Saint's Alp Teahouse

> Location : Shop 221, 2/F, The Westwood, 8 Belcher's St,
Sai Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Taiwanese and various types of drinks
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : http://www.saints-alp.com.hk/index.html

As the title tells you, this place is all about tea. from milk tea, green tea, frothy tea, black tea, oolong tea to much more, saint's alp teahouse provides plenty of different types of tea, juices, coffee and desserts. oatmeal cereal flakes, nata de coco, pearl tapioca, chocolate chips, yogurt, ice cream, agar of various coffee flavors are all compliments to all of their great drinks. the environment is more base on refreshment primarily with food on the side. yet, the food has caught a great deal of attention therefore making it more like a normal restaurant. location wise, saint's alp is located throughout hong kong island, kowloon and the new territories.

drinks isn't the only thing that drives saint's alp teahouse. their line of food also does a lot of damage. mostly base on taiwanese cuisine, they offer various siu sik, noodle soup, rice dishes, pizza, and toast. i would say, the two biggest things that drives this place is their marinated minced pork with steamed rice and their five different selection of toasts.

so what did i order? well, obviously the two things i just mentioned! besides what i ordered, taiwanese style rice wise, they also have shredded chicken in chia yi sauce and succulent piece of chicken. okay, back to what i ordered. taiwanese cuisine isn't famous for anything that seems to "colorful" (taiwanese style porkchop with rice, fried oyaster, etc) however, don't let those things and marinated minched pork, seemingly such a simple dish fool you. it is cooked and marinated in a flavorful (kinda salty) sauce. unlike a lot of minced meat dishes with rice in a lot of hong kong style diners which are starchy, taiwanese style stays away from that and is very dependent on the actual sauce. to some extent, the minced pork taste is similar to chinese style ja ja mien if that helps you think what it taste like. so saint's alp was good? i would concur for the most part! besides the minced pork, it also comes with some peanuts, and half an egg. marinated eggs is a very common compliments in taiwanese rice dishes. the only thing that i complain about is the amount of the minced pork. judging from the ratio between the amount of rice and minced pork, it was somewhat unbalanced. by the time i finished the minced pork, there was about 1/3 of the rice left. by then, you're craving for more of that minced pork which isn't there anymore =*( if they just give about another spoon full, it would be great. don't worry, it is not an inconsistency problem, i know that for a fact. but please don't let the portion problem fool you, if you want more, just order more! haha, 'cause it is still good.

secondly, taiwanese style toast. coming in five different flavors: pork patty toast with cheese, honeyed ham toast with cheese, coconut butter & toasted almond, garlic butler and blueberry filings. with all non meat versions, you can request condensed milk as a dipping sauce. so, just toast eh? no, not at all. these are thick (like two and a half to three slices of regular bread size) and starchy white toast. the outside texture especially the crust is firm and starchy making it very unique in taste and texture. the inside is soft and slightly cripsy kinda like toasted garlic bread that comes with pasta. when it comes, the toast is cut into four pieces. with my experience, i tried the garlic butler. the taste is very much like any restaurant base garlic bread but what made it a neat experience is the texture as i've mentioned multiple times. something kind of hard to explain you just have to experience yourself! next time, i'm definitely going with coconut butler since my sister in law told me it's good.

drink wise, i went with the dragon honey tea which is made out of an iced roasted oolong tea. a very simple drink. the combination of roasted oolong and mild taste of honey gave it a nice and refreshing taste. the slight foam ontop of the drink is a nice final touch for looks and the first taste's feel. overall, a good simple drink.

in the end, saint's alp teahouse is a nice place if you want to sit down and have a drink or even have a snack or light meal. i really wish they gave a little bit more of the minced pork. the pork was definitely good just not the portion, haha. environment wise, don't treat this place like a full time restaurant. if you're really hungry, make sure you order some sides to keep you filled. don't let this discourage you from visiting this place. the nature of this place is built base on drinks. food afterall is still a side thing but definitely not a non-highlight. anyhow, so i give this place combining both food and drinks...

