Bayfare Social at Rosewood Hong Kong (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

We haven't really dined out much since the government tightened up the social distancing measures by only allowing two diners per table. But that's about to change with little nugget's birthday coming up in a few days. To warm us up for the occasion, I decided to bring Jelloman and the soon-to-be birthday boy out for a late lunch at Bayfare Social.

Bayfare Social offers an all-day food menu so dropping by after 3pm wasn't a problem at all.

They have a no-reservation policy so we weren't able to make advance booking but thank goodness, they have a table for the three of us (of course I had to sit at the next table).



Jelloman was pumped to be able to dine out again!

Little guy was less excited as he had his YouTube cartoons to attend to.

Kale salad - I swear if this didn't show up in the nick of time, I would've probably passed out already. This has always been the dish we started off our meals with at Bayfare Social. Very very nice earthy flavors from the kale and charred broccolini.

Octopus - Something from the "Hot Tapas" department.

The lightly charred octopus was served with crushed potatoes, smoked paprika and aioli. The octopus, which was chopped into smaller pieces were very tender.

Prawn - Spanish garlic prawns with olive oil and a bit of chili. The amount of heat surprised me a little. Not bad.

Tagliatelle - Jelloman and I shared this pasta dish since we weren't all that hungry following the two starters. The tagliatelle was tossed nicely with Vongole clams and spicy sausage. Would have loved a bit more tomato sauce but this wasn't bad.

Beef noodle soup - Something for little nugget. He loves his noodle soup.

The short ribs were really really tender and juicy but what impressed me the most were the tendons. Very soft and lovely texture. I thought the noodles and broth were perfect as well. Didn't expect such a nice Chinese dish at a Spanish restaurant.

My little one was pretty happy about the meal.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: 5/F Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui / Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3891-8732
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 6:00pm daily

The Mandarin Cake Shop (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Jelloman has been stuck in her "work from home" regime for almost a year now. Sitting around her desk at home for nearly 12 months certainly wasn't something to brag about. So, when she finally got her chance to get out on a weekday (albeit for a medical appointment), she was pretty hyped up about it. And guess what she brought back home - something from The Mandarin Cake Shop.

Like all cake shops in town, The Mandarin Cake Shop has put together a series of pastries to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.



Mandarin Orange - This will look damn good if it's in a mandarin orange shape!

I can't honestly say that mandarin and milk tea are a match made in heaven. The acidity (from the mandarin) was really quite a handful for the milk tea mousse to handle and I thought some contrasting textures would have made this a little more interesting.

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: M/F, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 5 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2825-4008
Website: www.mandarinoriental.com.hk/hongkong/fine-dining/the-mandarin-cake-shop
Opening Hours: 8:00am - 8:00pm daily

Times Cafe North Point 時代冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

I've just enough time for a quick one before my physiotherapy session so I'm not going to be too picky about it. Not when I'm in Fortress Hill, a foodie's wasteland. I have actually been to this branch of Times Cafe (時代冰室) a couple of times now, all before meeting my physio and naturally, my expectation was very low coming in.

The macaroni soup was so bland!

It took a while before my deep-fried chicken leg was ready. Well, this wasn't terrible but I better stick with their Yangzhou fried rice next time around (if I ever choose to come here again).

Food Rating: 3.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, Princess Mansion, 165-175 King's Road, North Point, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Fortress Hill

Tel: +852 2505-1773

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 10:30pm daily 

Caffè Milani (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

A couple of months ago, I spotted renovation work being done to a brand new pastry shop at Citywalk in Tsuen Wan with a signage that said "Pasticceria Giovanni Pina". Then more news came out about century-old Italian bakery brand Giovanni Pina opening in Hong Kong. I thought picking Tsuen Wan as one of its first landing spots certainly raised some eyebrows (including mine) but hey you never know, right? 



It turns out that Pasticceria Giovanni Pina is joining forces with Caffè Milani, one of the most popular coffee brands in Italy in this latest venture. Their new locations in Tsuen Wan (Citywalk) and Tsim Sha Tsui (K11 Musea) managed to open doors just in time before the Chinese New Year.

I can't say I'm a big fan of Italian pastries but the award-winning Giovanni Pina, which is a master bakery brand coming from Bergamo Italy probably deserves at least one visit.

Caffè Milani at Citywalk is a coffee shop that also doubles as a pastry shop and gelateria. But since their gelato didn't look all that attractive, I decided to just sample the pastries instead.

Mediterranea ($52) - This looks like a pistachio pudding with a cherry top. I like the pistachio flavors but they could definitely improve on the biscuit base. And frankly speaking, I didn't think the peach compote was a good match for the pistachio mousse at all.

