Union American Bar & Grill

Location : Shop 1009, Level One, International Finance Centre Mall,
Central, Hong Kong
Cuisine : American
Tel. # :(852) 2295-1808
Website : http://www.windy-city.com.hk/union/index.html

When around the business corners of Central and you crave some classic American dishes, you can definitely count on Union American Bar & Grill! With a semi-dim-ish environment, Union offers a Bar area nice for the after work hang outs and plenty of dishes pleasant to the international makeup of I.F.C.

I visited Union around noon hours and found myself with a menu that consisted of soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, appetizers and much, much more. There are all sorts of items to choose from such as Boston Clam Chowder ($78 HKD), Classic Caesar with grilled chicken ($108 HKD) or even burgers like their very own, Union steak sandwich ($158 HKD). Cost wise, in general, you don't expect anything to be cheap when you're in I.F.C., but I can assure you from what I had, at least the quality of their food justifies it for the most part!

I mean, why visit an American joint if you don't go for a burger? I quickly went with the top of the list, Pulled Smokehouse BBQ Sandwich ($84 HKD). The burger came with a cherry tomato and pickle stuck on top served with fries and BBQ sauce on the side. The burger size was acceptable and definitely loaded with meat and onion. As evident from the picture (sorry with the low-resolution photo), they have grilled the bun a little to give it that soft and crispy sensation.

With the first bite, I noticed the meat within was tender for the most part and as a whole, the burger tasted good! The fries were fresh and not soggy or had any other issues. They aren't steak fries as I would like it to be but they are your common McDonald-like fries done well (a bit bigger). If you want ranch or honey mustard or any other sauces to go with your fries like I do, feel free to ask, the people at Union will gladly get some for you.

In the end, I definitely recommend this place if you're in I.F.C. and you want some classic American dishes! Union American Bar & Grill does a good job bringing the American standard into such a business related area.

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

> Location : International Finance Centre, Shop 2018-20,
Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Northern Chinese
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : HERE

Howdy! just like last time, a picture first! here's a picture of a giant xiao long bao using a straw to drink the soup from shanghai. more xiao long bao stuff in the next paragraph. anyways, yesterday (saturday) before my brother and i went to work, we hit up a local chinese diner right off the street in sheung wan, near wing kut street. there are a lot of these places in hong kong, a small place, usually seats outside also, somewhat old/ghetto lookin'. but if u pick the right place, your experience could be a miracle. ok, i didn't get the damn name of this place, but i'll figure it out and tell u next time. haha. so according to my brother, this place is famous for its porridge in the morning. so we both ordered a bowl of duck egg lean beef porridge. usually, lean beef is prepared simply salted or plain in this type of chinese porridge. they just add it into smaller pieces and boil it along with the rice. however, what makes this place different is that, they cook the lean beef seperatedly first in like a stew therefore becoming very soft after a long period of cooking time. since the lean beef is cooked in this stew, it now incorporates a nice sweet/slightly salty taste to it. to my believe, they take some of this and boil it with the rice and duck egg. the result? a very good bowl of porridge! on a hot morning with a hot bowl of porridge = a free workout. sweatin' like a dog, seriously. haha. overall, i had a great experience in such a simple environment. ask me and i'll show u where next time!

rewinding a little bit, two nights ago, i went to ifc to eat dinner with my bro, sis and niece. besides from shanghai, i don't have too many experiences with restaurants dedicated to xiao long bao. besides the one in time square in causeway bay (second floor), crystal jade la mian xiao long bao in ifc isn't too bad at all. we ordered the following: egg white with dried scallop, scallion oil la mien, two orders of regular xiao long bao, and tofu skin with green bean vegetable. the egg white, tofu skin dishes are all very common siu sik dishes. in cantonese, siu sik literally translates to "small eat." basically, they are small simple dishes. in a sense, if u ever had japanese yakitori, u'll understand what i mean. the two things i'll emphasize on is the scallion oil la mien and the xiao long bao. seriously, the la mien had nothing in it besides noodles and oil. but don't be fool, as simple as it sounds, it noodle is good base on its texture and taste from the scallion oil. but try to eat it somewhat quick 'cause from my experience, after leaving it out for a bit, the noodles absorbs the oil completely and somehow the noodle tasted really dry/somewhat hard. so if u want dry noodle, give this a try next time. so the main thing even the name of the restuarant is trying to convince us is the xiao long bao. first of all, xiao long bao is all about steaming it properly where the soup/juice is still within the skin along with the meat. places that aren't popular for things like this steam it too long therefore when u use your chopsticks to pick it up, the skin rips easily. so check, this place does it correctly. second of all, there has to be a 'good amount' of soup inside. sometimes, but rarely, some places when u eat their xiao long bao, there is barely any soup inside which is just horrible. this place? perfect, nice and juicy. thirdly, well, it's properly eating of the xiao long bao. or i should say, simon's proper way of eating xiao long bao, haha. first, hold your chopstick in one hand, a soup spoon in another, pick up the xiao long bao in your chopstick, put it ontop of the spoon. bite open slightly if it isn't open yet, the top of the xiao long bao so it creates an opening. suck up and drink the soup like a straw from this opening (becareful! it's hot!). now, after savoring the soup, take that spoon and shoove that bao into your mouth. good? yes, it was good. haha. so let me translate really quick, when we say 'xiao long bao,' it litereally means, small nest bun. u know those brown things made out of straws in dim sum places? well, that's a better way of explainin' nest. overall, i had a good time. until i go to more of these places, i will have a better personal comparison on what i believe is a good xiao long bao place.

well, i'm out to explore more of hong kong! until next time, take care and good luck ~

< 3 1/2 out 5 >