Lobby Lounge, Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong

I am back in Hong Kong for this blog and it is more of a Cakequest as we had afternoon tea at the Lobby Lounge of the Conrad Hotel one Sunday afternoon.

Their afternoon tea is a buffet with a wide selection of savoury and sweet dishes to choose from. We arrived just after 3pm and had about two hours to eat as much as we could.

I decided to go savoury for my first dish and picked the following shown in the photograph:Vegetable Samosa; Pita Bread with Hummus; Smoked Salmon Ciabatta; Bacon Quiche and Roast Potato with Cheese. These were all delightful little finger food treats that stared the afternoon off very well.

Clockwise from 12 o'clock: Roast Potato & Cheese; Bacon Quiche; Samosa; Smoked Salmon; Hummus & Pitta Bread

My second dish had these savoury items: Har Gow; Chicken Wing; Prawn; Teriyaki Chicken Skewer and Cream of Seafood with filo pastry. This was a least favourite plate as I found the fried prawns and chicken skewer a bit bland. The rest of the plate whilst nothing bad, did not really go with my cup of Darjeeling.

Prawn Dumpling; Chicken Wing; Prawn; Teriyaki Skewer; Cream  of Seafood & Filo Pastry

Savoury items were also on my third plate, which had: Cucumber sandwich with cream cheese; Salad with pepper, cucumber & carrot with dressing. I chose the sandwich as it is a classic afternoon tea item and the salad for its lightness and to get my five portions of fruit / veg a day.

From top: Cucumber Sandwich; Salad

I finally picked some sweet items the fourth time I went to for food. This time another classic part of afternoon tea filled my plate: the scone. I took two scones, one plain and another raisin. I accompanied the scones with cream and strawberry jam. The scones were nice and not too dry, with the raisins adding some sweetness to them.

Scones: Plain on left; Raisin on right

Although the sign said clotted cream it was actually whipped cream, much to my wife's disdain. She is a bit of a connisuer when it comes to scones and cream and expressed her disappointment to the management. In a good show of customer service it was replaced with clotted cream by them, which kept my wife happy.

So with this staff friendliness I quite liked the place. The lounge area is bright and had comfortable seats, with nice tableware.

We had enough to eat, all of which was good and there were items we did not have room in our stomachs to try such as cakes and sushi so something to choose from the next time I visit.

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

Overall: 15/20

Total bill: $500, about £20 a head.

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Darjeeling Tea.

I wore: Smart Jeans and Polo Shirt.

Coast, Rasa Ria Resort, Sabah, Malaysia

This late lunchquest is about the dinner I had with my wife at Shangri-La's Coast restaurant, on the last night of our stay at the hotel.

I booked a gazebo for a romantic outdoor dinner on the beach. Prior to dinner we were able to watch the sunset as I had reserved the gazebo for the evening, which was a pleasant way to start.

We went back to our room to freshen up and when we returned to the gazebo the table had already been set up for us and our butler was there to show us our seats. As well as booking the gazebo we had a prearranged menu, where we had a choice of starter, main course and dessert.

After choosing what to eat we were given a cocktail, which was part of the set menu but we had to remind our butler to bring it to us.

Carrot Veloute Amuse Bouche

The first dish to arrive was actually not shown on the menu and it was a Carrot Velouté for the amuse bouche. This small portion of soup was a nice surprise, with it being light and enough flavour.

I had chose Beef Carpaccio as my starter. Strips of raw beef were dressed with lettuce leaves, croutons and a creamy pepper dressing. The whole dish was nice enough, although they could have seasoned the beef a bit more.

My starter of Beef Carpaccio

For the main I opted for the Sea Bass. The fish was poached as it was served with a lemon garlic nage and sat on a bed of peppers with a broccoli puree. It was well cooked so that the fish meat was flaky and all the flavours combined well to make this a tasty dish.

Sea Bass Main Course

I went for profiteroles as my dessert. However, prior to serving I was told that there was no vanilla ice cream for them, which was replaced by chocolate flavour. The dessert was fine but the pastry could have been tasted a bit fresher and the having the vanilla ice cream might have given the dish more balance rather than having too much chocolate.

My Dessert of Profitiroles

Whilst I have referred to using butler (which was what was advertised) as the person who served us I would class her as a waiter. Service was friendly enough but not to the attentiveness and skill-level to butler standard.

The gazebo setting was lovely. The weather had cooled down during the evening but was warm enough for the mosquitos to have a good feed on us, though.

The price I paid per head for this dinner is about the same I had paid before for lunch at Caprice and whilst I had a nice time here, value for money wise I would still much prefer Caprice for food and service.

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

Overall: 15/20

Total bill: 650MYR, about £65 a head.

I ate: Australian Beef carpaccio, Sea Bass, Profiteroles with Warm Chocolate Sauce

I drank: Cabernet Sauvignon and ice water.

I wore: Long sleeve shirt and chinos, but still managed to get bitten by mosquitos.

Tepi Laut, Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort, Sabah, Malaysia

On our second full day of our stay at this Shangri-La resort, we had lunch by their swimming pool and ordered from the above restaurant, which is just next to the pool.


The seats are poolside sun loungers and tables are are small side-tables for placing items. The staff are by the poolside and easy to get their attention and provide very good service. We were given the menu first and they returned a few moments later to take our order.


I went for a very westernised burger and chose a lemonade to go with it.

My wife, whose birthday was that day, opted for just a portion of chips and a lime soda for her birthday lunch.

The food took a while to arrive and I even managed to doze off briefly.  Given I was lying on a sun lounger and having partaken in swimming in both the sea and pool earlier, it was not hard for my eyes to rest.

When my order arrived the plate contained my burger, which consisted of beef patty; bacon slice with melted cheese; lettuce; tomato; cucumber; gherkin; red onion and sesame seed bun. On the side was a very small pot of coleslaw and a bowl of chips.

My Burger and Chips

The burger tasted great, with a substantial patty of beef that was well cooked and the salad ingredients were fresh too, adding extra flavour. The bacon was beef as we were in Malaysian and cheese was melted on top. The chips were freshly made and piping hot and a good side dish. Only the coleslaw was the weak point of the meal.


The lemonade was freshly made and very refreshing on this hot day. It came with a small pot of syrup for you to adjust the sweetness to your liking. 


All in all a very satisfying lunch by the pool.

Scores: Food: 4/5 Presentation: 3/5 Service: 3/5 Setting: 4/5
Total: 14/20

Bill for my food: 52MYR, just over ￡10.

I ate: Classic Burger and French Fries

I drank: Fresh Lemonade

I wore:  Swimming Shorts, geographically challenged LA Dodgers baseball cap.

Sapi Island, Sabah, Malaysia

This entry is another from the 'greater Hong Kong' series. It was the first lunch my wife and I took from our holiday to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. We went on a day trip that included a trek around a local island called Gaya Island and snorkelling around Sapi island that was nearby. Included in the trip was a barbecue lunch and this is how we got on.

Although advertised as a barbecue, what we got was a buffet style arrangement were you helped yourself to the food. Presumably most of the food items on offer were grilled.

We queued and took our food from the metal containers and onto our plastic plates. On the photograph below you will see fish, crab, prawns, sweetcorn, satay, fish balls, chicken wings and sausages, which were probably the barbecued items. Along with these I also helped myself to some rice and noodles.

My first lunch of the holiday

The fish (not sure the of the name, but it is translated to 'big eyed chicken' from Chinese) and crab were nice and meaty but could have done with more seasoning. Fish balls were good too, as was the chicken satay sticks, although no peanut sauce to accompany it. The chicken wings were well cooked, moist and sweet. The rest of my meal was adequate sustenance to refuel myself after some hiking and snorkelling. As it was a buffet I went up to the food counters another time.

There was also watermelon as a fruit dessert, which was sweet enough.

As noted we ate off plastic plates, with basic cutlery and tableware laid out on the beach. Tables were only cleared once everyone had finished, but all this was expected from beachside lunching. Service was minimal but one cannot complain too much.

All in all an enjoyable lunch seeing as it was by the sea, sun was shining and the first proper day of my holiday.

Scores:
Food: 3/5
Presentation: 2/5
Service: 2/5
Setting: 3/5
Total: 10/20

Total Bill: included in the cost of the day excursion, which apportioning this lunch with the trek and snorkelling would maybe be 20GBP a head.

I ate: All of the above

I drank: A Cola flavoured carbonated drink, still water.

I wore: Swimming shorts, snorkelling gear

Pizza Hut, Happy Valley, Hong Kong

This is an entry on a takeaway I ordered from Pizza Hut, a fairly well established chain of pizza restaurants. There is a branch that is takeaway and delivery only that is located on the bottom of my street.

I actually bought the takeaway a couple of nights before as I chose a set meal for two and ate the pizza and soft drink that night. This blog entry is on the remaining items of the meal; the soup and pasta that I had for Saturday lunch.

They are not leftovers as such as I did not eat them and had been placed in the fridge to keep fresh.

Part of the set meal consisted of tuna and sausage penne and chicken and mushroom soup. When purchased the soup and pasta came in the plastic and foil containers respectively. I transferred these to standard crockery as shown in the photograph below after reheating both dishes in the microwave.

From Left: Pasta and Soup

The soup had decent slices of button mushrooms and small cubes of chicken. It was fairly thick but could have done with a touch more seasoning.

My pasta dish had lots of sliced sausage but tuna was lacking a bit as it seemed to have got lost with the tomato sauce. The penne was still al dente after microwaving. Again some more seasoning would not have gone astray.

