Ramen Cubism 立体派 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I was disappointed to find out that Ramen Cubism (立体派), one of my favorite Japanese ramen shops in Tsim Sha Tsui has closed down for good. But I guess the good news is that, they still have a branch in Wellington Street so I know I can still check out their handcrafted noodles and hearty broths whenever I want to.

Since I was passing by Central late this evening, I thought I should go slurp some delicious ramen noodles from Cubism's signature chicken soup.

It's my first time here at their Wellington branch but no problem for me as the entrance could be easily spotted in the alley between Wellington and Stanley Street.

I managed to arrive just before their closing time but surprisingly (on a Tuesday), there were still a handful of customers seen slurping away Cubism's handcrafted noodles.

Ramen Cubism's Premium Cubism white broth (Large: $118) - I'm getting celebrity Japanese Ramen Champion Hayashi Takao (林隆臣)'s signature "white broth" ramen served in its over-the-top oversized bowl.

This came with the usual soft-boiled egg, bamboo shoots and scallion served in their rich and creamy chicken soup. This was very tasty...

The char siu wasn't bad either. Yes, a little too much fat for a health conscious guy like me but I guess I could make one exception tonight and for tonight only.

Food Rating: 6.9/10
Price: $$$
Address: Basement, Yuen Yick Building, 27-29 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2399-0811
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm daily

Sun Tung Lok 新同樂魚翅酒家 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

It’s been a while since I last had a meal at Sun Tung Lok (新同樂魚翅酒家), and finally I decided it was time for our long overdue visit after spotting it’s surprise appearance on Restaurant Week’s Autumn Edition list.

As I have said a few times here before, I do like the Restaurant Week concept (but not always happy with the menus) so I try to participate with at least one booking every time. Mom has been looking forward to this meal since I told her about it weeks ago. Obviously, she has never visited this place before (this one on me) so I could tell she’s pretty excited about it.

I don’t know what to expect from a Chinese fine-dining restaurant during the pandemic. During those miserable SARS days, it would've been a completely empty restaurant but not the case here at all. In fact, I was surprised it’s almost completely full (except this table).

As usual, the meal started with the chef’s dim sum platter (廣東點心薈萃).

Steamed pork dumpling topped with minced Yunnan ham (雲腿茸燒賣皇) - Pretty juicy. Won’t mind a bit more Yunnan ham for more savory kick but not really any complaints from me.

Steamed minced fish dumpling with live shrimp (鮮圍蝦魚蓉白燒賣) - This version of siu mai was made with minced fish (I hate minced fish!) but they sweetened the deal with a sea prawn on top.

Spring roll with bacon and shrimp (煙肉鮮蝦炸春卷) - This was particularly nice after having two siu mai in a roll. The crispy spring roll was perfectly matched with stuffing of bacon and shrimp inside. Love the savory kick from the ham to match the sweetness of the prawns.

Double boiled chicken soup with bamboo pith and conch (竹笙 紅螺頭 燉鮮雞) - I was curious of how their double boiled soup would stack up against my favorite double boiled soup from Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒). The broth was certainly a heart-warming one with subtle flavors of chicken and conch coming through nicely but I was expecting a bit more sweetness there.

Miyazaki pork belly and goose web (宮崎豚肉腩扣鵝掌) - I couldn't offer any comments on the braised goose web as little nugget took it from me right from the start.

But the Miyazaki pork belly was succulent. The abalone sauce was right on the money making both the pork belly and spinach very rich in flavors.

The orange zest was a nice touch too, bringing some lovely acidity and bitterness to offset the richness of the pork.

E-fu noodle with barbecued pork and egg (梅頭叉燒煎蛋蔥苗伊麵) - I'm guessing this is a nod to Stephen Chow's legendary steamed rice with fried egg and char siu (黯然銷魂飯).

Hidden underneath the fried egg was the highly anticipated barbecued pork. The e-fu noodles were working really well with the chicken stock and egg but the barbecued pork was surprising culprit here. I thought a little too rough and chewy for my teeth.

The chef's sweet soup (廚師精品甜湯) - Dessert was a very simple sweet soup with bean curd, sweet corn and gingko (no egg though).

Little guy seems to love this!

He keeps yelling "ho ho mei"~!

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop 401, L4, FoodLoft, Mira Place, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2152-1417
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm; 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily

East Ocean Lafayette 東海薈· 拉斐特 at The ONE (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Ever since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak in January, J.E.R.K. has refrained from having our regular dinner gathering but with the number of confirmed cases finally down to single digit this week, all four of us decided it was time to meet up. It was Hanger Jack picking our venue once again, and looks like we’re switching back to Chinese cuisine this time around. J found this deal at East Ocean Lafayette (東海薈· 拉斐特) The ONE from the Internet. A five-course dinner ranging from $188 to $248 and the final price depends on the soup we order. Not a bad deal at all.

Roasted squab (脆皮頂鴿皇) - This was pretty tasty. Crispy on the outside and very tender inside.

Braised shark’s fin soup with minced chicken (紅燒雞絲翅) - I wasn't much of a fan when it comes to shark's fin so naturally, braised abalone would be my first choice but...

Anyways, since most of us were having this so I decided to have a go too. Like I said, I'm not a fan...

Sautéed diced chicken with chili and cashew nuts (宮保雞丁) - This had pretty good "wok hei" (wok heat) and love the extra kick from the chili.

Braised e-fu noodles in abalone sauce (鮑汁炆伊麵) - Is this one-person's portion? Not bad but I was pretty stuffed at this point. Could only manage to finish half of it before callingit quit.

