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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Monday 24 June 2013

Excellent sushi @ Kenjo, Hong Kong

My parents were visiting us in Hong Kong for the past week, and they left for Australia this afternoon. They arrived from Canada very early morning on the day of my mum's birthday, so my poor mum spent her birthday quite jet-lagged and napped several hours in bed in spite of my repeated requests to stay awake during the daytime. When I was planning where to bring her for her birthday treat, I'd prudently decided to hold off the outing for the following day when she would be a bit more rested. That day coincided with our 4-year-old's kindergarten graduation day, for which hubby was planning to take time off work anyway. So we had a family outing to his kindergarten, and then we all enjoyed Japanese food, the cuisine my mum always requests for her birthday. Kenjo is one of the top-rated sushi restaurants in HK, a mecca for sushi and sashimi lovers, and I believe that after almost 3 years living in this city, we have found our favourite sushi restaurant! We came during lunch time because it was convenient for our purposes, and this proved to be a wise choice for the pocket as the lunch menu is apparently more affordable than the dinner options. It was a nice treat for the eyes to walk in the entrance and see the traditional sushi bar with fresh seafood on display and the chefs hard at work - that is one of the many things I've missed about living in Japan. Kenjo is only a small restaurant, and reservations are highly recommended, even at lunch time.

The sushi bar with the chefs hard at work at 12pm on the dot. Shortly after this shot was taken, those seats were filled rapidly with hungry diners, as did the tables in the main dining area. The senior chef at the far end may be Kenjo-san (perhaps next time hubby and I will book at the sushi counter and find out):

Cute teacups:

The restaurant had a casual and relaxed atmosphere, but the waitstaff were kept busy on their feet with the peak lunch crowd. As far as I know, all the chefs working behind the sushi counter were Japanese, because our Chinese waitress communicated our requests to them in Japanese. This is probably as authentically Japanese as it can get outside of Japan. The lunch menu had a strong focus on sushi and sashimi, but there were also tempura, grilled fish, beef teriyaki and grilled anago (seawater eel) sets available for those who don't really like eating raw seafood, like my dad. The price ranged from HK$120 to HK$280 per lunch set, and each set came with chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) and miso soup. It is pretty good value to come here during lunch time. We ordered a good variety of lunch sets between the five of us, and we were all happy with the quality and flavour of the food.

Chawanmushi, which was beautifully silky and nicely flavoured with vegetables, chunks of chicken and a ginkgo nut at the bottom:

The birthday girl ordered the Sashimi Teishoku (sashimi set lunch, HK$220), which she enjoyed thoroughly. There were eight types of sashimi (salmon, two types of tuna, bonito, prawns, crab, and what I think is buri [yellowtail]). She really liked the seaweed salad. In fact, I don't think there was anything she didn't like:

My dad's Anago-don (grilled sea eel on rice, HK$170) - a good choice for fish lovers who are not keen on the uncooked types:

Hubby chose the Okonomi-sushi (assorted sushi lunch box of your choice, with 8 kinds of sushi and 1 roll, HK$190). Hubby chose his usual favourites, and he was pretty happy when he got his request for otoro (fatty tuna belly), which wasn't part of the list he could choose from. The roll along the top contained pickled daikon (which was yummy), and his selection were (clockwise from left) o-toro, salmon, ama-ebi (sweet shrimp, hidden behind the shiso leaf), seared tuna, anago, uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe) and tamago (egg):

The boy got the Higawari Teishoku (daily special, HK$120), which was ebi-furai (fried prawn) and hiyayakko (cold tofu). The prawns were fried to a perfect crisp, and my mum and I were happy to grab the heads and tails (which the boy didn't want). The tofu was gorgeously silky and very enjoyable to eat:

After much deliberation, I decided to go for the Sushi Bento (HK$170). This was the last to arrive at the table, and it was presented inside a beautiful tiered bento box, much like the jubako used for oshogatsu (Japanese New Year) meals. Unfortunately no photo of the box as the trays were removed from the box by the waiter to set on the table. One tray held tempura items that were not greasy at all; another tray held delicious grilled fish, seaweed salad and yummy yam balls; and the third tray held six sushi items. These were very good, and had a nice variety of Japanese food. This is something I would order again:

We were told that coffee or dessert was included in the lunch sets, and here are all three types of ice cream offered to us - azuki (sweet red bean), green tea and lemon sorbet:

The food was excellently made using top quality ingredients. This is truly sushi and sashimi at its best. We will be back.

[Prices quoted above excludes the 10% service charge.]

Kenjo
Ground Floor
30 Minden Avenue
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel. +852 2369 8307

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Self-frosting Nutella Cupcakes

My son graduated from kindergarten yesterday. Time seems to fly by especially fast when you have kids. He attended this kindergarten for the past two years, and I wanted to make some cupcakes to give teachers and staff. But I didn't really want to mess around with frosting, especially in this warm weather when the frosting would melt into a mess during the commute to the school. A little google search for "self-frosting cupcakes" yielded Nutella to be the most popular ingredient used for this self-frosting purpose. To be honest, it's not the prettiest looking cupcake around, however the self-frosting convenience and the promise of good flavour won over the lack of aesthetics aspect, and off I went to buy a jar of Nutella. I looked at several recipes, and the one on Fauzia's Kitchen Fun looked the nicest and several of her readers had tried the recipe with good results. I followed it relatively closely with only slight modifications because I didn't have the time to compare recipes to make one of my own. Hubby's first comment upon seeing these cupcakes was that it wasn't very good looking, but after biting into a cupcake, he said it tasted good.

Cupcakes topped with Nutella and ready for the oven:

Self-frosting Nutella Cupcakes

Ingredients

Tip: Make sure the butter and the eggs are at room temperature.

1.5 cups (180g) plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
112g butter
0.75 cup (150g) sugar
2 large eggs
0.5 cup (100mL) milk
1.5 teaspoons vanilla essence
Half cup of Nutella spread (I used most of a 200g jar)

Method

1. Sift the flour and baking powder.

2. Line your muffin tray with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 170degC.

3. Beat the butter with the sugar until light and creamy.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until everything is just combined.

6. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners, filling up to two-thirds of the cup. On top of every cupcake, add about 1 heaped teaspoon of Nutella. Using a toothpick, swirl the Nutella into the tops of the cupcakes.

7. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the batter/white part of the cupcakes comes out clean. If you stick the toothpick into the Nutella it will be gooey because the chocolate will not solidify during baking, so take care to check the white parts.

8. Remove from pan and let the cupcakes cool on a rack.

The Nutella cupcakes fresh out of the oven:

Friday 14 June 2013

Kaiseki Lunch @ Nadaman (Island Shangri-La), Hong Kong

Every year, hubby laments over how it always seems to rain on his birthday, regardless of where we happen to be living. In Australia, it is the middle of winter when rainfall is highest; and in both Japan and Hong Kong, June is smack in the middle of the rainy season. This year was no different to others, and hubby's birthday fell on a rainy and dreary day. One of the great things we like about central HK is the awesome pedestrian network of elevated walkways and underground tunnels connecting buildings and malls, making it possible to get from point A to point B without stepping out under the pouring rain or scorching sun - a good solution for a city that experiences bad weather nine months in a year. So although it was pouring down with rain outside, we stayed completely dry when we went out to celebrate with a lunch date at Nadaman in the swanky Island Shangri-La Hotel. The restaurant is quite highly regarded for the Japanese cuisine in Hong Kong, in particular for kaiseki ryori, the haute cuisine of Japanese food. Nadaman belongs to a famous group of restaurants from Japan with a lineage that dates back to 1830, and this was the first Nadaman established outside of Japan.

Lovely interior:

A glass of umeshu (plum wine) for hubby to start with (I was happy with my hot green tea). Check out the beautiful colour! The umeshu had a very sweet flavour which I thought masked the alcohol taste very well, making it very easy to drink (and to over-drink!):

The restaurant setting was beautiful, with floor-to-ceiling windows, lovely dark wood, and a peaceful atmosphere. When I called the restaurant to make bookings, I was asked if I wanted to sit at the teppanyaki counter, sushi bar or normal table; I opted for a table by the window. The service we received was excellent, professional and friendly. Although this is a fine-dining restaurant, I didn't think it was too formal or stuffy, and I felt quite at ease during the meal. The menu contained many delicious traditional Japanese food, and there were both set courses and a-la-carte options available. The lunch menu is more affordably priced than for dinner, so I would recommend coming by at lunch to sample great quality Japanese food without putting too much dent on the pocket. Hubby and I decided to go for the chef-recommended Lunch Kaiseki (HK$480), which changes monthly to feature seasonal ingredients. Food presentation was beautiful using gorgeous dining wares, and the food was delicious! The only thing we felt was missing in the lunch kaiseki was the 'steamed dish' course, usually chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), which we have come to expect in a traditional Japanese set meal (four years in Japan would do that to a person). Not to worry, we only had to ask our waiter, who confirmed that chawanmushi was indeed available in the a-la-carte menu. So half-way through our kaiseki course (as that was when we realised we missed something), we ordered chawanmushi (HK$70), which was served just before the final savoury course.

Trio of appetisers - tofu, steamed chicken and boiled spring vegetable with bonito sauce. The spring vegetable had a lot of umami, thanks to the nori sheets and bonito sauce:

Appetiser #1 - Asparagus tofu with crab meat and fish roe. I love Japanese tofu, and I realised as I bit into this tofu that it had been way too long since I last ate tofu. The crab was a luxurious touch, and the tobiko gave a nice salty crunch to the dish:

Appetiser #2 - Steamed chicken and bean with sesame sauce. I think that sesame sauce goes well with most meats and vegetables, and I loved the flavours of this chicken dish:

Soup Course - Clear soup with soymilk-layer and fish cake, vegetables and Japanese herb. The tofu/fishcake was such a delight to eat! It had a light airy texture and a delicious subtle fish flavour. The 'soymilk-layer' in the title refers to yuba (tofu skin), which lent to the silky texture of the cake:

Sashimi Course - Seared bonito in salad style with citrus soy sauce jelly. The soy sauce jelly was interesting, and it went well with the bonito:

Simmered Dish - Deep fried and simmered eggplant with shrimp, bean and thick sesame sauce. The eggplant was beautifully silky, and the sesame sauce was delicious:

Vinegar Dish - Crab meat and sliced yam with vinegar sauce and ginger. I loved the presentation of this dish, using a bamboo dish and an ice bath:

Inside the bamboo dish. The crab was sweet and tender, and the yam and ginger bed was refreshing. The sliced yam didn't have an overly gooey texture, otherwise hubby would not have enjoyed it so much!

Grilled Dish - Grilled swordfish flavoured with Japanese herb served with vinegared celery and sweet potato. To be frank, I have never been a big fan of swordfish. This swordfish had a nice sweet miso-based marinade, and the vinegared celery was actually pretty good:

Our Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), as requested (not part of the lunch kaiseki set). Gorgeously silky and the flavour was perfect. I quite enjoyed this chawanmushi:

Rice with seasonal Japanese corn, soya bean soup and pickles. It wouldn't be a complete kaiseki meal without the rice course. I suggest starting with the subtly-flavoured rice along with the tsukemono, and finishing with the salty miso soup:

Dessert Course - Watermelon jelly with vanilla ice cream. The watermelon jelly was quite refreshing and light, just the way I like to end a meal (not with a heavy dessert!). The vanilla ice cream was pretty good too, and it had a very dense but smooth texture:

Hubby got presented with extra sweets for his birthday. Which was great because he was just saying that he was still hungry. I was pretty full, so I had tiny bites of each to taste. The cheesecake was cottony soft and light, just the way they make it in Japan! We think the pudding next to the cheesecake was made with earl grey tea (hubby thought it was coffee, but I couldn't taste coffee but could detect citrus, so we deduced it must be earl grey), which was quite enjoyable. I believe that hubby's favourite was that rich-looking chocolate cake:

This was a lovely mid-week treat to celebrate hubby's birthday. I heard that the teppanyaki at Nadaman is pretty good, and I'm sure we'll be back to try it out!

[Prices quoted above excludes the 10% service charge]

Nadaman (Island Shangri-La)
7th Floor
Island Shangri-La Hong Kong
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Admiralty, Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2820 8570

Thursday 6 June 2013

Beautiful French dinner @ L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Hong Kong (revisit)

I love a good French meal, and I know just the place for it in Hong Kong! We are big fans of French chef Robuchon's restaurants, and we were delighted when hubby's aunt C and uncle L invited us out for dinner to L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon to celebrate hubby's upcoming birthday. I love this couple (probably my favourite of all my in-laws) - they are such genuine people and I have learnt a lot from them. We always have such a great time with them, and they always spoil us with good food. This was not our first visit to L'Atelier in HK, having lunched there for hubby's birthday last year, but that didn't dull our excitement at all. Our generous relatives had also treated us dinner three years ago at the exquisite Le Jardin, also at the same location but offering a more private and exclusive dining experience. L'Atelier is C's and L's favourite restaurant in Hong Kong, and they are familiar regulars, dining here once every few weeks - they even have a favourite table (which I'm sure they always manage to get seated at). They recently had the opportunity to dine at L'Atelier in Paris, but L says that the one in HK is still his favourite one, and I suppose that comes naturally with being regular customers for the past 6 or so years since the restaurant opened. I must admit that the atmosphere in L'Atelier HK is different to the one in Tokyo, somewhat more cozy and relaxed - though I'm sure that has something to do with the smaller space and quite different cultures. I can't wait to try out L'Atelier in Paris, where we have lunch reservations next month during our short summer vacation in France.

The lovely bread basket of crusty baguettes, cheesy rolls, bacon and onion twists, buttery mini-croissants, soft brioche and walnut rolls - just to name a few:

There are a lot to love about L'Atelier: the cool, sleek and earthy decor, the impeccable service, and of course the gorgeous food which is always lovely to behold and delicious to eat. I always look forward to the basket of assorted baked goodies served at the beginning of the meal, which is very difficult to resist, whether one is saving room in the stomach for the food to come, or supposed to be on some kind of low-carb/gluten-free diet. Thankfully I don't have any diet restrictions, but I was feeling pretty full by the time our second dishes arrived. There were a couple of set menus served during dinner at L'Atelier: the more affordably priced 4-course Menu Diner (HK$830), and the 8-course Menu Découverte (HK$1880), both comes with optional wine-pairing for extra cost. There were also the a-la-carte menu offering a delicious-sounding variety of small-tasting portions, appetisers, and fish and meat main courses. L mentioned that he always ordered three or four dishes from the small-tasting portions menu, and the rest of us followed suit. Everything on the menu looked good, and it took us some time to make our choices (while devouring the yummy bread). L and hubby ordered four dishes, and C and I opted for three items (though I actually wanted only two, but L insisted that I needed one more). The dishes were served in the order that allowed for the most enjoyment: from the lighter, more subtle-tasting food, to the stronger-flavoured dishes. There is an impressively long wine list, and we enjoyed some Dom Perignon and a very good white wine with our meal (I only had tiny sips of each to taste).

The amuse bouche was a duo of chilled cucumber veloute and foie gras custard with parmesan foam. We were instructed to have the cucumber veloute first, and it had a beautiful velvety texture and a refreshing flavour. The foie gras custard was rich and nicely complemented with the parmesan foam:

Hubby and L chose Le Homard en fines ravioles, navet au romarin à l'aigre-doux (Maine lobster in turnip raviolis, HK$280). One ravioli brought me to foodie heaven. I can see why this is one of L's favourite dishes to order:

C ordered La Burrata/avocats en quartiers et tomates Camone (Burrata, cheese/avocado slices and Camone tomato, HK$290). Such tantalising colours on one plate:

My first dish was La Langoustine en papillote croustillante au basilic (crispy langoustine papillote with basil, HK$290), which was one of L's favourite dishes that he also ordered that night. Beautifully crispy and perfectly cooked:

Hubby's Les Saint-Jacques poêlées, lait de coco épice et condiment de coriandre fraîche (jumbo sea scallop “à la plancha” with coconut and coriander sauce, HK$190):

Both C and L ordered La Joue de Boeuf braisée au miso rouge, petits légumes de saison (braised Wagyu beef cheek with miso, seasonal baby vegetables, HK$290). This is also another of L's favourite:

This was my Le Risotto 'Mantecato' aux langues d'oursin à l'artichaut épineux (sea urchin risotto with spiky artichokes, HK$250). This was a very rich dish, full of flavours of the sea. It was quite enjoyable, but I have an unusually low threshold for rich food so I could manage only a few spoons before it got too much for me. Hubby was happy to finish it off:

Hubby had Le Black Cod avec une mousseline de daïkon à l’huile d’olive Vierge (cod fish fillet with smooth daikon cream and virgin olive oil, HK$240). I had this dish from our lunch last year, and it was just as divine as I remembered it. The daikon cream would stand well on its own as a soup:

We ended the main part of the meal with the legendary Le Burguer au foie gras et poivrons verjutés (Kagoshima beef and foie gras burgers with lightly caramelized bell peppers, HK$320). This usually comes with two mini-burgers, but we requested to be served only one each. Served with a slab of foie gras, this is a truly decadent version of the humble burger, and one mini-sized burger was plenty enough for me (though hubby declared he could have had another!). We loved the crispy fries fried in duck fat, which went nicely with the ginger-infused tomato sauce. The overhead lighting casted a harsh shadow in the photo, so click here for a better photo, taken the last time we had the burger:

At this point, L and I were feeling the effects of carbing up on the bread, but hubby and C still had room for desserts, and they both ordered very similar desserts. L insisted that I needed dessert, and I caved in and ordered a scoop of chocolate ice cream. L also got a scoop of caramel ice cream.

C's L'Oeuf de Poule en soufflée à l’extrait de vanille de Tahiti, jaune coulant et crème glacée (egg soufflé perfumed with Tahiti’s vanilla, warm and smooth yolk with vanilla ice cream, HK$160). The egg soufflé came out perfectly bouffant, and C was pleasantly surprised that she enjoyed the sweet liquid yolk at the bottom as she doesn't usually like runny eggs:

Hubby got Le Soufflée chaud au Coeur de Guanaja, sorbet à la mandarine (hot “Coeur de Guanaja” chocolate soufflé with mandarin sorbet), which was divine and just the dessert for chocolate lovers. The mandarin sorbet was a good refreshing accompaniment to the rich soufflé, and hubby said he may have enjoyed the sorbet more than the soufflé!

An inner shot of the chocolate soufflé, which had the perfect airy texture:

My scoop of very good chocolate ice cream:

The petit fours to enjoy with our tea:

These were what we got to take home - an Orange Butter Cake, and a box of leftover baked goods from our bread basket, which we requested to take home after finding out that they were just going to be thrown out:

The orange butter cake that was really tasty:

We had a fantastic time at L'Atelier with great company and beautiful food. We would be regulars too if we could afford it!

[Prices quoted above excludes the 10% service charge]

L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon
Shop 315 & 401
The Landmark
15 Queen's Road Central
Central
Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2166 9000
Online reservations available at Robuchon's website

Saturday 1 June 2013

Brunching @ Oolaa Petite, Hong Kong

I am such a smartphone noob! I've had this smartphone for almost 9 months (my first one, which I got from hubby when he upgraded), yet I only just figured out how to upload the photos from the phone to the computer! I had this meal with my gorgeous friend Steph almost a month ago, and I can finally write about it. Steph came over to Hong Kong for a day trip, and I finally could meet up with her after having had to cancel a few times on her either due to poor health or work. Thankfully Steph is such a sweet soul who understands the nature of the job of a substitute teacher - getting called up at the last moment to sub a sick teacher - and getting sick is unavoidable when I come in contact with so many kids. Steph had previously visited Oolaa Petite on Star Street and told me we ought to brunch there the next time we met. It's a nice little cafe-style eatery, with a comfortable and cozy atmosphere. The brunch menu had a nice variety of food from the simple like fresh fruit bowl with greek yoghurt, muesli and pancakes, to the more substantial items like eggs benedict, the Big Breakfast and Breakfast Pizza. Unfortunately I'd forgotten to bring along my camera so I had to resort to using the phone camera. The photos are not the best quality, but they're better than nothing!

Steph's Breakfast Burrito (HK$95) was filled with portobello mushroom, bacon, sausage, caramelized onion, roasted tomato, scrambled egg and mixed cheeses, and served with sour cream and tomato chutney. It was substantial, perfect for someone who skipped breakfast:

Having eaten breakfast already, I opted for something lighter and ordered the Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon and Avocado (HK$100). The smoked salmon option actually comes with spinach, but the kitchen honoured my request to substitute with avocado, which went perfectly with the smoked salmon:

I really enjoyed my eggs benedict, which was tasty and hit the spot for my craving for eggs benedict. The eatery soon filled up with the business crowd during the peak lunch hour, and we spied other diners tucking into their delicious-looking lunches. After a quick look at the lunch menu, Steph and I decided that we'll come back for lunch next time!

[Prices quoted above excludes 10% service charge.]

Oolaa Petite
Ground Floor

Shop 12 & 14 Regal Court
Wing Fung Street
Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2529 3823