Allez Coffee (石硤尾)

Near the JCCAC Creative Arts Center is this coffee shop called Allez Coffee. It  took over the previous coffee shop, Toolss and kept the same design and layout.
However, instead of  retro tools like the previous one, this one had retro items like tv sets and records.

Menu is in English and  Chinese except for the list of bagels. That is in Chinese only. There is no 10% service charge.I got a Latte ($40). A decent bit of latte art. It was alright. Not too strong and went down well. A decent milk to espresso ratio.I was interested in their bagels and got one. This is the Jasmine Yuzu Cream Cheese Bagel ($45). They do warm it up for you so it was nice ant toasty on the outside and chewy soft on the inside. Lots of cream cheese was in the center that had a strong taste of yuzu. Didn't taste much jasmine but a decent bagel none the less.

Really good bagels. The service is a bit scattered. If you want to order, do just walk behind the counter and get their attention, otherwise the staff spend all their time chatting including the owner.  Food also takes a long time to be served.

Homebake (九龍城)

The new Airside mall has a lot of new eateries and one place was Homebake. Selling  an assortment of bread and cakes, this is what caught my eye. So to speak. A Monster Eye Pumpkin Basque Burnt Cheesecake ($48). As it was neaering Halloween, I bought one.



They packaged it in a nice sturdy plastic box and survived the trip home.




At first I thought the eye was chocolate but after pushing on it, it was soft and jelly like! It really felt like an eye! PRETTY COOL! The cheesecake was very creamy and rich. It was topped with mashed pumpkin and a slice of pumpkin was also used as decoration. It was extremely rich. Not too sweet and a large size. I was so full after eating this.

유명진의 육미정담 肉味情談 (九龍城)

There is a new mall in town and like many we were curious to go check it out. Waiting until the busy crowds died down, boyfriend and I and a couple of our friends headed to Airside to see what was new. And  this place was new. 유명진의 육미정담 肉味情談 is a new Korean BBQ restaurant that is originally from Busan.  Known for their pork, we wanted to give them a try. And it appeared there were many people interested as well as there was a good crowd waiting for it to open for dinner service.The inside was spacious with tables in secluded areas to give a bit more privacy.Menu is in English, Korean and Chinese. They have dinner sets and also a la carte. We decided to order a la carte because we wanted more meat.They also start you off with various starters: pumpkin salad, soysauce marinaded cabbage, pickled daikon.Kimchi, spicy pickled daikon, bean sprouts and spinach salad was also available. They also provide unlimited cheese egg and kimchi egg poured on the side of the grill.A large drink list is provided and we got ourselves fruit sodas ($42 each). Sweet sticky syrup was on the bottom of  sweet soda water.The Flower Pork Belly ($268) was nicely presented in  circle to look like a flower. Very thinly sliced and had a strong pork taste. We grilled it to super  crispy like bacon.The Masterpiece Snowflake Pork Belly ($258) is the meat photo they have at the front of the restaurant of the Korean man ripping apart meat from his hands. We had to get that! And what you get is a huge chunk of meat. The fat is scored so when you slap it on the grill, it won't curl up. Thick and extremely juicy. Combined with all the fat content, it was literally melt in your mouth.We also tried a beef item. Rib Cover Meat ($360) where the meat was removed from the bone into thick cubes. This was marinated in a savory Korean BBQ sauce. Wasn't chewy even when we over grilled it.We finished off with a Stone Bimbimbap ($98). The toppings were fresh. The rice clung to the gochujang very well. I liked the raw egg yolk addition so it gave the rice more sauce.

Perhaps it was new, but there is a long wait for a table even on a weekday. I can't imagine what it would be like on a weekend. Quality of the meat was very good and the place was clean with good ventilation. They do help you grill the meat as well.

德克士 (灣仔)

Dicos is a huge fast food fried chicken chain from Mainland China and now has entered the Hong Kong market. It's their answer to KFC. When it first opened, I read a lot of negative reviews. The staff only spoke Putonghua, the menus were all in Simplified Chinese and the food? It was terrible.

But I was still curious.

A branch opened in Wanchai, an area closer to where I live. It was a 2 minute walk away from Jollibee and McDonald's.  The price on the window announced that after tea time, they offered sets starting at $10. Why not give it a try? See how bad it really is?

Inside it was very clean with cute hip signage all in English.

The menu at the counter is in Chinese (I can't tell you if it's in Simplified or Traditional Chinese because I can't read Chinese) with English (in tinier print). You can order at the cashier or you can use one touch screen ordering system that is in both English and Chinese. The system is a bit slow so don't poke it so fast but it got me what I needed without speaking because I feared they would speak Puttonghua which I cannót understand. They had the really super cheap tea sets along with regular sets which were also very inexpensive. All under $50. They served fried chicken in both spicy and non spicy along with fried chicken burgers and curry rice.

I came here for the super cheap tea set of two fried chicken tenderloins burger for $19. This came with a regular soft drink. This was decent. Then bun was sweet and fluffy and reminded me of the bun they used in Freshness Burger. It didn't fall apart. There was plenty of mayo. The lettuce was not fresh and crisp.  The chicken (though a small hint of spicy but not too much) was juicy and the coating was very crunchy. This was better than the fried chicken burger in all the other competing fried chicken places and for a far cheaper price.


Boyfriend was wary and said he wasn't going to try but then he ordered more food than me?! He ordered the fried chicken set for $21. Then he added fried chicken fries for $10 because he was curious. The fried chicken was very god. Juicy and the coating was very crispy. The chicken fries on the other hand were disgusting. Soggy and just tasted like mush. The moral of this story? Only order the fried chicken and stay away from the strange things they self-created.

Price is cheap and the staff speak Cantonese. I guess they changed their marketing tactic since they first arrived. Price is cheap enough for a repeat.

舅父仔火鍋專門店 (深水埗)

The weather is finally getting cooler! That is when I start craving hotpot. Looking up what's new, we found a place called  舅父仔火鍋專門店 (English name: Uncle Boy Hot Pot). Located in Sham Shui Po, closer to the Prince Edward area, this place was quite easy to find.Inside it was spacious. They had plenty of tables for smaller groups. A rarity as many now focus on large gatherings but that is sometimes quite difficult. Seating was spacious and clean.Menu is in Chinese only. They have plenty of choices.They also have two people and four people sets.As it was just the two of us, we chose the two people set ($468). This includes two soft drinks, a choice of four soup bases, one choice of snack, one choice of meat, two choices of dumplings, 4 balls of two flavours and seasonal vegetable. Upgrades are possible. 

Boyfriend added a Fresh Coconut ($48). This was really sweet and lots of coconut meat to dig into.The set could upgrade the soft drinks to Sugar Cane Water ($15) which is what we did. Very homestyle with the carrots and bamboo making it sweet yet refreshing. A tray to create your sauce was brought forth. The basics were provided and it was hygenic and items seemed fresh. Boyfriend tried their homemade XO sauce and he said it was very good. Fragrant and a good kick of spice.The two people set included a choice of three appetizers. We chose the Thai Style Shrimp Cakes and there were four of them. Served with a Thai sweet chilli sauce for dipping that wasn't too spicy. The cakes were very crispy and hot as they were fresh from the fryer. The coating wasn't very thick and meat was packed with shrimp.A nice firm texture, I got chunks of shrimp mixed with the minced version.The set included one of four choices of soup but you can choose another one from the a la carte for a minimal charge. From the set choices we chose Satay Soup and the a la carte we chose Tomato Potato Angus Beef Cubes Soup. The soup was very savory and we did like the tomato potato Angus beef one more as it was more rich and flavourful.
The set includes four choices of dumplings and we chose  Shrimp Wontons and Chive Dumplings (two of each). I loved the shrimp wontons a lot as the shrimp was plump and large in size and very fresh. The chives had a nice mix of mince pork and the chives were soft and fragrant.The set includes two of each Shrimp Balls and Cuttlefish Balls. The balls were a good size and very fresh. Loads of flavour.Tung Ho was the seasonal vegetable provided which is the perfect vegetable for hotpot. Leaves were fresh and well cleaned.There are three choices for meat and we had the Angus Beef Short Ribs. Excellent quality and good marblization. The meat was so soft, you almost didn't need to chew. 

We wanted more food and we ordered a few items from the a la carte menu.

This is the Fried Bean Curd Rolls ($42). Very crunchy and not too oily in texture.Hiroshima Oyster ($138) was a decent portion. Fresh tasting and still was juicy even though we boiled it for a long long time.Honeycomb Tofu ($48) is my must order when doing hotpot. A generous portion, the tofu soaked up the soup very well.Black Beef Tripe ($98) was something we don't often see. Usually most places offer the white variety. The black one was more fresh and you don't need to cook it for very long otherwise it gets hard and rubbery. But after getting the hang of it, it was very soft and smooth.Spanish Pork Slices ($108) was excellent  quality with  good fat to meat ratio with a strong pork taste.Grass Carp Slices ($98) were large slices and did include some of the bone to hold it together so it didn't fall apart. Fresh and crisp in texture.

The place is clean and seating is comfortable and spacious. Food was good quality and the staff is very friendly. Felt more like eating at a friend's home. The sets are reasonably priced and good for a start though for those with larger appetites, you may need to order a bit more.