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

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