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

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

Michelin Service | Tate Dining Room & Bar

Once in a blue moon I've asked Mr. K out for dinner on Friday.  Only because it's his birthday though.  Mind you, I don't normally take initiative in asking guys out...!!!  And, having made 14 phone calls on Monday I only managed to book 2 restaurants and got myself waitlisted for the remaining 12.  So I suppose that's why Route To Success-101 always says one should plan ahead of time (which of course I did but Mr. K had to change the day from Sat to Fri).  Simply insane.  But luckily, Tate was one of the 12 waitlisted which called me back for an available table so I took it immediately.

One thing I really have to point out is Tate's star service.  I did call a number of times to make all sorts of ma-q-fan requests like arranging for a loner table, birthday cake message and keeping my credit card for payment at the end.  Considerate pearlorange even requested for a menu without the price which they actually didn't have but said could have it arranged so when I arrived 10min earlier to leave them my cc, I was very impressed that they printed two sets of whole new menu for us and even had them nicely binded.  Definitely e-props for that.

Dinner came in a choice of the 6-course sensualist menu or 9-course gastronomy with optional wine pairings, which changes every season so it was still something new for Mr. K even though he's been here before.  We both opted for the sensualist without wine pairing and ordered white separately.  We didn't take picture of the amuse bouche but if I remembered correctly it was a mini cheese puff served with edible branch sticks.

The first out of six courses served was the flamed salmon tartare which was garnished with five different ingredients - chives, wasabi cream, gherkin, rice crispy balls and caviar.

Foie gras mustard ice-cream.  The blueberry sauce and mustard ice-cream balanced out the rich flavor of the liver terrine, making it a refreshing second dish.

Next was the Dalian abalone topped with a Taiyouren egg and a puny piece of uni.  Oops, I played a little rough and bursted the runny egg, kinda on purpose though heehee. I like it better as a dip.

Onto the second half of the sensualist was the sakura ebi tagliolini.  At this point I was actually already 70% full and offered a good portion of my pasta to Mr. K.  Nonetheless, it was cooked to al dente with a soft tint of lobster flavor, and even a non-fan of pasta like me thought it was a delicious carb dish topped with the fried sakura ebi.

Second last course and a heavily meated one was the lavender Challandais duck breast.  Tender and juicy and randomly scattered not so randomly on the serving plate.

Do not think that the final course, carrot cheesecake, was a carrot-flavored cheesecake because the very carroty carrot sorbet was actually served separately from the cheese which was put inside a white chocolate shell.  We did have fun taking the sphere shell apart...

Now, this was the part that I liked the most, and no, not because it's that candle-blowing wish-making moment.  I thought the Zen Garden built on a layer of caster sugar was a very innovative form of serving the petits fours.  I almost had an orgasm seeing those perfectly made round circles on the sweet sand, almost.  Well, I DO have OCD.

A very good birthday dinner with excellent service.  They've earned my 20% gratuity.

Tate Dining Room & Bar, G/F, 59 Elgin St, Soho, Central, +852 2555 2172

District:  Soho

Must-try:  Zen Garden

Overall Rating:  4 / 5

Cost:  $1,200 ph - Dinner

*REPOSTED on OpenRice