*** Rainbow - 天虹海鮮酒家

1A-1B & 23-25 First Street
Sok Kwu Wan
Lamma Island, HK
南丫島索罟灣第一街23-25號
Ph: 29828100
10am-11pm daily

excellent
豉椒炒蟶子
椒鹽瀨尿蝦

good
蒜蓉蒸象拔蚌

average
蝦醬通菜

poor
-

price: 150pp

value for money: 3 $$$

豉椒炒蟶子

椒鹽瀨尿蝦

蒜蓉蒸象拔蚌

蝦醬通菜

comments
super-fresh seafood. the 瀨尿蝦 was fantastic, very meaty and 鮮甜! flavour of the 象拔蚌 was great (the vermicelli was yummm!), but unfortunately the 象拔蚌 itself was overcooked so very tough. their famous dish is the 椒鹽鮮魷 (salt & pepper squid) which we have heard is very good. will try next time!

**** Si Sun Fast Food - 時新快餐店

G/F, 1A Whampoa Street
Hung Hom
Kowloon, HK
(facing Hung Hom South Road)
紅磡黃埔街1A地下
Ph: 23621279
6am-9pm daily

excellent
double cheeseburger with fried egg
cheese burger

good
hot chips

average
-

poor
-

price: less than 30pp (incl. chips & drink)

value for money: 5 $$$

double cheeseburger with fried egg

cheeseburger

hot chips

comments
really delicious. apparently the first hamburger joint in hong kong. you'll need to wait a long time during peak hours (we waited 45mins, and overheard that some customers had to wait 1.5 hours). would recommend having a 雞脾 while you wait. beef patty is soft, juicy and has tasty well-cooked onions in it (i.e. not raw/undercooked onions which you always find at fast food joints). DELICIOUS! bonus marks for having crinkle cut chips. and top marks for value - only $11 for a cheeseburger!

***** Sue Korean Restaurant

G/F, On Luen Building
17 Kimberley Street
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon, HK
尖沙咀金巴利街7號安聯大廈地下
Ph: 23110133
12noon-11pm daily

excellent
炆牛肋骨 (beef pot: marinated ribs with carrot, turnip, mushrooms & 年糕)
韓式燒牛仔骨

good
炸醬麵
海鮮煎蔥餅 (seafood & scallion pancake)

average
-

poor
-

price: 150-200pp (incl. drink)

value for money: 3 1/2 $$$

海鮮煎蔥餅

炆牛肋骨 (4pcs)

炆牛肋骨

comments

recommended by juz. nothing to say really. have the beef pot. and you will be back again and again and again. there's nothing quite like it. oh, and service is pretty terrible, but the beef pot more than compensates for that. one of b's favourite restaurants in hk!

*** Pho' 26 - 越旺

Shop 3, 2 Landale Street
Wanchai, Hong Kong
灣仔蘭杜街2號3號舖
Ph: 26283939

excellent
蕃茄雪花和牛湯河 (tomato & wagyu beef pho)

good
雪花和牛湯河 (standard wagyu beef pho)

average
椰青

poor
-

price: 50pp (52 for 蕃茄雪花和牛湯河)

value for money: 3 $$$

椰青

蕃茄雪花和牛湯河

雪花和牛湯河

comments
the famous 蕃茄雪花和牛湯河 is really good!! tomatoes aren't quite as sour as 勝香園 and not as sweet as the place yuen long. mmm. very good!!

** Pierre

25/F, Mandarin Oriental Hotel
5 Connaught Road Central
Central, HK
中環干諾道中5號香港文華東方酒店25樓
Ph: 28254001
Lunch Mon-Fri 12pm-2:30pm; Dinner Mon-Sat 7pm-10:30pm

excellent
complimentary truffle foam with hazlenuts accompanied by fine-cut Parmesan (?) biscuit

good
63° eggs, black risotto made as a foam, green asparagus, Bellotta, Parmesan
pan-fried fois gras, cherry, lin chi mushrooms and celery

average
complimentary bread & something (see below)
filet of cod, sweet & sour butternut velouté, pochas beans & squid ink gnocchi
grilled Chilean sea bass Nantua, yabbies with flat parsley and green cabbage
slices of veal, polenta & summer truffle
grilled US prime rib eye

poor
-

price: 2 course "express" lunch 360pp, additional course 80

value for money: 2 $$$

complimentary bread

complimentary truffle foam with hazlenuts accompanied by fine-cut Parmesan (?) biscuit

complimentary something (?)

