. Actually had a hard time deciding, which makes me want to go backPresentation: Plating has improved a lot, looks nicer and matches the price pointTaste: scallop appetizers - awesome. Pork belly - really juicy meat, crispy skin, well seasoned; good size. Quail - tender, light and flavorful. Cabbage + bacon side - yum. Buttered mash - yum yum. Only ding - the sticky toffee pudding dessert was a bit burnt and dried out from overcooking.The new chef even came out to talk to us and ask us about the food. Affable british dude.:)…Read More

The reviews of this restaurant were pretty good, which led us to get a coupon we found for the restaurant - it was HKD300 for a "10"-course meal for 2 people. I understand the impetus for using the coupon to publicize your business, but if you are going to do it, do it right. I think the entire meal + service + experience was a solid 4/10. Food:Not good generally. Tomato salad - standard. Edamame - standard. Tuna hand roll - this was pretty good (the best thing of the night). Uni plate - I knew it would be bad, it was bad. Tasted like victoria harbor. Seafood fried rice - soggy. Kimchee sukiyaki fish soup thing - never had this in Japanese food before, don't even know what it was. "Okonomiyaki" - tasted like plastic not sure where they got their recipe. Kushiyaki - chicken + cartilage, was about 90% cartilage, like chewing knuckles. Miso soup - came with a half a bowl, not great. Mango ice cream - ok.... After the meal, looked at the menu to see how these items were described - don't think I saw any of them on there.Service:Udnerstandbly they were getting a lot of customers at this time who were using the coupon. Good for them. They did not handle it well. Impossible to make my reservation - tried saying the coupon codes - took like 20 minutes. I don't know how better to communicate a string of letters and numbers, but it was not fun. They only had two seating times - 6:30 and 8 - should have told us before we bought. They shuttled us in like cattle, food came in shotgun bursts one after another - no time to digest, no greeting, no time to enjoy (not that there was much to enjoy anyway). We asked at the very start if we could substitute the Uni because we knew it would not be good (given the price point we thought we could get anything instead of that and it would be okay) - but they were adamant you could not change the set. They did not tell us why. Basically, the whole meal was like a fancy sit-down setting for a box dinner you get from 7-11. I've had better tasting bento boxes from 7-11 in japan though, sadly. One very nice plus, though, was that the sushi chef (we were sitting at the bar), after seeing us ask about the Uni several times, and after seeing us eating only a fraction of each dish, offered to give us a plate of salmon sashimi! Very very nice of him, we didn't want him to get in trouble though so we declined it. Bottomlineros: nice sushi chef, tuna hand roll was good, probably menu items are also equally good, ambianceCons (all related to the coupon): food + serviceWould have much rather preferred a more expensive coupon deal, or something simpler, fewer 'courses', and a taste of the actual menu, if they wanted me to come back. …Read More