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

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

I Will Be Back | Soft Creme

I've first read about Soft Creme from people's photo tag on instagram, and this ice-cream shop was so new that it wasn't even posted on OpenRice back then so I googled on it to get the address.  One day Missy Mo and I decided to go chill at Tai Hang, and Soft Creme immediately came into my mind.  We grabbed a quick bite then came here to check it out.  Probably because it was still new and not alot of people knew about it yet, there wasn't too long of a line-up.

Ice-cream numbers 1-4 were made from Hokkaido milk (uh oh, I sense radiation) and A-D used cereal milk, not really sure what that was though.  I really wanted to try the special of the month which was the Moet champagne flavor but annoying Missy Mo rejected my craving and ordered the Flamed Bacon. sad

We were watching the food experts preparing the cups behind the counter and thought that we gotta try the Australian honeycomb next time.  Meanwhile, I also kept glimpsing at the cute cashier guy while waiting for our ice-cream... ;P

They put dry ice at the bottom of the cup underneath the ice-cream to prevent it from melting too quickly since it's "soft" ice-cream and not the usual ones you take out from the Park n shop freezer.  I tried to take picture of the smokey effect (oooo, spooky) but was a tad bit late.  Anyway you get the point, I think the dry ice was just another gimmick but in terms of taste, the ice-cream was indeed very soft and was surprisingly good with the bacon bits.

I went to Tai Hang again the following weekend but this time there was a long line-up outside the shop, and I'm never a fan of queues PLUS the cute cashier wasn't there this time...I will be back.


Soft Creme, G/F 6-7 Shepherd Street, Tai Hang, +852 2370 3205
District:  Tai Hang
Overall Rating:  4 / 5
Cost:  $42 per cup

A Hidden Butterfly in the City | Papillon Cafe

I randomly found out about this restaurant hidden on the 17th floor of Hopewell Centre one day en route to my adhoc jogging session at Bowen Road, so decided to give it a try one night with my D mates in our little pre-celebration for Mid-Autumn Festival. While waiting for the rest, including myself, to arrive, Missy J started chatting with the waiter and learnt that the restaurant was under the same group as Zen / Zen Too. Ah, no wonder the name Papillon...which in French means butterfly (Chinese name of Zen is also called butterfly).

Set dinners were served here with price ranging from 12x to 200ish. Came with soup and a dessert, I thought the prices were very inexpensive. Apologies for not remembering to take a photo of the menu but I vaguely remember it included something like pasta du jour (which was grilled salmon with squid-ink spaghetti in tomato sauce), salmon wrapped in pastry, roasted chicken, steak, linguine vongole, some kinda risotto and duck breast.

Soup du jour was corn and pumpkin which was served hot and nicely blended. The soup was so thick that it was like a dip sauce for the bread. Flavor was good too.

I guess we're all so health conscious in avoid having carbs at night so we all coincidentally opted for the roasted chicken and duck breast. I highly recommend the roasted chicken which was served in decent portion. While still moist and tender on the inside, the chicken was slightly crispy on the outside yet not too dry. Definitely one of the best roasted chicken I had in town other than the one from Chez pearlorange of course. The reduced orange juice added a refreshing spritz to the duck breast. The chef did not go crazy with the butter which made the mash tasted just right. We also ordered a bottle from Côtes du Rhône to share. This light-bodied blend of red from Southern France was very easy to drink with a fruity and smooth finish. Went well with the meat.

Evenings tend to be slightly quiet due to the location but definitely a highly recommended hidden gem in Wanchai - hearty food served at very good price.

Venue:  Papillon Caffe

District:  Wanchai

Must-try:  Roasted whole chicken

Overall Rating:  4.5 / 5

Cost:  $250 ph - Dinner

Address:  17/F Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen's Road East, Wanchai

Phone:  2527 9282

*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Crossover of world's two most fattening pastries | Urban Bakery

During weekday lunch hour this place is usually very packed with long queues so I had to pass each time I wanna grab a quick bite. But today since my colleague was really craving for the signature pastry, I was oh so very kind enough to go and get it for her. I went at 12pm sharp to avoid the crowd, and as a gesture, she did offer me to have a bite...

I always thought these things are just gimmick but out of my surprise, the Ball Law Cowssant was actually pretty good - flaky and crunchy and everything you can imagine from a good croissant with a tint of sweetness. Oh, you could opt for an extra slice of butter too (or margarine?), which would cost you $12 on top of the $18 Cowssant (yeah I know, doesn't really make sense to pay $30 for a croissant which you can finish in 3 bites, well ok maybe 5, I DO have a small mouth).

Ball Law Cowssant - very crunchy and flaky

Not sure if the chinese x français Ball Law Cowssant could fill up your tummy on a hungry day but for this price, it isn't a bad afternoon snack / munchie to fight the Monday blues.


Venue:  Urban Bakery Works
District:  Central
Must-try:  Ball Law Cowssant
Overall Rating:  4 / 5
Cost:  $13 (for plain Cowssant only)
Address:  3/F The Landmark, 12-16 Des Voeux Road Central, Central

*REPOSTED on OpenRice

Chloé Moments Afternoon Tea | Cafe Causette

This limited time only Chloé crossover Mandarin Oriental afternoon tea to me was a reminiscence of the Prêt-à-Portea afternoon tea at The Berkeley's in London. The price here definitely beats the latter though. At only $278 for one or $488 for two, the MO crossover tea set is quite reasonably price I would say, although no, there is no complimentary gift from Chloé as it was marketed, or at least not free unless you make a purchase at the store first...! We did book for the tea session a few weeks in advance.

While I presume afternoon tea sessions are normally for girls to gossip and catch up with each other, the table we got definitely didn't offer the privacy to do so. We were literally sitting right next to the two guys at our neighboring table. Otherwise, the cafe offers quite a bright and comfortable setting with big windows overlooking Statue Square.

The scones arrived first, in a MO tin box. They were fairly decent I would say although they did not arrive hot, or even warm. I usually go for the clotted cream with scones but MO is best known for their rose jam, so I did go splurging on that with my two pastries this time.

Plain and raisin scones with clotted cream and rose jam

The afternoon set came in three tiers - top two were savories and bottom tier was for sweet pastries.

I wouldn't say the food was wow but overall it was a well-spent afternoon at the hotel.

Venue:  Cafe Causette @ Mandarin Oriental HK
District:  Central
Must-try:  Scones with rose jam
Overall rating: 4 / 5
Cost: $260 ph - Afternoon tea
Address:  M/F Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Road Central, Central

*REPOSTED on OpenRice