Thalassic Thai Restaurant

> Location : Shop C & D, G/F, Chi Ping Building, 38 Hau Wo Street,
Kennedy Town, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Thai
> Tel. # : (852) 3606-3111
> Website : N/A

Yes, we have another Kennedy Town special! But how is it this time? Thalassic Thai Restaurant is in the back streets of Kennedy Town in Hau Wo Street. It's suppose to be a pretty new restaurant. When I first stepped in, the lighting, the decoration (especially around the bar area), are all pleasant looking. The people who served us, attitude wise, were all friendly.

The menu is pretty straight forward. There's a section for curry, salad, appetizers, vegetables and other major categories common to Thai cuisine. I actually got to try quite a few items from this place and I'll share it with you all right away!

Their Tom Yum Kong soup was okay overall. It was more sour than spicy. I was hoping the two could have been more balanced but it's acceptable. Ingredient wise, it's filled with everything that should be there so that's a big plus! Overall, if you're craving some tom yum kong, there's no major low points to prevent you from ordering it here.

Next up, we got the appetizer combo (varies in size/price depending on how many people are eating). There are egg rolls, fried fish (crab?) cake, chicken wrapped in lotus leaf, and other stuff. I had the chance to try the fried fish cake and it had little taste to it. The chicken in lotus leaf was much better. The chicken was marinated and seemed to be fried before being wrapped in the lotus leaf. The rest of the items are what you would imagine them to taste.

I also got half a Hainan Chicken. The chicken came with a similar sauce that a lot of the times, comes with egg rolls in Thai restaurants. This, sweet and sour like sauce. The chicken essentially didn't have much taste to it nor any reminiscence of Hainan chicken flavor. It was more dependent on you to use the sweet and sour sauce which made me felt disappointed. The Hainan chicken Thai style from Lanna Thai (Causeway Bay) was done much better.

Another item i got to try is the pomelo, fried cocunut strip with shrimp salad. This salad is an interesting concept. the pomelo (grapefruit meat) was obvious sweet and maybe just slightly sour. The coconut strips fried would be a little salty with a slight sweetness to it. shrimp would be how shrimp would taste like. What I thought was missing was something "green" to this salad. A salad after all has greens or vegetable related items in it no matter what other non-traditional ingredients are involved. I enjoyed it but after a few tastes, I just thought something green/a bit sour would have perfect this salad.

Next, I had the yellow curry with chicken. Yellow curry in this case would be panang curry (the menu all provided descriptions of the dishes in english and chinese for most of the dishes. only some came with the original Thai name). Panang curry has a sweetish and slightly spicy flavor to it. It's one of the most commonly famous Thai curry around. As for Thalassic, the "yellow curry" had that famous panang taste but not as strong as I would like. The spiciness was strong indeed. My curry came with an ordered of their so-called "pizza." The "pizza" was essentially like a thousand layer pancake (a Northern Chinese delicacy) but fried with more oil, salt and butter added. If you try it, you might have come up with other things that you might have been reminded of (Indian style bread or even Malaysian if you ask me, other than what I said previously).

In the end, I had an alright experience at Thalassic. They had dishes that almost made it to the "finish line" but never quite got there (e.g. the pomelo salad). I actually had this rice dish that I didn't even bother to mention about because it was so bald. The decoration, creativity involved was great but the taste just wasn't there. The environment was festive especially if you get to sit near the bar area because that's where all the jungle-like decorations are. The service was good besides the fact that I just didn't enjoy how the waitress kept asking me to order the most expensive items. The costs justified by the type of item, location but not through the quality as I've described above. If you really want to have some Thai in Kennedy Town, I wouldn't beg you to not go. Overall, it's an average feeling from me.

< 3 out of 5 >

SanQiaoyiyi

> Location : Shops A & B, G/F, Ivy on Belcher's 26 Belcher's street,
Kennedy Town, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Japanese
> Tel. # : (852) 2816-7722
> Website : N/A

SanQiaoyiyi is a well rounded Japanese restaurant serving various items in its respective cuisine. From noodles to rice to fried/grilled dishes to sushi/sashimi and various other things. SanQiaoyiyi has three other locations besides the Hong Kong island one. There's one in Yuen Long, N.T., and two in Kowloon (Sham Shui Po and Tai Po). The Hong Kong location, the one I'm reviewing is in Kennedy Town. The restaurant is split into two shops. There's a residential/business building right in between. For one shop, it's designed for rotary sushi style and for the other, it's for tables and traditional sushi bar.

I had the chance to seat on the table side for my review. The environment was bright with lots of lighting. There are quite a number of seats for both shops. Since SanQiaoyiyi has been recently opened here in Kennedy Town, there have been a lot of customers lining up to try the new place. Make sure you go early if you want to try! Not only because the place is new so people are flocking to go, the prices is noticeably below average so it's bang for the buck! But is it still of good quality?

There are two menus I was provided with. One was the table paper menu which shows most of the cooked items. The other was a pictured menu leaflet that has the following sections: salad, warship sushi, snack, sushi, sashimi, grilled sushi, cocktail sushi, roll, ice cream, drinks and liquor.

