party of four

venue: my place!

In my unsuccessful attempt to diet, I realised it makes me feel better if I got people around me fatter. haha!

salmon, cauliflower and wild mushroom soup

J showed off his notorious mussels in white wine sauce

fusilli rigati arrabbiata

marble ribeye steak on mixed bellpeppers salad

seared salmon on greens

XTC's Vaniglia Madagascar - Made with organic milk
&
strawberries and blueberries


thanks to P's ice wine from Canada


which goes perfectly well with simple brie, and made T so tipsy she broke something while dishwashing!!

the Girl Who Eats is back!

so happy Awfully Chocolate is still going strong in Hong Kong since the franchised shop arrived here in 2008.
yes YES yes! it originated from Singapore and I LOVE IT! I'm not just being patriotic, but you should really try it for yourself if you haven't!

Comes in 3 flavours, All Chocolate, Chocolate Banana, or Chocolate Rum & Cherry. Check out their "hei' chocolate ice-cream too!

Hysan Ave
Shop 15 G/F 2-4 Hysan Ave (Sun Wui Rd)
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Caine Road
Shop B & C, G/F, 39 - 41
Caine Road, Hong Kong

K11
G32-33, G/F, K11, 18 Hanoi Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Lebanese

Manouche Grill
31 Elgin Street
Central

This is an awfully late entry. It was weeks ago when I just came back to Hong Kong from Singapore and I wanted to eat something non-South East Asian, non-Japanese and non-Western. Doesn't leave Jessica too much choice hahaha~

She recommended this new restaurant on Elgin. Manouche offers an intimate dining area, where tables are within arms reach. It definitely promises an exotic Middle Eastern experience even just by looking at its gypsy name.

We had 2 mezzas (appertizers) that went really well with pita bread, and a main course for each of us. I must say I'm especially impressed with Lebanese sauces. One of them is the one served with the grilled chicken. We asked the owner and apparently the recipe was simple - loads of fresh garlic minced and blended with olive oil. That was it! It brings out and somehow highlights the juiciness of meats. The effect was unbelieveable. I figured later on if you needed some zest to it, add lemon juice. This is a must-have with barbequed and grilled meals.

Hummus with ground lamb and pinenuts

Baba Ghanouj - grilled aubergine, grounded and mixed with olive oil and lemon juice
our favourite!!!

Grilled Spring Chicken

Laksa

My all-time favourite from home.
Found this interesting table distinguishing the different types of Laksa.

Curry Laksa	Assam Laksa	Sarawak Laksa
Coconut milk is used	No coconut milk used	Coconut milk is used
Curry-like soup (includes curry as one of its ingredients)	Fish paste soup, tastes sour due to tamarind (assam)	Red curry-like soup (does not use curry)
Except for bean sprouts, no other vegetable is used	Pineapple, shredded cucumber, raw onions may be used	Except for bean sprouts and coriander as decoration, no other vegetable is used.
Tofu puff is used	No tofu puff used	No tofu puff used
Served with thick or thin rice vermicelli (usually thick). Occasionally served with yellow mee.	Served with thick or thin rice vermicelli (usually thick)	Served with thin rice vermicelli only
Hard-boiled egg may be added	No hard-boiled egg added	Sliced fried eggs used
Slices of fish cake and either prawns or chicken is used	Fish, normally kembung fish, is used	Only slices of prawn and chicken used
Variants: Laksa lemak, Katong laksa, Nyonya laksa	Variants: Assam Laksa, Penang laksa, Johor laksa	Variants: none

Chocolate Bloom

I have to admit to the fact that I'm addicted to all computer games relating to food. Previously it was Diner Dash. These days, it's Restaurant City. argh~

If you're a fan too, you would rush back home (maybe it's just me, geez I'm pathological.) to check on how your employees ( usually unsuspecting friends on your facebook) are doing and you would hope you'd nail the daily food quiz. Today I realise I have limited knowledge on chocolate. To be specific, chocolate bloom.

I was very disappointed with myself after getting my first ever failed food quiz in Restaurant City.

"Chocolate bloom is visible by whitish streaks or dots on the surface of the Chocolate and can be the result of two things. One cause of Chocolate bloom is Chocolate that is allowed to get warm, allowing the Cocoa Butters to separate from the Chocolate and rise to the surface in whitish streaks or swirls. This is not a sign that your Chocolate is inedible, just that it does not look as pretty.

Another type of Chocolate Bloom is "Sugar Bloom". Sugar bloom occurs when moisture is allowed to get to the Chocolate (such as in a refrigerator) and the water draws the sugar to the surface as it evaporates, leaving white dots of sugar crystals on the surface of the Chocolate. Though sugar bloom does not affect the taste of the Chocolate, it does result in a somewhat grainy texture."

Chez Patrick

Chez Patrick
26 Peel St
Central

Lovely lunch with D at this cozy restaurant, tucked away in Central. Was an honour to meet Patrick himself, the chief chef and owner of two restaurants with the same name. Great place for a quiet, homely Parisian experience, where you could feast and talk for hours!

cauliflower mousse

roasted quail with salad

beef stew with butter penne

sole fillet stuffed with spinach, au gratin potato

cheese platter

Lunch
2 courses for $149
3 courses for $199
4 courses for $249

Dinner
3 courses for $499
4 courses for $599
5 courses for $699

Frites

Frites, Belgium on Tap
74 Queens Road Central
1st Floor Queens Palace
Central
Had a wonder dinner with T. As always, mussels are overpriced in HK, so we couldn't eat to our heart's content at this warm and lively Belgium restaurant. I remember having one pot (1kg) of blue mussels in Scotland all to myself, for only one pound.




Generally speaking, there are a few commons types of mussels that you can find in HK western restaurants.

My all time favourite is the Blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, named for its solidly blue-black shell, is species occurs naturally on both sides of the Atlantic from near the Arctic Circle to the Carolinas and the Mediterranean. The succulent meat tastes best when infused with white wine, butter, garlic and herbs!

In the southern part of its European range, it overlaps another type, a paler,browner-shelled mussel found in the Mediterranean Sea and the southwestern coasts of Europe, the Mytilus galloprovincialis.

I'm very sure everyone has tried the large, strikingly colored Greenshell mussels from New Zealand, the Perna canaliculus. I must say I'm definitely not a fan of this species, the meat is too tough and not juicy at all!