Pizza Express (Hong Kong)

This is my last of the 2009 Hong Kong trip food.

This was a great place, as we were looking for some comfort western food. Walking up along Soho we wanted to find something that was cheap, quality and quick.
With big glass windows we could see a two person table inside, and we quickly pointed at it and grabbed it.

It was small tho. Maybe only about 10 tables and fit about 30 people. I think they had another location somewhere in Lan Kwai, as they were always answering calls about wine orders and kept sending someone.
Seems like a good place for groups (if you can get a seat) with big round marble tables.

I was looking for somehting cheesy and creamy for the last dinner our last night in Hkg.

 

Started with a mushroom soup. Very fresh. Totally mushroom puree

 

The mushroom caps were so yummy. 

Unfortunately this was so long ago, i can't remember what we had. but with all that food it was more than enough. 

yummm i miss hong kong

Enoteca (Hong Kong)

I'm having a hard time catching up with ALL the restaurants that I ate in, in Hong Kong. But I'm slowly getting there.

This great little tapas restaurant is on Elgin, in Soho.  My friend Fanny picked Enoteca, and it was a nice surprise.  I'm usually apprehensive about tapas that it will be expensive per plate and not filling at all, (from some other experiences in Toronto)

It was pretty affordable and ended up to be about $40-50 per person CDN.

We started with a melted brie appetizer. The brie was warm and melty, with a steamed/roasted garlic on the side (that didn't taste like garlic at all). The Toasted brioche type bread was crunchy but soft in the middle.

We also got an appetizer platter. Shrimp, Calamari, Olives, garlic pesto bread, and some other seafood.

This was my favourite. The lamb chops with a goat cheese on top. It was smokey and juicy.

This was a fish with creamy sauce. It's been so long I can't remember :(

The Blackened Salmon, with a Aioli. It was really good, crunchy, but soft and semi cooked in the inside.

For dessert, we got a molten chocolate cake.

Escada - Macau

While walking around the old city near Senado Square, we passed by this restaurant while looking for Caravela.  We went back to it for a quick lunch before heading out of Macau.

I don't know much about Macau/Portugese cusine to know what to expect, but we heard that African Chicken in Macau is a must try.  It didn't seem prevalent in any menus, so we thought that Escada is special enough to serve it.

The chicken was covered in a type of spicy peanutty paste.  It was really good, and I wish I wasn't sick so I could have enjoyed it. If someone out there knows if this IS authentic, or what it's supposed to look like/taste like, please comment.

We also ordered a salted codfish.  I saw this in most menus, and thought we would try.  There were different dishes, but the waitress was suggesting for 'asian' people we would like 'wet' version, rather than the dry.

It was very very very salty. Too salty. Difficult to eat with out the side of white rice.

Is it supposed to be like this?

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Haagen Daas Cafe - Venetian, Macau

After having dinner at City of Dreams, we wanted to find a place for dessert.  Hoping to go to the food court at the Venetian, there were no dessert stands, nor anything that was open at 11pm. Not sure why.

We found only one place , a cafe in the middle that might have potential, but the menu was sparse, and only things like waffle and tea.  Next door was a Haagen Daas cafe, ice cream, some desserts and seats!

I've tried the ones in Hong Kong before, and they usually have a huge menu.

We got a cheesecake.

And I got the Chocolate Love (?). They said it was milk with chocolate ice cream melted in it.  I expected the ice cream to be floating in it but they actually mixed it in, which was disappointing.  It was very good and sweet, and lighter than a hot chocolate.

Ji Xiang Yuan - Macau, City of Dreams

After receiving a lot of coupons for 15% off dining in the City of Dreams, we thought we would go check it out.  Unfortunately, the coupons work only in restaurants OTHER than the Japanese place, and the huge food court upstairs.  The rest of the restaurants aren't of much choice (a  Chinese place, some cafes etc) and tough to find something to eat.

Aside: went upstairs to check out the big food court. It was only 8pm, but it was EMPTY. It seemed dead, and desperate for attention.

There are other restaurants inside the casino, that's if you want to sit under a cloud of smoke.

The City of Dreams hotel complex consists of the Hard Rock Cafe hotel, Hyatt and the Crown. The mall underneath has the same stores as most. It also has a distinct smell of flowery perfume that really irritated my cough. Their main attraction is the Bubble, which is a 3d show of some dragons, as the casino sits atop a mystical land.

The casino was okay. Less pretentious than the Venetian, and friendlier, as they constantly hand out small flyers that give you discounts on food, spa and a free spin on this giant wheel (we got a 15% coupon and a key chain)

We found a restaurant to our liking that served not cantonese food but 'hk style chinese food'. Essentially it was like Congee wong without the congee. I liked the confort food after a long day of walking around in the smoke.

