Duck and Waffle IFC (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I'm back at Duck and Waffle again for an early brunch after a date with my therapist in Central this morning. This time I brought my family with me as they were found drooling all over the photo I took of my duck and waffle dish from my September visit a couple of times at home.



Their online reservation system said they were all booked up until 3pm but we decided to try our luck by showing up a little before noon. Luckily, there were still tables available.



Duck & Waffle ($230) - Is it too early to have the duck and waffle dish before the rest of our food arrives? Absolutely not; at least not according to my little nugget.



He wants his duck leg confit with the buttermilk waffle and fried duck egg, and he wants it now! This was again very very good. The duck leg, buttermilk waffle and mustard maple syrup really worked wonders together. Whoever came up with this must be a genius!



Little one decided to finish the entire dish all by himself. 



Ox cheek benedict ($130) - With the duck and waffle dish quickly swallowed up, I turned my attention to the ox cheek benedict, which I didn't get to try on my last visit. This came with the same buttermilk waffles but topped with poached eggs, braised ox cheek and Hollandaise sauce instead of the duck leg and egg. It wasn't bad but there was obviously something missing here that would tie everything together. Maybe some mashed avocado or that killer mustard maple syrup (for some extra kick)? I don't know...



Homemade Tagliatelle ($195) - A dish we used to have a lot at Gordon Ramsay's restaurants. This was actually pretty tasty. The softness of the tagliatelle worked really well with the fresh mint, peas, ricotta and brown sugar crumbs. Little guy didn't like the minty (mint) and clean (pea) flavors from the dish but we all find them very pleasant and soothing to the palate.



Torrejas ($140) - I had the miso custard tart (more like a cheesecake) last time so I made sure that we got something new this time around. The Spanish version of French toast was the obvious choice since it would be easy to share among the four of us.



This was even better than I thought. The lovely acidity from the maple glazed apples and sweetness of the cinnamon ice-cream were really nice match with the fried dough. A sweet and comforting end to our relaxing Saturday brunch.



I thought service was a lot better than what I remembered from last time around. Everyone seems to know what they are doing and with a smile on their face too. It's not a cheap brunch by any means but I have no problem coming back any time soon. In fact, I've already planned a visit to their Covent Garden branch when we visit London in January (2020).


Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: $$$
Address: Shop 1081, 1/F IFC, 1 Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Website: www.duckandwaffle.com.hk
Tel: +852 2267-6338
Opening Hours: 8:00am - 12:00am (Sun - Thu), 8:00am - 1:00am (Fri - Sat)

Five Guys K11 Musea (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I think I am getting sick of writing about K11 Musea already but here we are looking for something to eat at this "Silicon Valley of Culture" themed mall again, as little nugget just finished his first-ever bakery class at Harry's Kitchen.



It's not the first time Jelloman and I are not on the same page and it won't be the last time either. She wanted burgers from the recently opened Five Guys while I wanted to check out the new restaurants at Rosewood Hotel. But like I always do, I let the lady decide.



Did I ever tell you how much I hate to line up? I did get the benefit of checking out their food preparation process from start to finish while I was waiting for my order.



After a good 30-minute wait, finally.....



Five Guys style fries - Way better than the crinkle-cut fries from Shake Shack, if you ask me. It's a little heavy-handed with salt but at least it tasted like potatoes. 



Bacon cheeseburger - Extra toppings were free so I pretty much got everything including tomato, onion, lettuce and mushroom. The beef patty was very juicy and only if they have a tastier BBQ sauce, it would be heaven.



Salted caramel and vanilla shake - A trip to Five Guys won' be complete without one of their milkshakes. I remembered last time when I was at their Wanchai branch, the milkshake machine wasn't ready so this was really long overdue (luckily, I had one of these when I was in Madrid). It was very very good. Rich, decadent milkshake at its best with lots of whipped cream and bacon bits. 




Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 301B-302, 3/F, K11 Musea, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3618-9122
Website: www.fiveguys.com.hk
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm daily

Gontran Cherrier at K11 Musea (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After enjoying the avocado-laden menu at Avobar, we spent some time at the Hong Kong Space Museum and Museum of Arts (which isn't open until December) before returning to K11 Musea. It was approaching afternoon tea time and everyone was looking left and right for someone to call the shots. Without hesitation, I jumped the gun and headed straight to Gontran Cherrier.



Two months ago, I had the pleasure of visiting their bakery shop cum cafe at its infant stage but too bad I only had time for take-away.



This time, of course I made sure that we got properly seated so we could thoroughly enjoy their croissants, pastries and more.



Part of the fun about dining in is that we don't have to deal with long lineups like these. Yeah, I hate long lineups!



Raspberry and lime croissant ($26) - Some said it's a Hong Kong exclusive but I'm entirely sure. This wasn't bad. I didn't get the chance to do my usual cross-section test before it was dissected into multiple pieces.



Sesame croissant ($24) - Again not bad but I have been spoiled by really delicious croissants in Seoul so I wasn't over the moon. But yeah, Hong Kong has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to croissants.

Iced ginger and honey latte ($46) - The heat from the ginger was pretty strong, which was a bit unexpected considering this looked more like my son's powdered milk.



Lemon and yuzu cheesecake ($50) - Way too much acidity in this one. I know that's the traditional recipe (I always found the lemon tarts in Paris to have way too much acidity too) but they should do a better job adapting to the local market. 



Pistachio flan ($45) - The texture was surprisingly soft and wobbly. Really rich pistachio flavor.

This was a step back from my last visit where I had their vanilla eclair. The way I looked at Gontran Cherrier, they are a little behind Passion by Gerard Dubois on my depth chart.

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop B205-B207, B2/F, K11 Musea, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui / Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3468-2430
Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily