Friday, July 26, 2013

Collective restaurant review

I don't always do restaurant reviews because sometimes I feel the restaurant I go to is not new and prolly has tons of reviews about them anyway, and sometimes when I am eating with friends I try not to focus my time on picture taking but rather the good time with them. But I thought to myself what the hell, a small collective one wouldn't hurt, prolly help you guys find or avoid certain restaurants or dishes. So let's start!!

In late June I was at SML in Times Square to meet up a dear friend I haven't seen in a while and it was my first visit to this concept restaurant. If you haven't heard before basically their dishes come in sizes: small medium and large to cater your various portion needs. I walked in to our reservation around 6 and the summer sun was just about to call it a day, but i still got a peek of the chilled alfresco area behind the bar before i sat down towards the end. I can't remember the drink i ordered but it was rather refreshing (or maybe i was just scorching earlier and needed it lol) anyway i ordered a small salmon tar tar and a small seafood paella. 

The salmon tar tar looked very dainty with several condiments to try out. I didn't put in the quail egg as I have high cholesterol (don't ask me why lol) But I remember putting in the lemon in that shooter glass and it was quite a nice combination. Was it the best tar tar I've had? No. But was it okay? Yes. The seafood paella on the other hand was rather disappointing, it was honestly nothing special, not particularly delicious or anything. The portion for someone as petite as me was just right and I can sample the food out with my friend without damaging our wallets too much. Small however really is small so maybe as an appetizer for us adults or something for kids. For men or if you are in a bigger group you would need at at least medium or large.I wasn't exactly full when I left but figured I could get dessert...somewhere else lol. Price wise I don't think it was worth it as it really came down to about HK$200 each for a meal I wasn't blown away by nor was full. Will I come again? Prolly not for dining, but a chilled drink on the patio would be okay. Note: there were actually a number of ill-etiquetted mainlanders around, I guess it's part of the Causeway Bay invasion, but yea. 

Next stop: Caffe Habitu! I've had coffee and cakes there many times but never really sat down for dinner, but after a long day at work my colleague and I were hunting for comfort food around Festival Walk. It was a hundred-table wait at Itamae and Kushiyaki and a super long line at Simplylife so we decided to give Habitu a try and I was surprised at the quality of food because after all it is just a cafe. We ordered chicken quesadillas, a truffle pizza and a salad I can't seem to remember to share. Everything tasted great, even the rosemary potato sides were superb!!(we cleared all of them) The salsa and guacamole dip for the quesadillas were so good! And the truffle pizza's aroma kept luring me as I was still eating my quesadillas. And the aroma was no false advertisement, it was sooo rich when it entered my mouth! I was like "O yeah!!" lol Quite simply put our mouths were too busy and our brains were indecisive everytime we stopped for our next bite, as everything was great! The bill came down to I recall HK$180 which we happily paid up. I will come again for dinner!



Tsui Wah itself of course is nothing new to me but it was the first time I tried its "truffle prawn risotto" and to be honest it was as authentic as HK$70 can get lol  


I was hanging with some friends watching Despicable Me 2 one night, I went even though I was sick and still recovering as the tickets were booked and i already wasted my MU tickets the day before. Anyhow, we went to a Korean place called Jang in L Place in Central for dinner afterwards. They feasted out to authentic Korean cuisine like beef bourguignon while I lamely stuck with a hot veggie soup served with rice...which was quite salty. That was the only thing I tried out as my stomach was quite fragile and I didn't wanna upset it, but I can see why the place was rather quiet on a Saturday night. The bill came down to about HK$175 each. Will I go again? Prolly not. 

Next stop: Grappas!! I have had dinner at the Grappas in Central before but it was the first time having lunch at the TST Kimberly branch. We opted for the buffet appetizer and dessert plus a main and drink deal. We were so full!!!! The buffet selection was not bad. Salmon and salami bruschettas, pasta salad, potato salad, and greens you can pick out yourself as well as hot mushroom soup. The pasta salad was not well cooked and a bit on the hard end, which was the same for my dad's pasta main. But the potato salad, bruschettas and soup were very good! My main, the grilled chicken breast in tomato sauce with yellow zucchinis and roasted potatoes was quite nice! The dessert buffet had cheese cake and tiramisu as well as an array of fruits. The cheese cake texture was a bit too soft for me, but the tiramisu more than made up for it! the coffee aroma won me over! My fresh grapefruit juice was very refreshing was well. The staff was very very attentive and nice. I was surprised it wasn't too busy that day. Although it was daddy's treat I kinda did the calculation in my head and it was prolly about $200 each. But for the portion, ambience and service, it was worth it. 



Later that night I hit up this middle eastern/mediterranean restaurant called RA in Tsim Sha Tsui near Mody Road with a friend. We walked in around 7:30 and there were already people shishaing up. We sat down and ordered drinks and a platter to start with but the platter was so fulfilling it became our main and we just ordered an extra Moroccan soup to end things. The shrimps and sauage were very yummy and I think the key was the condiments like hummus in the middle. The left hand side condiment was nice as well but the one on the right was too nutty for our palate. The four cheesy rolls were the culprit of making us full, I wasn't even able to try a samosa. The food was a little bit spicy though so be aware if you can't take spicy. It was quite quiet though and we were the only table with actual food. The belly dancing added a bit of amusement to the night though, and resembled K11's Al Pasha. Good times.









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