Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel Harbour City 當文歷餅店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I am coming back to Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel (當文歷餅店) at Harbour City just 10 days after my last visit. Why you would probably ask? 

Well, it's because of this! When news broke late last week that they would be tinkering the "lineup" of their beloved "Around the World" series, I decided that it was probably time for another visit.

Little nugget was worried that his favorite cheesecake would be off the list for good so he was really relieved that it's one of the three pastries that were kept.

Burrata (水牛忌廉芝士) – Strawberry compote, basil-infused mascarpone cream, and ladyfingers. I have to admit, this looks really cute and very close to the real deal.

The basil-infused mascarpone cream was nice and silky, and the strawberry compote wasn't a bad match but there's got to be more than just the little patch of compote. Perhaps a thin layer of strawberry gelée or coulis; that will really do the pastry some justice.

This had me thinking about the signature cake at L'Aubenuit Patisserie (로브니) in Seoul. It's one of my favorite basil themed dessert with basil ganache, cheese mousse, white chocolate and strawberry coulis. I miss Seoul so badly.

Stout Beer (黑啤) – Stout beer chocolate cremeux, stout beer chocolate cake, stout beer milk chocolate mousse, chocolate wafer cookie and brown sugar chantilly cream. Looks really cute standing next to the burrata.

This turned out to be one of the weakest link in the "Around the World" series. The brown sugar cream on the top and the stout beer chocolate cremeux were the lone bright spots here. Everything else was way too chocolate so we could hardly enjoy the stout beer flavors, which were supposed to be the theme, right?

Sugar cane sorbet (唔該蔗蔗) – Mom never had anything from Kung Lee Sugarcane Juice (公利真料竹蔗水) so I thought it was time to introduce her to DangWenLi's sugarcane sorbet. I don't think anyone would say no to a thirst-quenching sugarcane dessert in a hot summer day like this. Not surprisingly, she loves it~

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop OT G63A, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2613-8618
Website: www.dangwenli.com
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm daily

Red Tea Cafe Tsim Sha Tsui 紅茶冰室 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I promise myself I'd be back at Red Tea Cafe (紅茶冰室) just for its freshly made pineapple bun. Come back I did, albeit it's a totally different location from last time. This Carnarvon Road location has recently opened with much fanfare in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. And like most of its other branches, it comes with a spacious basement level.



Yeah, this is what I came all the way for - their pineapple bun (菠蘿油) with a thick slab of frozen butter.

The amazing afternoon tea set ($30) came with a tall glass of red bean ice (紅豆冰).



I had to patiently wait for my pineapple bun.....

At last! Unlike most places, the slab of butter was served on the side here. 

So, I had to stuff it in myself. This was just perfect. The crispy and flaky crust, and the buttery bun. I think I have to skip dinner now following such a filling snack but it's all worth it!!!

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$

Address: Shop 5, G/F, Hang Send Tsim Sha Tsui Building, 18 Carnarvon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 6229-1838

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 10:00pm daily

Etna (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

There's no way we would be leaving Tin Hau after just spending an hour here (our last visit was at least 5 or 6 years ago). So, right after picking up little nugget, we decided to venture over across the street to Electric Road for lunch. I've already jotted down a number of places last night and since little one wanted some pasta, we ended up going to Restaurant Etna shortly after.

Etna is presumably named after Mount Etna, the active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily. I hope it's not Sicilian cuisine that they're serving here.

Pumpkin soup – Little nugget always loves his pumpkin soup so needless to say, he's head over heels in love with this creamy pumpkin soup.

Prawn and pomelo lettuce salad – Those who didn't have the soup, had the prawn salad instead. I was told it was a pretty good one, although they could have tuned down the balsamic vinegar dressing a little bit. I could smell the acidity from miles away.

Hokkaido scallop carpaccio – The sweetness of the scallop was nicely paired with some acidity from the orange and raspberry coulis, while the shaved asparagus and Okinawa sea grapes brought different textures to the dish.

This certainly wasn't bad but I was expecting more from the raspberry coulis. 

Duck ragout tagliatelle – This restaurant is known for its homemade pasta so of course, it would be silly not to try out a couple of those while we were here.  

The tagliatelle was perfectly al dente, working well with the sauce (duck jus. presumably) and sprinkle of basil. The duck ragout was a bit on the hard side.

Sea urchin linguine – The linguine tossed in a prawn bisque like sauce was pretty nice (not as nice as the tagliatelle though) and of course, there was the fresh sea urchin which is always a crowd pleaser.

Not the most mouthwatering uni pasta I ever had but Jelloman seemed to be happy with it.

I don't mind coming back for their pasta dishes some other time. Their lunch set ($138-$178) is definitely worth the effort of traveling over but we would be careful from ordering the pasta ($158-$398) and main ($238-$788) from the a la carte menu. Some dishes are a lot more overpriced than others.

P.S. Once again, I felt truly truly blessed to be living in Hong Kong. Good food is just everywhere here and today, we witness the power of a local neighborhood Italian restaurant. Just wonderful...

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: 3/F, Golden Wheel Plaza, 68-70 Electric Road, Tin Hau, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tin Hau

Tel: +852 3462-2700

Website: www.facebook.com/etna.hk/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Fri), 11:30am - 10:00pm (Sat - Sun)