Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine 御寶軒 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Last week, Cousin P from New Zealand pinged me on Facebook telling me that she would be in town for Chinese New Year. She's been gone for almost a decade now and really wanted to meet little nugget in person. After checking out a few places, we finally decided on Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine (御寶軒) as the venue of our "re-union".



We were pleasantly surprised to be offered a private dining area (sort of). Always nice to have some privacy for our heart-to-heart talks. 

I was obviously too happy to see my cousin so I totally forgot about taking pictures of our dim sum. Good thing was, I did manage to take a few selfies together with her. Time really flies. Her son who was just a small kid when their family decided to return to New Zealand a number of years ago, is now in university! A young man ready to find his first job. How exciting!

Steamed prawn dumplings (筍尖鮮蝦餃) – Always nice to start things off with some har gow. The thin wrapper wasn't bad and I love the bamboo shoots mixing in there with the prawns.

Steamed beef tripe with 'chu hou' sauce (柱侯金錢肚) – Very tender and not too spicy for our palate.

Baked barbecued pork pastry (蜜汁叉燒酥) – Finally, a photo! We always love to order this here and it certainly didn't disappoint. The pastry was so flaky and this time around, not over the top with its buttery texture.

Deep-fried taro puff (蜂巢炸芋角) – Flaky with lots of taro in the middle. The sauce with minced pork was oozing out slowly after my first bite. Would have been nice to have some dried shrimps (蝦米) there too for some extra bite and flavor.

Steamed rice roll with prawn and crispy golden net (金網脆皮蝦腸) – Not bad (I didn't remember having this myself).

Pan-fried purlie potato pumpkin cake (紫薯南瓜餅) – I was curious about this dessert when I saw it on the dim sum menu. Ended up having two pieces of them at the end. The pumpkin flavored mochi skin had this nice chewy texture to it, complemented nicely by the center of delicate purple potato purée. There's a reason why I had two of these! So yummy... 

Black sesame glutinous rice ball with grated peanuts (擂沙湯丸) – Always enjoy having fried tong-yuen sprinkled with grated peanuts. 

I'm sure we had much more dim sum than we've written here but I was too busy chatting with my cousin that I totally lost track of the dishes we ordered. But this meal was much more than good food for all of us. It was really nice to see my cousin again after so many years and knowing that our families are both doing well amidst the pandemic, that's priceless. During the meal, we even went as far as to call my aunt (my cousin's mom, my dad's little sister) via FaceTime. She has been a bit stranded in Wellington since the start of COVID. I felt a little sorry that she needed to scramble in front of the camera in such short notice but we were all just thrilled to see each other's face again. With our lives slowly getting back to normal, traveling should be back again and maybe, just maybe we could get a trip together to New Zealand to finally introduce little one to my aunt face-to-face. 

Food Rating: 6.3/10
Price: $$$
Address: 10/F, 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2613-9800

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily

Henry (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I had a bit of a late start looking for a place for our New Year's day dinner so I wasn't particularly surprised to find that most of my favorite restaurants were already fully booked. Fortunately, I still have a couple of ideas up my sleeves including Henry, the modern American steakhouse at Rosewood Hong Kong. 

I thought everyone would rather have Chinese food on New Year's day so I was expecting a fairly quiet place here tonight but it wasn't the case at all. 

Some sourdough, cultured butter and ham to start things off for us.

Large plates but tiny portions! That's okay though as we had a pretty BIG lunch anyways!

Jumbo lump crab cakes – First up were the crispy golden crab cakes with sweet corn and bell pepper.

The succulent crab cakes served with a special pepperoncini aioli, came with plenty of jumbo lump crab meat inside. They were so addictive and I love the extra heat from the pepper to match the sweetness of the crab meat.

 

A5 Wagyu Ribeye cap – A5 wagyu from Miyazaki never disappoints. 

I wasn't a fan of black garlic and wagyu together to be brutally honest. The well-marbled beef on its own was delish enough that a small touch of sea salt already made it so heavenly. So tender and buttery! 👍

USDA Black Angus Tenderloin – After having the succulent A5 wagyu, it's time to enjoy the USDA prime black angus tenderloin which I specifically asked to be served medium.

Texture-wise, there was obviously a big difference between this and the A5 wagyu. This came with some exquisite flavors from the aging. The flesh was juicy but not as soft as I expected. Not surprisingly, everybody including little nugget prefers the wagyu ribeye cap. 

The beef was accompanied by two pots of sauce, Béarnaise sauce and what I thought peppercorn sauce with truffles.

Boston lobster – Last but not least, little one's lobster poached in butter. This looks like a pretty small lobster to me. 

