Shake Shack IFC (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We've made some pretty good progress in our working lunch this afternoon and at around 2pm, I was ready to head back to my office but not before I made a stopover at Shake Shack IFC for my much-needed frosty drink. 



I was going to get myself a hot dog too, since I have yet to have lunch (officially) but nah...

I've always loved the milk tea shake here! It's so thirst quenching which was perfect on a hot and humid afternoon like this. 

But come to think of it, their milk tea shake had been around since Shake Shack's opening day in Hong Kong a few years back. Perhaps it's time that they change things up and come up with a brand new Hong Kong exclusive.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 4018, 4/F, IFC, 1 Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2522-5611
Website: www.shakeshack.com.hk
Opening Hours: 11:00am to 11:00pm daily

Life is Good Cafe (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

I have an early meeting with the bosses this morning and just to make sure that I have enough to get through our working lunch, I decided to have a full breakfast at Life is Good Cafe.



I read about the opening of Life is Good Cafe not long ago, taking over the space from the once-popular Lim Kee Bing Sutt (廉記冰室), which used to be so good thanks to its in-house bakery shop. And it looks like that the bakery shop is here to stay.  

Iced milk tea – One of the things that really bugged me about Lim Kee was their iced milk tea. The tea was really strong but they didn't have enough milk / condensed milk to back it up. This was the case again. Not looking good here.

Fried egg – I have asked for fried egg instead of scrambled egg this morning.

Instant noodle with shredded ham – This was OK. I imagined not a difficult dish to make for a professional kitchen.

Obviously, the opening of Wing Wah Allday (永華日常) just a stone's throw away has been killing the business of this place and they have themselves to blame for that. Nowadays, only counting on an in-house bakery is not going to cut.

Food Rating: 4/10

Price: $$$
Address: G/F, 13 Spring Garden Lane, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Tel: +852 3468-2971
Opening Hours: 7:00am - 10:30pm daily

Butter Cake Shop K11 Musea (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I thought I was done at K11 Musea after getting my pastries from Butterfly Patisserie but the "good daddy" inside me kept reminding me that little nugget has yet to get his sweet treat. So, I dove right back into action and found myself in front of Butter Cake Shop.

It's not the first time that I found myself staring at Butter's display cakes like a boy stares at his favorite toy. Yes, they don't have the widest selection of pastries in town but they do have some interesting ones in their arsenal including their New York Cheesecake (too bad no pecan pies!).

Didn't realize they have a dine-in area behind the counter. Nice!

New York Cheesecake ($100) – At $100, it's definitely not the cheapest New York cheesecake in town (but not the most expensive).

I have noticed that there was some moisture near the bottom part of the cake while I was taking photos. But I failed to realize what was going on!

Turned out my helper has mistakenly hit a button on the fridge and its cooling function was partially shut down. This glaring mistake was probably the reason why the cheesecake has lost its original texture. It has now turned into this really soft and moist pudding-like thing.

But even with this mishap, I thought the vanilla cookie crumb base remained pretty nice. The creamy flavor was still there although it's now met with some extra acidity (probably from the melting of the cheese?).

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Shop LA106, 1/F, K11 Musea, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

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

Website: www.butterbutterbutter.com.hk/k11-musea

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 8:00pm daily

Butterfly Patisserie (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

After mom's birthday lunch in Tsim Sha Tsui, I decided to take a leisurely stroll in the area on my own which saw me stopping by a number of places including K11 Musea and Regent Hotel. I have deliberately left enough gas in my tank for one final stop, Butterfly Patisserie at Rosewood Hong Kong.   

It's been a long time since I last checked this place out. Of course, I have already learned about the departure of former Executive pastry chef Holger Deh who started his own gluten-free brand by the name of Essentia last year and taking his place in Butterfly Patisserie's kitchen is new Executive Pastry Chef Thomas Cabrit.

Time to bring some sweetness back home.

Mango pandan angel cake ($98) – One of the feature creations by Chef Cabrit with a combination of exotic flavors coming from pandan leaf, mango compote, lime and crunchy coconut. I thought these tropical flavors would come together almost seamlessly but surprisingly, not all of them worked well as a team. 

Jasmine tea and chocolate cake ($92) – The flourless chocolate sponge meets a crispy chocolate and jasmine tea creme brulee filling underneath a layer of delicate jasmine tea infused cream. I thought there was also a layer of crispy chocolate feuilletine in the middle but I could be wrong.

