It seems an age has passed since I last sat down to a proper afternoon tea, so needing a scone fix we decided to do tea at the Palm Court.

Taking up at least half of the lobby space inside The Langham Hotel, Palm Court is really quite hard to miss. Plush cushiony chairs provide comfortable seating and the lilting notes from the grand piano makes for a relaxing environment for those settling down for tea or an a la carte lobby lunch.

They only have one tea set available and are currently promoting their Vahlrona tea set so we ordered that for two. To drink, I was intrigued by their description of 'white tea' named as the Palm Court exotic blend, but when it arrived it poured out to a funny rosy pink colour and tasted unpleasantly sour. It wasn't to my taste at all, so I asked if I could change to chamomile which they readily agreed to. My tea partner opted to try the Blue Mountain coffee and wanting to try their mocktails, also chose the banana blast and pineapple and orange combination. I did not try either, but the banana blast arrived slushie-esque in a tall cocktail glass which was a little unwieldy to sip from, while the pineapple and orange was essentially a mixed juice from those two ingredients. Nothing special.And then our tea set arrived. Three-tiered as usual, two sweet and one savoury, our scones were to be served later.We first sampled the sandwiches, petite and neat, but quite boring. Starting from the top clockwise: scotch egg which is a traditional English delicacy of sausage mince wrapped quail egg crumbed and then deep fried, crab filled crepe, foie gras sandwich roll, smoked salmon, layered egg salad on olive foccacia and in the middle was a roast beef sandwich.Since it was a Vahlrona themed tea, I was expecting more chocolate desserts, but it was not to be. From the top, the second tier consisted of lemon curd tarts, chocolate mousse cake, mini caramel tarts and chocolate profiteroles. No single item really stood out, but I appreciated how they were not too sweet and at least the short tart bases were firm and crunchy with a nice buttery flavour.The top tier held chocolate pops, mango crumble panacotta and fudge candies. The chocolate ganache filling inside the pop was too grainy for my liking, but at least the creamy panacotta with crunchy nuggets of crumble was decent.Since our scones had not arrived yet, we had to ask our server for them. However, rather than setting down a basket, they actually serve it to your plates. This is fine, it is part of the service, but I would have appreciated that they noticed our plates were smeared from the savoury items and replaced them without needing me to ask them. Another note on their service is that they are really quite forgetful. When my tea partner asked for the coffee to arrive, they brought over a normal cup of coffee rather than the Blue Mountain ordered. After telling them it was incorrect, they said they would rectify the situation immediately, but that did not occur since we had to ask them again for the coffee 15 minutes later. Eventually it did arrive, and the aromatic fragrance of the coffee was nearly worth the wait.

The scones were your typical plain and raisin flavour, small in size and accompanied by clotted cream and a choice of both strawberry (middle) and berry jam (left). The scones were not fluffy, but more of the firm, biscuit kind and of the jams I surprisingly preferred the berry flavour more.How was my overall experience? Food-wise I was a little disappointed especially with the scones. Having teaed at The Langham Hotel in Shenzhen, I can say that the overall afternoon tea experience is much better over there than in Hong Kong in terms of both food and service. Langham Hong Kong you really need to up your game.

Ever since it was awarded one Michelin star earlier this year, I was always curious about trying The Principal. The opportunity finally arrived when a group of us needed a destination for dinner and this popped up as the suggestion~

Situated on Star st, The Principal is a lovely space. Its decor centers around a modern theme with clean lines resulting in quite a comfortable environment to dine in. The only issue I had was with their chairs, they looked comfortable, but chairs that have a backwards sloping seat really does not do it for me.

The menu offers both degustation and a la carte. At $1080, the degustation offers 11 courses including petite fours which seemed to be good value for money, but since there were some ingredients C could not eat at the present time and R not being too hungry, a la carte was the better option since the whole table is required to participate in the degustation.

