Beard Papa Sweets

> Location : No. 16-B2, Jumbo Sogo, Gloucester Rd.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Dessert
> Tel. # : (852) 2833-2483
> Website : http://www.muginohousa.com/ http://www.beardpapa.com.cn/

Also with six other locations throughout Hong Kong, Beard Papa Sweets isn't a rookie in the sweets business. Started in Osaka, Japan in 1999 by Yuji Hirota, Beard Papa Sweets has spread throughout the globe in places such as The United States, Korea, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Australia. So what's the big deal? Known for its cream puffs, the best way to describe it is by Beard Papa themselves: "A crunchy puff pastry filled with our fresh and all natural original custard combined with whipped cream." Seriously, I never was interested at first, but after taking a bite just the other day, I'm convinced!

In Hong Kong, the regular puffs comes in two flavors: The first one is the original vanilla flavor which is milky sweet and the second is green tea flavoring ($10 HKD for one). Special Ice cream Puffs are also sold for $14 HKD each! Other special flavors coming in a petit size (a smaller version of the normal puffs, 3 for $10 HKD) includes Chocolate, Coffee, Earl Grey Tea, Pumpkin, and Strawberry. The secret to addiction to me is that the pastry is crunchy, flaky and full of that nice custard flavoring topped with powder sugar above. In addition to this, the cream is nice and cool (not as cold as ice cream but still comforting to the mouth) with this sweetness that is balanced and milky-like rich! Good stuff indeed.

Besides the infamous cream puffs, Hong Kong Beard Papa Sweets also features Cornet, Eclair, Chocolate Croissant, various types of tarts (cheese, almond, lemon, etc.), tiramisu, cheese cake stick, pudding (mango, maple syrup) and a lot of other goodies! Check out the website for details (I posted both China's website and the American website). In the end, there's definitely a reason why Beard Papa Sweets is throughout this planet! If you haven't had the chance to try, go soon!

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >

御麵 (Yu Mien)

> Location : Bonham Trade Centre, 6-7 G/F, 50-54 Bonham Strand,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Stone Pot Rice
> Tel. # : (852) 2543-3876
> Website : N/A

Usually when it comes to stone pot rice, the first country that comes to mind is Korea with their bibimbap. For the ones who are unfamiliar with it, bibimbap is a simple yet famous Korean dish that consist of steamed rice topped with ground beef, bean sprouts, carrot slices, mushrooms (shiitake mushrooms can be used), cucumber slices (sometimes spinach is used) , bellflower roots, red pepper paste as the sauce to mix and an egg if it's stone pot style. All the previous ingredients are commonly used in most restaurants.

At 御麵 (Yu Mien) in Sheung Wan, they serve a variety of stone pot rice or noodle. In a sense, it's a restaurant design to eat a variety of things sizzled in a hot stone pot. The ingredients included in the rice style stone pot is reminiscent of the bibimbap but not entirely. Rice, mushrooms, bean sprouts, red pepper paste were the same. However, the use of yellow squash, kim chi, unchopped or ungrounded beef, and black fungus is definitely different (I ordered the beef stone pot rice). Although most casual eaters would think it is traditional Korean stone pot rice, people like me would look at it with a smirk on my face.

Yet, I am absolutely not discounting this place. When the stone pot comes, it is definitely sizzling hot! The ingredients were fresh, the taste of the red pepper paste was exactly the same as those in Korean owned places. The red pepper paste was tasty yet a bit spicy, giving this sweetish flavoring to the whole experience. For most casual eaters, most would agree it is a good place. For lunch, try getting there 12 PM or before. Since the place isn't particularly big, by 12:30 PM, there's already a line of people waiting outside! My only complaint is, if you're a true food lover, you will not forget about the traditionally used ingredients. Most true Korean owned stone pot rice's ingredients are shredded and sliced thinly making it more refine. Ingredients are the ones listed in the beginning of the article.

In the end, 御麵 (Yu Mien) is a great place if you want a hot, sizzling, tasty and aroma full experience. Although it isn't precisely like traditional Korean style ingredients, you truly have to forgive them because the theme essentially is "stone pot" not Korean cuisine. It is in a world of its own. So if you want to experience 御麵 (Yu Mien), make sure to go well before 1 PM to avoid the lunch time crowd or go well afterwards!

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Chung Kee (Mak's Noodle Co.)

> Location : 37 Wing Kut Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Chinese wonton noodle soup
> Tel. # : (852) 2541-6338
> Website : N/A

Wontons or dumplings egg vermicelli soup: Hands down the best there is in all of Hong Kong! No matter who you ask in Hong Kong (as long as it's a fellow food lover), they will tell you straight up Chung Kee Noodle restaurant is the best served wonton or dumpling noodle soup ever!

Located next to a classical music store and a crowded lunch time street of Wing Kut in Sheung Wan, Chung Kee's infamous quality is not a mystery. One of the biggest factor no matter what type of cuisine you're cooking up is consistency. If you can serve a good dish one day, your best bet for more future business is staying the same, being consistent the next day. Since I brought this up, Chung Kee definitely does this day in and day out with their daily freshly made egg vermicelli, soup, wontons and dumplings.

Consistency is great but without quality, it's never good. It all starts off with the noodles: The vermicelli is thin yet firm and flexible or as we can say, chewy. Yet, at the same time, it is overall easily broken in your mouth. You still get to use a little effort when eating it. Sounds negative but this is a noodle lover's dream. As some Asian cultures would teach, if you don't drink your soup loudly and slurp your noodles with effort, it shows you aren't appreciative of it. In a sense, it's saying, eat without manners and the chef will automatically know his creation is wonderful! As most noodle lovers could tell you, noodles no matter what type that are soft or overcooked is never a happy experience for the eater. So that chewy and slightly firm texture is definitely a good thing. Next there's the wontons and dumplings: Firmly packed with shrimp and other goodies, it is no joke how dense the ingredients are packed. It is light yet tasty and my suggestion to you is to get the dumplings since it's the best bang for the buck (they're bigger).

However, what I said previously is only a few important factors. The last and most important factor is the uniqueness of the soup. No matter where you go in Hong Kong, Chung Kee's soup has the best aroma and sweet taste to go with its noodle and wontons. Part of the secret to the soup is dried fish. They take these dried fish and boil it to get the core flavor of the soup. The rest? It's up to you to find out!

Besides the fact that the place isn't very big which doesn't really matter, all that matters is this is the best wonton noodle soup ever in Hong Kong! The orders are quick and your food literally comes instantly. On a side note, you can choose from a small bowl or a large bowl when you order. The average budget is about $25 HKD. Chung Kee is definitely a must visit for anybody who is a fan of noodles. So go now and don't miss out!

< 5 out of 5 >

Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant

> Location : Alpha House Basement 27-33 Nathan Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Shanghainese
> Tel. # : (852) 2366-7244
> Website : http://www.wukong.com.hk/

> Update (12/04/06): Visited the Wu Kong at Casueway Bay recently. I wanted to report two new dishes I had and the consistency of both restaurants. Overall, the quality / taste of the Tsim Sha Tsui compared to the Causeway Bay outlet is just as good. There's a slight difference in the menu (plus/subtract certain dishes) but the popular ones are intact.

One of the new dishes I had is the stewed pork in brown sauce. It's a very popular dish in Shanghai. Basically it's very soft and tender pork meat that melts in your mouth with a tasty/sweet brown sauce. With some vegetables on the bottom. Definitely great stuff with rice!

The other dish I had is the Fried yellow croaker cooked in wine sauce. This is an amazing dish. The fried fish is basically dipped in wine sauce before served. You still get a slight fried texture in your mouth, that common fish taste and that extra sensation of wine in your mouth. It is kind of like chicken in wine sauce but a bit more exciting!

I am definitely a fan of this place now! So check it out if you ever get a chance. I can safely give this place half an extra point now because of the consistency and the new dishes impressed me. I actually had xiao long bao again. The quality this time is a tad bit better than last. Anyhow, my verdict this time is...

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >

> Original Review: Shanghai cuisine can vary in taste because it derives a lot of its dishes from its surrounding neighbors. Yet, through the decades of the cuisine's evolution, naturally, it has become a cuisine of its own! From xiao long bao to sweet and sour spare ribs to various siu sik and wine flavored dishes, Shanghai cuisine definitely touches every part of one's taste bud. Recently, I visited one of the top-rated Shanghai restaraunt here in Hong Kong. This place is called Wu Kong! Wu Kong has two locations in Hong Kong: The main location is in Causeway Bay at Times Square's food forum and the second location is at Tsim Sha Tsui which is where I ate at.

Wu Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui location is located on the basement floor. The entrance is small and somewhat hidden but once inside, it is actually bigger than you would expect. The Ceiling of the place is kind of low (maybe just to me since i'm taller than the average asian, haha) but that shouldn't be a problem because the food will make it up! The service at Wu Kong is great and the menu is plentiful. In addition to all this, there place at night was packed! No empty seats and people still waiting outside to get in.

Now lets go straight to the dishes I had! First up we have some siu sik or in english, small dishes (dim sum). Braised Shanghai Wheat-Bran is the first to come. The wheat-bran contained a sweet-like flavor. On the side, there are some black fungus which is a good healthy pair just like the wheat-bran. Overall, this is a healthy and interesting dish with a nice sweet flavor to it.

Next siu sik dish is the supreme jelly fish. Other visable ingredients are black vinegar, green onions, and sesame oil. The flavor of the dish is lightly salty with a define black vinegar taste. The jelly fish is crisp. Overall, this is a good dish to try out!

Now for one of the most attractive shanghai cuisine dishes! Wine chicken, wine fish and other wine marinaded dishes is quite a delicacy. For my experience, I had the chicken wing in wine sauce. Usually, these dishes are served cold or at room temeperature. The chicken in our case was served at room temperature, tender and the taste was somewhat salty with a define taste of wine. My educated guess would tell me rice wine is used to marinate this dish. The combination of the chicken taste, marinate ingredients and the wine flavor makes it quite an experience. It is truly something that is hard to describe. If you try this dish in other Shanghai/Chinese restaurants, it might be called drunken chicken as this is the common literally translated name from chinese. When this dish is served cold, usually gelatins are formed from the sauce. Anyways, definitely recommended!

Continuing with siu sik dishes, we now have the mixed shreds seaweed and jelly fish with legume. This dish is served cold with shreds of four season string beans which is "legume" in the dish title. The taste has a slight sesame oil flavor to it also. Similar to the last jelly fish dish, the highlighting factor from the last dish (vinegar) now in this dish is replaced by the seaweed and the string bean flavors. In the end, it is a nice dish again but if I had to choose, I would definitely go with this one because of the variety of ingredients.

Ending the siu sik dishes, we have the deep fried bean curd rolls stuffed with mushrooms. This rolls are slightly crispy and mild in taste. I was expecting a deep fried dish like this to have a stronger, definite flavor to it (sweet, salty, etc). Not much to say about this dish except that this is the only weak link of my entire experience which is good for the restaurant and but for this dish!

Beginning with the normal dishes, we have the steamed shanghai pork dumplings. Like the marinade wine dishes, steamed dumplings (xiao long bao) is another highlight of Shanghai cuisine. If you've read my Northern Chinese/Shanghai restaurant reviews, what makes a xiao long bao good is in three factors: the tenderness of the meat, the sweetness of the soup inside and the softness/durability of the dumpling skin. At Wu Kong's, the meat was tender, the juice was good but slightly salty and lastly, the skin was a tad bit hard. The slight hardness of the dumpling skin was a down point but naturally gave it its durability (skin not easily broken). But as I said, the best xiao long bao in my opinion is where the skin is nice and soft yet durable enough for you to pick up and not spill the soup within. Overall, the xiao long bao is good but definitely could be better.

Before I continue, let me educate you on how the soup gets into the dumpling. Gelatin is formed using steamed chicken stock and pork rind traditionally. Yet these days, a lot of xiao long bao are ready-made gelatin packets instead of hand made. The gelatin are usually cut into small pieces or cubes wrapped around with the meat and into the dumpling skin. For further and very specific information, check out Kuidaore's food website!

Next up is the stewed spare ribs with bean paste sauce in casserole. First off, another visable ingredient are green onions. This dish is the heaviest of the bunch seemingly. The taste is mildly sweet and the meat is tender for the most part. I was anticipating for a stronger flavor. It isn't bad but it definitely gets the job done for most eaters.

Okay, almost to the end! Next we have the Tofu skin dumpling. This has to be the most intriguing dish of the night! this "dumpling's" skin is made out of tofu. This tofu dumpling is filled with vegetables and mushrooms inside. This is a very light flavored dish yet due to its uniqueness and its emphasis on being a healthy dish, it is definitely a must for ordering! Also, the firm tofu dumpling is surrounded by a thick mildly flavored sauce.