This was simple but yet full of exquisite flavors and wonderful (contrasting) textures. The jasmine tea flavors were right on the money. Other than the chocolate decorations on top which didn't work well with the rest as a team, everything else was beautiful. 

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 2/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3891-8732
Website: www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/hong-kong/dining/butterfly-patisserie
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm daily

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

Today is mom's lunar birthday, just a day before her birthday on the Gregorian Calendar. Since little nugget has been grounded for the next couple of weeks in preparation of his upcoming final exams, I was the only one available to take her out for celebration. Knowing that mom would prefer Chinese food, I decided to go back to Sun Tung Lok (新同樂魚翅酒家) as the location is close to the both of us.

I have already checked out their set menus last night and they have quite a few available. Took me a while to get thru each and one of them. So, I knew exactly which one to order once we got seated.

Dim sum platter by the chef (廣東點心薈萃) – We were first started off with a trio of dim sum. At this point, we were beginning to realize that the Michelin caliber service was missing from action as our server simply dropped off the bamboo steamer without even naming what were included in the platter.

Steamed vegetable dumpling (蒸素菜餃) – This came with diced mushrooms, carrots and mixed vegetables. I thought I could taste the subtle flavors from the coriander too.

Steamed pork dumpling (蒸燒賣) – The shumai was meaty and I like the additional texture coming from the diced mushrooms, dried conpoy and ham.

Steamed crab meat dumpling with beetroot and asparagus (紅菜頭蘆筍蟹肉餃) – Probably the best of the trio. The sweetness of the crab meat was nicely complemented by the juicy beetroot.

Green salad with fresh shrimps and corns (鮮圍蝦金粟翠蔬沙律) – After enjoying the dim sum, some green salad to stay healthy. I like the fact that they had some raspberry and mango coulis on the side for dipping the shrimps. Pretty refreshing dish.

Chicken soup with conpoy and fish maw (花膠筒瑤柱燉鮮雞) – The clear soup wasn't bad but there wasn't much flavor in there other than the chicken.

Seared Hokkaido king scallop and portobello mushroom (北海道帶子皇 配紐西蘭啡蘑菇) – Mom is a sucker for Hokkaido scallop so this was the perfect choice for her. The mix of seared scallop, portobello mushroom and what I thought was a Beurre blanc-ish sauce certainly wasn't a bad one but the minced meat underneath? Would be nice if we could get some prawn mousseline in between that scallop and mushroom instead of the meat.

Abalone and pork rice with scallion oil (紅燒鮑魚 燴豚肉蔥油飯) – Another dish with a disappointing blend of ingredients. The braised abalone was pretty decent but I thought it was ill-matched with the rice and minced pork (similar to what was served with the scallop earlier). Didn't finish this one.

Sweetened bird's nest with bean curd sheet, ginkgo nut and bamboo pith (冰花鮮腐竹銀杏竹笙燕窩) – This was really just a sweet soup with bean curd sheets and ginkgo nuts but they tried to make it more premium by adding some bird's net and bamboo pith to it.

Here's my share of bird's nest. This was OK but as an expert of bean curd sweet soup (腐竹雞蛋糖水) myself, of course I expected more.

Mom didn't have any complaints about today's lunch but for me with spoiled taste buds, I thought it was a significant drop-off from my previous experience here (both food and service). This was not a Michelin-starred dining experience and I can honestly say that the restaurant has at least one too many star right now.

Food Rating: 5.5/10
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

Door Door Bakery 多多餅店 Mei Foo (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We are enjoying a fairly lazy afternoon on Buddha's Birthday. After dropping little nugget off for his class, we went for a short walk to Lai Chi Kok Park. On our way back, we stopped by Door Door Bakery (多多餅店) for some of Jelloman's favorite nougat candies. This was when memories started coming back to me, as I remembered reading about Door Door Bakery's famous egg tarts just a couple of weeks ago.



Touted as one of the best places to find a delicious egg tart in Hong Kong by Lifestyle Asia, it's certainly worth a deep dive so I went in for a quick look.

They have both the traditional and Portuguese styles egg tarts available and from what I've been told by the lady at the cashier, this batch had just freshly come out of the oven!

Of course, I had to do a taste test myself.

Traditional egg tart – This wasn't bad at all. The crust was pretty crispy although I personally would love it to be a bit more flaky and buttery at the same time. The egg custard was eggy enough for me.

