Enjoyable Dinner at Il Lido on 12Apr2015

Posted on April 18, 2015 by chefquak

grilled octopus

had delightful 2pax dinner with wife at il lido on 12.4.2015.^^

had not been to il lido like 5yrs maybe? recently daughter was here & shared photos on family whatsapp, so we decided to come try ourselves after so long. 🙂

il lido terrace

il lido view

we came just before sundown & sat outdoor. not so humid this evening & really pleasant terrace ambience & wonderful dinner.^^

amuse bouche 1= mushroom cappuccino

we were served 2 amuse bouche.

first was a mushroom cappuccino/foam. there were mushroom bits at the bottom & some balsamic cream & some barley etc on top. taste was intense, fabulous. texture combination excellent too.

wife said what the server liked to hear, that this was better than jaan’s.

for me though, nothing beats jaan’s cepes mushroom tea amuse bouche. but since jaan’s was taken out of feed at raffles, and i am never going to pay full price for the degustation dinner at jaan, this would be the next best thing, i guess! & its close too!^^

amuse bouche 2

second amuse bouche – crispy cheese risotto…quite ok i guess, but no impressions vs the mushroom foam.

bread basket

quite good bread basket.

grilled octopus

we ordered a grilled octopus to share.

it’s pretty good really. octopus was tender (like sous vide). there were some sausages.

prawn & uni tagliolini

for the mains, we basically go with the restaurant favourites & there server’s recommendations, and ordered the scampi & sea urchin taglioni & the black cod, asparagus & sea urchin. both were featured in the degustation set menu. 🙂

prawn & uni tagliolini

the scampi & uni tagliolini was tasty, not intense but subtle & pleasing. tagliolini though was too soft NOT al dente.

it had expensive ingredients like uni but overall taste & experience wise, i would not consider it better than most pastas i do myself.

black cod

black cod was great!

will try the other signature dish, the bone marrow crusted angus beef tenderloin next time.

gelato & sorbet

coconut gelato

passion fruit sorbet

we had a passionfruit sorbet & a coconut gelato to share. sorbet was tangy & excellent, gelato no coconut flavours nothing like the delicious coconut ice cream on 雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert we had at tunglok.

dinner cost S$100nett include 1 glass of white.

it’s really quite excellent ambience & food for a couples dinner. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Great Value Tasty Food @ Shinyeh on 17Apr2015

Posted on April 18, 2015 by chefquak

luroufan卤肉饭

had great tasty food in great ambience at shinyeh with wife on 17.4.2015.

not been to shinyeh for a while. used to frequent here quite a bit because of palate discounts before i started blogging & recording (which is why i blog) in mar2013.

last time i came here was when a RI friend organised a 20pax G20 monthly dinner here.

shinyeh

nice ambience & we were seated next to the fountain near the front.^^

chives dumpling

chives dumplings looked gorgeous.

chives dumpling

tasted gorgeous too! yum!^^

luroufan卤肉饭

taiwanese restaurant got to try luroufan卤肉饭la.^^

years ago, when i visited taipei, alone & also with wife, we had the most wonderful luroumian卤肉面at 度小月.

shinyeh’s luroufan卤肉饭 was good. egg was really tasty. braised pork quite good also. i must try this at home. for comparison though, the hong kong steamed chicken feet pork ribs rice, especially at timhowan shamshuipo still better.

yam pastry

wife like this yam pastry. had not taken for many years. still enjoyed it. yam was very good, the pastry though was not crisp & a bit rubbery, so not quite good enough overall.

oysters in black bean sauce

we had never ordered oysters in black bean sauce. probably new menu too. and it was very good. the distinct oyster flavours (& they had loads of them) was excellent balanced by the slight salty sauce & scallions. this would be easy to do at home, can use yellow onions too. 🙂

dried sole with chinese cabbage (excellent)

& the dried sole with chinese cabbage was a great find. menu said 扁鱼sole, so it’s some kind of flat fish. should be able to do this dish at home too, get some proxy for the 扁鱼sole. 🙂

the almost stewed chinese cabbage made the soup dish very sweet & tasty. the dried sole texture was like a fluffy gluten, interesting, good texture, some sweetness not much of special taste. 🙂

overall it was an excellent dinner. overall it was an excellent dinner. service was also very good, polite, attentive, friendly.

and it only cost S$33 net after amex palate 50% discounts for 2pax. would have been lower but apparently the S$4.20 chives dumplings (a cardboard menu on the table) was not included in the palate discounts. not really right as the restaurant did not state that there were menu items & palate discounts applies to all ala carte items.

anyway, chives dumpling was very good, it was just few $ & we were happy with the price for the food we gotten, restaurant also have to make some money la.^^

c.h.e.f quak

Gourmet Carnival Atmosphere @ Savour 2015 on 28Mar2015

Posted on April 17, 2015 by chefquak

entry queue at savour (26-29mar2015)

my wife’s friend bought us a pair entry tickets to savour 2015 on 28mar2015.

there was a queue at the entrance at 6pm. the entrance tickets were S$69 for each person and had S$30 stored-value on each ticket. i guess that means entrance fee was S$39. i think we topped up another S$60 each.

i guess i had read about savour but never really paid attention. now that we were going, i kind of read up on the participating restaurants, decided on a few to try.

ku de ta’s duck + angus beef S$18

one of the restaurant stalls we were interested was ku de ta.

wife not interested in belly pork (which is so common these days in fine dining), so we picked the sous vide duck + angus beef plate for S$18.

ku de ta’s angus beef

beef ok but then we can do anytime. no attraction.

ku de ta kiosk

ku de ta’s duck

duck pretty good too. again you can buy smoked duck from ntuc, mmmm, even qoo10.

ku de ta kiosk

certainly competent. no great motivation to go sky high & pay sky high.

crowd at stellar’s kiosk

the other restaurant stall we wanted to try was stellar at 1-altitutde. used to be on amex palate but seems that no more. i wouldn’t really go there w/o palate discounts.

there was a good crowd. we were early at about 6pm. later the crowd & queue were longer & we did not have enough interest to stand in queue for other food.

stellar’s wagyu burger

i thought stellar’s wagyu burger was quite good, and S$18 price was quite fine too. when i was in the queue, a young mother was just ahead of me. she had bought 1 already & was ordering 2 more & telling the server she wanted it more cooked as her young child could not take the medium rare.

bought 1 & ordered 2 more. that gave me some confidence haha!^^

stellar’s wagyu burger

wagyu & onions were tasty with simple seasoning. the brioche also quite nice. 1 of my wife’s friend couple came so we shared & had a quarter each. 🙂

stellar’s kiosk

i quite liked this wagyu burger. it’s something that worked for me.^^

savour 2015 ambience

we were at the open space in front of the F1 pit building.

the flyer in the background.

savour 2015 ambience

great ambience & vibes!

pea veloute – UK’s 2 michelin midsummer house

we decided to try another stall. this time we picked midsummer house, a UK 2 michelin star restaurant.

pea veloute – UK’s 2 michelin midsummer house

the pea veloute was pretty ok. i think it was S$12. always like pea soup.

UK’s 2 michelin midsummer house

that was our last tasting as we were not attracted to the other food, and the crowd & queue built up after that. 🙂

savour 26-29mar2015

view of the stalls below from level 2 of the F1 pit building where the sake & gourmet grocery stalls were located.

japanese yuzu

we bought some japanese yuzu. later, i used the skin from 1 yuzu to make a yuzu pepper. very nice!^^

japanese strawberries

gourmet vegetables?

so we didn’t spend much of the S$90 each, and used up all the money buying groceries, like japanese strawberries, yuzu, italian iberico ham etc.

would i come for this again? for myself, probably not. don’t think my wife interested either. with some friends, not so hot but don’t mind doing too. there were other food we could try. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Marvellous Robatayaki & Teppanyaki Set Lunch @ Mikuni on 30Mar2015

Posted on April 17, 2015 by chefquak

golden prawns

mikuni has marvellous new robatayaki & teppanyaki lunch sets. it’s a better deal the the regular lunch teppan set, only that you have to sit at the robatayaki table or teppan table.

i went there with my god-sis & daughter of a close friend on 30.3.2015.^^

prawn crackers

we were served the usual prawn crackers. 🙂

teppan & robatayaki menu

the teppan menu included great dishes like golden prawns, miso cod & australian tenderloin.

the robatayaki set had scallop, mackerel, & kagoshima wagyu & kurobuta robatayaki, and ended with a nishin soba. quite excellent!

i ordered the robatayaki set & the 2 ladies ordered the teppan set.

salad

we had the salad greens with the usual goma (sesame) sauce.

chawan mushi

and a good chawan mushi too. 🙂

sauce dips

sauce dips & a variety of salt, like yuzu, nori (seaweed) etc.

robatayaki chef doing bbq

chef doing robatayaki 炉(端)烧.

scallop, fish & asparagus

robatayaki set included hotate (scallop) butter yaki, a mackerel & asparagus.

fish & asparagus

mackerel & asparagus were good.

hotate butter yaki

hotate butter yaki was ok. for me, this preparation though can never compare with pan seared or sashimi.

kagoshima beef & kurobuta robatayaki

there was an excellent kagoshima wagyu skewer.

kagoshima beef & kurobuta robatayaki

the kurobuta tsukune skewer was tasty too & i like the silky egg yoke dip like in sukiyaki.

nishin soba

the set included a nishin soba. nice. the cured herring was ok & soba was usual, something i like.

teppan set

the teppan set had all the favourite dishes like miso cod & golden prawns (top photo).

australian beef tenderloin

& also the australian tenderloin.^^

cod

excellent taste, the cod, can’t go wrong really.^^

garlic fried rice

& it came with a fragrant good wok hae garlic fried rice.

fruit penna cotta

and we all love the penna cotta. really good.

the teppan set would be an easy winner for most diners. both the cod & gold prawns were very good. the robatayaki set had japanese wagyu, but it was a small portion, so overall the teppan set gave much better balance all round.

the lunch set was S$34++pax after 50% feed at raffles (FAR Card) discounts, quite a steal!^^

c.h.e.f andy

Poor Dimsum at Sweet Dynasty 糖朝 on 6Apr2015

Posted on April 14, 2015 by chefquak

steamed pork ribs & chicken feet rice

we had some time in the morning before flight departure on 6.4.2015.

originally we were booked for lunch at lei gardens at elements mall where we would be doing a city check-in to the flight & taking the airport express. but because the lunch at lei gardens times square was really a let down, quite unsatisfactory, we canceled the reservation at elements.

also we had to refund the standard on-loan octopus card we bought on arrival. we purchased the octopus card at hk$150 inclusive hk$100 stored value & hk$50 refundable deposit, but only used about hk$30. there was discounts per trip but also an admin fee of hk$9 for refund so we did not save much however the octopus card gave great convenient taking the mtr & the star ferry, and if we had take the city bus or tram too. 🙂

及第粥 mixed congee

we did not want to go to yat lok at central or to cam’s at wanchai, so we walked around looking for a roast goose stall.

in the end we settled on sweet dynasty 糖朝. we used to frequent it when it was at canton road. we liked especially the congee & also the rice topped with steamed pork ribs, chicken feet or chicken with mushrooms. it relocated to hankow road a few years back.

we again ordered the steamed pork ribs & chicken feet rice. it was really good especially drizzled with the mildly sweet sauce. this was where i modelled my hk style steamed sausage, mushroom & chicken rice (香汁蒸蘑菇鸡饭).

ate too much rice as a result.