The pre-appetisers of sugary cinnamon coated walnuts and assorted olives were so addicitive I could not stop picking at them while we were deciding on what to order, but my attention was quickly switched elsewhere when the bread selection came around~ A selection of four, I picked the plump, crunchy baguette and possibly my favourite a semi-flaky cheese and truffle scroll Amuse bouche of the evening consisted of three bite-sized items: a spoonful of smoked eel jelly, a profiterole puff and a crunchy mojito-like prism. Decent, but not memorable.For appetisers, both Miss J and I chose the egg dish. Essentially an onsen egg (free range of course) atop a bed of sauteed artichokes, ceps and shaved black truffles. Perfectly cooked where the egg whites retained a runny translucency, one light jab of the fork and all its golden goodness oozed out over the savoury vegetables. The only disappointment with this dish was despite being showered with numerous truffle slices, there was barely a detectable truffle aroma Note to self: only eat truffles during proper truffle season.Miss V chose the Iberico ham, hand sliced and aged for 42 months. It was more than a decent serving where the ham veered more towards the lean side edged with only a thin ribbon of fat. Not overly salty, but there was not a strong fragrance of ham either.The prize for prettiest appetiser went to C's gazpacho. Poured table side into a wild strawberry tartare ring accompanied by a quenelle of apricot sorbet, it looked like a miniature Spring garden. Immensely fruity, this was a gorgeous starter~We chose to each have a different main course so everyone could try something different.

The saltbush lamb tenderloin was my pick for the evening. Tender chunks of lamb cooked to a medium-rare with Moroccan inspired accompaniments of smeared hummus, grilled eggplant, crumbled bits of braised sweetbreads and a drizzle of yoghurt. This was really good, where hints of cumin paired wonderfully with the lamb.R had their version of suckling pig. From the look of the dish, it must have been a baby pig judging by the size of the rib bone. The bite I had revealed relatively juicy and tender meat with a light crunch in the crackling.Miss J had the beef sirloin. Two pieces of thickly cut sirloin seared to a bloody medium rare, I did not try this, but Miss J seemed to enjoy it.C and Miss V both ordered fish, turbot and dover sole respectively. Both were lovely in appearance, snow white meat with a minimum of accompaniments and when it was served, you could smell the most enticing pan-fried aroma.When it was time for dessert, the server recommended 'black sesame' as being one of the more popular dessert items and per the description of sesame panacotta and miso ice-cream it seemed quite intriguing. Arriving as three mini panacottas accompanied by torn macadamia sponge cake, miso ice cream and a wide streak of black sesame sauce, the black and white elements looked a little like Chinese art. Although appearance-wise it looked interesting, the taste was even more interesting... Spooning into the ice-cream I was hit with a wave of saltiness which was totally unexpected since you would expect dessert to be sweet, not only that there was no hint of miso flavour either. After the shock to the tastebuds, the rest of the dessert was really not very good. Quite disappointing.Miss V and R shared a small cheese plate. Although I was not clear on the names, the goat cheese looked really good, all white and creamy. The accompaniments to the cheese were also generously portioned and the chunk of honeycomb looked highly appealing~ Even though I normally would not choose cheese over dessert, I think it may have been the better choice.Finally to petite fours. A total of three, mango jelly, passionfruit macaron and chocolate biscuit. Again nothing special, but a sweet touch for those who still want a nibble.

I think the overall experience at The Principal was a bit of a hit and a miss, the mains were certainly of quality, but the dessert.. well I am pretty sure I made myself clear on that.

What is not to love about oysters? Briny, creamy/crunchy pending your preference, just a squeeze of lemon juice is enough for them to go down a treat~

Normally going to The Sheraton means a visit to Celestial Court for dim sum or Morton's for steaks and lamb chops, but this time it was for a night of oysters at their Oyster and Wine Bar~ Situated on the 18th floor, it is right at the end of the long space that also encompasses the Sky Lounge as well. The ambiance is more like that of a casual fine dining restaurant, exuding a relaxed nature where diners sit at white table clothed tables with the pleasant views of the Harbour as the backdrop.Oysters are of course their specialty, but rather than listing all the different types they have on the main menu, diners are asked to go to the oyster counter where each of the available varieties are shucked and labelled to make it easier to choose. Oysters from France, USA, Canada, Korea and Japan were present, a total of 16 with one type of clam. Unfortunately my favourites of Fin de Claire and Gillardeau were not available, but that gave us the opportunity to try other varieties.Both of us prefer smaller sized oysters which make for much easier eating than some of the monsters we saw that night. Needing to bite into a raw oyster several times is really not that appealing to me, unless cooked which is another story entirely.

