Shoot First Eat Later

Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant @ Elements Mall

We always check in at the Airport Express station in Austin Road just so we can do last minute shopping or eating at Elements Mall which is connected to the station.

One of my favorite Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong, Pak Loh Chiu Chow has a branch at Elements Mall. The other restaurants nearby barely had customers while Pak Loh was almost full.

Instead of the usual peanuts they served pickled mustard greens.

pickled mustard greens

We just wanted a light snack before going to the airport. Chiu Chow style goose is different from Cantonese roast goose. Their version had a soy based sauce and the skin wasn’t crisp.

soyed goose meat HK$118

The duck meat was very flavorful and moist.

I liked their oyster omelette which didn’t have any tapioca flour. It was just eggs and succulent baby oysters. The sauce was salty fish sauce instead of hot sauce or catsup.

omelette with baby oyster HK$68

There was lots of oysters unlike in other restaurants which contain more tapioca flour than oysters.

steamed rice roll with beef & dried citrus peel

Pak Loh Chiu Chow menu

Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant
1028D Elements Mall
1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
telephone: 3691 9168

Dinner at Praise House Congee & Noodle Cuisine

The first time I ate at Praise House Congee & Noodle Cuisine I wasn’t that impressed that’s why I didn’t go back again. But it’s been a couple of years so I went back to give it another chance.

I have discovered a dish worth going back for over and over again and it’s the fried rice with roasted goose & preserved vegetables (HK$62) pictured above. Well seasoned, not oily fried rice with bits of roasted goose accented with salty preserved vegetables. It was a very well executed dish and a meal in itself.

The rest of the dishes we ordered were just all right nothing as incredible as the fried rice.

seasonal soup HK$20

braised soybean curd with dried scallops & bamboo fungus HK$68

Praise House Congee & Noodle Cuisine
Shop 705, 7/F, iSquare
63 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Cafe de Coral (October 2012)

Sometimes you just want a quick and cheap meal in Hong Kong and the best place to do that is at Cafe de Coral which has branches all over the city.

Each time I go to Cafe de Coral they have new items on the menu. Last October they were promoting organic oat steamed rice dishes.

It’s a step above regular fast food fare is quite edible. Nothing fabulous but it’s decent food that will make you full at a very affordable price.

Shanghai style spare ribs with vegetable rice HK$33

organic oat rice with water chestnut, mushroom & pork croquette with salted egg HK$30

It needed a good douse of sweet soy sauce.

Lee Kum Kee sweet soy sauce

Don’t forget to order their milk tea or coffee with your meal. It’s one of my favorites.

Lunch at Kitchen M Caffe

I wanted a change from dim sum and Chinese food so I went to Kitchen M Caffe at K11 mall for a very American meal of lobster bisque and sandwich.

They had several breakfast and lunch sets promotions but I just wanted lobster.

The coffee shop had a lot of gourmet items from France and Italy for sale.

Duck rillettes are awesome on good warm baguette.

Larnaudie duck rilletes

Larnaudie price list

Inaudi truffles

Inaudi truffle price list (click to enlarge)

I want!!!

Larnaudie bloc de foie gras

Larnaudie white fig confit, onion confit

This is the only place I saw British brand Prestat chocolates. I bought the diamond jubilee bar made with 70% dark chocolate with raspberries. It was delicious!

Prestat chocolates HK$35

I wonder if these are any good? I want to try a bag of Moak coffee.

Moak coffee

Moak Coffee price list (click to enlarge)

Butter cookies and palmiers seem to be the current rage in Hong Kong. Suddenly many, many brands have sprouted around the city.

Roll cookies

I hardly ever see lobster sandwich in Asia. Whenever I go to the US I always indulge in a lobster roll which I love.

They gave in to my request to change the potato wedges to a side salad.

Kitchen M Caffe’s lobster set HK$168

The lobster bisque was heavenly. Not too thick but creamy and rich in flavor. It even had chunks of lobster in the soup. A couple of twists of freshly ground black pepper and it was perfect.

Boston lobster bisque

The lobster sandwich did not disappoint. Generous large chunks of fresh and succulent lobster meat barely dressed with mayonnaise and sprinkled with shrimp roe. I found two thick slices of brioche too much so I just ate my lobster with one slice. If I ate both slices of bread it would have drowned out the delicate flavors of the lobster.

Boston lobster, shrimp roe dressing on brioche

The coffee was surprisingly strong and delicious. It was sooooo much better than the weak brew that Agnes b cafe next door served.

coffee

Kitchen M Caffe menu (click to enlarge)

Kitchen M Caffe is a nice place to have a light meal of sandwiches and salad. Good coffee is a plus. I have my eye on the smoked salmon, egg salad on rye sandwich on my next visit.

Kitchen M Caffe
Shop G36, K11 MiXTRA, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
telephone: +852 2736 1832

Yamato Bakery Cafe

Right next to Mitsuyado Sei-Men is a bread lovers haven called Yamato Bakery Cafe owned by the same group. I noticed diners waiting for a table at Mitsuyado were there shopping for bread. That’s a great way to pass time.

This bakery has it’s roots from Japan unlike Bread Talk which came from Singapore. Both sell similar style bread.

After my very filling and satisfying tsukemen lunch at Mitsuyado I went next door to take some pictures. I was too full to contemplate buying anything but the owner Mr. Hubert Young (pictured below) insisted I try some bread and he chose it personally.

They start baking at 5:00 am and continue the whole day ensuring fresh bread and pastries.

I would never have selected fried doughnuts but Mr. Young told me it was different from the American doughnut. He was right. It was denser and chewy. I suspect some mochiko (sweet rice flour) was used.

cinnamon twist doughnut P25

pineapple danish & twin ball (custard cream inside)

chocolate croissant, ann pan

This bread topped generously with bonito flakes looked really interesting.

okonomiyaki

burger roll

choco croissant & apple pie P50 each

This bread had some mild Japanese chocolate in the dough. Not enough for my taste though.

chocolate wassant P108

choux cream P40

choco choux cream P50

Japanese cheese cake P310

I got to try this fresh milk made by a Japanese couple in Bulacan. It has no preservatives and is not heated to a high temperature that’s why it has a short shelf life and has to be consumed immediately. It was really sweet.

These are the goodies Mr. Young so kindly gave me. I’m no expert on croissants because I hardly ever buy them. I love croissants but I feel too guilty eating them. These croissants were incredibly light and flaky. To me they are among the best I’ve tried in Manila.

banana fiesta, croissants, apple pie

ham & egg, ann doughnut, cinnamon twist doughnut

Since I was still quite full from lunch I had a buffet of bread for my dinner. It was dinner and dessert all in one. I started with the savory croissants, ham & egg and had the doughnut stuffed with red bean paste and apple pie for dessert. Everything was excellent but my favorites were the ann doughnut and the apple pie.

The apple pie had maybe a third of an apple inside with puff pastry wrapped around it. The natural sweetness and crunch of the apple was a joy to eat. The buttery puff pastry was just enough to hold the apple together. At P50 it was a steal. I can have apple pie for one anytime I want.

Yamato Bakery Cafe
22 Jupiter Street, Brgy. Bel Air, Makati City, Philippines.
7:00 am to 9:00 pm daily
telephone: +632 823-0960

Sunday Lunch at Mitsuyado Sei-Men

I have a long queue of posts which I usually do in chronological order but I’m excited to write about our lunch yesterday at the current ‘hot’ ramen restaurant, Mitsuyado Sei-Men. For a non-ramen lover I’ve been eating quite a few ramen lately.

Mitsuyado Sei-Men is located in Jupiter street right next to Cova and before Paseo de Roxas if you’re coming from Edsa.

The owner Hubert Young of UCC fame was there and he gave me a short lesson on noodles. Ramen came from the word lamian which means Chinese pulled noodles. Even pasta came from China. Sei-men means “to pull noodles.”

Mr. Young’s family is in the flour business and they know the importance of good flour. The best flour is from the first extraction of wheat and that is cake flour which they use for their noodles that they make in this room near the entrance of the restaurant. The picture on the right shows white rolling pins on a rack.

I really like the ‘old world’ Japan feel of the restaurant.

We went there at 11:30 am and were able to get a function room for our group of 12. After 12 there were already lines of people waiting for a table. Look at the detail on the door jamb below.

Without a doubt these are hands down the best gyoza I’ve ever eaten!!! I took a bite and was surprised at the flavors that assaulted my tongue. The ground pork was chopped finely and very, very juicy. It reminded me of xiao long bao. The skin was thin and from the picture you can see the bottom was perfectly crisp while the rest of the dumpling was soft. It was so flavorful already that it didn’t need any dipping sauce at all. I would have liked some chili oil to kick up the flavors even more. I’m sorry to say the gyoza at Ukokkei and Ippudo pale in comparison. Our group of 12 consumed 6 orders of gyoza.

gyoza P180

The kids and one adult preferred the traditional shoyu based ramen topped with uber tender char-siu.

char-siu ramen (L) P400

My mom ordered the yuzu ae-soba which I really liked. It had obvious tart flavors from the yuzu, a citrus fruit from Japan. The dish wasn’t at all oily and the thin noodles were very al dente. This is what I will order the next time I go back.

yuzu ae-soba P230

I didn’t get to try the tempura but those who ate it said it was good.

ebi tempura P280

My seat mate Jeffrey ordered the Japanese fried rice so I was able to try it. Japanese short grain rice was used to make it so it was really good. Again it wasn’t oily. You can eat this without any viand just like what Jeff did.

