Tsukiau 戀 Prince Tower (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

J.E.R.K. has been itching to meet up again after failing to come up with an agreed timeslot back in December. With Master c-foo back from Osaka, we finally got our full team back and the attention immediately shifted to our dining destination. Following some careful consideration (with the help of Openrice), we eventually agreed on a venue – Tsukiau (戀) at Prince Tower in Tsim Sha Tsui.

It was a pretty quiet Monday evening, just two tables were occupied apart from our party so the restaurant was fairly quiet from start to finish. People have been talking about an economy rebound following the return to normalcy, but looking at this, I wasn't so sure.

Assorted skewer platter (串燒六式拼盤) – A complimentary skewer platter was the first to arrive and this was a pretty nice way to kick things off, especially when Tsukiau is so highly touted for its Japanese skewers. 

The ox tongue was really my favorite one here. Really tender and just love the thick cut for the mouth feel. The bacon wrapped lychee wasn't bad too but its presentation wasn't the greatest.

Minced tuna belly and scallion roll (蔥拖羅魚腩卷) / Tuna roll (鐵火卷) – Less impressive were the hand rolls.

Wagyu beef cubes (一口和牛) – There were at least five to six other dishes that we ordered on this night but your truly was way too busy to photograph each and every one of them. I would just share this one here, which I thought was the best dish of the night (except for the skewers). The wagyu beef was really melt-in-the-mouth delicious, meshing reasonably well with gluey sweet soy sauce.

It is always fun to meet up with the gang and joke about the past. Food is never the focal point here, our 30 years of friendship is. And not too long from now, we could be talking about our retirement. 

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: 6/F, Prince Tower, 12A Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 6195-3727

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:45pm - 10:00pm daily

Relax For a While Restaurant 輕鬆一下 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

Like A-Plus Kitchen (讚記廚房) which I visited earlier this year, Relax Restaurant (輕鬆一下) was another go-to cha chaan teng of mine whenever I needed a quick bite in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. Over the past decade or so, the cafe had become a stable for tourists thanks to its centralized location but had fallen in hard times without visiting tourists in the COVID-19 era. As a matter of fact, the business became so bad that they had to move into a much smaller premise next door. 

I was in the area to see my hair stylist so I decided to have breakfast here for old time's sake.

Breakfast set for $40, not cheap!

The pantyhose milk tea was a little weak. Not creamy, velvety and fragrant enough. Not a good start.

The instant noodles in rich tomato soup was also average at best. The broth in particularly was so disappointing. It wasn't rich in flavors at all (just look at the color). 

Butter toast, ham and scrambled egg were decent but nothing to write home about.

Perhaps, it's time to close the books on this once-popular cafe once and for all.

Food Rating: 3.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, No. 25 Kimberly Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 3113-6388

Little nugget winning gold on his 7th birthday!

My little monster finally turns 7 today. Jelloman and I both took a day off to spend time with him but first thing first, it's the little boy's first performance in front of a large crowd since he joined his school choir last year.

He told me he had butterflies in his stomach when he stepped onto the stage. But once the music started, he was ready to rock.



The crew and I woke up early to make sure that we got first row seats to the performance and despite waiting for hours for little one's turn (they were the last team to perform), it was totally worth the effort. What a nice performance and a total group effort. Not surprisingly, they were rewarded with a gold performance award and little guy was estatic about it.

Afterwards, we had a quick lunch at the nearby New Town Plaza. Nothing fancy, just a family gathering for the three generations. We then had some desserts at Honeymoon Dessert (滿記甜品).

It's been ages since we last enjoyed Chinese desserts outside so the birthday boy was thrilled about it.

Before leaving the mall emptyhanded, we stopped by COVA to get a cake for the birthday boy.

He's a sucker for blueberry cheesecake so we knew exactly what he would choose from the bunch.

Happy birthday son! I hope you had a great time today. Now, time to focus on the upcoming exams cuz your last exam results didn't really sit well with the big shots.