Tokyo Secret 味之藝術

Hi guys!

So so so sorry for the late upload/post. I've been super busy at work, and I've been going on many food hunting adventures that it's quite hard to catch a breath! I know I said I'll try uploading a new post once a week, but I guess it has almost been a month... Oops. Nevertheless, I'm really happy I can finally squeeze some time in to blog!

Anyway, you guys have probably heard the new matcha soft serve in town called Tokyo Secret! I know, I know what you're thinking - another soft serve place with the name "Tokyo" in place. But what can I say, perhaps the materials and ingredients really did come from Tokyo!

I heard some mixed reviews about this matcha soft serve. Some said it was good, some said it was bad. Being a curious person, I hopped my way down to Tsim Sha Tsui one rainy night, and gave this a shot... And boy was I glad I tried this! Luckily I didn't listen to my friends, who didn't enjoy this as much. There are reasons why I enjoyed it and they didn't, so STAY TUNED. :)

Review:

I ordered the Matcha Affogato, which came with a free topping of your choice: rose jelly, red beans or tea leaves (not entirely sure what it is). Rich, creamy and refreshing, with a slight hint of bitterness, this matcha soft serve won my heart over! Topped with crumbs, chocolate and coffee sauce (is it coffee? it's brown in colour!), this is definitely a dessert to remember.

People have said that their soft serve wasn't as good as mine, and that's because theirs was very bitter. Tokyo Secret has explained that they served customers the STRONG VERSION of the matcha soft serve. I was lucky to have gotten the LIGHT version of it, so do indicate your preference when you order!

Regardless of the bitterness, I do think that at its soft opening, it's already quite good. Of course, there are areas in need of improvement, such as the fact that the matcha ice cream melts so quickly! By the time they finished sprinkling the toppings and served it to me, the ice cream was already melting. Not exactly impressed when I always take a few shots before I start eating! Despite the melting, which is probably the only issue I found with it, I found this dessert very delectable, and I am definitely coming back to try their new products that they have described to me!

By the way, shoutout to Tokyo Secret for letting me stand inside their store when it started raining cats and dogs! Also, it's very nice how they listen to customers' feedback, and are not offended when people give them developmental comments! A very good way to interact with customers, and it shows that they're willing to improve! Really admire Tokyo Secret for that!

With all of that said, it's a wrap! Get down to Tokyo Secret perhaps, it really is something special. :)

Matcha Affogato with Rose Toppings

Price:
$32 (soft opening price) for Matcha Affogato 

$42 is the original price.

Ratings:
Taste: ★★★★☆

Value for Money: ★★★★☆

Presentation: ★★★★☆
Environment: ★★★☆☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

Address:
中文: 尖沙咀加連威老道52號地下C鋪 

English: Shop C, G/F, 52 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 

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Sun Kee Restaurant 新記芝士麵茶餐廳

Food lovers! Hey! :)

So a few weeks ago, I went to Sun Kee in Tsim Sha Tsui to get a taste of the famous cheese noodles! I think they have another store in Wan Chai, but since TST is closer to uni, so I headed there with a few of my college peeps during the 3 hour break between lectures. 

We arrived at the restaurant a little before noon, so we had to wait for a few minutes while the shopkeepers were preparing kitchen and the dining area. The places opens at noon, so it's best to get there a little earlier because the tables and chairs fill up really quickly. I was lucky to have reached there a bit earlier because by 12:10pm, the place was mostly crowded and there was already a line queueing outside.

There are only limited seats and the tables are packed closely together, so there's no place to put your belongings (which means you have to carry or place it on the floor), and there is very close proximity between you and strangers. Beware of the waiters because they move frequently and they're always a in a rush, so they might possibly spill food and drinks on you if they trip over your belongings. 

Review:

The cheese noodles with pork neck was quite ordinary in a way. It's basically instant noodles with pork neck covered with cheese sauce. The pork neck was tender, juicy and easy to chew; the noodles were covered with cheese sauce. I was surprised that the cheese sauce wasn't as heavy as it looked, and it complimented the noodles and pork neck really well. The cheese sauce was very gooey and after mixing it together with the noodles, there didn't seem to be any "leftover" cheese as it's spread evenly throughout the noodles. For $42, it was a very small portion and I felt that it wasn't worth the money as I can easily make this at home if I knew how to make the cheese sauce. 

