X-treme eating experience - Molecular Xiao Long Bao. Wait what?

Sunshine and good food are the perfect match to define a good day. Rachel and I decided to sarge for food in Stanley in this lovely day with incredibly lovely weather. There was a food fair named "The World of Food & Music" in Stanley this weekend, with the booths of - obviously - food and wine and beer. What I was expecting was just having random hot dogs, nachos, and beer. 

Yet, I had a total new eating experience today - Molecular food.

The music performance in "World of Food & Music" in Stanley Plaza

Bo Innovation booth in the food fair in Stanley

There was a booth by Bo Innovation which is a restaurant with X-treme chinese cuisine. How extreme can food be? I will tell you what - it is truely mad and gives a whole new perspective of food. Rachel and I were firstly attracted by the Molecular Xiao Long Bao. What the hell is Molecular Xiao Long Bao anyways? I mean, I tried Molecular cocktail with champagne bubbles but Xiao Long Bao? What?

So, first take a look of the Xiao Long Bao that we, as a Chinese, are so familiar.

Molecular Xiao Long Bao (1 token - $20) 

Ya I know! This is the Molecular Xiao Long Bao!! It doesn't even look like a Xiao Long Bao! Isn't that crazy? I put the whole thing into my mouth. Pop! The juice inside is the taste of the Xiao Long Bao! Yet, it doesn't have any meat (or even solid) under the thin skin. It just tastes like Xiao Long Bao without actually being a Xiao Long Bao!

 In case you don't know, this is how a "real" xiao long bao looks like.

Oyster, Green Onion and Ginger Snow (2 tokens - $40)

The next one I had was my favorite in the booth - Oyster, Green Onion and Ginger Snow. By that, the oyster was a real poached rock oyster. But the green onion was no green onion but green paste; and the ginger was no ginger but some icy white powder. I had hesitation to put it in my mouth but this was too exciting to see how it really tasted like. It tasted EXACTLY like the stir-fried green onion and ginger oyster!!!! This is the maddest food I ever had! The ingredients weren't really there but it tasted exactly the same!! It feels like future food in those sci-fic!

Tom Yum Gong, King Prawn (2 tokens - $40)

Up next, it was the Tom Yum Gong King Prawn. Okay the prawn was prawn that was seared. But the Tom Yum Gong was like a cocktail that I saw the chef mixing with Grey Goose and something else (secret recipeee) to make the dry ice smoking effect. It was also a nice dish (yummy fresh and spicy prawn) but relatively less shocking than its other dishes.

Foie Gras Lettuce Wrap (3 tokens - $60)

We also tried the Foie Gras Lettuce Wrap with Sauternes Miso. 

This one was the realest food they had there. It was a real Foie Gras (aka goose liver). Wait, I think it was real. I had no idea, though, on the sauce. It's a little bit sweet, a little bit sour and a little bit fruity. The match with Foi Gras was nice, smooth and rich.

Nasi Lemak ice cream (1 token - $20)

The last one goes to Nasi Lemak Ice Cream. Nasi Lemak is a common dish you can find in Singapore and Malaysia which is rice mixed with coconut milk. The Nasi Lemak of Bo Innovation, however, was not exactly rice and not exactly ice cream. In the first bite while you were expecting something sweet and chewy, it was spicy, salty and bubbly. The nuts on top were salty, the red sauce was spicy while the white "ice cream" was bubbly with a little bit of sweetness. It was a new interruption of Nasi Lemak. 

The whole experience was mad, mad and mad. It feels like a baby having its first time tasting new food. Like OMG, this is orange! This is cabbage! This is beef! This is lamb! After eating for over twenty years, I felt like a baby again today, anticipating all the new food that I never had before.

Isn't that just mad?

The tasting menu in Bo Innovation. $860 per person. wow.

Quoted from the founder (also chef), Alvin Leung, of Bo Innovation, "I like to challenge people's expectations, to surprise and excite them. My aim is to have people say, 'That was the best meal I've ever had.' and I just work backwards from that." 

