Fiamma By Enrico Bartolini (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I have been hearing about the launch of the 6th generation peak tram for months and finally, it's here. Not surprisingly, little one couldn't remember his first peak tram experience. He was only two I think. But this one, I hope he will remember for life.

The little guy has changed a lot this year. From being someone who's camera shy, to always making different poses within a matter of seconds.

The new peak tram reminded me so much of the Jungfraubahn train ride we had from Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch in 2010, especially the glass ceiling! So, it didn't surprise me when I later found out that the new trams were procured from Switzerland. At first, I didn't notice the difference but as it turns out, they have a increased capacity of 75% (carry 210 passengers now instead of 120 in the past).

Once we arrived at the Peak, we quickly hobbled over to Fiamma By Enrico Bartolini who has been chasing us for our arrival time since noon hour.



The restaurant was buzzing when we arrived. 

We were fortune enough to find ourselves a quiet corner.

Roasted Spanish octopus, chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, pickled celery – The octopus was very tender, working well with the chickpeas polenta and sun-dried tomatoes.

Fassona beef tartare, buffalo ricotta, black truffle – I always love the exceptionally lean Fassona beef which is perfect for tartare or carpaccio. There were a lot of flavors here, from the richness of the egg yolk and black truffle to the cheesiness of the ricotta but I thought they came together reasonably well. The crispy Tuscan kale provided some interesting texture to the mix.

Tagliatelle with braised beef ossobuco – The fresh tagliatelle was nicely tossed with a flavorful ragu of braised beef ossobuco which was wonderfully complemented by the saffron and orange zest.

"Acquerello" risotto with Sicilian red prawn – The risotto was very creamy thanks to the rich lobster bisque but the flavors of samphire and lemon didn't really register.

Margherita – Very nicely done with the perfectly balanced tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella and basil and extra virgin olive oil. A very nice, pleasant surprise (cuz I thought pizza wasn't Chef Enrico Bartolini's strong suit).

Some of us complained about the small portions but other than the less-than-attentive service, I thought everything was fine.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop G02, G/F, The Peak Galleria, 118 Peak Road, The Peak, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: N/A (Short walk from Central to Peak Tram Station)

Tel: +852 2657-0800

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm (Mon - Thu), 11:00am - 11:00pm (Fri), 8:00am - 11:00pm (Sat - Sun)

Ten Noodle Shop Yu Chau Street 十大碗粥麵專家 汝州街 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

For a brief moment I found myself lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Prince Edward. I have just finished my acupuncture session and was still feeling a little wobbly. I was looking for a place to get my take-away dinner when I accidentally stumbled upon Ten Noodle Shop (十大碗粥麵專家), a popular wonton shop I was recently introduced to on TV. Spanning three generations, Ten Noodle Shop is a restaurant with a century-old recipe on wonton noodle soup and they are dedicated to keeping the same good-old, authentic flavors.



Rice noodle rolls filled with twisted cruller (招牌炸兩) – Compared to the one we had at Art of Canton (粵藝館) two weeks ago, this was GOLD.

Each piece of cruller was perfectly surrounded by a sheet of silky rice noodle. Of cuz, I had to make sure that I had the right proportion of hoisin and peanut butter sauce to go with it. Yum~

Signature wonton soup (招牌雲吞麵) – I could smell the bonito from miles away (and shrimp roe too).

I thought the noodles could be a little more al dente but it could be my fault. I have waited a little too long (shower, photo etc.) to grab my supper tonite.

The star of the dish was definitely the wonton. Very nice bite from the shrimp and the wrapper was perfect. 

There's a reason they have such a big crowd waiting patiently outside for an open table. Will definitely come back, hopefully not because I needed another acupuncture.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$

Address: G/F, Roxan Mansion, 45 Yu Chau Street, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Prince Edward

Tel: +852 3705-8436

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

Woping Restaurant 和平餐室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

My life as a primary schoolboy's parent officially starts today and I have to admit, I am pretty excited about it. Little nugget has moved along just fine and I am hopeful that he can spread his wings and get inspired in his new surroundings.

After dropping him off at school, other parents and I slowly walked over Woping Restaurant (和平餐室), a newly opened cha chaan teng just a stone's throw from little nugget's school for a quick breakfast.

It still got that new furniture smell around here. Perhaps we should have waited another week.

Of cuz I had to check out their iced milk tea first hand. No cha chaan teng should be without a good cup of milk tea.

I thought the tea flavors were a little light. That's okay. I could live with that. But I can't live with the fact that it's on the watery side. That's not good enough. 

Macaroni with luncheon meat and scrambled eggs in a rich tomato soup. This wasn't bad.

In fact, a lot better than the instant noodle with beef marinated in sacha sauce (沙茶牛肉麵). From my experience, this is typically a very heavily seasoned dish thanks to the strong flavors from the sacha sauce. But not this time. I could still taste the broth here and it was so bland!

Fried egg, ham and butter toast. This was pretty standard. No surprise there.

Food Rating: 4/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 1-2, 1/F, Podium, Hoi Tat Estate (Phase 3), 38 Sham Mong Road, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Nam Cheong

Tel: +852 6032-9622

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