Kam Kee Cafe 金記冰室 Chi Fu Landmark (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

When I first got the memo for today's outing, it was supposed to be for a day trip to The Pokfulam Farm (薄鳧林牧場) with little nugget's friends. But when the farm turned out to be a disappointingly small space that hardly took 15 minutes to finish exploring, our adventure has quickly become a hiking trip to the nearby Pok Fu Lam Reservoir (薄扶林水塘).

Not a bad day to explore Pok Fu Lam Reservoir under the cool weather but the kids looked exhausted and overmatched with the unexpected workload.

After the hike that took nearly an hour and a half, we finally got back to civilization. Some of us who were familiar with the neighborhood immediately pointed the direction of Chi Fu Landmark (置富南區廣場), where yours truly quickly spotted Kam Kee Cafe (金記冰室) in the atrium area. Yeah, everyone should have no objection for tea, right!? 😏😏😏

Iced milk tea – Thirst quenching...

French Toast – I had a deep-fried chicken leg for tea yesterday so time to try something else today.

This was pretty good (perhaps cuz I haven't had French toast for a while).

I remembered Kam Kee Cafe as a below-average cha chaan teng based on my experience from their Kwun Tong APM branch but this was so much better. I guess being a flagship restaurant really counts.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 318, 3/F, Chi Fu Landmark, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: N/A

Tel: +852 2808-2329

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 9:00pm daily

Tei Mou Koon Dessert 地茂館甜品 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

As per our original plan, we left the kids at my friend's house to play after dinner while we made our way downstairs for dessert. Kowloon City is highly touted for its Chinese desserts so not surprisingly, everyone wanted dessert soup to wrap up the night on a sweet note. With Tei Mou Koon Dessert (地茂館甜品) just a few steps away, it was obviously the natural choice for us. At 8:50pm, I thought there wasn't going to be much of a wait but thanks to its popularity, we ended up standing around for nearly 20 minutes before finally offered a table.

They have a section of their dessert menu dedicated to sweet almond tea (杏仁茶) so we were not going to miss it for the world. 

Sweet almond tea with peach resin (美人桃膠杏仁茶) – An easy choice for the ladies due to its nourishing effects. This was probably a tad too sweet for me with the peach resin but the egg white meshed well with the creamy almond tea for a nice, silky texture.

Freshly grind almond tea with egg white (招牌蛋白杏仁茶) – The same freshly grinded almond tea with egg white but without the peach resin. This was really filling with the extra amount of egg white but I like the fact that its sweetness was more mild and not really over the top.  

And I ordered two glutinous rice balls (湯圓) to go with my almond tea. The size of these tong yuens was huge! Personally, I thought the wrapper and filling ratio wasn't bad but the wrapper could probably be made a little thinner (and thus smaller in size). Perhaps more like the ones from Kai Kai Dessert (佳佳甜品).

They have some pretty good desserts here, I will give them that; but the long lineup and extremely cramped space made a second visit less likely to happen.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 47 Fuk Lo Tsun Road, Kowloon City, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sung Wong Toi

Tel: +852 2382-5004

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 12:00am daily

Mama Mia! Pizzeria (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We were invited to a dinner gathering at a friend's house tonight. This is one of little nugget's closest friend from his pre-nursery days, Not long ago, he and his parents moved to a neighborhood between Kowloon City and To Kwa Wan, and have been raving about its vibrant dining scene. I, for one, have been more than curious about the area's "melting pot" dining culture as well. So, I was all too happy to join the party.

The host has prepared some nice, homemade dishes for all of us. And for the sake of exploring the area's dining scene, some of us went down to get some take-away food so we could enjoy a wider variety of dishes.

We wound up stopping by Mamma Mia! Pizzeria in Kowloon City for some take-away pizza. Mamma Mia! was one of the many restaurants run by Castelo Concepts who operates a number of restaurant brands in the city, including Pepperoni's in Sai Kung, their flagship restaurant opened in 1992.

