Nam Cheong Cafe Shop 南昌冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I have an urge to re-start my exercise routine again this week. Since little nugget doesn’t have any activities planned on Sunday, I thought I could sneak out for a solo game of squash on my own. After all, it’s very likely that both Jelloman and little one would still be sleeping after I get back home from squash.

As usual, I managed to book my squash court in Sham Shui Po and that’s where I would be having my breakfast. After sizing up the situation, I decided to pick out Nam Cheong Cafe Shop (南昌冰室) as my breakfast venue this morning.

Iced pantyhose milk tea – This was silky smooth with a nice balance of milk and tea flavors. Pretty good.

Scrambled eggs with ham and bacon – This was where it got a little dicey for me. The ham and bacon certainly weren’t bad but the scrambled eggs…..

They insisted that they only use eggs from Japan here but it’s not showing up from the flavors at all. My scrambled eggs were lacking the silkiness one expected from Japanese eggs. Of course, the fact that it’s been a little over-cooked had something to do with it but I know Japanese eggs when I tasted one.

This is far from a one and done experience (thanks to the milk tea) but then there are also a ton of options in the neighborhood too. This street alone, there are five or six cha chaan tengs and I definitely won’t mind trying out a couple of them before my squash sessions in the coming months.

Food Rating: 4.5/10 

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 204-206 Yu Chau Street, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sham Shui Po

Tel: +852 2787-9388

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 11:00pm daily

Roganic (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

My buddy V and I have been playing a little hide-and-seek game for the past two months and because of that, we had been unable to come up with a time to gather for his birthday celebration. But two weeks ago, we finally did agree on a date. 

It was great to see him after nearly six months. I gotta pick our dinner venue tonight and it was one of my favorite places for the past couple of years, Roganic by British chef Simon Rogan. Very simple, hearty dishes with ingredients that I am normally not familiar with. That's as good as any combo.

The dining room turned out to be a lot busier than I first expected (It was full after I took this photo) and a certain famous actor also happened to be in the house. I arrived a few minutes after V settled down, and the good thing was we didn't have to worry about what to eat as there was only one tasting menu offered at dinner time. So, we could focus on updating each other on what's happening in our very busy lives.

Rock lobster and sand carrot tartlet, fennel pollen and calendula – No sign of rock lobster but the flavors from the sand carrot and fennel were quite prominent.

 
Whipped ceps and toasted grains, wild garlic and lion rock – A ton of strong, earthy flavors in there and I particularly enjoyed the crunch from the toasted grains.

 
Truffle pudding caramelised in birch sap, fermented black garlic and aged Berkswell – Reminded me a bit of the modern French Toast from the now-defunct Frantzén's Kitchen.  

The truffle pudding had this really nice, flaky texture reminiscent of a croissant topped elegantly by aged Berkswell cheese which has been finely shaved. Very delicate and satisfying.

Raw Spanish mackerel in coal oil, pickled champagne rhubarb and radish – Well, they said rhubarb on the menu but it's actually different textures of beetroot (love beetroot!) on top of the diced Spanish mackerel.

My favorite soda bread with cultured brown butter is back~

May queen potato from Yunnan in onion ashes, pickled walnut and lovage – The potato salad was made of confit May queen potatoes from Yunnan province, finished off nicely with burnt onion ashes, pickled walnut and a lovage emulsion. I thought I tasted a bit of truffle there as well.

 
Barbequed hen of the woods in miso butter, fermented horseradish and lemon thyme – A dish I have enjoyed here a few times already but with slightly different interpretation. This time around, the slightly pickled shiitake mushroom was finished on the grill, and paired with miso butter, lemon thyme and fermented horseradish emulsion. I loved the perfectly charred crust on the shiitake which was complemented nicely by the strong flavors of the buttery sauce.

 
Scallop from Hokkaido with chamomile, fermented fennel and smoked pike perch roe – This was a supplementary course we chose to add to our menu and it certainly didn't disappoint. The thinly sliced Hokkaido scallop topped with a layer of chamomile jelly, was matched superbly with an aromatic fennel emulsion full of lovely acidity.

 
Ora king salmon, parsley and buckwheat, farmhouse production long cucumber – Another dish I thought I had before. The melt-in-the-mouth Ora king salmon was just absolutely beautiful and the crispy skin, perfect! Almost like a tuile...

 
Preserved truffle stuffed three yellow chicken, sweet jean corn and roasted yeast – The three yellow chicken was stuffed with a thick slab of truffle mousse made with winter truffle from Perth. There was a second serving in the form of roasted chicken thigh on the side with crispy chicken skin and yeast. I liked the sweetness of the chargrilled sweet corn and corn puree to balance out the richness of the truffled chicken.

 

Frozen Tunworth cheese, alpine peach, malt crumb and lemon thyme – A small pre-dessert of frozen Tunworth cheese, fig jelly and malt crumb to reset our palate. I was so stuffed already.

 
Preserved blackcurrants, '100' flower honey cake, cream infused with sweet herbs and lavender – Heard this was a new item on the menu. Didn't like the slightly chewy texture of the '100' flower honey cake but the blackcurrants and lavender were fairly refreshing.

 
‘Roganic’ – And of course, the signature dessert with a parfait made of burnt honey and chamomile tea, diced pear cubes and pear juice on the bottom.

The lone mignardise was a candy flavored with caramel, white miso, apple and pine.

V and I had so much to talk about that we didn't even realize we were the second last table left (even the famous actor left before us). So, we called and informed the proper authorities that we'd come home late and quickly settled the bill. 

Food Rating: 7.6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 8, UG/F, Sino Plaza, 255 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 2817-8383

Website: www.roganic.com.hk

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sun)

Boundless by Reaction Citywalk (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Widely known as a foodie wasteland, Tsuen Wan as an area has never really produced a restaurant or café that was worthy of a return visit for me. I am not talking about a place that I choose to return simply for my survival but one just for the enjoyment of food. 😆 But Boundless by Reaction at Citywalk is slowly becoming one of the area's better coffee shop cum café in recent memory and I decided to drop by for a return trip this afternoon. 

Linguine with slow-cooked chicken laksa – Glad to see that they've updated the food menu with a number of new pasta dishes; and this was an easy choice for me due to my love for Asian food.

I thought the linguine came with pretty good bite and it worked unexpectedly well with the laksa sauce that was bursting with flavors from lime and lemongrass. The chicken fillet was reasonably tender. I liked this dish.

Dirty tiramisu – I thought this was a little funny. When I asked my young server why their tiramisu was labeled "dirty", he responded without thinking, "cuz the decoration of coffee powder on top made it look very dirty!". Wow!!! 😂😂😂

I tended to think that the tiramisu was flavored with "dirty coffee" but that's just me. 

This was a beautifully made tiramisu with very light and fluffy texture. The only thing that was a little off, seemed to come from the ladyfinger on the bottom. It had this banana-like flavor to it which wasn't expected from a relatively classic interpretation of my favorite Italian dessert. But having said that, I won't mind having this again (and again).

The rating was a little generous but it's a signal of how much I appreciated a café serving decent comfort food in Tsuen Wan. You will be surprised how few of this actually come by.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop G75A, G76C & G76D, G/F, Citywalk, 1 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsuen Wan West

Tel: +852 2365-8828

Opening Hours: 9:00am - 10:00pm daily