We had a total of 9 each with a mix of nationalities. The mild and creamy St. Michel and small, sweet Kumamoto were the highlights for me Once we had finished with our briny mollusks, our appetisers started arriving.

The crab cakes were separated into two portions, a hefty sized ball full of white crab meat pan-fried to golden. Paired with the tart sauce drizzled on top, this was quite good.Appearance-wise the scallop carpaccio was more than pleasant. Sliced thicker than normal, the snow white scallops were topped with rocket leaves and salmon roe, all finished with a screw of black pepper. Unfortunately it looked much better than it tasted. It was not chilled enough and the scallops did not taste overly fresh, with an evident fishiness lingering in the mouth.Their special of grilled aubergine was a generous serving scattered with chunks of sharp feta cheese. We were not particularly taken with the eggplant as it tasted a little odd and despite the grill marks, there was no hint of smokiness in the flavour.Our main dish of African Mozambique prawns with risoni pasta was disappointing in both portion size and taste. A meager serving of three prawns in a tomato-based sauce with a couple of handfuls of pasta... The prawns were not the freshest with a slight mushy quality to the flesh and they had not been de-veined properly. The only saving grace was probably the risoni, at least it was al dente.I really wanted chips that evening so we ordered that as a side along with white asparagus and hollandaise sauce. The chips were so good! You may think its nothing special, but it was fried at the perfect temperature where each fry was golden and crunchy~ The asparagus was decent, fleshy and juicy, but they lacked their natural flavour.We had other plans for dessert so we did not order any here, but our meal ended with sticks of almond puff pastry. A little sticky, but what's not to love about puff pastry Did I enjoy the Oyster wine & bar? I would not say it was extremely special as I am sure that I can have fresh oysters elsewhere that serve better quality hot dishes at the same time, but if you have never been, it does not hurt to try.

On Bute St (more to Prince Edward side than Mong Kok), Kam Wa is a little Hong Kong cafe that does a bustling trade for both eat-in and take-away customers. Even late in the afternoon, a rainy afternoon I might add, there were still a fair amount of people enjoying afternoon snacks of fried chicken wings, flaky egg tarts and of course their famous pineapple bun sandwiched with a thick slice of butter (bo lo yau).

Service was extremely quick as they expect you to know what you want as soon as you sit down. I already knew that I wanted bo lo yao, but luckily no one gave me attitude or dirty looks when I asked for a couple of minutes to decide what I wanted to drink. Within minutes, my pineapple bun arrived with a glass bottle of fresh milk.To those not in the know, pineapple buns are only named so because they faintly look like the fruit hence please do not be surprised when there is no hint of tropical flavour evident.

For bread, this certainly looked attractive. Big and fluffy with a crisp, crunchy sugary topping~ It was not served warm, but that was actually more suitable for bo lo yao as the room temperature butter retained its solid texture rather than melting into a liquid puddle. Spread the butter more evenly around the bun or just bite straight into it, either way you will experience the satisfaction of sugar and creamy butter melding in your mouth. So good!

Despite seeing all the positive reviews on this cafe, I still can not believe it has taken me this long to try the pineapple buns here! Those reviews were definitely not bluffing, this renowned bun of Hong Kong is most certainly worth trying here~

Ever since Mango Tree opened in Elements this year, it has become my go-to place whenever I feel like Thai food~ Not that Hong Kong does not already have an abundance of Thai restaurants, but the ambiance in Mango Tree is really something else. Located deep inside the metal zone of Elements it is a gorgeous space. Cavernous with high ceilings (I love high ceilings~), the interior is outfitted in a pleasing palate of tans and browns. If you pay close enough attention, you will notice posts complete with tree branches positioned throughout the restaurant which is a subtle yet clever reminder to patrons of their name.

