208 Duecento Otto

One of the most compelling dinners I had in 2013 was at 208 Duecento Otto!   I'd immediately loved the restaurant when I saw its stunning outlook.  Its interior is equally remarkable - blue-and-white porcelain walls   and wooden rustic tables together created a very cozy dining environment for its customers.   I thought the restaurant's interior looks more Portuguese than Italian but I realized I was wrong thanks to google.  it is supposed to be New York hip Italian style.

(photo courtesy of http://www.habitat-property.com/)

My friend and I managed to survive our very own stressful days and started off with some house wine and bread.  The deployment of herbs on the bread was sensational, but what was more remarkable about the bread was the slight chars on the oily surface!  They helped bring the bread to a whole new level of crustiness.

Our dinner started with some deep-fried asparagus.  The asparagus was delicately coated with flour and cheese powder.   The beauty of the dish is that the freshness of asparagus was not overburdened by the flavorings, while the cheese helped bring a sophisticated touch to the taste of asparagus.   

208 Boston Lobster Fettuccine was very good.  My friend thought the pasta grew soupy in the lobster bisque, but i absolutely liked the very generous help of rich bisque.  The lobster came with a creamy consistency with the bisque.  I believed the chef poached the lobster in the bisque before serving it with the pasta.  

How can one conclude a wonderful Italian dinner without a pizza?  This is the Diavola Pizza!   The spicy salami was sliced into thin pieces and probably was fried until they were cripsy.  Together with the melted mozzarella and creamy tomato sauce that tastes of deep satisfaction, this pizza is too good to miss.

A side note is, the room was astonishingly loud.  A group of ladies seemed to throw a birthday party at the restaurant.  I and my friend had to raise our voices to make our conversation audible.  Otherwise, everything else was perfect!

208 Duecento Otto
208 Hollywood Road,
SOHO,
Sheung Wan

Korea Restaurant

The Korea Restaurant in Tin Hau is one of THE Korean restaurants you should visit at least once.  It is an intimate and delicate space.  Everything in this place oozes a relaxed, soothing vibe, from its friendly staff to its scrumptious food.

Your culinary journey at this restaurant already embarks when you are greeted with its great barbecue aroma.  This evening, we ordered the Samgyetang Bulgogi set meal.

An array of Banchan were quickly served after we placed the order... all of them were very delicious.  Gogumasun Namul, the marinated potato starter, was especially succulent and sweet.  But the Banchan paled in comparison with the Bulgogi plates.

Here comes the Bulgogi portion!  There were seafood, pork and beef  - all marinated in very special barbeque sauce.  And thanks to my good cooking skill, I was able to bring out the best of the raw food :P  The beef, complemented with the sauce, charred in a delicious smoky way; yet, its fresh flavour was not masked.  The pork was very delicious, full of fatty flavour.  It was flavoured up when I added a sprinkling of pepper over it.  

The Pajeon ensured that, if you were not already feeling full by the Bulgogi, you would be stuffed by the time you were done.

We slowly hit the height of the crescendo of the menu.  The fragrant Samgyetang was the star of this evening!  It was bittersweet, rich and satisfying.   Having just finished the Bulgogi, I could feel that there were a lot of heat and fire accumulated in me.  The soup helped clear this heat from my body.

The waiters were very friendly.  They initiated to replace the barbeque plate for us when it got crusty.

Another highlight of the evening was: I ran into Chip Tsao, my former mentor when I studied at HKU!  I didn't say hi though, as he was with his family.  

Korea Restaurant
Shop A, 13-17 Lau Li Street,
Tin Hau,
Hong Kong
  

Mori Sushi

It takes me some efforts to find Mori as it hides itself in the heaving wet market in the mid-levels.   Mercifully though, not many people know this cozy little Japanese restaurant, which means we can always get a table there even if we only make reservation one day in advance.  

There are many Japanese restaurants in the area, but to find one that has good Japanese food at good prices?  That's no mean feat.  So imagine my excitement when I chanced upon Mori last summer!  It is a hidden gem in central.  It offers decent set meals with pocket-friendly prices.    The raw fish it serves are always sparkling fresh!   

I ordered the Mori Sushi set while my dinning companion ordered the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi Ori Sushi Rice Set.  This time, Mori procured some freshest ingredients from the ocean.  My sushi set contained an assortment of seasonal fish and/or seafood selection: Salmon, Scallop, Toro, Hamachi... Every bite was oh-so-good! 

A closer look at the winner of the plate: Hamachi  sushi.  I believe it was taken from  the belly of the fish.

The sashimi starter that came with my sushi set.  It was also very nice!  

The udon that came with my set was rather drab.  The broth was almost tasteless and the udon was too soft.  

My companion's sushi rice set.  I didn't have a bite of it, he said it was great!   

Everything was done to a high standard, and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal.   However, the service isn’t exactly friendly... That said, Mori is still my favourite and is a place that I can see myself coming back.  Don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself.

Mori Sushi
G/F, 34 Graham Street, Central

Yushoku Japanese Dining Bar

Yushoku establishes its fame for serving Teppanyaki.  They also do not mind letting you see their chefs searing the meat and vegetables in front of you.   When the dishes are served, they are still sizzling hot.   You end up leaving the restaurant reeking of smoke and grease.

I have to say their hot items are outstanding indeed.  Therefore, I frequent the place despite knowing that i always leave the place smelling of smoke. 

One Saturday afternoon, my friend suggested we should go to Yushoku again,  knowing I am craving for some Japanese food after a long working week. 

My friend ordered pan-fried fish.   She said it was great.  I didn't try it though. (A failed attempt to capture the fish...  bear with me, i am not a geek. )

I ordered tuna belly sashimi, hoping that it would taste as good as the hot items.  But was disappointed to realize that their sashimi items don't fare quite as well.  The dish was quite abysmal.   The problem was, their tuna was quite shabby.  ew.  Even by sprinkling some diced spring onion over it failed to liven the dish up.  Worse, there were bone in the tuna!!! 

I left the dish virtually untouched.

All in all, their sashimi was very average and evidently overpriced.  A return visit for their sashimi is not plausible, when topping up a few bucks could get you a wholesome and satisfying lunch at Genki in Shun Tak Centre.

Yushoku Japanese Dining Bar
G/F, No. 145 Connaugh Road ,
Sheung Wan

Fung Shing Restaurant

Though casting itself as a classy Chinese restaurant, Fung Shing Restaurant does not pay too much attention to its appearance.  To me, it's an old-folks' restaurant.   My parents love the restaurant a lot because the restaurant make what old folks, like my parents, eat at home - nothing heavily seasoned, nothing fancy, never taken by surprise.  Still a twenty-something, I am too young to be able to appreciate the food.  

I do not know why my girlfriends suggested to have our monthly gathering there.  Strangely enough, I wanted to give the restaurant one last chance to impress me and did not oppose to the suggestion.

The first dish we had was Jellyfish and chicken shreds served with sesame oil, a very traditional Chinese appetizer.  This cold dish was very delicate.  The jellyfish was very crunchy and chewy.  The ratio of the sesame oil was just right.  Some restaurants are too generous on the seasoning, making the chicken and jellyfish too greasy.

Then came the stir-fried milk, which I once thought was a wholly-foreign dish.  It was a very authentic cooking idea and perceivable a very difficult dish to make.  The milk and egg white was smooth and delicate.  The addition of pine nuts gave the mixture its rich sweetness and interesting texture.

The steamed luffa was fine... well, you can never go wrong with this dish.  Luffa is tasteless.  The chef only needs to give a generous helping of minced garlic and take care not to put too much soy sauce.  

The Pan-fried lotus cake was their signature dish.  My friend stressed this is a must-have item of this restaurant.  Nothing surprising again.  It tasted like the boring meat cake my mom pan-fries at home.  The cakes came with a very strong odor of meat, a smell which I dislike most.  yuk.  I guess it is a love'em or hate'em dish.

This pork chop with orange sauce was abysmal.  It's like... a failed attempt to resurrect some pork leftover with orange juice.  It was the only dish we could not finish.  

After the evening, I still regard Fung Shing a restaurant for the old folks. No plan to go back in the near future.  But I may want to go back when I grow older Lolz.

Fung Shing Restaurant
2/F, Pearl City, 24-32 Paterson Street,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

In Sa Dong Korean Restaurant

Tokwawan may not be the first place you think of when you want to have Korean food.  Tsimshatsui is.  Korean establishments sprouted like mushrooms in the area.  You can find a lot of groceries, restaurants and general merchandise stores there.

In Sa Dong Korean Restaurant enjoys the benefit of low rent of the Tokwawan district and therefore can dedicate all its effort (and capital probably) to its food.   I can't find any other Korean restaurants that offer better cheap eats.

I had lunch in this restaurant when I was running a few errands in the district.

Their mixed rice was mightily awesome.  The waitress poured a lot of the spicy-sweet chili into the bowl, stirring and mixing the rice, the shredded vegetable and the minced beef until all the ingredients were coated with the interesting sauce.  Just look at the delightful color of red, yellow and green.  It tasted even better than it looked.

My friend ordered Ojingeo Bokkeum, i.e. Spicy Stir-fried Squid.  The squid was bathed in the very interesting Gochujang sauce, sprinkled with some sesame .  Ahem, the sauce was a bit too spicy for me.  My friend liked it a lot and said it was very 'korean'.  To be fair, I think it is an acquired taste.

I definitely want to go back and try their barbecue sets too.

In Sa Dong Korean Restaurant
Wei Chlen Court Wyler,
335 To Kwa Wan Road,
To Kwa Wan

Happy Together

Not quite a sweet tooth, yet, I cannot resist chocolate.  I like visiting Happy Together once in a while to satisfy my chocolate craving. Molten Chocolate Cake is a mainstay on their sweets menu.  I dare say, their Molten Chocolate Cake is one of the best in town!  Their cake has that slightly crisp shell, and inside it's practically molten and never too sweet.  It is paired with vanilla ice-cream which helps toning down the sweetness.  Simply decadent!

This evening, I decided to try out their Chocolate Souffle.

The Chocolate Souffle came to the table pipping hot, delivered straight from the oven.  It's very chocolaty but light and fluffy at the same time!    Its lightness made it an even better finisher to dinners than Molten Chocolate Cake, which is usually very heavy due to the molten chocolate sauce. Unlike Molten Chocolate Cake, the Chocolate Souffle was pleasantly moist too.

The white chocolate ice-cream was fantastic.  It came with a very rich egg yolk flavor, not very sweet, but complemented well with the heavenly airy parcel.  I am pretty sure the ice-cream was homemade because it tasted like none of the scoops I had in my life.

My friend ordered this very exotic dessert - fried mango ice-cream!  A gigantic mango ice-cream ball was enveloped with a thin pancake; and the whole chunk was deep-fried for a few seconds.   My friend generously offered me a bite.  The ice-cream was good, but not spectacular.  It offered what you expected from a fried ice-cream - the outer was soft and melting, the inner was hard as rock.

But be warned, anytime in the evening period would be very full.  The waiters diligently cleaned your table  when you just barely finished your dessert.  They even left the bill on our table (as a gesture) to shove us out the shop.

Otherwise, the evening here was perfect.

Happy Together
Shop 2, G/F, 5-6 Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui