Mon Kee Cafe 旺記冰室 Tsim Sha Tsui (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After making my monthly visit to my hair stylist, I wound up on Ashley Road hunting for a place for my late dinner. It was getting rather late so I wasn't all that picky. That was when I first spotted a new Hong Kong style cafe called Mon Kee Cafe (旺記冰室) located right next to Goose Manor by Yue Kee (裕。鵝莊).



I love visiting cha chaan tengs (Hong Kong style tea restaurants). It's something I enjoy doing every week. And I hope these "Made in Hong Kong" dishes never die, just like Rock'n Roll.



Pantyhose milk tea - A cha chaan teng can't possibly survive without a nice pantyhose milk tea. This was decent but I prefer stronger and more concentrated tea flavors. And a bit more creamy and full-bodied probably won't hurt as well.



Scrambled eggs with prawns and beef in sweet soy sauce - There're about two handfuls of signature dishes around here (reading from the menu) with their scrambled eggs being the most popular one of the bunch (based on what my neighbors ordered). 

I really like the presentation of this. Very Japanese. Very clean and sharp. For a moment, I almost forgot it's an old school dish that came out of hole-in-the-wall tea restaurants.

I thought the scrambled eggs were pretty tasty. The fact that the restaurant only uses Japanese eggs might have something to do with it (at least psychologically). Or it could be their homemade sweet soy providing the icing on the cake.

I love a clean and sleek tea restaurant like this one. Thought the meal was fairly nice too. My only complaint was the beef being a little chewy at times. Perhaps they should think about using Japanese beef as well (on top of the eggs)? Food for thought...

Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: $$
Address: G/F, Kowloon Centre, 29-39 Ashley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2617-2616

Tartes and Pop (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

My afternoon tea session wasn't supposed to include Tartes & Pop but even the best laid plans of mice and men often awry. It wasn't after I walked all the way from Sai Ying Pun and up hilly Tai Ping Shan Street that I realized Teakha (茶。家) closes every Tuesday. Quickly, I switch to my Plan B.

I won't say I'm a regular customer of Tartes & Pop but whenever I come, I get pretty excited about their tartes. Yes, they're really that good.



Pear and ginger tarte ($45) - It's sad to see this seasonal creation coming off the shelf but at least I got a last crack at it. It was really delicious. On top of the crunchy shortbread base, there were pear compote and a big gelatin dome which came full of pear flavors. Love the ginger crumbs there for the spicy kick too.



Once again, my favorite sesame matcha tartes were all sold out. The owner told me I should have come before 3PM. That's when they normally sold out their last piece. Maybe I should just swing by after lunch next time around.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: 2 Morrison Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Sheung Wan
Tel: +852 6597-6667
Website: www.tartes-pop.com

KOKOMI (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It's another zoo day today and the plan was to first stop by Pacific Place for a quick pitstop before taking the short walk over to Hong Kong Park and then Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens.



We were in the mood for some Japanese food this afternoon so without much hesitation, we went straight towards the direction of KOKOMI, a concept by local F&B giant Maxim's combining a sushi shop, teppanyaki and izakaya under the same roof.



KOKOMI's menu sure covers a lot of ground.



Assorted sushi set ($208) - For the price that we're paying, it's a little weak. Cucumber maki? I think we deserve some tuna maki there. Very low value for money and average quality at best.



Steak teriyaki set ($198) - I had steak teriyaki from the grill and it easily beat out the assorted sushi set in every single category.



The menu didn't mention its origin but I'm guessing it's Australian beef. Very tender and juicy. Even the cherry tomatoes tasted a little sweeter.



Baked oysters with wasabi mayo ($68) - Pretty tasty. The wasabi mayo came with a bit of lemony flavor working well with the briny oysters.



Not everything worked out perfectly for us (assorted sushi set came to mind) but I like the spaciousness and comfort here. This place deserves an encore.

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 002, LG1 Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 2386-1255

Ramen Jo (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

I'm catching Mission Impossible 6 after work tonight as the movie makes its long anticipated debut in Hong Kong.

I was supposed to have sufficient time for a long and relaxed dinner but I got held up at the doctor's office just enough that I could only afford a quick one at Ramen Jo. Speaking of Ramen Jo, it's one of the few restaurants at Elements Shopping Mall that I have yet to visit. To be honest, I don't like having ramen in Hong Kong because there's only a handful of them who can meet my lofty expectation.



Special Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen (特製博多豚骨拉麵) ($106) - A seasonal creation touted for its rich and deep flavors which turned out to be quite disappointing. The ramen noodles and thin slices of pork were both fine but the broth way was too watery and bland for my liking.



