September 2010
3 posts
Review: Kingston Arms (Cambridge)
This is one of several great pubs scattered over the small streets either side of Mill Road. While the selection of ales here is good, it’s not quite as good as either the Cambridge Blue or Live and Let Live, so it’s the food that’d bring you here.
This is rooted in the style of pub food – not overly fancy dishes served in hearty portions to eat with a few beers. But there’s a wider range of...
Review: Beigel Bake
I may as well add my review to the others raving about this place, because it is great. With the explosion of more flashy eating options around here, Beigel Bake and the virtually identical shop next door are two of a very limited number of places where you can eat cheap. Get a bagel or roll with one of their wide range fillings - salmon, cream cheese, tuna, herring, egg - and it’ll cost...
Review: Nude Espresso
I’m a bit divided about this place. The coffee is really good - well made espresso using proper beans, and lattes and cappuccinos that have just the right amount of milk and froth and still taste strong. They’re all around £2, about the same price as most places in this area. They also have an enticing choice of cakes and sandwiches laid out. The cookie I had (£1.20) was big and...
August 2010
3 posts
4 tags
4 tags
Las Iguanas (Southwark)
About
Recently, a friend and I went to one of the Las Iguanas chain restaurants on the Southbank. Iguanas calls itself a Latin American restaurant, but it’s a vague kind of Latinness that’s closer to foreigners ideas of what the Americas should be than anything real and refuses to pin itself to the culture of any one country. I often wonder why oriental and continental chains insist on embracing...
February 2010
1 post
Kathmandu
About I was excited to spot this place hidden in the back streets below the hulk of The Belchers. Hong Kong has so few Nepalese places that it’s always good to have another one, plus the humble front of this place made me optimistic it might be reasonably authentic. But things quickly began to disappoint. First, I noticed they offered Spanish Tapas alongside Nepalese food in what I could only...
October 2009
1 post
4 tags
Raku-En
About I’m writing this quite a while after going to Raku-en and am not able to remember too much detail about the separate dishes we had. But the quality of the Okinawan food offered here made me want to write at least a short listing to be updated on a second visit. Hidden away at the top of a tower, this place specialising in Okinawa style Japanese food felt authentic the moment we stepped in....
September 2009
1 post
1 tag
The Flying Pan (Wan Chai Branch)
About Lunch in The Flying Pan was depressing. I had looked at the menu in Central before, but decided it was too expensive and headed elsewhere. I should have done the same this time. But needing a quick meal, I decided to stick things out. Sunk in one of the leather chairs, I scrolled through the menu and was struck again by how expensive everything was. Even the most basic omelettes were over...
August 2009
1 post
6 tags
Shanghai Lane
About
I was a bit uncertain about Shanghai Lane as we walked in. The large black and white photos of Old Shanghai, the neat soy sauce pots on each table, and the smartly uniformed waiters all felt very packaged. I imagined other identical restaurants being set up by the company across the city and feared the food would taste equally indistinct. Overall though, while not that remarkable, the...
April 2009
2 posts
5 tags
Yachiyo
About
I’d walked past this place quite a bit. It’s tucked away in On Wo lane, just behind Wellington Street in one of my favourite semi–hidden areas of the island. There are host of Japanese restaurants around the intersection of Aberdeen, Gough, Cage and Wellington streets, and I’m yet to really weed out the good from the bad. Yachiyo is definitely good.
A Japanese friend had also given Yachiyo...
7 tags
Hometown Dumpling
About
There are a few places dotted around Hong Kong Island doing good homemade noodles and dumplings, particularly Wang Fu in Soho, the two different Dumpling Yuan’s in Soho and Sheung Wan, and a place in Sai Ying Pun near the Chong Yip shopping centre.
You see them with all with trays laid out in the evening, rapidly stuffing filling into neat dumpling and lining them up row after row. All of...
March 2009
4 posts
10 tags
Cafe Little
About
www.cafelittle.com
Western style breakfasts tend to be pretty expensive in Hong Kong, with Cafe O’s clocking in at around $80 and other places even higher. This makes it hard to justify going for breakfast / brunch often like you might in the US.
But Cafe Little is out to change all of that. It offers a range of breakfast sets, none of which come to more than about $30 for the food and...
4 tags
Pho 26
About I had walked part this place many times and hadn’t really expected much from it. But it turned out to have some of the best Pho I’ve had in Hong Kong, full of the strong fresh flavours which make the dish so special. I believe that Pho should come overloaded with herbs and the version here didn’t disappoint. The noodles came with a huge pile of herbs and spring onion laid above the noodles....
5 tags
Yu-Raku
About Yu-raku was recommended to me by a Japanese friend and is one of the only places in Hong Kong I know of that does Okonomiyaki, a kind of Japanese egg pancake. Slide open the door of this tiny restaurant and your only option is to sit by counter which stretches along the side. Perched on a stool here, you can watch the chef fry different ingredients on the hot plate in front of you and...
3 tags
Chili Fagara
[caption id=”attachment_260” align=”alignleft” width=”350” caption=”Entrance to Chili Fagara - Form Over Function?”][/caption] About I apologise to anyone expecting a real review of this place. I didn’t actually eat there. Because the restaurant was full, we were brusquely ushered to a table right in front of the door. I was given a...
February 2009
6 posts
4 tags
Khyber Pass Indian Mess House
[caption id=”attachment_210” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Mutton Saag, Mutton Jal Frezi and Chicken Mahkani”][/caption] About Getting good Indian food in Hong Kong is not easy. If you go to most of the places on the island you’re likely to be dissapointed by half hearted, almost bland, attempts at different curries and preheated...
2 tags
Little Hanoi
About If you’re looking for authentic Vietnamese food in London, then this small restaurant, tucked into the streets near Liverpool Street station, might just do the trick. Other recommended Vietnamese restaurants can be found here. Their Cha Ca (a fish dish cooked in a metal basin) is excellent, the fish being cooked well and satisfyingly scattered with a liberal amount of dill that...
3 tags
Doraya Japanese Restaurant
About This small restaurant is definitely one of the best places I’ve been to in Hong Kong for Donburi. You can get other Japanese food here too, but their speciality seems to be tuna dishes such as negitoro (minced tuna over rice) and the tekkadon (thin sliced tuna over rice). You could stick to these without ever being disappointed. I went for the lightly seared tuna (Circa HK$100) and was...
4 tags
Crowne Plaza Brunch
About Ever wished you could spend Sunday sitting in the sun, sipping champagne and sampling from a selection of world foods, while somebody else takes care of the children. Now, with The Crowne Plaza Guragon’s fixed price brunch (Rs. 2,450), you can do just that. Rather than produce extravagant new dishes, Head Chef Jai seeks to serve simple, recognisable items of an exceptional standard. Also,...
1 tag
Fire Restaurant @ Park Hotel
About If you’re looking for something to ignite your palate this winter, then Park Hotel’s restaurant Fire is the place. They’ve launched a new menu that seeks to introduce authentic regional dishes. The new menu succeeds in getting bac k to something elemental in eating — the pleasure of a particular texture or the joy of a certain taste. The appetizers are small parcels packed with flavour. The...
5 tags
Mainland China
About When people think of Chinese food, they tend to think of diced meat and vegetables fried in an oily wok over a roaring flame. But Mainland China’s the recent Clay Pot Festival drew on Chef Ram’s knowledge to introduce a very different kind of Chinese cooking. Legend has it that dishes cooked slowly in clay pots were invented to restore the appetite of one of China’s early emperors. The...
January 2009
15 posts
5 tags
Ariel Sichuan BBQ Restaurant
[caption id=”attachment_199” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Chongqing Fish”][/caption] About Located in a slightly dingy Sheung Wan mall, this restaurant hasn’t really done much to distance its decor from the functionality of the shops around it. The owner greeted us enthusiastically in English honed during past years living in Canada, and...
7 tags
Beijing Beef (Halal) Restaurant Kowloon City
[caption id=”attachment_190” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Beef Parcels - The Highlight at Beijing Beef (Halal) Restaurant”][/caption] About Anyone hoping to have distinctly Islamic-chinese dishes here might be a little dissapointed. When we asked which were special dishes, the waiter said that everything on the menu was Islamic because...
6 tags
Cooking Huhng Siu Yuhk
[caption id=”attachment_176” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Everything Laid Out”][/caption] I really like Fuschia Dunlop’s writing on food, and her recipes for reproducing authentic dishes. She has a recipe for huhng siu yuhk (red brasied pork belly) that I’ve been meaning to try for some time. There are some good places to get...
6 tags
Boh Loh Bau
[caption id=”attachment_167” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”The Humble Magnificent Boh Loh Bau”][/caption] This is a personal ode to one of my favourite snacks in Hong Kong. The wonderful boh loh bau, or pineapple bun, which actually doesn’t contain any pineapple at at all. Nobody seems to have quite made up their mind why its got...
3 tags
Ka Kee
About I had walked past this place many times and been intrigued by the traditional wooden front and the crowds inside, but never actually got round to trying it. Finally, in search of some authentic Cantonese food, I managed to get along and was really impressed by what I found. This place offers very solid Cantonese food at affordable prices. Chinese soups can sometimes be watery and really...
4 tags
Hong Kong Flower Lounge
About I have previously lived in Hong Kong where I would go for Dim Sum about once a week. Although the Flower Lounge’s Dim Sum here doesn’t quite match that, it is pretty close and is probably the best of all the Chinese Restaurants I have tried in the bay area. Unlike a lot of the restaurants around here, the Dim Sum is not swollen to suit American appetites and I feel this...
7 tags
Sichuan Delight
About I’ve eaten Sichuan food mostly in Hong Kong and part of the reason this doesn’t get 5 stars is because I compare it to there. For America, this really is very good chinese food. I like the way these have a seperate part of the menu - Sichuan Traditional A La Carte - with more authentic Chinese dishes, whilst still offering all the American standards like ‘sweet and...
6 tags
Suppenkuche
About Excellent! Really huge portions, with very well cooked steak, chicken, venison, and more (circa $18 for entree). You really have to be a meat lover to enjoy the food here, but if you are it is so much better than most meat heavy US restaurants. It is also accompanied by really good spatzle (small twists of potato pasta commonly eaten in Germany and Switzerland) and other great vegetables...
2 tags
Great Eastern
About After an uninspiring trip to Gold Mountain Restaurant, did a scan of Yelp, Chowhound, Zagat et al and skeptically came down to this place for Dim Sum. Having lived in Hong Kong for two years, I’m fairly particular about my dim sum and compare what I get here to excellent experiences there. Great Eastern’s dim sum is very impressive. The Cha Siu Bau (barbeque pork steamed buns)...
2 tags
Pizzeria Delfina
About Delfina’s is probably the best place I’ve been in the city for Italian style pizza. They keep their ingredients list and range of pizza’s simple. Their dough is nice and floury and homemade. They throw it out really thin in an authentic way, so that it isn’t spongy and doesn’t overwhelm the toppings at all. A lot of places get wood fired ovens, but don’t...
3 tags
Fo Kee
[caption id=”attachment_109” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Silk Tea and French Toast at For Kee Cha Chaan Teng”][/caption] About This cha chaan teng (tea restaurant) is hidden away in the back streets of Sheung Wan where it has been serving regulars for over 50 years now. Cha chaan teng’s like these started up in the...
2 tags
Tibetan Food
[caption id=”attachment_97” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Chili Beef, Tingmo, and Tibetan Tea at Tee Dee’s”][/caption] About Settled by Tibetan’s who fled their country after it was occupied by the Chinese, Delhi’s Tibetan Colony is a pocket of Tibetan culture in India. There’s a sense that the people here cling...
3 tags
Sitaram Dewen Chand - Chole Bhature
[caption id=”attachment_92” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Chole Bhature from Sitaram Dewan Chand”][/caption] About Chole Bhature is probably the best of all the street foods I found in Delhi. Rather than something really fancy, this is hearty food for the ‘common man’ - eaten by people across India. But its subtle taste...
1 tag
Little Chili
[caption id=”attachment_87” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”The Laat Zi Gai at Little Chili”][/caption] About This is a good solid sichuan restaurant in North Point. The food’s not quite as good as that at Sijie or Mum Chau’s private kitchens, but it also costs a lot less. Its easily possible to have a meal here for under...
2 tags
Jalebi Walla
[caption id=”attachment_77” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside - freshly fried jalebi”][/caption] Jalebi Jalebi are a delicious kind of India sweet that you see being made at street stalls all accross Delhi in the evenings. Strands of dough made using maida flour are poured down onto the surface of a...
December 2008
12 posts
2 tags
Dokebi Nara
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045f550dd030823cde8&s=AARTsJqHrZieb3fslpaqm-Ykdo7hb_xzjw&ll=28.641834,77.214725&spn=0.003296,0.00456&z=17&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About Wonderful Korean restaurant hidden away in a back alley of Paharganj. After a while eating cheaper...
4 tags
Karim's Restaurant
[caption id=”attachment_116” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Chicken saag and almond mutton curries, with tandori roti on the side.”][/caption] About Karim’s is an instution in Delhi that’s been around virtually forever and is the type of place you just have to go to. In the courtyard outside the restaurant men are crouch by...
4 tags
Star Seafood Restaurant
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.286704,114.141694&spn=0.006949,0.00912&z=16&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About This is quite a good place to go for an authentic Dim Sum experience. They have a (limited)...
2 tags
Wing Lai Yuen
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.302438,114.18623&spn=0.006948,0.00912&z=16&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About This restaurant has won lots of awards for its duck. I have tried it and think it is delicious,...
5 tags
Kau Kee
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.284227,114.152324&spn=0.001737,0.00228&z=18&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About This place is famous for a good reason. For just 28 hkd, you can get a delicious bowl of beef...
5 tags
Macau Restaurant
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.287578,114.151651&spn=0.003475,0.00456&z=17&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About Their famous Macau-style sandwhiches are very tasty, and their curries are excellent. Everything...
4 tags
Xiao Nan Guo
[caption id=”attachment_104” align=”aligncenter” width=”500” caption=”Huhng Siu Yuhk and Sichauan Beef - two of the highlights at Xiao Nan Guo”][/caption] About My favorite Shanghai restaurant in HK and a really outstanding opportunity to try some of China’s most interesting and distinctive dished. Good value, good service, and consistently...
5 tags
Arun Rung
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.27632,114.174535&spn=0.003475,0.00456&z=17&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About Some of the cheapest and most authentic food in all of HK. This restaurant is tucked away in the...
3 tags
Sorabol
A[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.279308,114.184352&spn=0.003475,0.00456&z=17&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About This is one of the best Korean restaurants in all of HK. Try their spareribs marinated to...
4 tags
Mala Restaurant
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.284301,114.154344&spn=0.001737,0.00228&z=18&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About Serves Malaysian and Indonesian food for really bargain prices. The sambal chicken/pork and...
8 tags
Wang Fu
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.283532,114.155046&spn=0.001737,0.00228&z=18&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About Excellent, authentic and cheap Beijing food. One of my favorite places in HK. Really good,...
5 tags
Bangkok Cuisine
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045eee009a4d17a789b&s=AARTsJriVjY5ys5W22Wjn7F_m96D7v_YyA&ll=22.280271,114.182442&spn=0.003475,0.00456&z=17&output=embed&w=425&h=350] About Very, very tasty Thai food that is also very cheap. The restaurant is really busy, so you...
March 2008
1 post
Fresno Grizzlies vs. SF Giants 26/03/08
Oh what a celebration of American life this is! Above, the sky is a smooth, painted blue. Below, Fresno baseball field spreads out, its perfect green turf and earthy red clay glowing brightly in the sunshine. Its emptiness is like a theatre stage before the play begins, waiting to be filled with bold characters, heavy with the anticipation of the drama soon to come. The sun slides down beside...