Pepperoni (辣肉腸) – Always a popular choice for the kids. Little guy loves it thanks to the spicy kick from the pepperoni. I thought the dough was pretty nice and it was helped out by the nice topping of Mozzarella and tomato sauce.

Hawaiian (夏威夷) – Surprisingly, the less popular choice tonight so I ended up with a slice when everyone decided to pass. This was, in my opinion, equally tasty comparing to the Pepperoni pizza. The Mortadella, pineapple and Thousand Islands sauce were a timeless combination but I guess the kids all wanted pepperoni tonight.

We didn't get to spend too much time on the streets of Kowloon City since we wanted to return with the pizza while they were still piping hot. It certainly looks like that we are going downstairs again for our dessert after dinner! 

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 44A Lion Rock Road, Kowloon City, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sung Wong Toi

Tel: +852 2558-8335

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 9:30pm daily

Tango Argentinian Steak House Elements (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After not seeing my buddy V for nearly three years during the pandemic, we are meeting for the second time in 2023 already. Tonight's dinner will be a celebration for my birthday last week.



Both V and I agreed to have a quiet and simple dinner tonight. When I narrowed things down to Elements Shopping Mall, he immediately proposed Tango Argentinian Steak House as our dinner venue, which I gladly accepted.

I have never been to this branch of Tango before so I was a bit pleasantly surprised with its cozy vibe. V arrived just ahead of me and was enjoying his bottle of red already. Following a nice chat, it didn't take long for us to nail down the dishes we wanted to order.

Calamari Salad – I wanted something green to start so this salad with grilled squids, field greens, avocado and garlic aioli was perfect. The squids were really tender and the dressing was not as garlicky as we first feared. My only complaint was that it could have a bit more avocado in there perhaps. 

Hokkaido Scallops – The slices of Hokkaido scallops were so fresh and sweet, meshing well with the nice acidity from the yuzu leche de tigre.

Gaucho Platter – There were three different cuts in the platter, rump steak, fillet and skirt, a total of 19.oz of meat. It was our most anticipated dish of the evening but sadly, it didn't come thru for us. The rump steak, in particular was really rough and chewy.

V and I updated each other on our recent happenings and we made a few jokes about our future. Good times pass so quickly and it was time to hit the ground running again. I am truly blessed to have a bunch of good friends like V around the globe. This year, greetings began to pour in a few hours before my birthday and even some of the "rare customers" like AP whom I had a serious crush on back in our university days, texted me on my birthday to wish me well. I guess when we get older, we tend to miss our old friends and old times more.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop R008, RF, Elements Shopping Mall, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon

Tel: +852 2780-1181

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 10:00pm daily

Sing La 星怡 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I have it easy this weekend. With Jelloman and little nugget off to staycation with her Aussie cousin and her family, I have all the Me Time in the world to spend. It was an eventful Saturday for me. After table tennis competition, I got home to freshen up before heading out again for some shopping. By the time I finished with shopping (mostly window shopping), it was already late and time to find a quiet place for dinner. 

After going to a few places in Tsim Sha Tsui without luck (most of them with huge lineup), I decided to go up to ISQUARE to check out Sing La (星怡).

Singapore Hokkien Noodles (新加坡濃湯福建炒麵) – I had this when we were here last time but remembered distinctively that the noodles were a lot less soupy and wet.



I wasn't sure if this was sambal or chili sauce but I needed a spicy kick badly. The noodles tasted much better with the extra kick and there were a lot of ingredients in the mix, including shrimps, pork and scrambled eggs.

Steamed choy sum (白灼菜心) – Some veggies to help stay healthy.

I had to rush through dinner cuz other than a pair of love birds, I was the only diner left.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 303, 3/F, iSQUARE, 63 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2117-1300

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

Pici Pasta Bar Lai Chi Kok (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

At first, I was OK with Jelloman's plan to stay home for a relatively simple dinner for my birthday. Yes, it's just going to be another weeknight, right?