Portuguese style egg tart – The buttery crust made with puff pastry was nice and I thought the custard was a bit more eggy with some smokiness from the caramelized spots on top to match.

Pretty happy with our snacks this afternoon. We even got ourselves some traditional nougats and banana puddings which I don't think many local bakeries are still making these days.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 65 Broadway Street, Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Mei Foo, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Mei Foo

Tel: +852 2370-3880

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

Simplylife Bakery Cafe Festival Walk 星美樂 又一城 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

My friend Aniram is back in town for the long weekend. It's been almost a year and a half since she left for UK and initially, I thought I have seen the last of her but last week, I got a ping from her with the news that she would be in town.



Since she's staying near Festival Walk (又一城), I thought we should meet up nearby but I had no idea what breakfast spots would be available. So, I suggested meeting up at the shopping mall. There must be some place that's open, right?



Simplylife Bakery Cafe ended up being one of those few places that was open at 9:30am. I originally thought they would have dishes like egg benedict available but to my surprise (not a pleasant one), they only had bakery goods at this early hour.

The almond croissant was pretty good though.

I had a long long talk with Aniram and didn't realize it was already 11:30am. Those who came for breakfast were already long gone so as much as we wanted to stay, we decided to free up the table for people coming in for an early lunch. I bid farewell to my good friend once again but this time, I did promise her I would come to visit her in UK hopefully in 2024. I hope I can keep that promise.

Price: $$$

Address: Shop L2-30, L2/F, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Tong

Tel: +852 2777-5168

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

Dragon City Cafe Tsim Sha Tsui 龍城冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I had a long chit chat with my hair stylist tonight while I was getting my hair done. And he was telling me how COVID-19 has changed the dynamics of the food scene in Tsim Sha Tsui (where his salon is located). Gone were some of the old stalwarts who used to operate well after midnight and in comes the modern bing sutts (冰室) that typically close around 8pm now. I then joked with him that he better hurried up cuz I have yet to have supper yet.

Admittedly, he was right. After leaving his hair salon at 9:30pm, most restaurants were already closed (but there were tons of people on the street still). Without hesitation, I took his recommendation and went straight to Dragon City Cafe (龍城冰室) which I was told, would stay open until 11pm.

It's my first (or second, couldn't remember) visit to Dragon City and I would love to check out their pantyhose milk tea but it was a bit late for more caffeine.

Dragon City style fried rice noodles (龍城炒米粉) – Surprisingly, this came with pretty good "wok hei" and there were plenty of ingredients for some contrasting flavors and bite. Scrambled eggs, shrimp, onions (lots of them), ham, barbecued pork, bean sprouts and green onion; I don't think I miss anything here.

Dragon City wasn't my first choice to begin with. I was initially looking for some Japanese ramen and Ramen Ikka received some consideration. Too bad they were all sold out for the night already.



This is not a bad outing at Dragon City at all (except for the seating, which was pretty tight). Hopefully, I get another chance to check out their milk tea again.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 23-25 Cameron Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2111-1320

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

Kopitiam Bagus.Bagus 捌哥.捌哥特色馬拉茶啡廳 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I was reading some online reports on how people's eating habits changed after COVID-19. There seems to be a shift towards sweet stuff and snacks, and a certain group of the population now prefers take-away food instead dining in. After absorbing all those information, I took a step back and started evaluating my own eating habits. Strangely enough, while I still eat out a lot on a consistent basis, I realized that I have shifted towards more fast food like visiting cha chaan teng far more often than I used to. There are also places I used to frequent before, which I subconsciously avoid due to various reasons.  

Kopitiam Bagus.Bagus (捌哥.捌哥特色馬拉茶啡廳) is one of those places that used to be my FAV but somehow faded out of my life completely. In fact, I just recently found out that I have yet to pay them a visit in 2023. So, I thought this visit is long overdue.



The iced pulled tea is still very much on par with what it used to be (in the early stages of the pandemic).

I won't miss their kaya toast with butter for the world. Still one of the best in town thanks to the frozen butter and coconut infused kaya jam. Yum!

Look at that thick slab of butter. Amazing!

Like a lot of restaurants in town, Kopitiam Bagus.Bagus has undergone some changes (minor ones) over the past several years. During this visit, I have noticed that they have installed a large projector screen on the wall. Perhaps, for the broadcasting of news? That's something new. 

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 188 Yu Chau Street, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sham Shui Po

Tel: +852 2253-6911

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