Foo Ka, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

I was here for a later lunch at this restaurant serving dim sum. It is quite a plush place located in a modern office block tower. Although we were approaching the middle of the afternoon there were still a few customers in this place having their mid-day meals.

Tables are neatly presented and laid out as we sat at our seat, which was by the window and had a decent view of the harbour.

We were asked our tea preference and ordered Dragon's Well and then proceeded to mark our order on the Dim Sum sheet.

Table setting & Tea choice

Our dishes did not take that long to arrive and the first two shown below. Chicken's feet was nice spice and sauce to it. There was turnip as well. For the Har Gow, the pastry was a little sticky but it was filled with decent sized prawns on the inside.

Left: Har Gow, Right: Chicken Feet

The Spring roll was really good with a crispy outer shell and meaty and moist filling, which was the most enjoyable dish of that day.

Mini egg tarts were cute and sweet, although they were not the ones with flaky pastry that my wife prefers. 

Top: Spring Roll, Bottom: Mini Egg Tart

'Jaa Leung' (there is no English name that I know of) shown below (literal meaning Fried Twice) consists of a rice rolled wrapped over fried dough. This was a little over steamed so ended soggy to bite into, making it the least liked dish of the day.

'Jaa Leung'

Savoury dumplings, which are not pictured were fine with the sweet fried dough mixing well with the meat and vegetable filling.

Because of its location, Foo Ka is more suited to business lunchers with its decorated interior and its slightly higher price for dim sum. Food was generally good apart from the 'Jaa Leung'. Service was OK but it had its weak points in that one waiter spilt some Worcestershire sauce on the egg tart whilst serving us and did not acknowledge it so there is room for improvement perhaps. As it is close to my work I would generally only go here if I was in the area for a repeat visit.

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

Overall: 12/20

Total Bill: $205, about £9 a head

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Dragon's Well tea.

I wore: Blue polo shirt & blue jeans.

TWG Tea, Central, Hong Kong

This Sunday lunch was at TWG Tea, a Singaporean chain of tea boutiques, which has its Hong Kong branch located in the IFC mall in Central.

The interior has a very British colonial feel about it. It is walk-in only during the day but there was sufficient space and we were sat at a very presentable table with comfortable chairs. They have a massive range of teas and give us an informative book on teas along with the menu after we were seated.

Table Setting

My wife and I both opted for the multi course brunch, of which there are a variety and I went for one called 'Dignitary'.

The first item to arrive was the orange juice, which was freshly squeezed, so a healthy and refreshing way to start the meal.

Fresh Juice

My brunch set had Eggs Benedict as the main dish. There is a choice of ham or smoked salmon, which I chose the latter. However when the dish arrived it was actually ham; I did not make a complaint and carried on eating. It was well presented, with a salad accompaniment as shown below. Taste wise I had no complaints; eggs were cooked right, the sauce had a nice sourness to it and the erroneous ham was a generous slice. 

Eggs Benedict

The next course was the muffin and scone course. The lemon muffin was light enough with strong flavour of lemon and a lemon sauce inside. The scone was a bit small but OK with little raisins in them, which was served with whipped cream and peach jelly, all shown below. 

My tea was served at this point, where I opted for an Irish morning Tea, as there was no Scottish kind so I stuck with the Celtic connection, which was very strong.

Scone & Muffin

A Cake or Pastry was the last course and I went for the strawberry tart. This had a firm biscuit base, light but sweet custard filling and lots of strawberries to top off as can be seen below.

Strawberry Tart

Whilst the staff were friendly enough, there were other little things to mark the service down like spilling the tea when pouring and some black pepper falling into my tea.

However, the food and drink here was pretty good which filled me up nicely and it is a very pretty looking place to eat. When we left there was a healthy queue for the afternoon tea session so it is a popular boutique tea salon and one where we will likely to be returning to. 

Scores:

Food: 4/5

Presentation: 4/5

Service: 2/5

Setting: 4/5

Overall: 14/20

Total Bill: $701, about £29 a head.

I ate: Dignitary Brunch Set.

I drank: Irish Morning Tea, Freshly squeezed orange juice, both of which were included in the brunch.

I wore: H&M Polo Shirt.

Ichiran, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

This early lunch quest saw me eat noodles at Ichiran on a Monday morning for breakfast.

It is a famous chain of ramen restaurants in Japan and they opened their first overseas branch in Hong Kong a couple of months back. Such was the hype that there have been massive queues to this place.

One gimmick is that they are open 24 hours so we used this to our advantage and got there early doors for our breakfast. This tactic worked as there were not many people so we did not have to queue.

Eating booths are individually styled and so not ideal for social gatherings.

Eating Booth

There is only one item on the menu, which is a bowl of noodles. There is a choice of how strong you want your soup base, how well cooked you want the noodles etc. I made my choices and handed it to the server.

The noodles then soon appear on your table through a curtain at the front of the booth, giving a slight level of surprise and unexpectedness of when your order will arrive.

It was a fairly large bowl of noodles, cooked to my order. There were two slices of pork and spring onions as a garnish as well, which I had chosen. Noodles were al dente as ordered and quite buttery in taste; the soup broth had a good flavour and was not too oily. You can also order a special sauce as well, which enhances the taste. The pork was a bit sparse in quantity, though.

My Order

Free flow purified water came from a tap fitted in each booth, which was good as no drink came with the noodles.

I liked my food from Ichiran, but it was a tad expensive (for a breakfast) and probably not worth the hype, nor long queue if there is one the next time I think about going here.

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

Overall: 13/20

Total Bill: $178, about £7.50 a head.

I ate: Ramen noodles.

I drank: Ichiran purified water.

I wore: Standard polo shirt.

Shop Exterior (with no queue at 8am)

Outback, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Outback is a chain of steakhouses (of American origin so I believe) that have branched out to Hong Kong. I was here on a Saturday at their Wanchai restaurant (which was decked out in Australian type decor) that was not that busy on this lunchtime, as it is in a commercial area.

We were sat in a booth and I ordered first before my wife as I needed to head off sharp for football game. They do a set lunch consisting a main, soup, salad and drink, so I opted for that.

The soup and salad arrived first, along with the Bushmans bread, shown below. My first impressions was that the portions looked a tad small. However the Mushroom Soup had a good flavour with small slices of mushroom at the bottom. The salad of basic leaves and cherry tomatoes was fine and came with a thousand island dressing. I was impressed with the bread, which was warm, soft and sweet.

Salad, Soup & Bread

I chose the pasta as the main, which was served in a big plate shown below. This had penne and chicken strips mixed with flavoursome pesto, herbs, peas and oil. This large plateful of food was great and very filling, loading up my carbs in time for some exercise.

So, whilst the starters looked small, the main was big and I just managed to finish the whole meal.

Pasta Main Course

Waiter service seemed rushed in that there was not much staff for the number of patrons at that time, so did not seem that friendly. They also did not have a butter knife and gave me a teaspoon to spread butter on my bread. I maybe should have stuck to the steak knife that was already laid out.

However it is not bad value given the amount of food you get for your dollar, and it is tasty fare so it would warrant another visit.

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

Overall: 12/20

Total Bill: $211, about £9 a head

I ate: Set Lunch.

I drank: Fanta, which was included in the price.

I wore: Team GB football shirt.

Petrus, Shangri-la Hotel, Admiralty

I celebrated my wedding anniversary with my wife for this entry, with a fine dining visit to Petrus, in the Shangri-la hotel in Admiralty. The restaurant is perched at the top of the hotel and views from here facing the east of Hong Kong Island are not bad at all.

The decor in Petrus is very classical and ornate, with elegant furniture of a gold and cream colour scheme and sparkling chandeliers. There's even a harp, although no one was playing it.

Condiments and the View in the background

We were given the menu and this is where it got interesting. They had a 4 course tasting menu called 'Carte Blanche' made up of 16 main ingredients, (which are split into four categories of vegetable, fish, meat and dessert) to choose from. In theory there was nothing stopping you from choosing all four dessert options. However, I went for the conventional option of choosing one category each. I also opted for a glass of white wine to drink.

After ordering, Smoked Sturgeon was served to us first as the Amuse Bouche, shown below. It was a dainty, light and flavoursome dish that had a slight smokiness to it. Slices of beetroot came with it as well for some colour and crunch.

Amuse Bouche

The first course was the Vegetable category and I chose Cous Cous, shown below, which was accompanied with some finely prepared and tasty vegetables. There were also various sauces to mix the cous cous with. The sour cream and hot sauce were really good but the cucumber sauce not so good. 

'Vegetable' Course

My fish course was Calamari. The dish consisted of two pieces, of which both pieces were great. The fully cooked piece was chewy and half cooked piece was crumbly in texture. The chorizo slice and sauce covering it was the best part, adding some spice to it.

'Fish' Course

The meat course was Chicken. This was a stewed fillet, which was tender and served with a sweet chutney. It also came with a  macaroni cheese that was disappointingly dry.

'Meat' Course

A raspberry sorbet was served in a cocktail glass to clean our palette as shown below. It was cool and sour and prepared us for the dessert course to follow.

Raspberry Sorbet

My dessert consisted of berries, meringue and mousse. The berries were of mixed variety and tasted fresh with a nice creme fraiche to accompany it. The meringue was crunchy and flavoured mouse was airy. All in all a great sweet and sour dessert combination. As I had informed the restaurant of our special occasion they wrote a message on the plate on chocolate lettering, which was very good of them.

'Dessert' Course

This was the most expensive lunch I have paid for. It is just about worth it, as the quality and quantity of food and service is great. All the food was exquisitely presented, which one would expect from this type of establishment. However, if spending that much money I would head for Caprice for a top-notch lunch.

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

Overall: 18/20

Total Bill: $1680, about £70 a head.

I ate: Four course 'Carte Blanche' tasting menu.

I drank: Sparkling Water, White Wine.

I wore: Platinum wedding band.

Cammino, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

This Italian restaurant is situated on the first floor of the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay. 

I was running late due to rare trouble on the public transport system. However, with the help of technology I was able to order the set lunch items through my wife, who had arrived first.

It was not exceedingly busy but I had booked ahead in case. The waiter instinctively knew who my wife was (probably because she was the only lone luncher?) and pointed out where she was sitting.  

As I sat down I was promptly poured some water and handed my unfolded napkin. I then got up again to head to their buffet selection.

When I returned from the buffet selection the daily soup had arrived, seeing as it was ordered in my absence . It was Bean and Bacon flavour as shown below, which was served at a good temperature and very hearty. 

Soup of the Day

My buffet selection consisted of a potato salad, salad leaves and Parma ham with melon. All this combined well as a nice appetiser before the main course.

Anitpasti Buffet

I chose the veal as my main. It tasted nice and tender and was fried with a light breadcrumb outer and came with a portion of lemon. The rice was a little too cheesy and they said there was saffron but it did not seem that flavoursome.

Veal and Risotto

Ricotta cannelloni was my dessert choice, shown in the picture below. The ricotta had a slight orange taste to it, like a Jacobs Club. This was unexpected as it was not noted on the menu but nice nonetheless. The cannelloni part to it was a crunchy biscuit roll.

Ricotta Cannelloni

My wife had the Mango Napolitean, shown below.

Mango Napolitain

There was a bit of an inconsistency in our tea orders at the end of our meal. I asked for an English Breakfast Tea and was given a Lipton black tea in a bag, whereas my wife got her Earl Grey order with leaves and a sieve. Nevertheless, I still drank mine without complaint.

The food was generally good, of decent portions and  presented well in Cammino. The buffet selection was also quite wide, given the small-ish size of the restaurant, which lent itself to the service being friendly, quick and attentive. As it is fairly priced I would recommend a visit.

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Setting: 4/5

Overall: 15/ 20

Total Bill: $509 about £21 a head.

I ate: Three course set lunch with antipasti buffet.

I drank: Water, Lipton Tea.

I wore: Casio calculator watch.

Fairwood, Tai Wai, Hong Kong

For this entry I am lunching at another one of Hong Kong's popular fast food chains, the orange colour branded Fairwood.

Shop Frontage

As with other branded fast food outlets there is an order counter and then you collect your food from the kitchen counter, canteen style. I ordered a meal that had the letter 'G' designated on it for ordering. Cash was exchanged and I went to the kitchen counter to get my food. 

The wait for my food was not that long but it was interesting that the uncooked item of my order, my 7-up, took the longest. It was more of a logistical reason for the delay rather than a technical one. After receipt of food in all its plastic tableware, I managed to find a seat in the busy restaurant.

My order

I ate the chicken wing first, which was roasted well enough to be quite tender and had a decent flavour.

When I lifted the lid of the noodles it still partly resembled the  out-of-the packet dried cake form. It tasted very instant like also, so a little disappointing. There was a half circle of luncheon meat and a fried egg to accompany the noodles as well.

The toast was a thick slice but there was not enough peanut butter and condensed milk to spread. It tasted sweet enough to pass as a dessert course and quite filling. 

Discounting the noodles this lunch was not that bad and it was decent value. Service is efficiently professional and as there are branches everywhere in Hong Kong so it is very likely I will be popping in here again.

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 2/5

Service: 3/5

Setting: 3/5

Overall: 11 / 20

Total Bill: $33, about £2.75.

I ate: Noodles, chicken wing, toast.

I drank: 7-up.

I wore: Fred Perry Polo Shirt.