前世的印記

相傳人死後，過了鬼門關便上了黃泉路，路上盛開著只見花,不見葉的彼岸花。花葉生生兩不見，相念相惜永相失，路盡頭有一條河叫忘川河，河上有一座奈何橋。有個叫孟婆的女人守候在那裡，給每個經過的路人遞上一碗孟婆湯，凡是喝過孟婆湯的人就會忘卻今生今世所有的牽絆，了無牽掛地進入六道，或為仙，或為人，或為畜。

孟婆湯又稱忘情水，一喝便忘前世今生。一生愛恨情仇，一世浮沉得失，都隨這碗孟婆湯遺忘得乾乾淨淨。今生牽掛之人，今生痛恨之人，來生都相見不識。

可是有那麼一部分人因為種種原因，不願意喝下孟婆湯，孟婆沒辦法只好答應他們。但在這些人身上做了記號，這個記號就是要麼在臉上留下了酒窩，要麼在脖子後面點顆痣.要麼在胸前點顆痣。這樣的人，必須跳入忘川河，受水淹火炙的磨折等上千年才能輪迴，轉世之後會帶著前世的記憶、帶著那個"記號"尋找前世的戀人。

Vancouver Gastropost Mission 62 : Asian Noodle Smackdown

November 11th, 2014
Posted by: Team Gastropost

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From Gastroposter Rosita Lam, via Instagram:

Empress Cafe : Japanese mentaiko spaghetti www.facebook.com/thepearlorange

 

Tags: foodblogger japanesenoodle foodie foodporn food hkfood foodphotography foodstagram mentaiko foodblog pasta hkig hkiger japanesecuisine fishroe gastropost foodgasm cafe spaghetti foodcoma hkfoodie wanchaifood igfood empresscafe asiannoodlesmackdown foodguide nom pearlorange yum

*Reposted from Gastropost Vancouver

Bra Bla Bla

*Source: Braologie

Cold-Overpriced to the Max | Cali-Mex

The first time I knew about Cali-Mex was when I passed by the outlet in Central when it was still under renovation and while I finally saw the opening of another branch in Wanchai, I went there to grab a quick lunch one day.  There aren't many Mexican joints in HK, let alone good ones so I was really looking forward to giving this place a try.  The branch in Wanchai is on Queen's Road East right next to Burger King and PP3 - quite conveniently located.  Ordering's at the front, and there're seating on the second floor.

That afternoon I was craving for something light so I opted for the Baja fish taco ($98) in medium spice, which was definitely not cheap I thought.  *still reminiscing the once-upon-a-time CAD 99cent tacos at Taco Bell*  Food was ready pretty soon and I grabbed a free-seating-fast-food-style table upstairs.  The order came in 3 taco shells, although the presentation didn't look too very appealing.

In fact, the food itself didn't taste that great either.  The salsa and sour cream was cold, which of course I wasn't surprised but nothing else was even a tiny bit warm, not the taco shell, not the fish.  While there're 3 tacos in an order, which worked out to be around $33 each, there was only one small piece of fish found in each one of them, and the rest was stuffed up with veg and sour cream.

This place is not worth my second try.  I would much rather get a deluxe lunch combo at Tsui Wah WITH beverage at this price.  At least they serve their food hot.

Cali-Mex, G/F 25 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, +852 2325 3005

District:  Wanchai

Overall Rating: 2 / 5

Cost:  $100 ph


*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Didn't Have My Sweet Tooth Fix | Pantry Bread & Pastries

People are right when they say Hong Kong is very fast-paced and changes rapidly.  I left town for a mere 2 weeks and came back and saw many new shops on Queen's Road, one of them being Pantry.  I believe the Pantry in CWB has been around for some time and they are famous for their pastries and cookies.  I got off early one day and thought I'd buy home a dessert to fix my sweet tooth so I went to the new branch in Wanchai.

It's a bright and neat little bakery shop with all sorts of breads and cookies shelved on one side, all of which were welcome for sample tasting.

The other side were the cakes and apparently they do lunch sets too.

What really caught my eyes were the cute Lego block cakes ($54) which came in various colors.  The blue blueberry cheesecake sounded most safe so I bought that one home.

I took a first bite and thought...hmm, it's not the usual kinda cheesecake I had before, not the traditional style, and not even NY nor Japanese styles.  I thought the cheese texture and taste resembled ricotta cheese, not that I'm saying ricotta cheese is bad, but it's not what I was expecting for when I bought this cheesecake home.  Inside the cake, there was a layer of blueberry purée, cake and a crunch covered by the "cheese".

