Increase in price is not relative to quality

My first mooncake of the year, none other than the famous custard mooncake from Spring Moon~ even though the price of this hotly coveted item made the headlines earlier this year at $485, I was still lucky enough to receive a box of these as a gift.

At such a huge increase in price I was expecting something a little different, something more special, but it wasn’t to be. Opening the box revealed the same golden yellow rounds with the signature dragon stamped on top wafting its enticing buttery flavour.

The best way to enjoy these is to heat them slightly in the oven so that the custard and butter pastry are toasty warm. Unfortunately I was in a rush this time and had to make do with one straight from the fridge. Cutting into it the pastry was firm and crumbly, but looking at the filling it was holey in places and the custard was disappointingly dry.

Biting into it the flavours were all there, but the texture was not as nice as before… I did not realise that a significant increase in price meant a decrease in quality. What has happened to you Spring Moon? 😦

Don’t chicken out @ Yardbird

No reservations allowed at this hot robatayaki eatery, but rocking up at 9.15pm on a Thursday evening we were hoping there would not be a wait. Peering through the entrance we could see the restaurant was packed, but upon asking for a table for two we were immediately directed to a table downstairs. No wait~!

Yardbird specialises in chicken robatayaki where a large part of the chicken is dissected and grilled for customer’s enjoyment. Besides from skewered chicken, they also offer a variety of appetisers and salads, larger plates for sharing are also available and don’t forget to look at the board for specials of the night.

To start we ordered sea salt sprinkled edamame and their recommended corn tempura which they kindly served as a half portion of two pieces. The edamame was nicely boiled where it was not too mushy, but the corn was definitely a standout! Arriving as two pom pom balls the outside was lightly battered and biting into it revealed an abundance of loose corn kernels. So good~

For robatayaki we only ordered a few to share since we had some larger dishes coming. The chicken breast was surprisingly succulent, the liver nicely juicy, while the hearts were typically bouncy in texture. I had also wanted to order the chicken oysters ( two circles of dark meat at the back), but unfortunately being so late in the evening they had sold out 😦

Spying mussels on the menu piqued our interest and asking the server for more details we were informed they were blue mussels from Canada. Served in a piping hot iron bowl there were lovely and tender bathing in the most aromatic tart sake soup. So delicious we could barely keep from spooning the hot soup into our mouths~ Highly recommended!

Wanting something more meaty other than poultry, we settled for ox tongue. A mountain of mixed greens arranged on top of grilled ox tongue slices. The ox tongue although flavourful was more chewy than I expected, but it was still decent.

To finish up we ended with the mixed mushroom risotto. This was amazing~ Again served in an iron pot, it was a small mountain of slightly cheesy rice infused with the most mouthwatering aroma of earthy mushrooms. If only this was served earlier, I would have eaten more than my share :p

Yum Yum Yum~ Yardbird is definitely worth trying!

Waffling~ @ Coffee Alley

Finally I got to try this~! Finding myself in Causeway bay one late Sunday afternoon, I decided to test my luck and see if I could get a table at Coffee Alley without an exaggerated wait time. Peering up the stairs from the entrance, there did not seem to be that many people, but it was only after I was heading towards the door of Coffee Alley that I noticed the crowd waiting upstairs. Needing to take a ticket, I was informed that there were still 20 tables ahead of me and when asked for an approximate waiting time the host was unable to give me an answer. He did say though, if at the time my number was called and I was not present, I would have to take a new ticket and wait again.

After exactly 60 minutes of waiting, my number was called~ Walking into the cafe, you are greeted with friendly welcomes from the Taiwanese staff. The space is actually not too small, but a large corner of it is taken up by the open kitchen hence minimising the area left for seating which is arranged in an L shape. Casual yet comfortable surroundings make for an ideal place for friends to catch up or even curious single diners who just wanted to see what the fuss is all about :p

To start I ordered the club sandwich which was a large enough for two people to share. A triple decker with a combination of fresh lettuce, cucumber, tomato, ham, egg and teriyaki chicken. It may sound like a lot, but the whole of the sandwich was mainly bulked up by the vegetables, with only a small slice of chicken in each portion. Quite decent, with the taste being very typical of an Asian style club sandwich.

