Causal Brunch @ Mana

Tea tasting @ Ming Cha

It is common for Asians to drink tea, but does it mean Asians are tea savvy? I realized there are so much to learn after attending a tea tasting session at Ming Cha. One thing worth noting here is that I like to order Puer when having dim sum because it is the most neutral tea; and it helps with digestion system. I thought I am smart till I learnt about many restaurants don't have a good air conditioning system to keep the tea leaves from molding. Thus, some restaurants would re-roast the tea leaves and serve to customers. Usually it is not obvious with black tea. So this is the risk you have to bare by ordering black tea in a dim sum place. The safest choice would be white tea, because it is clear color, and it bears a very subtle taste. In case something went wrong, it is easier to spot.


Ming Cha provides several tea tasting packages. My friend and I tried four different kinds of tea ( Mandarin Orchid, Phenix Supreme, Wuyi Mountains back tea and Red Plum Classic) for HKD 300. The session lasted about 2 hours, and I gained a lot of knowledge on tea. Different type of teas need to be brewed at different water temperature. For the green tea lovers, have you ever noticed your green tea is just too bitter? That's probably because you brew it with over 90 degrees Celsius, and burnt the green tea leaves. For the fermented or post fermented tea, we could feel free to brew it with higher water temperature.




The tea tasting menu is a bit pricey since MingCha is located in a factory building with mediocre tea tasting environment. However, with a completed tea leave stocking and one on one tea education which comes with the tea tasting; I can see this is not a bad place to visit for tourist who are interested in learning more about Asian culture. And if you are looking for any tea related gears, this is the place. Last but not lease, the founder Vivian Mak is truly passionate about tea. I read several of her articles on SMCP, she is a definitely a tea guru.



My recommendation of her green tea article since I am a green tea lover >>

 http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1248240/yum-cha-green-stuff


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MingCha
12D Wah Ha Factory Building, 8 Shipyard Lane | Taikoo, Hong Kong, China
http://www.mingcha.com/tea1.html

Yonge Piggies (Canadian Hotdog)

The prevalence of hotdog fever in NYC didn’t spread to Asia. In NOHO NYC, I can easily find kimchi hotdog, seaweed hotdog or wasabi hotdog in addition to traditional hotdog flavors.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a solid hotdog place in Hong Kong until I tried Yonge Piggies. Yonge (pronounced “young”) Piggie is a Canadian hotdog joint.

Yes, you can find poutine fries here J   Poutine is simply french fries, fresh cheese curds, and brown gravy. It is a Canadian snack-meal-diner specialty, and can be crazy delicious.  

What distinguishes a good hotdog from a bad hotdog is the sausage.  A grilled to perfection sausage must be crispy but juicy. I think Yonge Piggies succeeds in providing grilled to perfection sausages with quality consistency. I ordered three different hotdog combos because I was sharing with friends : Honey Garlic, Picante Pepper and Hickory Smoked.  I also tried the gravy, chili and cheese sauce French fries as they come with the combos.

The condiments counter provides various toppings: grated cheddar, jalapenos, olives, onion, bacon bits, tomatoes, sweetcorn, sauerkraut, guacamole and relish. I picked onion, grated cheddar, olives and jalapenos. I also added ranch dressing, honey mustard and ketchup on my hotdogs.

I have to say the hotdog tastes lip-smackingly delicious! It completely satisfied my hotdog craving. However, the price range is little high (average $$$ 70-90ish HKD for a hotdog/soda/fries). Service is mediocre… I’ve been to Yonge Piggies 4-5 times, but I have yet to meet a friendly staff, especially at the condiments counter where I pick my toppings.

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G/F, 1 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan
上環蘇杭街1號地下

Taste:

On Lee Noodle (Cantonese)

A good Cha Chaan Teng is difficult to find, since there is no quality control in place. Luckily, my local HK friends brought me to this delicious, authentic and clean Cha Chaan Teng in Shau Kei Wan (MTR HK Island blue line). The restaurant is nearby the MTR station, easy to find.






One of the restaurant's specialty is this condensed milk and butter toast

chopsticks
















Many celebrities come visit








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On Lee Noodle

22 Shau Kei Wan Main Street East
筲箕灣筲箕灣東大街22號 

Mori Hachi Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ)

Dining at Mori Hachi Yakiniku in tst. It is a modern Japanese BBQ restaurant. Firstly , their drink menu is quite interesting. I ordered a Triple Play Wine Cooler, which is a mixture of red wine, grape juice and grapefruit juice. The drink tastes like Sangria, fruity and refreshing. Then, I ordered a chicken cartilage as appetizer. Chicken cartilage is one of my favorite dishes in a Japanese yakitori or BBQ restaurant. This one dish I ordered here is even more special, why? It is curry flavor ! Taste pretty good, no complains. The beefs and chickens are fresh. The bill? Only 250 HKD per person! Superb!

J's Menu : Waton

When it comes to wanton, there are no standard recipes per se. Everyone tends to skew the ingredients towards their own taste buds. I'm here to share how I like my Shanghai wanton stuffings to be.
My ingredients include: ground pork, Chinese cabbage, zha cai ( it is a kind of pickle mustard originated from sichuan province ), Chinese mushrooms, caridean shrimp and fresh shrimp. Ratio goes roughly like 2:2:1:1:1:2.
Then mix the ingredients with soy sauce, sesame oil, little bit of sugar and salt. Let it sit for about 30 minutes before wrapping. This allows the ingredients to get marinated well with the sauces.
Afterwards, start wrapping. Wrapping is pretty easy. Put the stuffings in the middle of a wrapper, fold it. Then place both of your middle fingers in the back of each sides of the wrapper, fold again. Done.

Dining @ Sushi Sase

Dinning @ Hofbranhaus, Berlin Germany

During our days in Berlin and Munchen (Munich), we were literally having pork knuckle every single day! We just couldn't resist the tasty fatty crispy+juicy pork knuckle that is cooked to perfection each and every time. The quality of this German culinary staple is no where to be found in US and Asia, not even in Hong Kong!

On that note, I highly recommend Hofranhaus to experience this unique culinary delight. It is a chain restaurant in Germany, very much like PF Chang, Hard Rock Cafe or Morton's in the States. It is certainly a great choice for travelers who want to get a taste of the German culture and try out some reasonably priced traditional dishes.

Unlike many chain restaurants in the States, Hofranhaus actually has a long history that is dated all the way back in the 16th century when it was founded by a Bavarian duke. He had many demanding royal household to feed, so he ordered the royal court to build its own brewery/diner. Like many royal castles and treasures, Hofranhaus was eventually open to the public in the 19th century. It has since expanded all over Germany to serve the huge demand of hungry locals and tourists!

Dining @ Soren K at the Black Diamond (Danish Royal Library) - Copenhagen

A surprise lunch treat at Soren K, nestled inside the minimalistically designed “Black Diamond” Royal Library in Copenhagen.  I experienced the finest in Danish-French fusion cuisine while enjoying a stunning view of the Copenhagen harbor!   

Norway lobster bisque, peas and tortellini with Norway lobster.

One of the best lobster bisque I have had. The dish is garnished with special Nordic herb; which further accentuated the essence of the fresh lobster.

Ribeye, 250 gram, beans, new onions and olives.

Perfectly cooked medium-well (that's the way I like it =p) steak with so much flavor; served with some delicious home-made garlic mashed potato.

Cherries, vanilla ice cream, crispy olives and sweet cicely.
Yummy!

View outside of the restaurant. This posh looking architect is actually a library :) the locals like to call it the "Black Diamond".

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Soren K

Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1  1221 Copenhagen 33 47 49 49

(inside the library)