德發牛肉丸大排檔 review

when you are near this sign you are close to this place

My family has never been fans of 大排檔s. We never had a good image of them and considered them not very clean. Of course, things are different now in Hong Kong, especially with the vigilance of the Hong Kong Health and Food Inspectors, to ensure food safety laws are kept especially among the local 大排檔s and street vendors.

the entrance to the 大排檔s

Other than 德發牛肉丸, there are other stalls there too. I didn't have a chance to try the other ones. But one thing for sure, it is a very local place, and I would recommend grabbing a Cantonese speaking friend along. The people are nice, just a little rough and can be slightly misunderstood. Also, keep in mind that the place can feel a bit wet and dirty, it isn't... but it will appear that way. (you can tell by what I mean when you look at the menu in the next picture).

simple menu (taken in 2015)

You can see that the prices are quite reasonable, and the menu is extremely simple.

Note that at the bottom of the sign it says they are closed on Wednesdays.

For every beef meatball, beef brisket, beef organs (various) and beef ligament (?) you can choose to have it with by itself, with noodles, or rice.

update: ok, so one of my friends went and said that the prices have increased - $28 --> $32 || $12-->$15 (which is not bad given it has been almost 4 years)

a bowl of Beef meatballs

Their name means Beef meatballs, so it's a no brainer what I was going to get there.

Beef Meatball Noodles

My mom settled for one with noodles just because wanted some starch to fill up her stomach.

Beef MeatBalls

• very bouncy
• very nicely marinaded
• very flavourful
• the best beef meatballs I have ever had
• goes well with chilli sauce

I'm sorry I can't be more descriptive... but they were really good. Honestly, I felt that if I dropped one on the floor, it will go bounce, bounce, bounce, ... . They were very 單 - bouncy, so it tough shoving my chopsticks into one without the risk of it flying off like a ping pong ball.

I love them! The noodles were only there to make me full... - my mom

Cold Lemon Tea

I was a bit disappointed with their Cold Lemon Tea... it is better than the ones I have had in Canada/Japan but compared to other places in Hong Kong especially to other Chachantengs (茶餐廳), it was not a winner.

score: 9/10
website: no website

譚仔雲南米線 review

My friend introduced this place to me... I have been seeing their restaurants all over Hong Kong: from Causeway Bay to Mong Kok to Tsim Sha Tsui... it seems that they are everywhere. My friend highly recommended this place to me... at first, I was quite reluctant to try since it was a "dai pai dong"/ cha chan tang type of place... I generally am not a fan to go to these places.

On a side note... (mainly for my Japanese friends/readers), while I was researching about this restaurant, I discovered that Japanese travel guides have mentioned this chain too!

many choices, look at the tasty pictures

They have a diverse menu of noodles and other small dishes. The prices are also very reasonable (note that $7.74 HKD = $1.00 USD).

our meal... for 2

In the end, we got this "Everything Noodle". Their bowls are so big! And their portions are so big... it is so affordable. We also got a side dish of Spicy Chicken wings.

This bowl of noodle only cost $45! The bowl of noodle was more than enough for both of us to share. The broth was very rich, made with various of meats and fish. There were a lot of pig offels inside. This was so filling that we kept fighting to force the other to finish the rest!

hot spicy chicken wings

These hot spicy chicken wings were good... they were considered a bit on the pricy side (I mean... their huge bowl of noodle was only $45 while these chicken wings were $23). The chicken wings were marinaded in SiChuan style spicy sauce. There were about 5 chicken wings.

Iced Lemon Tea

Like most Hong Kong places, their Iced Lemon Tea was served with 4 slices of lemon and a right amount of sugar syrup was added. 

very affordable

I really liked the food I had here. It was very affordable and very tasty. If you are ever very hungry, you should definitely come here to eat. (Thanks Keiko for the recommendation!)

Score: 9/10

Address: 旺角豉油街 50號1樓

Hours: everyday: 11:30-23:10

吉列豚肉專門店銀座梅林 Ginza Bairin @ K11 review

logo

First, I would like to apologize in advance. The restaurant had dim lighting so it was hard to take better quality pictures. >___<

different dressings

I got to try each of the dressings. The Sesame dressing was great with the salad. The Wasabi dressing and Tonkotsu Dressing were great for the Tonkotsu.

chopsticks and wet napkins.. I like their calligraphy font and colour

sashimi

Sashimi

Oooh, this was definitely one of the best sashimi I had in Hong Kong... Although I couldn't exactly tell the fish apart... how shameful of me.