Both dishes were adequate and filled me up sufficiently for lunch. When you order takeaway only you only have to wait 15 minutes so some items have been probably been pre-prepared. Pizza Hut is a very convenient place for and this meal, whilst nothing extraordinary presents good value when including the pizza and fizzy drink I ate two nights previously.

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 2/5

Service:3/5

Setting: 3/5

Overall: 11/20

Total Bill: $138, about 5.50GBP a head for the whole 2 person meal.

I ate: Tuna & Sauage Penne.

I drank: Chicken & Mushroom Soup.

Akita, Wanchai, Hong Kong

I met my wife after her Saturday shift had finished at Akita, a teppenyaki restaurant near her work place in Wanchai.

It was not busy and we shared the cooking station with a party of three, where our chef would cook and serve for us. We sat down and were given green tea, which was continuously topped up during the course of our meal, and a small bowl of salad with oriental type dressing.

Plate Setting

Both of us opted for one of their set lunches, which I have forgotten the name of the one I chose. It consisted of about six dishes that are cooked in front of you by the chef.

First dish was steamed egg & roe where the chef had eggs still in their shells but with the tops cut off, placed some water on the hot plate and covered them with the spherical lid to cook. After a few minutes he placed some roe and served. This was a nice and cute starter, with the egg light and the roe added flavour to the whole dish.

Steamed Egg & Roe

The next dish was King prawn. It was split into three pieces after it was cooked and tasted great with the right amount of seasoning and flavour. The head of prawn was actually set aside and served later.

Prawn

Following the prawns was my Beef dish where cubes of the meat were fried until medium rare and served with deep fried garlic. The meat was tender and flavoursome with the garlic giving the whole dish some crunch.

Beef Cubes with Garlic

My wife's equivalent dish was sliced beef roll with spring onion and garlic shown below, which I have to say tasted better.

Beef Roll with Garlic & Spring Onion

Miso soup was the most disappointing. There was nothing terrible about it, it just tasted as if there was too much flavouring. It contained the usual tofu and seaweed in it as well.

Miso Soup

The fried rice came after the soup, where the chef mixed the egg, rice and vegetables expertly.

Fried Rice in the making

Taste wise it was lovely, with all the ingredients mixed and fried well.

Fried Rice

The last hot dish was Stir fried Vegetables, which consisted of cabbage, carrot and onions and probably other ingredients. This was crunchy, had good flavour and a great dish to finish off with.

Stir Fry Vegetables

The great thing about this restaurant is watching your food being cooked in front of you by a skilled chef. Every dish he cooked in front of us did not disappoint. The chef would serve us the food after cooking and the service to clear our finished plates was efficient too. Price-wise, it is very competitive with the amount of food you get. Great restaurant and likely I will be returning.

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

Overall: 15/20

Total Bill: $325, about £14 a head.

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Green Tea and a Coffee, which was part of the lunch set.

I wore: Standard weekend dress of jeans and tee shirt.

Classified, Happy Valley, Hong Kong

I was here with my wife the day after my cousin's wedding on a Sunday and the place was probably 60% full at time that we arrived. It is a licensed restaurant that serves western cuisine and has a few branches dotted around the city.

Unfortunately they did not offer an afternoon tea set during the weekend as I wanted something light after the indulgences of the previous night, I therefore chose a Greek salad. To accompany it I ordered an Iced Lemon Tea as my drink.

My wife went for a sweet option and chose the coffee cake with a watermelon juice.

The drinks arrived first and mine was refreshing and cool with a small pot of syrup to adjust the drink to your desired sweetness. There was a mis-communication with my wife's drink however as they said it was freshly squeezed when she asked but turned out it was only fresh from the supplier. I have to say it reads only "fresh" on the menu.

Iced Lemon Tea on left, Watermelon Juice on right

The salad had the usual ingredients of lettuce, feta cheese, onion and olives. It also had cherry tomatoes as well as sliced tomatoes. All of these ingredients were dressed with olive oil and presented in a nice white plate with the letter "C" printed on it to stand for the name of this restaurant. With all the ingredients combined together the salad was fresh, nice and light.

Greek Salad

I had a bite of my wife's Coffee Cake, which had a decent sponge, tasted sweet and a hint of coffee flavouring that was not too strong.

Coffee Cake

Classified is not a bad place; it is clean and fairly new and the food was of good quality and nicely presented. The waiters were helpful and our orders arrived quickly. As with most places serving non- traditional food on this area, it is a bit more expensive than other eateries serving local cuisine. It does seem to have a large selection of wine and cheese that I may try to sample next time I visit.

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

Overall: 12/20

Bill: Approximately £7 a head

I ate: Greek Salad.

I drank: Iced Lemon Tea