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

Moments after visiting my favorite bakery in Soho, I ventured over to the Central side to pay a visit to one of my favorite Japanese ramen shops in town, Ramen Cubism (立体派).

Hidden in the basement of a commercial building between Stanley Street and Wellington Street just steps from Lan Kwai Fong, Ramen Cubism was the first international flagship brand of Japanese celebrity ramen chef Takao Hayashi back in 2019. 

Premium Cubism (特級白湯拉麵) – The Premium Cubism featuring a creamy white broth which was both rich and deep in flavor. The thickness of the broth was perfect for the flat noodles. 

The pork belly was nice and tender.

The soft-boiled egg perfectly executed as well.

Of course, this was what I came here for, the famous white broth which was simmered with both chicken and duck resulting in a hearty and delicate flavor for the palate.

Well, I could actually do without the fried gyoza. 

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

Vission Bakery (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I was in Soho for a number of things this afternoon and after missing out on two of my potential lunch spots, I found myself wandering around Central-Mid-Levels Escalators where I stumbled upon Vission Bakery, one of the city's top bakeries.

Tiramisu danish – I had this more than a year ago and still had very fond memories of munching my way through the tiramisu custard cream and super flaky pastry base.

 

Very very delicious. 

One of the reasons that brought me to Soho/Sheung Wan was Medora, a new concept by Chef Vicky Cheng (鄭永麒) who's the mastermind behind Michelin-starred VEA. Too bad they had already had their last-order when I arrived.

Food Rating: 7.3/10

Price: $$$$

Address: LG/F, Chui Man House, 7 Staunton Street, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central

Website: www.vissionbakery.com

Opening Hours: 7:30am - 9:00pm (Mon - Fri), 9:00am - 9:00pm (Sat - Sun)

Choi Hung Caa Caan 彩虹茶餐廳 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

The reviving dining scene of Lai Chi Kok welcomes a new member this week. Situated across the street from D2 Place 2, Choi Hung Caa Caan (彩虹茶餐廳) is another cha chaan teng joining an army of existing ones catering to the clientele from the industry-heavy area.



This place used to be a canteen attached to the industry centre.

The breakfast menu is a simple one highlighted by the cafe's signature purple potato oatmeal.

It didn't take long before my breakfast set arrived.

The iced milk tea was a pretty good one striking a nice balance between the milk and tea flavors.

I went with their satay beef noodle soup (沙嗲牛肉麵) and this was when I was left speechless. The beef was so rubbery like worn-out tires and just way too heavy-handed with satay sauce.

Lai Chi Kok has been blessed with the arrival of several new cha chaan tengs in recent years, but regrettably, none have proven to be as promising as Lok Tin.

Food Rating: 3.8/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 7, G/F Elite Industrial Centre, 883 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok

Opening Hours: 6:00am - 9:45pm daily

Tai Ping Koon Restaurant Granville Road 太平館餐廳 尖沙咀加連威老道 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

The limited-time only Gigantamax raids of Pokemon Go has brought me to Tsim Sha Tsui this afternoon. After spending a few hours walking around different parts of TST, I began to realize that I have yet to have lunch around 3:30pm. 

This was when I found myself stumbling upon Tai Ping Koon Restaurant (太平館餐廳), a longstanding restaurant specializing at Hong Kong style cuisine with a western twist. I decided to come in and check out their afternoon tea menu.

The tea was very very strong today, perhaps it was my empty stomach which wasn't holding up well against the richness of the tea.

This was what I came in for, their signature fried flat noodles with sliced beef in premium soy sauce (瑞士汁炒牛河)! I was left craving for more due to the very small portion. 

Enough rest, time to head out again and battle with these Gigantamax pokemons. 

Food Rating: 5.7/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 40 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2721-3559

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

Lo Lai Cafe 老荔冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★☆☆☆☆

The grand opening of the vintage-inspired café, Lo Lai Cafe (老荔冰室), is causing a stir in Lai Chi Kok these days. I have been there a couple of times recently since its opening but due to its immense popularity, getting a table has been virtually impossible.



Today, there was finally no lineup in front.

As with any visit to a new café, I began by trying out their iced milk tea. While the tea had decent strength, the aromatic quality was missing in action. A touch more milk would have elevated the experience, with a nice and silky texture but.....

For my breakfast dish, I elected to go with this signature breakfast pancake burger of theirs. It came with layers of hotcakes, and sandwiched in between them, fried luncheon meat and scrambled eggs. Like the one at No Milkshake No Life, it was served with maple syrup.

I thought the texture was all wrong. With the hotcakes, the luncheon meat and scrambled eggs hardly stood out. Bacons and fried eggs would have been much better match.  

Service is obviously a big question mark. I have seen (potential) guests yelled at and left before they even sat down. Hell, I had the same experience before when a young lady yelled at me to go back outside and queue up when I was only trying to ask if they have a table for one. Without a question, this falls into the "one-and-done" category. 

Food Rating: 3.6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 1, G/F, Sing Shun Centre, 495 Castle Peak Road, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok

Tel: +852 2330-3008

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 9:00pm  (Mon - Sat), 11:00am - 6:00pm (Sun)

碼頭見潮汕小海鮮 領展中心城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I thought I had all the time in the world to enjoy my supper tonight but what I didn’t factor in was the amount of time I would spend at the arcade centre. After sitting there for nearly 3 hours, it left me with very little time for my dinner before embarking on a journey back home.

