Shoot First Eat Later

Donq Bakery

Carbs. I love carbs. I realized I can stop eating rice but my downfall in Hong Kong is bread. Specially from bakeries with open displays that give you a tray and tongs to help yourself to all their glorious creations.

I have a lot of favorite bakeries in Hong Kong. There’s Panash where I buy pao de queijo or Brazilian cheese bread made from cassava flour and is gluten free. These are also popular in Portugal and Argentina.

Pão de Queijo
(photo from http://foodtranslation.wordpress.com, click on link for recipe)

Little Mermaid is where I buy those triple chocolate sticky donut.

Last December I vowed not to go near these two bakeries and I succeeded.

When I go to Hong Kong I stay in Kowloon side and go to Hong Kong side only for 2 stores, Ikea and Sogo. In Sogo my last stop is always Donq, a bakery in the basement level right outside the supermarket.

Last December I caved in and went to Donq to buy my favorite Spinach and Cheese Rustique.

Pardon the quality of the pictures below. I just used my iPhone’s camera.

My favorite bread can be found right at the entrance of Donq in the covered case on the right side of the picture below.

I’ve tried several sweet and savory breads from Donq and I can assure you they are all good. As part of my sacrifice and diet (?) I limited myself to buy just one kind.

Yes I bought 5 pieces of Spinach and Cheese Rustique. That’s how much I love this really crusty bread with chunks of cheddar cheese and whole spinach leaves.

Pop them in the toaster oven and the cheese melts slightly and the crust is perfectly crunchy and the inside in soft and pillowy. I’m sure a pat of butter would be wonderful on it. But I’ve never tried it. It’s ‘bad’ enough as it is.

This is actually a rather big piece. If I eat one whole for breakfast I’m full until lunch. So usually I just eat half. I sometimes bring them home to Manila and store them in the freezer.

Spinach & Cheese Rustique HK$12

If dry, crusty bread isn’t your type then try any of Donq’s soft, sweet or savory breads. They have ones with cheese, tuna, hotdog, potato fillings as well as red bean, green tea and many more. I hope they never open in Kowloon or else I’m doomed.

Donq
B2 Flr. Sogo
Hennessy Road 555,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Lunch at Tao Heung

My friend Elizabeth asked the concierge of Intercon Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui were to find the best hot pot. He said Tao Heung so that’s where we went for lunch.

Tao Heung and Hak Ka Hut are owned by the same group with many other restaurants.

Unfortunately when we got there no one was eating hot pot. Everyone was eating dim sum. I guess they served hot pot for dinner only. We have to go back to try that next time.

I think this was the first time I’ve seen a dim sum restaurant with an open kitchen.

The turnip cake was one of the best we’ve eaten in Hong Kong. It was so tasty and didn’t need any soy sauce or hot sauce.

pan fried turnip patties

We ordered another one and this time it was even better. Turnip cake, also known as raddish cake in the Philippines and carrot cake in Singapore, is best eaten ‘tostado’ or well browned with a crisp exterior and a soft interior.

To order it this way in Cantonese tell your server “lo pa ko, sok ti.” Lo pa ko means turnip cake and sok ti means “tostado or browned to a crisp”. Even without any authentic Cantonese accent they will understand you. I promise.

Another big hit was the crisp fried beancurd sheet filled with shrimp.

fried beancurd roll

The crispy chicken was the house specialty and it truly deserved that title. The skin was very thin, super crisp and tasty. The meat was just as flavorful and very moist.

roast crispy chicken half – 68, whole- 128

I didn’t get to try the siu mai and xiao long bao but the kids gave it a two thumbs up. Just take a look at the whole shrimp on top of the siu mai.

premium siu mai

xiao long bao

These glutinous fried meat dumplings are usually my favorite but these were just average unlike the ones at my favorite dim sum place Chuk Yuen. Every where I eat dim sum I seem to compare with Chuk Yuen which is still the best overall for me.

fried minced pork dumplings

The spare ribs were just ok too. To die for at Chuk Yuen 😀

steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce

Another first was the super friendly waitress who gave us very good food recommendations. Super friendly servers are very rare in Hong Kong Chinese restaurants. She recommended the next three dishes.

The noodles was everyone’s favorite. It wasn’t oily at all the sauce was different from the usual and was very, very tasty. Maybe it was because of the fresh mushrooms and goose feet? It was the first time for me to try the webbed goose feet. It was similar to chicken feet but leaner and more flavorful.

noodles w/ fresh mushrooms & goose feet

If we knew the chicken feet was such a big dish we wouldn’t have ordered it because only 3 of us in the group of 9 ate chicken feet. I tried to eat as much as I could since it was delicious. It tasted like pata tim!

braised chicken feet

The last recommended dish was an acquired taste. The soup was very flavorful but contained Chinese herbs that not everyone liked.

double boiled soup

This was the ingredients used to make the soup. They presented it in another bowl. I don’t think anyone really eats this since there isn’t any flavor left. We did the 4 pieces of tender abalone on top.

Another mediocre dish.

rice roll w/ bbq pork

Soft, mushy and blah. It should have been hot, crisp and flaky. Fail.

bbq pork pastry

Tao Heung dim sum menu (click images to enlarge)

Tao Heung’s dim sum was much better than it’s sister restaurant Hak Ka Hut. I would definitely go back for the yummy lo pa ko and noodles. And of course to try the elusive hot pot.

Tao Heung
3/F., Carnavon Plaza,
20-20 C Carnavon Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
telephone: +852-2367-1328
Business Hours: 7:30am – 1:00am

other branches

Dinner at Monster Sushi

We wanted to have a light and simple dinner so we went to iSQUARE to try Monster Sushi.

It was a week night that’s why we were able to get a table quickly. If you go to iSQUARE on a weekend be prepared to join long queues in most restaurants.

Gunkan sushi (battleship sushi) are sushi topped with soft or salad type topping on top of vinegared rice.

These were made up of (top to bottom) whelk, octopus w/ wasabi and lobster salad. It was quite delicious and unique.

3 styles gunkan maki HK$28

I was a bit disappointed with this huge roll made up of lots of rice and more crunchy puffed rice coating. The filling was just a small piece of crab stick, an itsy bitsy piece of mango and pickled vegetable. It would have been better with more sauce and mayonnaise instead of a measly drizzle. The crunchy texture was interesting though.

godzilla roll HK$35

Soft, slimy, favorful. Yum.

lobster salad w/ seared salmon roll HK$28

Here’s one sushi that seemed like a good idea on the menu. Hairy crab meat as special as it is was totally lost on this fried sushi roll. All I could taste was rice and an oily after taste.

hairy crab tempura roll HK$28

They also had a lot of cooked food and many other sashimi and sushi creations. I may just go back to try them out.

Monster Sushi
Shop 302, 3/F, iSquare,
63 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
telephone +852-2111-1116

Lunch at Tai Hing Roast Restaurant

It’s rare that I get a chance to eat by myself in Hong Kong. Last December I found myself all alone and I knew right away where I wanted to eat.

I asked Jin where the best milk tea could be found in Hong Kong and she told me it’s at Tai Hing. Since she lived in Hong Kong for a while she should know.

So I took the #1 bus and got off Nelson St. and walked a block to Tai Hing. It was very near Langham Place.

I went there early because the first time I saw this branch there was a long line out the door.

I sat in one of the small tables below.

I was fascinated when a waiter opened a drawer underneath my table and took out my table setting. What a smart idea! I found myself opening it and getting more napkins, another fork and a toothpick.

I wonder what will happen if they do this in Manila. Will everything disappear?

The milk tea was good. The tea was nice and strong. I wish it were hotter though. It was barely warm. It tasted almost exactly like my favorite at Cafe de Coral.

hot milk tea

Maybe I should have ordered the chilled milk tea. Tai Hing is famous for this. They even won second place in the milk tea competition in Hong Kong.

I took this picture from the next table. The ice is on the outside so it won’t dilute the milk tea. Fantastic!

chilled milk tea

Tai Hing had a rather extensive menu and their specialties are roast meats. I wasn’t in the mood to eat roast meat and white rice. When I saw the picture of the noodles on the menu I immediately ordered it.

I love noodles and specially ho fan or flat rice noodles. The twist in this beef ho fan dish was the Swiss sauce. I had to find out what that tasted like.

The noodle were good and al dente. There was lots of tender beef. But what I didn’t really, really love was the sweet Swiss sauce. Traditionally beef ho fan was salty. This version was sweet and salty. It wasn’t that bad but it wasn’t my favorite.

wet-fried flat noodles w/ shredded beef
in Swiss sauce HK$48 (with hot milk tea)

The problem with eating alone was you can’t order much food. While waiting for my noodles I continued to read the menu and I saw my favorite fall/winter only dish – fried glutinous rice with preserved meats. I immediately ordered one for take out.

fried glutinous rice w/ preserved meats HK$46

The rice arrived while I was half way into my noodles. I opened the lid and tried it while it was still hot. Oh my! It was fabulous! The rice was soft, sticky and filled with yummy preserved sausages and duck. It was so fragrant and not too greasy. I spooned some rice on my plate and transferred the rest of the noodles into the container.

I liked the rice so much better than the noodles. I had the leftovers for dinner and it was still as good. Ahhh a day of all carbs. I loved it!

Here are some pictures I took of their specialties.

5 star roast pork

roast meats

full menu

Tai Hing Roast Restaurant
Shop A, G/F, Two Grand Tower,
625 Nathan Road, Kowloon
telephone: +852-2625-0383

other branches

Lunch at Ebeneezer’s Kebabs & Pizzeria

I’ve always wanted to try Ebeneezer’s kebabs in Hong Kong but I never found the opportunity to do so. When I saw fellow blogger, Jin give it her highest 4♥ rating I made time to try it.

When I went to their Tsim Sha Tsui branch for lunch this huge delivery truck blocked the store and I couldn’t take a picture of the facade.

Two rolls of chicken and lamb meat were delivered. These were ready for the the vertical roasting spit.

The roast chicken was really superb. I specially liked the charred parts which had the most flavor and a slight crunch. The dressing used was the same one for the kebab and I believe most of their dishes. It was a combination of yogurt and mint sauces. Both sauces were quite bland and lacked character. A good dose of garlic and spices were badly needed.

roast chicken salad HK$42

The lamb meat was very tender and not greasy at all. Other than that I can’t say much about the kebab which was quite boring. I asked for more sauce but it didn’t do any good since the sauce was basically flavorless. Maybe I’m just used to the uber garlic sauces of the kebab/shawarma stands in Manila.

I’m sorry Jin but in my opinion this was a far cry from the one I had at the Halal cart in New York. The garlic sauce there was fabulous.

donar kebab HK$56

This was the sauce for the salad and kebab. A plain yogurt and mint sauce were combined.

mint & yogurt dressing

branches

New Year’s Eve Dinner 2010

Every December 31 all my cousins on my father’s side come to our house to celebrate.

Every year I cook and order some food and desserts on the side. This year I decided to give myself and my staff a break and decided to have dinner catered by Classic Chef owned by a dear friend of the family, Cecille Chuachiaco.

Since we didn’t need plates, glasses or service we decided to pick up the food from the caterer ourselves. The problem was they were 1 1/2 hours late in releasing the food. By the time the food arrived in our house all my cousins were already there and waiting. Well that was very stressful for me indeed. Thankfully all the food were in chafing dishes and nicely arranged already.

Other than that everyone enjoyed the delicious food. The crowd favorites were the Caesar salad, prawns thermidor, tenderloin steak and ham loin. And of course the 3 desserts which I forgot to take pictures of – Warm Apple Pie, Mango Crepe with Chocolate Sauce and Triple Chocolate Cake.

