Hong Kong: Tai O Egg Waffles 大澳炭燒雞蛋仔叔叔

Charcoal-grilled egg waffles are few and far between and if the breathtaking scenery at Tai O isn't sufficient to warrant a trip to the fishing village, you simply must make a visit for the gan dan jai.

This popular streetside eggette vendor (above) churns out glorious waffles with crunchy shells that shatter to reveal fluffy, custardy sponge. The charcoal fire lends a slight smoky fragrance to the addictive snack. Unexpectedly, these turned out to be the highlight of my food expedition in Hong Kong!

I am unsure of the stall's operating hours, but CNNGo states that it is open in the afternoons.

Tai O Egg Waffles 大澳炭燒雞蛋仔叔叔 
59 Kat Hing Back Street, Tai O

麺屋武蔵

Ramen fans will be delighted to learn that the vastly popular Menya Musashi from Shinjuku has launched its first outpost on our shores early this month.



Famed for ramen broths of exotic flavours in Japan, the local branch for now only has a limited number of key items to offer.



White Kakuni Ramen ($14.9)

It's hard not to love the distintively thick and smoky broth so rich in collagen. The noodles were resilient and slightly thicker than the usual ones I have. While there are three broth choices (white, red and black), you can also opt for the chashuu version for just $12.9.



It was instant gratification the moment I tucked into my black tsukemen ($14.9, 2x).

Got its spooky black colour probably from the fried garlic and fermented onions, the sauce-dip was very delightful and intense with hearty flavours. Satly it might just taste, it was not too heavy that you can drink it on its own.

To better your slurp experience, every tsukemen ordered is entitled to a free upsize of up to 5 times the normal portion (120g). While sharing is discouraged for obvious reasons, do ask the friendly waitstaff to top up your dip sauce.



Love the elaborate art on the bowl even though I'm not a fan of NHK's taiga dramas. (Talking about historic dramas, the life story of the legendary warrior Miyamoto Musashi took centre stage in the 2003 series)



With such a satisfying meal, there is certainly much to look forward to for my future returns. As they don't close in between lunch and dinner hours, try to be there during those timings to avoid the crowds.


麺屋武蔵
#01-16, Raffles City Shopping Centre
Daily, 11.30am – 10pm
6336 6500

Plain Vanilla Bakery IV

Pardon my obsession with Plain Vanilla's cupcakes of late. Their Strawberry White Chocolate cupcake is extremely charming but I fell deeply in love with their limited-edition Salted Caramel cupcake at first bite. This amalgamation of Maldon sea salt caramel buttercream and feather-light caramel cake base is just crazily delicious!! It's currently only available till May 6 but I'm praying that it'll be listed on the regular menu. Pretty please?

Once in a while, PVB also doles out peanut butter brownies ($3.50). These are good but I personally prefer my brownies sans frosting for a stronger chocolate punch.

Plain Vanilla Bakery
34A Lorong Mambong
Look for a doorway leading to M.A.D. about Hair (which shares a unit with PVB), located near El Patio
Tel: +65 6465 5942
Opening hours: 12pm – 8pm (Tues-Sat), 12pm-6pm (Sat), closed on Mondays

Asia Grand Restaurant @ Odeon Towers

People in Singapore really enjoy yum cha on weekend mornings. Some popular ones, such as this Asia Grand, requires a booking of at least 2 to 3 days in advance, as it is almost impossible to get a table here on the day itself.




The restaurant is located right in the heart of the city, next to Bras Basah McDonald's. Service was very polite and prompt.





The signboard outside of the restaurant.





We were first served some chilled vegetables and XO sauce, which were labelled as Pickles (S$3) on the receipt.





I really dig into the Roast Crispy Pork (S$11). Skin is crunchy, and the pork is juicy and not too salty.





Asia Grand's Shrimp Dumpling (S$5.20), or more commonly known as Har Kow, had lot's of crunchy prawns inside.





The Century Egg Porridge (S$8) is best to be shared among 2 diners. Portion is really big.





I also like the Shrimp Rice Rolls (S$5.80), called Chee Cheong Fun with Prawns here in Singapore. The skin was smooth and thin.





This "Jian Shui Jiao" is not often seen in Singapore, but more popular in Hong Kong. The deep fried "salty" dumplings (S$4.20) actually has similar skin as our Soon Kueh, just that it was deep fried. The fillings were a combination of pork and some crunchy vegetables.





One of the best item from Asia Grand is their Siew Mai (S$4.80). They are not stingy with the ingredients, and you can taste the pork, prawns and mushrooms in each of these little packets.





And finally, Crispy Prawn Dumplings (S$5.20) which is to be dipped in the creamy mayo.




Asia Grand Restaurant 
331 North Bridge Road, 
#01-05/08 
Odeon Towers

Hong Kong: Tai Cheong Bakery

Trying Tai Cheong's egg tarts has been on my bucket list for a long time. Just imagine my excitement as I sprinted along Lyndhurst Terrace towards the legendary institution!

Egg tarts are always best eaten fresh out the oven, hence I slurped up the satin smooth and quivery custard while standing along the sidewalk. Unglamorous, I know, but it was certainly a wonderful gastronomic experience. The buttery, crumbly shortcrust was also exceptionally fragrant, probably due to the almond flour incorporated into the mix. I wouldn't travel all the way to Hong Kong just for this egg tart, but a visit to Tai Cheong is surely a must if you're visiting the country!