Once seated, our menus were brought to us by waitresses wearing Traditional Thai dress and after taking our drinks order we were left to consult the menu. Our drinks arrived just as we were ready to order which was unusual good timing, young coconut juice for him and fizzy lime soda for me. The coconuts served here are always very sweet which are perfect for cooling the fire from the deliciously spicy food, while my lime soda was perfectly refreshing for clearing the palate.

As an appetiser we started with the green papaya salad which was a tasty choice. A mound of fresh julienned green papaya adorned with halved cherry tomatos, raw peanuts and dried prawns, with a side of crisp lettuce leaves, all tossed in a tart, sweet dressing punctuated by a chili kick. A good start to the meal~Whenever we dine here Tom Yum Gong is always a must order. Arriving in a small claypot with a candle lit stand it is a big enough portion for two people to share. A semi-clear soup, aromatic from the infused spices and chili, just inhaling the scent will make your mouth water. Two jumbo prawns, each halved, were immersed in the broth, a slight bounce in its meat belied its freshness and don't forget the orange goodness up in the head ;)Tung choi stir-fried in shrimp paste was nice and crunchy. The shrimp paste was more mild than I expected, but it was still good.

The highlight of the evening was definitely the curry crab~ A large sized crab with its shell cracked for easy eating where its meat soaked up the mildly sweet fragrant curry. Although it was lukewarm when it was served, the curry was still very addictive, mixed with softly cooked egg white and onions, it was perfect with plain white rice or just spoon it straight into the mouth like I did Recommended!So satisfying~ The Thai food served here is really of quality and definitely worth a visit if you have never been!

As a sort of unofficial celebratory dinner, Mr. C and I made an impromptu decision to dinner at the IFC branch of Inagiku~ Having enjoyed our previous experience at the TST location inside The Royal Garden hotel I was looking forward to see how the Hong Kong side Inagiku would compare.

Up on the fourth level of the Four Seasons hotel, the Inagiku commands a huge space. Cool and chic, there was no evident vibe of prententiousness despite it being a fine dining establishment. Aside from private rooms, diners can opt to sit at one of the teppanyaki tables for some live cooking action or for a more relaxed arrangement the general dining area is just as pleasant for soaking up the peaceful harbour views.

Wanting somewhere a little more quiet, we chose to sit in the general dining room. Looking through the menu, they do both a la carte as well as set options featuring teppanyaki which considerably were decently priced in a restaurant like this, but since none of the sets really piqued our interest we ordered a la carte.

A chilled Japanese tomato started off the evening for us. There is just something so special about Japanese tomatoes, ever so sweet and juicy with that beautiful deep cherry red colour. Paired with the sesame dressing it was most refreshing as an appetiser, albeit a bit small in size.Sashimi-wise we ordered our usual selection of scallops and salmon. Plump, velvety chunks of scallop paired with luscious slices of fatty salmon. Simple, but good.Mr. C knows I have a soft spot for Japanese tamago, hence he picked this for me A roll of omelette cut into four generous pieces. When I bit into it, I was expecting sweetness and a hint of mirin to wash over me since Japanese tamago is usually prepared this way, but surprisingly it was salty. The egg was fluffy and moist, but I would have preferred it more had it been sweet.A selection of tempura vegetables: pumpkin, gingko nuts, baby green pepper and baby corn. Inagiku is renowned for their tempura and it was easy to see why that is. The coating was subtly crunchy and for something fried it was deceivingly light with no heavy, greasy aftertaste. I really liked the pumpkin, soft, melting textures, but the sweet corn slice was my favourite~ each sunny yellow kernel popped with juicy sweetness.Chawanmushi with sea urchin. Always a delicate dish, a bowl of steaming egg custard in all its wobbly glory crowned with a touch of sea urchin. Hidden inside the smooth custard were an assortment of mushrooms, prawns, gingko nuts and to my delight sticky balls of mochi~For mains, we had teppanyakied lamb cutlets. They were a touch overdone resulting in a slightly chewy mouthful, but still acceptable.We ended our meal with wagyu beef fried rice and assorted vegetables. The rice was cooked just right, nicely dry where each grain of rice clumped easily together to be picked up by chopsticks and although the diced pieces of wagyu beef scattered throughout was lean, its fragrant flavour was still detectable with each mouthful.To me, assorted vegetables served from a teppanyaki grill generally consists of a jumble of bean sprouts, mushrooms, cabbage and carrots, but not the version here... The 'assorted' vegetables was just a big plate of cabbage with a few julienned carrots and greens thrown in for colour. Nothing can really go wrong here as it was mainly a matter of using fresh produce, but the name was unfortunately misleading...There were both hits and misses to the evening, but overall the quality of food was still considered to be above average. Despite this branch of Inagiku being situated in a more spacious environment with spectacular views, I think I still prefer the one in TST...

