Canto dining in Wanchai - Sang Kee (生記海鮮飯店)

Trying to find a suitable resto to take Ma and Ba Chan for dinner has been a continuous conundrum for my bro and Jools this hollier but I think they came up trumps with this traditional Cantonese resto in Wanchai, 生記海鮮飯店. Securing a table was a little challenging due to upcoming Mothers Day on Sunday so it meant eating a little earlier than usual and giving the table back for a 2nd seating. No matter, food was nice and folks were happy so thats all that matters, RESULT!! :)

Mothers Day specials!

Resto speciality of salt-baked chicken. Bro was regretting not ordering a whole one of these bad boys! :)

Another 生記 speciality - pan fried fish cake with lotus root

Sang Kee Restaurant (生記海鮮飯店)

2-3/F, 107-115, Hennessy Road, Wanchai

灣仔軒尼詩道107-115號2至3樓

Tel: 2575 2239 / 2575 2236

Private kitchen dining - Gong Guan (公館)

One of the big crazes to hit the HK dining scene over the last few years has been the proliferation of private kitchens (私家菜). Some of them are literally a few tables and chairs in someone's living room but these days, they are much more sophisticated affairs and are little restaurants that might be in residential blocks or less central locations. My friend D had organised dinner at Gong Guan (公館), located in Sheung Wan so was looking forward to my first private kitchen dining experience :)

As I mentioned before, I was very surprised to find that 公館 was a full-blown restaurant, albeit a small one with little private dining rooms. Decor and service were akin to what you would find in most HK restos. Dinner was a multi-course tasting menu and based on Shanghaiese cuisine - whilst a little pricey (around HKD400 per head and a minimum reservation of 8 people), there was no shortage of food and for the most part, dishes were tasty and well-executed. Definitely recommend peeps try out private kitchen dining in HK, my preference would be to try and find a truly bijou place for my next outing!! Thanks again D for organising :)

Marinated aubergine with crispy pork jerky crumbs

Cold jellyfish in the background. In the foreground, home-made gluten with Chinese mushrooms, bamboo shoots, wood fungus and star anise - very yummy and substantial vegetarian dish

Tofu served with chopped preserved vegetables

Fresh bamboo shoots with salad dressing - a real treat! :)

Braised marble beef in spicy sauce

My hors d'oeuvres "haul"

Soup or "Heavenly Brew" as described on the menu??!!

 "Celestial Rolls" - aka. pastry wrapped with squab, Chinese mushroom and Chinese ham (金華火腿)

 

Pork knuckle slow cooked with soy sauce and rose wine (玫瑰露酒) -  玫瑰露 was a little overpowering and alcohol had not been evaporated off :(

Not a looker but delicious - stir fried jumbo scallops!

Chinese cabbage with soymilk broth

Crispy roast chicken, Shanghai style!

Deep fried fish with garlic and seaweed

Stir fried Shanghai style rice pasta

To finish, mini glutinous balls sweet soup

Gong Guan (公館)

2/F,Fung Woo Building,279 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan

上環德輔道中279號豐和大厦12樓

Tel: 2577 9789

  

Dim Sum Kowloon style - Ho Choi 好彩海鮮酒家

After our trip to Seoul, Ma Chan had arranged to meet one of my great aunts for some dim sum in Prince Edward so we dutifully hopped on the MTR over to Kowloon. The last time I saw my great aunt was back when I was a toddler so I didn't really recognise her at all. It was nice getting reacquainted with my rellies and digging into some yummy food at the same time. I'm beginning to regret not spending more time on Kowloon side as based on this particular meal, the food is far superior (and cheaper) compared to the island side :)

Ho Choi Seafood Restaurant (好彩海鮮酒家 )

3/F, Allied Plaza, 760 Nathan Rd, Prince Edward, Kowloon

太子彌敦道760號聯合廣場3樓

Tel: 2398 2060

Petite Amanda

I have been wanting to visit Petite Amanda since my last trip to HK but never had the time to do so last September. For those who don't know, Petite Amanda is a patisserie located in the IFC Mall in Central which is owned by ex-model Amanda Strang. Amanda is half French half Chinese and as far as I know, trained at Cordon Bleu in Paris. More interestingly for me, she was the previous stagiaire at the place where I did my HK stage a few years back - sadly, our paths never crossed!

The shop is tucked away in a corner in between the Apple Store and Starbucks; to be honest, it looks more like a counter than shop and is directly opposite to 2 lifts which is a little weird. Petite Amanda does have seating but it looks like the mall manager has just given them some dead space within the mall rather than a dedicated enclosure. I suppose that's the sacrifice one has to make to get the top-notch location of IFC....

Ba Chan and I popped down for a visit after lunch and bought a couple of cakes to try back home - Vanilla Millefeuille and Amarina (pistachio financier with pistachio mousse and sour cherry jelly). I was sceptical about the millefeuille at first as it looked rather dull but actually tasted delicious, as was the Amarina. Flavours and level of sweetness were just right but cakes were maybe a little bit on the small side, especially when charging close on HKD50 per cake, steep by HK standards.

I actually paid a 2nd visit to Petite Amanda towards the end of my trip with my friend D and the boss herself was at the shop! I never usually do this but did go over to introduce myself and say how much I liked her shop. My mistake was yabbering away to her in Cantonese because during our conversation, I got the feeling she hadn't a clue what I was saying?? Oh wellos, I'll remember to speak English the next time!! :)

Choux on my 2nd visit - slightly disappointed. Looked nice but tasted pedestrian.

Liking the teabag a lot! 

Final postcards from Seoul

The past meets the future (Old City Hall vs. New City Hall)

Artwork at Cheonggyecheon (청계천)

Souvenir mall, Ssamziegil (쌈지길)

"Last supper" at Incheon airport!! (what a joy to find decent food at an airport!) :)