Glutinous rice balls in ginger tea (薑茶湯丸) - The glutinous rice wrap was a little bit thick for me. Can't believe the shark's fin and ginger tea turned out to be tonight's weakest link. 

It was nice to see my old friends after months of social distancing. Felt like it was just yesterday that we were joking around our university grounds but we're now talking about our retirement plans. Time flies~

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 12/F, The ONE, 100 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2698-0990
Opening Hours: 10:30am - 9:00pm daily

Sift Patisserie Festival Walk (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I promised myself I would go back to Sift Patisserie for my black sesame "tong yuen" and the time has finally come tonight, just 10 days before Mid Autumn Festival (assuming it's a limited-time-only dessert for Mid Autumn). 

After attending a birthday party with my little nugget at my friend's house, it was already late in the afternoon so we decided to have an early dinner at Festival Walk rather than having crappy take-away food at home. And of course, the decision was made partially because there’s a Sift Patisserie at Festival Walk just next to the ice skating rink.

Future NHLers prying their trades in Hong Kong!

Black Sesame Tong Yuen - As promised, my black sesame glutinous rice ball cake!

Time to get my new LED photo booth out again!

This was again very good. The silky vanilla mousse and white chocolate glaze proved to be very good match for the runny black sesame in the middle, which had very intense flavors. 

The glutinous rice sheet was again the difference maker here, creating the texture and flavor that emulate a real Chinese-style glutinous rice ball. Comparing this with its peanut counterpart, I will probably give the edge to the peanut Tong Yuen because the flavors seem to match a little better but this was something I’m glad to have tasted before the limited time only offer expires.

Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Kiosk 1, Level 1, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Tong
Tel: +852 5744-4640
Website: https://www.siftdesserts.com/
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm daily

Lady M Hong Kong Fashion Walk (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

A few days ago when Lady M Hong Kong first announced that they would be launching not only one but two new cakes this month, I decided to immediately go and check out both new creations. But my mission was an unsuccessful one as I was told that the official launch would be some time later this week. So, I waited all week and finally got my chance when we are in Causeway Bay this weekend.

It was raining pretty heavily so yeah, it was no fun waiting outside Lady M's Fashion Walk branch. The wait lasted about half an hour and finally, we did get our table before little nugget started to whine about it.

There we have it, the two new cakes - Taro Mille Crêpes, which is yet another new member to their Mille Crêpes family (lower left corner) and Whisky Dark Chocolate Mousse (upper right corner).

Before we started working on our main courses (our cakes), let's start with some drinks and savory bites first. For me, it was a beautifully decorated hot chocolate to start off the meal.

Spinach cheese omelette with mushroom sauce - Despite being a Lady M fan for so long, I have never had their savory dishes before. This was pretty tasty with the spinach, parmesan cheese, white button mushroom and Shimeji mushroom all working well with the egg omelette.

Little nugget couldn't stop eating them.

Aglio Olio - The spaghetti was tossed with garlic oil and red chili flakes. I thought it was a little heavy handed with chili and spices. Just a bit too much heat but it wasn't bad at all.

Linguine with classic tomato sauce - I originally thought it was a spaghetti Bolognese based on the photo on the food menu but turned out it was just linguine tossed in tomato sauce, with grilled cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, pesto and parmesan. A decent pasta dish that I thought could be better.

Taro Mille Crêpes - Having tried all the different flavors of Lady M's mille crêpes including original, matcha, earl grey, rose, pistachio, coconut, pistachio and marron, I can't believe I'm still very much looking forward to this new flavor.

The delectable Taro Mille Crêpes is layered with crushed taro and taro-infused pastry cream, topped with a pile of taro pastry cream and crushed pistachios. It's not as sweet as some of the other flavors but I was expecting the taro flavor to be a little more pronounced.

Whisky Dark Chocolate Mousse - This cake surprised me a little with its unusually complex flavors. I expected rich but didn't expect the combination of honey, citrus and ginger in the whisky. The various texture of chocolate was really nice too. Dark chocolate whisky mousse, milk chocolate whisky mousse, chocolate sponge cake and dark chocolate feuilletine, complemented nicely by a thin whisky jelly and orange zest in the middle. A very nice pleasant surprise. 

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop C, G/F, 1-3 Cleveland Street, Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 2861-1866
Website: https://www.ladymhk.com/
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm (Sun - Wed), 11:00am - 11:00pm (Thu - Sat)

Pound and Roll (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I'm back in Tsim Sha Tsui for my monthly meeting with my hair stylist tonight. I got there early and already had an idea on where to grab my dinner (ramen at Ramen Cubism) but it looks like I have to find another place now. It was sad to see this branch of Ramen Cubism (立体派) closed down so quickly. Still remember visiting them on their opening week not too long ago but I am guessing it got wiped out by the pandemic. 

With my first choice down, I went with my Plan B, Pound and Roll, a recently opened Asian inspired fusion restaurant at K11 Art Mall.

It's a casual eatery serving comfort food like salad, pasta and pancakes.

I was going to get myself an oyster linguine with pepper and lemongrass but this looked even more interesting.

XO sauce organic chicken fettuccine, fried bread slice, mushroom ($118) - Love the local twist in this fettuccine dish with slices of Youtiao (油条 or fried dough) and XO sauce.

I call this a Chinese style "Spaghetti Aglio e Olio", which is exactly what it is! Not bad, but I thought the youtiao wasn't working as well as I thought it would with the fettuccine.

I also got myself a glass of avocado milkshake. This was made with almond milk so it was a little lighter than most milkshakes (healthier too!).

Pound and Roll gives us another fine option when it comes to Asian fusion dining at K11, on top of another relatively new addition, Floom Floom.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$
Address: Shop B104, B1/F, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3618-4683
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 10:00pm daily