Last but not least is the steam shad fish. Shad fish is a type of fish that contains a lot of small, thin bones. It is a must use fish for cooking this famous Shanghai fish dish. The sauce that surrounds the shad fish is a very fishy-sweet flavor. Most Chinese steamed fish would generally give you some type of salty flavor but this is different because the sweet flavor dominates your taste bud (of course, not candy like sweet). The dish is topped off with shrimp and smoked ham. Mostly for decorations in my opinion. The shad fish was tender overall and on a side note, this fish was frozen from northern China. This is definitely a must order if you enjoy fish and something totally unique!

In the end, Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant is a great place to visit. Trying out so many dishes, 90% of what I had didn't disappoint me. My only complaints aren't big problems so it's very positive. I am undecisive with my final verdict because there's this hump that I don't think Wu Kong has gotten quite over yet. What exactly is it? Well, as a northen Chinese restaurant, it is important to know how to perfect your steamed dumplings! The skin as I mentioned before was hard. This probably was either due to it being left out for a bit after steaming or the skin used was thicker. Traditionally, the thinner the better yet being able to hold onto the meat and soup while picking it up with your chopsticks! Secondly, the soup was a tad bit salty and not sweet enough. Mainly due to this but I must tell you, not exactly the biggest problem if you're not a picky person like me =), my final verdict is...

< 4 out of 5 >

Food Blog It # 2

For this quick edition of Food Blog It # 2, I'm going to list a few restaurants I've come across and list some general information and a quick judgment base on my recent and past experience! Hopefully I can get some thorough reviews up and new ratings of these restaurants soon!

> Name : Sportful Garden Restaurant
> Cuisine : Cantonese
> Location(s) : Central, Hung Hom, Wanchai, etc.
> Rating : 3 out of 5

> Name : Super Star Seafood Restaurant
> Cuisine : Cantonese
> Location(s) : Causeway Bay, Wanchai, Tsim Sha Tsui, etc.
> Rating : 4 out of 5

> Name : Kamboat Chinese Cuisine
> Cuisine : Cantonese
> Location(s) : Tsim Sha Tsui, Mongkok, Sai Wan, etc.
> Rating : 3 1/2 out of 5

> Name : The Viceroy
> Cuisine : Indian / Middle Eastern
> Location(s) : Wanchai
> Rating : 4 out of 5

> Name : Heaven On Earth Bar & Restaurant
> Cuisine : Shanghainese
> Location(s) : Central
> Rating : 3 out of 5

Law Fu Kee

> Location : G/F, Blissful Bldg., No. 247, Des Voeus Rd.,
Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Chinese Congee & Noodle
> Website : N/A

Duck egg and lean beef rice congee. This is the speciality of Law Fu Kee! Law Fu Kee is what you would call a traditional Cantonese diner. With just a few hundred square feet of dining space, a Cantonese diner would serve dishes like egg noodle in wanton soup or egg noodle soup with braised beef or even various types of rice congee. Obviously, Law Fu Kee serves all of these products but with so many of these traditional Cantonese diners out there in Hong Kong, you have to become different somehow if you want customers coming often! So Law Fu Kee buckled down and created what I would say, the best duck egg and lean beef rice congee ever!

So how does it differ from other places? Most places such as regular Chinese restaurants simply use chopped up lean beef boiled along with the congee. As for Law Fu Kee, the lean beef is not simply boiled. It is first marinated with their own special sauce. It is cooked till the lean beef is extremely soft and tender. Then, it is mixed into the rice congee with the sliced duck eggs. In the end, it makes the normal duck egg and lean beef rice congee look bad! The flavorful lean beef gives the congee a special kick to your taste bud. Get an order of Chinese donut (oily stick) or if you would prefer calling it "yau cha kwai" and dip/eat it along with the rice congee. This combination is simply heavenly! The flavor of the lean beef is not too salty but done just right. It has a nice distinct salty/sweet taste to it.

In conclusion, Law Fu Kee is a great place for rice congee especially the duck egg and lean beef rice congee. Their other dishes are good too. If you're in the mood for egg noodles from these diners, there's one place on Wing Kut Street that serves better but not by too much. There are two other Law Fu Kee locations in Central: one at Lyndhurst Terrace and one at Queen's Road. Anyhow, stop by Des Voeux and order some rice congee now!

< 4 out of 5 >

Treasure Lake Seafood Restaurant

> Location : 1-3/F, Man Wah Bldg., No. 35 Bonham Strand East,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Cantonese
> Tel. # : (852) 2854-9388
> Website : N/A

Treasure Lake Seafood Restaurant is actually part of the same restaurant group as North Garden. Located very close to Malaymama, Treasure Lake features different types of cantonese cuisine. Every season, their menu usually change. Some of the items are new and some are from the previous season. I have a lot of experience with this place since it is so close to my office, I tend to eat at this place a lot when I don't have time to go far. Before I go into describing the flavors and ingredients of some of the dishes I tried recently, I'm going to recommend some of the dishes I think are pretty good straight from the menu. Note, as always with any restaurant and to 'some extent' with Treasure Lake, the cook's consistency with any restaurant is important, but don't expect dishes to look, taste, and feel the same with each additional experience.

The Recommended dishes are: Sauteed Bitter Squash with salty fish and egg white, Baked mixed wild mushrooms, Assorted meat combination (Roasted Pork, BBQ pork, Tofu, etc), Braised Bean curd with ham.

This season, the back of the menu features a variety of hotpots to choose from. They are boiled to the side and put in front of you when it is ready. In fact, one of which I tried and will mention later in the review. Treasure Lake features three floors of dining. The first floor is for ordering from the menu, the second floor is for dim sum and the third is for karaoke, majong and such.

So to start things off, I went to a hotpot dish right from the menu. I got the Braised assorted meat (old style). The pot came with items such as shrimp, squid, chicken, mushrooms, duck, cabbage, pig skin, and meat balls. It was quite a crowded hotpot with many items to pick from. As a single order dish, I think it's a bit complicated and wasn't to the point. Taste wise, really nothing too spectacular. I suggest going with the hotpots that includes taro in it as I've had better experiences with them. If you're hungry, the variety is nice but the presentation is lacking and there's no central flavors at all.

Onto the better item is steam fish. The thing with Hong Kong is that, eating fish that are straight from the ocean is rare and usually are bred in farms. Also, the steam time has to be precise depending on the type of fish and also the size of the fish are it'll be oversteamed and the meat will be stiff. Usually, when a dish of steam fish is stiff, the first most likely reason is that the quality/freshness is an issue and the second reason is it is over steamed. As for my particular experience that day, it was done perfectly! Just right with just a little bit of blood near the spine area. Some people consider that undercook but if you were to let it sit a little bit when the dish comes with the top layer of the fish covering it, it will be okay. In such a case, this is better than risking a re-steam and coming back out with stiffer meat. Anyhow, the meat was nice and soft overall in our case. Steam fish usually in most Chinese cuisine uses fish soy sauce as a base with ginger and/or shredded green onions on top.

