Saturday, August 29, 2020

Floom Floom Cafe & Kitchen (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We hang around Harbour City for much of the afternoon and by 6pm, it was time to head home and quietly spend our night at home. We walked past K11 Art Mall on our way to the MTR station and couldn't help but notice a sign in front of Floom Floom Cafe and Kitchen (花香).

The Asian fusion cafe is the sister restaurant of Floom Floom (鳥語), a very popular cafe serving Asian inspired comfort food at The Lamma Tower. I have always wanted to check this place out and the chance finally came tonight after seeing these take-away bargain deals (and our helper is off tonight!).

Farfalle pasta with squid and pesto sauce - This wasn't bad. I am not a fan of pesto sauce but this wasn't as herby as most pesto sauce I've had in the past.

As a matter of fact, I found the sauce rather creamy working well with the farfalle pasta. 

Spaghetti with grouper and tahini sauce - I thought the Japanese-style sauce made with ground sesame would mesh well with the spaghetti but no....

And the grouper was even more disappointing.....

I have always had a soft spot for Asian inspired comfort food (or desserts) so I'm willing to give this place another chance, hopefully a dine-in experience when the pandemic is finally over.



Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$
Address: Shop B201, B2/F, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui / East Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 5500-6239
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 10:00pm daily




Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel 當文歷餅店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

We arrived at Harbour City just before 1:30pm exactly as we have originally planned but it wasn't lunch that we were immediately after. Instead, we were after some sweet treats at Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) right before lunch.

One of the main reasons we decided to come here first was to avoid the crowd during lunch hours. Of course, I had to make sure that the three new pastries presented by the pastry team here are still available and they are!

After a 40-minute wait, we finally got seated. Everyone was starving.

These were the babies that we were after. The new kids on the block.

Lemon Juice Box (紙包檸檬茶) ($62) - Still my favorite pastry from Dang Wen Li. The nostalgic look has a lot to do with it. 

Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) Hong Kong - Lemon Juice Box (紙包檸檬茶)

The Earl grey mascarpone mousse combining with the acidity from the bergamot curd really gave me the feeling that I was having Hong Kong style lemon tea.

Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) Hong Kong - Lemon Juice Box (紙包檸檬茶)

And I thought the crunch from the almond biscuit and crispy feuilletine was the perfect icing on the cake.

Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) Hong Kong - Lemon Juice Box (紙包檸檬茶)

Winter Melon (冬瓜盅) ($65) - Lemongrass mousse, panda cremeux, chocolate rice crispies.

Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) Hong Kong - Winter Melon (冬瓜盅)

And I thought it was winter melon mousse in the middle but that turned out to be lemongrass which was a rather peculiar choice. A slightly above-average pastry but the panda cremeux made it a little more interesting.  

Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) Hong Kong - Winter Melon (冬瓜盅)

BBQ Skewer (串燒) ($65) - So cute, my little one loves it~

Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) Hong Kong - BBQ Skewer (串燒)

Tomato: Mascarpone mousse with cherry tomato jam. My favorite out of the three on the skewer.

Grilled corn: White sesame whipped ganache with brown sugar crumble. Really clean flavors and surprisingly, not as sweet as I originally thought.

Mushroom: Dark chocolate chantilly, crunchy feuilletine, marshmallow. Not bad.

Durian (榴槤) ($62) - Probably the least successful one of the new trio.

The tofu mousse was a little bit light for my palate. Even the red sugar ginger cremeux and brown sugar ginger sable couldn't do much to save the day.



Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$
Address: Shop OT G63A, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2613-8618
Website: www.dangwenli.com
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm daily



Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Malacca Cuisine 馬六 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I have said it a few times here before. I think my taste buds got really messed up by two guys I previously worked for when I was young (messed up in a good way!). They are Malaysian/Singaporean and both have a hand in getting me addicted in Malaysian and Singaporean food. Even these days, I still keep my radar open for new Singaporean restaurants in town. Earlier this week, I happened to bump into one in Tsuen Wan.

This one called Malacca Cuisine (馬六), which has six other branches around the city, can be found at KOLOUR Tsuen Wan, which is about a 5-minute walk from the MTR station.

I thought any good Malaysian/Singaporean restaurant should have a nice Teh tarik, Malaysian pulled tea and they do have one right here.

Their roasted chicken leg with samba sauce really caught me eyes. This was nice and meaty. A bit of spicy kick would have given the dish the perfect finishing touch.



Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 1023A, 1/F, KOLOUR Tsuen Wan , 68 Chung On Street, Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsuen Wan
Tel: +852 2320-2632


Sunday, August 23, 2020

Pano (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Of course, I’m not going to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday with just a simple picnic. I have something else up my sleeve and only Jelloman knows about it. But first some time for little nugget to ride his bike following the picnic.

I had to push him hard to finish one “round”.

