Who's got crabs?

So H wanted a clever title for his crab feast... so here you go :D Hairy crab season starts from September when female crabs are the most delicious, as mid october rolls around however, male crabs are known to provide the most decadent roe. I have never really taken advantage of this seasonal delicacy and was determined this year to get a taste of hairy crab roe while it is in season. We debated over a number of restaurants but finally decided to go over to H's place to have a homestyle crab feast.

Of course there is plenty of 花雕... after a while this was used to play stone paper scissors with. Eeee

YUMMM such good chicken wings. We were all starving because we were waiting for late people to show up but luckily these glorious chicken wings were brought out from the kitchen and we hurriedly skipped over to nom on them.

Ok so we didn't just have crabs... we had a lot of other food...

The star of the show... 

So my mother specifically told me to remove the stomach... I've also heard its the heart...lung... or star shaped object. Whatever it is, it's suppose to be the worst part of the crab. Crabs are known to be very "cool" in terms of chinese medicine which causes you to faint and stomach aches. To counter this, restaurants will serve you a ginger tea to balance out your body. Well... obviously I did not listen to anything that my mom says and ate everything (well not the shell duh) and did not drink a drop of ginger tea. And yes I felt quite unwell the next day... I am not sure if it was because of the amount of alcohol I consumed or the crab, but either way, maybe mom was right.

mmmm

Yesssss this is what I have been waiting for

This gathering was a ton of fun, but eating crabs is a serious workout. I doubt I would want to eat crabs at home next time and will opt for a restaurant where all the work is done for me. Some people enjoy the entire process of picking out the meat and removing the shell... not me. I will also remember to drink a ton of ginger tea next time...

Cuppycakes

I've loved Kisses Cupcakes since it first opened but I have not been back in ages! I recently dropped by to indulge in their lovely cupcakes and I will definitely go for a treat again soon :)

DiVino Patio

I recently had that lovely Burrata at 208 and was eager to try out other places that served this luscious dish. R commented on my fb photo of the 208 burrata and claims that Posto Pubblico served a better version. I have had the homemade mozzarella at Posto but not the burrata. We decided to give DiVino Patio a try since we both have not been. DiVino Patio is the newest venture by the DiVino restaurant group that also owns "Divino", "Goccia", and Spasso. DiVino Patio is designed to look like italian grocery stores from the 50's: red brick walls, chalk on blackboards, and displays of cheeses, meats, and oils. There is a nice outdoor area but I felt that the description on the site made the al fresco area sound more enticing than it actually is. The restaurant is located in an outdoor area of a building of which multiple other restaurants are also located. Therefore the al fresco dining area was actually rather small and not as spacious as I've imagined. Nevertheless it was still a nice warm environment and the food was also quite good!

Cute bread basket!

500 grams Buffalo Burrata with Cherry Tomatoes Salad 
500 gr. burrata D.O.P. con pomodorini basilico e cipolla rossa
The moment we've been waiting for. The huge mass of cheese was placed before us and we could not wait to dig in.The cheese was creamy and delicious, but I felt like perhaps the one at 208 may be slightly more fragrant and rich. The texture could be a bit creamier but nevertheless, this burrata was delicious and we were actually able to finish most of it. I think it would actually be wise to offer this in two sizes as 500 grams of burrata is quite excessive. This large amount may discourage other diners from ordering this dish. R and I greedily gobbled up most of it but as the meal went out we slowly felt the cheese settle into our tummies and we were almost certain we were turning into blobs of cheese ourselves. The tomato salad was lovely, the cherry tomatoes were very sweet and juicy. The thinly sliced onions added the perfect amount of kick to the salad. The presentation was also appealing. I don’t know why restaurants always add such a small amount of the balsamic, perhaps I just love balsamic too much but I always felt that it was not enough. Overall though this was a successful dish!  

Penne "Jerome" Style with Gorgonzola and Black Truffle Sauce
Penne “Jerome” con crema al tartufo nero e Gorgonzola
You’re all probably wonder who Jerome is… apparently he was a loyal customer that always ordered this pasta dish even though it was not on the menu. After a while the restaurant decided to officially put this dish on the menu and name it after this customer. The pasta sounded so rich and decadent… and it did not disappoint. The penne was cooked to the perfect al dente and the thick sauce covered every piece of pasta. The truffle was fragrant and the pungent flavor of the gorgonzola was also very apparent without masking one another. Although this dish was good, a couple bites of is all you need. As the dish became colder I saw the sauce thicken and it all just because much too heavy. Therefore it would be wise to share this with a couple of friends so you don’t feel like a lump of lard afterwards.