While the Chinese donut (沙翁) was nicely crunchy on the outside with an airy interior, I didn't take to its eggy taste.

Tai Cheong also stocks an assortment of packaged snacks. While the sugar-coated flaky butterfly cookies (top) are worth a try, I thought that the almond cookies and coconut egg crepes tasted rather ordinary.

It was a real pity that my family was too tired to trek from our hotel (at the far-flung Disneyland Resort on Lantau Island) to Central for Honolulu's egg tarts on the last day. Has anyone tried them? How do they fare against Tai Cheong's?

Tai Cheong Bakery

35 Lyndhurst Terrace

Tel: +854 2544 3475
Opening hours: 7:30am–9pm (Mon-Sat), 8:30am–9pm (Sun and PH)

Viking Coffee

Not one that I will go for my regular cup of crafted coffee, this new café on Kandahar Street nevertheless makes for a good respite after your retail workout in the Haji Lane neighbourhood.










Viking Coffee (Facebook)
56 Kandahar Street
Sun – Thu, 10am – 10pm
Fri – Sat, 11am – 2am

Otto Ristorante @ Red Dot Traffic Building

One of the best Italian restaurant in town is located right inside the iconic red dot museum building. Almost every diner who have dined here at Otto were pleased with both the food and service.



We made reservations almost one week before the Saturday we were there. Even so, reservations came in fast and furious, and there were 2 sittings for dinner in order to accommodate more diners.



As you can see, we were almost the first to arrive here at Otto.

Took a look at the menu, and decided to order 2 different set dinner. One was the Degustation Menu (S$88++ for DM), and the other the Gourmet Menu (S$128++ for GM). Otto has a flexible policy where each diner can order any set dinner or even ala carte, as it is not necessary for the entire table to have the same set menu.

We were very impressed with the varieties of bread they served to us. Some notable ones were the raisin breads, and the brioche.



We were first served a complimentary baked cauliflower.

Appetizer came in the form of Ligurian style octopus potato and celery salad with black olive powder (GM). This appetizer had a fresh and crunchy texture.

One of their signature appetizer is the Wagyu beef carpaccio with mushroom and parmesan cheese salad (DM). Some may be put off by the colour of the beef carpaccio, but let me assure you this was very tasty indeed.

We had one of the best foie gras in town - Cocca bean crusted foie gras with port wine reduction (GM). The foie gras was slightly crisp on the outside, yet creamy on the inside. Highly recommended.

A soup called Livorno style "seafood soup" in light tomato broth (DM) to warm our stomach.

Many who dined at Otto have said that one of the must have dish here is their Homemade Squid Ink taglloini with lemon and chilli marinated prawn (DM). Indeed, this was one of the best squid ink pasta I ever had. There was a very delicious seafood sauce coating each strand of the black pasta.

We also enjoyed the Homemade dutch veal ravioli with sage and truffle emulsion (GM).

After all these appetizers came the mains. First was this Halibut fillet with spinach veloute and tarragon oyster sauce (GM). Fish was fresh and the spinach oyster sauce brought out to sweetness of the fish.

The Beef tenderloin with sauteed potatoes and sea salt flakes (DM) was a bit tough. The taste was good, just that if the beef was more tender, then it would be perfect.

We enjoyed eating the crispy and juicy crispy suckling pig lacquered with "black locust" tree honey and aged balsamic vinegar (GM). The pork was tender and delicious.

I think Otto need to put in more effort for their desserts. They were, good, just that we expected a bit more after the excellent appetizers and mains. Above is the Polenta and pineapple cake with young coconut espuma (DM).

The 2nd dessert was the very common warm chocolate cake with Haitian vanilla ice-cream (GM)

Ended dinner with a cup of Tea (GM)



Otto Ristorante
28 Maxwell Road,
#01-02
Red Dot Traffic Building

Chatterbox @ Mandarin Orchard

When it comes to recommending a good Chicken Rice place with a nice environment in the heart of Orchard Road, one place comes to mind - Chatterbox.



This restaurant has been serving chicken rice for many years. Although prices have gone up by quite a bit in recent years, but the taste have still been quite good.



For those who have not been to Chatterbox for a long time, it has shifted up to the 5th floor, and is accessible either through the mall or from the new hotel lobby.



This is the world famous Chatterbox Chicken Rice (S$27). Other than Singaporeans, I noticed many Indonesians like to come here to enjoy the chicken rice. At this price, the portion of the chicken is rather big and juicy. Thumbs up for the fragrant rice.



Free iced water is served to all diners here.



Other than Chicken Rice, Chatterbox also does other Asian cuisines. One dish which I always like to order in local hotels is the Nasi Goreng Istimewa (S$24). The fried rice tasted spicy and had a good kick. Satays were well-marinated and tender. So were the prawns. However the keropoks were not crispy enough.



Also shared a platter of Satays (S$37.60 for 12 sticks). Mixture of beef and chicken satays. THe satays were large and very well marinated.



Another dish we had was the Nasi Lemak (S$24). The rice had a fragrant coconut taste to it.




Chatterbox
333 Orchard Road,
Level 5
Mandarin Orchard