Yogurtime (上環)

所謂的'相似', 一定是有了兩種東西, 互相比較而得出來的結論. 但舊的不一定比新的好, 所以相似其實主要是為了多點選擇, 要mutually exclusive, 食家們隨個人喜好自己選擇, 沒什麼比多選擇更好了吧?

對於Frozen Yogurt, 從來都覺得要跟軟雪糕不同的才像樣. 要是要找跟soft serve 相似, 要滑+重奶味的, 我還不是買軟雪糕吃吃過癮? Froyo要夠挺身, 不能剛付錢, 還未開始吃便溶掉一半去. 也不能太甜. 至於份量, 這倒是因店子自己的決定. Yogurtime由蘇豪開到灣仔及至上環, 今天來試試上環新店. 坐位依舊不多, 但門面企理. 服務員也是蘇豪店見過的那位女士.招呼不錯的.

要了大的原味EUROTART, 配兩款toppings -- 要了椰果與Mochi. 另外一個也是大的EUROTART, 配藍莓與HALWA. 先說EUROTART, 原味較其他店的原味較酸, 質感反而較冰,較似sherbet. Mochi 和椰果的韌度不同. 但前者比Yo Mama的較軟. 不是說軟的不好, 只是要mochi都是為了那QQ的質感吧...另一點要注意的是另一杯的HALWA -- 一種較甜的糖, 是用芝麻和蜜糖造的. 據店員所指,所有yogurtime分店的halwa都是老闆娘的母親親自炮製的. 吃下來真有點黏黏的, 一絲絲的像龍鬚糖. 此店另有Vanilla (較甜) 與Chocolate (不夠濃) 選擇, 還有一款每日會轉換的味道. 要來吃Froyo, 還是直接要原味較佳.

有比較才會有競爭, 才會有進步. 今夏的Froyo代替了去年的雪花冰與復興的珍珠奶茶. 下筆之時也開得比比皆是. 好吃的還是要找的...

上海坊拉麵小籠包 (銅鑼灣)

What draws your attention when you choose a restaurant? When you have no guidebooks, or no Internet access on your phone, or anything that tells you what to eat and where, no menu outside to show you, and no media coverage either? There is a certain instinct, I must say, that one often judge the restaurant by its cover. The idea of a place that looks the part it's meant to be -- a rundown establishment can still serve good food, and often times nice decor can make up for crappy food. But for someone who truly intends to eat and savour every morsel brought to the table, the decor shouldn't matter at the highest priority, should it?

This day I was driven by more than the idea of soup-filled dumpings. It was a brand new place, with celebratory flower bouquets lining up along the streets. The colourful array of flowers caught my eye, and the sight of the words 小籠包 got my attention, and the next thing I found myself drawn towards the new shop. The restaurant is composed of small booths of four, seating about 100 at a time. The attention grabbing detail didn't lie in the menu though, it's the air-conditioning. It's freezing cold in the shop even when you're served with hot tea that steams.

The menu has more than enough Shanghainese dishes that one can often find in cookbooks, but doesn't matter for anyone who has little knowledge about it, because the staff can take care of that for you. They can be quite knowledgable, and if you can't, you can check to see if there are pictures in the main menu, if it's the snack/ appetizers that you have trouble with, you can check the smaller menu, they have a tiny picture of each dish featured. The afternoon tea menu looks tempting enough -- an order of noodle soup plus a beverage of choice for $30 (plus 10% gratuity), and then there are time-of-day promotions as well. At the time of visit, it's a $10 an order of soup-filled buns. So we placed an order -- Hot and Sour Soup noodles ($30) and one order of soup-filled buns.($10) For beverage we had one iced soy milk, said to be house-made.

The hot and sour soup noodles arrived shortly, stunning us into silence. One would only guess an afternoon tea portion to be cut-down. Not a chance, in fact it was larger than ordinary serving. The appearance was textbook perfect-- evenly cut shreds of mushrooms, woodear mushrooms, dried tofu, and bamboo shoots (and ginger too) filled the thickened brown broth, revealing a glimpse of the beige noodles underneath. You could be bathed with a whiff of steam and greeted with the aroma of freshness when you pick up the bunch of noodles from its broth. The broth itself tasted fine, but there is a catch -- maybe because of the moisture-bearing noodles freshly transferred from the cooking liquid into the bowl, still very wet, the hot and sour soup turned quickly from thick to quite thin after one loosens the noodles in the bowl. The soup has minimal heat but the black vinegar has done its job contributing the sour part. The noodles were creamy and soft, but not at a point of mushiness. It makes a rich and filling treat, as the serving can be quite large.