Looks like everyone was happy about this New Year's day dinner tonight. Little guy wanted to go back to Lobster Bar & Grill in the first place but we joked with him that this is the "new Lobster Bar". And surprise, surprise he bought the idea!!! 😝 

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: $$$$

Address: 5/F Rosewood Hong Kong Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 3891-8888

Website: www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/hong-kong/dining/henry

Opening Hours: 5:30pm - 10:30pm daily, 12:00pm  2:30pm (Sat - Sun)

BluHouse at Rosewood Hong Kong (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Unlike most Chinese New Year days, we didn't wake up early to go out for a visit to our parent's house this year. We stayed in until almost noon time before finally hitting our strides. After meeting both sides of the parents and exchanging pleasantries, we enjoyed some dim sum at my in-law's home. That was pretty much our New Year celebration.

In late afternoon, we left for K11 Musea in preparation for our dinner at Henry. We had a relaxing harbourside walk. It was pretty quiet for a NYC day. Not much of a crowd there. 

Little nugget seems to have found the perfect place for a gelato these days and he couldn't stop asking to go back. Even on Chinese New Year day, he wanted his gelato at BluHouse which has a Venchi counter directly facing the harbour.

So, I decided to grant him his wish. A new beginning and new hope on New Year's day. Happy New Year son!!!

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui / East Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 3891-8732

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:30pm daily

Red City Cafe Wanchai 紅城冰室 灣仔店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve (年三十) and when most families in the city are preparing for the upcoming new year festivities, C's family will be preparing for life without her.

Like a lot of us, I was shocked to hear about her passing that morning when I was getting ready for work. I still remembered around Christmas time when we went on our separate journey to Japan, we said we would catch up after we came back. But we never did.

C to me is someone who cares a lot about her work. She's highly respected by her peers and will be sorely missed. Despite working together for more than a decade, it was only about a year that I grew close to her. She's like a caring elder sister that I never had. It's a shame we would never see her again.

This morning we all gathered to pay tribune to her life. I arrived a little early for breakfast in the area while making sure that I won't be late.



Red City Cafe (紅城冰室) was just a discovery out of the blue. It's surprisingly big for a cha chaan teng in Wanchai.

The place was so full when I walked in that I was immediately escorted to the back, in front of the kitchen. Well, not a pretty sight.

Some all-time cha chaan teng classic to start things off.

The tea was rich but not fragrant enough for me.

Macaroni in chicken broth with ham and vegetarian abalone (素鲍鱼). Not bad.

Butter toast and fried egg were next. Pretty standard stuff.

Sitting there watching someone washing the dirty dishes certainly didn't help my appetite this morning. Not that I was in the mood for the enjoyment of food anyways.

Food Rating: 4.4/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 2, G/F, York Place, 22 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 2726-5033

Opening Hours: 6:30am - 10:00pm daily

JAJA (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I'm running out of ideas for lunch venues in Wanchai these days but suddenly, an idea just popped into my head (JAJA).



Hidden inside the Hong Kong Art Centre, JAJA is a colorful and fun place with a food menu focused on healthy food.

Very instagrammable decor everywhere.

When I was here last time, I thought the menu wasn't entirely vegetarian but I could be wrong.

Caramel milkshake – A more "low-key" milkshake without the doughnuts and pretzels on top. Definitely not as thick as the one from Five Guys but pretty decent.

Avocado salad – This came with different kinds of vegetables, cherry tomatoes and almost no seasoning which was perfect. 

Saffron risotto with dates and asparagus – Again minimal seasoning. The risotto could have been a little more creamy but dates and asparagus were both my favorites.

 

While I love eating healthy food, I don't really appreciate waiting an hour for my salad. But that was exactly what happened and despite our greatest effort to remind our servers time after time, nothing was speeded up. It kinda put a dent in an otherwise fairly enjoyable dining experience.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: 6/F Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 2877-3999

Website: www.miradining.com/jaja/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:00pm daily

Hana Sakazuki Japanese Restaurant 花盃日本料理 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

The pandemic has really taken its toll on friendships. It's been more than a year since my buddy V and I got together for a meal. A fortnight ago, I finally got a ping from him and we talked about having dinner together before Chinese New Year. I got curious and went back to my archive to check when we last met up and it turned out, it was September 2021 for his birthday. That's 16 months in between!

I always love dining with V cuz he would come up with these places that I've never been to before. And that was the case again tonight – Hana Sakazuki Japanese Restaurant (花盃日本料理).

I arrived at our dinner venue slightly ahead of schedule and thought I was smart to set myself up at the sushi counter. But as I later found out V, got everything all sorted out already. 

