Flipper's at The ONE (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

After trying two new restaurants since this morning, I was going for a hat trick in the afternoon and I already got it all figured out. I don't know why they took so long but the folks behind I.T. have finally decided to turn a vacant space inside their premise at The ONE into a Flipper's. Yes, the same way they did in Causeway Bay!



As there were only six tables at this brand new Flipper's, we had to wait a good 30 minutes before finally getting a table.

A mango coconut smoothie to start things off while we wait for our soufflé pancakes. I know it's going to be a long wait cuz everybody left and right was still waiting for theirs to arrive.

Kiseki pancake (原味班戟) – The original flavor of soufflé pancake that has made Flipper's so popular. Soft and fluffy, just a little bit of whipped cream already made these so delicious. 

Mini soufflé pancake strawberry (迷你士多啤梨班戟) – I am guessing it's an exclusive at The ONE since I haven't seen it at Festival Walk and Causeway Bay before. 

This is like a hamburger with fresh strawberries sandwiched between two pieces of fluffy soufflé pancakes.

It was finished off beautifully with a rich strawberry ganache on top. Very nicely done. Little nugget loves it!

A closer look at our strawberry flavored mini soufflé pancake before we wrap things up.

This meal reminded us how much we missed having soufflé pancakes or any other desserts in Japan. Yeah I know, a trip to any Japanese cities is long overdue. But I'm really working on it.....

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: i.t orange forest, 2/F The ONE, 100 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2815-2172

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 9:00pm daily

Fini's Italian American Elements (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

From what I've previously seen from Fini's Italian American, I was more than happy to see them expand to Elements Shopping Mall, a place my family and I visit quite regularly on the weekend.

I was really excited to introduce this place to Jelloman and little nugget but obviously, the restaurant is still in its soft-opening stage so pretty unorganized on the day of our visit. The service team looked a little out of sync. They said the upper level wasn't open cuz of shortage of staff and even the food menu took a dive with them limiting the variety of dishes being offered. 

Caesar Salad – The little gem lettuce was dusted with toasted garlic and dried shrimp breadcrumbs.

I thought the dressing was a real letdown. Way too strong for a dish that was supposed to be healthy and clean. Not good.

Fini's popcorn shrimp – Nobody could say no to popcorn shrimp; at least I couldn't but too bad the Sichuan mala "dip" played the role of culprit here. When they said dip on the menu, I immediately thought it was served on the side but well, not really. So, little guy had one less dish to eat.

And if I want to be picky, I thought the Sichuan mala dip wasn't really mala flavored. It has the flavors of the sauce from Kung Pao chicken (宮保雞丁) but without the sweetness. So, not exactly mala to me.

Penne alla Vodka – This was very good. The penne was perfectly al dente and every piece was completely drizzled with the creamy tomato sauce. I could probably live without the chili oil.

Truffled shrimp and lobster tagliatelle – The tricky part of this dish here was its name. It said lobster but it was referring to the sauce only.

The ribbon pasta was slightly overcooked so it came very tender but without the al dente texture. The creamy buttered shrimp and lobster sauce was a little strong with black truffle and the flavors of lobster really didn't register. Not even in the color.

But that didn't stop this guy from wolfing down his pasta. 

It was a bit of a disaster. The servers didn't seem to think they were ready for the soft-opening and that was evident in their facial expression. From a customer's view, we didn't get the feeling that we were welcome here at all. 

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: R001, 3/F & Roof, Civic Square, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Station

Tel: +852 2736-4887

Website: www.finishk.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 10:00pm daily

Crown Cafe Lai Chi Kok 皇冠冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I was on my way to Cheung Sha Wan Plaza to check out a couple of new restaurants there when I unexpectedly stumbled upon a new cha chaan teng across the street. A closer look revealed that it's a name I was familiar with based on my extensive stroll in Mongkok – Crown Cafe (皇冠冰室). 

It's a pretty spacious venue for a local tea restaurant, almost as big as Lok Tin (樂天冰室) across the street, which is a firm favorite of mine.

Iced milk tea and instant noodles topped with beef marinated in sacha sauce.

First off, let's check out the milk tea. It was silky smooth, a little strong with tea flavors (which is fine) and not quite enough of condensed milk. I thought that's a pass.

Now, the instant noodles topped with beef marinated in sacha sauce (沙茶牛肉麵).

The noodles weren't bad but the beef was a little on the rough side.

Butter toast, fried egg and sausage. Nothing really to write home about.

So, I guess it's another alternative for me for breakfast but nothing really to get too excited about. I do look forward to their sweet and sour pork rice though. They've got a good one based on my previous experience at their MK outpost.

Food Rating: 4.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 2A, G/F, Elite Industrial Centre, 883 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3797-3147

Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok

Opening Hours: 6:30am - 10:30pm daily