及第粥 mixed congee

we had the 及第粥 mixed congee. congee is always good, very smooth. the pig stomach & innards i liked & my wife took the kidney & liver, so pretty good for all.

but it was no better than the congee at canton paradise OR at crystal jade. 🙂

XO fried carrot cake

XO fried carrot cake was good, flavourful, nothing special & not my favourite.

roast duck & soy sauce chicken

the roast duck (not goose) was quite pathetic actually, felt like reheat in microwave oven zero crispiness in the skin (actually must not order this next time if there is a next time)-

can forget about comparing with yat lok roast goose.

not even as good as joyful palace at clementi food loft, not even comparing with canton paradise excellent roast duck.

the soy sauce chicken looked miserable but the breast meat was actually moist, tender & sweet. actually better than the complimentary roast chicken at superstar restaurant the evening before. 🙂

black sesame tau huay

the black sesame tau huay is my wife’s favourite.

somehow this time i did not find any attraction there.

we paid like hk$450 at sweet dynasty 糖朝, 50% more than the excellent dimsum at timhowan & nothing like it, & quite ex really at S$80 for 3pax for hk dimsum…of course in singapore it would cost about that for better food.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Value Saga Wagyu 佐贺和牛 6-course Set @ Superstar on 5Apr2015

Posted on April 13, 2015 by chefquak

saga wagyu 佐贺和牛

what was very good value but perhaps not the best in culinary sophistication was the premium saga wagyu 6-course dinner set we had at the flagship stall of the superstar group restaurant on 5.4.2015.

there was uncertainty from the beginning that this what looked like a very traditional chinese kind of restaurant could manage a wagyu steak well. superstar group do have teppanya & 燒肉牛蔵(和牛專門店) yakiniku gyukura restaurants, so initially i booked yakiniku gyukura but they replied that the wagyu set was only served in 2 superstar restaurants & recommended their flagship at tsim sha tsui mansion at nathan road.

premium saga wagyu 佐贺和牛 6-course set

there was nothing to fault really about the menu & quality of ingredients. the preparation & presentation though was not quite the best.

geoduck sashimi

wife wanted to go light after too much eating & decided not to take the set, and instead just ordered a mirugai (geoduck) sashimi. it was good. not a big portion, can’t remember now but probably hk$298.

geoduck sashimi was sweet & succulent, but it was a small geoduck clam, so it was nearer the ends & did not have the large inside flesh that the excellent if expensive geoduck platter we had at budaoweng 不倒翁 hotpot at isquare.

crispy roast chicken

& the restaurant gave us a fee 1/2 roast chicken, apparently for any spending above hk$200. not the best chicken, still it was pretty good.

crystal pork & tofu

set started with crystal pork 肴肉& deep-fried tofu. both were competent in look & taste for a good chinese restaurant. tofu was crispy outside & silky inside. 🙂

sharksfin soup

sharkskin with compoy & fishmaw was average, not the standard of good chinese restaurant sharkskin soup.

japanese wagyu

the main draw was the japanese saga wagyu 佐贺和牛. they were pricing it at a special hk$308 for 100g & hk$498 for the set.

we asked for medium rare, which according to them was 五分熟 50% cooked. it came about medium rare to rare. beef was very marbled. the piece looked bigger than 100g. anyway japanese saga wagyu at about S$55/100g was a good price.

it was indeed a very good steak, good marbling melt in the mouth. i felt though that somehow the temperature was not right. it was not charred enough (not enough maillard reaction to impart the flavours) & the meat felt like steamed, somehow the marbling, fragrant flavours were not quite there.

don’t know but just did not have the memorable “wowed-over” feeling that we had at imahan hakata at fukuoka!

nor also the excellent A4 ohmi wagyu at me@oue.

for comparison, my own chargrilled wagyu steak

well, it was not even as flavourful as my own chargrilled wagyu steak! (above photo).

maybe belief is important? lack of belief affects taste. don’t know!

stonefish soup

stonefish soup was very tasty. it was their signature dish. as a accompanying side dish for a premium wagyu 6-course set, i thought it was very good. not sure it could be consider a top signature dish standalone.

minced wagyu fried rice

the minced wagyu beef fried rice was to me also average though son thought it was very good. i thought it did not have the same wok hae & intense flavours like-

the unagi chahan (fried rice say) at either zen OR en japanese dining; nor

the fragrant spicy fried rice at crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao.

baked lotus paste sago

the baked lotus paste sago was a attempted fusion dessert dish. hmmm…i would prefer a creme brûlée or portugese egg tart the ones at marco polo continental club lounge was exquisite!

will i go back again??? i wonder myself….

on paper, this should be a very good deal. but actually i can do without the other dishes (nothing much there to miss really) and just take the wagyu at hk$308. still hk$308 is a bit of money, and not sure i want to leave my fate with the chef and hope for a hk$308 wagyu to turn out for the best. hmmm…

c.h.e.f andy

Expensive Below-par Food @ Lei Gardens Times Square on 5Apr2015

Posted on April 12, 2015 by chefquak

venus clams with sweet peas

had expensive below par lunch today at lei gardens @ times square on 5.4.2015.

this was so different from the excellent lunch i had at 2 michelin star lei gardens at tsai yee street洗衣街 ‎mongkok outlet in 2013.

they had 2 seating & we booked 11.30am. we went to have a short walk at the mid-level escalators & stanley street & decided to eat some small portion of roast goose at yat lok.

so maybe we were a bit full & not great appetite.

lei gardens times square

service was quite polite actually. these days service pretty ok though they were always busy to have much time with you.

lie tong 鸡骨草例汤

we had a lie tong 鸡骨草例汤. HK$148 for 1pot, maybe should have the 1/2pot HK$98.

it was ok i guess, but these days, my helper made such great soup on the slow cooker at home. also my memory of 鸡骨草例汤 at imperial treasure nanbei was that it was such a tasty soup this one really paled in comparison.

