Nostalgia at Muntri Street, the 50

Coming through Love Lane from 7-11 that is located at Chulia Street and then turning left into Muntri Street, I've never noticed that this small corner is a nostalgic cafe and gallery that is called 50. Rattan baskets on top of the wooden ceiling, lifestyle pictures on the wall, the black disc player or the cassette-type of radio; every single items here are refreshing the childhood memories that some may have once upon a time. The cozy and comfortable ambient is so relaxing that everyone is chatting and lazing around in a very pleasant pace.

The first eyesight is as well being attracted by the colourful front page of the menu that is decorated with the logo of different hotels or cruises. As we've just taken our dinner, Franky and I have decided to try out their 50 Coffee. This is the syphon coffee that is prepared right before your eyes. The owner is using Honduras coffee beans whereby the grounded beans are located inside the glass bulb on the most top. The bottom part of the syphon is for the water that will be then being heated with a portable lighter. The concept of syphon coffee is by pressuring the hot water through the filter and towards the upper part of the glass bulb that will then being boiled into coffee. The coffee is then flowing down to the clean glass bulb at the bottom once the lighter is moved. The residues of the coffee beans will be sieved by the filter and a cup of hot coffee is then being served in front of us. I've indeed enjoyed the procedures of making a cup of syphon coffee. However, we don't like the coffee as it's too thin and it doesn't have a strong and nice coffee smell.

50 brings back a lot of our childhood memories. I bet that it'll be our new gathering point in future that we'll sure revisit this place again.

Where There's a Local Food Court, at Sg. Pinang

One of the greatest culture about M'sia is the local food courts that you can get various types of dishes here. Ranging from frying to grilling and from main course to side dish or snack, these are the specialties that you can enjoy at cheap price. One of Attila and my favourite food court is Sg. Pinang檳榔河 that is located at Jalan Sg. Pinang. We'll always have our dinner there whenever we're visiting our friend, Cartoon.

It's my habit and it's a must to check East Coast BBQ for their availability for the night here. I've always wandered to check for their daily servings for seafood. My favourite has always been the cuttle fish that is grilled plainly with chili flakes and then being served with the grounded chili sauce. Anyway, do accept that it's a seasonal item that you may not get it all the time! Sometimes, Attila will order the fresh scallops that will be grilled with a lot of chopped garlic for me. I do like the freshness of the garlic yet the scallops are just too salty for me. Well, glutamate or the so-called Ajinomoto!
Some local dishes that we've liked to order are such as Char Koay Teow炒粿條, Fried Wan Tan炸云吞, Fried Mantis Prawn炸蝦羔 and Chinese Pancake or Ban Cheng Koay曼煎糕. I'll say that these are the common dishes that you can find them anywhere or anytime in M'sia yet you're getting them at cheaper price here than any fine-dining restaurants.
Food Court is a specialty in M'sia that it does has come dishes that I may not find it anywhere. To me, it's a culture that I'll respect and appreciate it anytime and anywhere.

Departure from Hong Kong; MY NOSH Café

Departing from Hong Kong with Airasia flight, we've not too many restaurants here. Wandering from here to there and there to here, we've decided to go into MY NOSH Café for our dinner. I guess the only motivation at the moment is sandwich as this is the only place that is serving both Oriental and Western cuisines.

Attila has ordered the King Burger帝皇漢堡包 that consists of beef, lettuce, tomato, pickles, cheese, bacon, chili and fried egg. The burger doesn't taste superb yet the meat patty is quite juicy and Attila is quite satisfied with the combination of all the ingredients. I've asked for myself the U.S Baked Potato with Tandoori Chicken天多尼雞焗薯. This is one of the worst dish that I've ever had because the Tandoori Chicken is tasteless while the potato is not only black but it as well tastes weird.

I'm somehow totally dissatisfied with the dinner yet we're not given too many choices here.

Brownies by Mrs. Fields

Going to the Wan Chai灣仔 MTR station for a subway, I'm attracted and being stopped by the nice aroma from the Mrs. Fields Cookies.This small corner is selling different types of cookies and brownies that range from the plain flavour to the combinations of chocolate and various nuts.

I can't stop my eagerness to purchase that I've decided to try the Walnut Fudge Brownie合桃朱古力批 and Triple Choc Fudge Brownie三料古力批. Each of the brownie is about the size of 1.5cmx3.0cm rectangular cube. I prefer the Triple Choc because the thin layer on top is crusty and with a slight crisp comparing to the Walnut that is quite soft. Anyway, both of the brownies taste delicious with the thick and strong chocolate's taste.
I'm somehow a little regret that I've not made it to buy more brownies from Mrs. Fields. The deliciousness of the brownies has brought my curiosity to buy the brownies for home and also to try the different cookies here.

Healthy Organics; 辣享空间 Menu at 干鍋轩 Restaurant

Visiting around Shenzen town, Dr. Frank has brought us to a shopping mall by the LED market area for a lunch and tea-time break. The highest level of the shopping mall is only about restaurants and we've decided to step into 干鍋轩. I've just realized that the name of the restaurant is a mixture of traditional and simplified Chinese characters. The specialties here are the mushrooms and chickens that are originated from Yunnan Highland云南高原山区. The Wild Mushrooms野菌 are found naturally at the height of 4000m above the sea level while the Chahua Chickens茶花鸡 are fed and grown with the worms and grass in the forest. We've decided to go for a healthy and organic meal here.

The menu itself is called 辣享空间 or it means as well 'A Space to Enjoy Spiciness'. We've ordered the 松茸北风菌茶花鸡香锅 vs 香辣虾香锅 for sharing. Both of these dishes are served in the triangular parts of the metal container separately. I'm amazed by the freshness and deliciousness of the wild mushrooms. The mushroom is small in size yet the taste is very appealing. Besides, both of the prawns and chickens are as well very small and quite meatless. Anyway, some of the us do enjoy the spiciness of the prawns while some of us have indeed enjoyed the tenderness of the chicken. Of course, there's also complaint that the chicken has too many bones.

Additionally, we've ordered the side dishes such as 手撕包菜, 香菇生菜, 云腿芥兰 and 肉末烧豆腐. If I've to translate the dishes directly into English, they're Hand Shredded Cabbage, Mushroom and Fresh Vegetable, Pork Bacon with Kai Lan and Fried Minced Pork with Tofu. We've been so satisfied with the tastiness of all of the dishes above. I've particularly enjoyed the cabbage with the slight spiciness from the dried chili. As the dishes taste a little salty, I'll be glad to have a bowl of white rice.

I think it'll be a good idea if we can have such restaurant in Malaysia. The dishes have somehow changed my mind about the boredom and tasteless of healthy organic food.

Hungry for Dinner at Shenzen; the Landport Restaurant

Passing through the Lo Wu border, we feel so hungry that we've decided to take our meal directly at the bus station before we get starved while on the way to Shenzen West. Choosing randomly, we've decided to go into Landport Restaurant口岸茶餐厅. The surrounding is definitely not the cleanest and the ambient is not most comfortable, yet our great hunger has killed our motivation to walk further.

Attila has chosen to take the 2-in-1 BBQ燒味雙拼 that consists of Honey Barbeque蜜汁叉燒 and Crisp Roast Brisket化皮燒腩肉. The plate looks sinful! The pork that has been glazed with honey that it's burnt slightly and the thick layer of fat meat that is covered with the crispy pork skin, both of the pork taste good with the Mustard dipping sauce. To me, this is alike the Eastern meets Western whereby the Chinese style roasted pork matches well with the yellow Mustard. Anyway, I need to control my appetite over the dish ;)

I've asked for myself a bowl of 爆漿咖喱雞丸湯麵, the noodle soup that is served with 'explosion' curry chicken meat ball. Additionally with 2RMB that I've changed from the plain noodle to Japan instant noodle出前一丁. It's a surprise to me that the soup is served tasteless with the seasoning powder separately. I don't like the chicken meat ball because it's very dry whereby it doesn't contain any sauce to create the 'explosion' feeling while biting. As well, the curry powder is too less to give a 'taste' to the meat ball.

I take it only as a meal to fill my hunger. If you don't mind to walk further, you'll be able to find cleaner or more comfortable restaurant nearby or just hangout in the town.

My Last Stop for Bakery in Hong Kong, Egg Tart at Orchid Padaria

Egg Tart has always been one of my favourite pastry. It has been my wish that I'm so wanting to try an egg tart in Hong Kong. No other reasons, anyone that has visited Hong Kong is proud to promote the egg tarts there. No takeaway and no fancy shops, the egg tarts taste just great even they're sold at any roadside stalls. Finally, I've visited Orchid Padaria Bakery君蘭餅店 during my last stop at Lo Wu羅湖 border between Hong Kong香港 and Shenzen深圳.

A lot of customers are queuing to takeaway some breads or especially the pastries, to be eaten on the way from the border to Shenzen town. The journey will take about 45minutes to 1hour. It's kind of disappointed that the traditional Egg Tart蛋撻 is not available here yet I'm still very happy to find the Portuguese Egg Tart葡撻. Egg Tart is a pastry crust with egg custard and being baked that the egg ingredient is not only smelling nice but as well tasting good. The only difference is that Portuguese Egg Tart is having a crispier crust than the traditional type. Look at the thin crust with the thick layer of egg custard! Oppositely in M'sia, thick crust and thin egg custard. I've been so satisfied as the egg custard here is very delicious.
I hope that I'll have a chance to visit Hong Kong again and I've to really try out the traditional Egg Tart here.

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An Afternoon Tea at Spasso

Visiting one of the busiet area in Hong Kong at Tsim Sha Tsui尖沙咀, we've been waiting to take a short break at Spasso Italian Bar. Restaurant. Terrace that is located at Level-4 inside Ocean Centre. On this sun shining day, we've decided to have our 'sun-bathing' at the open-air area outside of the restaurant. Indeed many customers are here to gather and to chit-chat with friends or to have a meal with family members.

To have a snack during afternoon time, we've taken the Pizza Piccante and Pizza Prosciutto e Funghi for sharing. Piccante is made from their wood stone oven whereby this Pizza consists of tomato sauce, spicy Italian Salami and Mozzarella cheese while Prosciutto e Funghi is topped with tomato sauce, mushroom and cooked ham with Mozzarella cheese. The pizza dough is tasty even it's eaten plain without any sauce. I myself prefer the Salami than the Ham as it's saltier and more delicious. Besides, I don't like the Ham as it's too soft.

I feel a little regret as I don't try out the English Afternoon Tea set here. The weather and ambient are both suitable for an elegant afternoon, in leisurely pace.

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Das Gute inside the Western Market

Western Market has been existed since year 1906 and it's located at Sheung Wan上環 of Hong Kong island. The four important elements are divided between the levels here whereby ground floor is for shop鋪, Level-1 is for cloth布, Level-2 is for food食 and the last level is for Art藝. I like the traditional element of this place especially the solid bricks that have built up the building.

We've decided to make a short stop for a quick lunch at Das Gute Bäckerei Café. Don't ask me for a reason, the restaurant is located at a small corner at the ground floor. Attila has ordered the Das Gute特色三文治 or Sandwiches that are layered with Egg, Ham, Tomato and Lettuce and being served together with French Fries. This is the ordinary sandwich with the toasted bread that you can make it at home. Anyway, the meal does energize us to continue our walking journey. As this is a set meal, it comes together with a homemade bread, a soup and a choice of drink either coffee, tea or orange juice. The soup of the day is a Spinach Creamy Soup that is quite tasteless that it needs more salt.
I guess we all have enjoyed the sightseeing in the Western Market and having a short break with some chit-chat session instead to feedback about the meal. Indeed I'm quite pissed with the unfriendly waiter and waitress.

Morning Dim Sum at Tack Hsin Restaurant

We've decided to go for Dim Sum點心 for our first morning breakfast in Hong Kong. Without proper and further clarification, the hotel receptionist has recommended Tack Hsin Restaurant德興酒家 that is located just beside the Wan Chai MTR station. Whether it's delicious or not, we've wanted to give it a try.

Browsing through the Dim Sum checklist and with a tick, your choices of menu will be served accordingly. Our first dish is the 皮蛋瘦肉粥 or Porridge with Century Egg and Pork. The rice is boiled to the extent that I like this tasty plain porridge. Additionally, we've ordered the 菲王鮮蝦腸 or Chee Cheong Fun with Prawn and Leek. Chee Cheong Fun is a type of flat rice noodle that is rolled into the circular shape. The mixture of prawn and leek is wrapped inside the rice noodle and being steamed before being served with the salty soya sauce and chili paste. It's weird that this dish is served without any sauce here and we've to ask for the soya sauce to add on some taste to the tasteless rice noodle. On the frying menu, we've ordered the 鮮蝦腐皮卷 and 芝士鮮蝦春卷 or Prawn in Bean curd Roll and Cheesy Prawn Spring Roll. Nothing is really special about these menu yet we do quite enjoy the dishes.

Talking about the steaming part, we've ordered the 德興鮮蝦餃, 鮮蝦菜苗餃, 灌湯小籠包 and 蜜汁叉燒包. The Tack Hsin Prawn Dumpling is fully packed with the medium-sized prawns inside the dumpling skin but I dislike the prawn meat that is smelly as it's not really fresh. The second dish of the Prawn and Leek Dumpling is quite similar with the original prawn dumpling except that it's added with the leek and the shape is long and oval. Nothing is really special about this dumpling neither. Followed by is the Shanghai Meat Dumplings that is wrapped with the minced pork. Be careful with the splashed soup while you're biting the meat dumpling! Lastly, we've tried the Char Siew Bun here. Bernd dislike the bun as the skin is too thick while I dislike the ingredient that is tasteless except being too sweet.

Additionally, we've taken then Fried Carrot Cake or 香煎蘿蔔糕. The carrot cake is too soft that it gets too sticky and as well too oily that I'll prefer the crispier type. I do as well feel surprised with the sauce whereby I need to take it with the salty sauce?!!

We feel kind of disappointed with the Dim Sum in Hong Kong. Whether we've been putting up too high expectation, the Dim Sum at Tack Hsin is not really as delicious as the Dim Sum in Penang.