Sunday, July 27, 2008

Nightmare Hotel Dim Sum Lunch

Lunch Date: July 27, 2008
Restuarant: Summer Palace, 5/F Island Shangri-La, Queensway, Hong Kong
Number of people: Two
Cost: HK$726 (US$93)
Anna's comment: I usually don't recommend people doing dim sum at hotels. Today I am pulling my legs and had a nightmare. All because I've renewed my health club membership and was offered a HK$500 coupon to eat at any outlet within Island Shangri-La, so I took my sister there for a Sunday dim sum lunch.

At the beginning things went on quite normally. However after an hour we've placed our desssert order, only the sponge cake turned up. After a few following up, we were told that they placed a wrong order. So they quickly rush to do my green bean syrup which upset me totally. It was completely lousy, untidy and ugly with the green bean splashed all over the bowl and the plate. Even fast food shops won't produce something that ugly and unpresentable. It was so ugly that it killed my appetite, and I didn't even care to take a photo of it. My sister's sago pudding took ridiculously long to do. I thought even they went to the market and bought flour after receiving our order, it shouldn't take an hour to deliver.

We sat in the restaurant waiting for an hour for wrong order and ugly food with superior high price - wasn't the end of our nightmare. We spent another half an hour to deal with the bill. Because they placed a wrong order and asked us to pay for the coconut milk which was 50% more expensive than my green bean syrup. After all, we were extremely upset and decided not to go there any more. Even so, I want to alert my blog readers not to visit this restaurant - it's a waste of money and time, as well as killing your fun for eating. You would never expect to have such terrible experience in a five-star hotel!

Chicken in Wine 醉鷄 - HK$150 (US$19.2)
Shrimp Dumpling 蝦餃 - HK$60 (US$7.7)
Shark Soup Dumpling 魚翅灌湯餃 - HK$75@ (US$9.6@)
Vegetarian Fried Rice 荷葉素炒飯 - HK$60 (US$7.7)
Spong Cake 蛋黃千層糕 - HK$48 (US$6.2)
Sago Pudding - took an hour and 10 minutes to arrive
HK$50 (US$6.4)
Green Bean Syrup - too ugly to take a photo - took an hour to arrive
HK$50 (US$6.4)
Hong Kong Chinese Food

Friday, July 18, 2008

Home Made Pot Rice

Pot rice is the best way to cook a simple, quick and delicious dinner. I have some left over ham, dry shrimps and porcini in my kitchen. So I've combined Chinese and western ingredients and made a combined easy dinner. Another advantage of such is that I don't have much cleaning to do and the kitchen is still clean and tidy, non smoky nor creasy.

火腿蝦米牛肝菌煲仔飯
Pot Rice with Ham, Dry Shrimp and Porcini


Hong Kong Chinese Food - Home Cooking

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Home Made Vegetarian Spicy Tofu

July 12, 2008
On Saturday night, I have some time to do a simple home-made dinner. However I want something light, so I've decided to omit meat from traditional Mapo Tofu. It is a simple, quick and economic dish. Though I am Cantonese, but my Mapo Tofu is even more spicy than those from a Sichuan restaurant. Therefore, if you don't want to put on too much heat, don't use Guilin chilli sauce. Try use some mild Chinese chilli sauce.

Cooking Method: One person portion
1. Cook a pot of plain rice.
2. When rice is cooked, start cooking tofu.
3. Cut a half big cube of tofu into small cubes. Keep in fridge for a while to make it firm.
4. Par boil mushrooms and drain.
5. Heat a saucepan to high heat. Turn heat down and add one teaspoon of Guilin chilli sauce.
6. Add tofu, mushrooms and some salt. Cover for 30 seconds.
7. Thicken up with starch solution and let it simmer for one minute.
8. Serve on top of plain rice.

Cost: Half cube of tofu: HK$1.5 / Mushrooms: HK$2.5 (Total: HK$4 - isn't it economic enough?)

Vegetarian Spicy Tofu (Beancurd)
素 麻婆豆付
Hong Kong Chinese Food - Home Made Dishes

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Holiday Dim Sum Lunch

Lunch date: July 3, 2008
Number of people: Two
Occasion: Holiday lunch
Cost: HK$280 (US$35.9), all inclusive

Restaurant name: Jasmine Place
Restaurant address: Shop 5, LG/F, Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong
Restaurant telephone: 852- 2524-5098
Anna's comment: Today my sister and I are on leave. So we decided to change our life style a little – go compete with the white collar office people in the heart of central Hong Kong. Eating at a new venue has an advantage of new menu, so we don’t have to eat what we usually eat. This is quite an expensive high end restaurant, however food and services are good.


Spicy Deep Fried Beancurd 椒盐豆付
Fried Rice with Salmon and Egg White in a Wooden Bucket
木桶炒飯
Cage Assorted Dim Sum 笼仔點心
Dim Sum Close Up - Dumplings Trio 蝦餃,燒賣,粉果 Turnip Puff and Dessert Dual 蘿蔔絲酥餅,砵仔糕,疍Tart

Hong Kong Chinese Food - Cantonese Dim Sum

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

My Birthday Seafood Dinner

Dinner date: June 25, 2008
Occasion: My birthday dinner
Number of People: Two
Cost: HK$505 (US$65), including 10% service charge
Restaurant name: Foo Lum Restaurant, 73-85 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong.
Restaurant telephone: 852-2528-2468
Anna's comment: My sister bought me birthday dinner. We both like seafood. But I was not feeling well, so we picked some light steamed dishes. This is not a high profiled gourmets’ labeled restaurant, however quite a reasonably priced seafood restaurant servicing guests from its neighborhood. Quite a good deal.

Anna's recommended Chinese Food Recipes

Steamed Fish 清蒸游水海鮮
Steamed Lobster with Smashed Garlic 蒜蓉清蒸開邊龍蝦仔
Assorted Mushroom and Vegetable in Soup 上湯時蔬
Life Seafood Tanks in the Restaurant 海鮮酒家一角
Hong Kong Food Blog - Cantonese Seafood