chicken feet in abalone sauce

we ordered the hicken feet braised in abalone sauce HK$42. wife & son preferred the usual dimsum deep-fried chicken feet which we found out was just hk$32. 🙂

my son said he did not realise how nice the dimsum at timhowan were until compared with the much poorer ones here. in fact i think all of crystal jade, imperial treasure, tunglok & canton paradise are better.

radish pastry

the radish pastry was ok.

char siew fun cheong

the char siew fun cheong was poor. skin was very doughy & tough.

noodles in lobster broth

we took the recommendations which had the venus clams with sweet beans (top photo) & the noodles in lobster broth combination for HK$298.

the venus clams was the only dish that was good. the lobster broth noodles was tasteless, really a surprise for me. somehow the food did not agree with us.

c.h.e.f andy

Street Food Yat Lok Roast Goose & 新源牛腩牛杂面 on 4 & 5Apr2015

Posted on April 12, 2015 by chefquak

beef noodles soup 新源牛腩牛杂面

we had a most enjoyable lunch at amber at landmark oriental mandarin plus there were great hors doeuvre at marco polo continental club lounge evening cocktail, so we did not plan for dinner on 4.4.2015.

beef noodles soup 新源牛腩牛杂面

i wanted to try my favourite beef brisket noodles, so i took a short walk from our hotel on canton to hankow road where 新源noodles stall was located. it was expensive here, single item was hk$45. i ordered a combo 牛腩牛杂面, so it was hk$55.

beef noodles soup 新源牛腩牛杂面

新源 had several stalls in the area & i used to have them & they were good. however this time it was quite mediocre. soup was average not very sweet & flavourful. likewise the briskets. the stomach & lung were more infused with flavours. overall it was not very satisfactory.

any of the 牛腩面 i took anywhere previously was better than this e.g. at shamshuipo the last time (& indeed even at the food republic on canton road).

金湖牛腩面

& the price was exorbitant!

later as i passed by haiphong road on the way back to hotel, i recalled that this golden lake stall (above photo) was pretty good too, & the price i saw was hk$33 c/w hk$45 at 新源!

queues at hermes

there were queues at hermes as i was leaving hotel at 9pm, and same queue when i returned at 9.30pm…

queues at chanel

& the same at chanel!

IFC

star ferry hk terminal to central covered link way from

the next day, we were going to have early lunch at lei gardens at 11.30am.

so we thought we would go to central, walk along the mid level escalators & steal a bite at yat lok roast goose at stanley street.

yat lok roast goose HK$140 drumstick quarter

to me, Yat Lok 一乐 has the best roast goose in hong kong. but of course i did not try many in hong kong to make the comparison. i had it at yung kee, at food republic on canton road, at 1 michelin star tim’s kitchen & at restaurants like tau heung’s 稻香超级渔港 previously. yat lok’s was by far the best.

it did not disappoint this time. we ordered a hk$140 drumstick quarter to share. my wife & son all enjoyed it very much.^^

yat lok HK$40 fried dumplings

the fried dumplings did not look great, but actually it was very tasty though kind of oily!

queue at kam’s roast goose

after lunch at lei gardens at times square, i went for a walk. i wanted to check out kam’s roast goose at wancahi area. this restaurant was started by the son of the founder of yung kee & has garnered 1 michelin star.

there was quite a long queue at about 2.30pm. i did not intend to eat here & anyway i was too full from lunch. will give it a try next time.

c.h.e.f andy

Sumptuous Weekend Wine Brunch @ Amber Landmark Mandarin Oriental on 4Apr2015

Posted on April 11, 2015 by chefquak

#2 whole abalone with braised oxtail sauce

wife booked 3pax weekend wine brunch at amber at landmark mandarin oriental on 4.4.2015.^^

amber has 2 michelin stars 6 years in a row & is the no.4 in asia & no.24 in pellegrino’s world’s top 50 restaurants.

this 1 of the places you have to leave credit card details and will be charged in full if you cancel within 48hrs. i am not sure if it is a new practice but we booked 2pax degustation dinner at joel robuchon maybe 4yrs ago & did not have to do that. & we had been to caprice at four seasons, and pierre at the other mandarin oriental and did not have to do that.

anyway we were happy to try out this place, and our faith were more than rewarded. this was simply the best meal we had in hong kong, not comparing joel robuchon’s degus dinner which cost more than twice this lunch.

baguette, olive & onion bread

after a very pleasant morning stroll along the peak circle walk taking in the hong kong skyline, we took a cab form the peak to landmark mandarin oriental which only cost us hk$55.

we started with a nice champagne.

the baguette and olive & onion bread from the bread basket were warm & very good, with both salted & unsalted butter.

6-course weekend wine brunch with 4 paragons of wine (champagne, 2 whites, 1 red)

weekend wine brunch was a 6-course (though that included cheese & 2 desserts) with selection of 4 wines at hk$888.

we found out that it was really an excellent deal even c/w weekday set lunches w/o the wine. so it was an excellent decision & wonderful lunch.

foie gras lollipop

squidink pita

we had 2 amuse bouche. both were good.

the foie gras lollipop in raspberry jelly had beetroot on one side & some crackers? on the other.

the squid ink pita was better, can’t remember maybe it was some cheese, anyway just remembered it was savoury & nice.^^

#1 foie gras terrine with suckling pig – very good

1st course was served with a riesling which i liked best of the 2 whites & champagne. all were nice anyway.

my son & i picked the foie gras terrine with suckling pig (interleaved) as our first course. it was very good, very flavourful & substantial.

#1 hokkaido sea urchin with caviar

wife picked the hokkaido sea urchin in lobster jelly with caviar topped with a gold leaf (which came with a hk$260 supplement). uni was sublime of course but the S$46+ supplement made no sense to us.

#1 hokkaido sea urchin with caviar

we all love uni of course, but we are not short of taking them, and we had whole tub of uni in japan for 1500yen (fukuoka recently) & lots of them at kuriya dining for the S$62 chirashi lunch with big serving of uni.

uni is uni. no culinary skill involved, is there?

#2 whole abalone with braised oxtail sauce

second course was served with another white chardonnay.

for the second course, wife & i had the whole abalone that came with braised oxtail sauce & oxtail!

it was really well done. the abalone was so well braised or sous vide it was pure tender & the oxtail sauce was an excellent match. the 2 pieces of oxtail were also very tender & tasty & robust. wife loved this though for me, i still prefer the chinese or japanese braised abalone in brown sauce, and the chinese dry abalone over the japanese fresh ones.

son decided to venture a bit & took the battered frog legs. i tried a bit. I must say it was very good, enough for me to say that fie the choice of the whole abalone & the frog leg (it was a no brainer before), i am not sure i will automatically pick abalone every time. 🙂

#3 sole with mussels & razor clams

the mains were served with a selection of red. we picked the spanish wine which was very good.

for the 3rd course, wife had the sole with mussels & razor clams. i think it was excellent, the best you could do with a fish. the sole was very tasty, tender and also firm in texture.

#3 pyrennes lamb

son & i had the pyrenes lamb shoulder. it was braised to perfection & smoked, very tender & smooth consistency w/o strong gamey taste. it was exquisite for a lamb shoulder.^^

#4 cheese platter – reblochon, comte & camembert
(all 3 cheese were good, i like comte best, very tasty)

we had 2 plates of the cheese platter above for 3pax. it was lots of cheese. i liked all 3 cheese = reblochon, comte & camembert. i liked comte best, very flavourful almost like blue.

raspberry mousse + chestnut mousse on meringue with pear

chestnut mousse on meringue with pear+blackcurrent sorbet

we didn’t think much of the chestnut mousse on meringue, kind of sweet not accustomed to the taste! any sorbet, blackcurrent or otherwise, was good. 🙂

#6 raspberry sorbet & chocolate mousse

i liked the raspberry sorbet & chocolate mousse much better.^^

flat white

we were served coffee & petite four to round of the lunch.

this was the best meal i had in hk, a very memorable one, and i will definitely come back again with my wife.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Coffee & Snacks @ Carpenter & Cook on 10Apr2015

Posted on April 10, 2015 by chefquak

lemon drizzle cake

an old friend from my past life called. he bought me coffee & snacks at carpenter & cook at lorong kilat on 10.4.2015.

my daughter organised a family outing here just last week on 1.4.2015.^^ we enjoyed the pastries, coffee & time together. 🙂

this time i wanted to try the lemon drizzle cake. it was nice as my daughter said, but after tasting it, i still think of it as a quite dense butter cake slight lemon flavoured & drizzled with some lemon on top. that was what i thought of it the last time. we did not try it then.

i took 1/2 & my younger friend helped me with the rest. not that i did not like it but got to watch calories etc, anyway you get the drift. haha!^^

pain au chocolat

friend ordered a pain au chocolat. i did not try. i guess it should be good but maybe also ordinary & it’s not my favourite anyway.

i still like the lemon tart & quiche we had the other day here.

flat white

i had my usual flat white & he had a iced long black.

c.h.e.f andy

Hong Wen Mutton Soup

Posted on April 10, 2015 by chefquak

mutton soup

drop by at hong wen mutton soup at bukit timah food centre on the way to meet a friend on 10.4.2015.

mutton soup

apparently the stall previously from beauty world centre has been around for decades.

closing time was 2.30pm & i was there nearer 3pm, anyway the owner served me the last bowl before shuttering the stall.

mutton soup

it should be good, unfortunately it was the worst mutton soup i had tried. will never come back again!

the soup was tasteless except for slight unnatural sweetness of herbs. usually this is balanced by the savoury & robust flavours of the mutton so the soup should be smooth, herbal & very tasty & intense, everything that this was not.

i asked for mutton & stomach. the mutton was soft. there were few for S$5, and basically tasteless even with the chilli.

currently for the chinese mutton soup i have tried, chai chuan tou chinese mutton soup 柴船头羊肉汤 is head & shoulders above the rest.

the 2 stalls at whampoa, yu ji (宇记) chinese herbal mutton soup (羊肉汤) & Herbal Mutton Soup @ Stall #01-75 Whampoa Drive Food Centre were both good.

the stall hougang jing jia mutton soup at old airport road was until today the poorest of the lot. but still better than this one!

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good Beef Hotpot @ Budaoweng 不倒翁 iSquare on 3Apr2015

Posted on April 5, 2015 by chefquak

USDA beef

as planned on the first night, we went to budaoweng 不倒翁 hotpot at isquare near our hotel at 9.30pm on 3.4.2015. this late night discounts used to be 40% before, but now it was 20% for the entire menu including drinks.

since we had a late lunch at timhowan shamshuipo, this was rather a good arrangement, except that we also had a bit to eat at the club lounge at marco polo hk hotel. 🙂

we had the usual must-order large portion 金牌肥牛 at HK$368, which was the USDA marbled beef.

budaoweng 不倒翁 hotpot

HK$758 geoduck, bamboo clams & grouper

geoduck

bamboo clams

we decided to have geoduck sashimi. it was very expensive though at HK$48 per tael (两) 37.5g。that would make it HK$1280 about S$228/kg = really ex man!

we decided to take their promotion platter which had a portion of geoduck sashimi, grouper head & belly & roar clams. that was HK$758 before 20% discounts. this also very ex. not that much geoduck sashimi, 2 pieces of razor clams & some grouper 头腩, which is a really cheap dish in HK.