Spit-Roasted Italian Piglet Porchetta Style served with Mashed Potatoes and Artichoke "Alla Giudea" 
Porchetta alla romana cotta allo spiedo, 

con purea di rosmarino e carciofo “alla Giudea”

This really does seem like we were purposely trying to gain 40 pounds from this meal huh? The porchetta was a dish that many people mentioned in their reviews of Divino Patio therefore I was keen to try it out. This dish was probably my least favorite out of the meal. The meat was quite tender but I was very put off by the large chunks of fat that were dispersed in the meat. I understand that porchetta is supposed to be fatty but this just was not too enjoyable for me. I would also want the porchetta to be more flavorful and heavily seasoned; I think this would cut into the fattiness as the blandness highlighted the greasiness of the fat. The artichoke was a bit over fried and also a bit too greasy. This dish was not terrible, but overall a bit too greasy and not something I would order again. The presentation was quite well done though. Maybe this dish would be better if we did not have all that caloric spree before. Or this dish could be served with rice (very Asian of me I know).

Overall the meal was an enjoyable experience. I do not think I would be rushing back for dinner but I would recommend this place to friends if they are looking for decent Italian food in a comfortable and relaxed environment. I am, however, eager to come during 5:30 to 7 to check out their "Italian Aperitivo" where guests can savor both hot and cold delicacies free of charge after a busy day at work. This sounds like something to look forward to while you are bustling away at the office!

Divino Patio

Shop 11

1/F

Causeway Centre

No. 28 Harbour Road

Wanchai 

Hong Kong

Ngau Kee 牛記茶室

Taking a break from this godforsaken GRE studying... was slaving around for 4 hours doing this online test and was on the last section when the internet decides to go crazy and caused the entire test to die. Now I won't know how I did.... TOO UPSET.

Will write a blog post to make myself feel better.

Y has been in Hong Kong for a decent amount of time and I appalled when I found out that no one has taken her to a Hong Kong style 茶餐廳! We haven't seen each other in ages so it was great to see her and catch up over some good cheap food. 牛記茶室 is apparently quite well known and I went on openrice to make sure I knew about some of their famous dishes. Kau Kee is actually right down the road and as you all know is famous for their beef brisket. 牛記茶室 is actually also famous for their beef brisket but they stop serving it after 5:30 pm. According to reviews, the restaurant gets pretty busy but fortunately when we went it was quiet and we were able to get a table right away. The place is nothing fancy and had a very cozy homey feeling to it. The owner was holding an adorable baby and you can tell that this is a very mom and pop place. Service was quite friendly and the food was delicious. One complaint was that the food took quite a while to make, but it was so delicious that I would definitely return again even if I had to wait for long!

Pork and Lotus Root Patty 脆皮煎肉餅
This dish was heavily featured on the Openrice page so I knew we HAD to try it. The patty had great flavor and texture, it was firm and you can tell they put decent ingredients in it. They came out piping hot and had a lovely crunchy outside that was just the perfect thinness. They went very well with some hot sauce and we happily gobbled this down. 

Salt and Pepper Squid 椒鹽鮮魷 
This is one of my favorite dishes to order when I was at Chinese restaurants in the States. I actually love it regardless, but it was one of those dishes that always tasted decent. This dish was absolutely mind-blowing. The squid was tender and encased with a golden crispy batter. This pile of glorious squid is then piled with crispy deep friend garlic. These were served with a small plate of vinegar to provide the perfect tangy acidity. YUM. 

Cha Siu with Scrambled Eggs and Chinese Chives 叉燒韭菜炒蛋
Cha siu and eggs are two of my go to favorites. The cha siu was just right, not too fat, not too lean. The egg was super silky and creamy. The chives were the perfect crunch that just topped off the whole dish. 

As you all can see, this is not some fine dining gourmet experience, and I think it's so stupid when people on Openrice complain about how the service was not polite enough etc. You need to know what kind of place you are eating with and have different expectations. This is solid good food in a humble and down to earth environment. The food was absolutely delicious and I will definitely return again next time I am in the mood for some comforting and scrumptious food. I think when I am back in the States, this will be the food that I will miss the most (apart from Mommy's cooking of course!)