The Soup-filled dumplings arrived nice and plump. A thin round of dough, filled quickly with jellie stock and pork mixture and pleated at the top, forming somewhat of a crown at the tip and steamed inside bamboo baskets in a group of four at a time. The filled dumplings, steamy hot when served, slumped slightly as you pick them up with chopsticks. Taking a bite unveils the pale pork filling and its flavorful juices. It needed no dipping into the vinegar, but I strongly recommended a silver of ginger though, adding the lightest of stimulation to the otherwise rich dumpling. One particular flaw of the dumpling though, lies at the pleated top. (only two dumplings' tops weren't cooked through, the other two were fine) As the picture here indicates, the dough could either be pinched hard enough to form that firm round of dough at the top, or it could be too thick to begin with. The white rings indicates that the dough has not be thoroughly cooked though, hence creating a starchy texture, but the dumpling itself is quite nice as a whole. The soy milk has a slightly thicker consistency and it's mildly sweet, although it leaves a slightly "starchy" texture to it, affecting its smoothness for the entire beverage, although the flavour itself is dense.

For a new lunch spot, this Shanghainese shop certainly offers more than noodles, and plenty of promotions intending to attract more diners at its opening. The promotions can be rather confusing to understand, but the staff are more than happy to explain them to you.

五樓廚房 (上環)

(continued from previous review)

In the beginning there were two separate table for appetizers. One on the left, and one along the bar. Then, halfway through the middle, the staff all gathered around, picked up the platters in perfect unison, and made room at the other table and crowd the platters in, until there was no room for the tongs. On one bare table where the appetizers once graced, now one could only see new sets of forks and tongs, and the whitest of white tablecloths.

As if a well choreographed dance, the staff came out of the kitchen, one by one with bowls of cookies, mounting at the top, with their cupped hands firmly at the bowl. At one point it looked like they're all walking down the aisle at a wedding, only with the bouquets replaced by cookies. The cookies were laid, and looking at them. They did not have the welcoming scream of "eat me" up from the top, but they didn't send me the resenting "pick something else" message either. Feeling concerned, I picked up the CHOCOLATE ALMOND THINS -- almost thin and fragile like a tuile. The dark chocolate also brings out the slightly burnt taste during the baking process. There's one spring-roll resembling cookie with coconut within, that one wasn't impressive either. The PISTACHIO BUTTER COOKIES, however, with jade-green pistachios bejeweling each pale golden square of cookies, snap by the bite with a buttery finish.

Next came the desserts -- instead of whole cakes cut into wedges (which, as we all know, at times of self-served modes, often ended up being trashed and violently dismembered into items after mass destruction) Not here, each dessert/ pastry was made into bite-sized/ small servings, where individuals can have more room for something else.

APPLE STRUDEL looked textbook, except at its miniature sized oval-shapes the filo pastry was soggy. The filling consisted of thinly sliced spiced apples (not too strong on nutmeg or cinnamon, but it's there lurking beneath). The raisins were plump and chopped walnuts were fine as they were in the strudel. LEMON ALMOND TART was adorned by lanky juliennes of candied lemon peel, with a deep golden lemon curd layer that could benefit with better tang than sugary custard. The almond layer beneath was delightful though, reminding one of a flourless cake. GREEN TEA AND RED BEAN CAKE wasn't quite as impressive. The red beans at the top were slightly too hard, but the mousse within was pillowy soft and not nearly as sweet. The green tea sponge was light on both texture and flavour, as the only thing remotely green was the colour when you consume it as one piece instead of deconstructing it into layers.