But come to think of it, I had McDonald's for lunch already and another subpar meal (when our helper is cooking, you can bet it's going to be subpar barring any miracles) would very likely push me to the limit on my birthday. So, to avoid all that fuzz, I decided to have dinner at our neighborhood pasta bar, Pici instead.

Our server was very kind to offer little nugget a free orange juice to kick off the meal. Not that he was really paying attention though, as he was too concentrated in his cartoon to even notice.

 

Vitello Tonnato – I started every meal at Pici pretty much the same way as always, sliced

veal with tuna mayonnaise and Sicilian capers on top. The flavorful tuna mayo was again doing its job for the near-perfect mouthfeel.

Tuna Tartare – Jelloman's usual way to start off her meal at Pici. The raw tuna was mixed with small cubes of avocado, pickled red onions, and a house dressing made with sweet soy and spices. Not bad but not as tasty as my veal for sure.

Tagliolini truffle – I am guessing that whatever arrives first will eventually become the star of the meal as everyone is starving. And turns out, I was partially right.

The first pasta dish to arrive was the homemade tagliolini. Shaved black truffle, white truffle paste and shallot provided the fresh and eggy pasta with the finishing touch. 

Chitarra King Prawns – While everyone was enjoying the truffled tagliolini, the second pasta arrived. I've had this dish many many times here before and it's always an up-and-down affair. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

Tonight, the squid-ink pasta was almost perfect. I love the way it was clinging to the sauce made with seafood bisque and cherry tomatoes, chili and garlic. And the king prawns and diced prawns both added to the nice texture.

Pappardelle beef cheek – The sauce made with beef cheek ragu which has been slow-cooked for 8 hours, onion, carrot and celery wasn't bad but the pappardelle, I thought was a little chewy.

Tiramisu – Pici always has one of the best tiramisu in town. It was the perfect way to wrap up my birthday meal tonight. 

This really doesn't feel like a celebration, especially when the birthday boy ended up settling the bill. But Jelloman insisted that the real celebration already took place a few weeks ago, at Mosu Hong Kong. I almost forgot about that one already.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop G03, G/F, D2 Place TWO, 15 Cheung Shun Street, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok
Tel: +852 2557-7227
Website: www.pici.hk

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm daily

Fine Foods (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I almost forgot but Jelloman reminded me this morning that it was my birthday today. I would love to take today off just to get some much needed rest rather than celebrate but I have an important meeting in the afternoon. So, end of story.......

Was I getting a special treat for myself today for lunch? Not really. I had to rush to the meeting so just a Shogun Burger with egg (玉子將軍) from McDonald's.

Wait, I did order something special on top of my burger, a chicken pizza from McCafe which I have never had the pleasure of enjoying in the past. Such is life for a self-proclaimed foodie on his birthday. Like I have said to Jelloman many times before, part of me always believe that I should get a different job with a less hectic schedule. One that really allows me to enjoy life a bit more. 

Pistachio strawberry cake – Like last year, Jelloman ordered my birthday cake from Fine Foods at Royal Garden Hotel. They have a new creation here with a moist pistachio sponge cake, white chocolate and pistachio cream, topped by a layer of crispy pistachio chocolate and some fresh strawberries.

Knowing full well that I am a sucker for anything with pistachio, Jelloman made the right choice for my birthday cake this year (she always makes the right choice!). This was pretty tasty. We had one extra slice left and I was going to finish it off myself but nay, I'll leave it for mom who's coming over tomorrow. She's a sucker for anything with pistachio too.

Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Lobby Level, The Royal Garden, 69 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2733-2045
Website: theroyalgardenhotel.com.hk/index.asp

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

Kwan Kee Store 坤記糕品專家 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★☆☆☆☆

Kwan Kee Store (坤記糕品專家), a Chinese pudding specialist who has been in business in Sham Shui Po for the past 60 years, is announcing its closure in May. At least that's what we have been hearing in the social media. As a diehard fan of traditional Chinese puddings, I decided to take a stroll in SSP after work this afternoon in hope to pick up a few of their puddings before they officially close for business.