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >

Chili N Spice

> Location : Shop 117, Podium Level 1, The Westwood,
8 Belcher's St., Sai Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Thai fused with Singaporian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Vietnamese
> Tel. # : (852) 2542-7777
> Website : http://kingparrot.com/eng/theme_chilli1_hk.php

Sorry it has been awhile, haha. but i gotta apologize again! since these two restaurants were unexpected visits, i didn't bring my camera with me =( however, i managed to take pictures with my camera phone with one place but the other i had to use my brother's which is low res. anyhow, i'll be visiting this place more times in the near future anyways so i'll surely replace them with better quality ones!

chili n spice is part of the king parrot group, which comprises of all sorts of cuisines from russian to shanghainese. chili n spice alone has four other branches: causeway bay, stanley, shatin, and tseung kwan o. when i first stepped into this place, there were a lot of nice decorations all around. the place is fairly big with a lower level and a higher level of seating. when i say higher level, it doesn't mean second story, but just a few steps higher up. the waitress' i had contact with all seem to be of thai or indonesian decent and their attitudes and service were overall very positive.

i ordered three things. firstly, i went with the tom yum gong as a soup starter. like thai simple kitchen which i reviewed the other week, they added some prawns in the soup. ingredient wise, it was pretty much the same (the usual coconut milk, basil leafs, mushrooms, etc). taste wise, there certainly is a difference. while simple thai had a more sour taste, chili n spice was a bit less sour yet you can sense a sweeter sensation. seriously, i wish to know what exactly is the standard for this thai soup. but judging it in a more artistic sense, chili n spice's tom yum gong is certainly in its own position because of the sweeter taste. note, the sweetness is not so much where it overwhelms the sourness. after all, the sour taste is the highlight of this and many thai soups. in the end, i definitely give this soup a go for ordering.

the second thing i ordered is the sauteed thai baby cabbage with black mushrooms. baby cabbage is a less common vegetable so check with your waiter before ordering! according to my brother, they don't always have this dish because of the baby cabbage. the reason for this (i believe) is because cabbages are a seasonal vegetable. they tend to do better in cooler weather and since it's still consider summer time right now, the heat won't help most of the cabbage crops. the base sauce of this dish is very much like a lot of thai sauteed style vegetable (e.g. morning glory). a bit salty but the baby cabbage's sweetness blends in well. the slices of carrots added into the dish also helped balance the taste. the black mushrooms were also very good. they were nice and juicy and easily bite into. i must say, besides morning glory, if you ever get a chance to order thai style baby cabbage, do it! yes, i know it's just vege, but this is vege that will make your mouth water!

on the side i want to discuss about presentation. this place doesn't give up on anything when it comes to presentation from what i see. the menu is very colorful and i could tell from it the plates and platters they use to hold their food are all very creative and unique. looking around the other tables definitely tell me so.

to connect this thought, our final dish is the chicken green curry with pumpkin and coconut milk. they also have a similar dish next to this one called duck green curry with lychee and coconut milk. both sounded very tempting but i had to go with the pumpkin since i have a lot of experience with thai curry and fruits before. first of all, presentation wise, they used this clay pot made into a shape of a chicken. obviously very unique. yes, chicken holding chicken, haha. this dish definitely is not mild at all. it is not super spicy but still enough where you need to drink some of the ice water here and there. besides the title of the dish, other known used ingredients are eggplants, basil leafs and this one round/green vegetable is used (i really want to figure out what this round green thing is! it's like the size of a cherry tomato but it's green and not as sour as a tomato). the chicken was cooked just right. not a minute more in fact. it seemingly had a raw texture to it but it is cooked of course. so it had a chewy texture when bite into. the green curry was spicy and sweet due to the coconut milk and probably some from the pumpkin. the eggplant, pumpkin and other vegetable were very soft and hold most of its taste from the cooking process. i think the overall combination of these ingredients are done very well. however, i personally would like to see this dish having a stronger taste to it. perhaps a little bit more sweeter in the green curry would do the job right. the green curry i had at central is the perfect example of what i think is green curry done right. however, take nothing away from chili n spice's green curry. the presentation and combination of ingredients is certainly a boost. taste is good but like i said sweeter would make it more memorable in my opinion.

in the end, chili n spice gave me a overall good first impression. there are still a lot i need to try from this place! the green curry just didn't quite get me going. so i couldn't give this place that extra half a point. the dish is still good! but not in the excellent status. for now, i give this place...

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >