Month: December 2012

  • Good Morning HKG!- Having Hong Kong style breakfast early in the morning is always interesting, since you’ll get to see the city before the streets are jam packed with commuters. One morning, me + @christao408 + @rudyhou went for a quick breakfast at this Tsui Wah Restaurant on Wellington Street, Central District. This restaurant has been in business for several generations and they have branches all over Hong Kong.

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    The simplified menu…..
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    A rather huge bowl of oatmeal, Hong Kong style + milk tea……
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    Chris explaining the virtues of having oatmeal for breakfast…..
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    Rudy’s dish, beef with instant noodles…..
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    The milk tea is delicious, and the buttered buns as well…..
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    On another early morning, me + christao408 + rudyhou + @beowulf222 went to Lan Fong Yuen for breakfast. This place is another popular eatery for local “hole-in-the-wall” cuisine…..
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    Brewing milk tea…..
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    Recognize these people? I guess one of them is Chow Yun Fat (think of that Crouching Tiger movie), the other photo has this local food critic with the owners…..
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    The photo menu…..
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    Chris is documenting his breakfast…..
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    Mr.Beowulf is prepping his film camera…..
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    Milk tea+macaroni+sausage & fried egg, quite an interesting combination…..
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    The very famous fried pork chop and buns…..
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    Milk tea and French toast combo…..
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    After breakfast, we parted ways, I ventured into the nearby streets, the local market is quite busy…..
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    Some of the shops are still too early to open for business…..
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    I wandered up the Stone Step Street and headed for home…..
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    Tsui Wah Restaurant | 15 Wellington Street, Central District, Hong Kong | 2525 6338

    Lan Fong Yuen | 2 Gage Street, Central District, Hong Kong | 2854 0731

  • Double Eats @ Sunning Restaurant- Having family luncheons at the Sunning Restaurant was a weekend ritual during my childhood. This eatery is still quite popular among the locals here. The restaurant was originally part of a hotel which has long been demolished and relocating to Lee Theatre Plaza is very convenient indeed.

    From the restaurant promotion – “Since 1948, Sunning Restaurant has been providing excellent services & gourmet in HK. Our famous dishes including Baked Seafood Soup Puff, delicious Escargot with Mashed Potatoes, fruity taste of Stewed Ox-Tail marinated with wine and Baked Alaska dessert. Please don’t forget our freshly baked bread & our daily made secret recipe sauce. We surely hope every guest will have a memorable dining experience and will definitely bring joyful, sweet & warmth to everyone. Please come & try!”

    Tonight, I’m having dinner with fellow Xangans @christao408 and @rudyhou. The restaurant entrance has an interesting decor…..
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    The menu…..
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    A good variety of bread…..
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    We like the sweet bread…..
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    Vegetable red borscht soup…..
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    Baked escargots on mashed potato, meat is quite tender and juicy…..
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    Pate served on toast…..
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    Rack of lamb, tonkatsu style, served with mint jelly…..
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    Sirloin steak, house special sauce…..
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    Souffle, lemon flavor…..
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    The texture is fluffy, served in a see-through container…..
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    Baked Alaska (oops, caught christao408′s arms in the background)…..
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    Lighting up the cake…..
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    A cross-sectional view of this fluffy dessert…..
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    On another day, getting treated for lunch…..
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    Sweet bread and mini-toast…..
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    Cream soup with shredded ham, beef, shark’s fin and vegetables…..
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    Kurobuta pork fillet…..
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    King prawns kilpatrick…..
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    So meaty…..
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    No dessert this time around, just end the meal with a glass of iced lemon tea…..
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    Eating at the Sunning Restaurant two days in a row caught me by surprise, but was a pleasant experience. I’m glad to try the king prawns which is now my favourite item in the menu. The prawns are so delicious that I finished most of the contents in the head portion. For diners craving for boutique style local cuisine, this restaurant should be on the “to try” list when visiting Hong Kong.

    Sunning Restaurant | 16/FL, Lee Theatre Plaza, 99 Percival Street, Causeway Bay | 2890 2029 |

  • Christmas Dinner @ the Fortune Room- While growing up in Hong Kong, mom and pop would frequently bring us to the Jockey Club in the Happy Valley neighborhood where the horse racecourse is located. Inside the clubhouse, there are a host of recreational facilities, such as ball courts, swimming pools, etc., and we can spend the whole day without feeling bored. There are also restaurants which serve decent Chinese or Western cuisines, and I had countless memorable meals at these places. For this Christmas, pop suggests having Chinese at the Fortune Room, serving delicious banquet style cuisine. Nice! My stomach is already growling…..

    The decor inside the restaurant is more formal than usual, with a “hush hush” atmosphere. I was told to turn off my mobile phone once inside the restaurant since diners are not allowed to talk on the phone while eating. Anyway, the Christmas menu has a nice festive cover design…..
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    Fortunately, cameras are allowed. I was clowning around, snapping away images…..
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    Appetizers – Sweet pickled cucumbers (front)…..
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    (Right) Roasted crispy pork skin…..
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    The crispy pork skin is razor thin and has a roasted aroma, served with slices of cucumber, scallion and starchy rice roll…..
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    A meaty serving of steamed crab claw, with wine sauce, ginkgo seed …..
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    Crab roe soup with shark’s fin. Politically incorrect? Absolutely, but incredibly savoring!
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    Steamed garoupa in sweet soy sauce…..
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    Crispy skin roasted chicken (middle), chicken liver (front), ham tonkatsu style (rear)…..
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    Vegetables in consommé…..
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    Steamed pear with herbal soup and honey…..
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    I missed snapping the Santa photo, but instead I got the club mascot, dressed in a Christmas outfit…..
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    Overall, the dinner was delicious but quite different from the traditional Western Christmas cuisine where I can feast on meaty dishes. It was a nice gathering and I look forward to eating more meals with my folks!

  • Yay~~~I’m flying to HKG!! – Visiting my family for Christmas!!! A couple of days ago, I flew Asiana for a 13 hour flight to Seoul, and then another 4.5 hours to arrive in Hong Kong. It was a lengthy journey, but totally worth it, especially for the airplane food and those pretty flight attendants…..

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    Dinner is served – First course, shrimp salad…..
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    Bibimbap with the basic ingredients, beef and vegetables…..
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    Fish soup…..
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    The two banchan – kimchee and dried anchovies…..
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    First step, mix the red sauce with the beef and vegetables…..
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    Then add steamed rice into the mix…..
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    Stir and mix them well, sesame oil is also added…..
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    Small fruit plate after the main course…..
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    Caramelized walnut and Korean candies, this concludes the dinner segment.
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    With approximately two hours left in the flight, breakfast was served. Fruit plate and yogurt…..
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    A fairly good size croissant…..
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    Ham & cheese omelette, sausage, hash brown, grilled tomato and spinach…..
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    Touch down at Incheon Airport, it was around 7am, what a sunny morning…..
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    Transit to another plane bound for Hong Kong, which was furnished with the older business class seats and entertainment system…..
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    The menu, I picked the Western cuisine…..
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    Brunch is being served…..
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    Black Forest ham with mixed greens…..
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    Good variety of bread to choose from…..
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    Stir fried beef ribeye…..
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    Trio of cheese dish, Mimolette, Blue, Vieux Pane…..
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    Blueberry chocolate cake…..
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    The entire journey flew by so quickly and did not feel I had spent 17 hours on the plane. Overall, it was an enjoyable flight and I had slept for about 6 hours continuously during the first leg. I can’t wait to devour all the yummy food waiting for me in Hong Kong!

  • NYC Eats @ Le Bernardin- W managed to book a Thursday dinner at Le Bernardin in the last minute, probably from another diner who cancelled out due to the storm.
    The story – Le Bernardin was named after a folk song “Les Moines de St. Bernardin”. It was first opened in Paris in 1973 by brother and sister team Gilbert and Maguy Le Coze, with each item on the menu being some form of seafood served with a variation of sauces poured tableside. In 1986, the duo moved to New York and established Le Bernardin as we know today. The current head chef Eric Ripert was born and trained in France, he moved to New York in 1991 to work for David Bouley, before joining Le Bernardin. Chef Ripert was the author of several books and appeared on a number of cooking shows – including being a guest judge on Top Chef. He appears to be very keen on the environment, serving only sustainable seafood on his menu. I learned that the chef is holding off on bluefin until he is sure the Atlantic variety is sustainable. In the meantime, organic-farmed salmon is frequently used.

    The location – Le Bernardin is located on the ground floor of The Equitable Center in Midtown Manhattan. The interior has undergone renovation around August 2011, the interior walls and ceiling are decorated with light colour teak wood panels, with one side of the wall franked by a large three panel painting of a sea scene. The chairs are now steel with dark brown leather. Even the exterior facade has been replaced with metal framed windows, with decorative lights shimmering. The servers are all dressed in dark colour suits, swooshing around quietly and keeping an alert eye on each table without missing a beat on service.
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    Ginger yuzu cooler (left), Brooklyn gin with lavender honey and lemon…..
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    Motto of Le Bernardin…..
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    Trio of amuse bouche, organic Scottish salmon…..
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    Amuse Bouche, (middle) uni, (right) celery cream soup…..
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    Layers of lightly pounded Yellow Fin Tuna, on toasted baguette and foie gras, chives and extra virgin olive oil…..
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    Close-up……
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    Sautéed Langoustine, truffle and chanterelle, aged balsamic vinaigrette…..
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    Shellfish medley, yuzu scented custard, smoked bonito broth…..
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    Charred octopus ” a la plancha”, green olive and black garlic emulsion, sundried tomato sauce vierge…..
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    Poached halibut, “black truffle pot-au-feu”…..
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    Sautéed Dover sole, “almond-pistachio-barberry” golden basmati, brown-butter tamarind vinaigrette…..
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    Gogi berry, black bean, basmati rice…..
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    Plum foam, ginger, shiso, sake sorbet…..
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    Madagascan chocolate ganache, candied peanuts, popcorn ice cream…..
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    Mignardises, four bites to end the meal, (from left) salted dark chocolate, candied ginger…..
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    (From right) toffee cake, chocolate truffle…..
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    The entire dinner took approximately three hours. We had the Chef’s Tasting Menu which was very delicious and savory, this is the place to be for seafood lovers. All the seafood dishes are very creative and beautifully presented. We were really lucky to be able to dine here in a last minute notice. On our next visit, no doubt we will try Le Bernardin again.

    (W, your photos bring all these sumptuous dishes alive again, thanks a bunch!)

    Le Bernardin | 155 W 51st. Street, New York, NY 10019 | 212-554-1515 | www.le-bernardin.com