Fine Foods (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Mom dropped a few hints to us that it was her lunar birthday today. I haven’t been paying much attention to the lunar calendar for years but I do respect that my old-school mom still follows it, and that means I need to pick up a birthday cake for her this afternoon.

I was still recovering from COVID but my head was clear enough to remember that mom wanted her favorite chestnut cream cake.

Chestnut cream cake ($440) – Chestnut purée and fresh cream between layers of sponge cake and decorated with fresh cream and chestnut purée.

Of course, I had to write something on behalf of my little nugget to his beloved grandma.

This was pretty decent. The chestnut purée was really silky smooth but the spongy cake could have been a little more eggy and pillowy at the same time. I think all in all, I expected more from this old institution. 

Food Rating: 5.9/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Lobby Level, The Royal Garden, 69 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2733-2045
Website: theroyalgardenhotel.com.hk/index.asp

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm daily

MD Cafe by Alvin Leung 廚魔茶室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

The word is out that Demon Chef Alvin Leung has opened a brand-new cha chaan teng in the no-man's land between Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui. As a longtime fan of cha chaan teng fare, I was curious to see whether he’d bring a fine-dining twist to these beloved local classics.

The restaurant called MD Cafe (廚魔茶室) is about a 10-minute walk from Jordan MTR station if you walk really really fast like me.

As expected, the world-renowned chef has put a modern spin on some of these cha chaan teng classics including this soufflé French toast. I didn't get to try it myself as I have been coughing a little since Labour Day.

Iced milk tea (凍奶茶) – I was pleasantly surprised how strong the tea was, and there was just the right amount of condensed milk for the right balance. Hey, not bad!

Deep-fried chicken fillet in creamy white sauce (白汁吉列雞扒飯) – I was expecting more to be brutally honest, especially coming from Alvin Leung's kitchen. At least the plating should have been a little more sophisticated. It looked no different from a steak rice dish at any local cha chaan teng.

The crispy batter was pretty nice and the chicken steak was reasonably good. But that’s about where the positives end. The rest, nothing to write home about and certainly not worth the $70-ish price tag. 

Food Rating: 4.8/10

Price: $$$$

Address: UG/F, Kee Shing Commercial Building, 80 Kimberley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui / Jordan

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 9:00pm daily

Lotmee Metroplaza 樂麵 葵芳店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We had an early start to our Labour Day morning, thanks to a sports day event organized by little nugget's school. He has signed up for a few events and due to the huge turnout, we didn't finish until 1pm.

After the event, I took little one to Lotmee (樂麵) at Metroplaza for a quick lunch before sending him to school for more activities. I bet my ramen-loving son's enjoying my arrangement so far.

Tori paitan ramen with bonito (鰹魚鶏白湯拉麵) ($108) – The chicken broth has been infused with bonito adding to its umami-rich flavors. I also made sure that I marked the "rich" (濃厚) option as the preference for my broth.

I have to admit, this was much better than I thought. Starting with the marinated soft-boiled egg, it was executed to perfection.

The noodles were fine.

The pork loin was decent. There were also bamboo shoots and bonito flakes added to the broth.

Tori paitan ramen (鶏白湯拉麵) ($98) – My son and I agreed that we should sample the bonito-less version of the chicken broth in order to make an accurate comparison between the two.

This came with two slices of pork loin, two slices of chicken fillet (meh~) and bamboo shoots but no bonito flakes. I had a sip of the soup before little nugget stole the entire bowl of noodles away from me! It wasn't bad to be honest but I preferred the one with bonito for its deeper, more complex flavor.

Food Rating: 5.7/10

Price: $$

Address: Shop 270, 2/F, Metroplaza, 223 Hing Fong Road, Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kwai Fong

Tel: +852 5290-0236

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