Shoot First Eat Later

Sticky & Chocolat-ier at K11 Mall

What I like about K11 mall is it’s constantly adding new restaurants and stores to attract more shoppers. It’s working with me since there was a time I don’t even bother going to K11 anymore. Here’s a couple of interesting stores I discovered during my last trip to Hong Kong.

Sticky has it’s roots in Australia. They also have branches in Singapore.

They specialize in hand-made candy right in the store.

It takes skill to make candies with designs and legible words in them. I didn’t buy any but I did try a sample and well, it’s candy.

On the same level is a small kiosk that caught my attention more.

Other than my obsession with coffee I also love chocolates and tea. This line of chocolates infused with tea is from TeaRoom a company based in San Leandro, California. The guy manning the store let me sample the dark chocolate bars and I ended up buying 5 kinds of bars.

TeaRoom Chocolate Bar Infusions

At the back of the chocolate bar there’s instructions on how to savor the chocolate. You must let it melt on your tongue until you can taste all the flavors. It really worked and the taste combinations were amazing. So far I’ve tried the 60% Dark Chocolate Bar Infused with Raspberry Rooibos Tea and 72% Extra Dark Chocolate Bar Infused with a Rich Arabica Espresso and I enjoyed them both.

I hope this stall will still be there the next time I go to Hong Kong since I want to try their tea and drinking chocolate too.

TeaRoom tea and drinking chocolate

TeaRoom Tea Infusions

Russian 72% chocolate bar

You can also buy assorted chocolates by weight.

Sticky
B2 K11 Mall
18 Hanoi Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
website

Chocolat-ier

B2 K11 Mall

TeaRoom online store

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Philippine Airlines Meal Mnl-Hkg-Mnl, April 2012

Our family spent Holy Week in Hong Kong last April as is our annual tradition. As usual we took our favorite airline, Philippine Airlines.

Isn’t the line-up of Filipino chefs cooking for PAL really impressive? No wonder the food is almost always good.

menu

I’ve always had luck with their beef entrees so I ordered the beef tenderloin to get my daily dose of lean protein.

I always love their salad starters. They’re always unique and well made and this was no exception. The scallop was perfectly cooked but the prawns were a tad overdone. The seafood was well complemented by the soba noodles and cucumber slices. I just poured a little sesame dressing and it was delicious. I was already half full after this seafood salad.

prawns & grilled scallops, soba noodle salad, seaweed, cucumber & salad greens with sesame dressing

I’m happy that the Cebu Best Mango Chocolate is now automatically served on the tray unlike before you had to ask for coffee or tea AFTER your meal for this delectable treat to show up.

tenderloin & prawn w: truffle bernaice sauce & cheddar croquette

My luck didn’t hold up this time. The taste was good but unfortunately the beef was overcooked beyond what my jaws could handle.

I spied my British seat mate’s paksiw na lechon kawali and asked her how it was. She said it was very good so I requested the flight attendant if I could have my entree changed. I was surprised at how adventurous my seat mate was in her choice of food.

paksiw na lechon kawali with lemongrass steamed rice

It was indeed very good. The flavors were spot on with the lechon sauce having the right balance of sweet and sour. The lechon kawali was also very tender. I just found the pork too fatty and there was not enough meat left to make a decent meal out of it.

The best part of the meal was the surprising crépe samurai. It brought back memories of the buffet in Intercon Hotel where I first tried crépe when I was a child.

crépe samurai

It was a really wonderful treat to find in an airplane meal. And yes it was as good as the one in Intercon. It made me forget the beef and pork entrees.

I’m sorry Nestle, this wasn’t tempting at all. I stopped eating it after a spoonful. My British seat mate did the same after she asked me, “this is ice cream?” I agreed with her. It tasted like some artificial cold stuff and nothing like creamy ice cream.

Nestle Temptations ice cream

menu

bread basket

On the trip back to Manila I was greeted with a happy surprise. It was the first time PAL gave out Blue Diamond mixed nuts and it was a relatively big bag too. I hope they don’t stop doing this.

Blue Diamond mixed nuts

PAL is also the only airlines I’ve taken that always included dried chili pepper and mixed herbs asides from just the usual salt not that I’ve ever used it since the food is always just right for my taste.