It was set up like a small hk style tea house. I liked the decor, despite it was empty (okay, we went on a weekday, but still seemed like no one eats)

You choose the food from a menu on a clipboard. I guess trying to look authentic. Everything was in english.  We ordered a noodles, some veggies, and this rice mixed with mushrooms and abalone sauce. it was yummy. 

The waiter talks to much and some reason wasn't impressed with us. I really liked the rice.
Not so much the casino...

Caravela - Macau

According to Frommer's this place got 3 stars for a restaurant pick in Macau.

"This local Portuguese hangout serves as a bakery, cafe, restaurant, and informal gathering spot for friends, with both sidewalk seating and a small dining room. Professionals stop by for breakfast on their way to work, old men peruse newspapers over cups of Portuguese coffee, and office workers take advantage of the MOP$55 (US$7.15/£3.55) breakfast or the daily set meal for MOP$70 (US$9.10/£4.55) including soup, a main dish, and dessert. The menu itself is limited, offering a few dishes like chargrilled codfish and steak, but the bread is homemade, the pastries are irresistible (a typical Christmas dessert that resembles French toast is always on offer), and the atmosphere is a slice of Portugal in the heart of Asia. It's located in downtown Macau but is a bit hard to find, on an alley 1 block northeast of Avenida Do Infante D. Henrique, between Avenida Da Praia Grande and Avenida D Joao IV."

After walking around for a bit trying to find the place, we found in front of a store called JP, in a small alley that also had a small indian place.

We never saw many caucasian people or westerners around Macau, especially non tourists, but these locals seem to all gather at this place.  Friendly hellos, and chatting made the place seem like an authentic place to eat. Price was pretty good too.

Since I was craving eggs and breakfast (it was 12pm) I ordered the American Breakfast. I also misread the above review, and when the menu said the breakfast came with 'French Toast' I expected this Christmas dessert he was talking about.  I just got Toast.

It also came with a very fresh squeezed orange juice

Alexey ordered a fried rice portugese style (i think). i don't quite remember the listing on the menu. It was so good. We ended up switching.

For dessert, we took at the menu and as well as the ones displayed around the cases. The place is a bakery, so we wanted to try something baked.  We found the French Toast looking thing and I got an egg tart (so addicted).

French Toast was good, and sweet, but not as flavourful as I'd like. The egg tart, I asked them to heat it up, and it was SO GOOD.

The Grand Buffet, Macau

My mom's friend found out about this 'mile long' buffet that was in the Grand Lisboa casino.  Skeptical whether it was really one mile long, or if the food would be even good, we decided to go try it.

Longest Buffet Ever.

Walking down the aisle, it never stops. There's a salad bar, ridiculous amounts of seafood, soups, curries, beef, ham, chicken, mongolian beef, noodles customized, fruit bar, rice, dimsum, sushi, crepes, cakes, mousses. There's probably more, but I can't remember it all.

Check out the fresh shrimp you can grab yourself.

The Tempura was the best tempura I've ever tasted.

These were satay chicken cartiledges! It was soo yummy

Alaskan King Crab Legs

Crayfish

Scallops

And all for around $220HKD!

ThreeSixty Food Court

ThreeSixty is Hong Kong's Whole Foods, a supermarket dedicated to selling organic and natural foods. I've come across it at Landmark in Central (hidden in the top corner) and here at Elements.

They have a mini food stand that will cook you up fast food in seconds and of course are quality natural ingredients and not too expensive. For about $100HKD we ate for 2 people.

We needed something cheap and quick so we could make our movie. We ordered at 7:42 sat down, and were out of there, paid and full by 7:58

I got the Ton Katsu

Alexey got some type of ramen. Not instant noodles.

Anytime Cafe

Looking for a quick bite to eat for dinner, Causeway Bay is a never fail.
We went to the plaza with the movie theatre, and you have to take the escalators up.

Theres a Hokkaido Rice Pizza, Taiwanese place, thai place, spaghetti house, but the only one that we were in the mood for was Anytime, HK style tea house foods.

I love Chinese style western food. I don't know what it is about this distinct taste and dishes, but only found in HK Style Tea House (cha chaan teng) places.

Almost everything on the menu is a set that comes with soup and a coffee/tea.

And WARM toasty bun. One each.

We got an Ox Tongue. Tender and yummy.

And a baked ham and cheese spaghetti. It fulfilled my creamyness craving.

I really enjoyed the dessert. The Tapioca baked pudding with Sago. VERY filling.