Caesar Salad

The only thing I made was my special roasted garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes which everyone loved. So they said.

garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes

Arroz a la Paella

Fookien Misua

Prawns Thermidor

For such a huge piece of baked salmon it was incredibly tender and moist. I loved the nutty, lemony filling.

Baked Salmon with Lemon Almond Stuffing

Roast Beef Tenderloin

The homemade ham wasn’t as salty as store bought ham. It was so good my cousins took it all home!

Ham Loin

These pictures are for my other cousins in Taipei, Singapore and New York who couldn’t make it home. We miss you guys! Hope to see you next year. (Some cousins and an aunt went home early so I wasn’t able to take their picture)

Lim family

Tan family

Baby Bree with my doggie Chino

Ty family

The Chengs

Classic Chef Catering
161 D. Tuazon Street,
Quezon City, Philippines
telephone: +632-731-2286, +63917-526-5217

Christmas Eve at Xiao Nan Guo Premier

We had Christmas eve dinner with good family friends and some guests from the USA at Xiao Nan Guo Premier.

We had lunch there a couple of days before and knew that our host would enjoy the food and specially the ambiance and view. So our reservation at Intercon’s Harbourside was canceled and we had Christmas eve dinner at Xiao Nan Guo Premier.

The view from our function room was spectacular at night.

The ‘adults and guests’ table had this special set menu which I heard was overwhelming. We could literally hear them groaning from being too full.

I sat at the kids table where we ordered ala carte. I loved the free candied walnuts. They were crunchy and had a slight burnt caramel flavor.

The cold drunken chicken was really well executed. The flavors were intense without having a strong alcohol taste.

drunken chicken in shaoxing wine HK$88

I didn’t care for the vegetarian rolls made with beancurd skin. They looked nice though.

vegetarian rolls HK$58

I didn’t try the jellyfish but the others said it was soft and mushy.

marinated jellyfish HK$98

We ordered our favorite Angus beef.

wok-fried prime Angus beef w/ wild mushrooms HK$148

The other table had one plate each of really jumbo prawn & scallop while our entire table of 10 kids and adults shared 2 plates. There was nothing special with the prawn or scallop other than it was cooked perfectly tender. I did love eating the giant prawn head. It was so meaty, sweet and succulent. I ate 4 heads! I had to ask for some heads from the other table. Yum!!!

stewed jumbo prawn w/ hokkaido scallop HK$148/per plate

The beef was spicy and delicious! It was perfect when stuffed in the crisp bread pockets.

wok-fried prime angus beef w/ xo sauce &
crispy pockets HK$128

braised chicken in spring onion soy sauce $238

The baby abalone reminded me of tender squid. The black pepper sauce gave the bland shellfish a nice kick. We all loved the spongy cubes and asked the waiter what those were. They’re mushrooms meticulously cut into cubes. Amazing detail!

wok-fried baby abalone w/ mushrooms in
black pepper sauce HK$188

Thin slices of salty Chinese ham were simmered in a honey based sauce and placed inside plain siopao buns. This was one of our favorite Shanghai dishes done well.

honey glazed Chinese ham HK$168

I was so full at this point but when I found out that the black mass on the plate was actually hairy crabs I had to try it. Hairy crabs are a Shanghai delicacy and are very expensive since they only come from the Yancheng lake. The most prized part of the crab is the roe from the female crab.

I didn’t enjoy it that much since there was very little meat and I didn’t have the patience to pound the crab shells and pick out the meat.

hairy crabs

scallion sesame cakes HK$38 for 2 pcs.

spicy pork dumplings HK$48 for 6 pcs.

xiao long bao HK$36 for 3 pcs.

I loved, loved this milk pudding. It was a cross between taho or tofu fa and panna cotta. The texture was delicate and the almond flavor was distinct and fragrant.

chilled almond silken milk pudding HK$38

double boiled pear, mandarin peel, osmanthus honey HK$48

organic eight treasures sticky rice HK$68

As usual we all overate. Not everything was good but what was important was spending Christmas eve with family and good friends.

