Food Blog It # 3

Howdy everyone! Hope everyone is doing well and keeping their stomaches happy with good food! Between work and keeping this food reviewing passion alive is tough and I apologize for not updating for so long! But I promise, more is to come!

I've been to a few places lately unprepared to review but I would like to give you guys some short reactions just in case it's a place you thought of going to! I will add onto this list as I have more time!


(1) Oonami (Japanese & Oyster Restaurant)

Location : No. 39, Cadogan Street, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong
Cuisine : Japanese / Oyster
Tel. # : (852) 2817-6626
Website : www.oonamihk.com

Short reaction : Located in Kennedy Town, very close to Sai Wan district, Oonami is a Japanese restaurant located in the most unexpected area. When you step inside, the place feels very welcoming. There's a full sushi bar, decent amount of seating (it's not very big). The place is heard of to be always packed so book for your seatings! The food both raw and cooked are all above average. I've tasted some roasted dishes, fried, sushi, dessert, tampura and so on and I can assure, they were all acceptable! Nothing on the short end.


(2) T.G.I. Friday's

Location : 26 Nathan Road, 4/F & 5/F, Tsim Sha Shui, Hong Kong
Cuisine : American
Tel. # : (852) 2368-2800
Website : http://www.tgifridays.com

Short reaction : T.G.I. Friday's is a trademark not even in America and in some local supermarkets, but it's located internationally everywhere! In Hong Kong, there's one location in the heart of Tsim Sha Shui. When I stepped inside, the place was huge like the ones in America. Bars with TVs and others TVs located throughout the restaurant. The theme, setup, decoration is pretty much similar like you never left America. Yet, food wise, it's not exactly the same as my last few experience in a TGIF's in America. I say about 50% of the dishes on the table were not comparable quality. Perhaps it was just a bad day for the chef. On the brighter side of things, the other 50% were good and I had no complaints! Overall, I would definitely give it another try!

(3) Frontier

Location : 1/F Cheung's Building, 1-3 Wing Lok Street,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Cuisine : Indian and other influences
Tel. # : (852) 2850-5075
Website : N/A

Short reaction : Frontier is right next to Pasha Kebabs. It's somewhat hidden but plenty of signs to lead you into some wonderful curry aroma! Frontier provides seat in lunch specials ranging from $39 HKD to about $60 HKD. The lunch special comes with rice, naan, small side of salad, appetizer (somosa), soup of the day and your choice of curry (price ranges). Drink price (lemon ice tea and soda) is reduced when you order the set lunch special. There's also a takeout special that's $25 HKD with rice, your choice of chicken or lamb curry and $2 HKD more for additional naan. I've personally tried the seat in and takeout specials and the curry were all good! You can definitely sense the spices and the aroma that comes from the curry. I've also ordered curry independently (lamb, chicken, fish) and I personally enjoyed it. Independent ordering is a bit pricey but it's justify through its good quality. Malaysian and Thai curry can be found at Frontier but I would stick with Indian because that's the highlight!

Tora Fugu

> Location : Kanda, Tokyo, Japan
> Cuisine : Fugu (Puffer Fish)
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : http://www.torafugu.co.jp/

Ever got a chance to watch the American favorite Simpson's cartoon episode where Homer ate the poisonous puffer fish sushi? We all learn from such cartoons or from minor knowledge elsewhere, without proper expertise of the chef, the consumer of the sushi won't have a very pleasant after effect, haha. But what I've learned from my visit to Japan is that puffer fish is not only made into an item you can choose from in sushi restaurants but into a cuisine entirely!

So, it's poisonous, that's a lot of risk for the business wouldn't it be? Well, this is not true entirely. Some puffer spices are NOT poisonous (e.g. Takifugu oblongus) and the ones who are, if they were raised in captivity and without proper contact of a certain type of bacteria through food, their "tetrodotoxin," which is the name of their toxin, can not be created.

My puffer fish experience (or as the Japanese call it, "Fugu") was split into a few sections. Actually, before we start, Tora Fugu, the restaurant that hosted my experience translates into "Tiger Puffer Fish." So, okay! What is for dinner?

First up, we have an appetizer served in a little bowl with fugu skin mixed with chopped up green onions and marinated radish. This is served more as a salad dish to start the meal off! Fugu skin has a chewy texture to it. The salad is served in this sourish sauce. A very common salad dressing used in Japan.

Second up, we have fugu sashimi. Mashed radish, some fugu skin in the middle, lime and other compliments are served with the dish. Fugu is usually sliced very thin when served since it's so expensive. The texture of the sashimi is flexible kind of similar to that chewy sensation from the fugu skin but not as "rubbery." The taste has this light fishy flavor kinda of like "white fish." Nothing unique like yellow tail or salmon.

Third up, fugu shabu shabu served with tofu and other vegetables. This is as you would expect, fugu boiled in water served with sauce. The container is made out of bamboo sticks with a waxed textured paper so water can be poured in. Inside is a slice of seaweed which is a classic way of boiling the 'soup base.' This gives a hint of sweet seaweed sensation to it. Fugu shabu shabu with some ponzu (lime flavor sauce) was a nice experience. The meat was tender and it goes nice with the ponzu's lime flavoring.

Fourth up, deep fried fugu with okra and lime. This is as you would expect again, basically fugu deep fried, with that crispy texture and a hint of lime as flavoring along with the saltiness from the fried skin. The okra served as an after effect to decrease that fried, oily sensation out of your taste bud. Interesting indeed.

Last but not least, rice porridge made with the left over soup base from the fugu shabu shabu. Green onions and blended uncooked eggs were boiled along with rice. The rice porridge is served with some marinated pickles and a piece of marinated plum. A few pieces of dried seaweed tops it off. This dish is something light to finish off your whole fugu experience. The remaining soup base serves as some of the flavoring from the rice porridge. In the end, this dish is very simple yet very good.

To cool things off and put a smile on your face, a scoop of plum flavored ice cream is served. Not much to explain here but its served in a little bowl and it tastes like your typical lightly plum flavored ice cream. A nice touch to end your fugu cuisine experience.

In conclusion, Tora Fugu is a place with a pleasant environment and provides great ways of serving fugu. Considering Tora Fugu is a chain with many locations all over Japan, the quality they provided should be consistent. I have never tried other places before so it is hard to give any definite score. Plus, this review just serves as a fun and educational pointer to the world of puffer fish cuisine! If I really had to give a score, I would give Tora Fugu...

< 4 out of 5 >

Lian

> Location : Shop 2004, Podium Level 2, International Finance
Centre Mall, Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Viet/thai/Bar/Bistro
> Tel. # : (852) 2521-1117
> Website : N/A

Another creation from the M.A.X. Concept group (Maxim e.g. Rice Paper), Lian is a classy, business oriented Vietnamese/Thai restaurant located in podium level 2 of the I.F.C. mall. When you first step into Lian, you will spot an entertainment room to the right and the actual restaurant and bar to the left. The restaurant/Bar itself consists of about a 10 seating Bar, a very creative large square table with water decorations in the middle of it. The table itself definitely will be shared among the visitors very much like a bar table. The lighting is dim, there's a mirror up on the roof and on opposite sides of the restaurant to make the atmosphere feel bigger. There's a window looking out into Central with about seven booth style seating available by and away from the window. There is also a bar that serves especially juice and wine.

Lian's menu contains your usual appetizer section along with short orders, rice/noodles/bread, Lian's selections, and vegetables. There are symbols indicating which are Vietnamese or Thai dishes. There's also a separate menu for drinks and dessert.

So onto the food! In any Thai related restaurant, you're going to find "Stir fried morning glory with chili and preserved shrimp paste" in the menu ($58 HKD). At Lian, they keep the consistency alive with that salty, shrimpy flavor from the dish. Nothing extraordinary but done just right.

Next up is the "Green tea smoked duck, pineapple caramel chili lime salt" ($165 HKD). The lime salt is provided on the side to put on your duck. At first bite, I noticed the smoke flavor doesn't overwhelm the other qualities of the dish. It blends in well with the lime salt, the sweetest from the pineapple caramel and there's even a hint of spiciness. Most of the smoked flavor comes from the duck skin and in its entirety, the meat is very tender. It's basically a dish of many flavors yet done very well. It doesn't make you question why a certain sensation is added onto the dish. Some sourness, some saltiness, some sweetness and some spiciness. A good dish overall.

