Lunch at Cheung Hing, Happy Valley 祥興茶餐廳

The food at Cheung Hing is nothing different from an ordinary
"tea restaurant" in Hong Kong, like milk tea, noodles, curry, fried rice etc. We had pretty much all that today like the pork chop with onions and rice that H ordered.













What we like Cheung Hing is the atmosphere there. The decor is still very 60's - 70's and this is the place that we go to every now and then. Not for the food or the second hand smoke but to go there a few times more before one day the place decides to go under a major renovation to take away all the fond memories.

Dinner at the Steak House, Inter-Continental Hotel (Tsim Sha Tsui)

The Steak House is located inside the 5-Star Inter-Continental Hotel, the Steak House specializes in chargrilled meat and new orleans food.

In terms of atmosphere, the restaurant portraits both a high-end but causal environment. Certain parts of the restaurant matches with its high-end direction, but the salad bar in the center fails to catch up with it. The ingredients at the salad bar looks fresh and the selection is wide, but the salad bar just seems out of the place unless it is competing with the Keg. I understand that the restaurant is within the hotel and it is difficult to set a dress code... but it needs a dress code... people were wearing jeans and polo shirt and the restaurant is charging around HK$150 for an appetizer and minimum $500 for a steak.

Also the restuarant can be more confident about its food, in particular its chargrilled steak. Let me explain.

After having our appetizer (H had a new orlean crab cake, quite good with lots of crab meat for HK$168), the waitress came over with a set of 10 steak knives, some are made in Germany, Japan, France, China etc. It was fun to select one that you like...

Then more selections... we had to choose the sauce we want for more steak... peppercorn, red wine sauce, bernaise etc.

When the steak came, we were given a set of 9 different mineral salts and then a choice of 12 mustards. It was our first time at the restaurant and we were fascinated with the mineral salts and the different selection of mustards. But can't we go back to the basics?

If the quality of beef is good, which it is and the chargrilling was just right, why can't the restaurant be more confident about the food and not to have so many sauces, salts and mustards to cover the taste the meat then.

The waiter and waitress at the Steak House are pleasant and helpful.

For the price per person (HK$700-800) excluding wine, there are other selections... we have yet to try the newly opened Lawry's Prime Rib place at Lee Garden, Causeway Bay.

H's Rating: *** (out of 5)

Lunch at Chez Patrick, Central

E&H visited Chez Patrick for a leisure lunch. This restaurant, located on the sloping Peel Street in Central, is recommended by H's colleague and has been covered by a number of magazines. It serves set menus during lunch and there are a few selections for each course. 2-course menu is HK$149, 3 course is HK$199.

E ordered a smoked salmon salad for appetizer and duck breast with red wine sauce for main. The smoked salmon is specially made by Chez Patrick, the salmon has a rich smokey flavour, cut in large bite pieces, and is accompanied with some very fresh greens. The duck breast is only average, tender but lacks character.

On the other hand, H ordered a creamy spinach soup (see photo) for appetizer and a pan fried red snapper for main course. Similar to E's comments, the appetizer is more memorable than the main course.

The restaurant was full on a Wednesday afternoon. The captain was very helpful and knowledgable. Overall we think that the price performance is good for the 2-course lunch.

H's Rating: *** (out of 5)

Recommended: Dumpling Yuen, Wanchai 餃子源

Finding a dumpling place in Hong Kong is easy but a good one takes time. Having tried a few places on Wellington St in Central and one on Caine Road, we have recently tried Dumpling Yuen in Wanchai (near the Wanchai wet market). Last night we went there the second time. This time we went there for dinner while the first time we had brunch there after a short walk along Bowen Road.

H likes lamb dumplings so every time he will order the same thing first. But even for a meat lover like him, he enjoys very much the vegetable and meat dumplings there. Our two favourites so far are 1) watercrest and pork dumplings and 2) chinese celery and pork dumplings. Especially for the watercrest dumplings, the vegetables are so fresh that they are very delicious. An order of dumplings of 10 costs only HK$25 - 28.

Another recommendation is the hot and sour soup (see photo - HK$10). It has a wonderful sour taste and not hot, and of course one can add chili sauce to make it more spicy.

Overall the price performance at Dumpling Yuen is very good. The place is relatively small and don't expect a five-star venue there.

Address: G/F, 259 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong

H's Rating: **** (out of 5)
E's Rating: **** (out of 5)

Review: Pak Lok Chiu Chow, Causeway Bay 百樂潮州

Last Sunday, we had dinner with H's Mom and decided to go for Chiu Chow food so we picked Pak Lok. Since we were celebrating a family occasion, we wanted to go for sharks fin, actually it was H's idea. H would like to have the thick chiu chow sharks fin (HK$220/ person), E also ordered the same. H's Mom had sharks fin in clear broth. The chiu chow sharks fin was only average. The portion was good but H prefers a thicker broth and should I describe a thicker sauce.

Also we ordered a cold "yellow flower" fish. Very disappointing, for HK$120, the fish was way too salty.

The rest of the meal was only average but the dessert was worth mentioning. We especially asked the captain whether the chef can prepare the deep fried yam which is not on the menu. It took about 15 minutes to prepare and it was worth the wait. The yam itself was starchy and as it was deep fried in very hot oil the yam was not oily at all. Although we had a full meal but each one of us could eat about 3 pieces. The only thing to improve on is that the sugar coating was a bit too thick. On every bite, the sugar fell off in small chunks.

H's Rating: *** (out of 5)

Thick toast in Singapore for breakfast

Give "Toast Box" a try in Singapore. Toast Box is a chain store serving thick toast and different bakery. Photo here is the otah thick toast I tried... otah is minced fish and grilled with banana leaf. The coffee is a rich, sweet & strong drink which is very similar to a vietnamese coffee.

H rating: * * * * (out of 5*)

Best Laksa in Singapore

This is one of the best laksas I had in years. I went to Singapore in August 06. Without any planning before the trip, I wandered around the city and went to Eastern Bridge Road where there are a number of laksa places. I picked one that has the most number of customers.

The soup base had a rich seafood flavour with small clams and shrimps. The interesting thing was that the noodles are already in short lengths so it is okay to eat with a spoon. The manager there recommended having an iced cold glass of barley juice.

Address: 49 Eastern Bridge Road

Highly recommended

H rating: * * * * (out of 5)