Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

My visit to Kentucky Fried Chicken happened a few weeks ago but I got sidetracked by going to other restaurants and going on holiday, so I had better post this before the turn of the year.

I went to a branch of KFC that is in the Festival Walk shopping mall. As a global chain they are popular in HK, probably more so then BK, but less than McD, I would say.

Anyway, enough with initials. It was a busy Sunday afternoon so with domestic helpers on their day off there was quite a lot of Indonesian or Filipino being spoken by the other patrons in the restaurant. However there were enough counters to be served quickly.

I ordered from their range the Flava Roast burger. This breaks from the norm of the fried chicken that they traditionally offer and is probably a healthier option. I went for the meal so supplemented my burger with a drink, choosing the localised ice lemon tea and a side dish.

For your side dish you get to choose from a selection instead of the usual fries / chips from its beef burger based competitors. There are at least five options and I went for 'E', Corn on the Cob.

My Order

Everything came wrapped in paper or plastic and laid on the plastic try. This branch has a large number if seats and I was able to find one quite easily but near the door.

Flava Roast Chicken Burger & Bacon

The chicken breast was cold and the bacon slice was not that warm either so maybe this burger had been prepared for a little while and resting away until I purchased it. There was some lettuce and a large slice of tomato. The cheese sauce and mayonnaise dressing tasted OK.

Corn on the Cob was warmer than the burger. It could have done with some butter (which it usually should come with but I forgot to ask).

My drink was cold and refreshing enough.

Ice Lemon Tea

So overall this was not 'finger lickin' good' but it did the job.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Scores:
Food: 2/5
Presentation: 2/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5

Overall: 10/20

Bill came to about less than 3GBP.

I ate: Chicken Flava Roast Chicken Burger with Bacon, Corn on the Cob

I drank: Ice Lemon Tea

I wore: Sunday best t-shirt and jeans

Pom Pom Resort, Sabah, Malaysia

I am on my honeymoon now, where we are on Pom Pom Island off the coast of Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. We are staying at the Pom Pom Resort and are on a full board tariff, which is convenient seeing as the resort is the only one that covers this island. Lunch was our first meal here after arriving here mid morning on Wednesday.

All meals are buffet type and are served in the same restaurant. Their range was quite extensive bit leaned towards oriental tastes, given the ethnicity of the clientele. I chose to serve myself three courses.

My starter consisted of soup and salad. The soup was pak choi, which was good. Thin as expected with Chinese soups, with plenty of the vegetable, as well as small tender pieces of pork. My salad consisted of broccoli, carrot, cucumber, green beans, boiled egg, sweetcorn and lettuce, with a little Thousand Island dressing. All the items were fresh or sufficiently cooked if necessary.

Soup & Salad Starter

For my main I picked Stew beef, fried noodles, chicken 'Cik Kong', spicy squid and potatoes. These five dishes had varying degrees of satisfaction. The beef was well stewed in a Chinese sauce and was accompanied with nice Chinese mushrooms. The noodles and chicken were fine, nothing special. The squid was very spicy indeed. The potatoes were shredded and fried with nuts added to it, which did not work for me.

Main Course

I selected fruit and chocolate Swiss roll as my dessert. The fruit was water melon and dragon-fruit, which were both tasty and refreshing. The Swiss roll were miniature versions of the sponge cake that tasted fine and sweet enough.

Fruit & Cake Dessert

They had two fruit juices on offer and I poured myself a Mango juice, which was OK but not freshly squeezed.

The restaurant is a hexagonal shaped open air building that got rather hot, due to the fans perhaps not being powerful enough. The furniture is fine and basic but probably sourced locally to give it an authentic look. Being a buffet staff do not serve you food but are friendly when showing you your seat and clearing the tables. Overall this place serves you with decent food but this is the only dining choice you have when you are on this island resort.

Scores
Food: 3/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Overall: 12/20

I ate: Pak Choi Soup; garden salad; sweetcorn salad; stew beef; fried noodles; chicken; squid; chocolate Swiss roll; local fruit.

I drank: Mango juice, still water.

I wore: holiday gear and bare feet and there was a no shoes policy in the restaurant.

Tahitian Terrace, Hong Kong Disneyland

I had a day off on Friday so like a couple of grown ups my wife and I went to Disneyland for pretty much the whole day and some of the evening.


After a taking in two rides we decided to find somewhere to eat, of which there is plenty of choice in the park.


We chose Tahitian Terrace, which is in the Adventureland section of the park. It served an array of South and Southeast Asian food.


The park was really busy even though it was a Friday but school holidays have started here so that would be the reason. Nevertheless the queues were not that long in the cafeteria style counters. Depending on the type of cuisine you queue at a different counter. My wife wanted noodles and I went for Indian food.

My Vegetarian Curry

For the Indian food what you do is select three curries out of a choice of six. I chose Daal Tadka, Aloo Jeera and Aloo Mutter (which are shown left to right in the picture above). Rice and roti is served, along with a poppadom. Everything is served in individual compartments in the pre-moulded tray, giving it a very canteen feel about it. You then take your tray to the separate cashier counter to pay for it. As I was buying my wife's noodles as well, the staff were very friendly in offering me help to carry the second tray to the payment counter and to where we were sat.


So after choosing what to have and completing financial transactions we sat down on the food court styled tables and chairs and proceeded to eat. The dining area is just roof-sheltered only so we kind of went al fresco, with little sparrows joining us on the next table (which had yet to be cleared) to pick out any remnants of food for themselves.


The daal had a nice texture and creamy, not too spicy but not that warm either. The potatoes with cumin were nice, soft and coated in a flavoursome sauce. It was probably the spiciest of the three but not too hot. The potatoes and pea curry was fine as well. There was enough rice served with the curries and the roti, which was soft and not too oily, was in hand to soak up the remaining sauce. The spiciest element of the whole meal was the chilli dip for my poppadom. There was a salad  accompaniment of three slices of tomatoes as well, which I finished off also.

My wife's Laksa

My wife chose to have Laksa, which she was not that impressed with as it was not that hot (in the temperature sense) and the noodles should have been a bit thinner, i.e. more vermicelli like than spaghetti. I think lacking temperature in the food could be attributed to us eating slightly later than normal lunching times.


Our food was washed down with Fanta and Ice Lemon tea drinks purchased by the bottle.

Our drinks

Overall Tahitian Terrace does the job and is there to cater for the regional Asian tourists they want to attract. It's not cheap compared to other restaurants of this type in Hong Kong but you are almost held to ransom when you enter this amusement park, as security will check your bags not only for dangerous items but for food as well.


Scores
Food: 2/5
Presentation: 2/5
Service: 4/5
Setting: 4/5 (extra point because it's Disney)


Overall: 12/20


Total bill: $167 for two, about £7 a head (not including park admission).


We ate: Indian Vegetarian Set; Penang Laksa Noodles.


We drank: Fanta and Nestea ice lemon tea.


We wore: standard casual clothes without a hint of Disney branding or accessorising.

Pierre, Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

For this entry, my wife and I went to Pierre at the Mandarin Oriental hotel on Tuesday night to celebrate two months of wedded bliss. This restaurant is on the 25th floor of the hotel and has views overlooking the harbour as well as neighbouring skyscrapers.


Upon entering the restaurant our coats were taken and we were shown to our seats, which were very comfortable corner type ones that had lovely pillows as our back support. Almost immediately a waiter approached us to ask if we wanted any champagne from their selection of six bottles. We declined but went for some cocktails as our aperitifs.

From left: Tuberose and Blood & Sand Cocktails

I chose Blood and Sand as my drink. This comprised of Scotch and vermouth but with the fruit juices it was a refreshing cocktail. My wife had a cutely named Tuberose for her drink, which was Gin based cocktail.


For food I went a la carte and ordered 'Sea' then 'Farm Hen'. There was a little bit of confusion and embarrassment on my part when ordering the food. The menu is split into different headings e.g. Sea, depending in the type of food. Under it are names of various dishes of that type, which I thought were all separate dishes. It turns out that the separate elements form your whole order.

Amuse-bouche, with Bread in the background

Prior to our starters we were served with the amuse-bouche. Small flavoursome bites on an oversized plate to get the tastebuds tingling. From what I recall there was beef carpaccio and duck terrine amongst others. We were also given a separate bread basket each, and there was normal butter and a honey and chilli flavoured one, which the latter had quick a kick to it.

Abalone and Tuna to the side

My starter arrived and it comprised of four dishes. Abalone was the largest serving, which were in delicious, chewy thin slices, almost like mushrooms that was accompanied with bacon and duck liver, with a slice of tuna to the side. The other three dishes have not been captured on film. The second dish was a single Oyster was fresh and the ginger sauce was a nice accompaniment with the small button mushrooms. The third part was a small egg-cup of Crab Meat and Seaweed Jelly, which I thought was a bit bland. Mussel with leek was the fourth dish, which again was a small dish and nice but not remarkable.

Chicken Breast with light curry sauce

The main course was in three parts. Chicken breast (above) was the main part. It had been soaked in wine which to me made it a bit bitter, the curry sauce seemed very light and parsley garnish did not work for me. The Grapefruit salad and chicken portions worked well with each other, but again a small portion. Macaroni was nicest part I thought, with the pasta being well cooked in a creamy mushroom casserole. 

Macaroni

Chicken and Grapefruit Salad

I chose not to go for a dessert so instead I was given Petits Four of which there were five little treats to eat and a spoonful of sorbet to clean the palette. They wrote a nice message on the edge of the to commemorate the occasion.

Petit Four

My wife went for the four course tasting menu. It consisted of Lobster Salad and  Artichoke for the first two courses, and Venison as the main, third course. The fourth course was Grand Dessert, so I sampled some of the four desserts that were on offer, which included a Bailey's mouse with sorbet; wild strawberry jelly, bitter chocolate pudding and the ice cream shown below. All of which were delightful and a lovely way to finish off our meals.

Ice Cream

Service was attentive but discreet enough so as not to disturb us all the time. They described each dish to us when served and lifted the metal spherical covers simultaneously for our main courses, which is something I enjoy watching. When we left they gave us a parting gift in the form of a nice pastry, which was kind of them. The only negative was that they forgot to unravel the napkins and place them on our laps.

Table setting

As with most Michelin starred restaurants (Pierre has two), this place is not cheap and I would say Caprice is still my favourite but overall, this is an excellent fine dining restaurant!


Scores
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 5/5
Service: 4/5
Setting: 5/5


Overall: 18/20


Bill: Over £100 a head, including drinks.


I ate: 'Sea', which was 1)Abalone/bacon/roasted duck liver; toast with tuna and tender apricot soaked with Mirin; 2) Plain crab meat, seaweed jelly; 3) Iced oysters in a fresh ginger juice with button mushrooms and 4)Bouchot mussels with leek.

'Farm Hen', which comprised of 1)“Patis” breast of farm hen macerated with fresh herbs and Sauternes wine. Roasted and then served on a creamy curry sauce, slow-simmered endives with avocado; 2)Macaroni pasta and wild mushrooms casserole and 3) Thigh in aspic, thai grapefruit salad with watercress.

I drank: The cocktail noted above and San Pellegrino sparkling water.


I wore: shirt and tie as it was a work day, but accessorised by cufflinks bearing my wife's name.

Cafe 21, Quarry Bay Hong Kong

For this entry, it is another sandwich at the desk. This time I went to Cafe 21, an eatery that is situated close to my office, but slightly hidden away as its on the ground floor of an office building. As you walk in they have shelving on the right that stores the sandwiches and other products, which strangely also includes Chinese vegetables.

I chose from their selection the Smoked Duck Breast and Salad sandwich. I also went for their soup of the day, which was clam chowder. The food was paid for and the soup quickly served and all contents packaged up in a paper takeaway bag with the usual Hong Kong efficiency. All the food came in plain white packaging and this shop even gave me a spoon for my soup (refer to Pret-a-Manger blog for non-appearance of soup intake implement).

Contents of my purchase

The sandwich was fine. Nice pieces of duck breast with standard lettuce and tomato as their salad (not a generous amount, though) in sliced white bread. Mayonnaise was the dressing, which was a nice, light accompaniment.

Smoked Duck Breast Sandwich & Clam Chowder

The Clam Chowder had a nice flavour with chopped onions still in the texture and which also contained actual clams.

Overall this cafe is an inoffensive place serving decent food and is on my usual rota of lunch venues. The food is not as good as Pret but a lot cheaper.

Scores:
Food: 3/5
Presentation: 2/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5

Overall: 11/20

Total Bill: HK$28, about 2.50GBP.

I ate: Smoked Duck Breast Sandwich (plus a packet of Barbecue flavoured crisps).

I drank: Clam Chowder.

I wore: Standard shirt & tie for the office.

Angus, Causeway Centre, Wanchai

We visited this restaurant on Sunday after going to the exhibition of Elizabeth Taylor's jewellery collection, which was at the nearby Convention Centre.

Angus is situated at the podium level of a tower block in a commercial part of Wanchai, so with it being a Sunday afternoon it was fairly quiet and we were able to get a seat no problem. Whilst the weather meant it would have been perfect to sit outside, there was construction noise being heard so we thought we would sit inside. They were offering a three course set lunch and the waiters came round fairly quickly after we settled into our seats to give us some bread, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (although after requesting for it) and to take our orders.

Bread, with butter, balsamic vinegar and olive oil

I chose the soup of the day for starter, which was Broccoli Soup. This was presented in a nice white bowl and piping hot, perhaps a bit too hot for my liking. The texture was nice and the broccoli could be sensed in the ingredients but it could have done with a bit more seasoning I thought.

Broccoli Soup

Whilst waiting for my soup to cool, I tried a bit of what my wife ordered for her starter, which was the Smoked Duck Breast Salad. Fresh green salad leaves, sliced peaches and cherry tomatoes accompanied thin slices of duck breast with a honey mustard dressing. The dressing was really nice and sweet although I did not taste much mustard.

Salad

My choice for main course was Sole Fish Fillet with grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes. I was served the at pretty much the same time they cleared away our starters, with three fillets of sole that could have done with a touch more seasoning. All the vegetables (carrot, aubergine, broccoli, pepper and more) that the fish was lying on were grilled nicely and were still crunchy. The mash was creamy and smooth.

Sole Fish Fillet

The third course was a choice between a drink or Banana Caramel Cake. My wife and I decided to go for a drink and the dessert to share. The dessert was actually a Banoffee pie. This was delicious and had the right combination of cream, caramel, banana and biscuit base. It also came with a lovely scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Banana Caramel Cake

The tea was cool but very weak. There was a little jug of syrup to alter the sweetness to you liking.

Ice Lemon tea

I also tried some of my wife's main course which was Mushroom Linguine, the pasta of the day. This was a well cooked pasta with nicely sliced mushrooms and garlic butter sauce.

Pasta of the Day

Angus is a nice (possibly newly refurbished) restaurant that serves you with decent, well presented food at reasonable prices. If you're wanting a quiet lunch over the weekend then I'd recommend this place.

Scores

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 4/5

Service: 3/5

Setting: 3/5

Overall: 13/20

Total bill: HK$238 for two, about £10 a head.

I ate: all of the above described.

I drank: Water (probably tap), Ice Lemon Tea.

I wore: Smart casual clothes, although probably leaning more towards the smart as I was looking at diamonds and other jewellery items of Liz Taylor's.

Pret-a-Manger, Tai Koo Place, Hong Kong

This is my first entry of a lunch whilst at work. I went to Pret-a-manger on Thursday, which is a well known sandwich chain back in UK but I'm not sure if this Asian review is the first of a possible continental compare and contrast? (Editor in chief of LQ:ED, please confirm.)

The store is located in an office building of the Tai Koo Place commercial development so at lunch time is was a busy area full of office-types. Most tables inside the restaurant were taken up by patrons but there was not a massive crowd looking at their product selection on the shelves.

I decided to go for a take away and began looking at at their shelves to decide what to buy. Interestingly their standard sandwiches all come in single 'triangles'. I suppose this means you can eat as little or as much as you want and mix and match if one so desires. I decided to go away from a standard triangle and chose the 'Bang Bang Chicken' roll.

When I turned towards the counter to pay I noticed the soups they had on offer. Of the three that were displayed I opted for the Winter Green and Bacon. Whilst at the counter I decided to buy a third item, Curry Lime Pickle crisps.

The service was friendly and quick at the counter and I was away back to my office without much hassle.

As I returned to my desk to take out my purchases I noticed there was no spoon to accompany my soup. This was not a catastrophe as our pantry is well stocked with cutlery so I managed to have my soup with a spoon.

My Lunch Contents

My roll, whilst not looking the biggest was very satisfactory. It was a wholegrain bread roll filled with nice pieces of chicken and slices of red pepper. There was a sesame dressing and the last filling was coriander, which gave it that wee kick and worked very well.

The soup was still warm even after the five-plus minute walk back to the office. Spoon issues aside, this was a very nice soup, with a delicious flavour (although I do not know what greens were used to make the soup) and small slices of bacon. I reckon it would taste even better on a colder day (it was probably 20 degrees celsius that lunch time).

Winter Green & Bacon Soup

The Curry Lime Pickle crisps were different from the usual flavours I'm used to (i.e. salt and vinegar, cheese and onion) but had a slight tanginess to them and did not seem to have that much curry flavour in them to make them spicy.

Overall, Pret-a-Manger does provide you with some nice food but it is expensive compared to other lunch options in Hong Kong as my meal cost me about 6GBP, which I reckon would be more than Edinburgh prices.

Scores:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 2/5

Overall: 12/20

Total Bill: HK$71

I ate: 'Bang Bang Chicken' Roll, Curry Lime Pickle Crisps.

I drank: Winter Green and Bacon Soup.

I wore: Standard office wear of shirt and tie.

Lily & Bloom, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

I was at this restaurant on Sunday as a birthday brunch for my cousin. The place is located in Lan Kwai Fong, an area where there's a lot of bars and pubs. It's an airy place with a nice high ceiling, making a change from the densely packed spaces in Hong Kong. We were a party of nine adults (including my wife) and were sat in the 'Bloom' section of this eatery. The 'Lily' part was upstairs and was closed, maybe it was a bar only?

Anyway, back to the food. I decided to go for the 'Festival of Restaurants' set menu, where you had the choice of starter, main and dessert for your three course meal.

The starter I opted for was the artichoke and shitake fritter. It was very nice and I'd say it was the best of the three that I chose. The filling was delicious and not heavy, with it all shredded potato covering that was nicely fried and accompanied with a mint sauce and sweet chilli sauce.

Artichoke & Shitake fritter starter

The main was a stewed beef bresciole, which was ok. The meat seemed a bit tough considering it was stewed and there wasn't much flavour from the goat's cheese. It came with brussel sprouts (getting ready for Christmas?) that were halved and cooked until still firm and covered with a tomato sauce.

Main Course Bresciole

I chose Caramel as my dessert, which was very sweet and almost sickly. It was garnished with a some small citrus fruits to give it a bit of a twist.

Dessert

My wife chose fettuccine carbonara, where the pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce a touch salty. She, along with others decided to choose the free flow Cava option to accompany their food, although once ordered, it took a bit of time for the drinks to 'flow freely' but once service commenced the drink was poured fairly quickly and enough to get people a bit merry.

Fettuccine Carbonara 

Quite a few of us ordered some side dishes to share around. One was the hash brown that was crunchy and similar to the fritter starter, which was accompanied with a small pot of ketchup, at my wife's request.

Hash brown

Other items that were ordered but not pictured were Chorizos and mini-beefburgers, which were served in tapas styled dishes for everyone to share and enjoy.

I ordered a Bloody Mary as my drink, which came in two separate glasses for the alcohol and mixer, along with the celery garnish. An interesting touch but my mixing skills need a bit of improvement as it tasted rather strong at first then became a watery tomato juice at the end. It wasn't cheap either, costing an equivalent of £8.

The waiters were friendly but the food serving was a bit muddled and out of sync as I had finished my main course before another diner's main had arrived. Maybe they couldn't handle the party of nine that we were. However, as an change from bread that is sometimes given throughout the meals at western restaurants, we were given little doughnuts, which was a sweet alternative.

Lily and Bloom is a nice place and the food is well presented. However the best thing about this restaurant would be the unisex toilet with its lavish hand washing sink and dressing tables. However at their prices it's an expensive place to spend a penny.

Scores

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 4/5
Service: 2/5
Setting: 3/5
Overall: 12/20

Bill: Approximately 40GBP a head.

I ate: The 'Festival of Restaurants' Menu plus bits of the other items described above.

I drank: Bloody Mary, Cava, sparkling water.

I wore: casual clothes.

Lily and Bloom, 5 & 6F, LKF Tower, Lan Kwai Fong, Central

McDonald's, Fortress Hill, Hong Kong

Having read the mother site's (Lunchquest: Edinburgh) review of McDonald's I felt compelled to visit the local version here. The branches of this chain are as ubiquitous here as they are back in my fair home town.


My wife and I went to the restaurant in Fortress Hill, which is located on the bustling King's Road. On a Saturday afternoon it is more busy with parents and kids. However queues were not overly long and we did not wait long until we were giving our orders.


I chose the McRib burger that was on offer for a limited time and my wife chose 6 McChicken Nuggets. We both ordered meals and went supersize. This was not because we were feeling hungry, more the fact that again there was a seasonal variation in that the fries came with a sachet of flavouring and a bag to shake them in. This wee gimmick harks back to the 'salt and shake' Smiths crisps that were doing the rounds of my school playground in the Eighties.

For our drinks we ordered lemon tea and iced milk tea, two popular Hong Kong drinks, which McDonalds have added to their menus. Kind of like Irn Bru being available in Scotland (if that is still the case?)


Our order arrived fairly quickly in all it's cardboard packaging goodness. Upon finding our table we noticed that they forget to give us a dip for the nuggets, but this situation was easily rectified with a serving of their mustard condiment and an apology.

Our Order

After opening up the burger packaging, I was a bit disappointed by it. The picture advertising it was much more enticing. The pork was a tad cold and the sauce, whilst sweet was not as colourful as in the display. I was also expecting a few more onions but they slipped in their usual gherkins as well. Overall it was edible but I don think I'd order it again in a hurry.

The McRib

The fries were up to their usual salty standards. However this time we had a honey barbecue flavouring to add to it and the novelty of shaking it to give it a much nicer taste. The nuggets that my wife ordered were as expected, with sufficient meat content and a batter covering, comlimented with the spicy mustard dip. The ice milk tea drink was refreshing, with a little pot of syrup given to you so you can adjust how sweet you want it.

Shaking the fries whilst hiding your face

As noted in LQ:ED review, you'll always get what you expect from visiting the Golden Arches, wherever you are in the world. The only difference being in price: McD: HK is probably 40% cheaper than McD:UK. The service is fast and pleasant, the seats and trays are plastic  and food is ever consistently average. 


Food: 3/5
Presentation: 2/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5


Overall 11/20


Total Bill: Approximately $60, which is about 5GBP for two large extra value meals.


We ate: McRib burger, Chicken Nuggets, large portions of chips.


We drank: ice lemon tea, ice milk tea.


We wore: polo shirt & jeans; weekend dress

Efren Gloria, Cebu, Philippines

For this entry in the greater Hong Kong region we are in Cebu, Philippines. It is still in the Pacific rim so within the boundaries of LQ:HK. My wife and I visited this floating restaurant when on a quick trip to Cebu last Sunday (16th Oct) and arrived there by boat from our hotel. The journey probably took 40 minutes.

Entrance Signboard

Technically it's not floating as it's supported off wooden stilts that suspend it above the water. It's well ventilated meaning there are no windows but the sea views are pleasant and calming. Tables and chairs are plastic but you're not here for the furniture. The kitchen is at the back, which is where they catch and store the main ingredients i.e. seafood.

The catching nets

Choosing what to eat

There were over twenty guests and we were treated so a seafood feast. The following food that is listed is in some kind of order and might not be all I ate.

Conch: the word always reminds me of 'Lord of the Flies'. The mollusc was fairly large but a bit bland so it could have come with a dip to give more flavour.

Conch (with rice to the side)

Abalone: fairly chewy (I've eaten chewier) that was cooked and served in a flavoursome black bean sauce.

Abalone (which was cooked before it was served and not straight from the boy's hands)

Crab: meaty if you can get to the meat. I'm quite lazy/impatient when eating crab, so it's very nice when the shell has already been removed and nice if you've got to do it yourself!

Crab

Fish soup: very refreshing with chillies to give it a slight kick.

Fish Soup

Squid. Stir fried with onions & chillies making this a nice dish.

Garoupa: excellently steamed so that the meat was lovely and tender, in a Chinese style soy sauce & oil dressing.

Steamed Fish

There was also a couple of guys with guitars who played a few songs at our request to entertain us.

The bill was taken care of by our very hospitable hosts, Richard and Yan, who got married that weekend so a big thanks and congratulations to them both!

Overall Efren Gloria is an unassuming restaurant where the food is caught fresh and service is friendly.

Ratings:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5

Overall: 13/20

I ate: a bit of everything noted above, maybe a bit more that I have forgotten to mention.

I drank: San Miguel, Pepsi

I wore: swimming shorts, tee shirt, flip flops

Felix, The Peninsula

This a special entry as it's a 'late' lunchquest that would actually constitute as the evening meal. It's also my first proper meal as a married man.

We (that's my wife and I) were at Felix on Thursday night, a restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel. This hotel is probably Hong Kong's most famous and the restaurant sits on the 28th floor overlooking the harbour towards the HK island side. There's a lift from the hotel ground floor that takes you all the way up to the restaurant, which gives it that exclusivity.

We received a glass of champagne compliments of the restaurant. However in order to get it we had to remind staff that we had just got married.


For the starter I chose a sashimi dish that consisted of red snapper slices, accompanied with winter melon and foie gras. The melon was a bit bland but there was a chilli sauce that overall made it a pleasant appetiser.

Red snapper, winter melon & foie gras

For the main course I had roast pigeon that was rich but a touch too salty. It came on a bed of aubergine and duck liver, which was very nice and better than the bird itself, I thought.

Roast Pigeon main course

My wife had Tuna that was cooked to a medium grade that was moist and tasty.

Tuna main course

Only my wife ordered dessert and she chose a cookie type dish with fresh strawberries and cream, which she said was yummy. It came with a nice message incorrectly written on a white chocolate board; it's the thought that counts I suppose.

Grammatically challenged dessert

I had a glass of Australian merlot, which was easy to drink, quite fruity and had no aftertaste.

Their menus are not the traditional bound paper version but on iPads, which would have made the late Steve Jobs proud. Your order is not sent to the kitchen though and a waiter still takes it down with pen and paper.

I'm going to be a bit generous and give this place slightly better marks that it deserves due to the occasion. It is a very nice place but for a fine dining experience, Caprice is way ahead.

Food: 4/5
Presentation: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Setting: 5/5

Overall: 17/20

I ate: Red snapper slices, winter melon, foie gras; roasted French pigeon with sauteed aubergine & duck liver.

My wife ate: Seared tuna steaks; cookies & fresh strawberry.

We drank: Sparkling water, merlot; Dom Perignon champagne.

I wore: navy dress shirt, grey pin-striped trousers, Cartier wedding ring:
She wore: Peach evening dress, Cartier wedding ring.

Felix, The Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong
http://www.peninsula.com/Hong_Kong/en/Dining/Felix/default.aspx

Ambassador Lounge, Singapore

Today I'm in the Ambassador Lounge, which is situated in Terminal 2 of Changi airport in Singapore, awaiting the second-leg flight of my journey to Abu Dhabi.

Now I know Singapore is about 2500kms away from Hong Kong but it's lunchtime here and too early in the morning to ask LQ Editor in Chief BKR how to write in the Roving Reporters site.

Back to the lunch. It's a buffet selection and I chose roast chicken, vegetable curry and chicken rice for my hot dish; and a green salad for my cold dish.

The three items I chose were the total that was on offer today. The chicken could have been a bit more tender but it came with a nice gravy. The vegetables were not that spicy but not that flavoursome either. Chicken rice is a popular southeast Asian dish where the rice is cooked with a chicken flavoured oil / sauce that makes it less bland than plain rice and the best of the three hot items i chose today.

The garden salad was lettuce and cherry tomatoes and a placed some pepper slices that were on offer and topped it off with a thousand island dressing. The ingredients tasted fresh so I got a decent portion of rabbit-food goodness.

All this was washed down with a glass of cold lemon tea from the drinks dispenser machine.

Once you enter the lounge everything is complimentary bar alcohol. I get free access to airport lounges as a perk from one of my credit cards so the total bill came to Free, a Scotsman's favourite price.

The setting is quiet, clean and nice as you're separated from the main departure lounge so a good place to stay when waiting for your flight. As it's a buffet a mark for the service is not applicable and I suppose presentation is governed by how I plated the food so I could unfairly give myself top marks.

So I'd give this place a C+ overall. Now onwards to Abu Dhabi!

Ps. As a brief breakfast quest review the morning meal on the plane from HK to SG was a pleasant enough dish of scrambled egg, chicken sausage, baked beans and tomato served with tea and UHT milk and a screening of Transformers 3.

Lunch of Roast Chicken, Vegetable Curry, Chicken Rice, Garden Salad & Lemon Tea