HEXA 六公館 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

This weekend, we went back to HEXA (六公館), a restaurant I have previously labeled "Good food poor service" for a belated Chinese New Year gathering with our friends. Jelloman is the one who's been in love with this place particularly their outdoor patio, which I agree gives the kids a place to run around (with a harbour view too!) but I have not forgotten about what happened last time we were here (And I have never been a forgiving person).



But I know better to argue with the ladies so I decided to keep my mouth shut on this one. To be brutally honest, the food here, particularly their dim sum, is worth the return trip; however, the service always seems to let it down and I have a feeling it will let it down again this afternoon.



Steamed Shrimp dumplings in bamboo charcoal wrapping (黑金蝦餃) ($68) - We arrived really late just before their last order so I was pleasantly surprised to see their signature dim sum still not sold out.



Their shrimp dumpling in bamboo charcoal wrapper made headlines in a ton of magazines when HEXA first opened a few months ago. I guess for one, we have never really seen a black har gow before so I could understand the buzz. We wanted to try it out last time but it wasn't even on the menu so it was nice to finally check it off the list.

Personally, I thought it was pretty tasty. The charcoal skin really brought out the sweetness of the shrimp nicely.



Baked BBQ pork buns topped with buttered crust (雪山叉燒包) ($52) - This was almost sold out and we managed to grab the last one (I think). We enjoyed this a lot last time and I found it pretty delicious again. Love that soft and pillowy bun with a wonderful crust that's crispy yet not crunchy. 



Steamed rice flour rolls with wagyu beef (特級和牛腸粉) ($68) - I couldn't tell whether it's high-end wagyu beef judging from the flavors. Probably could do without this one.



Steamed rice flour rolls with BBQ Kurobuta pork (黑豚叉燒腸粉) ($56) - Much better results comparing to the one with wagyu beef. The BBQ Kurobuta pork was pretty juicy and flavorful working well with the steamed rice flour rolls.



Baked squid in spicy salt (椒鹽魷魚鬚) ($68) - The deep-fried squid was nice and bouncy but the spicy salt was a little too overpowering for me.



Classical Shrimp toast (懷舊蝦多士) ($58) - I was expecting something really traditional like the ones we saw at Fung Shing (鳳城酒家) where they have the minced shrimp on top of the toast. 



But this looked more like a sandwich or French toast with the savory minced shrimp stuffed right in the middle of the toast. What I love about this contemporary creation was that it's not nearly as oily as the traditional one and on top of that, I thought the texture and flavors of the minced shrimp really stood out nicely from the thin-sliced toast. Very nice.  



Fried puntalette "Yangzhou" style (揚州炒米型意粉) ($158) - This is my favorite dish from our last visit - a dish where they incorporate a bit of European twist (the rice-shaped pasta) into our traditional "Yangzhou" fried rice. The size was again pitifully small (We all got about 2 spoons.) but it was really delicious with pretty good "wok hei" (鑊氣).



Rice in fish broth with poached grouper and minced pork (班片肉鬆脆米魚湯泡飯) ($168) - Fairly decent. The chefs have added some puff rice into the fish broth to give it more bite which made it slightly more interesting. 



The service team was very robotic in what they did all afternoon but at least they didn't do anything wrong or disrespectful this time around. That's a start! I guess I can live with the poor service (probably result of poor training) as long as they can keep up with the food quality.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop OTE 101, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2577-1668
Website: www.hexa-hk.com


HEXA 六公館 Hong Kong modern Cantonese restaurant dim sum amazing waterfront harbour view outdoor patio Harbour City Tsim Sha Tsui

Vive Cake Boutique at H Queen's (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

We walked around Central a bit after our late lunch at 1935 壹玖叁伍 before suddenly realizing that we haven't had dessert to end the meal. That was a terrible mistake on my part so in order to make quick amends, I decided to bring everyone to Vive Cake Boutique at HQueen's for some sweet treat. This is Vive's second location away from their Wanchai branch and I have been waiting for a chance to drop by since their soft opening last month.