Miso Ramen (麵豉拉麵) ($92) - This was so much better. The broth has a rich depth of flavors but Jelloman insisted it was way too salty for her. I guess it's never easy to find a dish that satisfies the both of us.



Like I said, it's hard to find a nice ramen shop in the city. For the authentic ramen experience, I would most prefer to visit those tiny little ramen shops in Japan where they do everything with heart and passion (Here, everything is so mechanical).




Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop#1030, Elements Mall, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Station
Tel: +852 2196-8208
Website: www.facebook.com/RamenJo/

Lady M Harbour City (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

For months, I have been patiently waiting for Lady M to unveil their next new creation following the launch of their coconut mille crepes. It finally came late last month in the form of a Royal Milk Tea Mousse cake!



Like Lady M's other cakes, this was very exquisite. Each slice was beautifully decorated with freshly whipped crème and single estate cacao medallions. My first impression was really good too, as the silky smooth Keemun and royal tea infused mousse was so refined and delicate. But then I realized the strong chocolate sponge ruined the whole thing with its bittersweet flavors. The match-up between royal milk tea and chocolate was just not a very good one for me.



I really enjoyed the royal tea mousse but they've got to do something with the chocolate sponge.

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop OT 215K, 2/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 17 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2873-2356
Website: www.ladymhk.com

Pâtisserie Tony Wong Metroplaza (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I promised myself to cut down on my consumption of cakes and desserts after my trip to Taipei but I guess I could start doing that next week.



After not visiting a single Patisserie Tony Wong for nearly two years, I was coming back for more in less than a month. 



Peach Delight ($50) - The better looking one of the two.

I love desserts made with white peach, especially Japanese white peach but this was a rare exception. Where should I start?

First and foremost, the base with lady finger sponge and peach confit was a little weak. I didn't mean its size or ability to hold up the topping of peach jelly. I was referring to the flavors and texture which was way too soft to complement the peach vinegar flavored jelly with pieces of Japanese white peach in the middle. Then it was the jelly with white peach. Didn't have the kind of refreshing flavors coming out of it. Disappointing.



Cappuccino ($50) - I didn't have high hopes for this one but it easily surpassed my expectation.



This was like drinking a cup of cappuccino. The rich caffeine flavors came in different textures as well as slightly different degree of bitterness and sweetness. Cappuccino mousse and coffee creamy custard sitting on top of a vanilla sponge and almond cinnamon crumble, that was my coffee fix tonight. And I thought a pretty good one too.

Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 329, 3/F, Metroplaza, 223 Hing Fong Road, Kwai Fong, NT, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kwai Fong
Tel: +852 2410-8118
Website: patisserietonywong.com

MUME (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★★☆

I still remember those days when S.T.A.Y. by Yannick Alléno and L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon used to be the only good restaurants in the city. Stinky tofu, sausage on a stick, deep-fried chicken steak and xiao long bao, that's not worth the hour and a half flight from Hong Kong. At least not from my perspective. But things have finally turned around in Taipei. With the emergence of exciting restaurants like RAW, MUME, Taïrroir and Longtail (just to name a few), the future is looking bright for Taipei's food scene. And boy, I love visiting Taipei these days.



I was contemplating where to have my last dinner on this trip and there were quite a number of options (Thank you!) but MUME was seemingly the obvious choice (especially with RAW being fully booked).



What a difference a year made. Last year when I stepped through these doors, the Michelin star award wasn't sitting on the bar table. Now, not only have they captured their first-ever Michelin star, they have also found a place on Asia's 50 Best Restaurant list, debuting at No.19.



That's quite a banner year.



I was hoping that they would bring back their tasting menu but it was going to be the same format as last time - an a la carte menu that included 5 snacks, 6 "smaller" (appetizer), 4 "bigger" (main) and 3 desserts.



Soft poached oyster (慢煮生蠔) (NT$450) - Starting things off for me was soft poached French oyster.



Aside from the poached oyster, there were a bit of local greens, diced cucumber and seaweed.



The oyster was very delicious and buttery thanks to the flavorful seaweed butter. Solid start!



Prawn (胭脂蝦) (NT$520) - I had the signature wagyu tartare last time around so I was quite happy to try something else this time.



This looked like a very promising dish. The raw red prawns marinated with their homemade prawn head sauce, were tastefully decorated with slices of shaved yam bean (豆薯) on top and they put the finishing touch on with a shower of ricotta snow.



The red prawns played off the rich flavors of the prawn head sauce beautifully while the yam beans and ricotta snow provided an interesting mix of textures and flavors to the dish. Brilliant!



USDA Beef (牛小排) (NT$1380) - For main dish, I had the Koji aged short rib with maitake mushrooms and coffee powder.



