Honeymoon Dessert

> Location : Basement 1, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Chinese style desserts
> Tel. # : (852) 2917-7233
> Website : http://www.honeymoon-dessert.com/

One of the most famous chinese style dessert here in hong kong uses mango. So mango with what simon? At honeymoon dessert, they provide a mango, pomelo (grapefruit), coconut milk with sago dessert that is very wonderful! So what the heck is sago anyways? Sago is very much like snow bubble at your local refreshment shops that serves boba (tapioca). It is often used in a lot of chinese liquid desserts.

Honeymoon Dessert started in Sai Kung, Hong Kong which is a very beautiful tourist attraction area. Honeymoon Dessert now has multiple locations all over hong kong so it is hard to not experience this place if you live here or come visiting Hong Kong! The one i attended is in Times Sqaure (city super food court) where Curry in a Hurry and Ganpachi ramen are.

Going back to the mango dessert, it holds a refreshing not too sweet yet not too water down flavor. one of those 'just right' taste. The mango is very fresh along with the pomelo. The coconut milk adds that extra kick in the liquid when you eat the dessert and the sago gives your mouth that unique chewy sensation.

So give it a try next time you see Honeymoon Dessert! From sago, to grass jelly to traditional chinese style desserts, don't hesitate because you'll regret it! As a lot would say, there's always room for desserts!

< 4 out of 5 >

Florinda Cafe

> Location : Shun Tak Centre, 200 Connaught Rd.,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Chinese diner dishes, Portuguese custard tarts
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

new review :

Rushing out of the house, i didn't get a chance to eat my bowl of "smart start" cereal. as most know, when you skip a meal, your metabolism begins to slow down and by the time your next meal comes, your body will absorb whatever is within your food faster and convert more of it into fat. so takin' the bus that day, to get to the office from the bus stop, you need to walk through shun tak centre. so yeah, Florinda Cafe is right there so i had to get the "po tat" meal, haha. yeah, that's the cantonese's way of sayin portuguese custard tart.

for about 20 dollars, you get two egg white or mixed (egg yolk and white) po tat and a pretty decent size drink. so since im such a health freak usually when it comes to breakfast, i went with two egg whites. so, any different from last time simon?? still crispy, flaky, that shiny semi-burnt texture ontop, the oh-so-sweet-and-tasty egg white filling... just wonderful! so most must be asking me what's different between this and lord stow's and if i'm going to up the score for this place. well, first of all, the score isn't going down. just that, there's this extra charisma, this sensation that is indescribable in lord stow's that macau's is lacking. is this "sensation" a whole 1/2 point or 1 point? i'll say 1/2 which allows me to give this place a new score. for its consistency in pleasuring me with their egg tarts! another thing i want to mention about is, another macau highlight is the porkchop sandwich with crispy bun. this is one thing i want to try one of these days that people emphasize a lot about macau cuisine. so next time you're eating macau cuisine, go try it out!

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >


old review :

So what exactly is a portuguese custard tart? well, if you go to chinese dim sum often enough, you'll order the egg tarts in them rolling carts or people carrying them around on plates. yes, very similar to the one pictured in this entry. besides puff pastry, egg yolk (egg white or both) and sugar usually being the similar ingredients compared to egg tards from dim sum, there are other aspects that make a portuguese custard tart different. here's a list of the usualy ingedients used in most recipes:

1) milk or heavy cream
2) vanilla extract
3) egg yolk or egg white or both
4) slices of puff pastry
5) fine white sugar or sugar syrup
6) cornstarch or plain flour

besides these, there are other unique ingredients people use such as butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, zest of a lemon or orange, honey replacing white sugar or sugar syrup. all these parts give the custard an extra kick to the taste. but in the end, in an aesthetic and taste sense, portuguese custard tart is cooked till it has a little brownness (right before it's burnt) on top of the filling and golden brown texture on the pastry.

so at shun tak centre, which is around sheung wan and central, there's a chain opened by the wife of the centre's owner (btw, this guy has 7 wives. haha). the chain is called Florinda Cafe. it's just a casual restaurant with your usual hong kong diner style food. but for breakfast, the highlight has to be (you guessed it) the portuguese custard tart! so first of all, what is the relationship between the portuguese and macau? well, at one point back in the days, macau was a portuguese settlement. due to the influences of the portuguese settlers, macau's cuisine contain some portuguese influences. one of which is what we've been discussing about! anyhow at Florinda Cafe, the custard is made using typical dim sum egg tard pastry, however, the cooking method and ingredients are the same. crispy, flaky, sweet, the brown texture ontop of the filling is felt and yes, it's wonderful! i need to mention that at macau's, you can get both just the egg yolk version or just plain egg white custards. i'll need to find out where you can get these with the fat puff pastry crust. but for now, go get 'em at macau's restaurant at shun tak centre or check for other locations around hong kong! or if you wish to make them yourself, check out allrecipes.com on how to make their version of portuguese custard tart!

< 4 out of 5 >