1/2 order prawn dumplings – HK&88

we had 1/2 order (4 pieces) of our favourite prawn dumplings. it had 3 huge prawns inside.

vegetable tray

& a vegetable tray.

condiments & sauces

there were very good condiments & sauces. they charged like HK$22pax.

fruit & jelly

they served a complimentary fruit & jelly.

dinner was very enjoyable, but came to be rather expensive after 20% discounts (HK$1800 for 3pax) as we also ordered an expensive sake.

the service was very good actually. servers were polite & responsive. but they tended to push things. one served poured the cane drinks 竹蔗for us. the difference now was that we said we didn’t want it & she took it back. in the past servers in HK would show you a black face. they may still do now at other places. this one was ok.

another practice both here & at lei gardens, the servers tended to hang around, the body language expecting tips. but there was already 10% service, especially when they charged for everything from soup base to condiments & for here sake was very ex too. anyway they do what they need to do, we tip when we feel we want to tip…hahaha!^^

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Dimsum @ Timhowan Shamshuipo on 3Apr2015

Posted on April 5, 2015 by chefquak

crispy char siew bun

had excellent 4pax dimsum at timhowan at sham shui po, fuk wing street.^^

last time i dined here was in 2013. just as good this time.

son arrived HK airport 1/2hr later, and we managed to take airport express & hop onto the free bus transfer & checked in at marco polo hk at harbour city by 2.30pm.

timhowan shamshuipo

we were at timhowan at sham shui po at 3pm. there was a queue (this was good friday & we waited about 15mins).

fried carrot cake

liver fun cheong

we ordered 3 of the 4 signature dishes, namely the crispy char siew buns, the panfried carrot cake, and the liver fun cheong.^^

they were all good. somehow the crispy char siew funs were much better than singapore, very crispy & not so sweet. panfried carrot cake was kind of standard.

char siew fun cheong

both the liver & char siew fun cheong were very good, very smooth & the sauces was just great.

pork rib chicken feet rice

we loved the pork rib chicken feet rice. it was excellent! we had 2 orders to share among 4pax.

steamed pork ribs

chicken feet

we also had the steamed pork ribs & chicken feet separately. they were both very good. the chicken feet was the usual deep-fried ones & very different from the abalones sauce ones we had the next day at lei gardens which cost more & not so nice.

咸水饺

we liked the hamshuigok 咸水饺 too. nice!

har gau

& we had 3 orders of har gau. these were very good, same as what we had in crystal jade, imperial treasure & canton paradise in singapore.

we had one later at lei gardens times square & it was quite below par, really what we came to expect in HK.

shamshuipo market…lots of electronics & gadgetry

price came to HK$302 (S$54) for 4pax, higher than the usual S$8 to S$10 here because we ate a lot.^^

it was a great makan first stop for us in HK.

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Lunch Sets @ Kuriya Dining on 25Mar2015

Posted on April 2, 2015 by chefquak

jap wagyu uni ikura don

had an excellent lunch with wife & daughter at kuriya dining, great world city on 25.3.2015.^^

sake

wife always have sake with japanese food.

jap wagyu uni ikura don

we ordered a very nice S$68 jap wagyu uni ikura don. you can also order the set which comes with ebi tempura, chawanmushi & udon for S$88. we were happy just to have the beef don.

wagyu was so marbled & flavourful. uni was very sweet & smooth.

chirashi don set

we ordered 2 sets of chirashi don.

it came with a double-decker bamboo tray like tiffin carrier.^^

chirashi don

one tray had anago (conger eel or sea eel), tam ago (egg roll), ikura, tobiko etc.

chirashi don

the other tray had uni, negi toro (minced toro), ama ebi (sweet prawns), and many fish over bed of vinegared sushi rice.

the sashimi was top quality. it was as good as the chirashi don at mikuni. it did not have the botan ebi & otoro like mikuni’s but had bigger serving of uni. there were many slices of hotate & lots of sashimi including salmon, hamachi, maguro, kajiki, tai

chawanmushi

there was chawanmushi, good quality.

black sesami ice cream, mochi+fruits

fruits & sashimi ice cream + a very poor mochi.

coffee

and coffee.

mikuni chirashi don is still my favourite at S$90 (S$45 after 50% feed at raffles discounts) & i don’t really need a set, ala carte is good enough.

however at S$62, this chirashi don had very good sashimi cuts & larger (maybe 25% more) so it was a very good match for mikuni & i will be quite happy to have this again.

c.h.e.f andy

My Favoruite Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodles on 2Apr2015

Posted on April 2, 2015 by chefquak

S$15 big prawn noodles

a friend had to go for big prawn noodles today. not sure where the sudden cravings came from. we were at first planning to go to why eat har, a very good new big prawn noodle house started by a mutual friend’s brother. but was told that he was away & the stall was closed today.

S$15 big prawn noodles

wah kee big prawn noodles

anyhow, we decided to go to wah kee big prawn noodles at pek kio food centre at cambridge road. i was there at 11.30am today, a thursday, 2.4.2015 (wah kee is closed on mondays).

this has always been my favourite big prawn noodles stall though i had not been here many years.

i queued for 30mins+ & we waited another 5 mins for noodles to be ready. the “famous” lady serving told us that the prawns today were too big for S$10, and she had to charge S$15. we decided to take her suggestion to order 2 bowls S$5 & 2 bowls S$15 for 4 of us.

2x$5 & 2x$15 prawn noodles

S$15 big prawn noodles

wah kee has always served the large prawns in a separate metal pot. looked impressive but more important of course was how good it tasted.

the prawns for S$15 were huge, probably >100g each, fresh and excellent. in my memory which was really quite many years back the S$10 prawns were also very big. anyway, it was quite ok just to try. i am not sure though i would want to pay S$15 for this if i come again.

wah kee big prawn noodles dry

S$5 prawn noodles

we asked for additional haebeehiam chilli. i added a bit to the noodles. the noodles & chilli mix was excellent, though the lady totally forgotten i ordered beehoon mee & we got 4 bowls of just mee instead.

for me, though why eat har’s chilli was also very good, wah kee’s haebeehiam chilli was really superb. we suspected that haebeehiam chilli was added which gave the large prawn soup (usual S$10 or today’s S$15) a lot more intense flavours than the S$5 soup.

the total dining experience (& by that i meant only the food visuals, flavours, texture, excluding ambience & service) was excellent, indeed the soup & large prawns are something i can think & crave for.

if i compare just the S$5 prawn noodles for wah kee, why eat har & ah hui, wah kee’s chilli was better, soup thereabout or better, so wah kee would still be tops. wah kee & ah hui had 2 prawns, whereas why eat har had 3, and ah hui’s prawns were smaller than wah kee’s. so if i want the big prawns, it’s wah kee, if i want the S$5 prawns, it’s wah kee or if want want more value than why eat har, and if i want pig’s tail together with prawns, then ah hui.

but all 3 are good for repeat visits.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Fresh Pastries & Great Coffee @ Carpenter & Cook on 1Apr2015

Posted on April 1, 2015 by chefquak

banoffee, lemon tart, quiche

son was back from london for a very short break. 🙂

he did 10km run with me this morning with my good friend & weekly running partner.

my daughter made the arrangements & we managed to find time to go for a 4pax family coffee/snacks at carpenter & cook this afternoon on 1.4.2015.^^ excellent outing this! wonderful food & ambience. 🙂

carpenter & cook

retro display

there were price tags on the quaint collections (i spied an old typewriter at S$800!) which included some enamel floral painted plates on the wall, tables & chairs etc. hence carpenter – we were told by the proprietress shenn, who is a pastry chef who pulls the weights for the other part of the name – cook. ^^

banoffee pie

banoffee pie was excellent! there was a coffee infused top. shenn said it was rare. the toffee was freshly made, very mildly sweet & excellent flavours (different form what i learned for the internet boiling a can of condensed milk in water for 3 hrs).

well, shenn told us her bakery was just downstairs at the same premises & all the pastries were own freshly baked & not from a common supplier. ^^

my own banoffee pie was not too bad but this was of course better. 🙂

lemon tart

lemon tart was very nice also. very mildly sweet (which we liked) & nicely tangy, & a nice crisp tart base.

bacon quiche

both my daughter & i wanted to try the quiche. we picked the bacon quiche. i thought it was really savoury & nice. we all liked it. i tried a mini quiche previously, not too great, maybe i may try it again.

flat white

the flat white was smooth & silky, micro foam well blended, & great flavours.

it didn’t have the latte art of assembly coffee. well i guess no latte art at all.

taste wise, it was as good as dutch colony & assembly coffee. maybe chye seng huat was better, couldn’t really remember. it was good anyway.

c.h.e.f andy

Curry Chicken Noodles Cravings @ Ah Heng Hong Lim Food Centre on 31Mar2015

Posted on April 1, 2015 by chefquak

curry chicken noodles

was in town & went to eat curry chicken noodles again at ah heng, hong lim food centre on 31.3.2015. a losing battle with cravings. really like it! ^^

they were out of drumstick so i had the chicken thigh or 鸡尾. 🙂

last time i had this irresistible curry chicken noodles here was 19.1.2015.

i have tried heng kee which was good too, but of the 2 my preference is ah heng.

curry chicken noodles

the curry gravy was simple excellent, so tasty & savoury. the taupok was just right & well infused with the curry flavours. the chicken was among the very best of any chicken rice stalls.

my own curry chicken noodles

my own poached chicken 白斩鸡

i was enamoured enough with this to try my own curry chicken noodles (which was not so easy). my own poached chicken 白斩鸡 is certainly as good. the curry gravy though pretty good as well is still not quite comparable.

c.h.e.f andy

Among the Best Weiyi Laksa 唯一辣沙 @ Tanglin Halt Food Centre on 24Mar2015

Posted on March 24, 2015 by chefquak

S$5 laksa

had been trying out laksa at different places last few days.

today i went to tanglin halt market & food centre & try out weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙 on 24.3.2015.^^

weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙

i was there at 11.55am but there was already a queue of 15 people.

the queue went plus minus a bit but when i finished at 12.30pm queue was just as long.

so many people cannot be wrong, can it?

i queued for 25minutes. weiyi had a good system with a board with numbers for the combination to order & the prices. & the guy was friendly, knew how to smile & be happy, which was sometimes lacking in other sellers.

weiyi also sells prawn noodles. today there was a sign “sold out” (at 12pm??). anyway i came for the laksa.

S$5 laksa

i asked for no. 6 which was chicken & cockles & taupok, S$5 bowl, & thick beehon mee. 🙂

there wasn’t a number combination with just cockles & taupok. there was no purpose for me to try prawn combination. chicken with laksa was most uncommon so i wanted to try it.

S$5 laksa

the laksa gravy was excellent! a lot of hae bee as well. anyhow the combination of flavours – lemak, spiciness, taste – was excellent. i finished almost all the gravy. ^^

cockles were fresh & plump, taupok was soft & well infused with gravy & not falling apart. chicken was a lot better than i expected, very sweet & tender.

but of course, however good the chicken might be, it was no comparison with the poached chicken白斩鸡 at ah heng curry chicken noodle at hong lim food centre. likewise for heng kee curry chicken noodles.

