Hyakunin Issyu

> Location : Shop T02, Lv. 3, Hang Lung Centre,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Japanese Shabu Shabu
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : http://www.hyakunin-issyu.com.hk

After watching dragon tiger gate (review of the movie below) at causeway bay a few days ago, my brother, sis in law, niece and i went to a hot pot restaurant called, hyakunin issyu. base on a dark environment with some small spotlights and unique decorations, hyakunin issyu gave me an impression of the melting pot in the states. why did i say that? well, first of all, this restaurant is a shabu shabu place which is literally for people who still don't know, boiling water with a bunch of uncook food (vege, meat, etc) and sauces and dipping it and cooking the food on the dining table. very much like chinese hot pot if that helps your memory. but what got me to remind me of the melting pot is because you have the choice to choose different soup base kinda like choosing your different meat cookin' base / cheese and such. more on this later.

the menu and ordering is primarily base on set ordering. a set (depending on how many people), basically consist of different amount of small dishes (green beans in peanut sauce and sardine is what we had), sushi (tuna, salmon, white fish, squid), meat (pork, chicken, beef), odon, tampura (various vegetables and shrimp) and a soup base of your choice. there are various soup bases consisting of tomato, soy milk, pumpkin, regular and maybe one other i forgot to take notice of (Sorry!). please take note that, these soup base don't just consist of what i just mentioned, but it's only the primary ingredient. since my brother has been there and tried the soy milk base, we went with that since he said it's really good. before we shabu shabu with the soy milk base, we went with regular boiling water first using the sauces (sesame and a ponsu like sauce). using boiling water, we first ate our beef and vegetable first. reaction? good beef. fresh but nothing particularly out of the ordinary yet. afterwards, we replaced it with the soy milk base and did something base on our personal perference. first we let the soup base boil. afterwards we each each pour some into our bowls. the udon is still untouch and now we finally dump them into soup base. remember, the udon is pretty much cooked already. leave it in there for like 30 seconds to 1 min max. take it out, put it into your bowl of soy milk soup (it's not just soy milk, it's a mixture of that and other things. so it's a taste of sweetness a bit salty flavor), let it soak just a little bit and enjoy! no need for any sauces. the extremely unique and strong flavor of the soup base does the job as a sauce and u can drink it like soup because it is a "soup base" after all. with about 1/4 or so soup base left in the pot, we used it to cook whats left of the beef, using the soup base as sauce again. wow, just excellent! one wouldn't think soy milk would even make sense. but remember, it isn't the only thing in there but it is the primary part of the soup base.

i really have nothing special to talk about with the small dishes. one of the small dishes contained scallops, sardine and some green beans with peanut sauce. the scallops were dry and not fresh. the sardine is alright and the green beans were neat but nothing special. well, it is just a small starter dish so not a major problem. next? some sushi. we had two rounds. the first round, salmon, tuna, both melted in my mouth. according to my fish eating experience and some knowledge coming from some sushi chefs, when sashimi melts in your mouth, most likely it is NOT fresh. the only exception is fatty tuna a.k.a. toro. since i pointed that out, yes, the fish weren't fresh. the next round of sushi was better. some salmon and tuna again with white fish and squid. my guess it came from another fish, the salmon this time was nice and chewy which concludes its freshness. the tuna melted and looking at the rice below it, some of the color came off into the rice which REALLY told me it's not fresh. haha. it's not common but it does happen when it gets sit around for awhile or even worst, sometimes people actually put food coloring into it to make unfresh fish look fresher. anyways, the white fish was perfectly fine and the squid also. after this, we got a grilled horse mackerel. horse mackerel is usually one of the more expensive type of mackerel. if the fish name dont ring a bell, mackerel in japanese is called 'saba.' another type is spanish mackerel. it tasted okay. i think it was a bit overcooked. so it was a bit stiff. so i had to give my thumbs down for the last two dishes.

so in conclusion, the main purpose for you to visit hyakunin issyu is to eat the shabu shabu. but sometimes, the chef that day could have its off day so the things i thought were bad could be good other days. it's not good to be inconsistent but that's just a notion to ponder on. the soy milk soup base was just unexpectedly excellent and something you should definitely try when going there. i'll report to u'll the other types when i get a chance. anyways, that's it! thanks for reading!

< 3 out of 5 >

Lu Yang Cun

> Location : Shop P401-403, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Rd.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Shanghainese (Chinese)
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : HERE

Shanghainese cusine or more often people say northern chinese food tends to be more spicy, heavier, etc. but that doesn't mean it's bad, that's just the style. there can be lighter food too, but that's just how people tend to describe it. so today, i hit up a shanghainese restaurant with my sis in law, bro, dad and niece felicity at the world trade centre in causeway bay. the place is called, Lu Yang Cun. it was like a brunch meal around 11 am and the place was pretty empty when we got there 'cause it was pretty early. service wise, i recieve no bad vibes from all of the waiter/waitress' so that's a plus. they all served well. now moving on, there are six notable dishes i'll like to share. 1) sweet and sour pork spare ribs: now try not to think of sweet and sour as of in the typical 'fried rice, 2 items chinese places in america,' the sweetness to this dish (pictured in the top left) is just right. this means, it's not so sweet where it'll give u tooth aches. the sourness to it is light and the texture of the pork is perfect. u bite into it, goes into it easily, sweet, a tint of sourness, a good siu sik (look up a previous review for a definition of siu sik) if u like chinese style spare ribs! 2) minced indian kalimena herb and dried bean curd in seame oil (pictured top right): this dish is very similar to the one i ate at ifc the other day. but the vegetable used is different and it's more minced and delicate. it's a very interesting dish 'cause every spoon full of it, the sesame oil along with the herb stands out the most respectively. it's more of a room temperature/cold dish. it's not a strong dish (taste wise) but it's a definite healthy (to most extent) chinese delicacy. 3) drunken chicken (pictured middle left): some of u might wonder, drunken? did the chicken have a shot of 151 before it got its head chopped off? well, not exactly, pretty much, it's another cold dish where the chicken is cooked along with chinese rice wine. no frying involved, just all steamming. in the end of the process, dependin' on the cook, they will cool it down and somehow keep the chicken slightly cold but not too cold. it seems weird at first, but if u taste it, it's the greatest food with alkie besides chocolate with rum filling! 4) shanghai spring onion pancake (pictured middle right): when i was lookin' at the menu, i coulda swore i knew what it was going to taste like or maybe some of u people are thinkin' about that too, but when i bite into that thing, it was kinda like a crusty texture from a pie's crust. but when u look at it, it seems doughy but then again it's like kinda in between doughy and crusty. along with the onions in between, it was a unique onion pancake experience. 'cause throughout china, this dish is made differently. and i am sure some of u people can think of some now. the taste was just right, not too salty. thumbs up mos def. 5) xiao long bao (pictured buttom left): so, i have comparisons now! compared to the xiao long bao i had at ifc tower, the skin was a bit thicker. i'm not sure why, but either the skin was really thicker or i think steamming it just a little bit more coulda get rid of that mentality. meaning, a lot of xiao long bao skin are the same but steammin' it less could make it tougher/thicker. but just judging by what i ate, the thickness was a slight minus but that's like 1-2 pts out of 10 difference. i gotta give the plus to the place at ifc. but take nothing away from this place, everything else about the xiao long bao was very good still! 6) lastly with the last picture, we have the gluttious rice (sticky rice) with spare rib wrapped with lotus leaf: this is just a twist to typical cantonese dim sum. there's a dim sum dish called chicken with sticky rice. pretty much the same thing but with chicken, mushrooms and a few minor parts. but the one here was very simple. the spare rib here wasn't as strong in taste as the spare rib described above, but the most important factor was that the spare rib flavor is reflected upon the sticky rice and i believe they cooked it with the sauce they cooked the spare rib in. a sweetish, soy saucy sauce. which gives the sticky rice a dark brown color to it.

so yeah, wow, that took awhile to type! we ordered two other things, but they were more individual plates so i didn't really get to try much to type anything here. so there u have it, more food coma from me thru reading. haha. thanks for readin' and hope it was helpful! so afterwards, don't ask me why, i ended up literally 10 minutes later, in another restaurant. it's a place my family goes to very often in central. but i'll save that for next time. haha.

like always, until next time, take care and good luck ~

< 4 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 >

Te

> Location : 1/F, Cheung Hing Comm. Bldg, 37 Cochrane St.,
Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Japanese style pasta
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : http://www.te.hk/

If there's one reason that will keep me in hong kong forever would be the FOOD. i'm not talkin' about the chinese food here. but i'm talkin' how very much like nyc, downtown la, there's cusines from all over the world. just lookin' at the streets filled with different types of restaurants makes me feel like a kid in a candy store! haha. yeah, i enjoy eatin' different types of food if u haven't figured it out. yesterday, i went out to central with my bro, sis, sis in law, and 2 nieces and ate dinner at two restaurants. haha, yeah TWO. we first went to a japanese style pasta place called TE. it was good overall, can't say it's excellent or bad. it's a type of food i would called it as "safe food." not something sophisticated but simple and good. i had "F" on the menu which was the creamy tuna pasta. the pasta used was the regular type of spaghetti in most red sauce. this particular dish was in a white sauce as guessed by the word creamy. not strong in taste at first. u really need to mix it a bit first because the sauce sinked onto the button. i didn't get to taste much of what the others ate but i did get a few bites out of what my niece cherie ordered. it was just the regular red sauce pasta. regular is an understatement because as generic as it seems, it actually tasted pretty darn good. i'm not particularly sure, but my guess is the tomato had to be pretty fresh along with a few additional spice and i would guess, a bit of sugar to heighten the taste. about 55-65 hkd a plate. it's not exactly cheap for the portion they gave u. i say about 3-4 big bites and you could really finish it. in conclusion, if u want pasta but not italian, well, check TE out. then again, most of u people readin' probably won't be in hong kong anyways, haha.

< 3 out of 5 >

Pizza Express

> Location : SOHO Square, 21 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Various types of Pizza
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : http://www.pizzaexpress.com.hk/

Right across from TE, is pizza express. first thing i thought of was when i saw the name was cpk, california pizza kitchen (from the states). a lot of different salads, pizza, pasta as you would imagine. i won't go into details about what i ordered but i will explain to you about the crust. the crust is kinda thin, like in sicillian pizza. crunchy, crispy, not oily at all and a nice texture to it. the experience was good overall, kinda like over at TE. i haven't really seen/tried enough to recommend anything. but if u're in a cpk type of mood, pizza with all types of different ingredients and flavors, u should definitely turn to pizza express unless u haven't had enough of pizza hunt. about 100 -120 hkd a pizza, the price gives u the freshness and delicacy of different taste. size wise compared to price, not exactly big but it's a bit below average size.

< 3 out of 5 >

Cafe Siam

> Location : 40-42, Lyndhurst Terrance, Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Thai
> Tel. # : (852) 2851-4803
> Website : N/A

So all that was yesterday for dinner. today for lunch, i went up a place near by, in central also, called cafe siam. cafe siam is thai cusine. if you think simon had enough of thai food (thai spice), well i haven't yet. haha. i ordered two things. the first thing i ordered was tom yum gong fried rice. tom yum gong is originally a soup with chicken, lemon grass, coconut juice and a few other spices and ingredients. however, what made this dish funky was, practically, they took the soup and used it as a sauce to make fried rice out of it. with two prawns on top of the fried rice, the taste was as expected. a bit spicy and sour as usual. interesting overall. so if you like the taste of tom yum gong a lot, u should definitely try this out. the other dish i ordered was chicken green curry. i've ate green curry from all over the place before and this HAD TO BE, the best green curry i have ever had. first of all, green curry usually consist of thai bail leafs, choice of meat, some coconut milk and green curry powder. i believe, a lot of the times, restaurants tend to save money and not use too much coconut and green curry powder, and replacing it with a bit more water, the curry gets diluted a bit. in cafe siam's green curry, my experience was a very strong, distinctive taste of all the ingredients within the dish. nothing was left out of my taste buds. in the end, it's definitely a place i will come back to.

< 4 out of 5 >