You may miss the chance of having the dishes above in Stanley as the food fair only lasted til today. But you can visit Bo Innovation in Wan Chai (Shop 13, 2/F, J Residence, 60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong) for this extreme experience. Well, it will also be an expensive experience as the meal will cost  $860 per person up to $1680 per person + 10% service charge there. What can I say? We are talking about an extreme experience. Oh, and I only spent $180 for it today. Ha, this made my day.

1/ Where: Stanley Plaza

2/ Where: Bo Innovation

Address: Shop 13, 2/F, J Residence, 60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong)

Opening Hour: Mon - Sat, 12nn - 2pm, 7pm - 12 midnight

Tel: 2850 8371

Website: http://www.boinnovation.com/

I obviously don't have an Egyptian stomach

I am open minded in food; I believe if a person is open minded in food, he/she would be probably more open minded in other things else. Yesterday, I felt like eating something different, well exotic. So, Steven and I went to Habibi Cafe for Egyptian food. If you feel exotic, I will recommend you to go to Habibi (1/F, Grand Progress Building, 15-16 LKF, Central) instead of Habibi Cafe (112-114 Wellington Street, Central) as the dishes in Habibi are far more decent. 

We ordered Spinach Pie, Lamb Pie, Kofta Al Gabal (which is minced lamb sausages, braised in tomato sauce) and Mashwiaat (which is mixed grilled of chicken, lamb and beef kebab) . 

I will conclude like this: Although my head is open-minded to any kind of food, my stomach says the opposite. And I feel reluctant to write about it. Therefore, instead of writing in details, a picture is worth a thousand words - and on top of these thousand words, I could write captions.

Spinach Pie ($40) that is way too heavy and oily for me. After having two pieces, I felt reluctant to eat more.

Kofta Al Gabal which is minced lamb sausages, braised in tomato sauce. ($30) It sounds terrible but I must confess I think it looks like dogshit covered in tomato sauce.

Lamb Pie ($40). Similar to the Spinach Pie, it is heavy. Although it doesn't have cheese as in the Spinach Pie, the minced lamb was salty and strong-flavored to make you feel very heavy. I could only handle one piece.

Mashwiaat which is mixed grilled of chicken, lamb and beef kebab with cous cous that my friend, Eric hated most ($150). It was okay. The kebab was satisfactory but not exactly OMG-impressive. And the spice is too strong for me, leading to stomachache at midnight.

I've never been to Egypt. I never dated an Egyptian guy. I had Egyptian food.  Okay, there's actually no correlation here. But I don't think I can handle the second given I cannot handle the food.

Well, like many other things, it's an experience.

Where: Habibi Cafe

Address: 112-114 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

Opening hour: Mon - Sun 11am - 11pm

Tel: 2544 3886

Crazy thing about food, tapas and churros

Wed night was not a typical good night. You all know why - it's the middle of the week, stuck in the middle. I am not good at sarging boys but I am good at sarging food. Instead of heading home to watch Jamie Oliver on my cozy couch, I headed out with my foxy friend, Sylvia to Central for tapas. 

Randomly searching food in openrice, I finally ended up in Tapeo, a place in the busy and loud end of Hollywood Road, near LKF. Tapeo was a small restaurant with an open kitchen and a bar table surrounding it. It's not a fine restaurant that you could sit comfortably to eat. Instead, it's a very lively place with diverse customers talking, standing, sitting, eating and drinking. On Wednesday night, the place was surprisingly crowded and thank God we got two seats at the end of the bar table. With the skyhigh heels of my friend, I seriously did not want her to walk around to hunt for food. 

We ordered two tapas and a dessert. They were marvelous. I am not overstating here but they really were. I love it love it and love it. 

I chose the Crab Tortilla and Sylvia chose the Stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Mojo Verde. And of course we shared.

The stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Mjo Verde that drives me crazy ($78)

The first dish comes the stuffed peppers with veal, pork and almond. It was so good. The flavor was so layered and matched with each other in such a delicious way. Tomato, beef, pork, pepper, pesto, and with some almond. Ohhhhh and Mmmmm I felt so blessed eating this.

The warm and nice Crab Tortilla ($72)

The Crab Tortilla was Mmmmmm too. It may not be as delicate as the stuffed peppers but it was nice to have some starchy food for dinner for me. The potatoes, eggs, leek, and crab were soft and warm. I don't know why - whenever the food is starchy, soft and warm, it makes me feel so homey. And homey food is my favorite.

Churros & Chocolate ($52)

A nice dinner should end with something sweet. I have a thing in churros. Without checking other desserts in the menu, I ordered the Churros & Chocolate straight ahead. The churros were freshly fried but it wasn't like the churros I had before. And trust me, churros and chocolate are not a good couple, they can't even be friends.  If you order this, I will suggest you not to dip the chocolate. Instead, ask for more sugar. 

The first time I had Churros was in San Diego, California. Freshly made churros, sprinkled with sugar. I was having a very date with a very guy in Sea World and we were eating churros before getting in the ride that made us completely soaked. That was my thing with churros - it was something sweet to eat in a California-sunny-young day. It was not a dessert with chocolate dip or even placed on a plate. The memories are in pieces. But I remember the Churros, the Amtrek train and the Geisha tattoo. 

Remember the first time you ate something and how it lingered with your memory? It always stays there and that's the crazy thing about food and how it connects to your heart.

The wall illustrating different parts of a pig in Tapeo

Where: Tapeo: Bar de Tapas Y Vino

Address: 19 Hollywood Raod, Central, Hong Kong

Opening hour: Mon - Sun 12nn - 2pm, 5pm - 10pm

Tel: 3171 1989 (No reservation after 730pm. By the way, they have the special price of $150 for 2 tapas and wine before 7pm)

I hate to say I love McDonald's pancakes

You cannot deny it - a breakfast under HK$35 with pancake, sausage, eggs, hash brown, bread and coffee and home delivery without your ass moving out of home is great. And to be fair, the pancakes are very nice. warm and soft with butter and syrup. It may not be the best but the package is good and valued for its price. 

Personalizing your Sunday breakfast by moving the McDonald's breakfast to your own china

Okay, here is the perfect plan to make yourself a lazy Sunday with 8 simple steps:

1/ Wake up and make a call for home delivery of the McDonald's breakfast (2338 2338)

2/ Get back to bed and sleep for another 30 minutes

3/ Get the plates and your favorite coffee mug from the cupboard

4/ Get the delivery by the door without changing your PJs/ fixing your hair/ putting any make upand pay $33 

5/ Move the whole breakfast to  your china 

6/ Get back to the bed 

7/ Enjoy the breakfast in bed and read a book

8/ If you like, sleep for another hour 

The best combo will be buying yourself an onesie like the one Ryan Gosling wore in Ellen's show. Hey you tell me. What's better than wearing an onesie and eating breakfast in bed and all you need to pay is HK$33?

Okay, I want an onesie this year's Christmas now.

Ellen Degeneres and Ryan Gosling
in onesie

Where: Home

What: McDonald's breakfast home delivery

Tel: 2338 2338

Serving hour: Mon - Sun before 11am (last order 1050am)

Can you gimme a better brunch/ breakfast?

Last time attempting to go the Brunch Club that more than few friends recommended, we didn't make it at last as there were way too people and waiting in line for brunch doesn't make any sense. Today, Mira and I tried our luck to go there at one. Though it was still very crowded, we squeezed in and had our table.

Not sure if it was lucky or unlucky that we made it as I was utterly disappointed.

Start off, no one really seemed to care to serve us that I needed to walk to the waitress to ask for a menu. I ordered the Parma Ham Egg Benedict and Mira ordered the Waffles with honey and butter. Well, honestly, I am not sure if it's just me. Even it's a brunch/ breakfast, I want something big and full and nice. The most important thing is caring every bit of details.

So, this is the egg benedict from the infamous Brunch Club. Look at the hash brown. When you order an egg benedict, it is not just the benedict you're ordering. You're ordering the whole package - the hash brown, the green salad, even the salt and pepper and ketchup. Details are important when you pay nearly $100 for egg benedict. To be fair, the egg benedict was okay. But the hash brown is like the exact same that I could buy from the frozen section in Parknshop. I was expecting a bit more than that.

Parma ham egg benedict

And then this is the waffles with honey and butter that Mira ordered. I tried a piece. Ummm, it was okay. It was not even close to good and far far away from great. Good waffles should be a little bit crispy outside and soooo soft inside with strong taste of egg. And the most important part : freshly made waffles should have the best smell that can attract the whole restaurant's attention as if the waffles came alive and said "SMELL AT ME AND LOOK HOW GOOD I WILL TASTE!". That was just average.

Waffles with honey and butter

The brunch today made me miss the 24-hour breakfast in downtown LA. The Original Pantry Cafe. The 24-7 diner was soooooo nice with very warm and lively atmosphere and long history in town. It was opened since 1924 and the owner proudly claimed "Never Close. Never Without A Customer". It is a place you can get the biggggg nice american breakfast with eggs, pancakes, toasts, bacons, sausages, french toasts, potatoes, cheese omelette and all that. This is the kind of breakfast I would enjoy - You go with a morning hunger and you leave with a giant food baby.

The Original Pantry Cafe in downtown Los Angeles

Very old american style

Taste is just very personal, especially for your first bite in the morning. If anything, I think breakfast is the best meal among all. Brunch Club is not my ideal breakfast/brunch/whatsoever, maybe it's yours I don't know. There sure is a reason why many people return, but it just happens I am not one of them. 

P.S. I was so moody after the brunch and needed to cheer myself up by buying a donut from Marks and Spencers. The donut was actually goood. Haha.

Finished my last bite of egg benedict and goodbye

1/ Where: Brunch Club

Address: G/F,70 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong

Opening hour: Mon - Sun 8am - 10pm

Tel: 2526 8861

2/ Where: The Original Pantry Cafe

Address: 877 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA

Opening hour: 24-7 (YES!)

Tel: 213 972 9279

Website: http://www.pantrycafe.com/

Sucking popsicle, Stealing wine glasses, and eating risotto

Friday night is usually the best, even with a dreadful weather like tonight (My feet were a complete mess. My black heels were soaked and the best is the black went off from the leather straight ahead to my toes. Thanks for the rain.) Kevin and I hit the Blindspot Gallery at Soho afterwork for the opening of the exhibit "Fragments of My Imagination" by Chila Kumari Burman. The first impression of the pieces is their bright color and clustered elements of beads and stickers and everything. But then when you spend more time to observe one by one, you will find a lot of interesting elements behind those colors.

Shivjee Loves Snocreme

Perfect Fit

For example, in Perfect Fit, if you just pass by without paying much attention, it's nothing but a beautiful snapshot of flowers. But definitely you would see more, there were bras hidden. Chila, the British Indian artist - who is also a lovely and passionate (and drunk) lady - demonstrated, "You see it is named 'Perfect Fit' as it is so hard to find a perfect fit bra!" ("He wouldn't know that." I pointed to Kevin. "Ya, he won't!" Chila replied, rolling her eyes playfully.)

Why are there so many popsicles? "Cuz my dad sold ice cream!", she explained.

Colour Ice Cream

Sure that's more than that. Trimmed with those girly beads and gems, the pieces showed the issue of sexuality, races and feminism from the point of view of the British Indian female artist. I actually didn't notice details in Colour Ice Cream until I got back home and revisited the website. Hey, in that, she was sucking the popiscle and touching herself. Oh boy.

With a hyper mood influenced by the wine ("Three glasses?" "No it was my four.") and the lovely artist ("Don't email me. You must text me."), Kevin was so high to leave with the wine glasses. "Hey! You can't leave with the wineglass with you!"I said. Anyways, with one hand holding umbrella, we were holding a wine glass by another hand like a series Friday alcoholic strolling in Soho.

The dinner was in Sole Mio Ristorante Italiano at 47 Elgin Street. It was my second time visiting this place which is cozy/ kind of crowded (you name it). The waitress was nice and friendly. Kevin ordered the spaghetti with squid ink, tomato sauce and seafood; I ordered the mushroom risotto with creamy sauce. 

mushroom risotto with creamy sauce

spaghetti with squid ink, tomato sauce and seafood

Both were lovely. The risotto was creamy and rich while the squid spaghetti was surprisingly "perfect fit" with the tomato and chilli. The portion was perfect too- not too small and not too big, just right. I love food that would actually make you feel good and FEEL FULL. Sure they can satisfy both. Mmmmmm. If I got a bigger stomach, I would have got myself a dessert too.

Although my feet were like hobbit's now, it was worth it. Well, when rain comes, dance in it. 

1/ Where: Blindspot Gallery
Address: 24-26A Aberdeen Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong
What: Fragments of My Imagination by Chila Kumari Burman
Opening hour: Tue - Sat 11am - 7pm
More about the artist: http://www.chila-kumari-burman.co.uk/index.htm
More about the gallery: http://www.blindspotgallery.com/


2/ Where: Sole Mio Ristorante Italiano
Address: 47A Elgin Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong
Opening hour: Mon - Sun 11am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm

I wish I had Jamie Oliver as my husband

With Christmas coming soon (okay, it's only November now but hey they are playing christmas carols already in subway station!), Jamie's Family Christmas was replayed tonight in Pearl Channel!! Wohoooo!! 

I love every bit of Jamie Oliver's cooking. 

What makes him such a success (and me crazy about him) is his way of seeing food. He makes cooking food a fun thing to do. He connects people by food, through cooking local traditional food to discover others' culture, through making pancakes and cookies with kids to share laughters, through eating his dishes with family and friends to enjoy the moment. Sometimes, many chefs make perfect food with perfect presentation but forget the spirit of food as the joy to share and appreciate.

Everytime I watch Jamie Oliver's show, it reminds me the happiness and inspiration from food that you can't get from elsewhere. In tonight's episode, Jamie was cooking Gammon & Eggs with his nanny Betty. He told Nanny Betty to shake the pan for him, "When you shake the pan, you need to shake your bum too. It makes them (the gammon) taste nice." 

See? This is the fun of food you can't get elsewhere.

For the recipe of Gammon & Eggs by Jamie Oliver, check the link here: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/gammon-egg

And the show "Jamie's Family Christmas" is on Pearl Channel every Wed 8-830pm. Can't wait for next week!

Mission today: Break a heart

The mission today is simple: Break a heart. Or I should say - Eat a heart.

I actually meant to have the red heart-shaped cake named Lea in Agnes b. 

(<<< This one) 

Yet, when I arrived the Agnes b le pain grille in Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong. Lea was delisted already. With a disappointed heart, I found they have replaced Lea by Venezuela (like a new girlfriend). It was only later that I found out it was named Venezuela due to its 70% single origin chocolate from Venezuela. 

Venezuela was a purple girly heart-shaped patisserie. "Why is it purple?" I asked the waitress. She honestly replied me that it was only the artificial coloring to make it prettier. Anyhow, I ordered it and my friend, Pris ordered Jasmine which is made of vanilla jasmine bavoris, jasmine creme brulee and almond sponge cake. 

Short after ten minutes, my little purple heart arrived with the trim of assorted fruits. I kind of worried it will be too sweet as it looks. 

It turns out not! Underneath its purple clothing (by the way, the purple thing doesn't taste a thing), the chocolate is richer than I thought with strong taste. It's not bitter or too sweet. As it is made of chocolate ganache instead of just chocolate sponge, it was so smooth but not too heavy.

The whole process of breaking the heart is like heaven. It was surprisingly even nicer than the one I had yesterday in Spoil with smoother texture. It was closely competitive with the one in Sift.

Hmmmm. mission done in a bliss (and in five minutes). 

I wonder, which heart should I break next?

Where: Agnes b. le pain grille

Address: Shop 33, UG, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

What: Venezuela chocolate patisserie

Opening hour: Mon - Sun 1130am - 10pm

Tel: 2265 7680

Spoil me on the November Saturday

Earlier this week, I planned to go to Vero to find the best chocolate cake in town. The devastating news was that Vero is under construction til late December (I couldn't help grumbling "oh noooooo" immediately on phone when I called to make a reservation and learnt the news).  Therefore, utilizing the social network resources, I posted a question in my facebook status on Friday, "Looking for advice: Where can I find the best apple pie/ chocolate cake in town?". Well, responses mentioned about Awfully Chocolate, Lucullus and even McCafe (what?) etc and etc. Not very satisfying. So, I openriced and finally decided to try the cafe named "Spoil" at Sun Street, Wan Chai.

Honestly, I went there because of the cafe name, Spoil. Oh ya, I want to be spoiled.

The cafe was actually very easy to find. Just get out from the Admiralty exit F at Star Street. Sun Street is next to Star Street. The cafe is at the corner of Sun Street. 

Spoil is a small and cozy cafe. The menu did not exactly include a wide range of dishes but pasta and cakes. But I think it's fair enough for a small cafe like this. It will be so much nicer if they have outdoor tables which they don't. My friend Fili and I went there at 3pm, so they had the tea set for cake + drink with the price of $60 while the signature crunch cake and chocolate cake will require additional $10. The crunch cake looked soooo big in the glassed refrigerator and we were like "Will this be too huge for one?" Anyways, we finally ordered the crunch cake and chocolate cake.

The crunch cake was smaller than we thought. But it sure was big enough for one. In general, the crunch cake was like a regular sponge cake with cream if the crunch pieces did not go with it. It wasn't exactly a crunch cake that you would kill for. (and ya, I travelled an hour for this.) It was good enough to make a good mood but not a killer-good mood.

And for the chocolate cake, it was actually nicer than I thought. It was very rich and smooth. Sometimes, for rich chocolate cake, it will be too heavy and hard. But this chocolate cake was at the right point of smoothness and chocolate flavor and texture. Not exactly as divine as the one in Sift. But you will be pleased by it. I personally think if it can come with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or whipping cream, it will be nicer and more complete.

As a small cafe with around 16 seats, Spoil only had one staff serving but the place was completely full with young people chilling on Saturday afternoon. If you are looking for a place to stay long for a coffee and reading, I won't recommend that for you. It's more like a cafe that you pop in for a quick cake.

What surprises me is its neighbor store Kapok which sells home products, funky products, deco, accessories and notebooks. There was also an area selling coffee and my favorite CUPCAKES. With a food baby belly after the crunch cake and chocolate cake, I didn't try any in Kapok today. With basically no one in the store, Kapok was quiet and perfect for some quality reading time with coffee and CUPCAKES. Hmmm, now I know where I will head for next weekend. Anyone interested?

Where: Spoil Cafe
Shop A, G/F, Shun Ho Building, 1 Sun Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
What: Crunch cake and chocolate cake
Tel: 3589 5678
Opening hour: Mon - Sat 12nn - 1030pm

Basic human right to eat well and enjoy life

I am a horrible quitter. Let me tell you straight ahead in the beginning - in the past twenty four years, I *tried* to learn to speak french, japanese, play guitar, piano, do fashion design, graphic design, play tennis, squash, oh and I did wrote half of a novel and half of a fan fiction. I am not sure if you feel the same but persisting to do one thing is somehow hard. Out of everything I did, I thought, "What is the very one thing that I have been doing in my whole life and I am good at it?"

It turns out I always love eating.

I know how stupid it sounds. Who doesn't eat anyways? But it is so true that eating good food makes me feel so alive and I can never get enough. In Julie & Julia, it says, "She (Julia Child) wants you to remember that you are human, and as such are entitled to that most basic of human rights, the right to eat well and enjoy life." For this, I am feeling like a human right lawyer here.

If you say yes to below like I do,
1/ I could make embarrassing noise like "Hmmmmm" or "Ohhh godddd" when having a nice piece of cake or a nice scoop of gelato
2/ Visiting a new restaurant could be the most forward looking thing for me at the week
3/ I could be devastated because of a disappointing steak
4/ And I could be insanely happy for three days just because of having a superb brunch
5/ I could travel for 1.5 hour just for a cupcake
6/ I could spend time to learn new food names and even write them down in a vocabulary book
7/ I especially like reading books that are related to food (eg Julie & Julia, Eat Pray Love)
8/ I couldn't get enough of food all the time

If I need to find one thing to persist doing, I choose eating, eating and eating. I mean, eating, eating and eating good food.

And I want to write about it. Write about the joy from food. Write about the journey to find the best chocolate cake in town. Write about the restaurants that surprise me and disappoint me. Write about all my feelings on food and share to everyone here.

This blog will be about Food.
Food.

And more food.