Despite barely finishing the sandwich, the waffle with strawberries was a definite must order for me. After seeing so many rave reviews about it, I really wanted to see what was so special about it. The presentation was definitely enticing. Four big quarters of waffle baked to a crispy brown crust accompanied by two scoops of strawberry ice-cream and custard, scattered with halved strawberries and drizzled with strawberry sauce. The waffle itself is not your typical crispy, light as a feather version. Rather it is quite hefty, with pillowy insides where a slightly sweet vanilla aroma lingers in the aftertaste. I really enjoyed the waffle on its own, but pairing it with the slightly tart strawberries and strawberry ice-cream made it that much more indulgent~ 🙂 The custard was pushed to one side as I was not particularly keen on its too thick and lumpy texture.

Their famous fruit tea completed my meal. A blend of citrus fruits and lipton tea with pieces of fruit bobbing inside the teapot. I ordered it hot and the fragrance of citrus was lovely, so soothing on the throat. This would be perfect as a winter-warmer.

I can really see why people are so willing to line up for Coffee Alley as their waffles are really good~ Cannot wait to try their other versions!

Early Birthday dinner~ @ Cafe Causette

I can’t believe nearly another year has passed (birthday clock-wise), another year older, another year wiser(?) or so the saying goes haha…

As is our tradition now since completing our course three years ago, a group of us always come together to gather once a month to celebrate each other’s birthdays and September happens to my birthday month~

This year, wanting something simple, yet casual with a lot of choices and not wanting to go down the buffet route, I decided Cafe Causette was the ideal location.

Connected with the Mandarin Cake shop, be entranced by the artistic displays of chocolate sculptures which change on a regular basis and enticed by their sweet delights of cake, chocolates or bakery selection, before going to the hostess desk and asking for a table.

Lighting is quite dim making for more of an intimate setting, but not to worry as it is still suitable for groups larger than two. I was the first to arrive, but happily kept myself entertained with their warm crusty roll, smearing aromatic tomato paste and cream cheese all over it 🙂

When everyone finally arrived, then came the daunting task of choosing what to order. As I mentioned before their menu contains a large variety of choices making everyone encounter a moment of indecisiveness, but luckily that soon passed.

A couple of light appetisers to share, traditional Caesar and Caprese salad. The Caesar salad is always a crowd pleaser, pre-tossed so that the crisp lettuce leaves are lightly covered with dressing accompanied by two rounds of bacon fried to a crisp and a hard-boiled egg where the yolks are still slightly runny. The Caprese salad arrives as two balls of tomatoes balanced by a snowy white sphere of Mozzarella cheese. Such a refreshing starter, bites of juicy tomato paired with a creamy yet slightly grainy cheese and of course it is necessary to drizzle the sweetly tart balsamico vinegar all over it~ 🙂

To share with Miss K, we ordered a serving of lobster bisque which was stomach-warming and creamy with diced pieces of lobster adding some texture to the soup.

For mains the Hainanese chicken rice was quite popular with three of us ordering it. Having had it before, it is a more than generous serving of chicken where you can choose to have breast or thigh fillet, served to you deboned over a bed of bak choy vegetables. Of course, Hainanese chicken would not be complete without an accompanying bowl of fragrant rice and the one served here has all the flavours of chicken stock and warming notes of ginger in every bite.

Mr. K and Miss I decided to have steak. I did not ask which cut they chose, but it looked tender enough and cooked to a lovely medium rare.

I wanted lamb that evening and Miss. K chose to have the same. Three cutlets of Australian lamb seared to the recommended medium state. I found the lamb to be a little fatty in places, but it was still enjoyable, especially with generous smears of mint jelly~

Like with most Western places, Cafe Causette tries to serve the whole table at the same time. This of course, is an agreeable action, but only if the kitchen staff can manage it well and keep everything warm until it is served. Maybe they were a little understaffed that evening or their timing was off, but the cabonara ordered by T and Miss R came out cold. Even when they requested them to re-heat it, the pasta still came back barely lukewarm. Disappointing as the spaghetti strands were al dente and the cream sauce quite well prepared.

No desserts (but if you do happen to stop by for dessert I highly recommend their bread and butter pudding with vanilla ice-cream) because there was cake~ Opera cake~! Delicate layers of alternating coffee and alcohol soaked sponge cake spread with cream, finished with a glossy chocolate glaze. Just one bite fills the palate with a lovely coffee aroma, perfect for coffee lovers.

I will always have a soft spot for Cafe Causette, especially knowing that if at any time I am unsure of what I want to eat, they will have something that I like. A lovely birthday dinner and even better company. Thank you~ 🙂

Dinner @ Ruth’s Chris Steak house

Hearing that the old Ruth’s Chris had undergone a renovation in East TST, Mr. C and I decided to pay them a visit for steak night~

Located on the first floor in the TST Centre, Ruth’s Chris occupies quite a large space. The front area showcases their display of wine and off to the side they have a bar for those wanting pre-dinner drinks. The main dining room is to the back of the restaurant and while it is mainly outfitted in wood the bareness in decor expresses a no-fuss, no nonsense sort of atmosphere.

The menu is not huge in selection, but that did not really matter since we were mainly interested in satisfying ourselves with a hearty cut of protein although that did not mean we neglected our appetisers and sides :p

While waiting for our appetisers, we were served bread and whipped butter. Bland white loaf, although flavourless was at least warm and toasty and the airiness of the whipped butter would be better off for spreading on pancakes. I would give this a pass unless you were supremely hungry or just love bread. (I am the latter unfortunately)

Our appetisers soon arrived~ Jumbo shrimp cocktail, crab cakes and seared jumbo scallops.

The shrimp cocktail was nicely chilled, large in size where each bite was pleasantly meaty. The cocktail sauce had a slight kick from the addition of horseradish which made the taste more interesting.

Crab cakes arrived as two sizable portions, sizzling on an immensely hot plate. Not one of your typical black hot plates, this one is innocently white so please remember not to grab it, even though I am sure your server will remind you several times. Chunky pieces of white crab meat, delicately seasoned with a light shower of black pepper and of course the hot plate kept it at marvelous temperature.

The scallops came as a portion of three pieces and while not really that ‘jumbo’ in size, there were cooked perfectly to a tender velvety texture which melted easily on the tongue. I did find they lacked a little seasoning on their own, but eaten together with the bits of capsicum in the butter sauce improved the flavour.

It was not long till the star of the evening arrived. A huge cut of Australian Wagyu Porterhouse for two (actually could have easily fed 3-4 people) sizzling in all its buttery glory. They had pre-cut it for us to make it more manageable and like a T-bone, one side was filet while the other was sirloin. Mr. C had asked for it to be seared to a medium rare since he knew the plate was going to be immensely hot so it would not end up being too tough. We were served the filet first and it was amazingly good! Slightly more marbled, the aroma of melting fats filled our senses with each buttery mouthful. The sirloin was admittedly more tough in nature, but there was a much stronger beefy flavour which is ideal for those that like more gaminess in their meat.

For such a meaty main of course vegetables as side dishes were a necessity. Sauteed spinach won over our usual order of creamed spinach, its garlicky flavour giving us some respite from the heaviness of the beef. Mr. C and I both love Lyonnaise potatoes and seeing this on the menu meant it was a must order. Pan-fried potatoes with softly caramlised onions. The ones that are still crunchy are always the best~ 🙂

Definitely ended up in a beef coma, but it was so worth it~