Pei pa tofu is next. Basically it's fried tofu with some mushrooms mixed inside covered in a thick sauce along with some dried scallops. This is one of those mildly salty/sweet type dish. The tofu is still slightly crispy still even with the sauce on top. This is one of those pretty consistent dishes served at Treasure Lake so I would recommend it if you're in the mood for fried tofu instead of steamed or marinaded tofu.

The next dish is braised beef stomach area/brisket with green onion, carrot, tomato. This is a popular cantonese dish cooked in a variety of ways. Usually it the braised beef is cooked with turnips but versions like this are with carrots and tomatos. The dish has a pleasant sweetness originated from the carrots and the tomatos. The meat is nice and tender and the sauce goes nicely with it. This is a very nice dish along with steamed rice! Highly recommended.

Another dish pictured but not discussed is a crushed garlic vegetable dish. Overall, Treasure Lake is a decent cantonese restaurant overall. Sometimes my experiences are great and sometimes it can be slightly disturbing because of the inconsistency. Using this last recent experience as a measuring stick, it was definitely one of my better days. So with that, my verdict is...

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

McDonalds (Banana Pie)

> Location : Unit 426-432, Level 4, Chi Fu Landmark,
Pokfulam, Hong Kong (other locations listed on website)
> Cuisine : American style fast food
> Tel. # : (check the website)
> Website : http://www.mcdonalds.com.hk/

McDolands is still the king of fast food no matter what the other competition tries to do. In America, the menu stays the same every year except for a few brand new items that don't tend to stick. Perhaps Americans taste preference tends to be a little picky. Yet, when it comes to McDonalds in Asia, the menu tends to add new items or change items depending on the season. This happens often enough you know people accept these changes positively. So as you probably know, I'm here to write about a brand new item here in Hong Kong that McDonlad introduce! From apple pie to taro pie and now it's the banana pie!

Using super hero like commercials for advertisements, the banana pie is making quite a stir. Knowing the apple pies here are better than the ones in America, I had to go try one right away (see if it held the same consistency)! So wait, Simon you're telling me the apples pies in Hong Kong are better? Why? Well, simply the cooking process is different. In the states, the apple pies are only baked. In Hong Kong, the pies are first baked than fried! I'm not too sure but there might be a layer of glazed sugary substance brushed on top before it is fried. Anyhow, the difference in the end lies in the crispiness of the crust! The cripsy sensation seriously gives eating these McDonald pies a merrier experience! There's a hint of sweetness on the crust too. The pies are usually never placed around until somebody wants them. They are freshly baked and fried which makes the eating experience nice and hot. So the banana pie is the same? Correct! Of course, the filling is banana instead of apple but the aroma and taste of banana is definitely strong and comes in little melted chunks. Comparing to an apple pie, there's no hint of slight sour/sweet taste just all out sweetness with the banana pies. I bought myself two and left one sitting for awhile. When I ate the second one that has been sitting around for about an hour, surprisingly, it is still quite crispy! The thing with the baked only pies is that, the crust gets soften as it sits around. So that observation I had to share.

Just out for a few weeks, this could be one of those seasonal products. So don't wait too long and go try one yourself! There are other new products that recently surface so I suggest checking out the website. Although it is only fast food, sometimes, cheaper items like this can be quite a treat! =)

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >

Dong Shan

> Location : Shunde, Gaungdong, Mainland China
> Cuisine : Specializing in Lamb
> Tel. # : (86) 0757-28869594
> Website : N/A

Simon, did you quit on Hong Kong reviews? haha. Don't worry! Been visiting Shunde and Guangzhou a lot lately so that's why I have so many reviews from there! This time, I'm writing a review I would say by far one of my favorite restaurant in Shunde! The place is called Dong Shan. The name is actually an island on the southeastern portion of Mainland China. The main purpose of this place is to eat lamb! Yes, another lamb specialty restaurant! This is the place my father was speaking of that is very good if you read my other review. I'll tell you before I even get into this, go to this place! It is a must. Just that good!

Like a lot of the lamb speciality restaurants in Shunde, the primary sauce is a mixture of fermented bean curd, sesame oil and chili. There's a stove in the middle of each table for any lamb dishes that is good by hotpotting. Dong Shan is fairly big with about 15-20 private rooms you can reserve anytime. The environment is bright, clean and the service is good overall. Food wise, there are certain lamb parts that needs to be reserved early if you want to have a chance to eat it! lamb, tail and tongue are amount are some of the few things that needs to be reserved ahead of time.

So what did I had? First up, braised lamb meat with taro. This dish is absolutely amazing. In a semi-thick sauce that has a sweet and somewhat salty taste and topping it off with cilantro garnish, green onions and crushed peanuts. The lamb is so tasty with the sauce and is so tender. The taro is firm which is good for this dish because it is not a pot style dish. What I mean by this is, the taro won't break easily which convolutes the lamb meat which is the highlight of the experience. So hard to say anything else but it's just that good! One of those things that is great with rice definitely.

Dong Shan goat is the next dish. Or the literal translation would mean, eastern mountain goat. As we discussed in the beginning, Dong Shan is an island/place in the southeastern portion of China. As you can guess, the goat meat is directly from Dong Shan. The dish is basically steamed/boiled. There really isn't anything added to it. The main purpose of this dish is to savor the flavor of Dong Shan goat meat. On the side, a soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, cilantro, green onion base sauce is provided for this. The skin texture is a little sticky, the skin is light brown. The meat is a a little chewy yet tender and the dish is served slightly warm. Definitely a good delicacy to try! Recommended.

lamb stomach area meat is next. This course is hotpotted. After letting it boil a little bit, I took a piece, put it in my mouth and guess what? Like the last two dishes, good again! The meat was tender and goes well with the fermented bean curd sauce. The sauce that is cooked in is mildly salty so it is best with the bean curd sauce. Overall, another good dish.

Last but not least, roasted lamb on a wooden skewer. The meat is slightly crispy and tender. The meat is marinaded with "lam yui" fermented bean curd. Due to the nature of this bean curd, the flavor of the meat has a unique hint of sweetness. It is not too salty which is good. Overall, a very simple dish yet done nicely!

For just $10 to $80 R.M.B. for each dish on the menu, with most of the main dishes ranging around $15-30 each, you can tell how cheap it is. That is the greatness of a lot of restaurants in Shunde! Cheap and good. Dong Shan is a great restaurant to visit if you're ever in Shunde. I've been to this place twice and I can tell you, consistently excellent. Sometimes people run into restaurants where a dish can be good one day and bad on the other. With Dong Shan, this is not the case and even if the 'touch' is a little off, I bet it is still considered great to a lot of eaters!

