Valrhona的个人专页

Yesterday, I needed to attend a meeting at 7 pm and would not be able to have dinner until around 9:30 pm. While walking around Wan Chai, I noted Lui's Cafe offered tea sets till 6:30 pm and the list was tempting. So I went in, even though there was no other customer and the two lady chefs were cleaning up the kitchen area.I ordered a waffle set, with kiwi and chocolate, served with iced coffee. I had eaten lunch here twice before and their coffee was good. After waiting some time, iced coffee was served, a cooler in this hot humid weather. Then came my plate of waffle. There were 2 small pieces of waffle, baked hot, topped with sliced kiwi and chocolate sauce, with whipped cream at the side. The presentation was nice and it also tasted delicious.The only drawback was that the restaurant was really small. During lunchtime, the place was cramped. Customers with large frame would not feel comfortable eating here. Hope the restaurant can have good business and later move to a larger site.…查看更多

I bought a few cakes from Epoch Coffee Bar & Desserterie last Sunday for afternoon tea at home: 7-layer Valrhona chocolate cake, Mont Blanc and tiramisu cube. It's already a pleasure to look at the cake counter. If I can eat all, I'll probably buy all. Yet, in order not to overload myself and blunt my senses, I prefer to try a few at a time.I liked the 7-layer Valrhona chocolate cake most. The degree of sweetness was just right. Each layer tasted a bit different and had slightly different texture which made the small piece of cake unique. It's purely heavenly bites for chocolate lovers like me!Tiramisu cube was also delicious. The presentation was different from traditional tiramisu cakes, but the essence was there. The creamy mascarpone cheese outer layer wrapped around a centre rich in coffee taste.Mont Blanc was actually a French pastry with chestnut puree, chocolate mousse and a biscuit base. To me, the chestnut puree was a bit too sweet.The coffee bar itself had a nice decor and comfortable setting, should be good for cake & cofee and chats. …查看更多

I took a day off to attend my son's school function. Did some shopping in Sheung Wan and decided to try this little restaurant called Patio 88 near the department store. It's 11:50 am when I arrived, but the friendly waiter still gave me the option of either the breakfast menu or the lunch menu. The lunch menu looked more tempting to me. I chose cream of broccoli soup (the other option is Italian fish soup), which was served with a basket of bread (the breadstick was crispy, but the other 2 pieces of sliced bread were not fresh nor hot). For main course, I chose the seared Canadian scallops salad with mango & avocado, served with hazelnut dressing ($58). It was refreshing and nicely done. With an extra $10, I could choose cake of the day: tiramisu or marble cheese cake. I ordered the tiramisu and it was also delicious. The coffee was freshly brewed, but didn't have much taste. Hope it can be improved and gives the nice lunch a perfect finish.…查看更多

It\'s Ladies Dinner Gathering last night. I saw an article about Au Belge and would like to try its Belgian mussels. Still remember vividly those yummy Belgian mussels when I visited Brussels many years ago...The restaurant was small but cosy. I asked for a quiet corner when I booked the table. The waitress led me to the back of the restaurant with a row of seats with cushions. Seats are comfortable but the row of chairs opposite were close to the narrow corridor.To start with, we were given a basket of freshly baked buns (3 different kinds, all hot and fresh).The appetizer list was not appealing to us. So, two of us ordered the soup of the day (tomato soup with shrimps). I ordered the gratinated onion soup which was OK, but the black pepper offered was coarse and too strong.We shared 3 main courses: mussels cooked with white wine and cream sauce, lambrack and duck breast with port wine sauce. The mussels came in 2 sizes (500g and 1000g) in a pot (3 sauces). They were big and creamy, nicely cooked and yummy indeed - must try! Lambrack and duck breast were served with potatoes (choice of mashed potatoes, baked, sauteed or fries) and seasonal vegetables. Both were not impressive and not tender enough. For desserts, we ordered a Belgian chocolate mousse and a meringue with strawberries and cream. Both came in quite a big portion. The chocolate mousse was smooth and satisfied chocolate lover like me The meringue was a bit too sweet but well made and went well with the cream and fresh strawberry slices.Our dinner ended with latte and tea. The coffee was not aromatic but the glass was big. The mini glass of complimentary dessert wine, but we\'re not interested.It\'s a nice restaurant in Soho. Will definitely go back for its mussels again. …查看更多

I heard from a colleague that there's a nice small restaurant inside a boutique hotel on Fleming Road. Since my workplace is not that near and lunchtime is too rush, I had dinner with my husband and son there on Mother's Day. We like the setting of the restaurant, with many sofa seats but can only accomodate a max. of something like 24-26 persons. Ladies need the cushions to seat comfortably. My husband ordered a cocktail called strawberry dream and it's quite good. The menu has very limited choices (only 2 pages and one whole page was tapas), even less so than the drink list. This is definitely unfavourable. All through dinner, there were 2 staff members serving us. Both were friendly and helpful. To start with, we ordered a Caesar salad ($88) with chicken breast and a mushroom soup. The Caesar salad can be served with Parma ham instead of chicken breast. Lettuce Romaine was crispy and fresh with croutons and shaves of Parmesan cheese. I never like chicken breast, but the chicken slices were unexpectedly juicy and deliciously marinated. For the mushroom soup ($58), it's creamy and good. The other option for soup was Hungarian beef soup (I guess maybe like goulash soup).For main course, we chose braised ox tail ($198) and a tagliatelle alla carbonara ($108). There were only 2 choices for main course (chicken and rib eye steak) an 2 choices of pasta in the a la carte menu. There was a set dinner menu for 4 for Mother's Day, but was too much for our family of 2 adults and 1 kid. The waiter explained that we could order the main courses from this set dinner menu separately and that's why we ordered braised ox tail. Both the pasta and the ox tail were delicious.For desserts, there were 4 choices: tiramisu, apple crumble, chocolate brownie with coffee ice cream and chocolate puff. We were already quite full, but I need to try at least one of the desserts. I chose tiramisu ($68), and ordered a latte ($55).The tiramisu was nicely made, but the latte had not much taste and frankly, a bit expensive. I asked the brand of coffee used, and was told that it was Lavazza. The latte was served with 2 pieces of homemade chocolates and 3 pieces of cookies.Overall dining experience was good. I would say that Cubix is a good place for drinks and chats. However, washrooms were located on 1/F. We needed to walk out onto the street, enter the hotel lobby and take a lift, which was a bit inconvenient. For those who'd like to try, please note that BEA credit card holders could enjoy 10% off discount. …查看更多

I had lunch at Craftsteak with 4 other ladies on a Saturday. At first, my friend booked a table at Soho Spice, but can you believe it? She sat down and saw a rat slowly walking by. Therefore, before I arrived, they decided to move to another restaurant in Soho. They chose Craftsteak, probably because of the comfortable seating and nice decor.I arrived at around 1:15 pm and the last one arrived at around 1:45 pm. We were told that it was time for last order at 2:30 pm. Fine, but the attitude of the male waiter was rude and impolite. Regrettably, non-Chinese staff members were better, but we already had a bad impression. We were almost urged to leave at 3 pm sharp! What kind of service was that??? We had to pay $110 per head. I had lots of other choices in Central. Last time, when I had lunch with two other friends at Gingko House, staff members were very polite and said we could sit as long as we were enjoying the food and beverages. I will NEVER eat at Craftsteak again! Even though the seating was nice and comfortable, it could not compensate for the poor service and bad experience we had, let alone the just average food quality!Back to the food. We chose different appetizers/soups and main courses to share. Portions were large and we couldn't finish two dishes (almost left untouched). For appetizers, we tried mixed green with ranch dressing, smoked salmon salad, bruchetta, and 2 different soups. Bruchetta was good and the salad was just OK. Soups looked creamy (clam chowder and mushroom soup) though I didn’t try. It’s a hot day and I ordered an iced tea instead. For main courses, Craftsteak boasted its open fire cooking and grilled meat / seafood were offered. We ordered grilled fish, chicken, pork loin, steak and a risotto. Risotto was very "wet", though the taste was OK. The grilled fish was very tough, almost left untouched. Grilled chicken and pork were also not tender. The carrot pieces served with the pork loin were sweet and juicy though. When we ordered risotto, the impolite waiter questioned our knowledge about risotto. “It's hard inside…”WE KNOW OF COURSE, a perfect risotto should be just al dente, neither too hard nor too soft. Well-trained, helpful and friendly waiters at good Italian restaurants will explain to guests the texture and the difference between Chinese rice and risotto.Since we're urged to leave, we paid the bill unhappily and went across to Starbucks for our coffee...…查看更多

After reading the reviews, I decided to try Voyager on a Sat. evening. Our group has 4 adults and 1 kid. The restaurant was like a cosy bistro. It's small, accommodating a max of around 16 guests. Bread was freshly baked and yummy. Two of us ordered the set dinner which was good for value ($275 for starter, main course and dessert or cheese platter). There were only 2 choices for both starter and main course though. We ordered the same starter: Brittany mussels baked with butter and garlic. Forget about the other option. Mussels seemed to be a signature dish for Voyager, so it's a must try item. The dish was good and tasty, somewhat like escargots. There is another a la carte menu titled “Mussels & French Fries”. If not that my son wanted pasta, I would have tried its mussels cooked with white wine. I ordered a creamy mushroom soup, which tasted good and portion was large. My brother ordered asparagus soup. His comment was that it's OK only. Then came the main courses. For the two of us who ordered set dinner: one had fried Barramundi fillet, served with vegetables and mashed potato; another had duck breast. Duck breast was tender and seemed to be a better choice. I ordered a pasta (came to be farfalle) with clams & scallops. It was OK, but not very impressive. My brother ordered a fried white mullet fillet from the a la carte menu. He said it was delicious.For desserts, we tried Brittany cake, cr鋗e brulee and chocolate mousse. I tried the first two and didn't really like the Brittany cake which was hot (probably heated by microwave). The texture was strange (kind of elastic) and it’s not very sweet. Cr鋗e brulee was OK, but not very special. Portion was quite big though. My son liked the chocolate mousse (cold) and almost finished the whole cup. Too bad crepes were only served during Sat. brunch. The French host told us the kitchen was small and therefore couldn't offer crepes during dinner...Overall, we had a good dining experience at Voyager –reasonably priced and of good quality. Service was also friendly. Guess it would be even better if we could speak French. Will come back for a Sat. brunch to try mussels cooked in white wine as well as crepes …查看更多

I had lunch with my husband at Aspasia last week and we enjoyed it very much. First, the staff to guest ratio was very high, almost one waiter serving one table. Service was friendly and helpful. Upon the waitress' recommendation, I ordered an Aspasia special house drink which was made with Yakult and mango juice - refreshing on a hot day. We were told that last month, the drink was a hot mix as the weather was cold. The bread was freshly baked and bread sticks were served with dips in test tubes –very impressive! The dips had 3 flavours: beans (didn’t hear the name clearly), cucumber and red bell pepper. For starters, I chose cauliflower gateau with lentils and quail. My husband ordered baked red onion with Burrata (cheese) and tuna. Both were nicely presented and tasted delicious. For main course, I chose roasted lamb rack with mashed potatoes. The portion was just right for me and the lamb very tender and juicy –one of the best I’ve ever eaten. My husband had spaghetti with clams and muscat grapes. The dish was a bit too salty for me but went well with the sweetness of the grapes. Dessert of the day was tiramisu –very yummy indeed. Thanks to Kevin the assistant manager, I could try Aspasia’s signature Belgian chocolate cake. It’s not as rich as I’ve expected, but I liked the roasted hazelnut embedded inside. Topped with crème brulee gelato and zabaglione sauce, the cake was nicely presented. My cup of cappuccino gave the tasty lunch a hearty finale. I was too full to try the homemade cookies served with our cappuccino and latte. We also saw Aspasia’s head chef Mr. Roland Schuller walking around and were told that he was always in the restaurant. I’ve read from reviews that he liked to run small-sized restaurants in an attempt to maintain a high standard - good news for us!The executive lunch menu (3-course) has 3 prices depending on whether one chooses from the pasta or seafood or main course section ($168/188/218 + 10% service charge). Aspasia did give us a very enjoyable dining experience. Will definitely return to try its sampler menu for dinner later. Heard from my friend that the tomato water was really unique!…查看更多