This was their biggest Sashimi dish... I think they want to focus on their Tonkatsu instead of Sashimi. But if you are getting a Tonkatsu dinner (which you should!) this plate of Sashimi is more than enough (we shared it among 3 people)

Tonkotsu set

Tonkotsu!

Even with the bad lighting and blurry picture quality, you can see just how crispy these were.

Impressions

• Super crispy on the outside
• Tender on the inside
• Not oily 
• pork was so tasty

There is a reason why people like Black Pork (?) the most... I have never tasted such great tasting pork... not only was the flavour but there was just the right amount of fat to make it so tender, and it was perfectly moist making it super juicy!

The Tonkotsu was so crispy on the outside and the inside was so tender... although it didn't exactly "melt" in your mouth, it was very juicy. The right amount of fat made it perfect, not oily at all.

another view

The set included miso soup, rice and salad. The Sesame sauce (found on the table) was perfect for this salad (the other sauces didn't work so well... though they did produce an interesting taste).

one of the best Plum wines I have ever had

Plum Wine
They made their own Plum Wine, so unless you visit this place, you can't try it. I loved it... the plum taste was just right! This was the best tasting plum wine I have ever had... I see myself going on a journey to look for good tasting plum wine now :D

Score: 9/10
official website: http://www.ginzabairin.com/en/index.php
Hong Kong website: http://www.ginzabairin.com.hk/

Spaghetti House Afternoon Tea review

Spaghetti House, view from my seat

This is my first time travelling to Hong Kong by myself. And this is the first time I have ever dined by myself... as in ... eating by myself outside... in a restaurant... (shocking isn't it?)

Spaghetti House is one of my favourite places to dine in Hong Kong because I really like the pleasant environment and relaxing atmosphere of this place. The service is also very good.

I particularly like looking outside the windows outside the busy streets of Hong Kong while I am situated in such a relaxing environment. It just seems as if time has stopped and I could just pause from all the busyness and just relax.

Afternoon Tea Menu

Afternoon Tea starts at 2:30pm. Look at all the selection! (for reference: $56HKD = $7.25 USD and $71HKD = $9.20 USD)! (please note that there is a standard 10% Service Fee). The price is so affordable too!! Honestly, in Toronto, I can barely order a combo with $10.00 USD. So to me this is one of the best finds! Plus, I really like the quality and atmosphere that this place has. 

my meal

This was all that was included. I was a little scared I couldn't finish it all... but I did! ;P Apologies for the half eaten soup... I promise you can see what it looks like before I dug right into the puff pastry!

Cold Lemon Tea

I think the tea was brewed from some Lipton tea bags. Nonetheless, it was still quite tasty! Like all Hong Kong restaurants/cafes/diners/etc of the like, they included the standard 4 slices of lemons.

In Toronto, we always had to add an extra $0.75 to make our drinks cold... but not at Spaghetti House! If you are their VIP member, you can also get a free upgrade to a much fancier drink (e.g. Hand Crafted Coffee, Fresh Fruit Juices, etc). If you aren't a member you will have to pay an extra $18 HKD.

the soup!

As I mentioned earlier, I will definitely include a better picture of the Lobster Bisque soup! This is one of the best Lobster Bisques I have ever had. 

First, I really liked the Puff Pastry, secondly, I really liked the consistency of the soup, it wasn't too thick making it seem like you were drinking a whole lobster tail and it wasn't too thin. I liked the amount of lobster they had included in this soup and they had mushrooms!

This soup was quite filling but I liked it.

One thing that I am quite disappointed about is that the Puff pastry was slightly burnt on top making a small section of it slightly bitter, other than that, I loved it!

Angel Hair Pasta with Seafood and Pesto sauce

To be honest, if I had 10 stomachs, I will probably try almost all of them! The descriptions to each one of them were so good. After some careful thinking, I opted for the first menu item: Angel Hair Pasta with Seafood and Pesto Sauce (Shrimps, Mussels, Scallops and Squid).

Shrimps, Mussels, Scallops and Squid.

Props that they have included every one of these ingredients (from the description) in this dish.

Unlike most traditional Italian places, the sauce was not visually noticeable but taste-wise, my mouth was able to taste the goodness of the pesto sauce.

Verdict:

I think I will be spending lots of 2:30 - 6:00 afternoons at Spaghetti House. The service is great, the servers are efficient and the quality of food is high. I also enjoyed the light casual atmosphere with the mixture of soft rock and jazz music playing in the background.

(For those who are wondering... NO, this post was not sponsored by anyone).

Score: 10/10

Website: http://www.spaghettihouse.com/html/eng/menu/afternoon_menu.jsp

Nan Wah Restaurant 南華餐廳 review

This post might not appeal to those who are not fans of eating animal organs... so don't say I didn't warn you! This review is about the Nan Wah Restaurant located in Ho Man Tin.

mixed fruit cocktail with Sprite

This drink was surprisingly good... I didn't expect it to taste good... in fact, I wasn't even expecting it to be tasty... if you have a chance, I suggest you try it (or make it at home :P) I think the price was $8 HKD (approximately $1.02 USD).

beef organs $60 HKD

Beef organs $60 HKD (approx. $7.75 USD)

One of my favourite foods in this world are beef organs... I know it doesn't sound too appealing... but trust me... they are good!  They usually consist of: beef liver, beef kidney, beef stomach, beef lungs and beef intestines.

Impressions

• Very filling
• Well seasoned
• intestines were too fatty and oily

I loved how well seasoned and marinated these Beef organs were. Canadian version cannot be compared at all. At first, I was quite surprised that it was quite pricey (as this is only a "casual" cafe)... but after the dish came, I realized the portion was huge! I couldn't finish it... I was a bit disappointed with the intestines as I felt they were slightly too fat and oily.

Score: 8.8/10

Address: 何文田窩打老道67號A地下

(67 Waterloo Road. Shop A G/F Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong ).

Hong Kong McDonald' s chicken Pop Afternoon Tea Combo review

List of their mini afternoon tea sets!

For this review, I will be focusing on the third tea set which includes some Chicken Pops and a drink.

I got to try another one of their mini afternoon tea combos! :)

my afternoon tea set at McDonald's!

All this for $15+$5 (upgrade) the water was for free! The upgrade was for the special BlackCurrant drink I ordered (will talk about it in another post)

served with cheese sauce

Impressions:

• Served very hot
• Great snack
• Cheese added a special touch to the chicken
• Lightly seasoned

up close... are you drooling?

I was extremely thankful they had given me a cheese sauce. Without the sauce, the chicken tasted very bland... not that it is a BAD thing... but I prefer my Chicken Pops to be more flavourful.

I was quite impressed with the quality of these Chicken Pops, they made a perfect before dinner snack and the portion was sufficient (more filling than the chicken wings)

Score: 7.5/10
Website: http://www.mcdonalds.com.hk/en.html

伊呂波 Iroha Japanese BBQ review

Iroha Japanese BBQ

Before visiting this place, I did not know that Japanese BBQ existed... well... at least, not in the form of Korean BBQ style. I was intrigued. I really liked the atmosphere of this place. We had to take off our shoes and walk towards the middle of the restaurant where the seats were. The restaurant felt clean, and unlike most indoor bbq places, this place did not have unpleasant bbq odors.


Price: 500 (+ 10% service charge = $550HKD)

the mini set we got

After several minutes of decisions, my friend and I settled for this mini set. It seemed to have everything we wanted to try and the price was reasonable. As shown both in text and the picture, there is quite a lot of food.

Kimchi and Bean Sprouts

I couldn't understand why a Japanese place would give us Kimchi and Bean Sprouts. It did make me question whether this was an Authentic Japanese restaurant or if it were simply just a Korean/Chinese knockoff. But that aside, the Kimchi and Bean Sprouts were delicious.