Xiao Nan Guo Premier 小南國壹號
10/F, One Peking, 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
尖沙咀北京道一號10樓
telephone: +852 2527 8899

Lunch at Xiao Nan Guo Premier 小南國壹號

Whenever we go to One Peking, the swanky building across Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui that houses some of the world’s top designer brands, we always eat in Hutong or Aqua Tokyo. Finally we got to try a restaurant at the 10th floor called Xiao Nan Guo Premier.

Just like other restaurants in the building, they took full advantage of the marvelous view of the Hong Kong harbour.

We were given a private room for our big group at no extra cost. In Hutong their prime tables commanded a minimum tab of at least HK$2,500.

It was a very posh restaurant.

The black chopsticks were for eating with while the beige chopsticks were for getting food.

Simply sautéed river shrimps are a Shanghainese specialty. However these were just ok. They lacked the flavor and crispness of Wu Kong’s shrimps.

sautéed fresh shrimp

The beef was awesome! It was very tender and the flavor was superb. It was the best dish we had.

wok-fried prime angus beef w/ wild mushrooms HK$148

This is a common salad found in Shanghainese restaurants but this was the first time I had it with lettuce. Usually it just had clear noodles and shredded chicken. I liked it even better this way. Their sesame dressing was thick, a bit sweet and so nutty. Perfection!

shredded chicken, clear noodles & sesame dressing HK$68

The food headed downhill from here. The pork was bland and a bit tough. It didn’t taste as good as it looks in the picture. Most of the dishes were placed on top of food warmers. Nice touch!

grandma’s braised pork belly w/ bean curd sheet HK$128

The signature noodles were dry and again, bland.

braised signature noodles HK$48

The hairy crab roe cream was delicious but it needed a generous splash of soy sauce. The rice below had a nice toasted crunch at the bottom.

hairy crab roe cream & rice in hot stone bowl HK$88 per bowl

I didn’t like the signature fried rice either. It was topped with cubes of marinated and mildly spicy tofu cubes. Nothing great about it. These three signature dishes were prominently photographed in their menu that’s why we ordered them only to be disappointed. It was a good thing we only ordered a bowl each for everyone to share.

signature fried rice HK$48 per bowl

I didn’t try the xiao long bao but the kids devoured them quickly so I guess they were good.

xiao long bao, 3 pcs. for HK$36

Both of the veggies were good though. It would be hard to massacre vegetables right?

wok-fried spicy string beans & minced pork HK$88

If you want to eat Chinese food in a beautiful ambiance with first class service and prices to match then this is the place to go to.

But if you want to eat fantastic Shanghainese food in a restaurant with NO view and decent prices then do yourself a favor and run to Wu Kong. No if or buts about it.

my assistant in taking pictures, Michelle

branches

The full menu including gorgeous pictures here.

Xiao Nan Guo Premier 小南國壹號
10/F, One Peking, 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
尖沙咀北京道一號10樓
telephone: +852 2527 8899

Christmas Party catered by Chef Tum

spring rolls
It’s only fitting that my last post for the year 2010 be about good food, fabulous friends and a happy, happy night.

A couple of weeks into December we decided to have an early Christmas party among friends and celebrate Pat’s birthday at the same time. It turned out great because Pat paid for dinner which we all enjoyed.

Janet suggested we have a Thai meal catered by Chef Tum aka Rowena Tindoy, a Thai chef residing in the Philippines. Chef Tum brought 2 assistants and all the materials and ingredients and cooked up a storm in Deb’s kitchen.

Chef Tum

For P650 or US$15 per head with a minimum of 20 pax Chef Tum will go to your house and prepare a spread fit for really, really hungry women with voracious appetites.

Here’s our Thai feast. Some were better than the others but as a whole everything was great!

Tod Man Goong or shrimp cakes

Yam Sam O or pomelo salad

Yum Pla Dook or catfish salad

Goong Hom Sabay or spring rolls (pic c/o Deb)

Goong Pad Prik Katiem or chili garlic prawns

Khao Kapi or bagoong fried rice

Pad Thai or fried noodles

catfish w/ string beans & fried basil leaves

chicken curry

Two kinds of drinks were also included. There was also Thai halo halo and mangoes with sticky rice for dessert but no one remembered to take pictures of those. We were all too preoccupied scarfing down the yummy food.

Thai iced tea & lemongrass tea

The best part of the night was the Pinoy Henyo (Filipino Genius) game we played. This game was popularized by Eat Bulaga, a local noontime show in Manila. We formed two groups and one person placed the mystery word on her forehead and her team mates had one minute to guess the word.

The person with the mystery word had to ask questions that the team mates can only answer with a yes, no or maybe. For example the word spaghetti: is it a person, place, thing, food? no, no, no and yes. Food? breakfast, main course, dessert? On and on until the mystery word is guessed. All in two minutes.

If you don’t ask the right questions your team mates will never guess the word. It was so hilarious! Some were calm, collected and methodical in asking questions. While some threw out questions without rhyme or reason.

the contestant had to ask questions to get the word on her forehead

the team mates can only answer yes, no or maybe

After that we played the ‘white elephant’ game. Deb asked all of us to bring 3 gifts that we didn’t want or had extra lying around and to wrap them in newspaper. With a deck of cards she laid down a card representing each person around the table. Whoever gets a jack, queen, king or ace will get to choose 1, 2, 3 or 4 gifts from the center of the table.

The person then unwraps the gift. The succeeding winners will get a chance to choose new gifts or steal anybody’s gift. It was so much fun stealing the same gift from one person over and over again. The coffee maker which I really wanted got ‘stolen’ from me twice and I got to ‘steal’ it back again until it eventually went to someone else.

Thanks birthday girl Pattie for the wonderful Thai dinner. We had so much leftovers that everyone had food to bring home at the end of the night.

It was truly a silly and super happy party. We never had so much laughter and fun in one night. Happy New Year to all my friends and readers! To a wonderful year ahead of us. Cheers!!!

Rowena A. Tindoy
‘Chef Tum’
Authentic Thai Food
1036-A Edsa, Malibay
Pasay City
telephone: +632-543-0541
cellphone: 0928-402-1322

Dinner at King’s Dumpling

There were so many dining options to choose from at The One but finally we chose King’s Dumpling.

King’s Dumpling is a popular restaurant chain from Shenzhen where they have many branches.

They offer Taiwanese food just like Crytal Jade and many others. It seems Taiwanese food is popping up in Hong Kong and Manila from the ubiquitous milk tea and chicken chops to restaurants serving dumplings and dan dan noodles.

We started the meal with a bowl of beef soup. The soup was lukewarm at best so we had it reheated. The beef was mildly spicy and very tender. The soup was very, very flavorful. It seemed like they boiled the soup for a long time.

braised beef soup HK$46

The noodles were al dente which was a big plus. The soup was medium spicy and it lacked a more peanuty taste.

Taiwan style dan dan noodles HK$27

The fried dumplings were one of the best I’ve tried. The skin was thin and the bottom was super crispy.

pan fried hotbed chives dumplings HK$36

I loved the presentation of the fried pork buns. It came in a hot iron pan with it’s own little turner. But that’s all I liked about it. There was barely any pork filling I could taste. It was mostly bun.

pan fried pork buns HK$36

sauteed eel w/ hotbed chives HK$68

8 treasures rice pudding HK$34

The sweet glutinous rice pudding had a filling of mashed red beans. Yummy and not too sweet.

We didn’t order the xiao long bao anymore since we were getting tired of eating xiao long bao all the time. Overall the food was ok. The prices were pretty decent too. They had an extensive menu with many, many other things I wanted to try.

menu

King’s Dumpling
4/F, L404, The ONE,
100 Nathan Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
telephone: +852-2489-8066