Ramen House Konjiki Hototogisu 金色不如帰 Festival Walk (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Seven years ago today, dad passed away peacefully just before midnight. Dad was brought up in the old school way so in his eyes, things are only in black and white, no grey areas. My sister and I used to say, being brought up in our household was kinda like going through military school. But I guess that worked out okay for us.

For an old school guy, I know dad would appreciate us visiting him from time to time so for the past seven years, I have made a habit of visiting the place where he is now rested, especially on this day. I have brought little nugget (and mom too) along so in case one day I expire, he's the next man up.

And today, he handpicked the flowers for grandpa. I thought he did one heck of a job.

Right before visiting dad, we stopped by Festival Walk to get our tanks filled. Little nugget was given a choice between Japanese ramen (Ramen House Konjiki Hototogisu 金色不如帰) and souffle pancakes (JS Foodies).

And we all knew which one he would pick.

Shoyu Hamaguri Soup Ramen (貝汁醬油拉麵) – Little nugget's fav here. The house special shoyu broth was infused with their secret formula "triple soup" made with clams, pork and fish, and finished off with leeks and spring onion. And there were the truffles and porcini (oil and flakes) for the icing on the cake.

As always, this wasn't bad but they've gotta come up with more variety man!

Tonkotsu Original Ramen (白豚骨拉麵) – Little's nugget's next fav. As a diehard fan of tonkotsu ramen, he's starting to lean more towards this one largely because of the flavorful pork bone based broth. Personally, I am also starting to get tired of the sweet flavors from the "triple soup" and the tonkotsu ramen simply offers greater depth of flavors in a simple way without overly complicating things (porcini, truffle etc.). When it comes to ramen, I am more of a purist with a conservative palate.

Unlike last time we were here, the soft-boiled egg was much better.

Another year has passed us by. I am hoping that next year, we don't have to wear mask when little guy comes to see his grandpa.

Food Rating: 5.9/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 25, LG2/F, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Tong

Tel: +852 6333-8156

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

Shake Shack Elements (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I'm taking the afternoon off to see little nugget in action at the ice rink at the Elements Shopping Mall this afternoon. It's been a while since I last visited Shake Shack for lunch so I thought let's kill two birds with one stone on this action packed afternoon.



I have long heard of Shake Shack's special treat for the Mid-autumn fest. For a limited-time-only, they're offering a special lava custard shake and concrete to celebrate the occasion. I was curious of how this decadent shake would compare to the real thing (mooncake).



To my pleasant surprise, it does taste a lot like having a mooncake (it was lava custard blended with vanilla ice-cream, finished off with crispy mooncake bits on top)! But having said that, I thought the addition of pomelo and grapefruit really wasn't necessary.

SmokeShack – My favorite burger here without question.

The beef patty was again very juicy today, working well with the cheese, applewood-smoked bacon and cherry peppers and there was the extra kick from the homemade Shack Sauce to tie things up. It was a pretty nice meal altogether.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 1005-1006, 1/F, Fire Zone, ELEMENTS, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Station

Tel: +852 2719-8282

Website: www.shakeshack.com.hk

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 8:30pm (Mon - Thu), 11:00am - 10:00pm (Fri - Sun)

Cannubi Enoteca Cucina K11 Musea (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Foodies living on the Kowloon side have been waiting for this for so long and it finally happened last month. Following the opening of 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo in 2010, it took celebrity chef Umberto Bombana 12 years to finally open his first venture across the harbour.

This time around, Chef Bombana not only opened one but two restaurants at K11 Musea - Tuber Umberto Bombana which is a fine-dining Italian restaurant and its casual sister, Cannubi Enoteca Cucina. Time wasn't on my side so I went with a casual lunch at Cannubi Enoteca Cucina today.

Didn't get the chance to try their bread this afternoon.

Veal Tenderloin – Chef Bombana's take on the classic Vitello tonnato.

The sliced veal topped with black olive, capers and dollops of confit tuna belly was finished off beautifully with a creamy tuna mayonnaise.

There were threads of celery on top of the veal and tuna mayo to give the dish some extra bite. Very delicious!

Fresh Tagliatelle – I had to adjust my expectation when my server told me that this was really an elevated version of a humble spaghetti Bolognese (肉醬意粉).

But this was far more than just an ordinary Joe. In fact, it was a knockout! The star of the dish was the fresh tagliatelle, perfectly al dente and it was wonderfully matched with the sweetness of the wagyu beef ragout and some fine acidity from the confit tomatoes. Very nicely done.

Classic Tiramisu – My perfect afternoon was spoiled a bit by what I thought was the safest bet of the menu, dessert.

Chef Bombana's tiramisu has long been on my top 10 list since I started eating tiramisu and I was expecting more or less the same thing here at his new digs but.....

The balance between mascarpone, home-blend coffee and ladyfinger wasn't bad but the texture was way too custardy for me. 

Chef Bombana's cuisine is all about delivering the best of Italian dishes using the freshest ingredients in the market and that was in full display this afternoon. It would've been a perfect afternoon for me if not for their miscue with the tiramisu.

Food Rating: 6.9/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Shop 113A, 1/F, K11 Musea, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2133-4903

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 12:00am daily