I got the chance to try a little of everything from SanQiaoyiyi. Their tempura was nice and crispy. Something that is tough to cooked improperly. Their puffer fish smoked skin was chewy, pleasant with a strong BBQ flavor to it. It's similar to the flavoring from Aji Ichiban's dried fish snacks. I also tried their soft shell crab hand roll and found it great until I tasted some mayo in it. To me, I just don't think a soft shell crab hand roll really matches up with mayo in my opinion. To me, the best hand roll for mayo would be scallop. Next, I tried the smoked/grilled salmon head. It was alright and nothing to be crazy over. If you're into grilled fish Japanese style, I always recommend yellow tail collar! I also heard the udon soup was good. Lastly, I had their daily special which was tamago (egg) filled with cheese. As expected, it was that sweet tamago sushi taste with cheese melted within. Interesting indeed. On the side, their presentation of their dishes are nice which makes your experience more special.

So how was the raw stuff? It's actually quite cheap I must say. That's one large reason why there's so many people lining up. The combination sushi plates give quite a lot for a small price. I tried this $150 HKD so combination plate that had about 25-30 pieces of sushi/rolls. It's actually quite a deal. How was the freshness? Well, to see if there's a difference between the fish served in a combination plate compared to individually ordered, I ordered some yellow tail and tasted the quality. It melted in my mouth somewhat but still preserved a bit of the chewiness. Comparing that to the salmons, white fish and other items on the combination plate, there wasn't much of a difference. Which for me concludes the freshness was adequate but not great. However, we must remember the price they give you justifies the quality! So it's not so bad overall.

How about the service? The service was average. Considering the place is brand new, it seems like some of the waiters and waitress' don't know if certain isn't even served. I ordered a certain item and the lady said "okay" but when I noticed it never came, I asked another waiter and he says they don't serve that item. Considering the situation, it was half excusable to me. Most of the waiter's attitude were fine (except for one) and the manager there was friendly. Overall, it's a pass.

For the price you are asked to pay and what's served to you, SanQiaoyiyi does exactly what it's suppose to do. It would be great if the quality, especially the raw stuff, were a bit more fresh. However, please don't look away because if you're just a casual eater, this is definitely a go. Unless you're looking for some better/top notch quality sushi/sashimi, then a close place would be Oonami (also in Kennedy Town), which I did a short review recently for. Also, if you're looking for cooked items only, I don't see much of an issue not going. Just go early because there's quite a line!

< 3.5 out of 5 >

Ivan The Kozak

> Location : LG/F 46-48 Cochrane Street, Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Old Eastern European (Ukrainian, Russian)
> Tel. # : (852) 2851-1193
> Website : www.ivanthekozak.com

Labeled as the "one and only authentic Russian and Ukrainian food in Hong Kong," Ivan the Kozak is a lovely restaurant just slightly hidden to the inner left of Cochrane Street in between two restaurants/bar. Once inside, the environment is cozy like a cottage style home. There are a lot of cultural decorations and lighting all around the restaurant. The overall lighting is a little bit dim but if you want a brighter seating location, there are a few tables right next to the window (for daytime using daylight). There's a bar and from my best judgment, the restaurant can hold about 40-50 so people. There's even the infamous "vodka ice room" where the temperature is negative 15 degrees Celsius (clothing provided to keep you warm) for you to drink up to the various types of vodka in traditional Russian style! For further information about this unique activity, check out their website.

Ivan the Kozak provides a regular menu (in its native language/Chinese) that consist of caviar, soup, salad, hot/cold appetizer, main course, and desserts. For pricing ranges from $20 HKD so for soups, $50-60 HKD so for salads and appetizers, $40 HKD so for desserts and $100 HKD plus for main courses. There's also various types of drinks available such as beer (various types of European beers), wine, hard liquor, and other types of cold/hot drinks. Besides all this, they also have a lunch special that consist of two parts: You can get the all you can eat buffet bar with coffee or tea for $59 HKD. The buffet bar consist mostly of various types of themed salads such as mix vegetable, turnips, mushrooms, eggs, cole slaw, red cabbage, pancake strips and other various types of salads. There's also different types of soups such as fish, vegetable, cabbage and Ukrainian bortch. Some fruits are even provided, bread and other minor items. Overall, a good amount of selections. Just for $20 HKD more, you receive the main course which you get to choose from. Every week, there's a new list of main courses that alternates.

For my experience, I got to try the Ox Tongue stew and the Baked Duck Chest for the main course. For the ox tongue stew, the meat was soft and melts in your mouth almost literally. The sauce is semi-thick with mushrooms inside and the taste is mildly salty and just right. Broccoli and your choice of spaghetti or rice is included. The rice is ordinary just like most places but the spaghetti included was spiced in this semi-curry powder like flavor. It was rather unique and I would definitely try it out if I were you rather than rice! The Baked Duck Chest is tender with every piece and this thick white mushroom /eggplant gravy like sauce is poured on top! The sauce has a little sweet taste to it and well balanced with its saltiness. This also came with broccoli and your choice of rice or spaghetti.

I had a very good time with these set lunch main course and the salad/soup/dessert buffet. I would imagine that the items from the regular menu would be EVEN better! Please check the website for the web's version of the menu. There will definitely be another visit from me soon and an update on it! For now, my verdict is...