Japanese fried rice P170

It’s good that there are several dishes in the menu for those who are not so keen on ramen or noodles.

chicken black pepper teriyaki don P240

The specialty of the restaurant is tsukemen or dipping noodles.

The most basic is tsukumen where you get a plate of thick, chewy noodles and a bowl of really concentrated pork tonkotsu broth with some fish cake slices and veggies. If you want super al dente noodles ask for cold noodles. Warm noodles will get you medium bite while hot noodles will be the softest.

tsukemen (R) P240

If you want more veggies order the yasai tsukemen which comes with a plate of bean sprouts, cabbage and carrots.

yasai tsukemen (L) P300

For a non-traditional ramen you can try the cheese sauce tsukemen. I personally didn’t like it because the cheese sauce tasted just like cheez whiz.

cheese sauce tsukemen (R) P310

The karashi was the spiciest broth. I wasn’t able to try it but my friend Anthony said it was had the right amount spiciness for him. Anthony ordered a side of marutoku which came with char-siu (roast pork), aji-tama (Japanese egg), nori (seaweed) and yasai (vegetables). You can order any of the extra toppings with any noodle dish.

karashi tsukemen (R) P250 plus marutoku P100

Mr. Young suggested I try the marutoku tsukemen since it was my first time and it contained all the toppings.

marutoku tsukemen (R) P340

I really loved the chewy noodles. It was unlike any other noodle I’ve tried. I ordered my noodles cold and I found the texture just right. The pork tonkotsu broth was really concentrated and salty and perfect for dipping the noodles in it. It was too salty to drink. It had a lovely yuzu flavor to cut the richness of the broth. The flavor of yuzu is tart and often described as having the taste of grapefruit with an overtone of mandarin orange. Even when the broth was cold it was still delicious with the noodles. In Japan tsukemen is served hot or cold.

The addition of the egg, char-siu pork and veggies made an order too filling for me and I wasn’t able to finish my noodles. Maybe it’s also because of all the 3 pieces of gyoza I ate.

The coffee jelly was a nice dessert to end quite a heavy meal.

sumiyaki coffee jelly with ice cream P90

mini halo halo P150

Tsukemen (click to enlarge)

Mitsuyado Sei-Men menu - Extra Toppings & Ramen

Extra Toppings and Ramen

AE-Soba, Donburi & Rice

Side Orders & Desserts

Drinks

The star of Mitsuyado Sei-Men are the noodles. Whether you order ramen, tsukemen or soba you will get extra ordinarily good al dente noodles. My friend Elizabeth said they were the best noodles she has eaten even better than in Hong Kong or Japan. I agree with her. Don’t forget to order the gyoza too. That’s what I will go back for plus an order of Yuzu AE-Soba.

Mitsuyado Sei-Men: The House of Tsukemen
22 Jupiter Street, Brgy. Bel Air, Makati City, Philippines.
11.00am to 12.00am daily
telephone: +632 511-1390
Facebook

Dinner at Empire City Roasted Duck

There are several restaurants in K11 Mall and Empire City Roasted Duck is one we liked more. We’ve eaten here before and were quite satisfied with the food.

They gave us an unusual starter of sweet fruits.

The good thing with this restaurant is they offer soups by the bowl instead of the usual big servings of soup in other Chinese restaurants. Both soups were good.

bean curd & bamboo pith pottage HK$30

double boiled soup with Chinese ham, fish maw & cabbage HK$55

I still have to try their Peking duck but since only two of us eat duck I have to order my favorite fried salted duck instead. It was served with fried sweet potatoes.

deep fried duck meat with salt HK$78

I really liked this simple udon with mushrooms. Very flavorful and not greasy at all.

udon with assorted mushrooms

I don’t remember what these veggies were but these were served cold and were very refreshing just like a salad.

veggie with chicken bundles

The perfectly fried bottom of their pork and veggie siopao added delightful crisp and contrast to the fluffy dough and savory filling.

pan fried pork & vegetable bun HK$30

baked turnip pastry HK$30

Empire City Roasted Duck menu

Empire City Roasted Duck
Shop 221, Level 2, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
telephone: (852)2628-0662

Philippine Airlines Meals Mnl-Hkg-Mnl October 2012

The best way to start an early morning flight is with a bowl of hot chicken arroz caldo from Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay Lounge.

I was so happy to ride in Philippine Airlines’ 777-300ER which was quite comfortable even in economy. Welcome additions like a cup holder, bag hook and usb port were much appreciated.

I suddenly thought the chair and amenities seemed familiar and I remembered the flight I took on Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 which had almost the same exact features and this was way back in 2009!

Finally an entertainment system where you can choose what you want to watch and pause when you want. I even played a couple of games of Bejeweled.

For breakfast I chose the pork asado which came with Red Ribbon’s cinnamon roll and a bonus mini moon cake.

pork asado

The pork asado was tender and had a sweet sauce. Quite good and edible specially for airplane food.

This was the almost empty second section of economy. I think not even half of the plane was occupied.

I don’t like the 2-3-2 seating on business class. I much prefer a 2-2-2 layout.

I think only one person sat in business class that flight.

Don’t you just love the bathroom in Hong Kong’s airport? When will we ever have toilet seat cleaner in our bathrooms in Manila?

Our flight back to Manila was in a much smaller plane which still wasn’t full. I was lucky enough not to have a seat mate.

pork steak

The pork steak had a good peppery flavor but the meat was a bit tough probably because of the total absence of fat on the pork. In a way that was a good thing too.

Dessert was Red Ribbon’s moist banana cake. Overall I’m still happy with the food served by Philippine Airlines unlike other airlines that serve yucky stuffed bread for their meals.

Shanghai Wonton from Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant

Whenever anyone asks me where to eat in Hong Kong my reply is always Chuk Yuen for dim sum and Wu Kong for the food and xiao long bao. Every time I go to Hong Kong I eat at these two restaurants at least once.

Each time I go to Chuk Yuen they have something new in their dim sum menu. Last October it was the Shanghai wonton in chili and sour sauce. I had no idea what it would look like and just took a chance. An order yielded 4 large wontons with a sweetish soy based sauce in the bottom of the plate.

Shanghai wonton in chili & sour sauce HK$26

Inside were big pieces of shrimp and some pork. It was really good specially with the sauce and chili topping. It wasn’t too salty or too spicy.

What surprised me were these bundles of vermicelli on top of the wonton. These were a delightful bonus, crunchy noodles topped with bits of spicy pork. This my new favorite dish in Chuk Yuen. I hope they will still have this in December.

Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant
Basement, Hong Kong Pacific centre
28 Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
telephone: +852-2722-0633

Take Out Dinner From Tim Ho Wan

For lunch I ate at Nanhai No. 1, a Michelin One Star restaurant in a beautiful setting with matching prices. For dinner I bought dim sum at a hole in a wall in Mongkok which also had the distinction of being the cheapest Michelin One Star restaurant in Hong Kong.

I went to Tim Ho Wan late in the afternoon hoping that there’s no line.

I don’t think there’s any time in the day that there is no queue to eat at Tim Ho Wan. Locals and foreigners know good cheap food is worth the wait.

Well I don’t have patience to wait so I ordered a variety of dim sum for take away. I only waited 15 minutes for it.

Both chicken feet and spareribs were good but nothing spectacular but I’m not complaining since an order costs HK$14 only.

steamed chicken feet and spareribs with black bean sauce HK$14 each

The Chiu Chow dumplings had a thick and sticky wrapper with seafood and peanuts filling. Quite good.

steamed dumpling Chiu Chow style HK$10

My favorite was the glutinous rice in lotus leaf (lo mai gai) which was called glue rice dumpling on the menu. It was moist, very flavorful and had lots of lean pork as filling. It tasted much better than the ones I’ve had in more expensive restaurants.

glue rice dumpling (glutinous rice in lotus leaf) HK$22

I bought 4 orders of my ultimate Tim Ho Wan favorite BBQ pork buns. Cheap or not these are really the best bbq pork buns. Your first bite will be sweet, savory pork filling and not just bread. There’s just enough bread to wrap around a lot of filling instead of the other way around in most places. These were perfect the next day for breakfast.

baked bun with bbq pork HK$15 (3 pieces)

My friend Tisay gave us a box of warm Portugese egg tarts from Macau Restaurant. I haven’t had these in a long time and enjoyed the rich buttery crust filled with creamy egg custard.

Portugese egg tarts from Macau restaurant

Tim Ho Wan menu

A visit to Tim Ho Wan is now a part of my trip to Hong Kong. I still have several dishes I want to try. I doubt I’ll ever get to eat inside the restaurant but I don’t really mind. For those who stay in a hotel in Hong Kong I suggest you take out the BBQ pork buns since you can eat them anytime.

I’m sad that this branch has closed as of January 2013.

Tim Ho Wan
Shop 8, Taui Yuen Mansion Phase 2, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong
旺角廣華街2-20號翠園大樓2期地下8號舖
telephone: (852) 2332-2896

The newest branch of Tim Ho Wan is at:
Shop 72, G/F, Olympian City 2, 18 Hoi Ting Road, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon
telephone: 2332 2896