The Two NAPOLEONS -- were not of the standard textbook types. Here they were simplified into single piece of flaky pastry topped with pastry cream and fruit. The STRAWBERRY NAPOLEON was a little too tart on the berry, while the MANGO one was better, with just enough sweetness from the fruit. A Lookalike of SERRADURA was impressive on the looks but not quite on the taste, although one of us did finish the whole thing and almost licked her fingers as she went on.

Another lemon dessert was the LEMON CHEESECAKE, which turned out to taste more like Greek Yogurt than cheesecake, masking both the raw taste of dairy and the sharp tang from the citrus fruit. The MANGO PUDDING was presented in petite Chinese teacups, with all the mango one could have in one dessert -- a velvety soft mango pudding with mango coulis and mango chunks, all coherent in taste (not one sweeter than the other). The WALNUT Tart had the best brown edges on the pastry and the chockfull of crunchy nuts throughout. The nuts were toasty and rich to taste.

What amounted to a tart-shaped dessert the staff may have called a 'BUTTER TART' was one of the better pastries here. The tartlet, very brown on the outside and at the top, was rich and buttery inside and out, with reminiscence of brown sugar's caramel sweetness throughout. The JELLIES, however, were something to be dreaded upon. The Blueberry (dark) was nowhere near berry-enough to be called that, while the Cherry (light) did not bear the cough-syrup resemblance (good), only to be replaced by a weird reminder of hawthorne berries (bad).

It's not the most textbook perfect dessert selections out there. There were no pulled sugar clowns, or small installations of lost desserts revived back in vogue. This restaurant wasn't about that. Fusion has its drawbacks a lot of times, but a lot more it's to lose oneself into the realm where we relax and enjoy the food, and be chilled. There is no need for calculations, or dissecting everything into minimal details and trying to put everything back together.

And for one who likes brunching, I think I have finally found the pleasure of it, or beginning to see what's out there, possibilties I mean. I gathered the brunch here may not be the best in quality out there, especially for a 7 1/2 months wait. But isn't it great to try it once in a while, and go hang out with a group of friends who think similarly about food, and be cool with it?

That, perhaps is the best option there is. even beats the Brunch at the beach, with mimosas and hammock in the picture...

五樓廚房 (上環)

The phone started to ring on a normal hectic weekend afternoon...The familiar ringing was longer than usual. I had the image of a hostess in her little black dress leaning against her desk, receiver on one hand close to her ear while her pencil on the other hand quickly jots down reservations on an enormously large book thicker than a religious text. Not a chance, the person who picked up the phone had a coarse, almost impatient voice. I called to inquire about a reservation for a table for four. The manager cleared his throat, took a breath in, and replied.

"Let's see, our earliest guarantee-in reservation is in May 2011." I was stunned into silence, but quickly motioned myself to thank the man and hung up.

It's not exactly the former El Bulli, is it? Why does a diner have to wait 10 months to eat at a Sunday Brunch place with neither a panoramic view of the city nor an inner-city garden view? Was it the food? Or the service so nice it's worth the wait? This, is what the foodie is about to find out. Thanks to a group of equally hungry foodie buddies who made the reservations 7 months in advance, planning it all under wraps. Being 1 of 11 people heading towards the restaurant, I was equally thrilled and calm, hoping the best out of the 3-hour Sunday Brunch would be.

Here's the deal. For an adult the Sunday Brunch costs $268 plus gratuity, and that includes a glass of Sparkling wine/ juice, appetizers, a main course, desserts, and a coffee/tea to finish. The appetizers and desserts are served buffet style. Inside the small L-shaped Dining room, one would be greeted by an open bar, with the most magnificent bouquet of lilies on one side next to a long table of appetizers. On the other side of the room is another table where desserts are served. Tables are well spaced all over the room. With 11 tables (3 large enough to sit 12) We were suprised that there are vacant tables (were people tired of the wait?)

