Bang Bang Pan Pan

Bang Bang Pan Pan
34 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay.
The extremely lovely okonomiyaki dog with bonito flakes, mayo, aonori,
and otafuku sauce, and two naked, and much less appetizing,
okonomiyaki.

Luk Yu Tea House

Luk Yu Tea House
24 Stanley Street, Central.
Fried Chicken stuffed with shrimp dumplings, and noodle infused with fish meat.

The English-speaking Dining Society

The English-speaking Dining Society (TDS)
Chinese Cuisine Training Institute (CCTI)
7/F Pokfulam Training Centre Complex,
145 Pokfulam Road, Pok Fu Lam.
The CCTI is a vocational training center where culinary students,
mostly teenage high-school dropouts, learn a trade in the hospitality
industry. Service is therefore haphazard and uneven, but that is to be
expected from students whose average tenure at the CCTI is no more
than a few months. Food is also cooked by students who have spent no
more than a few months in the school kitchen. It is thus remarkable
that the students were able to deliver a decent Cantonese meal,
complete with double-boiled soup, BBQ meats, and an array of Cantonese
dim sums.
Double-boiled "silkie" chicken (烏雞) with assorted meat soup,
assortment of dim sums (shrimp dumpling, pan-fried vegetarian and bean
curd sheet roll, and steamed minced pork bun with preserved
vegetables), BBQ pork with honey glaze, steamed water melon with whole
conpoy, sauteed beef fillet with wild mushrooms, sauteed string bean
with olive pickles, fried rice, and double-boiled papaya dessert with
snow fungus. Everything came out decently, especially the fried rice,
with each rice pearl nicely separate from the others. The BBQ pork was
slightly chewy and could use more honey glaze, but the meal overall
was a good experience for all.

Gyu-Kaku

Gyu-Kaku
LCX, LEVEL 3
Ocean Terminal, Harbour City
3 - 27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Dessert, fresh off the grill: fish-shaped cake stuffed with red beans,
and red bean pancake with Matcha ice cream.

Darrie-Go! Noodles

Darrie-Go! Noodles
G/F, Wah Hoi Mansion
254 Electric Road, North Point.
Noodles in beef broth, with sides of wontons and beef brisket. The
beef broth, with nary a drop of fat but plenty of beefy overtones, was
the quintessential comfort food. The sides, served separately, didn't
necessarily match with the broth, but neither should their flavors, no
matter how excellent, contaminate it.

Daruma Ramen House

Daruma (達磨日式拉麵)
92E, Tung Lo Wan Road
Tai Hang, Hong Kong.
Spicy ramen, fried dumplings. The noodles were slightly too soft,
while the char siu lacked flavor. Nevertheless, the punchy spicy soup
base saved the day with sumptuous chili oil and pork fat aromatics.
The half-egg, lightly smoked, added substantial sophistication to the
concoction.

Carrianna Chiuchow Restaurant

1/F, 151 Gloucester Road
Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
Pig stomach soup with preserved cabbage (鹹菜豬肚湯), fried taro sticks
with sugar glaze (反沙芋條), Chiu Chow tea (功夫茶).

Rating: 1 star to the pig stomach soup with preserved cabbage.

Brunch Club & Supper

Brunch Club & Supper
13 Leighton Road
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
The meat platter.

St. George at the Hullett House

St. George at the Hullett House
2A Canton Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
The floating amuse bouche of pancetta, tomato cream and shaved truffle
dumplings; risotto Caranaroli (with snails and bacon); duck foie gras
terrine; roast chicken with butternut squash puree; poached filet of
cod; Genoa cake with poached peach and lemon mousse; chocolate cake
with coffee ice cream and caramel emulsion. Food was executed without
flaws and presented in an impeccable atmosphere. The head waiter was
professional and cordial, but the bus boy had a bad hair day and could
hardly wait a second longer for us to finish our meal and leave.

Rating: 1 star to the restaurant for its overall ambiance, menu creativity, and great service.

Hakata Ippudo

Hakata Ippudo
2/F, 8 Russell Street
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
The Kyushu tonkotsu base had incredible body and flavors, while the
noodles came out chewy and thick as requested. A glob of cheese, added
as an extra ingredient, caressed the noodles gently and formed a film
of cheesy juiciness around the al dente noodles, just like its
classical Italian cousin. The rest of the night's cast, including the
pan-fried dumplings and the fried pork belly, was good enough but
uninspiring.

Rating: 1 star to the tonkotsu noodles.

Sister Wah Noodles

Sister Wah (華姐清湯腩)
G/F, 13A Electric Road
Tin Hau, Hong Kong.
Beef brisket noodles, and boiled turnip bathing in beef juices.

Sapporo Japanese Restaurant

Sapporo Japanese Restaurant (札幌元祖北海道拉麵)
G/F, Fortune House, 61 Connaught Road Central
Central, Hong Kong.
The spongy noodles, cooked al dente, bathed gloriously in a flavorful
miso base. The char-siu pork did not live up to the starred
aspirations of the soup and the noodles, as it severely lacked flavor
and body. A dish of fried chicken ordered on the side was so soggy
that it remained untouched for much of the afternoon.

AVA Restaurant Slash Bar

38/F, Hotel Panorama by Rhombus, 8A Hart Avenue
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
Pork loin wrapped in bacon, and the "incredible" chocolate cake. Food
was decent, but the breathtaking view overlooking the Hong Kong harbor
was the center of the show.

Hide-Chan Ramen

UG/F, The Loop, 33 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong.
Tsukemen.

Dali Beef Noodles

Dali Beef Noodles (大利清湯腩)
5 Wood Road
Wanchai, Hong Kong.
The curry lacked flavors, and the beef was too tough. It wasn't nearly
what it used to be.

Alfie's by Kee

Alfie's by Kee
Shop M18-19, M/F, Prince's Building
10 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong.
Fish and Chips.

Le Soleil

3/F, The Royal Garden
69 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Appetizer set (spring rolls, bean sprouts salad, and grilled shrimp),
and pho. The soup base of the pho was thin and lacked authority. The
beef balls tasted like it only recently escaped from the freezer.

Linguini Fini

1/F, The L Place, 139 Queen's Road Central
Central, Hong Kong.
Homemade spicy pork sausage with roasted garlic mostarda, and
"Chitarra", a pasta dish with chicken liver, pancetta, brown butter,
and 30-year-old balsamico.

The Chitarra was a horrendous experience:
it tasted like stale pasta curled up in a pool of chopped liver left rotting
overnight at the butcher counter. The pork sausage was much better,
with the pungency of the mustard cutting through and dancing nicely
with the heftier pork fat.