Caesar Salad

Next up was Caesar Salad, I'm not sure what's the reason or logic behind it, but it seems that most Authentic Japanese places serve Caesar Salad now. I'm not complaining :). The veggies were fresh and the croutons were well made (they were fresh yet lightly toasted). I liked the size of the croutons, they were thin and flat (making it easy to bite into) yet the surface area was big, making it seem like we weren't eating crumbs.

meat platter for us to cook

And finally, the meat platter comes. This might not look like a lot, but by the end of it, we were so full and we struggled to finish it. My friend and I both liked the Beef Tongues the most.

yummy... waiting for food to be done!

our stove! You can see it is slightly different from the Korean BBQ stoves. I did find it hard to tell when our food was ready, we kept testing the food out to make sure it was cooked properly.

Korean Beef and Tofu Soup

Our meal came with a Korean Beef and Tofu soup. Whenever I eat bbq I tend to get very thirsty, this soup was surprisingly great to quench my thirst. It tasted quite plain though.

Tempura

I can't tell whether it was because we left them out too long or these tempura pieces were not well made... nonetheless, I felt that these were extremely oily and not crispy at all. My friend and I decided to put them on the bbq stove and let them warm up and remove excess oil. The batter was terribly made. We were quite disappointed.

Hokkaido milk pudding for dessert

I really loved this dessert, and it was a surprise to both my friend and I. This Hokkaido milk pudding was extremely tasty and smooth. We were both so excited when we took our first bite! Highly recommend it! I'm not sure if you can order it or whether this was exclusively for this Set dinner we ordered.

Score: 8.5/10
Website: http://www.iroha.com.hk/

Address: 1/F Cameron Plaza, 23 Cameron Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Phone Number: +852 2311 4700

Hong Kong McDonald' s chicken Wing Afternoon Tea Combo review

List of their mini afternoon tea sets!

For this review, I will be focusing on the first tea set which includes 2 chicken wings and a drink.

my afternoon snack

This is perfect sized if you want a quick snack.

Impressions

• A bit surprised that the chicken wings were spicy
• Filled partial hunger
• Perfect snack
• not very oily

sorry for the blurriness

This came with a cheese sauce, the same cheese sauce they have been using for most of their fried products lately. 

I actually liked the cheese sauce as it has enhanced the flavour and made the chicken wing slightly less spicy. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't tell us in advance the wings would be so spicy. I think the price and portions are just right if you want a small snack before dinner.

Score: 8.5/10 (who can give fried chicken wings a low score? :P)

Website: http://www.mcdonalds.com.hk/en.html

翠華茶餐廳 Tsui Wah Cafe Restaurant Review

To most Hong Kongers and tourists in Hong Kong, Tsui Wah (翠華茶餐廳)is a well known Cha Chang Teng (茶餐廳). In Hong Kong, you can find at least one Tsui Wah near you.

This time in Hong Kong was no different, I went into a Tsui Wah

Tsui Wah's signature fish ball soup

Tsui Wah's Signature Fish Ball Soup with Fish Balls and Fish Cakes $38 HKD (approx. $4.90 USD) 

According to their website:

TW Special in Fish Broth

翠華招牌魚湯

Ingredients (to choose... we can choose 2): Dace Fish, Shrimps, Fish Balls & Fish Paste

(鯪魚球, 魚蛋, 蝦, 魚腐)

I chose Fish Balls & Fish Paste/cake.

Impressions 

• Very rich soup/broth base
• Fresh and nice texture
• fish balls were "bouncy"
• fish cakes were not oily and was soaked in fish broth

The broth was made from fresh fish, and you can tell immediately because of the richness and flavourfulness of the soup. I highly recommend this soup... it is healthy (fish soup is healthy) and it satisfies your hunger. The fish balls and fish cakes were incredibly tasty. I liked how the fish cakes were drenched in the broth, so it added to the tastiness of it. The fish balls on the other hand was very chewy or "bouncy".

Iced Lemon Tea

Iced Lemon Tea $21 HKD (approx. $2.50 USD)

Impressions

• Quenches thirst
• Made from strong tea blend
• Sugar and lemons were right amount

I liked the uniqueness of the tea blend and they added the right amount of sugar/sweetener to enhance the taste of this drink.

Hot Almond Milk with Egg white drink

Hot Almond Milk drink $22 HKD (approx. $2.80 USD)

This is a very traditional Hong Kong drink. And this particular drink (from Tsui Wah) was recommended to us by one of our family friends. They said that they loved the strong taste of Almond.

Impressions:

• Very hot
• Takes 30 mins to cool
• Strong egg white and almond flavour

First, as a precaution, please let this drink cool down slightly... it is HOT!... after testing for approximately 30 mins, I was finally able to drink this without a spoon!

I loved the rich almond flavour... it was so delicious! The egg white was surprisingly not as overcooked as I thought it would be (still hard but not rough). 

Verdict:

I was quite impressed with the quality and prices for Tsui Wah Cafe. However, like most Cha Chang Teng cafes in Hong Kong, you wouldn't expect there to be much service. On the other hand... you can pay with an Octopus card! Extremely convenient!

score: 8/10
website: http://www.cafetsuiwah.com/fish-broth-39770282713199521015.html

Lee' s Fried Chicken review

Lee's Fried Chicken Shop @ TST

I have heard countless recommendations to try Korean Fried Chicken... everyone claimed that Korean Fried Chicken is the best fried chicken there is... so when I walked by Lee's Fried Chicken store, I decided to give this place a try.

I thought it was super smart of them to put a tray of popcorn chicken on top of the coke... this makes it so much easier to eat... and saves space... especially when you are walking around. Props to the smart container design!

Impressions:

• very crispy
• relies heavily on sauce for flavour

The shopkeeper recommended us to use a secret recipe sweet and spicy sauce. He told us that if we didn't use it, there won't be much taste.

I miss the saltiness of fried chicken when I was eating this, I expected more seasoning as well. There was too much white meat making the meat very tasteless. You really need the Sweet and Spicy sauce to enhance the flavour. 

The store I went to wasn't their flagship store. It was the one located near Kimberly Street near "The One" in Tsim Sha Tsui. I will give you the address once I find it. 

Score: 7.8/10

Website: no website

永樂園茶餐廳 Wing Lok Yuen Restaurant review

Wing Lok Yuen Restaurant

Wing Lok Yuen has been with many generations of Hong Kongers, my parents always recalls this place whenever they talk about working in Central or when they are eating hotdogs. Wing Lok Yuen is known for their hotdogs because of the special secret sauce they use. 

Atmosphere:

• very casual (& no dress code)
• friendly staff
• helpful staff

Different types of people come to this restaurant anyone from people who wear suits and ties (businessmen... since this IS Central) to tourist to those who just want to get food after hangout with friends. There is such diversity!

I was actually scared of talking to the staff/waiters since 茶餐廳s are known to have bad service... but to my surprise, they were very friendly. They also gave good recommendations and were very helpful.

their famous hotdog

Price: $12 HKD (approx. $1.50 USD) - restaurant price

(if you order from their upstairs take out place, price is $10 HKD ($1.29 USD)

impressions:

• the hotdog is very small (especially compared to the bread)
• the sauce is really good...
• this isn't very filling
• take out and restaurant version taste the same

After you take a bite, you can understand why they are so popular... the sauce is really good!

I think the sauce contains: mustard, mayonnaise, sandwich spread, condense milk, ... something else... I tried mixing the sauce myself and it was something "similar" but not exactly what they served... so if you are around Central, definitely give this place a try (prices are certainly reasonable!)

I found the hotdog to be too small... you can hardly taste it (especially when the bread is so much bigger than the hot dog sausage).

Score: 8/10

Cold Lemon Tea

I forgot the exact price, but it was around $10 HKD (approx. $1.29 USD)

Every restaurant's drinks should be easily distinguishable... and I feel that their Iced Lemon Tea was very unique. I liked the blend of different tea leaves they used to create this special heavy tea taste. Just like other Hong Kong cafe's, they had included the standard 4 slices of lemon. It quenches your thirst and it tastes good! I also liked how they used shaved ice, making the ice easier to melt. The amount of sugar added was just perfect too!

Score: 9.5/10

Wing Lok Yuen's HK Milk Tea

after a sip, I could understand why they were given an award for their milk tea... first, it tastes different from the other places and second it is very smooth. You can tell that they made it.

they won HK's best milk tea in 2010

sugar packet with address

The also had their own sugar packets.

I love this place! I do regret not being able to try more menu items though. I would definitely be visiting this place again soon!

Score: 9.5/10
Website: no website