Fine Foods (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It's been a while since I last ordered a birthday cake from Fine Foods. Not that their quality has gone or anything but there are just too many options out there, including a couple of online cake shops I like to visit (online) recently.



One thing I've always liked about Fine Foods is that, they always seem to add something new to their repertoire every 1-2 months. Like this time around, they have launched their brand new Lavender & apricot cake.



But we have already made up our minds with this Black Sesame & Chocolate Gateau - Black sesame seed mousse was layered with chocolate mousse on a base of chocolate sponge cake and black sesame seed crunch. Looks real exciting on paper and I was especially curious in how the black sesame mousse and chocolate work together. 

Disappointingly, they didn't mesh as well as I thought they would. The whole thing was quite heavily flavored but without much contrasting textures or flavors to make it interesting.



I'll definitely check this lavender and apricot cake out next time!



Food Rating: 4.5/10
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

Oddies Gelateria (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Despite leaving Upper Modern Bistro with a pretty full stomach, I decided to hunt for something sweet afterwards, much to the delight of my sweet tooth. I know I would be passing by Oddies Gelateria on my way back to the IFC and that's where I would be heading for my sweet treat.



Last time I had the pineapple pastry eggettes (鳳梨酥雞蛋仔), which had a pretty nice Taiwanese twist to it. I think it's time to take it a step further this time. Perhaps Oddies' Chinese sausage eggettes (臘腸雞蛋仔)?



Oh I love this branch so much (very sleek design!) more than their Wanchai one. Absolutely hate standing there on the edge of the pavement, inhaling all the dust while I wait for my eggettes. 



It's been a while since I last visited and I notice that they've added to their repertoire recently with their "dan dan noodle" eggettes (擔擔麵雞蛋仔) and Korean rice cake eggettes (韓式年糕雞蛋仔).



I thought I am adventurous enough to try a savory eggette but obviously not this afternoon. I wanted something sweet instead so let's stick with the basics.



Brownie Choco chip eggettes (布朗尼朱古力碎雞蛋仔) ($28) - Crispy on the outside while moist and buttery inside. I love the chocolate ganache oozing out on each bite. These're a little heavy but well worth the spare stomach space I had left from lunch.



Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 45 Gough Street, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2750-2111

Upper Modern Bistro (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Upper Modern Bistro has got a new field general this week. With owner-chef Philippe Orrico busy doing his thing at ON dining, he needed someone to cover for him at Upper Modern Bistro and now he has finally got his man in new chef de cuisine Julien Cadiou. Chef Cadiou has worked with some of the most highly acclaimed chefs like Alain Ducasse and Kei Kobayashi back in Paris and looks like he's the right man for the job.

 

Despite my slightly packed schedule today, I decided to come and greet Chef Cadiou personally while I check out his new food menu at the same time. It looks like that all the signature dishes like mini veal burgers and porcini mushroom soup are here to stay so that's good news for the fans.

I started things off with some green asparagus which is in season in France at the moment. Instead of its usual partner, Hollandaise sauce, they decided to serve it with grapefruit espuma, which was clean and refreshing. A dressing with lemon, orange and balsamic vinegar provided additional acidity to the mix.



I had a bit of a struggle selecting my main course here. Both the roasted spring chicken and confit Iberico pork cheek looked like great choices but I decided to go with my hunch. Slow-cooked cod fish with gnocchi pasta turned out to be fairly decent, although the whole thing was slightly over-seasoned (I did like the gnocchis and lobster sauce.).



Surprisingly, dessert was the most fulfilling part of this lunch. The Gianduja chocolate tart with Baileys espuma and vanilla ice-cream was exactly what I was hoping for - rich yet not too heavy. It was perfect.



Ever since Chef Orrico's departure to ON Dining, Upper Modern Bistro has been on a steady decline. It's nice to see Chef Cadiou finally on board to right the ship. It's still early so let's give him ample time to settle in and push the right buttons.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: 6-14 Elegance Court, G/F Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2517-0977
Website: www.upper-bistro.com

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