Saturday evening, absolutely pouring with rain, venturing into Causeway Bay with no dinner reservation may not have been the brightest idea. We were originally wanting to have robatayaki at an oft frequented place, but unfortunately they were full house that night. Since the rain was getting heavier, we decided to step into the closest restaurant and hope for availability. This turned out to be Hee Kee crab general so I guess we were having crab that night~

Only after a short wait, we were directed downstairs to the dining room which was busy for a rainy Saturday night. Service was a little haphazard since there was only one waiter looking after our section, but that at least gave us time to study the menu and decide what to order. After we were served tea and pre-meal snack of preserved vegetables, we waited and waited... and waited for our meal to begin...

At first we thought to be patient, but after half an hour with no food arriving we flagged down the server to see what was taking so long. It was only then we were informed that both of our main dishes and soup we ordered needed to take a longer time to prepare, but what was most astounding was that they only had three available stoves to cook on... since this was the case, we just told him to serve up our fried rice and vegetables first hence our meal sort of began backwards...

Our egg white and conpoy fried rice was cooked to a nice dryness where it was full of wok hei. Both of us found it delicious... but that could have been our hunger talking.The spinach in broth with salty and century eggs was tender where the yolks of the eggs were boiled to a nice mushy softness.Half-way through the vegetables our crab finally arrived~! Satay crab with vermicelli served in a claypot. The meat of the crab was firm and pleasantly sweet confirming its freshness and I also adored the slippery smooth vermicelli soaking up the flavourful satay sauce. So good~You would think the crab was the star of the show, but that was until the roasted beef on bone arrived~ On the menu, it looked like a decent sized serving of eight slices of beef, but in reality it was a whole hunk of meat de-boned and chopped into irregular slices. Gorgeously roasted, the outside was crispy while all the fatty juices were sealed inside the tender meat. This was jaw-droppingly good and definitely brought out the carnivorous side in us ;)The pot of chicken feet and whelk soup was the last to arrive and unfortunately was the most disappointing item of the evening. They did not boil it long enough, so the soup was quite bland and they tried to make up for it by adding a lot of salt... not fooling anyone though...So it's true, sometimes no plan is a good plan and in this case Hee Kee was a surprisingly great find. The food was delicious despite the wait being somewhat ridiculous... but if you are prepared to wait maybe at least an hour for your dinner I would really recommend the crab and the beef~

Lucky people at IFC now have a new place for tea~ Le Salon de The Joel Robuchon have now opened a new establishment inside IFC shopping mall and it is fabulous~Located where the previous Jean Paul Hevin used to be (a few steps away from the Four Seasons hotel), its trademark outfit of black and eye-popping red certainly garners more attention than its predecessor. Like the Salon de The in Landmark it offers patrons both take away and dine-in options, but really if you have time, I would suggest dining in as the sitting area is not only stylish, but comfortable too~ Bright red cushy chairs paired with black and white marble table tops while the silver hanging feature dangles overhead... I can not think of a better way to pass a relaxing afternoon And that is what I did~ Starting with their almond croissant and their new creation pistachio and raspberry croissant The almond one is filled with almond paste where a scattering of toasted almond flakes topped the slightly chewy sweet crust and finished with a light dusting of icing sugar, while the pistachio and raspberry flavour is more balanced as the raspberry jam filling and freeze-dried raspberries pieces add a welcome tartness to offset the sweetness of the pistachio crust. What makes a great croissant depends on how many layers they consist of hence how flaky they become, and these were very flaky~ One bite sent numerous shards of pastry fluttering everywhere, messy, but I would not have it any other way.It did not end there... just as I finished, some friends arrived and I ended up joining them for more food~

More croissants~ Pain au chocolat and chocolate, banana croissant. After two croissants already, I let them have this all to themselves, but I did try a bite of the chocolate, banana one which is already a winning combination. Sweet, mushy goodness wrapped in the same flaky pastry... indulgence with fruit just makes it seem slightly more healthier For savouries, onion soup with emmental cheese gratin. Nothing beats piping hot onion soup where it is full of semi-melted onion slices, soaked baguette slices and a gooey topping of thick melted cheese~

I did not have any of the teppanyaki French pork cutlets, but they looked juicy and the side of buttery mashed potatoes never fails to impress.Jaffle or toastie lovers may like the version offered here, rather than a thick slice of bread a wafer thin coating is filled with assorted ingredients. The one we had was filled with roasted ham and melty cheese, just right if you are looking for a snack or light lunch.No afternoon tea time is complete without a tea set no? In Landmark the tea set is served on wooden boards, but at IFC a modern black and red three tiered structure is used instead. Definitely a big improvement~The petite sandwiches and pastries did not seem to vary much from the tea set that is currently served at Landmark, but I was informed there may be new variations coming later on. The scones however, were significantly bigger in size which improved the overall texture. Before, it felt like I was eating a 3D biscuit topped with cream and jam, but now there is an alternating texture of baked firm crust with more of a pillowy inside. Rather than the traditional offering of plain or raisin, Salon de The serve plain and alternate between lemon raisin or Earl Grey orange scones. The Earl Grey orange was in circulation that afternoon and it was a fragrant combination of citrus tones where all that was needed was a generous smear of clotted cream~ If you are more partial to the plain scone, pairing it with the accompanying pineapple jam made it quite interesting, almost as if you were eating a Taiwanese pineapple cake (fung li su).For drinks, rather than just settle for tea or coffee that is part of the tea set, we ordered the iced peach and passionfruit tea one of their signature drinks. Served in a tall glass, it is a lovely rose colour with pieces of diced mango, topped with a generous scoop of their homemade strawberry sorbet. Very fruity, the sorbet is a stand-out, velvet smooth with no hint of iciness at all. I would so recommend this for a hot summers day~Overindulgence? Yes I agree, but so worth it! I think I have found a new favourite place to tea~

Catalunya. One of the hottest restaurant names that is currently on everybody's lips. Not just because Spanish cuisine is taking Hong Kong by storm, but the kitchen at Catalunya is run by a team that has experience at some of the world's best Spanish restaurants with elBulli being one of them, so surely the hype is understandable no?

So popular at the moment, reservations seem to need to be made at least one month in advance unless you are willing to take a late booking say after 9pm or settle for tapas at the bar. However, when I called to make a reservation, upon asking when the earliest date they had available for two at 7.30pm they actually had availability just one week away providing we returned the table at 9.30pm.

Situated between Wanchai and Causewaybay, Catalunya really is in an awkward spot if you plan to take MTR or walk there, so if you do not drive I would suggest taxi as the way to go. The restaurant is quite dim with shades of burgundy and chocolate brown as the dominant colors in play. It is a big space, able to seat up to 140 guests, and not surprisingly it was packed with diners that evening making for quite a loud environment.

The menu concentrates more on tapas which is largely what Spanish cuisine is known for, but if you are looking for something more substantial they do have a selection of mains too pending whether you fancy meat or seafood.

So we started the evening with some tapas.

Feeling like potatoes, I picked the patatas bravas with 'all i oli' which is the Spanish equivalent of fried chunky potato wedges. Quite a big portion, the irregular cut potatoes were fried to a golden brown, but the supposedly 'spicy' Bravas sauce was not spicy at all.The ham, cheese and truffle 'bikini' is their little joke, where 'bikini' is in fact a toasted sandwich. This tapa has been quite popular from the reviews so it seemed like it was worth ordering. Four toastie soldiers arrived limp and lukewarm, with a thin layer of ham, truffles and slightly gooey cheese. Quite a filling tapa, the flavours were there, but it was not as 'wow' as others claim.Caterpillar like, the avocado and lobster roll was stuffed with marinated lobster meat draped with avocado slices and scattered with salmon roe. I was not particularly taken with the filling, a little tart with bits of celery, but the avocado was perfectly ripe while the salmon roe was fresh and popped pleasantly in the mouth.Rather than being served steak and shrimp for surf and turf, they serve it with sweetbreads and baby squid. Very savoury, the sweetbreads were slightly overcooked, making for a more solid than spongy texture. The calamari was lovely though, two snow white scrolls that were very tender. Compared to the others, this was probably the best tapa of the evening...For mains, we settled for lobster rice which is Catalunya's version of paella. Arriving in a black pot, it unveiled a generous portion of lobster atop a mound of rice. The lobster meat was super sweet and moist, but the rice was too al dente for my liking.We were finished by 8:30pm, deciding not to stay for dessert since the overall dinner was just... underwhelming. I think our expectations were set too high resonating from all the hype, but if you have not been, it may be worth experiencing at least once.

What better way to enjoy Sunday than having eggs benedict~ Bricklane has been on the radar for a while now and friends that have been always recommend this as the 'it' place for eggs benedict.

So Mr. C and I paid them a visit. It was around 4pm when we arrived, but just as we stepped in they told us that the kitchen had closed. Before we could be disappointed, they directed us to their other location which is diagonally across the street. Much bigger and definitely more comfortable, stepping into this other Bricklane made me feel as if I was back in one of the cafes in Sydney. Outfitted in bricks (so fitting lol) it had a laid-back, unpolished charm which just made it all the more appealing. They serve an all-day breakfast menu which is great for those people that like to sleep in and still want eggs when they wake up at ? o'clock in the afternoon or in the evening, and looking around at what other people were eating my assumption was pretty spot on. However if you do want something more substantial they serve other items as well, salads, pastas, cheeseburgers and fish and chips too.

Of course eggs benedict was on the agenda, the classic benedict offers a choice of either ham, bacon or smoked salmon as topping, but if you want something a little more special, Parma ham is also available. Seeing pancakes on the menu was a welcome surprise as they do not seem readily available in Hong Kong so the fact that Bricklane had them of course meant we had to order them. We also added a side of truffle fries as the table next to us were happily munching on theirs and they smelt divine~

There have been good comments regarding their coffees, but neither of us were in a coffee mood so instead Mr. C opted to try their rose tea latte. Delicately foamed with dried rose petals strewn on top, it really was a pretty beverage~... Unfortunately no matter how lovely it looked it could not hide the subpar taste. Way too sweet with barely a hint of rose scent we each took a sip and left it. Quite a shame really.The eggs benedict lived up to its fame though. Two softly poached eggs on a bed of ham and spinach leaves all atop a well toasted muffin half. Poking my knife into the eggs, runny yolk spilled out in a gush which delighted me to no end as that is how well-made poached eggs are supposed to be. The hollandaise sauce covering the eggs was a sunny yellow mixed to the right thickness and tasted buttery with a hint of tartness. Surprisingly good~Our truffle fries arrived in a cute metal bucket with a side of truffled mayo. Shoestring fries with a hint of skin on them were fried to a golden crunch. Super addictive especially with the creamy mayo, we polished off the whole bucket~We were both looking forward to the pancakes, but they did not appear as appealing as we thought they would... Three stodgy looking, pale coloured discs with four mini sides of honey, butter, whipped cream and a quartered strawberry. They tasted exactly how they looked, heavy with no fluffiness at all and the fact they came with whipped cream from a can and no maple syrup was really disappointing Bricklane really is a great brunch place or even for a casual get together. Will I return? Of course~ for eggs benedict and truffle fries or even trying their big breakfast, but pancakes? probably not.