Via Tokyo

Hi guys! I know I haven't been too consistent with my postings! With the end of the semester, and starting a full-time job, I haven't really gotten much time to breathe! But now it's the weekend and I figured I should post something, and I will definitely try my best to post more often, because I have a ton of food photos and reviews in store!

After what seems like forever, I have FINALLY visited Via Tokyo! When I reached there, a long queue has already formed, and mind you, it was raining that day! The queue was actually for people who wanted to sit in the tiny shop and consume their matcha goodies. However, my friends and I shoved past the crowd so we could order take away. 

We had a hard time picking. Should we try the Uji Matcha cone? Or should we try the Matcha sundaes with mochi balls? With so many choices, and the staff waiting for us to pick our desserts, it was a very tough time for us, as we were placed under the heat and pressure! Finally, we decided to go for the Uji Matcha Smoothie, a summer favourite of many Hong Kongers. Also, this smoothie is only released during the summer, so why not try it before it's gone for the winter right?

Review:

The Uji Matcha Smoothie looked good. It's aesthetic, it looks like a bundle of goodness piled together in a cup. For those matcha monsters out there, I can already see your eyes forming hearts, I mean this is heaven for your eyes right?! 

However, the taste... My expectations were set a bit too high. I have to admit, the smoothie itself was good. With rich matcha taste, very prominent and strong, I really did enjoy the smoothie. Although it was icy, and quite difficult to suck from the straw, you just had to dig your straw really deep, almost to the bottom of the cup, before you can suck anything out. The smoothie was great, and I will reiterate that a million times if I had to.

The soft serve plunked on top of the smoothie, was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe it was our fault for not eating the ice cream first before enjoying the smoothie, or maybe the ice cream just didn't taste that great already. We all ignored the ice cream and just dove right into the smoothie, trying to suck the life out of it. However, by the time we have finished about three quarters of the smoothie, the ice cream melted, and it looked... Disgusting with the smoothie. Most of us didn't have the appetite to finish it because it just looked THAT bad. 

I took a bite of the soft serve, and it was bitter. I expected it to be more rich, creamy and sweeter but turns out it wasn't the case. I have heard people say that the Houjicha flavoured ice cream was better, and perhaps they're right. Maybe the Via Tokyo Matcha soft serve was a bit too overhyped, and my bar was set way too high since often, people had raving reviews about this soft serve. 

I would definitely come back to Via Tokyo. Perhaps, I should try the matcha soft serve on its own and see how that tastes. The Uji Matcha Smoothie was great, just better off without the ice cream. If they could scrape off the ice cream, it would be perfect! 

So from my experience, here is one tip for you if you decide to try the Uji Matcha Smoothie:
1) EAT THE ICE CREAM/SOFT SERVE FIRST.

Yup, that's my only tip. Hope to see some of you guys around various food joints in the future, I'm always down to trying out new foods around Hong Kong! 

Uji Matcha Smoothie

Close up of Uji Matcha Smoothie

Price:
$42 for Uji Matcha Smoothie

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

Address:
中文: 銅鑼灣禮頓道106-126號禮信大廈地下1A-1B號舖
English: Shop nos. 1A-1B, G/F., Leishun Court, 106-126 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay 

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Butao Ramen 豚王

EXAMS ARE OVER!!! Can someone throw confetti into the air because it's really time for a celebration! Finally Year 1 is over and I can take a break before starting work!

So due to this wonderful moment, I have decided to introduce Butao to you guys! Perhaps some of you already know about this ramen chain, and can we all agree that this is one of the best ramen chain stores in Hong Kong?!

If you don't know about Butao, no worries, let me introduce it to you. ;)

Review: 

So first of all, Butao is a ramen store that allows you to customise your ramen however you like. There are different soup bases and toppings to choose from, but of course, the more you load on, the more expensive it will be!

At Butao, there are 5 different soup base:

1) Butao King - tonkotsu pork bone broth 

2) Black King - tonkotsu squid ink broth

3) Red King - spicy, miso broth

4) Green King - basil, pesto and parmesan cheese broth

5) Limited Edition/Special - it changes from time to time

After choosing your soup base, you can decide what toppings you want to include, such as vegetables, pork (belly or butt), etc. You can also decide how much infused oil you want in your ramen, and how hard you want your ramen to be! I really like Butao because you can really do whatever you want to your ramen, it's entirely up to you!

However, for me, I like things simple. I went for the Butao King soup base, with little infused oil, pork belly, vegetables (both cabbage and fungus), and I chose my noodles to be cooked as normal - not too hard, not too soft. 