And yes, I have secretly booked 3 tables at the recently opened Pano, a French fine-dining restaurant with jaw-dropping cross-harbour views of Hong Kong's skyline at West Kowloon Art Park.

(Warning: not all tables boast a harbour view so make your request known when you’re making your booking).

Pano’s kitchen is helmed by Executive Chef Ken Lau who cut his teeth at Peninsula Hotel before striking out on his own with his solo venture, Palco Ristorante in Wanchai. I honestly don’t know how the guy splits his time between these kitchens especially when a second Palco Ristorante is soon opening at Harbour City.

Before we check out Chef Ken’s offering, it was time for some selfies inside Pano.

It was a sizzling hot day (34 degree) out there today so I visited the little man’s room to get myself freshened up before dinner. On my way back, I got to take a few more photos at the best seat(s) in the house.

With the government’s dinner ban still very much effective at the moment, we found ourselves having a very early dinner at 4:30pm this afternoon. Not that it’s going to be a problem for me though, as I have already been saving my tummy from our picnic earlier.

Starting things off for me was red prawn carpaccio, decorated nicely with yellow and red tomatoes, green pea purée, micro celery and salmon roes. The super busy dish was finished off with a touch of cucumber oil, which isn’t a bad choice but I thought the red prawn was crying for something lemony or citrusy. Not bad but could’ve been better with some lovely acidity.

Instead of prawns, Jelloman had the oyster tartar served on the shell with Sicilan lemon foam, avocado purée, salmon roes. From my quick glance, the support cast looks largely the same but she has traded the red prawns for a pile of raw oysters. This was slightly better than the red prawn carpaccio, thanks to the extra kick from the lemon foam.

Soup course was cauliflower bisque with smoked eel, an interesting mix that worked reasonably well.

Some bread to go with the soup...

I ordered this dish especially for my little nugget but little that I knew he would fall head over heel for it.

The French chicken leg, stuffed with mushroom and what I thought was minced prawn in the middle, was slow-cooked and finished on the frying pan. The perfectly crispy skin gave the chicken leg roll some lovely crunch on the outside.

This was a pretty tasty dish (who could resist the crispy chicken skin!) that surprised me a bit with its Asian twist (minced prawn!?) but on the down side, it was a little bland (for a French dish) for me. In fact, I thought it was crying for a savory kick of some sort, perhaps adding some cured meat in the stuffing would get the job done?

Jelloman went the safe route by taking the French quail two ways. They had the leg seared while the breast roasted and topped with cheese. The breast was easily the better of the two servings, thanks to the savory kick from the soft and foamy cheese on top.

Dessert was mango Napoleon with fresh mango, mango flavored custard, coconut emulsion and dried raspberry pieces. I have specifically requested to have "Happy Birthday" written next to one of the desserts but obviously, the team totally dropped the ball there.

With our dessert, we concluded our birthday celebration. It was getting really late (almost 6pm!). I have not been out this late for almost 6 months. Time to go home and clean up!



Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Unit 1F-01, 1/F and Rooftop, 24-26 Museum Drive, Art Park, West Kowloon Cultural District Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon
Tel: +852 2361-9600
Website: www.facebook.com/pano.westkowloon/
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Sun)


Hooman by the sea (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We've been talking about how to celebrate Jelloman's daddy's birthday all week but no one seems to have the answer. Someone tossed the idea of home cooking but the birthday boy wasn't impressed. The brainstorming session ended up dragging on for days until it was finally decided that we do a picnic at the West Kowloon Art Park. I knew this would get a bit tricky considering the current social distancing rule imposed by the government - group gathering of no more than 2 people. But we eventually made it work, by breaking up into 3 groups (and 3 tents).

This guy's having his own tent without daddy!

It's been a while since we last came here (four weeks in a roll at one time) and what a difference a few months made. The crowd has thinned out considerably in the heat of COVID-19 so we were able to find ourselves a small piece of paradise right at the corner.

Now that we have everything setup, time to grab a chair and enjoy the incredible view!

Let the picnic start.....I wasn't all that hungry so this portion suits me just fine.

After all the savory food was served up, I went out to get everybody something sweet at Hooman by the sea.

Call Hooman a coffee shop, ice-cream parlour or salad bar. Call it all you want.....

Churros with pistachio ice-cream ($68) - I didn't expect such a small portion and only one flavor of ice-cream!

The ice-cream wasn't all that bad but the churros tasted like it's been sitting there for a while. Yeah, I think I'm missing my favorite churros from century-old Chocolatería San Ginés in Madrid now.

But it sure tasted better with the harbour view in the background.


Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$
Address: Unit GF-07, G/F, 22 Museum Drive, West Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon
Tel: +852 6749-0777
Website: www.instagram.com/hooman.cafe/
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm (Mon - Fri), 10:00am - 8:00pm (Sat - Sun)