Obviously, many people heard the same rumor as well.

Black sesame pudding (芝麻糕), red bean pudding (紅豆糕), water chestnut pudding (馬蹄糕) and their signature steamed rice pudding (缽仔糕).

I ended up getting a few of each for tonight's late night snack.

Kwan Kee's rise to fame had a little to do with their Michelin recommendation but I was always curious about their puddings myself. And my verdict......not that great.

Black sesame pudding (芝麻糕) – Not much black sesame flavor and the texture wasn't great. 

Water chestnut pudding (馬蹄糕) – Very soft and wobbly. Very little water chestnut flavor, if any.

Red bean pudding (紅豆糕) – The only one with decent flavor and texture, and there were enough red beans there for some extra bite. 

I could easily name a few places with better traditional Chinese puddings (especially from vegetarian restaurants) than Kwan Kee in SSP. That was a disappointing experience.

Food Rating: 2.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 10, 115-117 Fuk Wah Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sham Shui Po

Tel: +852 2360-0328

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

Cafe Joo (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Everyone was having such a blast at the birthday party, the kids and moms alike. So, we figured it was time for the dads to sneak out for a drink. There are a lot of interesting options here at New Town Plaza but Cafe Joo stood out as the natural choice since it's just a few steps away from where the party was taking place.

Cafe Joo is a Korean-style café featuring a modern Korean fusion menu curated by Chef Ken Lau who's also behind fine-dining gems Pano and Pleka. It's another new concept by the local F&B giant, LUBUD.



Ice cold green tea latte presumably made with green tea from Jeju Island. It was just perfect for a warm day like this one. After a run of cold weather, I think we are finally getting a glimpse of summer this afternoon.

Korean fried chicken wings – I thought that's Korean chili paste they used to marinate the wings so not surprisingly, some extra heat.

We were just warming up with the topics on our kids but it's time to return to the party for the second half of the show. The cake cutting celebration is up next.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 165, level 1, New Town Plaza Phase 1, 18 Sha Tin Centre St, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Train Station: Shatin

Tel: +852 2882-8323

Website: https://lubuds.com/cafejoo/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:00pm (Mon - Fri), 10:00am - 10:00pm (Sat - Sun)

Lung Wah Hotel 龍華酒店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Right upon our arrival back from Seoul, we already have a string of activities and events lined up for us for the weekend. First up, we are meeting Jelloman's cousin from Aussie for a pigeon feast at Lung Wah Hotel (龍華酒店). 

Little nugget was leading our march to the restaurant from the train station.....

It was nice to see the crowd back to nostalgic places like Lung Wah Hotel. I am hoping that we could keep some of these collective memories going for our next generation.

Roast pigeon (脆皮燒乳鴿) – The one and only way to start a meal at Lung Wah. This was again very very tasty. The pigeon was so flavorful and its crispy skin very addictive.

Fried noodles with bean sprouts in soy sauce (銀芽豉油皇炒麵) – This was surprisingly good with some wok hei.

Sweet and sour pork (菠蘿咕嚕肉) – Crowd pleaser as always, especially with kids around.

Deep-fried tofu slices (椒鹽豆腐片) – Our server insisted that they don't have the tofu cubes anymore so we had no other choice but to take a flyer on its replacement, deep-fried tofu slices. This was OK.  

Deep-fried tofu cuttlefish (椒鹽鮮魷) – Another dish we always enjoy having here and it never disappoints. The cuttlefish was pretty crunchy. Just love the crispy batter and spicy kick. Someone actually suggested having another order of it but we were pressed for time.

Stir-fried broccoli (清炒西蘭花) – Some veggies after all these dishes with pepper and spices.

The kids re-acquainted with one another during the meal. Little guy was so happy to see his little cousin from Sydney but he knew he had to hurry cuz he's having another party in less than an hour. Super busy guy! 😆😆😆

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: 22 Ha Wo Che Chuen, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
Closest Train Station: Shatin
Tel: +852 2691-1594
Website: www.lungwahhotel.hk

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