Lady M Festival Walk (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I have been doing my part in adherence to COVID-19 mitigation all week by working at home and not going out at all. But after a week of hard work, it's tough to lay back at home for the entire weekend so I decided to take a morning hike to Kowloon Tong. I stepped through a neighborhood where I used to go to school as a kid before finally arriving at Festival Walk for a short rest. The shopping mall looked absolutely empty at 11am. Not great for the tenants.

I used to enjoy standing next to the rink here and watch the kids skate or play ice hockey but it's been a long time since they last opened the ice rink to the general public. Sigh~

I didn't waste any time looking for some sweet treats for myself and mom. There are plenty of options in the mall with Lady M sitting very high on my list.

Gâteau aux Marrons – I got this for mom and it was a no-brainer knowing how much she loves chestnut.

This was an interesting design with two layers of almond flour cake hugging a soft whipped cream center. It was topped with a thick layer of pillowy chestnut-infused cream, finished off with roasted walnuts and snow sugar. Mom said not bad but a little too much soft whip cream in the middle. I am guessing that means why not more chestnut infused cream!

Whisky Dark Chocolate Mousse – I had the whisky dark chocolate mousse cake again and it was the perfect chance to do so as both Jelloman and little nugget weren't huge fans of chocolate (and they aren't around!).

The decadent cake, infused with 12 Years Old The Macallan Double Cask, came with an exciting mix of flavors which also included honey, citrus and ginger. The cake is layered with dark chocolate whisky mousse, whisky jelly with orange zest, milk chocolate whisky mousse, chocolate sponge cake and dark chocolate feuilletine. A very nice combination of rich and contrasting flavors and textures there.

I walked around the mall a little bit to replenish some of the supplies at home. It was then that I got a glimpse of the now-infamous restaurant, Moon Palace (望月樓). This was where it got started in early January and everything went south from that point on.

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Unit UG-22, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Tong

Tel: +852 2869-1368

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm daily

Amaroni's New York Italian Restaurant & Café MOKO (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

My home chef has been excused for her medical appointment so it's going to be take-away food for me this afternoon. But then I wanted to have a short walk from home (mom's home) anyways.

I took a short trot over to MOKO and while some of the restaurants were temporarily shut down (Greyhound Cafe for one), there were still plenty of options available including my final choice, Amaroni's New York Italian Restaurant & Café. The eye-popping sign that said "40% off the regular price" caught my eyes in the first place and that sealed the deal.

Business wasn't exactly great for most restaurants these days. Even during lunch hours, there were only a few souls around.

And same goes for all those shops in the mall. I haven't seen Hong Kong like this ever, not even during the SARS period.

I didn't go for the set. Instead, I got myself a grilled Boston lobster tail and spaghetti with served seafood bisque, and a small dessert.

The lobster tail was pretty meaty. Yeah I haven't had lobster for quite some time so this was all good. Less successfully was the seafood bisque which was too cheesy and not nearly umami-rich enough. It tasted like more like those canned soup from Campbell. Not great.

Amaroni's used to have one of my favorite tiramisu in town but sadly, it was just a borderline pass today. The texture was still good but the flavors weren't. Something was missing; I wonder what.....

My palate wasn't working very well today. It's getting a little numb these days. Perhaps it's the result of not dining out for an extensive period of time. 

Food Rating: 4.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 526, 5/F, Moko, 193 Prince Edward Road West, Mongkok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Mongkok East

Tel: +852 2368-8256

Website: www.amaronis.com

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

Chrisly Cafe Mongkok 華星冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

One of the things I hate about "work from home" is that you tend to get too concentrated on work and end up missing your lunch hours (and occasionally dinner too). Such was the case today and after sitting at my desk for a few hours straight, I decided to go out for a walk.

Chrisly Cafe (華星冰室) was an interesting story in the local dining scene when they first started back a few years ago. Some people really like it but there were also a fair amount of people that didn't like their experience there. I, for one, have never ever dined at any one of their outposts so I am always curious. In fact, I was curious enough to go and get myself a lunch box there (after seeing a huge crowd outside last Sunday afternoon). It was nice to check it off my list.

Not exactly full today but pretty close.

I didn't order anything fancy, just a good old deep-fried chicken leg with a fried egg sunny-side-up. Both, along with the steamed rice, were sprinkled with the infamous sweet soy sauce. I guess it's difficult to judge the performance of the kitchen just by this dish alone.

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 107 Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mongkok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Prince Edward / Mongkok

Tel: +852 2520-6666

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 10:30pm daily