< 4 out of 5 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

Ganpachi Ramen

> Location : Shop 103G, Basement level, Times Square,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Japanese Ramen
> Tel. # : (852) 2917-7232
> Website : N/A

Now this is exactly the same time i had curry in a hurry for your information, haha. ramen huh? i guess i kind of miss shinsengumi from westminster, california too much i had to eat some ramen on the side, haha. hakata ramen, yeah! =) so again, for people who didn't read my other review, ganpachi is located in the basement level of times square. there's a big food court there with various cuisines to choose from. this whole food court is ran/hosted by city super. everytime you order something, you have to pay through the city super people. ganpachi has two other locations at silvercord and APM according to their business card. hibiki ramen and hachiban ramen express is also part of the same group which are located at harbour city (tsim sha tsui) and city plaza (tai koo) respectively.

anyhow, how's ganpachi's food? i had one of their pig tail bone soup base ramen. the ingredients are as follows: bean sprouts, corn, green onions, crispy seaweed, bamboo shoots, pork strips, sesame and of course your ramen noodle. the soup is light and not too salty. the soup taste is well defined for the most part. the ramen texture was about between soft and medium. on a side note, some of the pork slices reminded me of bacon the way it's cut, haha. i think after contemplating everything, the one thing that i would ask for is to make the soup base stronger. it was definitely light and refreshing but i think it could be just a little bit stronger in taste. my sister who comes along with me while i review food sometimes agrees with me on that part.

ultimately, it was good for the most part. the portion definitely doesn't lack. the bowl was big and the ingredients is all in there. corn is different for me in japanese ramen. i usually don't see it used much. in a lot of ramen i order. i can't disagree it is presented nicely as seen in the photo. it was on the right track to becoming a great bowl of ramen. just with my personal take, the taste needed to be a bit more define/stronger. but hey! for fast food base operation ramen, it's pretty good already!

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Curry in a Hurry

> Location : Basement 1, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Indian style fast food
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

Curry in a hurry! now there's a rhyme you wouldn't think of for a indian fast food chain right? haha. i think it's quite clever. so what's up with this place? located on the basement floor of times square in causeway bay, there's a food court filled with all sorts of cuisines. this place is actually hosted by city super. everything is paid through city super after you order. anyways, one place in particular that pops out to simon is definitely curry in a hurry, haha. again, deprived of indian food, i went straight to this place. curry in a hurry is managed by the restaurant curry pot. this particular curry in a hurry does not have everything on the original menu. so how do we order? well, simply everything you can see in the front is what you can order. it is about 1/3 out of the menu you get to choose from. still, there are a good variety of stuff to choose from.

they have these sandwiches made out of naan and these burrito lookin' things i really want to try out. but i had to go the traditional way and order some curry with some roti chenal. basically it's a soft type of bread kinda of like naan but usually made into a bigger surface area and much softer. buttery and very good! so the set i got was called, "double happiness." basically it comes with 2 big pieces of roti chenals, a vegetable curry, a chicken or lamb curry and indian style coffee or a drink of your choice. the vegetable curry had peas, carrots, corn, green beans and potato in it. it's a nice yellow texture. taste wise, it wasn't particularly special but not horrible either. i say, it's better than "alright." how about the other curry? i went with lamb for the other curry and this one i enjoyed a lot more. the taste reminded me of some of the indian restaurants i've been to when i had lamb style curry. there's quite a few pieces of lamb inside so don't be afraid the portion is lacking. the curry was good and does well for a fast food standard! going back to the roti chenals, the two pieces they gave you were incredibly big. that was a big plus to me and plus it tasted pretty good.

price wise, the set was $40 hkd. most of the items are between $20-40 hkd so it isn't bad at all considering the portion they give you. in the end, there are so many different types of things you can choose from this place. i will definitely come back and revisit this review. as for now, base on fast food standards, i believe this place deserves a...

< 4 out of 5 >

Reflexion Natural Dining

> Location : East Point Centre New Wing, 555 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : European-Asian Fusion
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : http://www.reflexion.com.hk/

Located on the 12th floor of sogo department store, Reflexion is a very comfortable, well-decorated restaurant. serving european style asian cuisine, reflexion is definitely intriguing especially when it's located within a department store. the area isn't very big but the decoration as just mentioned negates this notion. if you're waiting for a seat, there's are four very comfortable seats with reading material nearby. water flowing bamboo decorations and many other eye-catching designs. before i continue, here's a little introduction straight from the reflexion website: "Our family has been involved with innovative and high quality cuisine for over 100 years in Switzerland. Our philosophy througout the decades has been to use only the finest ingredients, the most natural vegetables and fruits, and to source only grain-fed meats and the freshest seasonal food.

Today, we are inviting you to our first restaurant in Asia right here in Hong Kong. We have secured a long-term partnership with SOGO and our vision is to combine our European and Japanese know-how to develop service standards, food and ambiance dedicated to your special needs and desires, in other words, a reflection of your sense."

alright, alright enough with all this extra stuff! so how was the food? lets just say i was being very observant or this place would score below a 3. why simon why? i applaud the many years of experience, but besides environment, eye-catching, soothing decorations, and designs, the other important fact is taste. now, don't stop reading let me finish here! okay, so reflexion has a lunch set menu, dinner set menu and also a section of daily specials. since it's lunch time, i took a peak at the lunch sets. deprived of indian food lately, with the closest thing resembling indian food, my eye went straight to the "mild chicken marsala curry served with jasmine rice" ($48 hkd). each set comes with a drink, a salad or soup and also your main course. as the menu indicated, the restaurant uses no msg, 100% olive oil. so the salad comes, a small good looking salad. it has cherry tomatoes, lettuce, red lettuce, cucumber, beats and using black currant dressing (it seems like pomegranate). the salad was very raw, very fresh and definitely as the website advertised, they use the freshest stuff. the dressing was very neat with a sweet slightly fruity sour sensation. not your typical heavy on dressing salad. fresh, healthy, good stuff.

so, you begin this review like there suppose to be a drop somewhere right? so here comes the marsala curry. consistency is the key to every place you eat at right? fresh, i can't deny. organic bean sprouts, not too hard, not too soft potatoes (just right), jasmine rice, all good stuff. chicken? well done! soft, tender, i really loved the texture and just the way its done. a "life saver" i would call it in this review. so what's left? the marsala curry. one word, salty. i'm not particularly sensitive with any types of taste. i can stand the extremes of a lot of flavors. however, the curry is just so salty, there was a frown on simon's face =*( was it a consistency issue? like i said in the beginning, i was being observant. so i saw the table next to mine ordered the same dish. watched his expressions and trying to read the words coming out of his mouth. he didn't seem to twitch or acted negatively. so what's my take? inconsistency. i'll give this place the benefit of the doubt 'cause simon is a nice guy! by some lucky chance, the bad chicken marsala curry dish comes to a food critic. well, my sister in law and mother was around too. my mother had similar reaction as me (salty) with her dish and my sister in law seem to have a decent reaction. so yes, the chicken and fresh ingredients was the plus and i thank the people of this restaurant for being persistent with their words. so the verdict, yes the points. a struggle between two scores and the good chicken and ingredients allowed me to choose the higher score...

< 3 out of 5 >

Katong

> Location : G/F, 8 Mercer Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Singaporean
> Tel. # : (852) 2543-4008
> Website : N/A

Right across from malaymama is a restaurant that serves laksa and prawn mee in singaporean style! the restaurant, katong, offers similar types of food as malaysian food. there are slight differences in ingredients and types of dishes offered. first of all, katong's prawn mee has more extra toppings to choose from such as meat ball, squid ball or fish ball. for $5 hkd more for selective prawn mee dishes, you can get prawn mee in dry style. the other difference between these two places is that, katon offers mee siam. mee siam is a sweet and sour wet rice vermicelli dish which comes with the usual prawn or shrimp, egg and tofu. pricing wise, these two places are about the same plus or minus a few hkd for comparable dishes. substitutions are also available if you want different types of noodles such as flat egg noodle, vermicelli, rice noodle, or rice vermicelli. so besides mee siam and prawn mee, and prawn mee dry, katong also has laksa, singapore dessert and also singapore snack to choose from.

okay, onto the food! having enough of prawn recently from malaymama, and the other thai restaurants, i went with shrimp instead. shrimp what? i got the mee siam with shrimp, egg and tofu pot. costing $36 hkd (compared to $48 if you choose prawns), this dish as i mentioned above is a wet sweet and sour rice vermicelli noodle dish. the sweet and sour flavor isn't extreme. the sensation is mild which is just right. other ingredients also spotted are green onions, onion bits and pork bits. the egg is boiled and already cut into a few slices. this dish is extremely unique because there aren't many wet noodle dishes in asian food. wet rice dishes are more common such as ying yang fried rice or fujian fried rice. the flavor isn't something you can grasp and love quickly. coming in only three varieties, mee siam isn't katong's top priorty. overall, this mee siam dish is a good dish. it definitely has its resemblence with singaporean stir fried rice vermicelli flavors if you ever had it before. it is one of those delicacy type of dishes. not the usual eat it and love it type. i highly recommend it if you enjoy something unusual and good!

on the side, i wanted to try katong's highlight "snack." this snack is called rojak ($28 hkd). rojak is a singaporean salad which contains small chucks of oily stick, cucumber, guava (the hard white kind), pineapple, crushed peanuts on top, a type of eatable chinese root and dressing made out of thai black shrimp paste. the dressing pretty much covers every part of the salad. each and every ingredient of the salad is nice, fresh and crispy. the dressing is a very unique sweet flavor and a tiny bit of saltiness. the type of sweet flavor reminds me of those small chinese red round slices of cracker/candy. i forgot what its called, haha. but the flavor is similar. but obviously as the cook told me, it's made out of a thai black shrimp paste. again, this is one of those delicacy flavors. the sweetness from the dressing is not a fruity sweet or like a orange chicken sweet, it's like a sweetness with a touch of spice to it like rosemary. very unique indeed.

drink wise, katong offers a wide selection of drinks from coke to barley water. a total of about 23 drinks. one drink i enjoy drinking when going to malaysian or singaporean restaurants is barley water. pretty much it's a mildly sweet drink, slightly thick and has that touch of barley (rice) flavor. kind of like mexican horchata but mixing the cinnamon and other specific ingredients. anyhow, katong is a good place for prawn mee, prawn mee dry because of their wide selections. their laksa are pretty good with my prior knowledge. of course, if you want mee siam, malaysian cuisine can't offer that. so anyhow...

< 4 out of 5 >

Malaymama

> Location : Shop 11A, Mercer Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Malaysian noodles
> Tel. # : (852) 2542-4111
> Website : http://www.malaymama.com/

Malaymama is hidden in the alleys of sheung wan , very near the grand millennium plaza where fitness first is. voted as the best laksa and prawn mee by "eat and travel weekly," malaymama provides not just those two malaysian highlight, but also kon loh mee, ipoh ho fun, klang bak hut teh, different types of vegetables, side dishes, drinks and even toast. pricing wise, this place is no joke. ranging from $23 hkd to $55 hkd for the main dishes, it really isn't a lot for something that is rated the best laksa and prawn in hong kong by a magazine!

so here's the question for some people who are asking: what is laksa? well, laksa is an infamous spicy noodle soup from the peranakan culture. check out wikipedia for a definition of what peranakan is. so malaysian laksa is actually malaysian and chinese cooking style mixed together. laksa is not only famous in malaysia but also in singapore. the word laksa itself actually means "many," referring to the dishes usage of various ingredients. laksa comes in two forms. the first is the more popular type which is curry soup base and the second is a sour fish soup base.

okay, so what did simon had at malaymama? i had #6 the "traditional laksa" ($35 hkd). this laksa dish contains chicken slices, prawns and tau pok which is essentially fried bean curd tofu. you have the choice of egg noodles or rice vermicelli. the most popular way of eating this laksa is requesting them to use both at the same time! other ingredients that are in the dish not mentioned in the menu are eggplants and bean sprouts. the soup is just superb! it is slightly spicy therefore it won't make you think about how hot it is and not be able to concentrate on the flavors. the soup is the curry base laksa so every bite of noodle and soup is full of sweet curry aroma and taste! the soup reminds me of thai panang curry and i believe it might be something similar to it. you must remember, although we're talking about curry here, the soup is still liquid and not slightly thick or anything. it's really neat eating both noodles at once. you bite into a thiner noodle in vermicelli and a thicker noodle in egg noddles. it's a unique sensation in your mouth along with the delicious curry soup. simply excellent! i concur with the magazine until further experiences with other malaysian laksa!

the next dish is the bak kut teh in ho fun. ho fun is a flat and soft type of white noodles. it has a slick texture to it. the main highlight of this dish is the pork spare ribs. the dish also contains tau pok. the soup of the dish has a light yet define taste to it. the soup tastes like the pork spare ribs, a light sweet flavor. this dish definitely is the reverse of the laksa soup. the taste isn't as strong but still very good in its own way. on the side, a small plate of thick sweet soy sauce with red pepper is given for the dipping of the spare ribs. this helps heighten the flavor of this whole experience. good dish if you want a lighter and more refreshing meal.

lastly, i ordered the day's special appetizer! it is the curry beef brisket. the dish comes with bean sprouts, potatoes and of course your beef brisket in curry. the curry is a heavy type of curry (i know it is some type of chinese curry usually use for beef). the curry is slightly spicy and strong in curry flavor. the beef brisket is nice and soft and not too much fat. this is a very heavy, kinda oily dish but the combination of the two is just undeniable. extremely tasty if they had rice!

before i end this, lets talk about structure of the place. malaymama a smaller type of restaurant. holding about 20-30 people max. the kitchen is wide open and you can clearly see it. the service is helpful and friendly overall. i definitely fell in love with the laksa! if you're in hong kong, you must try this place! anyhow, what's my verdict? well, lets see, with what i had so far...

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >

Jack's Terrazza Ristorante

> Location : Shop 8, 1/F, Causeway Centre, 28 Harbour Rd.,
Sanlitun, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Italian
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

Located within the sanlitun (name of a a place with all sorts of restaurants circling causeway centre), jack's terrazza ristorante serves a full line of italian cuisine. before i go on, i would like to add also that jack's will have another location opening at soho east soon! so this meal i'm having is right after going to yat tung heen which is really close by, haha. so i won't be commenting on anything too big this time =( what i'll be reviewing today from jack's is their spinach salad and the lumache alla terrazza.

so jack's spinach salad contains pears, walnuts, onions and honey mustard vinaigrette as the dressing served in a stylist round and clear plate. the dressing is slightly sour since it's vinaigrette, however, the touch of honey mustard flavor along with the pears makes this whole salad a great blend! the walnuts on the side gives your mouth something crunchy to bite into which also helps neutralize any heighten sweet and sour flavors from the salad. the same goes with the onions. a good salad overall. other salads i recall are insalata caprese which is a tomato and mozzarella cheese salad and also the greek salad.

next, i ordered the lumache alla terrazza as a snack. lumache alla terrazza in italian, literally means "snails to the terrace." knowing this, i bet you can pretty much guess the restaurant name's translation! yes, it means jack's terrace restaurant, haha. this is supposedly one of their highlight appetizer. the dish comes with a half dozen of snails sauteed with white wine, artichokes, tomatoes and black olives. finished with fine herbs and garlic butter on top. the sauce reminds you of pasta with red sauce. however, all the extra ingredients such as the white wine and artichokes gives the sauce an extra "kick." mixing this with the snails or as most americans would call it, escargot, makes it taste pretty interesting. the escargot reminds you of swiss brown mushrooms that's cooked for a long time. they're pretty big in size unlike the small type and already out of the shell. the escargots are easy to bite into and slightly rubbery like. this is one of those delicacy dishes that most will need to get use to. yet with the delicious red sauce, it doesn't take long!

still a lot i need to try like i say with every place, haha. let me point out a few other things besides food. the decoration and style of the place is pretty neat. a lot of paintings are hung on the wall. there are even some that are sticking out with moveable parts to it. the most eye catching thing has to be the seats right next to the window. the seat (fits like 2 to 3) are held up high with ropes. so basically, it's like a swing from a playground! there are two sets of these things at the restaurant. there's also outside seating area very much like most of the sanlitun restaurants. lastly i want to mention, jack's terrazza ristorante's menu is what i'm talking about in the lanna thai review. using the cuisine's native language and official name/terms instead of simply words describing the dish, it gives that extra appeal and sense of adventure to the reader. maybe it's just me, but how about you? ^^; anyhow, to conclude this, for now with what i've tasted so far, i give this place...

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Lanna Thai

> Location : Shop # 1101, 11/F, Times Square, 1 Mantheson St.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Thai
> Tel. # : (852) 2506-3303
> Website : N/A

Wow simon, thai cuisine again? haha. well, i wanted to try this neat place where they serve malaysian food and you eat it on a banana leaf. however, my brother brought up this new thai restaurant inside times square so i decided on that! wow simon, still, it's thai! see, the thing is, this place only opened for like about 2 months and hell, i haven't found any english friendly reviews online of it, so i have to be the first one to put one up!

lanna thai is located within times square on the 11th floor. yes, one above modern china restaurant! speaking of "modern," when you first enter lanna thai, the decoration is especially modern yet you get this very high class feeling as you walk to your seat. the atmosphere is slightly dimmed with different colored lighting on certain walls giving it a very layback mood. high class indeed, the menu tells you that this place isn't particularly cheap. here's a good comparison. their appetizer costs just as much as a regular dish at most standard chinese restaurant. about ranging around $60 to $80 hkd. their entrees are around $100 (some are a bit less) all the way up to $200 hkd so. usually cost justifies the quality and at this place, it definitely does that! yes, the cliche, "you get what you pay for" comes to mind. food wise, the following on the different sections of the menu: grill, sharkfin and soup, meat and poultry, seafood, curry, vegetable, noodle, rice, salad and dessert.

first up, hey what's new? haha, it's tom yum kong with chicken (this place spells it with the "k" and some places use "g"). the last three thai places, the menu only indicated with prawn and this place, you had the choice of both! tired of prawns, i went back to the old fashion chicken tom yum kong. one thing i must say is, the waitress' will warn you with specific orders, that the item is originally spicy unless request to lighten the spiciness. this place's "normal" spiciness is hotter than the last three places i went to (thai simple kitchen, chili n spice, cafe siam). it's not too bad if you eat spicy stuff once in awhile. for people who don't too often, it will be somewhat difficult. so request them to lighten it if you can't take the heat! besides the replacement of prawns with chicken, the ingredients within the tom yum kong are pretty much the same. the one thing that was different from what i usually experience is the addition of bean sprouts. it makes the soup more crowded but i don't think it does much to the taste. essentially, an additional vegetable for you to eat. soup wise, spicy as i've hinted. it doesn't seem to be very sour. perhaps the extra spiciness neutralizes your senses to make you think it isn't too sour. still, you can definitely pick up the sourness from the lemon juice and lemon grass. the chicken was nice and soft, easy to eat. this tom yum kong definitely has its own unique position from the other reviews i've done. these exceptions are rather hard to explain until you really try it yourself! $48 hkd for chicken per person and $52 hkd for prawn per person.

next up, we have the green papaya & beef strip salad with chilli & fresh coriander ($75 hkd). this thai papaya salad is like a fusion between thai beef salad and thai papaya salad. one thing that catches your attention is the rawness of the slides of beef. seemingly not cooked long enough, the beef is about medium rare or about a tiny bit less and just cooked just right. it has the roasted flavor to it which is really good. fried wanton strips (the like) is added giving this salad a chinese chicken salad look to it. with lettuce as the base, the green papaya is set on top of. the papaya is very crisp and fresh. the sour, slight sweetness from the lime juice and fish sauce (fish sauce is added in a lot of these sour tasting thai dishes) within the green papaya along with the roasted sensation of the beef with the crispy fried strips give every bite a mouthful of sensation. forgetting to mention, crushed peanuts are also spread slightly into the salad giving another thing for your mouth to register. an extremely well put combination. it is not your usual thai papaya salad with carrot strips and cherry tomatoes (the traditional version can be ordered), but it is still a very well done dish!

satay chicken! no, i lied. haha. but it's a fusion dish up next. hai nan chicken in bangkok style ($128 hkd). so basically, hai nan chicken is a malaysian highlight. it is steamed chicken served with chili or grinded ginger and onion oil sauce along with rice that is cooked with garlic, oil (or chicken fat) and some chicken broth. definitely a simple yet really good experience. so what's different with bangkok style? according to the waitress, the chicken is spiced with thai style ingredients and on the side, served with this sour and spicy sauce. usually, hai nan chicken steamed is a pale yellowish texture on the skin. lanna thai's bangkok style holds a golden brown texture on the skin most likely due to its marinade and spices. the taste difference is that, i think the bangkok style has more define taste to it and not extremely dependent on the chili or ginger sauce in malaysian style. along with the spicy and sour sauce provided, lanna thai's hai nan chicken was definitely very unique. i think this dish is a good twist but not superb. the chicken itself was done very well, holding a tender texture. cucumber and red pepper base/decoration was used along with some side lettuce garnishes. overall, the tenderness of the chicken, the more define taste due to the spcies along with a hot and sour sauce makes this dish a definite order choice.

you can't leave a thai place until you have some sauteed thai vegetables! i got a good kick out of thai baby cabbage from chili n spice last time so i had to go with more cabbages this time! at lanna's, they didn't have any baby cabbage. however, their cabbage still isn't huge and not too far from baby size. one of the cabbage dish they have is the sauteed bamboo fungus, mixed mushrooms & cabbage sprout ($85 hkd). like always, you get the usual thai sauteed vegetable flavor like with morning glory. however, this particular dish is designed to be more light and refreshing so the sauteed flavor isn't as strong but still noticeable. usual sauteed flavors come with shrimp paste or bean curb paste so it's more salty. in the end, this is a standout dish from all the spicy, sour and sweet flavors.

last but not least, is my favorite dish next to the papaya salad dish. cod fish with red curry ($118 hkd). of course not just curry and fish, there's also red and green bell pepper, onions, thai green eggplants and squash along with some spices that look like vegetables, but are just there for the taste and looks. just a little additional information, when you think eggplants, it isn't just the long purple looking vege. egg plants also come in small round shapes like a golf ball! thai green eggplants is a green and golf ball size vege. sorta reminds you of a cherry tomato but green. anyways! there's about three good size cod's in this dish so don't worry about the lack of meat in this dish, heh. the red curry is nice and rich holding a very pleasant sweet taste. the dish isn't as spicy as the other ones i mentioned, just having a mild spiciness to it. if you've eaten cod fish before, you know it's really hard to cook it wrong. cod fish has a very easy to bite into texture in short or longer cooking time and usually holds a very distinct taste even with little marinade before cooking. due to the eating friendly nature of this fish along with the rich and tasty red curry, these two things end up going hand in hand making this a very wonderful and visual friendly dish (colorful, contrast). definitely three thumbs up if i had a third thumb. haha.

so finally, the end of this review! let me take a breather now, haha. before i give a score, i also want to mention about service. the waitress' and waiters were overall very helpful. the manager that night was also very helpful with various random questions i asked him about the restaurant. price wise, i must say it's not cheap. the taste, decoration, presentation of the dishes does justify the price for the most part. i just believe if you pick the right places, you can probably find matching quality dishes for a cheaper price. chances of doing so are probably slim and even if you do, not every dish you order can be as consistent as a place like lanna thai. one thing i want to bring to light is that, a lot of thai restaurants i go to around hong kong don't use the official thai name for some of the dishes. i mean, i understand it is hard to know what exactly it is if you've never ordered it before or don't read the language. however, you can always put the description right below it to clarify things. it is more friendly to experienced and native people to the cuisine and also adds an informative/intriguing look to the menu for first timers and such. on the side, i also got one of their desserts. it's a coconut jelly dessert which comes in six pieces. not much i can say beisdes that, it's a nice addition to the lineup! anyhow, so what's my final take?

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >

Thai Simple Kitchen

> Location : 3/F., President Theatre, 517 Jaffe Rd.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Thai
> Tel. # : (852) 2838- 2896
> Website : N/A

First and foremost, please click on the photos this time for a larger image! anyways... tell me about it. rating something with a perfect score or near perfect score is tough. especially a person like me who have high expectations in things i enjoy. the environment, the customer service, the decorations on the food, the taste of the food itself, the price versus quality ratio all has to be correct. all these fields holds some type of exceptions depending on the business strategy and what not. so like i promised, i have a thai restaurant review just for you'll. even though most of you just look at the pictures, haha, i'm going to be as informative as possible for the the few that are around hong kong or might travel to hong kong!

i'm going to split this review into two experiences. the first about 4 days ago with rebecca, her cousin and cousin's girlfriend (much props again to her cousin for treating us and props to 'becca for taking some of the photos for me! ^_^ ) and second with family just yesterday.

located in 3/F. president theatre, 517 jaffe road, causeway bay, hong kong, a little unexpected entrance lies a restaurant with many faces. your first step inside is a nice sign that says thai simple kitchen and some decorations and a elavator leading up to the rear floor where the restaurant is at. once out of the elavator, you face a semi-dim environment with a lot of spotlighting, water flowing decorations, a small stage for performances (a lot of thai places in LA are like that), outside part of the restaurant, inside part of the restaurant, a big horizontal glass window looking outside and many other things. the most neat thing about this place is the outside part of the restaurant. although most know hong kong has humid weather, they placed a lot of high powered fans around to keep you cool and even a few 8-10 seating shacks closed in with clear plastic sheets with air conditioning inside. a very colorful environment and very exciting. so the first time, i sat outside but not inside the shacks.

we ordered six things. the first thing that came is the 'famous prawn soup' or as most would call it, 'tom yum gong.' one of the two infamous soups in thai restaurants (next to tom ka ka). the usual suspects in this soup are lemon grass, lime juice, chili, basil leafs and mushrooms. to make it a more high class pricey item, the menu adds some king prawns in it. tom yum gong is a very sour and spicy soup. of course, it did disappoint at this place. spicy (chili playing a role) and sour (lemon grass and lime juice playing a role). every taste keeps its strong flavors and nothing left out. when the soup comes, a fire is add on the bottom to keep its warmth for seconds and as a environmental decoration. a thai soup like this has to be the best starter you can have!

next up is the 'panang curry with prawn & coconut milk with vermicelli.' at first i thought it was going to be a bowl/pot with a lot of curry within. but when it came, i was very surprised. a side note, this place loves using king prawns. so why was i surprised? well, forget the bowl of rice, the vermicelli is your base for the panang curry. first of all, panang curry is your prime orange thai curry. it holds a very unique sweet flavor that no one can ever forget. so you have king prawn meat on top of the vermicelli mixed in with the panang curry. the decorations on the dish is splendid. with king prawn head, tail, with a decorative carot flower and some uncooked lettuce and cabbage as a green/white coloring base. usually, i would think vietnamese vermicelli with some fish sauce is good but vermicelli with panang curry? you know, this combination is a genius move! the softness of the vermicelli along with the very strong flavor of the thickly cooked panang curry is just so darn good. note, the curry is thick and not watery at all which is a positive. along with the king prawn meat, it's just good stuff!

