Coco Ichibanya

Coco Ichibanya is the top curry rice restaurant in Japan and has outlets in mainland China, Thailand, Hong Kong, and California to name a few. I unfortunately did not know the existence of this glorious eatery until Y introduced me to it. I was just about to whine about how there are only 3 outlets in Hong Kong and that they are all on the Kowloon side BUT I just found out on openrice that there is a Causeway Bay branch now! AM VERY VERY HAPPY. Apart from loving the food, I also love saying the name of the restaurant, it's so cute and has a nice ring to it. Coco ichibanyaaa~

Pork cutlet "tonkatsu" with egg omelette rice and spicy curry
The pork cutlet was crispy and well done. The meat is definitely not as tender and thick as the tonkatsu at Tokichi but the price is also much lower so this is understandable. Coco is also famous for it's curry over its tonkatsu quality. The egg is creamy and soft, the amount is very generous and there is enough egg for every bite of rice. The only complaint I have about this dish is that you can only choose between spicy or non spicy for the curry when you order the omelette rice. When you order other dishes you can choose from a couple levels of spiciness (1-5?). I like my curry to be spicier but I could not do that since I got the omelette rice. It seems silly impose such a restriction on the customers because I can't possibly see why they can't just ladle over the spicy curry onto the omelette rice! My curry was not spicy enough for me but it was still yummy. If it was spicy then this dish would have been perfect!

I love egg :)

C got a level 2 spicy curry with shrimp. I much preferred the spice level of her curry so I shamelessly took a number of spoonfuls to smother over my own rice. The waitress was a bit slow and seemed to be in a constant state of daze but overall the service was fine and it's not something I would be picky about in a casual restaurant like this. If you come here for lunch I recommend coming at 12 or 12:20 latest because once you pass that time the place gets completely filled up with workers on their lunch break. Coco Ichibanya is definitely one of my new favorites and with the new branch in Causeway I can see a lot of japanese curry goodness in my future :) I just really hope it doesn't turn into those 1+ hour wait restaurants...

Coco Ichibanya 

Shop 302

3/F

Silvercord Plaza

30 Canton Road

Tsim Sha Tsui

Hong Kong

Sunday brunch at Zuma

Zuma's brunch is one of Hong Kong's most popular brunch options and is always booked full. Therefore make sure you call ahead of time to secure a spot! For around 600+ hkd you can enjoy an array of high quality sashimi, sushi, tofu, soba noodles, and yakitori options from the buffet spread, then you can order a main course before being presented with a decadent dessert platter. But wait! There is also free flow wine, champagne, and cocktails such as bloody marys and bellinis. Glorious! I met up with C, B, and M, all good friends from high school, for a boozy brunch. It was so nice to grab a meal with old friends, it felt like high school - but upgraded.

Slow cooked egg with tobiko, scallions, and soba dressing
This slow cooked egg was delicious with all the garnishes. All the flavors worked and there was a dance of textures in your mouth. I should have mixed some soba with this because the egg itself was almost impossible to eat with chopsticks. 

Fresh oysters
The oysters were of good quality but there was a japanese dressing instead of the regular vinaigrette and tobasco sauce which I prefer

Assorted sashimi and sushi rolls 
The sashimi was of very good quality and the rolls were also yummy. They had a great selection with choices such as eel and soft shell crab. I feel that buffets tend to have low quality sushi selections because it is usually very popular so restaurants churn out a large amount while disregarding the quality. 

Yummy yummy with lots of alcohol 

Grilled sirloin with crispy garlic chips
The garlic chips were fragrant and crispy, the meat was mediocre. It was not too tough but not super tender either. It was a pretty good dish but I guess we were all pretty stuffed by then. 

Mentaiko udon
I really enjoyed this dish. C commented that a version she had in Vancouver was the best but I thought this was pretty delicious as well. The mentaiko had a nice rich savory flavor and the udon was chewy and had a nice bite to it. It was slightly warm and was just very comforting and tasty.

Dessert platter
The ice cream was ok, our group suspected that it was dreyers as it was not as creamy as Haagendaz but also didn't taste like Movenpick. The apple and custard dessert was so delicious, the apples were slightly sweet and cooked until tender. The custard was wonderfully creamy and rich. The chocolate pudding was also amazing. At this point we were all in food comas.

The brunch was definitely one of the best I've had in Hong Kong. I can definitely see why it is so popular! I think it is smart to have a buffet spread of sushi and other dishes but have ala cart style ordering for the main course. Many times buffet brunches forget about the quality of each dish and opt for quantity and variety over quality. Zuma definitely did not disappoint!