The restaurant manager escorted me slowly towards the end of the hallway until we finally reached our private room. Speaking of privacy, I think only the cleaning lady would hear us behind those doors. 😊

This is not a recording but V got everything sorted out for us already. First up, a small green salad with cherry tomato to kick off an epic dinner.

Sashimi platter was next. I haven't had such good quality of chu-toro and clams for years.

Hokkaido scallops with a bit of dashi. Very nice.

Prawns from the teppanyaki sprinkled with the roes on top. So good (and addictive)!

Thin slices of beef from Miyazaki finished from the grill. Just perfect texture.

Super tender.

The two of us managed to finish two bottles of sake with V leading the charge of course. It was an incredible night of great food, fun and laughter. As it was getting a little late, I signaled V to split the bill but like everything before this, V said he already got everything all sorted out, the bill included. 

Many thanks to my buddy for taking care of everything tonight. Looking back, I really missed our heart-to-heart talks over the last 16 months. Hopefully, we don't have to wait another 16 months for the next gathering.

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: $$$$

Address: 2/F, China Tai Ping Tower, Phase II, 8 Sunning Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 2577-9799

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 11:00pm daily

La Patisserie Bazi 百子 洋菓子 & 燒菓子專賣店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

After work, I continued with my exploration journey in Wanchai checking out some new faces in the area. This one was not a random find but one handpicked from my online research last week when photos of their gorgeous pastries caught my eyes. The pastry shop is called La Patisserie Bazi (百子 洋菓子&燒菓子專賣店), located right across the street from the famous Southorn Playground (修頓球場).

They offer a small selection of pastries, but all beautifully crafted.

Vanilla chestnut mousse cake (香草栗子慕士蛋糕) – I am a big fan of anything that came with chestnut in it (just like mom). So not surprisingly, I've had my fair amount of Mont Blanc cakes in the last few months when chestnut was in-season. but this one I haven't seen much in the local market .....chestnut mousse cake. 

The silky smooth chestnut mousse was really delicate with small chunks of chestnuts in the middle providing some extra bite. And those were sandwiched by a layer of vanilla mousse bringing together a mix of nice, contrasting flavors and textures. Pretty nicely done.

I haven't seen a small neighborhood pastry shop with this kind of caliber since I discovered La Patisserie des Idees in Lai Chi Kok many years ago. I am pretty sure I'll be back for more very very soon.

Food Rating: 6.3/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop A1 & A2, 87 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 6320-2060

Website: www.bazi-hk.com

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm daily

Trattoria Kagawa by Mihara (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Two weeks since we came back from Osaka, I finally got the chance to try something new.

Trattoria Kagawa by Mihara is a newcomer at the everchanging dining scene of Ship Street in Wanchai. The counter table certainly looks like the perfect place to be, as it provides a front row seat to Japanese chef Terufumi Mihara's open kitchen. The chef's trattoria concept is a simple yet sophisticated one. At his new trattoria, he aims to bring the art of teppanyaki, fresh produce of his hometown Kagawa and Italian traditional flavors all together in harmony.

Set lunch starts at $158 which isn't a bad price at all for a competitive market like Wanchai.

I was first started off with a small piece of bread that looks like a focaccia.

I chose a small salad over soup cuz we had just enough soup on our Osaka trip already.

Last but not least, a chawanmushi (or Japanese steamed egg custard) with a bit of black truffles on top to spice things up.



We had a choice of pasta or risotto before our main event and this was a pretty easy choice for me – pasta with shrimps tossed with shrimp bisque. I wish there were more sauce in there but the pasta was pretty solid with close to perfectly al dente texture.

I have the olive chicken for my main dish. To be honest, I only started to hear about olive beef on my recent trip to Osaka (the cattle was raised eating olive growing up) so I will assume this is more or less the same deal except it's chicken this time around. 

Not sure if this is supposed to be a "La Peperonata" with stewed peppers and vegetables. But this I know, the chicken was really tender and flavorful thanks to the tomato-based sauce.

After the parade of dishes, I still got room for dessert and was happy to drop a few extra bucks for a slice of tiramisu. This was a little more firm than I would like but nevertheless a lovely sweet end to the meal (I also haven't had a tiramisu for months). 

Lunch here was obviously meant to be simple but I have heard a lot of great things about their dinner menu with lobster, Japanese abalone and wagyu beef Rossini making the headlines. Perhaps I should pick a time to come back for dinner some time.

Food Rating: 5.7/10

Price: $$$

Address: 18 Ship Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 5394-3690

Website: www.facebook.com/trattoria.kagawa

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 11:45pm daily