Ladies met for lunch last Sat, so I thought this was a good choice. Haven't been here before, but was impressed by the photos and reviews.Very noisy floor, mainly due to adjacent restaurant which had an open setting.Since our group was pretty large, we could not sit at the purple sofa seats. We're given a long table near to the window. I was offered a lunch set menu. I ordered lamb cutlets ($68) as my main course to go with a vegetable soup (sort of like Minestrone), salad (served on a buffet table outside the restaurant with a minimal choice of desserts like mini cakes, puddings and mixed fruit, etc.).Waitresses were friendly, but service was slow. I had finished my salad dish, and soup was served without the bread. The vegetable soup was OK, not too tasty. The lamb cutlets were OK for the price of just $68 for a set lunch ($10 extra for the salad), not juicy or tender enough. I prefer a higher price for better food quality.For dessert lovers like me, it's better to order from the a la carte menu, but since I was late, there wasn't enough time. Ladies kept on chatting...I finished off with a latte. coffee itself was quite aromatic and smooth, but not quite like a latte. Maybe the quality of the milk was the problem... …查看更多

I went into this bakery a few times afterwork and ended up empty-handed when I left, because there were usu. not much choices at around 7:30 pm. on weeknights. I passed by Vanilla again last Sat. at around 6 pm and bought 2 pieces of cakes ($25 for each) for a try1) black forest (round piece, not cut cake)(2) chocolate truffle cake (also round piece)The chocolate truffle cake was better in both texture and taste. Tasting the chocolate truffle cake was like eating a large piece of dark chocolate truffle. For those who don't like dark chocolate, it might be a bit heavy. For me, it's just right.For the black forest cake, the layer of cherries and cream is OK, but the texture of the cake can be improved. …查看更多

I usually will have lunch at Spoil with my colleagues or friends at least once every week. The executive chef reminded me of Jamie Oliver. He\'s nice, easy going and has a passion for cooking. Spoil serves a light lunch: choice of pasta or sandwich. For pasta, one has the option of either linguine or penne. You can have either soup or salad to start with. Bread is oven baked and homemade I like its focaccia to go with the salad: Chef Kit always uses fresh garden vegetables, lightly mixed with vinegar - good for my health and yours too! For the pasta, there are a few sauces to choose from (cream sauce, tomato sauce, curry sauce), to be cooked with fish fillet, chicken, prawns or clams (cooked in white wine). I personally like linguine in cream sauce with prawns.For $15 extra, one can try its desserts: cheesecake, dark chocolate cake, carrot cake, panna cotta, tiramisu, white chocolate mousse, orange mousse. You\'re lucky if you can find all the above. I personally like the dark chocolate cake most, very delicious, with layers of different textures. To finish off, I will usually order a latte. Spoil serves good coffee, which is important to me who still needs to work in the afternoon. My lady friends may choose rose lychee tea with honey. Spoil is a nice, cosy and friendly restaurant, highly recommended in Wan Chai area! Remember to book in advance as there are only around 14 seats in total …查看更多