Asian squid salad, papaya salsa & salad greens

When I first ate this I thought it was udon noodles until I read the menu again. I was surprised it was squid since it was so tender it could pass for noodles. The squid was partnered with poached chicken and sweet mango cubes. As usual I loved this unique salad specially the vibrant vinaigrette.

I really liked the fish with it’s nutty topping. It was well cooked and the taste was sublime. The super cheesy and creamy potato au gratin was to die for and I had to stop myself from eating more than one layer.

pistachio-crusted sea bass in lime & lemon veloute & roasted onion & potato gratin

I found the apple filling too sweet and the crust wasn’t that great but the almond filling in the middle was wonderful.

apple frangipane with vanilla sauce

Dinner at Ants One, K11 Mall

If you’ve been reading this blog daily don’t be confused. I just finished posts on Taipei and this post is the beginning of entries on my trip to Hong Kong last April.

Every time we go to Hong Kong we eat the same places which are our family’s favorites like Wu Kong and Chuk Yuen. This time we made an effort to try out new restaurants like Ants One in K11 mall.

The restaurant was a recent addition and was placed in the middle of the open space of the mall that’s why it’s enclosed in glass.

Ants One billed itself as a casual dining restaurant that served pasta, rice and meat specialties. It served all kinds of cuisines. I would say it’s more like their version of comfort food.

My dad ordered this health drink made with pear, almonds, coconut, sea coconut and white fungi. It was cooked for a long time that’s why all the ingredients in the drink were soft. It was a hot and sweet drink.

pear, sweet & bitter almond, coconut, sea coconut &
white fungi drink HK$25

The pumpkin soup was your typical creamy soup. Good but nothing outstanding.

soup of the day HK$28

We liked the fried rice since it wasn’t oily and had different kinds of seafood in it. It used egg white only for a healthier meal.

fried rice with salmon, crab meat, crab roe & egg white HK$62

If you’re hungry and in a rush then Ants One is the place to eat. All the food came out hot and lightning fast. I swear it didn’t take longer than 5 minutes for all the food to be served all at once.

My favorite was their pizza made with puff pastry for the crust. It was light, crisp and super flaky. The topping of chicken and mushroom were quite generous too. I also liked the fresh tomato sauce used. This was a small pizza which could easily be eaten a 1 person. Next time I want to try the Roasted Duck Beijing style pizza.

roasted chicken & fresh mushroom in scallion pastry HK$65

Some of the ox tail were tough while some were really tender. The red wine sauce was quite tasty.

braised ox tail in red wine sauce HK$78

poached cabbage with Yunnan ham HK$30

dessert

We skipped dessert but the display was right outside the restaurant.

For a change from all the Chinese food dining at Ants One is a good option. The food has strong Japanese influence specially in the pasta, rice and desserts.

Hokkaido chocolate pudding HK$25

Ants One Menu
set menu, taste of fresh, taste of pasta, taste of rice, taste of snack, drinks

Ants One
Shop 219-220, Level 2, K11 Mall
18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
telephone : 2363 6788
website

New Cakes from UCC Vienna Cafe

My friend and co-blogger Jin invited to try out her new cake creations at UCC Vienna Cafe.

She promised to feed me first so after a long perusal of the menu I finally found something healthy and almost “Cohen” approved. The yakiniku beef was so tender and flavorful with all the sauce that I didn’t need any dressing to eat my veggies. This was a really good and satisfying salad.

yakiniku salad

This was Jin’s concession to healthy eating. I wish this sandwich came in salad form but without mayonnaise. Is that possible?

shrimp and kani sandwich

siphon coffee

I love UCC coffee!

Jin’s idea was to take favorite Filipino desserts and turn them in to cakes. Smart idea huh?

Let me tell you first, I’m not fond of halo halo since I don’t like any form of beans. That’s the reason Razon’s is the only halo halo I will eat if at all. Halo halo has just never been a favorite dessert of mine. With that disclaimer I will now let you know what my impression of the halo halo cake is.

The halo halo cake was definitely well thought of. Small details like a layer of leche flan, ube halaya and cream in between the layers ube chiffon cake was brilliant. Jin however frowned when I started picking just the pieces of banana, langka and leche flan. She kept telling me to eat the whole thing together. Giggling I replied, “the thick cake won’t fit my mouth!” I ate all the yummy nangkasuy ice cream too.

To be fair I’m not really the target market for cakes like these. I prefer any dessert to be dark brown (chocolate) in color. That’s it. But for people who love halo halo then you must try this cake. It’s like having your halo halo and eating your cake too. What could be better than that?

halo halo cake P250

macapuno cake P225

UCC Vienna Cafe
59 Connecticut St, Greenhills
San Juan City, Metro Manila
Philippines
telephone: 726-1728

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Sarah’s Birthday at Summer Palace, Edsa Shangri-La Hotel

My friend Sarah is Japanese and she married our good family friend who’s Chinese. In the 16 years or so that she’s lived in Manila she managed to master the Chinese language both Fookien and Mandarin and a smattering of Filipino. I’m so ashamed that she speaks much, much better Chinese than me.

For her birthday celebration her hubby treated us to lunch at Summer Palace in Edsa Shangri-La which is one of the better places to get good Chinese food in Manila.

lunch menu

Whenever our families eat out barbecued pork is always the standard order because Sarah’s 3 kids just LOVE it.

barbecued pork

soy chicken

jelly fish

I love hot prawn salad and Summer Palace’s version is one of the best. The prawns were crisp and instead of canned fruit cocktail sweet fresh fruit was used. I also appreciated that it was lightly dressed instead of swimming in mayonnaise.

hot prawn salad with fresh fruits

I wish it was money inside but then that wouldn’t taste good. The money bags were really made of bean curd skin and stuffed with braised veggies.

braised lohan vegetables in money bag

This was really, really good.

Summer Palace’s fried cod fish is my all-time favorite dish. It’s freshness and simplicity can’t be beat. They usually serve it with the sauce on top but this time the host requested it be served on the side.

pan fried cod fish in light soya sauce

I like the light soya sauce on the side so you can get as much or as little as you want.

spinach in superior stock

I was surprised to see two kinds of fried rice on our lunch menu. I guess the yang chow was for the kids.

yang chow fried rice

I liked the adult’s fried rice so much better. It was more flavorful and the rice was a bit sticky. It contained Chinese sausage so it was oilier too. You definitely have to try this. In Hong Kong this is available in winter time only.

waxed meat fried rice

mango pudding

Mango pudding is my favorite Chinese dessert and this version was so yummy. There was lots of sweet mango chunks and the pudding was cold and creamy.

chilled lemongrass jelly with almond jelly & lychee

Here’s Sarah being serenaded by the restaurant’s waiters.

Everyone loved the strawberry shortcake from Karen’s Kitchen.

strawberry shortcake from Karen’s Kitchen

Not too much whipped cream, just the right amount of sweetness, lots of strawberries and ultra soft cake. One of the best strawberry shortcakes in Manila!!

Food Products From Taiwan

As you’ve seen from my previous posts Taiwan is such a foodie country. From the night markets to the supermarkets the types of foodstuff to buy are mind boggling. Imagine if the labels were in English I would have been tempted to buy stuff. Here are some of the stuff I bought that I highly recommend you try on your visit to Taiwan.

I never buy frozen dim sum but I was given a free cooked sample to try and I was blown away at how good these pork dumplings tasted. It definitely beat any dumpling I’ve eaten in Manila’s restaurants. The skin was thin yet had a nice bite to it. The pork and chives filling was very tasty and quite generous. I’ve never tried other brands in Taipei but I highly recommend this brand.

frozen pork dumplings

While speed walking past so many food stores in Tamsui Old Street Night Market I took a chance and entered a store with many people. I tried a small sample of this green tea pastry and immediately bought two pieces. How I wish I bought more.

Kyosai green tea pastry

The crust was very, very flaky but not buttery so it wasn’t an overload. I did remove some excess layers when I ate this.

My favorite was the intense flavor of the green tea filling. It’s not just coloring. It did taste as strong as the color suggested. If you like green tea flavored food and drinks as I do then this is for you.

On a whim I bought this bag of sweet potato chips from Jason’s Marketplace in Taipei 101.

sweet potato chips

As expected from Taiwan’s sweet potatoes the chips were very sweet. The only thing I didn’t like was the addition of sugar to the chips. It didn’t need more sugar. A little salt would have been a better addition.

I have developed a new love for spicy peanuts and these hit just the right spot.

Carrefour spicy peanuts

The peanuts still had their skin on and were not greasy. The spiciness was just right and tolerable for me.

Their wasabi peanuts were good too.

Carrefour wasabi peanuts

Of all the peanuts I bought my favorite were these naturally black peanuts native to Taiwan.

black peanuts

The skin of the peanuts were black and it had a natural sweet and salty flavor that I really loved. Simply roasted these peanuts were so, so addicting!

China Airlines Lounge at Taipei Taoyuan Airport

I flew economy to Taipei but because of the Mabuhay Miles Prestige Card that Allied Band Mastercard gave me I was able to access the China Airlines lounge in Taipei’s Taoyuan airport.

When I first landed in Taipei at the old, unrenovated airport terminal it reminded me of our old and dated NAIA 1 terminal. At the departure area I was surprised at how nice the new terminal was.

This was just one their wall art featuring Chinese calligraphy.

As much as I wish and dream I don’t think we’ll ever have a restroom as nice as this in our airport.

Yes this mosaic art work hung in the ladies room.

It’s all about small details like this painted glass divider that made the restroom so nice and classy.

No harsh fluorescent lighting here.

Isn’t this the cutest and most practical thing?

I forgot to touch the leaves but I suspect they’re real.

This lounge was for several airlines.

I was so ‘aliw’ with this automated disposable towel dispenser.

It saves on packaging and is sanitary.

There wasn’t much food options but there were a lot of drinks.

This was the first time I saw heated and sanitized coffee cups in a lounge.

I didn’t like the sparse snacks they had.

dim sum

The noodle bar wasn’t exactly booming with orders.

My mom said the noodle soup was blah.

I just had a can of cold and unsweetened strong oolong tea.

Sweet potato!!! This is something you’ll never see in any airport lounge but I was ecstatic to see it.

The sweet potato were thin and scrawny.

I really love Taiwan’s sweet potatoes. They were so sweet like it was drenched with maple syrup. I was so happy this was my last meal in Taipei. I wish I brought some Ziploc to take some home.

Gong Cha Taipei

When I was in Taipei I was actively looking for the popular milk tea brands we have in Manila like Chatime, Share Tea and others but I didn’t see them except for this tiny branch of Gong Cha in a small street right across the massage place we went to.

I wanted to try something new but everything was in Chinese and shame on me for not being able to read Chinese despite my education in ICA.

My dad chose this drink that was ‘special recommend.’

With the help of Google translate and my mom this drink is called 8 herbs grass jelly drink.

八宝仙草奶烧

There’s the grass jelly that my parents love.

It also had sweet beans and barley.

And lots of tapioca or sago.

My dad was half way through his drink when the guy manning the stall gestured that the small cup of cream should be added to the drink. With or without the cream the drink was really good.

Through the wonders of pointing I managed to order this refreshing drink although at that time I had no idea what I was drinking. Google translated this as “Cold jelly: a healthy low calorie cold day with fresh lemon juice with a jelly material good taste, satiety, but without the burden of the body.”

I made a good choice. It was citrusy and not too sweet.

寒天愛玉

Seafood Dinner at Taipei Hwashi Tourist Night Market

I have 3 cousins who live in Taipei and all are fluent in speaking, reading and writing in Chinese. How I envy them. For dinner we met with my cousin, Angie the oldest of 3 siblings. She took us to Taipei Hwashi Tourist Night Market for dinner.

This night market was different from Raohe St. night market since it’s under a roof and stalls were permanent. There were stores selling all kinds of stuff.

There were also lots of foot massage places along the whole strip. This one did brisk business.

This one looked really nice and classy but had only a few clients.

My parents went to this one the day before but they liked the one I brought them to better.

This is my cousin Angie and her adorable son Daniel who wasn’t in the mood that night.

The restaurant Angie chose was called 福州海洋平價海鮮餐廳. Sorry there’s no English name.

My dad selected the seafood and decided how it will be cooked.

Turtles anyone? My dad loves turtle stew and I’m glad he didn’t order any. I don’t eat turtle.

I wish he ordered lobster.

I don’t know what kind of clam this was but it was huge! Jin said it’s geoduck. Thanks Jin!

Look at all the live and fresh seafood to choose from.

The dining area was right across the fish tanks and it was really barebones and filled with locals so it must be good.

Out of all the fresh seafood these are some of what my dad selected. These are some of the normal ones.

Angie brought her friend who ate all the weird stuff my dad ordered. Poor Daniel probably had a premonition of the food my dad ordered thus the sad face.

My dad selected these drinks from the chiller behind us. The one on the left was unsweeted tea and the one on the right was a sweetened plum drink I think.

The steamed fish was really good and fresh.

steamed fish

This was for my mom who loves fresh bamboo shoots.

bamboo shoot

This was my third fried oyster dish in 2 days and I loved it. The one at Tamsui was still my favorite though.

fried oysters

clam soup

The clams were so plump and meaty and the soup was so flavorful. I stopped eating after the soup.

Normally my dad does a good job of ordering food like the meal we had in Tamsui but that night he decided to be adventurous and order food even my mom was shocked to see.

Sure Chinese people liked to eat kidney but what are those oval objects that had veins?

kidney and testicles

Yikes! They’re testicles!!! From what animal? I don’t know. What’s your guess? They seem to small to belong to a cow right? Angie’s friend happily ate these.

I was told this was tripe. It looked scary and unappetizing to me. I’m used to white tripe that’s swimming in tomato sauce.

tripe

This dish looked normal so I tried a piece. It was hard and stringy and I didn’t like it.

It turned out to be some kind of snail. I eat escargot and ‘kuhol’ but these weren’t as good or appetizing.

On the other table they had the same snails which were cooked simply with open flame in the middle.

I would have probably enjoyed our meal if my dad ordered more familiar seafood like shrimp, crab or lobster instead of testicles, tripe and snails. Well it was an experience I’m not going to forget soon.

福州海洋平價海鮮餐廳
Taipei Hwashi Tourist Night Market

Tamsui Old Street Night Market

This was the view that met us when we walked to Tamsui Old Street Night Market. There were more locals than tourists from what I saw. There were also lots of dogs with clothes being walked by their owners.

As soon as we arrived we were greeted by so much snack stands. The whole place was just like a night market filled with all kind of ready to eat food as well as food stuff you can buy. Even though we were so full from lunch we couldn’t help but buy some goodies along the way.

My mom gazed longingly at this super tall ice cream cone.

Outside some restaurants you can buy fresh mussels and choose your frog to be cooked.

This is what we call dulong or silver fish. It’s fantastic cooked in an omelet or added to pasta. Really.

You can also buy fresh seafood to take home.

They sure love sausages.

He used a really, really long pole. I wonder if he caught any fish.

Jay got an order of his favorite grilled squid. It was brushed with a marinade and topped with some spice powder.

I love Taiwanese oranges called 柳丁 (liǔdīng) which are among the sweetest varieties I’ve ever tried.

I bought a big glass (700cc) of freshly squeezed orange juice for NT$65 and 9 oranges were used. It was as sweet as sugar!!

Anybody know what this drink is?

fried octopus

My mom couldn’t resist so she bought her own soft serve ice cream. Too bad it looks better than it tastes. It was totally devoid of flavor or creaminess. It tasted just like cold ice. It got dumped pretty quick.

風螺 a kind of conch and it came in regular, mild, medium and super spicy flavors.

corndogs

We turned into this narrow alley to go out the other side of the street.

egg tarts & egg pudding in egg shell

There were plenty of milk tea and coffee places on the street.

My mom and Pat stopped to buy sweet guava.

While my dad and his sister tried several pickled fruit and champoy.

My dad swears this was the best.

dried squid

dried shrimp and anchovies

This was my mom’s favorite dessert made with jelly strips in a lemon flavor sweet base.

I can’t resist buying sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato for me, sweet taro for my dad

As we were leaving we saw a long queue for these red bean cakes.

Taipei is really a great place for foodies. Everywhere there are stalls and stalls that sell unique food as well as old time favorites. Even with the language barrier all you need is to be adventurous and point and pay and you’ll find the food that will amaze you.

Tamsui Old Street Night Market
Zhōngshān Rd, Danshuei District, New Taipei, Taiwan 251