The cake itself looked cute and creative, perfect for photoshooting purposes, but the flavor was not fantastic.  Let's just say I didn't have my sweet tooth fix.  Likely I will give this bakery a second try, but will definitely go for the safer option of chocolate cake or cookies.


Pantry Bread & Pastries, G/F 101 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, +852 2577 3898
District:  Wanchai
Overall Rating:  3 / 5
Cost:  $54 per small cake


*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Healthy Food on a Fever Day | Gaba Concept

I called in sick one day and after visiting the doctor in CWB, I decided to grab some healthy food from Gaba on the way. To be honest, the location was a little awkward. Seated on the first floor of an old building on Lockhart Road, I had to beep the old-style intercom at the door on the ground floor for them to unlock the gate for me to go up the building, reminding me just exactly how many many years I haven’t gone up to these private venues for late-night drinking, which was THE thing 6.5 years ago when I came back to HK.

The cafe was quiet, not a surprise though on a weekday afternoon, but it was a cozy venue.   They even had my fav pink lily on each table, e-props.

I ordered the pasta du jour which was whole wheat pasta with pan-seared scallop. Scrumptious al dente spaghetti mixed with ginger, garlic and spring onion (like the dipping sauce for Chinese white cut chicken), the scallop was skillfully seared such that the inside remained raw.

I was already warned but how can a fever day go without sweets? So, I went ahead and ordered the Puffle – chocolate puff x waffle. It was a big portion and the fact that the ice-cream was home-made and sugar-free made me feel that much better. There’s always a trade-of course. The waffle was not orgasmic, probably because butter and cream and all those sorts of unhealthy ingredients were opted out of the recipe. I love the chocolate puffs and vanilla sauce though. They were very crunchy, and the dark chocolate sauce poured on top did not make the puffs too sweet.

    

Sank into Adele’s singing in the background the entire time, it was a relaxing and healthy experience at Gaba. Will definitely be back next time to try out their unique coffee selection and dessert. See the turntables? Hopefully can catch DJ in the house next time too! ;)

 

Gaba Concept, 1/F Diamond Mansion, 462-468 Lockhart Road, CWB, +852 3679 0348

Overall Rating:  4 / 5

Cost:  $200 ph - Lunch

*REPOSTED on OpenRice

A Sexy Back With An Over-sized Perfume Box

Perfect color for the fall season, I've chosen this Zalora teal cross-back dress in long sleeves ($119) and a cute Buy Something Borrowed perfume bottle clutch ($209) for Missy Chan.  Both purchased from www.zalora.com.hk


More fall styles to come...

Cocktails With a Healthy Asian Twist | Little LAB Central

After dinner at Ho Lee Fook on Friday, us girls decided to explore westbound of Soho to this new vibe little hub surrounding Aberdeen Street and landed in Little Lab Central. Although the bar looks just like any other bars in the area, the drinks on their menu definitely are not the usual ones you get outside.

The Newborn ($120) – premium spiced rum combined with a traditional Chinese ginger stew taste, you know the reddish-black collagen-loaded vinegar soup with pork knuckle – is a must try, despite of course, the absence of the collagen loading element. Rum, while lightly infused with homemade vinaigrette, made this a very refreshing drink after a heavy meal.

Spice rum with traditional Chinese ginger stew

Missy Leona ordered the L.A.B.’s Iced Tea ($120). The specialty iced tea cocktail was a refreshing gold rum based long drink with hints of botanical and tea tannic mixed with home blended dai-pai-dong tea syrup, though somewhat just another name for Long Island I thought. Missy Mastermind ordered the Ginseng in Black ($135), a manly blood-boosting drink which totally suited her style.

Poor Missy hr didn’t get off work till 10 so we ordered her some nibbles and an Orienated Romas ($120), another Chinese fusion alcoholic drink which tasted like cream soda + milk.

Apologies for the lack of info due to the fact that I was already half tipsy at this point. smile And hey look, at least I remember us getting freebie sweets from the bartender!

Little LAB Central, G/F 48-50 Staunton Street, Central
District:  Soho, Central
Overall Rating:  4 / 5
Cost:  $150 ph


*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Chic Décor but Average Food | Upper Modern Bistro

Following an oh-so-very-healthy "extreme sport" session of jogging on Bowen Road on Saturday, my girls and I thought we'd reward ourselves with a nice brunch. We called 30min before going and still managed to get ourselves a table, lucky us we thought. It was also definitely a good idea by me to at least have a shower before we headed there despite no make-up cuz first thing I saw after sitting down was a table across from us with a whole bunch of friends I know. The oversized Ksubi shades were definitely my lifesaver.

Having sat down we were a hungry bunch hogging the bag of warm crunchy baguette and sparkling water ($65), while not losing our etiquette of course.

Warm crunchy baguette

The girls all opted for the healthy option – fresh juice ($65), Roseberry-Apple ($65) and T-Fizz ($65) - while I was the only one to order a tiramisu martini ($128). What’s a meal without a drink, right? Right.

Roseberry-Apple – cranberry juice, apple juice, rose and soda

Cranberry juice, apple juice, rose and soda

T-Fizz – English breakfast tea, apple juice, elderflower, lemon juice and ginger ale

English breakfast tea, apple juice, elderflower, lemon juice, ginger ale

Tiramisu martini - pretty self-explanatory

Kahlua, Frangelico, baileys, milk, cream

Half satisfied already from the bread and drink, we can now take a look around and appreciate at the restaurant’s décor – bright, modern and chic with a mural ceiling made out of white and grey petals. Being a fan of modern art, I was automatically drawn to the attention of an oriental woman painting hung on the wall. The chairs here were the female-unfriendly kinds with huge openings at the back so there’s nowhere to put the purse except for on the lap…but then, you gotta use the napkin too, so yes in summary = annoying.

Modern interior

To be honest, food on the menu didn’t look too attractive and neither did the price, given it was only lunchtime. Thought I didn’t wanna waste my 7k of fat-burning jog, I went for the fish du jour ($188), which I already forgot what kind it was. Missy hr went for the egg benedict ($138), Missy Leona for the sandwich jambon-comté ($98) and Missy Mastermind for the 63º egg ($148), all of which were very average I would say. We shared the artichoke macaroni side ($128) which was at least slightly better with all the cheese. Like, how could it not? And hey, I didn’t even realize the side was actually even more expensive than a main until now??

Although the fish was cooked just right, the texture and the taste were not very overwhelming. The egg benedict, was an egg benedict. The bread for Missy Leona’s sandwich seemed to be from the same family as the basket of baguette we got which made her entire meal very dry, AND chewy. The 63º egg was the best dish. Well, that WAS their signature after all.
Overall, not very wow food but the ambiance was there, given the chic décor and location which was artfully tucked in a quiet street in Poho. Hmm, another been-there-done-that.


Upper Modern Bistro, 6-14 Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan, +852 2517 0977
District:  Poho, Sheung Wan
Overall Rating:  3.5 / 5
Cost:  $300 ph - Lunch


*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Holy Eff! Truly A "Blessing" In The Mouth? | Ho Lee Fook (口利福)

Located in the basement of lower Elgin Street, this Chinese fusion restaurant welcomes you with a whole wall of golden fortune cats and mah-jong, both of which in the Chinese culture are believed to bring one with prosperity and luck.  What a good start on a Friday evening after a hell's day at work with the Wicked 2-faced Devil.

You can be sure to get a peace of mind from bombarding group messages in your Whatsapp and work emails from your BB because mobile signal here was very weak, especially towards the back where we were sitting.  The industrial, rustic and slightly orientally artsy décor of this Chinese restaurant was what made the ambience different from the usual noisy and bright family-friendly Chinese cuisines.

And...cheers to TGIF and a break from the Wicked 2-faced Devil, we had the mule, lemongrass mix and some kinda cold tea mix.

Apparently Missy Leona and I were still pretty stuffed from the lunch at Bread St Kitchen so we went easy on the ordering this time.  Many dishes here were spicy so if you're not a fan of it, you should confirm with the server while making your orders.  The two appetizers arrived first - Yunnan style wagyu steak tartare and shredded chicken salad.  Although I felt that having the wagyu beef completely raw defeated the purpose of having wagyu, I still highly recommend the dish which had a dynamic flavor from the sweet and sour marinate and herbs ($138).  The cracker was so crunchy and good that I could not resist from having more.  The shredded chicken salad was also a slight twist from the traditional dish.  Marinated with sesame sauce and slightly hot, lettuce heart was used as the base of this salad ($88).

Since we couldn't have the pork belly at Bread St Kitchen during lunch, I've ordered the grilled pork belly here to make up for it.  Thick-cut and tender, this dish was served with roasted chili and roasted almond ($128).  The soy chicken was another highly recommended dish.  Came in generous half chicken portion, this poultry dish was cooked to the right tenderness and flavor.  I don't usually go for the breast in Chinese chicken dishes but this was done so well that us three girls kept digging into it ($160).

A very satisfying dinner with good food and company at a good price - truly a "blessing."  Look, we even had fortune cookies.  Left the restaurant as a happy soul.

Ho Lee Fook, 1-5 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, +852 2810 0860
District:  Soho
Must-try:  Yunnan style wagyu steak tartare, soy chicken
Overall Rating:  4 / 5
Cost:  $320 ph - Dinner


*REPOSTED on OpenRice