This was my third visit to 碼頭見潮汕小海鮮, a Chiuchow style restaurant at Link CentralWalk (領展中心城) where I have been spending the majority of my time this afternoon.

Stir-fried late-flowering Chinese Cabbage (蒜蓉炒高腳菜心) (¥36) – Kicking things off for me were these late-flowering choy sum which were also known as "Long leg choy sum". They are currently in-season and only get harvested once a year.

I love the generous portion and the way they have shredded it, provided even stronger bite. Just a bit of garlic and lard already made this very very addictive. 

Marinated goose meat with supreme soy sauce (鹵水鵝肉) (¥56) – This was just OK. Perhaps a little more meat and skin would make me a happier camper.

The highlight of my getaway was this legendary card that I managed to collect following some hard work in the battles. I'm smiling all the way back to Hong Kong right now.

Food Rating: 5.6/10

Price: ¥¥

Address: Shop 008A, G/F Link CentralWalk, 3 Fuhua Road 1st, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区福华一路领展中心城G层008A铺

Closest Metro Station: Convention & Exhibition Center station (會展中心)

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 2:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm daily

Tao Tao Ju One Avenue 陶陶居 卓悦中心店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I am taking the afternoon off today and guess where I am going to spend it.....Shenzhen!

After quickly storming through the immigration on both sides of the border, I hopped onto the rapid train and began my journey up north. My first destination was trendy One Avenue Shopping Complex (卓悦中心), just a stone's throw from Gangxia station (岗厦).



I have been a fan of Nanshan's Golden Tao Tao Ju (金牌陶陶居) for quite some time now but since I would be spending the majority of my time near Futian this afternoon, this branch of Tao Tao Ju would be a much more convenient choice for me.

Signature Hong Kong style milk tea (招牌港式奶茶) (¥22) – The first thing I noticed about this Tao Tao Ju was that the prices were slightly less than what Golden Tao Tao Ju was charging. Take this milk tea for example, well it was a dollar less.

As usual, the tea was pretty strong the way I like it and it wasn't overly sweet.

Tao Tao Ju jumbo prawn dumpling (陶陶居大蝦餃) (¥36) – In case you're wondering, this was three dollars cheaper than Golden Tao Tao Ju.

One of my favorite prawn dumplings in Shenzhen and it's not entirely due to its size.

Steamed 5+ Rushan oysters (5+ 乳山生𧐢) (¥12 each) – Rushan oysters from Shandong are best known for their silky and meaty texture. They are offering a special price of ¥12 per piece here. Not a bad deal at all.

I chose to steam them with fresh garlic. So yummy~

Stir-fried rice rolls with beef offal (牛雜啫珍珠腸) (¥36) – My family has been head over heels on their stir-fried rice rolls with beef briskets (牛腩啫珍珠腸) lately but this version with beef offal was new to the dim sum menu.

The beef tripe was pretty flavorful so not surprisingly, it meshed well with the rice flour rolls.

As always, Tao Tao Ju never disappoints! Jot this one down, it's much closer than the branch at MixC World so I can see us coming here very often down the road.

Food Rating: 6.7/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address:  Shop L233, East Zone, Level 2 One Avenue, Fuhua Road, Futian, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区福华路卓悦中心商场东区L233

Closest Metro Station: Gangxia (岗厦)

Tel: +86 (755) 8299-8870

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/39/WOi

Lucky Strike Cafe 祥裕茶餐廳 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I love hole-in-the-wall cha chaan tengs and I thought I just discovered one in Tai Wo Hau near the market. After struggling to find time for my first visit, I finally got the chance to do so this afternoon. 



This place is called Lucky Strike Cafe (祥裕茶餐廳), a true fast food joint that used to be very popular in Hong Kong back in the 1980s.   

The daily soup with watercress was just average.

Much better was iced milk tea with a nice burst of creaminess and I thought the tea was robust enough. 

I decided to go with this stir-fried choy sum with sliced beef. Fairly decent "wok hei" with some nice crunch from the choy sum. 

Well, I wasn't expecting much coming in so it kinda exceeded my expectation.

Food Rating: 3.9/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 7 Tai Ha St, Tai Wo Hau, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tai Wo Hau / Tsuen Wan

Tel: +852 2420-1408

Opening Hours: 6:00am - 9:00pm daily

Senzuru Japanese Restaurant 千鶴日本料理 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I have a couple of papers for my boss to sign this afternoon. One thing led to another and rather than venturing over to his office, we decided to simply meet up for lunch at Senzuru Japanese Restaurant (千鶴日本料理) instead. 



The Japanese restaurant was located inside Harbour Plaza Metropolis. 

Surprised to find that we could enjoy a partial view of the harbour right from our table.

This place is generally not too busy at lunch making it a perfect spot for a business lunch.

We were first started off with a small salad drizzling in a Japanese sesame dressing.

Here comes the main event.

I decided to take care of the chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し) first.

Followed by my black cod with miso. This was garnished with tomato and lotus root.

My boss and I had a very nice chat over lunch and of course, I ended up sharing a few stories from my adventure in the South of France with him. That was the highlight of 2024!

Food Rating: 5.9/10

Price: $$$

Address: 8/F, Harbour Plaza Metropolis, 7 Metropolis Drive, Hung Hom, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Hung Hom

Tel: +852 3160-6898

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm (Mon - Fri), 11:30am - 3:00pm (Sat - Sun), 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Sun)