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!

Cova

My mom, alexey and I picked Cova for afternoon tea because it was close to us (Pacific Place, Admiralty) and that the buffet went until 5:30pm.  Although not as refined in presentation and quality as the other surrounding hotels, at $128HKD per person (as opposed to $228) it is quite a good deal.

The buffet has small little sandwiches, little cookies and pastries, along with some hot hors d'oeuvres and cakes.
Buffet pictures of food are always strange looking. Unless I place it on my plate correctly, I can always get something that looks like it's half eaten!

We got there around 5:00pm and it looked as if they were almost finished, but the waitress assured me that they would refill things up until 5:30pm. There was one hot dish that my mom asked twice and was waiting for it to refill. After asking the host a few times, they just brought some warm quiches directly to our table.

He also brought us a plate of desserts directly to our table. We felt so bad we couldn't finish the giant massive one.

Zen @ Discovery Bay

Alexey and I went to Discovery Bay to take in this man made residential island.  It was very peaceful and different from the hustle bustle of Hong Kong.

After getting off the ferry, you reach a plaza and as hungry as I was, I was in search of an area called D-Deck, where I read there were tons of 'alfresco dining by the seaside'. At first we found a few restaurants side by side, nothing too interesting. It wasn't until I peered further into the restaurant, that you can the other side where there are outdoor seating.

There are 21 restaurants on the deck, but you have to go to the outer edge near the water to find the 2nd half. Zen takes up most of the area there, and seems like the likely only open air space to eat.

The food was okay. I ordered my carbonara pasta (favourite) because I was craving for it. Sitting outside, the food easily becomes cold. It was creamy, but could have more bacon and pepper. But I enjoyed it regardless

Alexey ordered the Lamb Shank on a bed of mashed potatoes. In my opinion, the lamb could ahve been a bit more tender. But it was still okay. The potatoes were really good, but could be because there was butter in it.

June Japanese Restaurant

Located very near Tin Hau station, my cousin took me here for a quick lunch.  What I love about Hong Kong food is that even if you go to many Japanese Restaurants, you'll always find something unique about it.

Their menu had a lot of different lunch set combos, and for a good price you could eat like a king.

I got a Minced Salmon Belly on Rice, it came with Miso soup and a bowl of Udon/Soba noodles (hot or cold). Mixing all the onion, fish and soy sauce together (I don't like wasabi) it was so yummy and favourful. It's not a hot dish, but it's a good combo with the hot noodles.

We also shared a grilled back cod. This fish is so abundant in Hong Kong, I wish they would serve it more in Toronto.  I like flavor, and each bite was full it it. Crispy skin and a sweet sauce. 

You can also get a sashimi platter as a lunch combo (and we got a third miso soup with it too!) The fish was very fresh.

It's a small little place, perhaps hard to find, but totally recommend it!