63° eggs, black risotto made as a foam, green asparagus, Bellotta, Parmesan

pan-fried fois gras, cherry, lin chi mushrooms and celery

filet of cod, sweet & sour butternut velouté, pochas beans & squid ink gnocchi

grilled US prime rib eye

slices of veal, polenta & summer truffle

grilled Chilean sea bass Nantua, yabbies with flat parsley and green cabbage

comments
underwhelming. possibly because caprice was so good. best dish was the complimentary truffle foam which was really tasty and a good start to the meal. the famous 63° eggs were OK, borderline average but can be given a "good" as it's quite novel. fois gras delicious - but really, that's the least that a michelin 1 star french restaurant can do. (b's tip: take out the celery from the fois gras dish!) mains were disappointing. everthing tasted nice, but it was all quite ordinary. go to caprice!

*** Morton's of Chicago

4/F, Sheraton Hotel
20 Nathan Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon, HK
尖沙咀彌敦道20號香港喜來登酒店4樓
Ph: 27322343
Mondays-Saturdays 5:30pm-11pm; Sundays 5pm-10pm

excellent
sauteed button mushrooms
USDA rib eye

good
onion bread
"slightly smaller" sirloin
hash brown for two
apple martini

average
-

poor
-

price: 800-900pp (steak + side + 1 alcoholic beverage)

value for money: 2 1/2 $$$

onion bread

sauteed button mushrooms

hash brown for two

"slightly smaller" sirloin

USDA rib eye

comments
really good steaks here! very meaty so not really for lovers of the wagyu variety. massive portions. b could barely finish half of the "slightly smaller" (12oz) steak. the sauteed mushrooms were super juicy and delicious. mmm. hash brown also quite special - and they had sour cream & bacon bits which is a bonus in hk. onion bread also nice. it was warm and soft inside and not too onion-y. pricey but worth the visit for steak lovers. steaks are better than ruth chris. sides are good, on par or almost as good as lawry's.

*** Ippei-An Ramen & Bar - 麵屋一平安

Shop 1030, 1/F
Elements
1 Austin Road West
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon, HK
尖沙咀柯士甸道西1號圓方1樓1030號舖
Ph: 21968208
12noon-11pm (closed 4:30pm-6pm on Mon-Fri)

excellent
higomonzu ramen (什錦豬骨湯拉麵)

good
curry ramen (咖哩拉麵)

average
-

poor
-

price: standard size ramen varies from 52 to 77 per bowl

value for money: 3 1/2 $$$

什錦豬骨湯拉麵

什錦豬骨湯拉麵 close up

咖哩拉麵

comments
very good! we think this place is better than the famous Domon (札幌拉麵) ramen place in TST. ramen of the proper consistency (japanese al dente). soup nice and tasty. good portions. r very impressed with his higomonzu ramen. curry ramen not bad, but perhaps not a must-try. will return to assess whether it's worth 4 stars.

b's kitchen - angel cake

b's first cooking class was at jam bakery at tin hau. b's never been much of a cake-maker, so fortunately angel cakes aren't too difficult to make. plus there were professionals on hand to help out...

the cake

1. using an electric mixer, beat 1 x whole egg and 1 x egg white until creamy. this is the "yolk mix"
2. separately beat 2 x egg whites with 50g sugar until just creamy. don't over beat. this is the "egg white mix"
3. mix in a bit of the egg white mix with the yolk mix
4. sift about 15g plain flour into the mixture. lightly mix. repeat another 2 times.
5. lightly fold in remainder of egg white mix. add 10 vegetable oil and 10g water. make sure you fold in the base as the water and oil will settle there.
6. pour mixture into mould.
7. bake in oven at 180 degrees for 25 minutes. when you see that it has risen, turn cake around in oven so it is baked evenly.

the cream

1. beat 250g 談 cream with 18g sugar until about 80% done
2. refrigerate
3. mix in 2-5g gelatine powder (or 1 gelatine strip already melted)

fresh out of the oven

remove layer at top, bottom and sides of the cake. eat - the top's delicious!
then slice cake in half.

cream it

decorate it.

admire it.

cut it.

eat it.
best served with honeycomb

we were also taught to make honeycomb. it's not really that difficult (sugar, honey, glucose, water & baking soda is all you need), but it can be quite dangerous. rather than risk burning your face and kitchen, b suggests that you just buy fresh honeycomb from your local bee farm.

*** The Big Bite

Shop U12, Fitfort

560 King's Road
North Point, HK

北角英皇道560號健威坊U12號
Ph: 21551066
11am-11pm

excellent
-

good
poutine chips
juicy mushroom burger + cheese
crispy bacon cheeseburger

average
-

poor
onion rings

price: less than 100pp for burger, side & drink

value for money: 3$$$

poutine chips

poutine chips

onion rings

juicy mushroom burger + cheese

crispy bacon cheeseburger

comments
not bad. the patties are very good here, quite juicy, perhaps almost as good as shake 'em buns. poutine chips are a must try. lots of gravy. only criticism is that it could be a bit cheesier. mushrooms in juicy mushroom burger are very juicy. mmm. unfortunately onion rings, although they looked good, were not nice at all. batter wasn't really too thick, but you couldn't taste the onion for some reason. no "wow" overall but not bad not bad. worth a visit if you're in the area.

**** Favorite THAI - 泰式生香

Shop J, G/F, Kimberley Mansion
15 Austin Avenue
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon, HK
尖沙咀柯士甸路15號金巴利大廈地下J舖
Ph: 23674388
Until 3am daily

excellent
泰式生蝦刺身
咖哩蟹 + 公仔麵
醬爆芝士蝦丸
燒豬頸肉
蒜蓉包

good
pad thai
椰青

average
臘腸炒西蘭花
咸豬肉炒芥蘭
雞腎

poor
-

price: 120pp (incl. drinks). no service charge.

value for money: 4 $$$

椰青

泰式生蝦刺身

醬爆芝士蝦丸

燒豬頸肉

pad thai

咖哩蟹+ 公仔麵

comments
what a surprise. we had always suspected that this place must be quite decent as it's often packed. r said that the 椰青 was very good, the coconut flesh sweet and fresh. 泰式生蝦刺身 was really hot. really really really hot. if we had chilli icons here, we'd give it 5. but it was really good, the shrimp extremely fresh. mmm. 醬爆芝士蝦丸 also very nice. the cheese really does 爆出來, so be careful. contents very hot. proper shrimps are used to make this, not just bits of left-over shrimp. excellent! 豬頸肉 also fantastic. mmm. pad thai very good for hk standards, but still quite some way off from the ones you find in sydney which are loaded with tofu, 牙菜 etc. the noodle here is quite nice, not too oily. general flavour of pad thai quite good - slightly sweet. we will be back to try the chilli mud crab with extra 公仔麵!

edit we came back for the 咖哩蟹 with 公仔麵. it was extremely good. definitely a must-have over and over again. garlic bread was excellent too - with or without the 咖哩蟹 sauce. it has bits of garlic on it, so trumps the spaghetti house garlic bread. 臘腸炒西蘭花 and 雞腎 quite ordinary. 咸豬肉炒芥蘭 ok, the 咸豬肉 was good.

* Le Goûter Bernardaud (LGB)

Shop 2009
Elements
1 Austin Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon, HK
尖沙咀柯士甸道西1號九龍站圓方2009 號鋪
Ph: 21968488
10am-10pm

excellent
-

good
-

average
salami & avocado bruschetta
garden salad
rib eye

poor
tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms & eggplant topped with shaved parmesan cheese

price: 170pp for 2-course set dinner with coffee/tea

value for money: 1 $

salami & avocado bruschetta

garden salad

tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms & eggplant topped with shaved parmesan cheese

rib eye

comments
had no expectations really, but was still disappointed. perhaps the macaroons & high tea set are what keep the customers coming back? dinner here is definitely not recommended. the tagliatelle had virtually no flavour to it, there was hardly any porcini mushrooms and eggplant, and what there was of the porcini mushrooms did not taste any good. rib eye wasn't bad, but lacked the nice "beef" flavour that good steaks should have. in france, it's really hard to come across restaurants serving bad food. i guess that rule does not apply to "french" restaurants in hk.