Matcha Cake ($42) - I think we have all been spoiled by different Uji matcha desserts available in Hong Kong so this one won't make the cut. Apart from the lack of deep matcha flavors, they also do a better job improving its texture. Perhaps adding some contrasting texture into the mix?

Strangely enough, we accidently ran into another Pasticceria Giovanni Pina, which was just across the street from Citywalk. This is really weird. I wonder if their management team has conducted a thorough marketing strategy plan before their launch.

Food Rating: 3.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop G76a & b, G/F Citywalk, Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsuen Wan West

Tel: +852 2755-1230

Website: www.caffemilani.com

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily

Plat du Jour Pacific Place (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I started the year with a lot of Chinese food in the first two weeks so I thought it was time to get things right. Plat du Jour at Pacific Place wasn't exactly my favorite French kitchen but I was a little desperate.

Starting things off for me was one of their signature dishes, lobster bisque. The bisque was dusted off with some fresh chives. 

I had trouble deciding what I wanted for my main dish but finally decided to take a flyer on this slow-cooked veal.

The slow-cooked veal was served on a bed of mashed potatoes, with chives and carrots. I thought the mash actually tasted better than the veal. 

My colleague and I both thought the portion of the veal was a little small so we decided to get ourselves some extra in the form of a dessert. It was a pretty nice traditional creme brulee. No much surprises there but we didn't need one this afternoon.

Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 007, LG1/F, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 2715-0511
Website: www.platdujourhk.com
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:30pm daily

Tai O Lookout (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After checking out the narrow streets and stilt houses of Tai O village, we began walking to the western side of Tai O towards Tai O Heritage Hotel (大澳文物酒店).

It's about a 15-minute walk and we arrived without breaking a sweat.

We slowly climbed up the hilly road before finally spotting the colonial architecture.

A few days ago, I rang Tai O Lookout up trying to make a lunch reservation for this trip but was told that all the tables allocated for reservation were already fully booked. So, we decided to try our luck by walking in but I guess we were out of luck today.

It was already 3pm and this naughty boy had barely eaten all day.

Rather than waiting in line for another hour or so, I decided to simply get some take-away lunch box for everyone. Yeah, we'll have to wait for another time to enjoy this picturesque view from the restaurant's window.

This wasn't bad for less than $100. I was most looking forward to the chicken wings made with Tai O's famous shrimp sauce.

The spaghetti bolognese was pretty nice too.

We didn't get the chance to check out the view from the restaurant but we did get a glimpse from the hotel's terrace while we were enjoying our food. I really love the peacefulness around here. Some day, I think I will spend a couple of days at this hotel while I explore the island in greater lengths. 

Before we went back to the pier, we made a quick stop at Sing Lee Shrimp Sauce & Paste (勝利香蝦廠), where they are real famous for their shrimp sauce, shrimp paste, dried shrimps and more.

This is the same shrimp paste that Tai O Lookout used to marinate their chicken wings! Needless to say, we had to bring a few bottles of these back home as souvenirs.

Price: $$$

Address: 1/F, Tai O Heritage Hotel, Shek Tsai Po Street, Tai O, Lantau Island, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2985-8383

Website: www.taioheritagehotel.com/tc/dining/tai-o-lookout/

Opening Hours: 7:30am - 10:00pm daily

Tai O Wah Lee 華利小食 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

COVID-19 has effectively eliminated any chance of traveling in the foreseeable future so like a lot of us do, we decide it is time to explore Hong Kong.



I didn't come to realize that there are so many different places in Hong Kong which I have never been to. One of these places is Tai O (大澳), a fishing town on the western side of Lantau Island which is also known as "Venice of Hong Kong".

Once we got off the ferry, the first thing we did was to check out the street vendors and their snacks. 

We stumbled upon Tai O Wah Lee (華利小食), a small jack-of-all-trades street vendor where we found all these wonderful local delicacies. Of course, we had to check out these handcrafted tea cakes (茶粿), a traditional Hakka snack filled with peanut, sesame or red bean paste filling. 

I chose a green one which was made with herbs. There were two kinds of fillings - peanuts and red bean paste. Let's see which one I got.

This wasn't bad. The outside was slightly chewy like a Japanese mochi while the fillings were mildly sweet with red bean paste. 



After enjoying a couple of snacks on the go, we circled around the narrow streets of Tai O. Good thing I had my camera with me today so I was able to snap a few photos of the picturesque scenery of the stilt houses (棚屋) along the river.

Next up, we will head over to the Heritage Hotel on the far end of the island. Can't wait to see how that unfolds.

Food Rating: 4/10

Price: $

Address: 73 Tai O Wing On Street, Tai O, Lantau Island, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2985-5611

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 7:30pm daily