Speaking of "Fusion", a word used so often in the 90s but later considered rather derogatory because of its' redundant use. The appetizers are fusing Eastern and Western ingredients and flavours, and so are the main courses as well. The appetizers, served buffet style, features some good finds. The cold cuts are alright. The smoked salmon, cut into long strips are a little bit on the salty side when served plain. A wedge of lemon or consuming with that tiny sprig of garnishing dill would do wonders. Parmesan cheese are not in hunks, but in tiny rectangles, so easily consumed and never too much. The Prosciutto are best served with fresh figs, rather than in the other platter where they are served in thin ribbons alongside a mount of rocket leaves enough to fill a forest. The ham itself is satisfactory quality, and as one friend picked out melon from the fruit platter to eat with the prosciutto...I couldn't stop but wonder -- how smart is he? Seared tuna are served with an Eastern-inspired soy-sauce sesame oil dressing that's slightly over seasoned, although a little sesame sauce wouldn't hurt to go simple. The red-rectangles with its exterior slightly cooked revealing the perfect two-tone outlook. It's very catchy to the eye, and it's also very "Millenium Nicoise Salad" as well...(speaking of Fusion)

On the other side are three green salad with dressings to choose from. There are some crisp romaine lettuces for the Caesar, fresh blend of salad mesclun for green salad, and what may be another forest of rocket leaves with flakes of sundried tomatoes for an Italian twist. The composed salads are changing as we eat. Mixed Mushroom salad is the only one I did not try. BRUSSEL SPROUT SALAD are cooked to lose the bitterness, while hearts of iceberg lettuce is crisp and green, as the light and tangy dressing makes the salad one of the better salad should we count the use of brussel sprouts, considered one of the most disgusted vegetable other than cardoons and cauliflower to many. BEETS are slightly bland, but the MANGO salad is sunny sweet, with bits of chopped shallots mixed within. It almost tasted like a heat-less mango salsa, except fresher. For vegetable dishes the BRAISED EGGPLANTS retained its purpleness on the skin and was very moist and soft. The PUMPKIN dish comes smashed with a combination of savoury and natural sweetness as it always has been. The MUSSELS and CLAMS are cooked alright, although the latter bears better flavour and in terms of meatiness, the clams won as well. PRAWNS vary by quality. One of us had a perfectly crunchy prawn, but others may had some bad ones. The fusion continues with OX TONGUE and TRIPE. The ox tongue is slightly stringy but the sauce is very complex. The tripe, cooked in a similar sauce, was surprisingly tender and required minimal cutting (or chewing, for that matter).

We moved on to the daily soup -- Clear Chicken Consomme with Vegetables. While one may expect a somewhat a clear chicken soup with chunks of hearty vegetables afloat. This gave me a whole new level. The soup, despite its description, was slightly cloudy but the 'vegetables' looked a lot like frozen bits that have seen the inside of a bag inside a freezer longer than they've been in a field somewhere. The corn was not very sweet and the carrot made you believe that it has a will to let you think that it belongs back in the freezer more than being consumed. The chicken broth, with a darker flavour than normal chicken soup, is probably made by simmering chicken carcasses for a prolonged period of time. The broth itself was alright, but it certainly wouldn't be the same quality one could expect getting from someone when you're sick in bed. It's gotta be better than that.

The mains arrived after some more conversations. Most of us selected the GRILLED PRIME RIB-EYE STEAK WITH RED WINE ONION SAUCE and the GRILLED US KUROBUTA PORK CHOP WITH CUCUMBER SALAD AND GLASS NOODLES AND VIETNAMESE DRESSING. One of us selected the LAMB CHOPS (not tasted) and the other, the RISOTTO WITH SEARED FOIE GRAS IN FOIE GRAS SAUCE.

Grilled Steak (Beef) -- The grill marks were clear and criss crossing, which was great, but the meat itself was not ever close to being MEDIUM that everyone ordered. It was at least 60% when it arrived, and by the time everyone started eating it's no longer 60% anymore. The meat though, however trashy that may sound, was juicy in parts, the marbling may have helped, but didn't save the meat. The bed of pea tendrils below was sogged up by the sauce, which didn't taste half bad, except one would probably prefer caramelized onions to go with as well.

The Kurobuta Pork Chop -- The pork chop itself has a better texture (firm but not as hard as granite) than the one I had at Liberty Exchange, which was literally, "un-cuttable" The interior has the slightest hint of pinkness but the pork itself is juicy overall. The presentation went achitectural but the cucumber and glass noodle salad didn't exactly come as described. The glass noodles were supposed to be made with MUNG BEANS, but here they were more like...spaghetti. It didn't bear that crunchy texture of glass noodles, but the Vietnamese dressing was a combination of fish sauce and lime juice and a little bit of sugar to lift up the palate for another bite of porkchop.

