A taste of Hong Kong part 3

After we ticked off dim sum from our list, we were on a quest for the infamous Hong Kong wonton noodles. We were looking for a local cafe that serves wonton noodles whose patrons are locals. That's also what I told the concierge who promptly pointed out Hing Fat on the map, a mere 7 minutes walk from our hotel. Provided you don't get lost of course.

Assorted roast meat

The menu shows that there's more than just noodles and roast meat, such as seafood and other Cantonese dishes. It took me a while to find where the utensils are!

We were greeted by the assorted roasted meat hanging on the open kitchen glass window. Mouth-watering huh? Well, for some definitely. I can't help but remembering this random guy's comment one day when I was waiting for a friend back in Sydney. I was standing in the corner of Goulburn and Sussex street, opposite BBQ King, when all of a sudden this guy who was standing there walked up to me and said "gosh, look at that (pointing to BBQ King assorted meat)... doesn't it look like house of the dead? Carcasses hanging like that". His comment, however random it was, made me realized that cultures are so different and if you don't grow up with these kinds of food, it must look kinda weird... Anyway, I liked his different point of view and appreciate his directness in approaching a stranger and said that. Hahaha, ok maybe it was a little overshare, but still it was kinda funny.

Hot and sour pork noodle

Shrimp wonton noodle

Back to Hing Fat, soon we were seated inside and given menu to peruse. Cg decided on the wonton noodles and while I was tempted, I don't really like soup on my noodle - unless they are ramen. So I decided to have the diced pork in hot and sour sauce noodle where the soup is separated. The egg noodle was super thin but flavorful. I quite like the hot and sour sauce as the topping. I think what would make the dish better is if wontons were included.

Suckling pig and crispy roasted pork

Since we're already at a roasted meat restaurant, we also ordered a combination plate of suckling pig and crispy roasted pork. I confirm that they are as delicious as the look on the picture above. Crispy, juicy, and tender. Oh and value for money too. We spent less than AU$20 for everything including drinks.

Hing Fat

10 Ashley Road

Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Hong Kong, China

A Taste of Hong Kong Part 2

Characterized echina dim sum HKD 30

On our first day in Hong Kong, we decided that we were going to have some dim sum for brunch. After all, it would be a cardinal sin to go to Hong Kong and not have some dim sum! The concierge recommended us to cross over to the Hong Kong Cultural Center to have dim sum at Serenade. Once we were inside, we discovered such opulent decor that bespoke of Hong Kong style. The restaurant is overlooking the Star Ferry terminal, over the Victoria Harbor, still on the Tsim Sha Tsui side.

Sorry about redness here, I forgot to change the white balance till later...

Unfortunately we didn't get seated near the windows, but soon after we saw the menu we got uber excited nonetheless. Why? Because Serenade offers characterized dim sums that are shaped in cute little animals! The animals are: goose (baked pastry stuffed with mushrooms & goose meat), goldfish (shrimp & bamboo pith dumplings), garoupa crystal dumplings, jumpie bunny marshmellow, echidna (deep fried creamy yolk buns) and cuttlefish (baked pastry with mashed red beans). They had "Dim Sum in the cage" for HKD 188 (approx. AUD 24 with 1AUD:7.8HKD) which includes cuttlefish, goose, echidna, goldfish, steamed abalone and pork dumplings and steamed shrimp dumplings (all 3 pieces each). No, we did not order this as we wouldn't be able to finish and we wanted to pick and choose. However, if M from Love my foods and sugar and O from ieatsweet were my travel buddies at the time, I would not have a say this decision-making process and we would have dim sum in the cage on the table pronto. If there's enough interest, I will scan the menu once I'm back in Sydney, so let me know if you want to see the menu.

Staging #1: Echidnas in the garden

Staging #2: fish pond and the creative director herself

So what did Cg and I ordered? We got the echidna (on my insistence as they look way too cute!), goldfish, garoupa, BBQ pork buns, and conpoy (dried scallop) with chives dumplings. The echidna was the first to arrive and we almost squealed with delight. To have the scenes replayed in my mind right now we must have looked like lunatics as we busted our cameras and shot these echidnas paparazzi style. Cg being her creative self got the idea to rearrange them so that they are kissing each other, then making an echidna garden on a separate plate. Yeshhh, we did the same with the goldfish and the garoupa. No, not so much with the other two non characterized dim sums.