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >

North Garden

> Location : 1-2 F Tung Ning Blg., 249 Des Voeux Rd.,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Chiu Chow & Canton (Chinese)
> Tel. # : (852) 2739-2338
> Website : N/A

Update (Sep 30) :

I go to North Garden occasionally with family members for lunch. I still have to recommend their lo shui and cold fish. They are consistent everytime and very good! Chicken dishes wise, I tried a few and never came to enjoy any of it. However, I did come to find two new dishes I enjoy very much. The first being spare ribs cooked in fermented bean curd. Note, this isn't the usual fermented bean curd used. Usually, in cantonese, "fu yui" is how we translate fermented bean curd. However, there are actually different ways of making fermented bean curd therefore giving it a different taste. The type i'm talking about is "lam yui." Instead of using it in vegetable or as a dipping sauce like fu yui, lam yui is used usually in meat dishes to give it a unique sweet sensation. The other dish is "lap mei fuan." Lap mei fuan is rice cooked in a pot topped with oil chicken, Chinese sausage (grounded meat), Chinese sausage (grounded intestines), and oil duck thigh, all glazed in oil. It isn't the most healthy dish but it is extremely tasty! Anyhow to end this, a recent photo of a lo shui dish and a new rating...

< 4 out of 5 >


Original Review (Aug 16) :

North garden is located in the heart of sheung wan (close to central) very close to the wing on department store. the restaurant has a few floors. the first floor is to wait for seating, second floor is for ordering food by menu and third floor is for dim sum during lunch time. north garden serves both chiu chow and canton style cooking. the main purpose to me is really trying the chiu chow food here =) before i dive into terms and definitions and history, i want to comment on the service quickly. the people working there are all very responsive and polite. like i said many times, doing chinese restaurant style business here in hong kong are all about customer service to getting to know your "clients." if you make them feel like "home," they will surely come back and spend more money!

chiu chow cuisine or chao zhou if you want to pronounce it in mandarin is famous for many delicate dishes. from bird's nest to shark fin to goose to pigeon to cold fish to lo shui dishes. yes, chiu chow cuisine has a lot to offer! it isn't as popular as canton or shanghainese cuisines here in hong kong but it's definitely very unique among the others and deserves a lot of attention. so out of all those things i listed, i bet most of you are scratchin' your head with the chinese term "lo shui." it is somewhat similar to the term braised yet different by far. when you translate the two chinese words, it literally means "old water." so what is this all about? lo shui is a sauce soy based marinade used to cook various types of food . in chiu chow cuisine, it is used to cook tofu, eggs, goose meat, goose liver, goose intestine, and other things. wait, i'm not done yet! of course it is not just soy sauce, but soy sauce based marinade that is boiled daily (using the same source everyday). by boiling the same pot everyday, it helps the marinade built a more define taste to it. so therefore the more you boil, the better it taste! don't worry, i know what you're thinkin' about, but reboiling it everyday keeps it from spoiling. it is a weird concept to hear about but tasting it is a different story =) most household lo shui cooking are more short term base (a few days of reboiling) so it isn't as good as long term lo shui which are used in specialized restaurants. so in the end, a good chiu chow lo shui depends on the soy sauce base plus other special ingredients the chef added plus most importantly how old it is.

now you know what lo shui is all about, i would like to share what kind of lo shui food i had in this restaurant. ranging about high 40's to 70 so hkd per lo shui dish (every dish comes with tofu base), these dishes usually comes with a pair of different type of food. from tofu, eggs, goose meat (with bone) or slices of goose meat, goose liver, and goose intestine. you can even tell them to give you a combination of everything to make your life easier if you wanna try everything out! lo shui dishes in chiu chow style usually comes with a garlic and vinegar sauce. you'll taste vinegar for the most part. it balances out the salty/sweet flavor of the lo shui giving it a very distinctive taste. i would recommend gettin' goose meat instead of the slices because it tastes just as good and overall you get more for your money! plus, there isn't a lot of bones anyways. due to the long hours of cooking, the lo shui really sinks into the food giving it a strong lo shui taste plus making the meats nice and tender. lo shui is definitely a delicacy worth trying!

so what's next? chiu chow cold fish! most might think this is kind of odd. when we think of chinese and fish, we are reminded of steamed fish served with fish sauce and how well it goes with white rice, haha. however, a famous way of serving fish in chiu chow is by serving it cold! how is it done? well, it is quite simple. you marinade the fish only with simple ingredients such as salt and pepper if you would like. make sure the fish is as dry as possible at least from the outside and steam the fish using something that will have ventillation such as a bamboo steam basket. when it is fully cooked, let the fish sit and cool down (don't refridgirated) until it is dry and cold. since there's no sauce used to cook this dish, certainly there's something to dip with. a bean paste sauce is traditionally used to dip the cold fish. bean paste usually refers to fermented yellow beans. it tends to be very salty which compliments the lack of taste from the cold fish. various fishes are used for this type of cooking. most of the time mullets are used for cooking cold fish. the lack of sauces cooked with the fish and how it is cool down allows the eater to really taste the flavor of the respective fish. in the end, this is another one of those delicacy that is certainly weird but very good!

lastly, pigeon meat with bamboo shoots and mushrooms. the dish is decorated with the pigeon head fried and its wings fried. pigeon meat is usually famous among chinese people for roasting them. usually, baby pigeons are used because they tend to be tastier. in this specific case, the pigeon meat was stir fried with bamboo shoots and mushrooms. i found this dish lacking in taste and i do not believe it is intended to be this way. the fried decorations were not eatable for your information. there isn't anything special to talk about in this dish. it is an average dish and deserves a try if you love pigeon meat. overall, i would rather go to a place for some roasted baby pigeons!

anyhow, that last dish really killed my excitement with north garden. but take nothing away from the first two because they were a pair of unique delicacy. there are other chiu chow restaurants i have to try in order to have a better understanding of the other famous dishes and the taste difference of different lo shui. the first two dishes alone i would give between 4 to 4.5 points. however, the pigeon dish tanked the score for north garden. before i give out the score, i must point out about the rice they serve in this place. each bowl of rice is individually and freshly steamed in a bowl making every order very very hot! anyhow...