Compass Room @ Hong Kong Yacht Club

I got the privilege to have lunch here a few times since my aunt is a member. In the Compass Room, after climbing the stairs, you get a really nice view of the harbour.  As it is the Yacht club, they made it so it seems like you're on a Ship sailing towards Kowloon. I'm not quite fond of boats.

They have a cold salad bar, and seafood, with dim sum and soup buffet.  You can request oysters to be brought to the table, and yay for us, it's oyster season in New Zealand, and therefore Hong Kong gets fresh ones!  I tried them before and never really liked the slimeyness of it.  I also had bad experiences that sent me rushing to the washroom soon after the meal.

Maybe I'm older, maybe my tastes have changed (after all i LOVE fish heads)

Served with shallot vinegar and tobasco sauce, it was so yummy. But i can only handle 3

You also get to choose one of 5-6 main courses which I think changes monthly.

Big mushroom with Asparigus

Lamb, i think....

Xia Fei (霞飛）

While in TST, we walked by the new K-11 Art Mall. Like typical new malls in the city, it opens but only with half the stores. It seems nice however, and I look forward to it being completed.  


In terms of food, there are a bunch of new restaurants on different floors including a vietnamese place (except it smelt funny near that floor) , a few italian places, and some cafes.  We found this Shanghainese place on the basement level tucked away in a corner.

They are clearly trying to compete with Crystal Jade, but trying to have a different twist of their own.  They must have just opened because the manager was all over the place helping me order, telling off the waiters when they tried to remove Alexey's place setting (and his jacket was there, but he wasn't), teaching the hostess how to great people.  


In the back, the small kitchen was like crystal jade where you can see the chefs pulling the noodles.


On the menu, they had dim sum, fried noodles and soup noodles. I don't remember seeing much else. 


We started with a beef soup noodle. It was pretty good! Added $20HKD and you get pork buns and a big cup of soy milk!

I also had to try their 生煎包 (Shanjian bao) just to test out their culinary skills, per se.  Instead here, they call it ShanJian ManTao (生煎饅頭) which I think is the proper name.  The bottom of it wasn't as crispy as I would have liked it, but it was SO FULL of soup that it squirted out with each bite. (that didn't happen at Crystal Jade)

I really really really wanted the dan dan mein, but I can't eat spicy because of my cough. Instead I got their Low Mien.  It was VERY good. It came with some soup/oil on the side and you mix yourself. I also like the thick fetteccini type noodles. 

I really wanted the Steamed Egg White and Almond paste dessert, but we were so full!!!

Crystal Jade Xia Long Bao Lai Mein

If you're searching for really good fast Shanghainese food in Hong Kong, this place is the best.  Although they have many locations, there's always a line up. Try to get there early to beat the lunch crowd. However, usually they are located in a Mall (IFC, WTC etc.) so, wait for a bit, then leave them your phone number so you can walk around and they can call you when a table is ready.

Locations include IFC mall, Central; World Trade Centre, Causeway; Harbour City, TST

http://www.crystaljade.com/index.htm

We went there as a large group one day. 5 guys and 4 girls. When the food came, it litterally disappeared.  We ordered more than 20 dishes, but the bill was only about $20CAD.

I don't have pics of this because honestly the food comes and goes so quickly that I barely had time. I'll update once I do.

LIAN

A very smart looking Vietnamese/Thai resto on the 3rd floor of IFC.  I heard a lot about this place, and not only from my mom who loves it.

When the waiter heard me cough, he immediately offered me the Lemongrass Honey Ginger Tea. Although I hate ginger, this actually tasted quite good!

My mom got the traditional condensed milk drip coffee.

They had a set menu, but I was told that prices are not very different from ordering a la carte. The first thing that caught my eye was the Soft Shell Crab avacado rolls.
The salty, warm  and crunchy crab bits, with the melt in your mouth cooler avacado, all combined with a sweet honey like sauce.

Next to share was a big bowl of Pho. Yes, just like our chinatown Pho train, however, the broth was fresh and not full of MSG.

Alexey orderd the set menu and it came with an appetizer of chicken wings. I didn't try one, but looking at it I was slightly disappointed, unless they were REALLY good. Small chickens....

Next was my order of cold vermicelli with lemongrass pork. I ate the first one by unsucessfully trying chew at the noodle (kind of rubbery) and dipping the pork in the sauce. I realized later that the noodle can open up and you can put the pork in there in one big wrap.

The beef was very tender and I wish there wasn't so much food so I can eat some more!

But I had to save room for dessert.  Almost everything on the menu came with ice cream, and because of my cough I really was trying to avoid it.  The fried banana seemed like a nice comprimise.  It came with a coconut ice cream and some type of green cotton candy.  The dough to banana ratio was perfect!

I can see why my mom raves about this restaurant like crazy!