Ngau Kee 牛記茶室 

3 Gough Street

Noho

Central

Hong Kong

Boqueria

C and I always have bestie dinner dates and they are something that always puts a smile on my face no matter how bad my day has been :) This date was particularly enjoyable because C was in Singapore for the Golden Week break and I've been dying to update her with all the latest gossip and catch up. I was notified that Boqueria was opened in Hong Kong and I was suspicious of whether this was actually the branch from New York or if it was just the name. C and I were so happy when we found out that this was indeed the same restaurant as the one in New York and actually thought the Hong Kong branch was even better! The restaurant exuded a warm and welcoming feeling, instantly putting you in a social and lively mood. Even though the restaurant had such a festive atmosphere, the noise level was perfectly fine. Service was very good, the servers were friendly and gave us recommendations on which dishes they liked (even though we kept picking exactly the opposite of what one server recommended haha! he seemed a bit unenthused after a while).

Sangria Blanco
Red wine makes me feel like I've been shot by a tranquilizer strong enough to put out a rhino... therefore we opted for the white sangria! The sangria was super refreshing! I liked how there wasn't too much fruit in the mix (I never really eat much of it anyways) and it wasn't too sweet with a tropical burst of fruity flavor. Delicious! 

Pintxos Morunos - Seared Colorado lamb marinated in lemon and cumin, “salsa verde”
The lamb was super juicy and succulent, the meat had great flavor and was cooked perfectly. These glorious chunks of roasted meat was lovingly plopped on top of a chunky slice of crusty bread that was smothered with high quality olive oil and the juices from the lamb. To top it all off, sauteed onions and fresh arugula was added to make the dish pop. The meat was also finished off with a huge dollop of salsa verde, a sauce made with tomatillos, onions, lime juice, peppers, and A LOT of cilantro. Cilantro and I are not friends... but shockingly this actually went really well with the lamb so this is truly a testament to how well the dish was executed and how harmoniously the flavors blended together. This dish was the perfect combination of flavors and textures and I would definitely order it again!

Paleta Ibérica de Bellota - Hand-carved, acorn fed Ibérico ham, aged 28 months
Iberico is another one of my favorite things and unfortunately the iberico here was not up to par! The flavor did not have the love rich fatty taste that C and I love so much. The meat was a bit too tough and did not have that indulgent chewiness. Overall it just lacked that signature depth of flavor but luckily the rest of the meal more than made up for this! 

Patatas Bravas - Crispy potatoes, salsa brava, roasted garlic allioli 
OH MYYY GODDD this was sooo amazingly good! But I'm sure you already knew that from the picture. Glancing at this picture is enough to make me drool all over my keyboard. First of all, I LOVE AIOLI, ever since I went to Barcelona to visit K, I've been obsessed with the sauce from the gods. And some of you may know that I love my fries with mayonnaise, so this was just a even more indulgent version. The potato chunks were cut to the absolute perfect size and fried to the most amazing crispiness while maintaining a lovely fluffiness inside. The flavor was also spot on. The garlic aioli was just delectable, a garlicky creamy sauce to balance out the crispy crunchy potatoes. And of course the pathetic amount drizzled over the dish was not enough to satisfy C and I and we ordered a extra little pot of aioli to dunk our potato chunks in. Glorious!

Cojonudo - Fried quail eggs and chorizo on toast
This dish was probably our least favorite out of all the dishes, but this is not to say it was not good, since we absolutely LOVED all the other dishes. This dish was simply so so. It just tasted like a piece of toast with egg and chorizo… which is what it said it was on the menu (I guess I was expecting something more?). The dish was really straightforward and did not have any surprises. I suppose if you love chorizo this could be something that you would order but next time I will definitely be ordering other dishes that reveal the inspiration and skill of the chef as this dish was just very normal.  

Croquetas Cremosas - Creamy croquettes; three each of mushroom and Serrano ham
Numnumnumss these croquettes were so devilishly good. Okay fine I will admit the picture is not exactly appetizing but believe me these were SO good. The waiter recommend the “Bombas de la Barceloneta” which are beef and potato croquettes with salsa brava and garlic allioli, but of course we opted for the other type of croquette (I think he got tired of recommending after a while since we obviously did not take his advice). The croquettes were beautiful globes of creamy mushroom and ham concoction enveloped in a deep fried crunchy blanket. The filling had a luscious mushroom flavor and although I did not really notice the addition of Serrano ham, the croquettes were delicious enough. I definitely want to return and try out the other croquette because that actually sounds scrumptious as well!

Crema Catalana Clásica - Caramelized creamy custard
This was the perfect sweet ending to our lovely meal. The custard was very smooth and velvety with a rich cream flavor. You can see the little bits of vanilla throughout the custard (the thing that I love about movenpick ice cream!) and the top of the custard was caramelized to result in a crunchy sugary layer. This dish is very similar to crème brûlée but has that extra kick with the addition of lemon zest. The zest was the perfect balance to the lush creaminess of the pudding. C and I happily gobbled down this dessert while smiling like fat little children.