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Bodega

> Location : Guangzhou, Guangdong, Mainland China
> Cuisine : Xinjiang (Sinkiang)
> Website : N/A

When speaking of Chinese cuisine, we generally think of Guangdong, Shanghai, Szechwan and Beijing cuisines. Mostly being eastern China provinces. Yet, there are provinces to the west that features some fine dining as well. I am unfamiliar with this province (which I will unfold) and its cuisine until writing this review. Excited because it is something new to me, I did some research and would like to share with you the food and some facts about Xinjiang (Sinkiang) Province!

Xinjiang is located in the northwestern portion of Mainland China. It is the biggest province of China taking up 1/6 of the nation's land mass. The province is surrounded by countries such as Mongolia, Russia, and India. The highest populated nationality of Xinjiang are the Uyghur, originated from a Turkic-speaking tribe that use to reside in the original Mongolia. The Uyghur also reside in other countries also such as Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and others. Mostly, they reside in the Xinjiang province of China. Due to the high density of the Uyghur's along with the surrounding countries, their presence has a great influence on Xinjiang cuisine.

So without a restaurant that features Xinjiang cuisine, I won't be able to write this! In the heart of Guangzhou, I found a multi-floor building which hosts a few Xinjiang related restaurants. On the second floor is our review site: Bodega! Bodega in Mongolian means "god." It is actually a peak located in Xinjiang, where throughout the year, ice and snow covers it. The place is fairly big with some private rooms to the sides of the restaurant. During certain parts of the day, there are performances by ethnic Xinjiangnese, with dancing and music. I was part of one of the performances and it definitely adds a spirited mood to your eating experience. What's up with the food? According to the waitress', a lot of the core ingredients of their dishes are shipped directly from Xinjiang. Xinjiang cuisine is dedicated to its mutton dishes and also famous for its kebabs which are skewered mutton, roasted and seasoned over charcoal.

Anyhow, the first course is Mutton soup with glacier water. Using glacier water (technically from Xinjiang) for the soup and also mutton from Xinjiang, a sheep heavy tasting soup is made. The soup contained, onions, carrots, cilantro, turnips, flower pepper, and some minor chinese cuisine ingredients. A heavy pepper sensation fills every spoon full, containing a slightly salty taste but mostly detecting the sweet mutton flavor. The soup is boiled for a long time as evident by the ingredients melting in my mouth such as the turnips and carrots. Overall, a simple and great delicacy.
Their Kebabs, naming it as mutton roasted branches on the menu, is served on metal skewers. Each skewer is flavorful with various spices. The taste reminded me somewhat of the lamb served in Greek Gyros. The saltiness was just right and the meat was tender. The mutton had a little fat in some of the skewer but the taste was just amazing! It is one of those dishes hard to describe. The spices used to roast this was unique indeed because of its untypical flavor. This is a great order and I think it'll take a few of these to be satisfied! Thumbs up indeed.

A side dish is the Sinkiang flavor pancake. Note: Sinkiang basically is the cantonese pronouciation of Xinjiang. Anyhow, Xinjiang pancake (nang) is like steamed buns to the northern Chinese and rice to the southern Chinese. In some sense, it is similar to India's naan, made with desired flour along with sesame seeds, onions, eggs, oil, butter, milk, salt and sugar. The pancake here at Bogeda was cooked in a pizza like shape, along with sesame. I didn't see any onions but the taste was slightly salty. It's a nice touch eating it along with other dishes.

Next we have slices of mutton in what seemingly like lo shui sauce. On top, shredded red, green bell pepper along with shredded turnip. with garnish on the side, the mutton is tender for the most part just a slight sensation of being overcooked from perfection. It's not bad overall but i definitely enjoy the other dishes more.

In the end, it isn't just lamb, it is mutton. Goat, sheep, lamb, black sheep, and so on all carry different distinct taste and texture. As the word mutton defines, even matured or non-matured sheep has its distinct differences. I won't further discuss but that is for you to explore if you get a chance =) I enjoy the soup, the kebabs very much. All the mutton that is used carry a extremely strong sheep taste. Not just in taste, also in its aroma. To conclude this, it is a very new experience to me and until further experiences, I can't make any strong comments. Overall, Bodega was enjoyable for the most part! Note: The last photo is a crispy mixed ingredient bun which I decided not to discuss.

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Food Blog It # 1

Welcome to the first installment of "Food Blog It!" This part of my Hong Kong food reviews blog is to share some interesting food related things in a fun and concise format unlike the full reviews I do normally. Basically, anything applicable to eating, i'm going to "Food Blog it!" Anyhow, hope this will be fun and informative. Here we go!

There's always some interesting history behind every famous dish in every cuisine in the world. One particular item famous in Hong Kong that has a neat story behind its name is yau cha kwai (油炸鬼). In western culture, yai cha kwai is known as Chinese doughnut. In literal translation, yau cha kwai means oil fried ghost. It's basically two sticks of deep fried dough stuck together (pictured in this entry in a shorten piece) that is usually eaten with rice congee for breakfast. It is a very good Chinese delicacy and sometimes people even eat it with fresh cold or hot soy milk! You can usually find this when you go to dim sum! The one word that probably bewilders you is the last word, "ghost." There are a few "myths" that explains this but I'm going to share with everyone the one my father told me of...

Prime Minister Cheun Kwai from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 to 1279) asked Ngok Fei, an infamous war general, not to go to war aganist the Jürched (they are the ancestors of the Manchurians which Ngok Fei defeated many times) because they are trying to form a peace agreement. After failing to convince him to stay many times, Cheun Kwai asks the emperor to demand Ngok Fei to obey at once or he will receive the death penalty. Having no choice, Ngok Fei was back in Hang Zhou (the capital at the time) and was thrown in jail and murdered. Furious at what Cheun Kwai has done to Ngok Fei, Fei's soilders and the people of Hang Zhou wanted to boil Cheun Kwai and his wife in oil. This notion has inspired a local chef at the time to make a snack with two long pieces of dough stuck together and oil fried. The two pieces of dough represents Cheun Kwai and his wife boiling in oil. Hence, we have the name yau cha kwai, where "kwai" is Cheun Kwai's name!

Yang Jiaz Huang

> Location : Shunde, Guangdong, Mainland China
> Cuisine : Shunde style lamb
> Tel. # : (86) 0757-22661191
> Website : N/A

Specialty restaurants are always quite interesting. They are designed to use a certain type of ingredients throughout every dish. A good example would be The Stinking Rose located in Beverly Hills, California. Pretty much every dish in this restaurant is emphasized with garlic even in its ice cream! So what is Yang Jiaz Huang's specialty? Lamb! In Shun De, there are a few of these seasonal restaurants that only serves lamb dishes. Seasonal as of in they open starting around mid September to early October because this is when lamb is fresh into the market. Yang Jiaz Huang is the first to open this season so I had to give it a try!

Yang Jiaz Huang is a big place with many private seating rooms. In each room, the center of the table has a portable stove to place a pot for hot potting your lamb and other dishes. For each individual, two small dipping sauces are given. The first comes with fermented bean curd, chili sauce and about a few teaspoons of oil. You need to mix it together in order to use it. The second sauce is vinegar base with green onions, sesame oil and cilantro. Both sauces are used according to your own preferences but usually the vinegar base one is for dishes that lack sauces like an eastern mountain lamb dish I will be talking about later.

The first thing to start off with is lamb hotpot style. Decent quality of lamb. Using the fermented bean curd sauce is best with this dish. The taste is define but is best if you rely on the bean curd sauce. Since it is hotpot after all, a lot of adding and subtracting from the hot is occurring, so dip accordingly. Quality wise, according to my father who is experienced with eating these lamb specialty restaurants here in Shun De, it is decent but not the best. There are various types of vegetables you get to choose from to hotpot, ranging from lettuce to chinese squash to many others. All were very fresh and nothing to complain about. It is always nice to order some vegetables to balance the meal since there is so much meat!

The next dish is a lettuce base, marinaded lamb with green onions and crushed peanuts on top. Texture wise, it was slightly sticky. It held a slightly define taste and not too salty. It was decent overall and goes well with the bean curd sauce again. What do Simon mean by define? Again let me explain what I mean by define if you haven't read my other reviews before. When I say define, that means throughout the first bite up to swallowing, you can savor a unique taste or combination of tastes. So, basically not something that you eat and cannot hold a memory in your head. Also, depending on the cuisine, this word can vary.

Last by not least, I want to share with you my favorite dish. In literal translation, this dish is called eastern mountain lamb. From the name, you can easily guess that it is lamb from the eastern mountains in China. The dish is served pretty much steamed (but left out to cool a bit first) but alone without sauce, it held a definite define taste of lamb which indicates its freshness. This dish in particular goes well with the vinegar base sauce because of the lack of sauce when it is cooked. The concept here is very much like "lo shui" dishes using a vinegar base sauce for dipping. Traditionally, a lot of little sauce or no sauce cold Chinese dishes that requires dipping goes well with vinegar base sauces because vinegar heightens the taste of the core ingredients of the dish. In our case, the lamb. Therefore, this is a delicate lamb experience where the prime activity is not to savor a dish's sauce + core ingredient + extra ingredients but to taste one core ingredient only, heighten through vinegar, and lamb meat sensation in all its glory!

A dish like the above is a true example of how eaters these days are swayed away from the quality, freshness and taste of a dishes core ingredient. Through fancy sauces and decorations, it covers up the quality of the meat (for example) and make us forget what is important. A true Chinese food fanatic would consider freshness of the core ingredients of the dish according to the ingredient's respective seasonal growth and regional freshness. Say for example, taro and lamb is a seasonal product and does very well starting around September and chicken in Hong Kong aren't as tasty and fresh compared to Mainland China.

Anyways, getting back on track, Yang Jiaz Huang is a overall decent place. Being the earliest to open out of all the lamb specialty restaurants in Shun De, the quality of the lamb would certainly be questionable. But after experiencing it, I can truly say it is acceptable although there is better according to what people tell me. That shouldn't discount this place as time rolls through. The quality of lamb could definitely get better as this fall/winter season rolls through. So give it a try for yourself!

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Jin Yan Zhou

> Location : Shunde, Guangdong, Mainland China
> Cuisine : Shunde (Chinese)
> Tel. # : (86) 0757-2226-1111
> Website : N/A

In Shunde, Guangdong, the people there are all about food and they aren't kidding at all! To me, about 85% of the places I've been to have served at least a few great dishes if not all. Basically, a taste that will imprint a strong positive memory into your head just about everytime. Of course, nothing is perfect like today I went to a Chinese restaurant within Century Hotel of Shun De that served the worst dim sum and noodles I have ever ate. Not only Shun De, I'll admit, out of everything I've review so far, this is the worst ever so obviously there isn't a review of this place, haha. On the upside, the hotel and garden is really beautiful indeed.

Going back to the main topic, so this review must be one of the restaurants contributing to the 85% of the good places I've been to right?? Of course! This place is call Jin Yan Zhou. The restaurant is fairly big with private rooms also like most Mainland Chinese restaurants. From various Shun De cuisine to some dim sum selections (afternoon to dinner hours but more in the morning) such as pan fried turnip cake, Jin Yan Zhou has a wide range of selections. For my outing, I went with some unique choices...

Starting off with some dim sum, there's the pan fried taro strips wrapped in rice flour with sesame. American is to potato and Chinese is to taro, taro is an important aspect to chinese cuisine. It is quite popular these days to get pan fried taro in strips. The difference to me is that with strips, the taro is more fried because of the holes therefore the eating sensation is like strip by strip instead of a whole chunk of taro. Also, I think you get a better flavor out of the taro from a whole chunk pan fried instead of in strips. Nevertheless, it is still quite good along with the sweetness of the sesame rice flour wrapped around the edges served with hot sauce. The sesame rice flour is a good creative idea for this dim sum when usually it's just plain taro strips pan fried.

The next dish is braised lamb pot. Besides lamb, the visable ingredients are green onions, ginger, garlic and lettuce base. Since lamb/goat season is about here, ordering lamb is a good idea because most likely it'll be fresh instead of frozen for sometime. The lamb is fairly tender and holds a good lamb flavor to it. It has that distinct flavor from beef. So if you know this well, next time you eat lamb and you taste little or not at all, you know your lamb has been frozen for quite sometime. Overall, a passing dish.

Next up, pan fried fish mouth. This is one of my favorite dish in this review. Basically, most of the portions around the head of the fish is pan fried along with ginger, green onion, red pepper, green pepper and garlic. The bone is still attached to the meat but it's not hard to eat compared to the body because the head bones are big and wide. The fried texture is a nice touch to the dish both looks and taste. Not a lot of meat due to the area of the dish, but tasty and well presented. Order two if you need more! Must order if you go to this place!

Another one of my favorite dishes from this place is the dried silver dish string beans with green onions, dried shrimps, garlic, and dried marinaded pork strips. One of the highlights of this restaurant, this dish's main taste is from the dried silver fish. The taste of the sauce base is right from it also. Although they are merely complements to the string beans, they are important complements helping heighten the experience of the string beans. Kind of like, different types of pickles and congee. The green beans were very fresh and the taste of the sauce from the dried silver fish is this unique fishy, kind of sweet flavor. One of those flavors that burns a mark into your brain! A must order like the above dish!