我一家雖然不是住在太古城，但也久不久到「鹿港」。我們愛吃湯麵，而「鹿港」的台式牛肉麵湯底清甜有住家feel，金錢也得夠稔、新鮮有肉味(水準通常穩定，只係試過一次唔夠稔)。小湯包也做得不錯。這裏的服務好，最有印象係穿黑西裝的那位head waiter，keep up with your good work。我一家會繼續捧場！…查看更多

My sister flew back to Hong Kong to celebrate my birthday with me. After a day's shopping and a light lunch, we had afternoon tea at Via Quadronno at IFC. There were tea sets and sandwich / pannini sets. Both my sis and I had a sweet tooth and so we tried 2 different tea sets and ordered an extra dessert for a try1) Passion fruit mousse cake and regular coffee - only 1 type of mousse cake available, others were cheese cakes which were not our cup of tea; light and aromatic homemade cake, but it would be better if the presentation could improve (actually for all types on display, maybe it's American style cheesecakes), coffee was good(2) Pistachio parfait and cafe latte - the parfait was homemade and very delicious; cafe latte was one of the best I've ever tried in Hong Kong(3) chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream - the head waiter recommended us to mix the ice cream with the cake instead of eating either alone, which was indeed good; got the info that sometimes rose ice cream was available, but not on the day of our visit, will try it out some time later.Junior waiters need to improve on communication, but service was friendly and helpful all through. I will definitely go there again, to try their lunch or dinner menu…查看更多

My colleagues held a farewell lunch back in mid January at the VIP room of SAE (one floor above their restaurant). Two of my friends and I also celebrated my friend's birthday in another small VIP room with a 3-seater sofa and light music but no TV on 15 Feb. We had a specially designed menu on both occasions and I enjoyed both meals. In fact, I used the first menu as the template and modified a few dishes as some items were seasonal. For the farewell lunch, the 10-course lunch was really tasty ($300 per head), kind of heavy for lunch and actually more appropriate for dinner, but it's a special occasion, so we'd like to indulge a bit. The courses included: (1)deep fried shrimp, cavier on cucumber, crab meat on sesame tofu (appetizer); (2)clam & seafood soup in a teapot (add in a bit of lime juice, very yummy);(3)assorted sashimi (less than we normally ordered, because some of us do not eat raw food);(4)assorted sushi (including my favourite sea urchin and deep fried soft shell crab rolls); (5)goose liver (quite a large piece, I felt full after eating the piece); (6)assorted yakitori (skewers of chicken cartilage, asparagus, fresh mushrooms, green pepper); (7)prawn tempura (2 big prawns for each person); (8)fried fish fillet in spinach sauce; (9)wanyu beef with hand-made noodles (和牛稻庭麵) (very delicious) and (9)dessert platter (wonderfully presented). We were very satisfied with all the dishes. Though some dishes were not hot enough for some of us. My impression is that Chef Ma cooks with heart. The quality of the food is good and presentation is good too. The price is reasonable. I always enjoy having lunch / dinner at SAE and have recommended it to many friends.…查看更多

I had dinner with 5 friends at Mezz last night. The setting was cosy and comfortable, with a view of the streets in Central.We all enjoyed the freshly baked bread, especially the potato bread and butter rolls. We had to control ourselves not to eat too much or else we'd be full before the starters came.I started with panfried foie gras. The texture was good, but disappointingly it was not even warm! For main course, I ordered rack of lamb in feta cheese sauce. The sauce was too sour and the lamb blackened on the surface. It was also not tender. Luckily the dessert was heavenly: chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, which went well with the cafe latte.For starters, the salmon was best. For main course, the sea bass and linguine with lobster were good options. For desserts, besides the chocolate cake, the pavlova, lemon souffle were also nicely presented and tasted very nice. Overall, there was still much room for improvement.The waitresses were helpful and friendly though. We appreciated that they let us chat till closing hours.…查看更多