Lastly, is the most expensive dish in Lian's menu which is the "White Miso marinated Chilean sea bass wrapped in cucumber lime leaf and lemon grass flavor, purple pickle" ($ 175 HKD). When it comes to miso on fish, we think of the Japanese. If you ever had miso roasted fish in Japanese style, there's always a strong definite flavoring of miso on the fish but not enough to overwhelm the fish's meat flavor. Yes, this is a Vietnamese / Thai fusion restaurant so it's hard to follow this concept. However, from the first bite into this dish, I noticed the miso flavoring is barely there. You notice it's there but not enough to trigger any delightful sensation in your brain. At the very least, the sea bass is tender and fresh (you can tell if you don't taste that fermented flavor to it). the purple pickles was a nice compliment with the light-tasting sea bass. It was a bit sour, very much like those Japanese style pickles used for bentos or rice porridge. I actually asked one of the waitress about the extreme lack of miso flavoring and the wateriness of the dish. She actually had that same notion when she tried it herself and told the chef about it before. However, the chef thinks that's just how it should be made. So possibly, my experience wasn't an inconsistency, it was just meant to be. Yet, if we were to use the stereotypical standards of what people think is good or not, this dish will dissatisfy many. With the compliment from the purple pickles, I think the miso sauce doesn't need to be extremely obvious but stronger would be nice.

For dessert, I had the caramelized pineapple and fresh mango served with snow pine leaf ice cream. This dessert is a two-sided item and the pastry side goes very well with the ice cream side. A very simple dessert yet done very well! One of those dishes you just have to try to understand!

So it boils down to me shaking my head a little about the most expensive dish in the menu. I expected a lot more from a $175 HKD item. But hey, others might like it. My opinion? Not many though. Yet, I take nothing away from the dessert and the duck dish. They were done extremely well and I give them high marks! So my verdict for Lian is...

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Kau Kee Restaurant

> Location : G/F 21 Gough Street, Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Beef brisket clear soup Noodle
> Tel. # : (852) 2815-0123
> Website : N/A

Just up Wing Kut Street to the stone steps, there lies a hidden treasure if you're a soup noodle fanatic. No, we're not even talking about Chung Kee which serves the best wonton soup noodle ever! Up the stone steps a bit and you take a right into Gough Street, lies a street with a lot of different restaurants (Thai, western, Indian, Chinese, etc) and a "dai pai dong."

Yet, one place in particular made a lot noise for their beef brisket clear soup noodle if not just within the Central / Sheung Wan area, but of the entire Hong Kong! Kau Kee opens Mondays to Saturdays from 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM. Especially on weekdays, even before 12:30, there's already a pretty LONG line waiting for it to open! So like everybody else, I waited like a kid going into a candy store...

The success to Kau Kee's beef brisket clear soup noodle is through its whole package. The Beef brisket is prepared daily to give it its soft, tender sensation. Not only does it melt in your mouth, they cook it in such a way you can still distinguish the beef taste from the marinara. A lot of the times in beef brisket dishes or any type of meat that relies on heavy or long marinating, the actual meat taste is lost through the process. However at Kau Kee, this is not the case. The second factor that makes a lot of critics love this place is the clear soup base. My very best guess for some of the ingredients are turnips and pig bones. The soup is pleasant scented and very sweet to the mouth. You simply have to try it to know how wonderful it is! Last but not least (to me comparable to the previous two factors), is the noodle. You can generally choose from rice noodle, hoi fun (flat noodle) or regular lai mien. For most customers favorite, lai mien is the best choice. Kau Kee's lai mien is very chewy but not to the extent like its rubbery. This makes your mouth do some work yet it's work that's very much worth it!

However, as I like to say often on this food blog, consistency is the key. The previous paragraphs and what I am about to type is a separate visit. So, I found myself craving some Kau Kee at around 3:30 PM. I brought a friend with me telling him how great the stuff was! When our bowls came and half way into my second experience, I found myself craving for water and that MSG/oily sensation in my throat. When I finished, I felt embarrassed as my friend didn't uphold my recommendation. Yes, he had the same sensation as me. So I asked a few people who had experience with Kau Kee about the problem and it seems like as the freshly made ingredients sits longer, the oil excretes from the beef into the clear soup. Well, that is one possibility. The other is the restaurant ran out of soup base and as a last minute attempt, made soup using MSG to get the similar flavoring as their freshly prepared soup.

Whatever the issue was, I was turned off by my second experience. Yet, my suggestion is, if you want the good stuff, GO EARLY! When it gets late, I don't recommend going. Perhaps, it was just one of those unlucky experiences but for me, I'm going with my own suggestion. In the end, I take nothing away from how Kau Kee got its reputation from. They certainly make some seriously good clear soup beef brisket noodle (on a good day). My verdict would have been higher, but with what happened in my second experience, I give Kau Kee...

< 4 out of 5 >