Overall, I would say it's worth a try because the cheese noodles really are good, and it's even better with the pork neck. However, the price for such a small bowl is indeed too high and I would not come back unless the price drops. 

Pork Neck with Instant Noodles in Cheese Sauce 豬頸肉芝士撈丁 

Close up of Pork Neck Cheese Noodles

Price:
$42-50HKD; the pork neck cheese noodles are $42, and the other cheesy dishes may range from $40-$50HKD. 

Ratings:
Taste: ★★★★☆
Value for Money: ★★☆☆☆
Presentation: ★★★☆☆
Environment: ★★★☆☆
Overall: ★★★☆☆

Address:
中文: 尖沙咀金巴利道16-20號香檳大廈地下13-14號舖
English: Champagne Court 16-20, GF 13-14, Kimberley Rd Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

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Nabe One 牛一

Hi everyone!

I went to Nabe One for lunch today with a few of my college peeps. The lunch set is relatively cheap, about $75 per head for an hour (or more if there's no crowd). We stayed for 2 hours, so I guess you can say it was worth it. To be honest, it was quite disgusting towards the end because we saw a huge cockroach, and it wasn't even crawling. It was actually a jumping/bouncing cockroach... Yikes!

Nabe One buffet table, a wide range of choices!

Review:

There was a wide range of choices at Nabe One, from vegetables to noodles, from fishballs to sausages. The ingredients/foods are rather fresh so that's a good thing as well. I have to admit that the choices given at Nabe One is quite impressive and there are lots and lots of vegetables so it's quite vegetarian-friendly. :)

Ramen, zucchini, enoki mushrooms, cheese sausages, Korean rice cakes, konnyaku, etc.

The beef was really fresh, and it was tender after being cooked. There are certain times when you "accidentally" overcook beef, and in this case, it happened many times. However, the beef didn't turn hard and tough to chew although it was probably cooking for 20 minutes. There wasn't too much fat in the beef - quite acceptable, and the beef was just great and I couldn't stop ordering it.

Free flow of beef!

Pork, where would I be without pork? The pork was also very good, though there's slightly more fat on it compared to the beef. The pork was also very fresh and tender; usually pork meat would get a bit tough if cooked for too long, but it wasn't in this case. Highly recommend ordering the pork and beef combo if you love meat as much as I do!

Free flow of pork as well!

The Kombu seaweed soup base is vegetarian-friendly. I don't recommend eating the seaweed inside the broth though, it doesn't taste that great. It's not your usual Japanese seaweed that chefs place in bowls of ramen, it's a different kind of seaweed. Anyways, the soup base was clear and it is rather tasteless if you don't dip the foods in your mixed sauces. I don't recommend this one, but this is one of the vegetarian choices, so if you're vegetarian, go for it! If you're not then please, don't try this soup base.

Kombu seaweed soup base!

The next soup base that my peeps and I shared is the salmon soy milk. This one gets quite disgusting after a while, and because it's full of white liquid, it can be very difficult to find the food in the soup, so you really have to go digging for it with your chopsticks and ladle. It didn't really have a taste either, I didn't taste any salmon or soy milk for that matter... I definitely wouldn't recommend this one either; I believe my friends and I got quite sick of this soup base at the end of our "da bin lo" session.

Salmon soy milk soup base!

And there's dessert! Yes they have 4 flavours of ice cream and froyo there! From what I remember, there's matcha and vanilla ice cream, and the original and melon flavoured froyo. There is also quite a range of toppings, such as boba, nata de coco, milo balls, nuts, marshmallows, you name it!                        

My friend's original froyo, with nuts and nata de coco (first thing he got once we reached Nabe One).

So this was my dessert! I got the matcha froyo and topped it with boba (multi-flavoured), cornflakes, nata de coco and milo balls!

Matcha ice cream with different toppings.

I should feel bad for getting two bowls of froyo/ice cream, but nah! So this one is just the original froyo topped with milo balls. I love milo balls so much, I just had to get froyo with milo balls only. Also, I got annoyed when my friend stole one from me. *insert angry face*

Original froyo with milo balls.

Price: 

Lunch: $58-$88

Dinner: $148-$188

Ratings:

Taste: ★★★★☆

Value for Money: ★★★☆☆

Presentation: ★★★★☆

Environment: ★★★☆☆

Overall: ★★★★☆

Address:

中文: 尖沙咀樂道32-34號1樓

English: 1/F, 32-34 Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 

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