so, you think you had enough king prawn? next we have the 'fried rice with prawn, chicken, longnan, garlic and shallot.' no prawn head this time but you just have the meat. this dish is presented well too. it comes in a wooden pot with a cover on top. open it up, you see all its wonders. this is one of the less strong tasting dish overall speaking. as of in, the taste is reliant on one or two of the ingredients. usually, fried rice is like that unless it's a wet fried rice like fujian style fried rice where the thick sauce covers everything. the highlight this dish, longnan is added which is a very similar fruit to lychee. it's a bit less sour than lychee but more sweet. it gives the fried rice a slight sweet flavor to it. the bit of saltiness comes from the dry pork meat. usually these things (comes in beef, fish also) goes with rice porridge, but adding this to this fried rice helps the higlighting of the taste. besides that, the taste has a sweet, soy sauce like taste to it. great presentation, conservative taste yet good overall.

now we have the strongest saltiness tasting dish. 'fried minced chicken with basil, chili.' this dish is very salty, very strong with its basil and chili taste (therefore spicy also). the dish also includes some mushrooms, green beans and red bell peppers. a very colorful presentation. this dish is definitely a rice matching dish so naturally it went with the fried rice that was discussed above. a dish that should be loved by people who loves spiciness and extremely strong flavors.

to the side of the restaurant outside, there's a grill for the 'griddle' portion of the menu. all sorts of seafood can be choose from. for our occasion, we went with the squid. like always, good color contrast in the presentation. the grilled squid goes with a thick sweet, sour garlic, chili type sauce. if you ever had the dressing on thai beef salad, it tastes very very similar to it. the squid is chewy with the grill like taste on it. along with the sauce, it adds a nice compliment to it. simple overall but of course, still very good in its own way.

hey, we all need fiber to help do our business right? so we went with the 'sauteed morning glory with bean paste and chili.' morning glory is one of my personal favorite vegetable. the various ways it could be cooked in (shrimp sauce, bean paste, chopped garlic), really makes it a versatile vegetable. in this dish, the bean paste helps highlight a lot. in addition to this, some of the bean is not grinded into paste which gives some additional chewing, taste to it. the bean paste gives that fermented, salty flavor to the morning glory. the chili gives the dish a slight spiciness to it which patches up the dish. good stuff definitely.

OKAY!! well, i'm not quite done yet. haha. so onto my second experience right away. sat inside one of those shacks that is air conditioned. the plastic covering keeps the AC inside really well away from that humid feeling. definitely a nice enclosed environment with a bunch of friends or family. the dish difference between my first and second experience is the 'pineapple fried rice' and the 'steamed mullet with lemon grass, basil, grape tomato, coconut milk, and lime.' the other dishes were also ordered from the first experience.

so instead fried rice coming with a wooden pot, it's fried rice coming in a half pineapple shell! pineapple fried rice is the most common rice dish among most thai food lovers. this one comes with rasins, squid (additional meat), mix vegetables (like those frozen bags with peas, kernal, etc). pineapple of course, chicken (base meat) and shrimp (additional meat). presentation wise, nothing but clever. since it's pineapple fried rice, it comes in a pineapple shell, haha. very much like the other fried rice, this dish is very dependent on the pineapple for the highlighting of the taste, sweetness. again, dry pork meat is added on top to make sure flavors are extracted with every bite. with the usually not added meat into the fried rice (squid, shrimp), it gives a somewhat mix sensation to the mouth. i would prefer limiting it down to chicken and shrimp if not just chicken. nevertheless, it was a good dish. my only complaint was, because they try to fit it into the pineapple, the portion wasn't a lot compared to the wooden pot one, but still, clever presentation.

last but not least, the steamed mullet. this dish took the longest for it to prepared. comes in a fish shaped plate with fire underneath, the sauce/soup base to this dish tastes pretty much like tom ka ka. comes with lemon grass, basil, grape tomato, coconut milk, and lime as said before, the flavor is about mild. i suggest when eating the mullet (it's a type of fish by the way), eat it in conjunction with the soup base. it gives every bite the sweet (coconut milk ) and sour (lime) sensation. i was expecting the sourness to be stronger, however it came mild. yet, it's a nice dish used last to settle off all the spicy, strong sour and sweet flavors if that's a better way to make this dish sound better. overall good, but i think it's one of those exceptional moments. which is, if i came tomorrow again, the taste could possibly be stronger. or perhaps it is intentional for it to be mild. presentation and everything wise, done very nicely.

4 simons with sombrero hats or 4.5? 5 is out of the question. i absolutely got to have no doubt at all to give it a 5. i'll say this right now, the service was a bit not as responsive as i would like. both times there, the responsiveness was very similar. when asking if a certain dish is coming or not, they would check for you but never come back sometimes to say if they checked and it's coming right away. attitude is between neutral to good. all this definitely threw away 0.5 out of the total. okay, it's not about the food, but the way i see how this business is geared, the customer service is a must. ultimately, this place is a must visit restaurant! nothing was mediocore. all was good to excellent. definitely a good thai place to go to! in the end...

< 4 out of 5 >