Garoupa crystal dumplings HKD 35

Goldfish HKD 35

Conpoy and chive dumplings HKD 18

Now, taste wise, I know you are curious. I have to say that for the characterized dim sums, as expected they looked better than the taste, especially with the goldfish and the garoupa. I liked the echidna though, the buns were sweet and the egg yolk inside was quite nice. The BBQ pork buns were standard and so were the conpoy but since conpoy are not readily available in Sydney, I was a happy camper. We drank a lot of tea then, they kept on refilling our pot and Cg really loved the taste of the tea. I appreciate the service and the waitresses restraint in not laughing over us when we were staging the characterized dim sums. I think they are used to the patrons uber excitements by now.

View of the harbor from Tsim Sha Tsui promenade

View from the Peak

Lonely Boy, my friend who works in Hong Kong, recommended us to go to the Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong - a scenic point. As we were pleased with his earlier suggestions so far with Sevva and Wagyu, we decided why not take up this advice. So we took the MTR to Admiralty and head to the tram station. I love the old school-ness of the tram. Riding the tram to the Peak felt like riding the roller coaster slo-mo. The steepness gradient was between 4 and 27 degree. It was really cool and I felt like I was transformed back in time as the tram was very colonial-esque. Usually I'm always a bit skeptical about going to touristy places, but I had to commend Lonely Boy again on his choice, the view from the Peak was spectacular! We were lucky that the weather holds up that day as well. The sky was blue, the air crisp with early winter chills and breezy without being too cold. Vertigo people beware! I'm not afraid of height, but standing too close to the railings definitely gave me the chills.

After taking enough pictures Cg and I wandered back down to the mall and to the back where we found ourselves at New York Fries. I had to laugh at Cg when we ended up here as she originally said she wanted ice cream and the choices I laid out to her were hagen dazs, some gelato shop or movenpick. Long story short, we ordered one small "The Work" to share. The fries were awesome, it tasted like a combination of wedges and fries, tasty on the outside and soft on the inside. What impressed me the most was the condiment bar where you could get all sorts of toppings to add to your meal. I was happy to see cajun seasonings there and decided to get some despite all the toppings that were already in our fries. Cg is a convert of cajun seasoning now.

The condiment bar

The Works: fries with green onions, real bacons, sour cream, cheese sauce and chili

Around 4pm, we made our way back to our hotel as Cg was to meet her relatives and I could use some rest before meeting a friend for dinner that night. After much debate, I decided to left my camera for dinner as my shoulder were aching from carrying my dslr all day. Dinner was amazing and I was sorry I left my compact digicam at home. If you find yourself in Hong Kong, you might want to try this little tapas restaurant called Enoteca on Elgin street in SoHo area. The best way to find it is to find the mid level escalators and take it all the way up to Elgin road and turn right, walk 15 steps and the restaurant should be on your left. My recommendation would be the chicken pesto risotto balls and the beef sauteed with garlic and chili. The food was amazing, but service was a different story. If you are looking for a place to relax and talk for a while, the host won't be happy. She let us ordered dessert then after we had a bite, she came to tell us that we need to finish up as the next seating party has arrived. Well, lady... if that was the case perhaps you should have told us before we ordered dessert - no? Anyways, that was my rant.

From there, Cg joined K and I. Then, still on Elgin street, we hop in to a Greek restaurant and got a half jug of sangria while we waited for D to join us. Too bad K was leaving for her vacation the day after, but luckily D promised to take us out for the weekend to this private club called Prive. Didn't I tell you how I didn't know that Hong Kong could be THAT much fun?

Serenade Chinese Restaurant

Hong Kong Cultural Center (1st Floor)

Restaurant Block

Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, China

+852 2722 0932

New York Fries

Shop 1B, Ground Floor

The Peak Galleria, Hong Kong, China

+852 2849 7968

Enoteca

47 Elgin street

Hong Kong, China

+852 2525 9944

A taste of Hong Kong part 1

Harbor view from our room; view from Sevva

I have a confession to make, I am a chronic traveller. I can't seem to stop traveling, even if I was already on vacation. This trip to Hong Kong, was one of those trip within a trip. I got sick once on this trip and I was so tired as this was my second mini trip on my overall summer (Australian summer) vacation, but I did not regret it one bit. I didn't know that Hong Kong could be THAT much fun.

We arrived in Hong Kong pretty late, the dusk was settling already but it was perfect as we discovered that our room was facing the harbor overlooking Hong Kong island from Tsim Sha Tsui. At 8pm sharp, we were entertained by the symphony of light with synchronized song from a radio. I was happy to have brought my tripod!