Love the nicely charred crust. Just a bit of sea salt already made these very delicious.



Peach (水蜜桃) (NT$350) - I was looking for a refreshing dessert and this one featuring peach from Alishan (阿里山水蜜桃) was perfect for me.



Peach compote and liquid nitrogen ice-cream made with the same peach were served here with young ginger ice-cream, basil and green tea crackers. A very refreshing end to a wonderful meal.






Food Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: No. 28, Siwei Road, Da'an District, Taipei, Taiwan
Closest Metro Station: Daan / Xinyi Anhe
Tel: +886 2-2700-0901
Website: www.mume.tw
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 19th (2018)

The Mandarin Cake Shop 文華餅房 (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★★☆

The Mandarin Cake Shop (文華餅房), Mandarin Oriental Hotel's iconic cake shop, was my last stop before I headed back to Da'an for tonight's dinner. Like any MO cake shops in Asia Pacific, this Taipei outpost is a symbol of fashionable taste featuring some of the most exquisitely baked pastries in the city.



Opened in May 2014, The Mandarin Cake Shop not only serves up beautiful cakes with their roasted coffee in a casual patio setting, it also offers a nice variety of homemade gelato, delicious fruit jam, chocolate and macaron. That makes it a really good place to shop for your souvenir to bring back home.



Very few people know this but The Mandarin Cake Shop Taipei also has one of the best pineapple cakes (鳳梨酥) which will make a really nice souvenir.



Their pineapple cakes come in two flavors - original flavor with pineapple and longan (桂圓). As a purist, I definitely recommend going with the original pineapple flavor.



Guifei (貴妃) - It's very easy to get distracted by these adorable cakes. Since I already had two pieces of cake this afternoon, my waistline could only afford me another one right about now. Guifei, I thought was the easy choice because of its elegant presentation (and name!).



This reminded me a little of two of my favorite cakes from Peninsula Boutique - Sakura and Peninsula, both of which were very elegant creations by former Executive Pastry Chef Frank Haasnoot. At this point, I realized my adorable cake suffered a "bruise" around the "waist". That's a careless mistake on my server's part. She should have noticed it when she was doing the packing and swapped it with another piece. Anyways...



The combination of lychee mousse, raspberry osmanthus cream and peanut sponge was pretty refreshing but I was expecting a little more crunch coming from the peanut sponge which unfortunately didn't happen.



It's worth noting that The Mandarin Cake Shop has recently appointed chef Yam Lok Hin (任樂軒) as their new Executive Pastry Chef. Chef Hin began his career as a baker at the Panash Bakery (Japan) and La Rose Noire (Hong Kong), then came along a career-changing opportunity at 3 Michelin starred L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon where he winded up working for 4 years. He moved onto China to work for Michelin starred Sir Elly’s (Shanghai) and then Rosewood Hotel (Beijing) before arriving in Taipei. It will be interesting to see how he brings his wealth of experience from his travel to the table.




Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: No. 158, Dunhua North Road, Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan
Closest Metro Station: Nanjing Fuxing
Tel: +886 2-2715-6888
Website: Link

Lady M Flagship Store 台北旗艦店 (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★☆☆

When Lady M finally opened their first branch in Taipei in early 2017, it generated a serious buzz which saw them sell nearly 3,000 pieces of their mille crêpes in just one hour. That's quite a remarkable feat although not totally surprising considering how much Taiwanese loves their desserts.



I was rather curious to see if they offered any flavors of mille crêpes which were not available in their Hong Kong boutiques. Turned out there were two of them - citron and mango. I was planning to dine in but as soon as I saw the huge lineup in front of the shop (I was told it would take about an hour), I decided to jump ship to the other line that said "Take-away".



That was quite a breeze as it only took me a mere 10 minutes to get served. Now, the question is, where should I eat my mango mille crêpes?



Mango mille crêpes (NT$290) - I ended up walking all the way to Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館) to find myself a place to enjoy my mille crêpes.



In between the layers of patented paper-thin handmade crepes was mango flavor infused pastry cream, topped with slices of sweet mango. Not bad but a little too much on the sweet side. Come to think of it, perhaps they should've taken a page out of the famous mango sago pomelo (楊枝甘露) and give this a new twist (with sago and pomelo!!). Okay, it does sound a little weird and something with a bit of acidity and different texture would be nice. 



Since I was already in the area, I thought I should take the opportunity to check out the Memorial Hall, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi and Taipei 101 all in one go.

Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: No. 26, Lane 240, Guangfu South Road, Da’an District, Taipei, Taiwan
Closest Metro Station: Zhongxiao Dunhua
Tel: +886 2-7730-8660
Website: www.facebook.com/Ladymtaiwan/