The thing about Butao is that their pork belly is very succulent and bursting with flavour. Although there's some fat on it, which can make it hard to chew, I have always enjoyed their pork belly because of its flavour. It's something that I have not seen before in other restaurants or ramen stores, so this one caught me a little by surprise.

The broth that Butao offers is also very unique. Their broth is thick, quite thick compared to other stores where it's just watery soup. However, despite it being thick, it did have a lovely fragrance and the taste was very strong. I definitely enjoyed the broth here at Butao, I usually finish the soup after polishing all the toppings and noodles. :)

All in all, I feel that Butao is a great ramen chain, and everyone should definitely try this at least once. Each time I go to Butao, there seems to be a big crowd of people waiting, otherwise if there's no queue, the restaurant is usually jam packed. Of course, this is all based on my personal preference, but I have been to Butao with a couple of my friends, and we did enjoy the ramen so... I hope you will too! 

Customised Butao King

Price:

$85 for Butao King, other broths or soup bases may cost more depending on what you pick. Don't forget that toppings do cost quite a bit, so watch it!

Ratings:

Taste: ★★★★★

Value for Money: ★★★★☆

Presentation: ★★★★★

Envrionment: ★★★★☆

Overall: ★★★★★

Address:

中文: 沙田沙田正街18號新城市廣場一期1樓167號舖

English: Shop 167, 1/F., New Town Plaza, 18 Sha Tin Centre Street, Sha Tin 

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Lamb Rack 羊鞍餐廳

Hi, I'm back with another post! :)

This time, I'm going to be talking about Lamb Rack in Kowloon City. Apparently, it's a French restaurant but I can't seem to make out how it's French so I'll just assume that it's Western.

I decided to try the lunch sets because they're relatively cheap compared to the dinner sets. I have to say that their portions are relatively big compared to other stores, so I was quite pleased when the food arrived and I felt it was worth the $50-$60 that I have spent.

The amount of lunch set choices is very wide, as I believe there are about 20 sets to choose from! Usually, restaurants give you about 3-5 lunch sets to choose from the menu, so I was surprised when I was presented with 20! *laughcry*

Review:

The first time I tried this restaurant, I decided to give this set a go. I forgot which set it was on the menu, but it has pictures for your reference. This lunch set included soup (either vegetable or cream soup), bread, the main course and a drink. I decided to go for the pork chop (you can choose either chicken steak, pork chop, beef fillet, or chicken wings), with the spaghetti in Russian Borsch. 

I have to say that I was so full after eating! I swear my stomach was about to burst from the amount of food in my stomach. I really enjoyed the pork chop because it was quite big and it was grilled/pan-fried (my favourite), and the seasoning was just on point! Moreover, the pork chop was tender and juicy, which totally won over my heart. 

I felt that the spaghetti in Russian Borsch was just normal, nothing special. The spaghetti was tasteless, so I'm guessing they cooked the soup and spaghetti separately instead of together...

Overall, this was a pretty good meal! I wouldn't mind eating this lunch set again, if only it wasn't so much. In addition, this is the cheapest meal on the menu and they gave quite a lot so... You can only imagine how much better (or worse maybe) the other meals are! 

Pork Chop with Spaghetti in Russian Borsch

The second time I came to Lamb Rack, I decided to try the grilled Brazilian BBQ pork chop with mashed potatoes. At first glance, it looked really good, the BBQ sauce glazed over the pork chop, and it's grilled very nicely.

The first bite was good too, and the BBQ sauce filled my taste buds and I really did like it. However, as you keep eating it, you will soon realise it gets quite sickening, that the BBQ sauce doesn't actually taste that good after a while, and it will lose its appeal after a few bites. Yes, the pork chop was still tender, but it wasn't that juicy because the BBQ sauce and glaze took all the attention and I was quite sick of it after finishing it off. 

The mashed potatoes were alright, they're quite tasteless, so you have to add in a dash of salt and pepper to spice it up a bit. Actually, eating the mashed potatoes tasted better after finishing the BBQ pork chop because for me, I was just so sick of it, the mashed potatoes was my escape from the BBQ taste. 

Needless to say, I don't think I will be trying this lunch set again...

Brazilian BBQ Pork Chop with Mashed Potatoes

Price: 
Lunch: $50-$100
Grilled Pork Chop with Spaghetti in Russian Borsch: $50
Brazilian BBQ Pork Chop with Mashed Potatoes: $60

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

Address:
中文: 九龍城福佬村道22號地舖
English: G/F, 22 Fuk Lo Tsun Road, Kowloon City 

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Hakata Ippudo 一風堂香港

Hi! I'm back again after 5 days woohoo! :)

Lets face it, assignments can be a huge bore. So I'm taking a break and decided to blog about food because, food is definitely more important! 

This post will be shorter than my other posts, but I think I'll do be doing more short posts in the future since I don't always have a huge course meal. Blogging about food and introducing restaurants to you guys is definitely better than nothing right?

Ippudo. I have been dying to try out this Japanese ramen shop since the beginning of time and I finally did! Yay! I have yet to try Ichiran, which I have also heard is good. I'll be making my way there sometime soon. :)

Review:

I ordered the "Tokyo Shoyu", which is basically pork slices in fish and chicken soup, served with thick noodles (aka ramen). I love the soup base, probably the highlight of this dish! Yes, the pork slices were good - tender and soft - but they only gave me two slices!!! They also added in some vegetables and one small fishcake. The noodles were good too, chewy with a fine texture. You know how some noodles are really limp? Ippudo's ramen isn't like that, which I'm really pleased about! 

100% going to eat at Ippudo again in the future, can't wait to try out all their ramen dishes. I'm terribly satisfied with the quality and service of this restaurant!

Tokyo Shoyu 東京醬油

Price:
$68 for Tokyo Shoyu
$88 for Special Tokyo Shoyu (basically more toppings, such as wontons and seaweed)

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

Address:
中文: 九龍灣偉業街33號德福廣場1期G54A1號舖
English: Shop G54A1. Phase 1, Telford Plaza, 33 Wai Yip Street, Kowloon Bay 

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Frites Belgium On Tap

Sooo, hello again! I know it's been a super long while since I've posted. Since classes today were cancelled, that means more time for me to blog (while catching up on unfinished assignments and studying for the upcoming exams)! 

Recently, I visited this restaurant called "Frites" in Wan Chai. It's a Belgian restaurant, and I only know Belgium is famous for their chocolates... 

But nevertheless, this place is actually quite nice! The interior design of this restaurant is so cute, making me feel like I've stepped into the 1800s, or the early 1900s! Also, as "frites" is fries in French, that means that their fries must be famous as well!

Anyways, if you're ever in Wan Chai and wondering where to eat, do find your way to this restaurant - the lunch menu is quite cheap and you won't be disappointed!

Review:

First up is the starter aka soup or salad. I decided to go for the soup, which was lentil and bacon soup. Okay, so the soup was more like a puree, or blended lentil and bacon. Not a huge fan of it, because I prefer more of a broth compared to a puree. The taste isn't bad, but it's was weird to my taste buds because I've never tried this kind of soup before! 

Lentil & Bacon Soup

Close up of Lentil & Bacon Soup

Next up, we have the Belgian fries! This wasn't part of the lunch menu, so we ordered it as a-la-carte. The fries in my opinion, ARE BOMB. They're not too oily, and they are really well seasoned. I know I know, they look like normal fries - they don't look very appealing right? Guess what, looks can be deceiving! I have to say that these fries are better than McDonald's and Burger King's fries! The mayo sauce that's included with these fries, is not like the mayo you find in Fillet-O-Fish or the ones served with your deep fried sole fillet. The mayo is much thicker, and it doesn't have much of the mayo taste and smell. Really nice combination - the fries and the mayo sauce. I really wouldn't mind coming here again just for the yummy fries!

Belgian Fries with Mayo Sauce

Close up of Belgian Fries

Main course! There were several choices to choose from, but I settled with the sea bass because it was the most healthy out of them. The sea bass was served with crispy potatoes, asparagus and a generous amount of chopped vegetables, such as tomatoes and onions. The sea bass was fresh catch, and very easy to cut. However, in my opinion, I did not like the texture of the sea bass. I personally prefer fillet because it's softer and more tender, but the sea bass' texture was basically "divided", so that when I cut the fish, it sort of disintegrated into its own mini parts... If that even makes sense. 

Nevertheless, the taste was quite good, but I didn't enjoy the sea bass as much as I had wanted to... Oh I love fish so much and this was quite disappointing because I did not like the texture of the sea bass. 

Sea Bass with Crispy Potatoes and Chopped Vegetables

Last but not least, we have dessert! You can choose either a drink or dessert, but obviously a foodie like me will go for dessert. :) This dessert is healthily unhealthy because although there's raspberry and granola, theres lots of whipped cream inside! Also, the raspberry seeds were so sour and they hurt my teeth a lot, giving me a temporary toothache! I should have chosen the drink instead because the coffee came with a cute milk mug that was shaped like a milk bottle, and well, coffee sounds a lot better than having a toothache.

Raspberry Cup

Price:

$120-$200 for lunch set, depending on main course.

Belgium Frites were $55. 

There's an Early Bird Lunch Special, if you finish your lunch by 12:45, there will be a 20% discount off your total bill. 

Ratings:

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

Address:
中文: 灣仔港灣道28號Brim 28灣景中心1樓6號舖

English: Shop 6, Brim 28, 1/F, Causeway Centre, 28 Harbour Road, Wan Chai

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Noodle Lah!

So I'm back again with another post, this time on an actual restaurant instead of just snacks and dessert!

I'm quite excited to talk about this because as a Singaporean living in Hong Kong, it is extremely difficult to find a place that offers authentic Singaporean or Malaysian cuisine. However, this restaurant serves food that I deem as 70% authentic. If you thought Toast Box was authentic enough, let me tell you, you're wrong - very wrong. 

Nevertheless, if you're up for some Singaporean/Malaysian food, then try here! The environment is very nice and cozy, except if you go at night, they dim the lights and it looks very dark. Don't really know what the point of doing that was, but really, quite authentic Singaporean food! I was a very happy girl with a satisfied belly. 

Review:

Okay, Thai fish cakes. I am a huge fan of fish cakes, I'll probably cry if someone gave me a huge plate of fish cakes on Valentine's Day! All jokes aside, I do think that the fish cakes are quite oily, but nevertheless, the taste really did resemble the Thai fish cakes you can get in Thailand. The fish sauce (was it even fish sauce) that accompanied it, really complimented the fish cakes and made it even tastier! 

Thai Fish Cakes

PRAWN MEE! Oh goodness, my absolute favourite in Singapore!!! Although the colour of the soup isn't exactly accurate, the taste was quite similar to the one in Singapore. The soup base in Singapore's prawn mee is more towards a clear-yellowish colour, but in Noodle Lah! it's a dark red colour. There was a succulent amount of prawns and fish cakes, which made me really happy since fish cakes are LIFE. The noodles could be improved though; they used egg noodles but Singapore uses "oil noodles", otherwise known as 油麵. Overall, I do think this dish can be improved but other than that, it is quite accurate and resembles that of Singapore's prawn mee. Yuuuum.

Prawn Mee

Close up of Prawn Mee

Pictures of the restaurant since I thought the environment and decoration was quite nice! 

Glass bottle to hold chopsticks.

Noodle Lah!'s menu.

Reception area.

Facing the entrance/exit of the restaurant.

Sitting by the window is definitely a good choice, beautiful view!

Price:

$60 - $80 for main course.

Ratings:

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

Address:
中文: 金鐘夏愨道16號遠東金融中心閣樓A6-2舖

English: Shop A6-2, UG/F, Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Road, Admiralty

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Burger Republic

Hi guys!

So sorry for the extremely late post, I know I promised updating every week but uni life is indeed very busy and stressful right now. I'll try to post more during the Easter break to make up for it, although my Easter break isn't really a break for me. :(

Anyways, I went to Burger Republic in Tseung Kwan O's Popcorn (MTR) mall a few weeks ago! They closed down New York Fries and replaced it with Burger Republic, which I think is a huge upgrade! In my experience, I didn't really enjoy New York Fries and thought it was quite overrated. However, Burger Republic is basically the same thing as Chips Republic in Elements (Kowloon Station) and their fries are THE BOMB - not even joking. I'm really happy that NYF closed down because a better shop took its place, so no point complaining right?! :)

Review:

The triple cheese fries are always my go-to dish whenever I order from this shop, be it Chips or Burger Republic. The thing is, the amount of cheese that gets poured into the containers is so generous that it's too good to be true. Normally, restaurants or shops in other places will just give you a tiny amount of cheese, but Chips/Burger Republic actually gives you so much cheese, that by the time you finish your fries, there's still leftover cheese. Their generosity makes me want to fall to my knees and cry because CHEESE IS LIFE. 

But seriously, you have piping hot, crispy fries, loaded with mozzarella, cheddar and possibly, Monterey Jack cheese (unsure about the third cheese they used). Their container of fries does also have a generous amount of fries so I ain't complaining about that. Although it can be a bit pricey, but with the amount of fries and cheese loaded into one container, I just can't say anything negative about it. It's worth it. It really is.

I tried a bit of their mozzarella & gravy fries, one of their recommended dishes. It's really good, now I can't decide which one I like better - triple cheese or mozzarella & gravy??? Ahhh fries with cheese and gravy is just too good, help me pick please!!!

Triple Cheese Fries

Close up of Triple Cheese Fries

Price:

Fries - $30 - $40

Burgers - $30 - $50

Milkshakes - $30 - $40

Ratings:

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

Address:
中文: 將軍澳唐賢街9號PopCorn商場1樓F24-F26號舖 

English: Shop F24-F26, 1/F, PopCorn, 9 Tong Yin Street, Tseung Kwan O 

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