& if it is between the excellent laksa gravy & excellent curry chicken gravy, i will go for the latter every time. just my personal preference.^^

weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙

just comparing laksa with laksa, this would beat the #02-141 stall at bukit timah food centre hands down.

it also made me appreciate the teck hin laksa stall at food loft @ clementi. i was asking myself was this really better than teck hin’s. i think the difference was quite infinitesimal. the taupok was much better becos the taupok at teck hin was still hard & not well infused with gravy. the gravy might be tastier overall, but really not by much. there was no queue at teck hin when i visited at 5.30pm & i don’t expect it will have a 15pax queue at 12pm. 🙂

& compared with sungei road laksa at jalan shui kopitiam at jalan berseh? it’s kind of difficult to compare. this weiyi version, like teck hin’s, was a lot more savoury & substantial. sungei road had more lemak & sweet gravy.

c.h.e.f andy

OK Laksa @ Bukit Timah Food Centre

Posted on March 23, 2015 by chefquak

laksa lemak

had a S$4 laksa at bukit timah food centre earlier today on 23.3.2015.^^

it was 3.30pm. carpark was empty & many stalls were closed.

last time i came here was with a group of friends on our own hawker food tour in 2013.

stall #02-141

saw this stall #2-141 & the photo of laksa looked great, so decided to try it.

laksa lemak

the laksa that came did not look quite as good.

i added S$1 “hum” i.e. cockles so it was S$4. cockles were good, fishball & fishcake ok, taupok was ok.

the laksa gravy was a bit too pasty. it did have a lot of haebee was flavour was ok.

by comparison, the laksa at teck hin fishball noodles at food loft @ clementi was distinctly better than this.

and sungei road S$2 laksa still the best.^^

laksa lemak

this laksa was not too bad really. but it is probably a standard of laksa you can get anywhere, and many places also better than this, so it was just ok, passable.

c.h.e.f andy

Quite OK 3pax Lunch @ Chickenwok 鸡之味 on 21Mar2015

Posted on March 22, 2015 by chefquak

brinjal tofu salted fish

went to visit a chinese friend & look at his new Beacon LED office/store at tradehub21 on 21.3.2015.

chickenwok 鸡之味

he arranged for another mutual friend to meet at chickenwok 鸡之味 downstairs his office, and bought lunch.^^

we were early (intentionally) at 11.15am so the place was empty & we were the first & only customer (at the time we finished about 12pm).

i have seen chickenwok 鸡之味 S$15 for S$30 groupon vouchers many times before but did not consider to try. for today we did not have vouchers. & a check at groupon showed that the vouchers had sold out, but i know they always come back. seen it so many times liao. so next time if i come, i will be armed with vouchers. 🙂

we ordered 5 dishes. they were all pretty ok, no bad dishes, tasty enough, quite inexpensive.

all except the S$8 romaine lettuce, which my ancient upbringing think quite ridiculous vs other dishes but my wife had enlightened me that there was no basis in the first place for me to think that vegetables should be cheaper than meat! 🙂

and i do marketing, so i know the average amount romaine lettuce cost S$2.50 (2 bunches) to S$3.50 (3 bunches) in sheng shiong, and more in chinatown. well, so it’s S$8 in an inexpensive restaurant.

the best dish (kind of just slightly better than the rest) i found (top photo) was oddly the brinjal & tofu. the salted fish gave it a very interesting flavour & overall the dish was tasty.^^

curry chicken

curry chicken was good.

curry chicken

good as in c/w any economic rice stall or nasi padang stall, but cannot compare with the lemak green or red curries at good nasi padang stalls e.g. river valley nasi padang (now closed). 🙂

this the thicker more pasty curry & not so lemak kind.

curry stingray

curry stingray also good, better than curry chicken, basically like any good homecooked curries or coffee shop stalls, which means not too bad la…^^

claypot braised belly pork 东坡肉

the claypot braised belly pork 东坡肉, not really 东坡肉 (the top restaurants seldom serve this swimming in braising sauce, always bunched standing up with or w/o sauce though i had tried the wet version also at kamjiazhuang recently, anyway tasted different in texture & flavour), was better than i expected. in fact it was rather good braised belly pork, nice soft texture retaining some bite not falling apart & quite tasty. 🙂

romaine lettuce with shimeji

romaine lettuce was good. to me, still too expensive vs a S$6 braised pork belly & S$6 stingray. still not attuned to the times, haha! 🙂

the prices

there was no GST & service. they charged S$0.60 for ice water. for me that’s quite ok. guy got to make a living. 🙂

& if you get a S$15 for S$30 groupon voucher, then this is better than coffee shop & food court prices.^^

c.h.e.f andy

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c.h.e.f

cook.hangout.eat.fun

Category Archives: Buon Appetito!

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Great Value Tasty Food @ Shinyeh on 17Apr2015

Gourmet Carnival Atmosphere @ Savour 2015 on 28Mar2015

Marvellous Robatayaki & Teppanyaki Set Lunch @ Mikuni on 30Mar2015

Poor Dimsum at Sweet Dynasty 糖朝 on 6Apr2015

Good Value Saga Wagyu 佐贺和牛 6-course Set @ Superstar on 5Apr2015

Expensive Below-par Food @ Lei Gardens Times Square on 5Apr2015

Street Food Yat Lok Roast Goose & 新源牛腩牛杂面 on 4 & 5Apr2015

Sumptuous Weekend Wine Brunch @ Amber Landmark Mandarin Oriental on 4Apr2015

Coffee & Snacks @ Carpenter & Cook on 10Apr2015

Hong Wen Mutton Soup

Very Good Beef Hotpot @ Budaoweng 不倒翁 iSquare on 3Apr2015

Excellent Dimsum @ Timhowan Shamshuipo on 3Apr2015

Excellent Lunch Sets @ Kuriya Dining on 25Mar2015

My Favoruite Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodles on 2Apr2015

Fresh Pastries & Great Coffee @ Carpenter & Cook on 1Apr2015

Curry Chicken Noodles Cravings @ Ah Heng Hong Lim Food Centre on 31Mar2015

Among the Best Weiyi Laksa 唯一辣沙 @ Tanglin Halt Food Centre on 24Mar2015

OK Laksa @ Bukit Timah Food Centre

Quite OK 3pax Lunch @ Chickenwok 鸡之味 on 21Mar2015

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