Zuma 

Levels 5 and 6 

Landmark

15 Queen's Road

Central

Hong Kong

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is one of my favorite things to make, its simple, fast, and so delicious.

Ingredients 
Serves 4 people 

1. 2-3 tomatoes depending on the size 
2. 2 loaves of french bread 
3. Fresh basil leaves
4. 1 tablespoon of finely minced onions
5. 1 clove of garlic
6. Balsamic vinegar
7. Olive oil 

Directions

1. Slice and dice up your tomatoes 

2. Finely mince a clove of garlic. Some recipes rub the bread with the garlic but I like adding it to the actual bruschetta mixture.

3. Add in the finely minced onions. It's really important that you mince it as finely as you can because a huge chunk of onion would be quite unpleasant!

4. Roll up your leaves into a tight bundle then slice thinly (saw this on cooking shows hehe)

5. Add to the mixture

6. Pour in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Start by adding a little, mixing, tasting, then adjusting the flavors.

7. It's ok if its a little watery, when you spoon the mixture along with the juices onto the crusty bread, you will be happy it has all this extra moisture. Yum. You can prepare this an hour or two before dinner time and put it in the fridge so all the flavors have time to come together. 

8. Get your two loaves and slice it so that there is a good amount of surface area. If the bread is sliced too small the tomatoes will be falling all over the place when you try to shove it in your mouth!

9. I like to toast the bread until they are a bit browner than I would usually like. But this is perfect for bruschetta because as I mention before there is a lot of delicious juices from the tomato mixture that will seep into the bread so the extra crunchy will be perfect. Enjoy!

Mothers Day Dinner - Lamb Shank Mint Ragu with Pappardelle

Cooking a great meal for loved ones if one of life's greatest pleasures. It always fills me with such happiness when I see my parents and friends enjoying something that I made. It has been so long since I've posted an original recipe and this one was absolutely delicious so I hope you guys will give it a go! It is quite time consuming though but it is so worth it! I definitely don't think I would make it for just anyone though, I was slaving away in the kitchen from 4 until 8:30, but my parents absolutely loved it which made all the hard work so worth it. I also made bruschetta so I will post that recipe next!

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 (sorry a bit vague, my parents and I were stuffed and I still have a huge tub of leftovers)

Cooking time: 4 hours 

1. 2 lamb shanks
2. Fresh mint leaves
3. 7 tomatoes
4. 1 large onion
5. 3 cloves of garlic
6. 4 shallots
7. Half a can of tomato paste 
8. 1 cup of chicken or pork stock
9. 2 carrots 
10. 1 cup of red wine
11. Pappardelle 
12. Salt and pepper

Some ingredients like the canned diced tomatoes were not used.

Directions

1. Slice up the shallots, dice up the onions, and the tomatoes. Slave away :)

2. Grate up the carrot. It is better to grate it than dicing it up because carrots take quite long to cook and you don't want chunks of carrot in your sauce.

Looks like cheddar cheese doesn't it?

3. Rinse the lamb shanks and pat dry with a towel. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

4. Heat up some oil in a pan and brown the shanks on all sides. The house will smell like lamb heaven now.

5. After the lamb is browned on all sides remove them and put on a plate. This stuff on the pan is gold. Don't get rid of it! Pour in the garlic, onions, and shallots and sauté until translucent.

6. Pour in the carrots. Sauté.

7. And the tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat.

8. Pour in the cup of red wine. I used Shiraz but anything is fine. Stir.

9. Pour in a cup of stock, I used pork stock. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes.

10. Add in half a can of tomato paste.

11. Add the lamb shanks back into the pan. It's ok if the lamb shanks are not completely submerged into the sauce. You will be flipping them around. Put the lid on and cook for 2-3 hours on low heat. Check on the lamb shanks every 20 or so minutes to flip them around and  to stir the sauce around.

12. Mmmm starting to look so rich and delicious. Take the lamb shanks out when the meat is tender and cut the meat away from the bones. This should be around 1 and half hours to 2 hours. Slice the meat into small pieces but not too small, you still want a bite to them.

Kind of looks like curry...?

13. Add the meat back to the sauce and continue cooking.

14. Take a couple leaves of mint and dice very finely. The mint was lovely in the sauce but make sure you start out with a little and add more after mixing it and tasting it. You don't want the mint to be too overpowering.

15. Heat up a large pot of water and salt it generously. Cook the pappardelle until al dente.

Beautiful ribbons 

16. Plate up! Make a nice pile of the yellow ribbons of pappardelle onto a plate and ladle the delicious sauce on top. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Enjoy!