A quick phone call to a friend who lives locally gave us a couple of destinations for the night: a drink at Sevva, a rooftop bar at Prince's Building and Wagyu where we will get some food for supper. Off we went to the Star Ferry terminal to catch a ferry to Central, where we only paid HK$ 2!!! So cheap! I can't help but reveling how pretty Hong Kong is at night and how I was hopping from one harbor city (Sydney) to here.

Cg's mojito like drink and my dark chocolate martini - check out those shredded chocs!

The walk to Prince's Building from Central ferry station took a good 15 minutes, but we didn't mind, we needed to burn the calories anyway. Once we were at Sevva, we were surrounded by bankers and financiers locals and expats alike whom you can tell from their full suit. We sat by the bar first to absorb the atmosphere and read the menu. Cg decided on a mojito like mixed and I couldn't resist their dark chocolate martini. If you love chocolate, you MUST order the dark chocolate martini if you're at Sevva, it was totally loaded with not only liquid chocolate but also shredded chocolate. From the balcony we could see the view of Central at night and it was very cosmopolitan. What struck me the most was the fact that we were on the top of a 25th floor building and yet, it didn't seem that tall because we were surrounded by other higher buildings with 50, 60 or even 70 floors! I don't think we have those in Sydney! To describe Hong Kong in a few of words would be, Asia's New York City.

Scenes from Sevva's balcony - you can see other buildings towering us on the 25th floor!!! The last one is the view of Tsim Sha Tsui harbor from Hong Kong island

After we finished our drinks we made our way to Lan Kwai Fong, the fun/expat district for dinner at Wagyu. We got lost for a bit but managed to find our way there. As we waited for our table then our food, we were amazed at how crowded it get as the night goes on even though it was a Wednesday night! Anyway, by this time we weren't that hungry so we ordered a salad and appetizer - which unfortunately I cannot remember what! Sorry! I loved the appetizers, the shredded beef were cooked with some almonds and dark sweet sauce, and you eat it wrapped in lettuce. I could still taste the juiciness of the beef even though it was coated in the sauce. The salad was good, but we would have been happier to have more meat in it.

Here we also ordered some drinks, Cg got the watermelon martini which was absolutely delicious! I tried the pimms mix which was good, but if I could do it all over again I'd go for what Cg was having.

To "Lonely Boy" in Hong Kong, thanks for the insider tips!

Sevva

25 Floor

Prince's Building

Central, Hong Kong - China

+852 2537 1388

Wagyu

60 Wyndham St

Hong Kong - China

+852 2525 8805

Dinner at Nippon Club, Sydney CBD

Chirashi Sushi

I first came across Nippon Club when I was walking along Macquarie St to meet my tea ceremony sensei and I was reminded of this again when I received the Urasenke Tea Ceremony Association end of the year party (which I unfortunately was unable to attend). When I walked in that night, I noticed that there are two parts of the establishment: the bar at the front and the restaurant at the back. As it is still an RSL like club, I had to fill out a temporary membership form. Don't worry though, it took me only 5 seconds.

The place has that cozy kind of feel with a sushi bar which reminded me of an izakaya (Japanese tapas bar). The menu though told me that it wasn't really an izakaya. L and I settled on the chirashi sushi plate and mentaiko pasta to share. I was really impressed with the chirashi sushi, it really looked appetizing and was filled to the brimmed! The pieces of raw fish were fresh and succulent. If I was hungrier I would have been sad that I had to share that.

Super yummy mentaiko pasta

At first we were told that the mentaiko pasta was small, but when it came, we were surprised at how big it was. Unless you are really hungry, do not order this to eat by yourself! The pasta was firm! I was happy. The sauce were creamy, salty and spicy from the mentaiko. I was really really happy. It was the best mentaiko pasta I've had in Sydney so far! I long to return there already...

Oh and the price was quite reasonable too, between the two of us I think we paid around $30 each.

Nippon Club

229 Macquarie St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9232 2688

Max Brenner at Paddington

Ever since I watched that final episode of the Australian Junior Master Chef where the two finalist kids had to recreate Adriano Zumbo's pear perfection, I had been planning to stop by Zumbo's patisserie in Balmain. So I dragged a friend who was visiting Sydney to Balmain and everything was so easy, I didn't get lost, got a parking space near the shop and even got in the parallel parking spot on 3 turns! I should have been suspicious! It was TOO easy, when we got to the shop... there were no more cakes! We were too late.

