La Saison by Jacques Barnachon (尖沙咀)

Environment: 8/10

 

The not-very-serious fine-dinning setting created a carefree atmosphere even for solo dining. Bright, cozy and causal environment in daytime. Good table privacy.

Food: 8.5/10

 

 

 
Brief summary:
Crispy and hot bread with 2-flavoured melty butter / Fresh duck breast salad with mandarin to wake up the taste buds, not as salty as those pre-smoked / Finely chopped and seasoned beef tartare with potato mashes in potato skin. Generous size to stuff your stomach up / Smooth and creamy creme brulee covered with a contrasting caramel topping with genuine vanilla seeds, a good finish to pair with the freshly-brewed coffee.

Every dishes were beautifully presented and were brought to its utmost original taste. Love it.

Services: 8/10
Being greeted with smiling faces for the whole dining experience.

$198 3-course lunch set for Restaurant Week (Additional $50 for beef tartare)

Original 3-course lunch set $388

一口京味 (土瓜灣)

某個星期四晚獨個兒在土瓜灣找吃的, 只求簡單解決一餐, 於是進了這間專吃涮羊肉的店子。
一個女仔當然不會點火鍋, 點了一碟涼拌雞絲粉皮及一碟8隻的餃子。

服務 (8/10)
店員服務友善, 我問餃子可否雙拼 (白菜及韮菜), 爽快的一句「啊, 雙拼, 當然可以!」便給我下了單。

食物 (6.5/10)
涼拌雞絲粉皮 ($38)
粉皮很滑, 彈牙卻不會太煙韌, 麻醬調得不濃不稠, GOOD  韮菜豬肉餃子/白菜豬肉餃子 ($30/8隻)
一咬下去便失望。餃皮糊口, 餡料很鹹......白菜豬肉餃子感覺會清淡點, 反而鹹得要喝水 環境 (8/10)
乾淨舒服, 一個人吃也不覺得拘束
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下次還是試試招牌的涮羊肉吧

alfafa (紅磡)

This restaurant has been newly opened in Whampoa in September. We passed by and were attracted by its refreshing exterior and the slogan "Fresh. Tasty. Hearty". Therefore 4 of us decided to have lunch there in a Friday afternoon.

Environment (8.5/10)It was full-house and we were offered seats after 10 mins. The restaurant is furnished as a cozy and light-hearted Italian restaurant with some very comfortable fabric chairs. The open kitchen and spacious reception area made you feel like you are on holiday. I give a high score on the environment for having creating a "alfresco-like" dining space for a relaxing afternoon or tea time.
 

Food (4.5/10)
Sorry I don't give it a pass regarding the food quality ...I'll explain in details below.The food variety of set lunch menu is wide, ranging from $62-82. We four ladies decided to share the main dishes together - 1 salad, 1 pizza, 1 rice and 1 pasta.Starter: Soup of the Day or Salad (served with bread)
The mushroom soup was nice. Not a creamy type but more a finely-chopped mushroom broth (make you feel like detoxing  ). But for the italian salad, it looked very raw without being dressed . We needed to order extra balsamic dressing to make it like a starter.

Main courses:Nicoise Salad with Atlantic Fish Fillet
尼斯沙律伴大西洋魚柳

Disappointed. Feeled like just adding extra boiled egg, spring onion and 2 pieces of thin fish fillets on top of the previous starter... The fish fillets tasted bland without any freshness and flavours ("healthy" should not be defined like this!)...  And this portion was so small that it could only fill a lady who is on diet. Chicken and Mushroom with Red Mixed Rice in Mushroom sauce
雞肉鮮蘑菇有機亞麻李燴紅米飯
Delicious!  This was the only decent and delicious dishes among the 4 main courses! We all thought that the mushroom sauce added colors to the flavour of the dish. I guess it was a mix of red rice with japanese rice. Please correct me if I am wrong.Hawaiian Thin Crust Pizza
夏威夷薄餅
Disappointed again. Yes the pizza was really very thin, but... the texture was similar to tortilla which is soft and chewy! When I put it in my hand it was about to collapse. Only the edge is a bit crispy. And... where was the mozzarella cheese (not to mention chedder and parmesan cheese) ?? Was I eating a pizza?Grilled US Porkloin with Angel Hair
烤美國有骨豬柳天使麵
Awful . We were like chewing a rubber when eating the porkloin...very hard and dry... and again, tasted bland! The angel hair was also tasteless and dry.Drinks were included in the set. Coffee was not bad. It was appreciated that the milk was frothed and heated for regular coffee (Latte/Mocha+$8)

Services (8/10)
 The service rating has saved the overall rating. Staff were very helpful, sincere and responsive to our requests (warm water, extra dressing, toothpicks...). Otherwise I would leave a "crying badge" in this review.

Conclusion
Fresh . Tasty. Hearty
"Tasty" is absolutely missing in this dining experience. I am looking forward to a big improvement in the quality of food. 

Kid-friendly - Meal for kids and baby chairs are available in this restaurant.

意蠔屋 (紅磡)

第二次光顧
星期一午飯時間1:30pm一個人光顧, 搭枱不用等位。由於lunch menu超抵食, 平日繁忙時間如多過2個人來, 即使店外會開2大餐枱, 也要等等等等等等很久。 今次點了煙鴨胸菠菜辣茄汁意粉 (2餸餐)
即叫即煮, 約等了5-8分鐘。
甫端上桌, 賣相不甚討人歡心, 但新鮮熱辣辣, 辣茄汁香氣撲鼻。意粉外型粗脹, 感覺腍身, 入口卻是al dente, 讚
醬汁的味道調教得很好, 看得見有誠意的茄茸和茄油, 不是一般現成茄汁。
餸菜份量剛好, 而煙鴨胸不會很咸。 要彈的是, 太多太多醬汁了。起初吃每條意粉都沾上醬汁感覺還不錯, 但吃到底時簡直像個「油塘」...油浸意粉
 
不過總結$38有肉有菜, 意粉彈牙又連飲品, 實在超值。環境賣相不應再要求什麼了。

桌子SIZE很小, 繁忙時間一個人搭枱有點尷尬, 最好2個人來啦

Zuma Hong Kong (中環)

Weekend Brunch 12-3pm $590/person

I firstly tried brunch at Zuma in 2009... 4 years ago! It was quite a fascinating dining experience and my friend and I would like to revisit it again.

*** Warning: If you are looking for a wide variety of food as a buffet, you might be disappointed. 90% is Japanese and 10% is fusion/western. The focus is... wine! So don't expect much on the main courses and food is just served as a pairing purpose.
 
---------- Environment (8/10) ---------- Honestly, when we arrived at Zuma at 1:15pm, I murmured, "What a stuffy restaurant!" I worried that the poor air-conditioning might be unfavourable to the sashimi on the self-help counter... luckily when we sat down for a while, the air-conditioning came back! Guess it might be too crowded once at the beginning... hope Zuma would improve this.
 
The target customer is definitely westerners, and most of them came in groups. So the atmoshere was very causal, hilarious and relaxing. Sometimes the food counter was a bit crowded but all people got their food in good order. Thanks to the high ceiling that the restaurant was not noisy though a bit busy.
 
---------- Food & Drinks (9/10) ----------Wine list (free-flowing):
- Billecart-Salmon, NV Brut Reserve
- Dusky Sounds Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (not in the photo)
- Waipara Hills Marlborough Pinot Noir 2012
- 獺祭純米大吟釀50

I ordered all except the white wine. All are excellent and good for pairing with most japanese dishes. You know what, the champagne is selling at $590/bottle at Watxxx's Cellar...exactly the same price of this brunch! What do you expect??   
  Fresh oysters
Not a refreshing/mineral type but rather sweet, not sure if they were from Japan. Match well with the sake which was quite rich and sweet too!
  Various Sashimi & Sushi 
Mainly salmon, amberjack, sweet shrimps were provided. Fresh! The wasabi was freshly ground and you could see its rough texture.
Sushi rolls were made typically delicate and bite-sized too. Sake time again !
  Other starters
Not much to choose from starters but all were exquisite. Salad, skewered chicken wings and mushroom, deep-friend potato ball and chicken. Sauces were tailor-made to up the flavour. Don't miss the calm soup which was unexpectedly creamy and sweet too. Main course 1: Salt grilled yellowtail collar
I was afraid that this grilled fish might be dry but I was wrong. It was still juicy when I had a bite of it... Good pairing with champagne, yummy yummy.
 
 Main course 2: Lamb chops in red miso sauce
The lamb didn't look appealing when being served. It looked overcooked but I was wrong again... perfectly medium! It matched so well with the red miso sauce. I can't imagine that such fushion style could be a good companion of red wine and sake !
  Dessert Platter
This platter absolutely added lots of eye candy to the dining experience . Just the same as what I had 4 years ago: ice-creams on the rock, mini-desserts and assorted fruits. 3 scoops of flavours include chocolate, strawberry and sesame, guess it's different for every time. The milk pudding with mango was very smooth!
 
 
---------- Services (7.5/10)----------
Staff were highly effective and attentive to refill our wine quickly ---> It's very important! 
A friendly staff asked me what I was looking for when I stood in front of the skewing counter (which was empty). She locates where I sat and got me two chicken wings when the food was done.
It would be great if they could put a smile on their face.

As I know the brunch on Sunday splits up into 2 sessions, 11-1:30pm & 1:30-4pm
Recommend you to go on weekend for a 3-hour one time enjoyment (12-3pm)