Lover's Gift ($52) - The heart shaped cake was Vive's special creation for Valentine's Day but I guess they're keeping it around until White Day (14th March). Not a bad idea at all.



The tried and true combination of red beans, purple sweet potato and mochi took a different shape and form (based on my previous experience with purple sweet potato mochi cake with red bean stuffings) here and it was nothing short of brilliant. Based on the little corner I had, I left very impressed with its contrasting textures and flavors. My little one loves it so much that he almost finished the whole cake all by himself!



Red velvet macaron cream cheese ice-cream sandwich ($58) - Pretty decent but for virtually the same price, I would gladly have another slice of cake instead.



I think we do need more home-grown cake shops and dessert cafés like Vive in Hong Kong. It gives those born with sweet tooth a little something to cheer about.

Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 3, 1/F, H Queen's, 80 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Website: www.vive.hk

Vive Cake Boutique HQueens Central 80 Queen's Road best cake shop dessert cafe coffee Hong Kong

1935 壹玖叁伍 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After two weeks of non-stop western food in La-la-land (well, there was this one Chinese meal at Din Tai Fung.), we promised ourselves that we'd get a run of Chinese food when we come back to Hong Kong. We first kicked off our parade of Chinese cuisine this weekend at 1935 壹玖叁伍, a modern Chinese restaurant at M88 near Lan Kwai Fong.



As I stepped into 1935 壹玖叁伍, there was a sense of nostalgia of the Old Shanghai back in the French concession days (my recollection from old photos and movies). I immediately made an educated guess that it had to be a Shanghainese restaurant.



But I was wrong! It was actually a restaurant serving Sichuan cuisine with a bit of modern twist.



It was getting a little late for lunch (2:30pm) so we quickly ordered a few dishes to share among the three of us.



Crispy bean curd skin mille crepe (香酥軟枕) ($75) - A little like the Vegetarian Goose (素鵝) from Shanghainese cuisine but it was a better interpretation with layers of bean curd stacked up in the middle like a mille feuille. There's a slightly more crispy bean curd on the outside to give it a bit more texture. Very tasty.



Braised winter melon, conpoy, double boiled chicken stock (金絲和田玉) ($95) - A beautifully presented dish with scoops of braised winter melon dressed like a bunch of green grapes. The winter melon balls were really sweet and flavorful thanks to the double boiled chicken stock which was spot on without going over the top (some chicken broth tends to be a little too rich or sweet).



Judging from his smile, I'm guessing that my little nugget must be enjoying this dish a lot.



Fried king prawns, vermicelli, homemade mustard (白雲芥末蝦球) ($105) - Another dish that impressed me a lot with its design and execution. The king prawns were fried to absolute perfection and finished with some homemade mustard and a layer of crispy vermicelli.



Very delicious.



Fried mandarin fish, sweet and sour sauce (糖醋桂花魚) ($250) - Pretty nice balance of sweetness and acidity. Not bad.



Wok fried free range chicken, nuts, Sichuan dried chili (辣子雞) ($165) - I was a little worried about this dish when I placed the order but luckily it didn't show up with lots of dried chili like some of the ones I had before (actually you won't be able to see any chicken because they were all covered by a sea of dried red chili.). Both the free-range chicken and cashews were quite nice and tasty. Now, if I could get a bowl of steamed rice, it would be perfect!



Poached cabbage, superior soup (上湯娃娃菜) ($130) - Something nutritious to stay healthy after all the seafood and meat. 



This relatively new Sichuan restaurant in the heart of Central caught me a little by surprise with a number of these amazing dishes. I'm really interested in coming back to check out their week-day lunch which is comfortably priced at $168 per head.

Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 19/F, M88, Wellington Place, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Website: www.facebook.com/1935restaurant/


1935 壹玖叁伍 Hong Kong new restaurant good wonderful Sichuan cuisine Central near Lan Kwai Fong nostalgic vibe