So E wanted her sweets and as such we decided to drive to Paddington for Max Brenner. Chocolate could never go wrong could it?! So I order what I always order, fresh strawberries with melted chocolate and E got the waffles. Going to the Paddington shop and ordering what I ordered reminded me of the first time I've ever been to Max Brenner in 2003. Back then there were only 2 shops: Paddington's and at David Jones' basement. Now, there are gazillions of them spread all over the world, which is kinda good when you are craving them from other countries, but I can't help but feeling a bit sad that it's getting more and more like a chain shop. Anyway, the strawberries were still finger lickin' good and from the way E was devouring her waffle, hers were too. It's good to visit a familiar place once in a while and I hope it stays good.

Max Brenner

Shop 437 Oxford St

Paddington, NSW 2021

+61 2 9357 5055

for opening hours and other locations click here

Chicken karaage lunch at Hoya

Chicken karaage set at Hoya

Remember my post on Nazimi's chicken karaage not too long ago? If you haven't tried it, you should and then you should compare it to Hoya's chicken karaage - just a few shops away from Nazimi on the same side of the street. To be honest with you, I can't pick which one is my favorite out of the two as they are both different. What I love at Hoya is that the salad dressing, it's home made and I can't really tell what it's made out of. What I do know is that it is very refreshing.

The lunch set for $12

The set at Hoya is more basic than at Nazimi's bento style. In Hoya you get the chicken karaage set, with rice and salad. So if you like variety you might want to try Nazimi's but if you want plenty of chicken karaage, I'd say hit Hoya. For me though, I divide my time equally between the two, and at $12 for the lunch set, it's definitely value for money.

Hoya Japanese Restaurant

119 York St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+62 2 9267 0822

Did I hear "$10 steak?" - pub grub at The Fringe, Paddington

You know that feeling right? The one you felt after you have been stuck at work for weeks for projects, or gotta stay out of your social life to study for exams, or worse because you broke your foot... Well, I had one of those moments last week. Social life had been put on hold due to school projects, exams and a recuperating broken foot. So I tried to sweet talked ieatsweet into going to Absynthe Salon with me and I guess my suave didn't work. Anyway, we ended up at The Fringe at Paddington.

I eat sweet and her liquid of happiness of choice

I've heard of this place before from my brother who raved about how good their $10 steak was. So in the name of a little celebration, taking back my social life, and saving money, we both had the steak which generously include chips and rocket salad, all for $10. It kinda made me wonder if I had been paying way too much money for my other steak? Hmmm... We even got to choose the sauce! Mushroom, pepper or red wine. I was totally impressed, cheap doesn't make it awful for sure! ieatsweet had a glass of stella and I opted for a bulmer's apple cider.

300grm 100 day grain fed rump with fries and rocket salads in pepper sauce

Up close and personal

The steak wasn't bad at all. It was quite good, though don't expect Morton's or the sort. They were also very filling, I couldn't finish mine. I totally love the atmosphere of the Fringe, eclectic chandeliers gave the red brick walls a city feel. Then, the bathroom's waiting room? A total funk with a 70s feel. The staff were also very friendly and hospitable. I can envision many more of these 10 bucks pub grub sessions in the future

The Fringe decor and atmo

The waiting room outside the bathroom, downstairs, totally 70 ish

The Fringe Bar

106 Oxford St

Paddington, NSW 2021

+61 2 9360 5443

Open daily Sun-Tues till 12am, Wed-Sat till 3am

Sydney's best udon thus far.... Mappen!

On-tama bukkake udon (small)

Allright, hands up if you haven't been to or heard of Mappen? Yes, I suppose many of you haven't but if this place has created quite a buzz in the Sydney food blogosphere around September. I have been there numerous of times and in its early stage as much as 3 times in one week, with 2 of them in a row. Hahahaha, I should go to Mappen anonymous huh? Well, I haven't had time to write about this earlier since I was dealing with my broken foot, school works and exams.

Anyway, I was there last week and I ordered my favorite thing: on-tama bukkake udon: udon with par-boiled egg and concentrated sauce. Then as I walked along the line to the cashier, my faith is not strong enough to resist those tempura temptations... Not that I want to anyway! I ended up getting mixed vegetable kakiage tempura and the shrimp as they stopped serving chikuwa for a while now. Mappen management if you are reading this, please bring back the chikuwa tempura!

Vegetable kakiage and shrimp tempura

What I love about Mappen is, not only the interesting concept: noodle and tempura bar, but also the cheap (relatively) price and it's quality. It's a rare feat for any shop to serve cheap and good quality food, but Mappen definitely achieved that. For udon, the most important thing is its texture, what is it's chewiness factor? Mappen's udon is definitely good, the only better ones I've had was sanuki udon from Koya san in Japan. The onsen tamago (par boiled egg)? I've been there many times and it's always on the right consistency.

My only foe here is the tempura bar... it is way too tempting! I can never resist. Beware though, don't eat too much, you'll hate yourself for the amount of food you forced yourself to eat. Or hey, maybe you don't have that problem hehehhe... I like the way they always keep just enough tempura on display so that it never stays there for too long, keeping it fresh so to speak.

Menya Mappen

Shop 11, 537-551 George St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9283 5525

Tacos and Nachos from Guzman y Gomez

The other day I had to go to Martin Place to run some errands around lunchtime and I got so hungry after it finished. So as I was thinking of what to eat, I remember that there's a Guzman y Gomez at MLC Place. Keen to skipped yet another Asian meal, I made my way to MLC Place food court.

Triple tacos

There I ordered 3 tacos for $10: one barramundi, pork chipotle and the spicy steak; 2 on crispy tacos and one on soft taco, and nachos filled with beef, salsa, re-fried beans, cheese and guacamole. These were to share guys.... the portion there is quite big so careful what you order especially since Mexican food can be filling too. It's so easy to over order but just be careful not to.

Nachos topped with lovely green guacamole, the only thing missing is sour cream... totally forgot to ask for extra

I loved my steak on soft taco. I didn't try the pork chipotle or the barramundi, but my mom seemed to enjoy them. The nachos, well beans and cheese? Yummm... The only thing that I would like better would be ground beef rather than chunks on the nachos. I love the fact that the guacamole on this nachos meal is included in the price as opposed to other place where you have to add it as an extra.

To be honest, I think I still miss the Mexican places in NYC, but it's good knowing that there's Guzman y Gomez here to turn to. Oh and I do really like that steak taco.

Guzman y Gomez

MLC Centre - Level 6, Shop 14 at MLC Centre Food Court

Martin Place (corner of Castlereagh st)

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9221 1777

Chicken karaage lunch set at Nazimi

Nazimi's chicken karaage lunch set

Nazimi is one of Sydney CBD best kept secret restaurants that serves good quality Japanese food with good value for money. So far I've only gone for dinner and today was the first time I went for lunch. I was meeting a friend of a friend of a friend. Yes, 3rd degree of separation, who just moved to Sydney from New York, one of my favorite cities in the world. Originally we planned on going to Cafecito, a Brazillian cafe in Town Hall that got good raving from the Sydney Time Out magazine. After getting lost somewhere in Kent St, with both of us entering the address as 473 Kent St into google maps, we found it inside Town Hall Square, CLOSED! *Gasp* I quickly opened my Time Out mag that I brought and it said "open Mon-Fri 7am-5pm". Well, mistakes happen I suppose... So we were hungry and had no idea where to eat... so we walked to QVB and decided to go check out the two Japanese restaurants on York St and settled on Nazimi as Hoya was closed.

We had to wait a few minutes before they opened at 11.30am and we were definitely their first customers. After looking at their menu, both of us decided to go for the Chicken karaage lunch set for $15 which included; miso soup, sushi, entree of the day, rice, salad and of course chicken karaage. A good deal. We were famished and luckily we got served the miso soup right away which helped me from having to deal with a riot in my stomach!

Wasabi, sushi, fruit and veggie salad, and entree of the day

It came in this cute bento box, not unexpected since it's a Japanese food characteristics anyway but it's always nice when your food is presented nicely. I love how the wasabi was piped into a flower shape. The karaage was bite size, crispy and tasty. There were a house karaage sauce that you get with it where I could taste a bit of wasabi in it... or maybe I accidentally mixed some in there.. Oh well I truly enjoyed the karaage. I found some eggplant on the entree of the day corner as well as shrimp salsa and tiny agedashi tofu. The vegetable and fruit salad was in sesame dressing and we both got one piece each of unagi roll and tuna mayo roll. I love it.

Good food, good company... what else could you possibly want for a Saturday lunch?

If you come here for dinner or want to order other things from the normal menu, I'd say go for it. I don't think you can ever go wrong. I've tried many other things and always find myself wanting togo back for more.

Nazimi

141 York St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9283 2990