Matching cuppy cake dust plugs :) 

Cute decorations by the entrance

The meal at Boqueria was a great success! C and I loved our meal and have been raving about it to friends. I am definitely going to return to Boqueria again and am even planning to have my birthday dinner here (early planning I know). Unfortunately we decided to try the paella next time when we come with a bigger group since a paella would definitely fill us up and leave no room for more tapas if it was just between C and I! Boqueria is a new favorite of mine and C and I both concluded that this may be the best tapas we've had in Hong Kong! I do hope that Boqueria keeps up the wonderful work and I will definitely be back again!

Boqueria

7/F

LKF Towel

Lan Kwai Fong

Central

Hong Kong

UPDATE: 2nd visit was a disappointment :( review to come soon. Boohoo 

Shin Round 2

Just some sushi porn for you all :) I loved Shin so much that I decided to try and convert my parents from their usual sushi spot. Don't get me wrong, I love Sensyu too, but it would be nice to have my parents venture out once in a while! Unfortunately the parentals were super displeased with the noise level of Shin and did not find Shin as yummy as I did. Oh well, guess I will save Shin dates for other people! 

OMG this oyster was amazing! Super fat, juicy, creamy, and sweet. Just dreamy.

You're so pretttty 

mmmmm

BESTEST 

Okay back to studying... brain was getting a bit fried needed a short break :)

208 Duecento Otto

J was visiting from New York and decided to go to 208 for a much needed catch up dinner. 208 has always been on my list of to try restaurants but you all can probably guess that I have quite the extensive list and it takes a while for me to actually get through to a specific restaurant. 208 is opened by Yenn Wong, the founder of Causeway Bay Boutique Hotel JIA and The Drawing Room. The restaurant is housed in a space that used to be a meat storage warehouse and aims to mirror the style and vibe of New York's meatpacking district. The decor of 208 has always appealed to me and I'm glad I finally got to step into this restaurant and try out its food! The downstairs area is a casual bar space while the top is a cozier area for dining. The service was decent, the only complaint was that they were not very good at ensuring our wine glasses were full at all times (very important hehe).

Heirloom Tomatoes - burrata d' Andria (250 gm), rocket , extra vecchio balsamico
I love love loveeee heirloom tomatoes. I also LOVE burrata. The heirloom tomatoes were quite sweet but nothing compared to the goods I used to get at farmers markets in Boston. The burrata was absolutely heavenly. The inside was lusciously creamy and had the most decadent flavor. It was incredibly buttery and had a very strong and lovely milky flavor. One tiny complaint was that it would be better if more of the balsamic glaze was drizzled over the dish. 

Diavola - mozzarella, spicy salami, chilli, fresh basil 
I have heard that the pizza here is quite popular so I was excited to give it a try. The crust was a little bit soggy near the middle so that was slightly disappointing but it had a nice chewy texture and the dough had a nice fragrant taste. The spicy salami was bursting with flavor and since I love spicy food I really enjoyed how it was a bit spicier than expected. It definitely had a good kick to it!The tomato sauce base was also made well and was a great balance of sweet and tangy. 

Cotoletta alla Milanese - milk fed veal chop Milanese style with rocket and tomato
The serving size of the veal chop was very generous. The veal chop was very thick and was quite juicy. It could be a little bit more tender but the quality of the meat was decent and it had a nice crispy outer crust. The one at 8 1/2 was definitely better but the prices are also very different. 

Fusilli with 7 hours Slow-braised Tripe and Bone-marrow - tomato sugo, breadcrumbs and basil
The pasta was a little bit harder than al dente which is ideal for me. The tomato sauce was deliciously tangy and the breadcrumbs was a nice crunchy textural contrast. The dish would be better if there was more bone marrow, apart from one little globule I was not really able to detect the existence of the bone marrow. I didn't really like the addition of tripe at all but other people commented that they thought it was very good. The pasta was cooked well and you can tell that the kitchen knows what they are doing, but its not something I would order again.

The meal at 208 was an enjoyable evening with good food, lovely company, and of course, wine. The food was quite good, but it was not that amazing that I am already anticipating my next visit. 208 is definitely a solid choice and I would be happy to try out other dishes, but not before I continue working down my always growing list of restaurants! If any of you are looking for decent italian cuisine at a hip location, keep 208 in mind! (The burrata really is QUITE dreamy).

208 Duecento Otto

208-214 Hollywood Road

Sheung Wan

Hong Kong