Second to last we have steam tofu with ground pork ontop. Other ingredients are green onions, red pepper strips and cilantro mostly for garnish. With a soy sauce base, the tofu is merely steamed depending on the soy sauce and the ground pork as flavoring. A very simple dish yet tastes very well. The ground pork (visibly, starch is added for looks and tenderness) and soy sauce is a good complement to the tofu. A lighter dish yet well done!

Lastly, we have a bird dish. Bird? No, we're not talking about ducks or goose or chickens but we're talking about those little birds kind of like the ones chinese people put in those little cages. The dish contains quite a few of them inside. I say about 10 to 15 birds. What type of bird I am not sure but other ingredients are green onion, regular onion, ginger, green and red pepper. This is one of those dishes that require some delicate eating manners. Since the bird is so small, There's more bones than meat. So detaching the meat will be a chore for most. The dish is pretty tasty base on the sauce its cooked in but there isn't much meat to go around and the meat itself isn't too flavorful. There isn't a strong meat taste. What do I mean by that? Kind of like, chicken meat has a unique flavor, beef has a unique flavor, fish has that fishy flavor and so on. Even if you don't know what a certain type of animal taste like, there will always be some distinct flavor to it with every bite and usually never a non-indentifiable taste. If you can't indentify anything, then like always, you can safely conclude it's not fresh/frozen. Overall, nice garnishes with contrast, nice sauce that was cooked in just the bird meat lacks its own distinct flavor to it. When it comes to food in Shun De, even sauce is not going to help you get away from people thinking negatively about the dish. Overall, a passing dish.

In the end, Jin Yan Zhou is a great Shunde restaurant. Even their dim sum (during morning and noon time) are great with various selections, from oily sticks to steamed beef balls. I enjoy their congee especially. They have a lot of different types of congee to choose from including the infamous lean meat with duck egg congee which is really good! Anyways...

< 4 out of 5 >

Itamae-Sushi

> Location : Shop 1-3, G/F., Excelsior Plaza, Yee On Bldg.,
24-26 East Point Rd., Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Japanese Sushi
> Tel. # : (852) 2110-8504
> Website : N/A

Have you ever been to a restaurant where it's so hard to get table even for 1 or 2 people? Well, I'm not talkin' about like booking a table that is available a few months later like in the movie "lake house." Gosh, if there's a place like that, tell me where! haha. So what exactly am i talkin' about? Itamae-Sushi. There's is no reservations for this place and it's first come first serve base on available seating. For dinner time, it opens around 5:30 PM and there is already a hand full of people waiting to get in. In about another 30 min., expect a whole bunch of people outside getting tickets to wait to get a seat! Base on my multiple experiences, if you want an easier time getting in, go early!

Itamae-Sushi has three locations. The first One is the one I'm reviewing at Causeway Bay and the other two are at Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok, Kowloon. The environment of this place isn't very big but used efficiently. The sushi bar is 360 degrees with multiple sushi chefs at your service. Along with the chefs, there's rotory sushi going around 360 degrees also. Besides the bar, there's also some regular seating on the side. The lighting is somewhat dim and again the space is well used.

What truly makes Itamae-Sushi special isn't just the location (it's right by Sogo and some of the most crowded streets of Causeway Bay), but it is the variety. Besides your usual salmon, tuna, eel, mackerel, yellowtail and so on, you have even more special choices such as striped jack, Japanese jack mackerel, fatty yellowtail, fatty salmon, fatty tuna of two types, rudder fish, salty saury, Japanese flounder and so much more. In addition to fishes, there's also different types of semi-raw japanese beef, horse flesh (yes, horse meat, haha), different types of shell seafood, roasted items, sashimi, handrolls, cut rolls, desserts and so much other stuff I can't list them all! Each table contains four different types of paper menu for you to mark on and some are both sides. They even list the items that are shipped fresh daily from japan! Of course, each table has a regular colored booklet menu to see the pictures and choose some additional items not listed in the paper menus. That truly tells you how much choices you have!

For my outing, i ordered some rudder fish, tuna, Japanese flounder, the fatty tuna with more fat and tendons, fatty yellowtail, Japanese jack mackerel, itamae roll, roasted eel and the 5A Japanese beef. Let me describe as much specific details as I can from each item. The Japanese jack mackerel is somewhat thin, nice and soft like regular mackerel or spanish mackerel. The fatty tuna was nice and fat! I can feel the oily sensation. Fatty yellowtail is a first for me. It was nice and thick with some minor tendons. The rudder fish has some tendons too. None of the fishes simply melted in my mouth which proves its freshness except for the tuna which slightly did but certainly a lot better than a lot of places I had in Southern California! 5A Japanese beef? I believe 5A stands for the quality level of the beef (I didn't get a chance to ask). The beef wasn't completely raw, a nice size not too thin, semi-roasted and had a very juicy, beefy taste to it. It certainly was great! The roasted eel tasted just like what eel should taste like in most Japanese restaurants. As for the Itamae roll, it contained scallop, salmon, salmon roe, and sea urchin (uni). It was one of those thiner, round and bigger type of rolls. Well decorated and tasted good. As for dessert, the pumpkin ice cream! The ice cream literally comes in a pumpkin. The ice cream was nice, cold and not too soft. It holds a milky pumpkin flavor to it. Quality wise, it was an alright amount yet definitely worth it because it isn't expensive and its taste. Most of the fishes served contain at least some nice minor garnish on the side if not some taste complements/garnish ontop of the fish such as wasabi, fried rice flour bits, green onions, specific types of sauces, turnip strips, onion trips, and other things.

Price wise, it is reasonable and for people from the states, you will find it cheap! As low as $9 HKD to $45 HKD for each order for sushi (it's more like $20-30 per order to start out with in the states), handrolls, cut rolls, drinks, desserts, and noodles. For sashimi and other special items, it can go as high as a hundred to a few hundred HKD per order. Some are simply 2 pieces and some are more. Overall, the quantity and extra quality (because it is sashimi) justifies the cost.

Price, variety, quality and location. What more can you ask for? I am certain if you pay a bit to a grip more, you can find even better quality but not too much better (where a typical eater can't tell the difference) in Hong Kong. Yet, the price and quality ratio is very good along with the variety and location. The only negative thing is the waiting if you go late but that is normal because of its popularity. I've been to some well-decorated high class looking Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong and base on its freshness, price, choices, it's just horrible. I don't need to go any further because I am sure you get my point about this place! Itamae-Sushi is a great place if you consider all these factors I just listed. A must visit for anybody in Hong Kong!

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >