Choi Lung Restaurant 大帽山彩龍茶樓

This is my preferred place for Dim Sum in Hong Kong instead of the overrated Tim Ho Wan. Credits to Billy for bringing us to this hidden gem.

大帽山彩龍茶樓 Choi Lung Restaurant is a bit tricky to find but nevertheless the travelling and the time spent waiting for buses is worth it!

How to get there: Take a taxi from MTR Tsuen Wan station for around HK$60 or take the minibus 80 at Chuen Lung Street near Tsuen Wan wet market.

Choi Lung Restaurant features a very old style Hong Kong restaurant where you have to go pick up the food yourselves. It has been running for more than 40 years. Since it is located on the waist of Hong Kong's highest peak, Tai Mo Shan, this restaurant has been the pick of most hikers to recharge after a hike.

Everything is self service here. Their chinese tea here is more refreshing and taste better compared to others out there. It is probably because the water they use here comes directly from the mountain or in chinese they call it 山水. 

They have a wide variety of dim sum here, so just pick out whatever you like. I personally would recommend their 新鮮腸粉 (is it called steam flour roll in english?), its made to order, so its very fresh, best eaten when its hot.  

新鮮腸粉

Their fried carrot cakes are good too! Soft and crispy at the same time. Frankly speaking, most of their dim sum are good, if you can and have the capacity to fit everything, DO TRY EVERYTHING. Haha. I didn't snap much solo photos of the dim sum as I was busy eating. :P

The amount of food we ate! xD It just proves how good their dim sums are! Hehe. :D Also, the dim sum here is fairly cheap! Good value for money!

overall rating: 9/10

Choi Lung Restaurant 大帽山彩龍茶樓

opening hours: mon to sun 530am-3pm
address: 2 Chuen Lung Estate, Route Twisk,Tsuen Wan 荃灣荃錦公路川龍村2號

Nichigyu Shabu Shabu & Sukiyaki Restaurant 日牛涮涮鍋專門店

Oh Yes! My favorite eatery near HKUST!

All you can eat beef! Why not right?! For HKUST-ers, especially the new-comers, if you're sick with LG7 and LG1 food, do go to hanghau east point city mall and they actually have quite good food there! Decently priced! And, Nichigyu is one of them!

Nichigyu provides a all you can eat beef buffet and they also have a self-serve side dishes (mostly vegetables) counter! Also, they have several different kind of soup base that you can pick from. Well, my favorite is their shoyu soup base.

The set comes with a tray of pork and another tray of beef. The beef  can be refilled unlimited times. :D

Their beef. Sometimes, it could look really nice where the meat comes with a little fats but at times, their meet looks like the bottom one. Nevertheless, both are good. It really depends on your luck.

The self service buffet table.

This is me feeling satisfied after 6 trays of beef! HAHAHAHAHA!

Oh yea, I almost forgot, what I like best here....

Their FROYO! Their frozen yoghurt is really goood! Its so smooth and milky! And it is free flow too! HAHA. Okay, now I sound like a cheapo but HEY! Who doesnt like unlimited amound of good food!

TBH, there's nothing much to blog about nichigyu, you just have to go and try it. The price is quite decent around HKD130+ per pax for all you can eat beef shabu shabu buffet. Their buffet is limited to 1.5hrs only.

overall rating: 9/10

Nichigyu Shabu Shabu & Sukiyaki Restaurant 日牛涮涮鍋專門店  

opening hours: mon to sun 12pm-11pm

address: Shop 197A, 1/F, East Point City, 8 Chung Wa Road, Tseung Kwan O 將軍澳重華路8號東港城1樓197A號舖

Supreme Restaurant 至尊重慶雞煲

As winter is approaching, I thought it would be good to introduce some 'winter cuisines' to you. Since I'm in Hong Kong so how can I not eat the hotpots here! Supreme Restaurant 至尊重慶雞煲, it is not exactly HOTPOT HOTPOT, if translated to english it is actually called the 'chicken pot'.

BTW, just before you proceed, if you cannot eat spicy at all, please consider to skip this post HAHA.

Oh Mai Gawddd! Just by looking at it, I'm already drooling! YUMSIES! :D Well, for people who dont usually eat spicy, you can order the milder pot, 中辣, instead. The chicken meat is tender, spicy, very well done and very juicy indeed. The soup is very tasty too!

After finishing the chicken, the waiter will add soup for you and it becomes HOTPOT! Since it is a buffet, so eat all you can! They have a wide range of side dishes here! My favorites are of course the cheese balls, beef bacon etc.

So, do give it a try peeps! Its only around HKD150 per person for ALL YOU CAN EAT! Its soooo worth it!

Tips: Do make a reservation first or be prepared to queue for around an hour! Alternatively, coming here for supper is not such a bad idea after all :D

overall rating: 7/10 *service is quite bad during peak hours*

Supreme Restaurant 至尊重慶雞煲

opening hours: mon to sun 5pm-3am

address: 16/F, Chong Hing Square, 593-601 Nathan Road, Mong Kok  旺角彌敦道593至601號創興廣場16樓

*they have other outlets at shatin and causeway bay as well*

Steamers Bar & Restaurant 火船

Calling all HKUST-ers, our campus is so near Sai Kung so how can you not try this amazing bar & restaurant in Sai Kung! Introducing you the one & only Steamers Bar & Restaurant!

This is definitely my A-class restaurant! A must visit whenever I go back to Hong Kong! Not only their food is good and the portion is huge too! The restaurant is very cozy and very nice place to just grab a beer, chill with friends while enjoying their food and ambience.

You have to order their CHILLI NACHOS HERE! IT IS A MUSTTT! :D The nachos was perfectly baked topped with cheese, chilli and red beans, and the best part is, the nachos were still crispy even after baked with the toppings. YUMMYLICIOUS!

Another highly recommended food  here is their FISH N CHIPS! The fish is hugeeeeeeee! The batter is crispy and the fish fillet inside is tender!

Their Guinness lamb shank is nice too! The taste of guinness wasnt that strong, it was just nice for me and the lamb meat was cooked till tender, not too rough, not too soft and the mashed potatoes that came with it was pretty decent too.

Other recommended foods: Chilli prawn pasta(?) *forgot the name*, bangers and mash

Overall, I've tried quite a number of dishes from their menu, and my favorite has to be their nachos and fish and chips. One food though that was pretty disappointing was their steak and carbonara. 

The ambience here is really good. It is a good place to grab some drinks and just chill the night out with some friends. 

overall rating: 8/10

Steamers Bar & Restaurant

opening hours: mon to sun 9am-1am 

address: G/F, 66 Yi Chun Street, Sai Kung  西貢宜春街66號地下

Butao Ramen 豚王

HELLOOOO FELLOW READERS!

I'm so sorry that I have been pretty busy for the past few days but but, I'm finally back to bring you more foodie posts!

I'm really EXCITED writing this post because I'm about to bring to you my ALL TIME FAVORITE RAMEN PLACE! YUMMY!

Here we go about the LEGENDARY Butao Ramen  豚王!

To start with, Butao Ramen has 4 outlets in Hong Kong, located at Causeway Bay, Central, Shatin and Tsim Sha Tsui respectively. I always go to the Causeway Bay one since its considered the nearest to HKUST.

There are 4 different flavours of ramen in Butao, and my favourite is the original flavour 豚王.

The pork bone broth is thick, the noodles are very springy 弹性, and the portion of char siew given was very generous too, its thick and tender. The BEST part of the ramen is the EGG 温泉蛋 ! The egg is cooked just nice, not too well done, the egg yolk is still pretty watery but the egg white is pretty cooked, the whole texture is just amazing.

For others who likes more exotic flavours, they could opt for the spicy or the black broth.

The red broth is spicy but yet not too spicy for me, just nice. the condiments inside pretty similar to the original ones, just the broth is different. Nevertheless, its still amazing!

The black broth is basically squid ink broth, very unique indeed. It comes with a scoop with black grounded meat ball. Its not really my thing but still its good. Its worth a try! 

Lastly, the jade (green) broth is basically a pesto pork bone broth. Sorta a 'east meets west' thing. Very interesting flavoured bowl of ramen indeed. I was quite skeptical about it on the first glance but nevertheless, it was worth my money, definitely. The broth was thick, the ingredients was fresh, and again I would like to put emphasis on, the texture of the noodles was really GOOD!

For those who are planning to pay a visit to butao soon, do prepare to queue, or opt for hours between 3-5pm, they have relative less queue during that time, or no queue at all. 

Well, to make things quick, the staffs will pass you this order sheet while you were queuing. You get to pick your own broth, thickness of the soup, sauce, garlic, pork tenderness, noodle type, texture and any extra side dishes you need. 

So basically, butao ramen is sort of a bowl of customised ramen to your own preference. :)

On a side note: If you are looking for somewhere cozy and comfy, butao is NOT that place! haha. Butao outlets are all small and tiny.

Hope you enjoyed my post and DO TRY BUTAO. You will never regret. The price range is basically between 80HKD - 200 HKD ( if you add on a lot of stuff ) haha. 

overall rating: 9/10

Butao Ramen

opening hours: 11am-11pm

address: 40, Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay 登龍街40號地下 (MTR Exit A *times square exit*)

Via Tokyo

After so many posts of main courses and savouries, finally one of my favorite dessert hideout! *drumrolls* Best Green Tea ice cream in town goes to......... Via Tokyo!!!

They have quite a large variety of desserts here. But of course, their best seller is their matcha soft serve ice cream. 

The texture of the matcha ice cream is very smooth and not overly sweet, and has a very strong matcha taste. Yums Yums. But yet, my favorite is the matcha vanilla twist.

The soft serve is very rich in taste, creamy, smooth, VERY YUMMY indeed!

Oh and if you're a big eater or if you cant make up your mind on what to order, you can always opt for the 3 taste ice cream sampler. 

It has all 3 flavors: Matcha, Hojicha and Vanilla accompanied by mochis, red beans and a biscuit stick. 

overall rating: 9/10

P.s. If you don't wanna queue, you can always walk to the counter and order a takeaway! Saves you a lot of time!

Via Tokyo

opening hours: monday to thursday and sunday 11am-1030pm; friday and saturday 11am-11pm

address: Shop nos. 1A-1B, G/F., Leishun Court, 106-126 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣禮頓道106-126號禮信大廈地下1A-1B號舖 (near coffee alley, next to waffills)

Star Cafe 星座冰室

Oooh Yeah! I want to introduce to you fellow readers, my favorite local hidden gem no other than the Star Cafe 星座冰室 ! 

It took me a while looking for this place. It is actually located at a not so strategic location in Tsim Sha Tsui, the building looks really old and pretty dodgy. BUTT, the food, is AMAZING!

The tomato egg noodles 蕃茄撈蛋麵 is LOVEEEEE! The tomato broth is sweet and very appetizing, and the egg, the taste blended in just fine and the texture is just amazing! Very fullfilling, very satisfying, very decently priced! I dont wanna further explain in depth, JUST GO AND TRY THEIR NOODLES! :D

We enjoyed our meal here! 

Overall rating: 9/10

Star Cafe 星座冰室

opening hours: monday to saturday 8am-930pm

address: Shop No. 36, Champagne Court, 16-20 Kimberley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui  尖沙咀金巴利道16-20號香檳大廈地庫36號舖

Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司

Up next, the much discussed Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司. For me, this restaurant is definitely OVERRATED!

As usual, I normally do my homework before I visit any restaurants, the most recommended food as per open rice are their steam milk, steam egg and scrambled egg toast.

This sucks so bad! The texture is not as smooth as the Yee Shun Dairy Company 港澳義順牛奶公司

and no milk taste at all! 

Well, the scrambled egg toast is indeed good. The scrambled egg was smooth and the portion was decent. I am pretty sure they added milk to the scrambled egg thats why the texture is smooth.

On a side note, their service here is really bad and there's normally a queue. To be honest, I would not pay a second visit to this restaurant but for first timers, no harm trying it out, the scrambled egg toast is recommended but for the steam milk, MEHHHHHH!

Overall rating: 5/10
Ambience: 3/10

Australia Dairy Co. 澳洲牛奶公司

opening hours: Monday to Sunday 730am - 11pm; Closed on Thursday

address: G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan  佐敦白加士街47-49號地下

Coffee Alley 咖啡弄

Introducing one of my favorite cafe in Hong Kong - Coffee Alley 咖啡弄 from Taiwan. Coffee Alley is actually an upstairs cafe originated from Taiwan, it can easily be spotted as you can normally find people queuing at the roadside.

Yup! Not even kidding about the popularity of this cafe. There's not once that I manage to enter without queueing, the shortest queueing time I've experienced is 45 minutes and the longest, 2 hours. Oh and, they don't accept any reservations. So, do prepare to queue if you really want to try it out. So, what's special here?

I am a tea lover so whenever I visit any cafes, I would try their tea there. The fruit tea comes in a jar which could definitely feed up to 3. The tea is well mixed by using a good range of fruits, it tasted just nice, not too sweet not too sour either. Also, it is very refreshing, perfect for a summer drink.

OH YES! WAFFLES! The waffles are thick yet crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, accompanied by strawberries, one scoop of ice cream and another scoop of custard cream. The strawberries are kinda sour but it neutralizes the sweetness of the ice cream and custard, I guess? Well, no doubt the waffles are good but I've actually tasted better (not in HK), its worth trying I guess?

Being Malaysian, how could we not order the curry (which reminds us of home). The curry beef wasn't too spicy, I guess its made to the local's taste? Well, it is pretty good though. The meat was tender and the curry was spiced just right. I personally would prefer it if it is a bit more spicy.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the croissant here! It is also one of their signature dish! Not forgetting to mention, it has only limited servings, first come first serve dish! It is simple, classic and DELICIOUS, no need for much introduction, let the photo do the talking. I dont drink coffee so I cant do much intro on the coffees served here but according to my friends who tagged along, the macchiato is actually pretty well brewed, thumbs up worth a try.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Coffee Alley 咖啡弄
operation hours: 12pm-11pm; 10pm last call for kitchen
address: Room B1-B3, 1/F, Dragon Rise, 9-11 Pennington Street, Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣邊寧頓街9-11號登龍閣1樓B1-B3室