Risotto -- disappointing the worst on the table. It didn't look the part -- the rice itself was a little too dry when presented and it was too gooey inside. (maybe that's fusion cooking) The "Foie gras sauce" didn't taste like the liver itself, and even with the Foie Gras itself, the slice of liver was quite thick, but not crispily charred on either side, let alone counting on the inside being meltingly creamy, because it's not. It tasted more like Foie Gras made to taste and resemble chicken liver, or the chicken liver to be served like the Foie Gras. Either way, it's not nearly as good as it presented itself.

The mains went, and by the all the staff has laid out the fabulousness of desserts for the diners to indulge in... All I can say though, the CREME BRULEE is good enough for eveyone to drop their cutlery midway through appetizers to dig in a mini cupful before go back to their food. The dessert, with its rich slightly sweeter custard with the thinnest of bruleed caramel top that cracked even when it's room temperature. The 'pop' sound was heard, revealing a velvety yellow custard within with specks of vanilla seeds throughout. Another crowd-pleaser, the Chocolate Fondant, was disappointing. Its slightly flat mini-serving is still warm when plated but the mixture was simply too thick that when it's dug in, it firmed up into a melted chocolate truffle...and it tasted strongly, more like pungently, with orange!!

The onslaught of sweets are more than ferocious, and it's only fair to draw a close for now. As there are way more to talk about in the dessert selections.

(to be continued)

CoCo Espresso (上環)

I lack the knowledge and detailed description of coffees, and how they spread out on the palates. It's something I've been meaning to learn but have yet to get the time to accomplish, alongside learning Italian, getting a music collection, and learning how to surf. Taking the initiative into something new is truly something quite courageous to begin with -- venturing into a new territory that's been around but haven't been explored to a persona level.

Affogato is an Italian dessert where hot just-brewed espresso is poured into gelato, melting it slightly but one could still experience that sweet chill from the gelato, accompanied by the dark intensity of espresso. The half-molten dessert should be easy to make, but like anything that's simple, as long as you have good vanilla ice cream and a good espresso with you it's hard to go wrong. This day, walking past Coco Espresso in Sheung Wan, I spotted the Affogato, not a new item, but a solution to a craving of ice cream and coffee for the day. I have visited Coco Espresso at times when it's not as busy and packed, just because the seating doesn't allow anyone of a certain height to sit comfortably long enough to enjoy the coffee.

Squeezing into one of the stools at the coffee shop, I ordered my Affogato. It soon arrived -- a perfectly scooped globe of vanilla ice cream, beige and smooth. accompanied by a tiny puddle of espresso, freshly made and topped with the sandy brown thickness of crema. A fruity aroma arose, reminding one of roasted chestnut and buckwheat honey. The sweet smell of caramel in the coffee itself should go right with the vanilla ice cream indeed.

Slowly pouring the coffee onto the icecream and watching the ice cream slowly melting, thickening the now molten liquid within the cup. The fusion of coffee and vanilla and milk is so inviting to chill in a summery afternoon, when the sun shone partly into the shop. Using a small spoon and scooping up the combined dessert -- soft pillowy icecream dripping with coffee. It tasted simple but good. There was no sour notes in the aftertaste, except for a strangely familiar taste on the palate left from the store-bought icecream. How wonderful would it have been should the icecream were really a light fluffy vanilla gelato?

It was before the time when coffee shops like Holly Brown and 18 Grams opened their doors. Scooping up the last bit of ice cream and coffee, one must wonder how foodies make up their minds to try new things, or old favorites not sampled before. They explore the streets and alleys in search of hidden finds, demonstrating the love and passion with an unblinking eye, recording their experiences for the world to see. There is no simpler way to say it but sometimes, taking a chance on something we love is just as it is like an affogato -- simple yet scrumptiously satisfying.

It doesn't always end up perfect, but the high of taking that initiative to get out and find the new and share with others...is truly amazing, and something to keeps me going day after day.

Correction: thanks to 辣子's reminder, the price listed below is amended. Thx...