Maxim’s MX – Hong Kong

I chanced upon MX when I was looking for a place to eat inside New Town Plaza (Sha Tin), instead of dining at those familiar “tourist” restaurants/cafes, my friends and I decided to follow the residents and opt for Maxim’s MX.

This place is just like a fast food restaurant; the only different is they are serving Asian food. Being my 1st meal in Hong Kong, I ordered the 1st thing that caught my eyes from the menu board – 6寶飯 45HK$ it consist of roast duck, steamed chicken, char siew, cuttlefish, vegetable and salted duck egg. My rice comes with a glass of soft drink but I top up 10HK$ to change it into Ice Milk Tea with coffee jelly. Once you made the payment, you’ll be given a receipt, bring that receipt to the counter and collect your food, which was cook, and prepare on the spot.

My 6寶飯 is super yummylicious, a great mixed of the various kind meats and what stole the limelight was the salted duck. It’s so flavorful and of enough oil (if you know what I mean). It’s probably one of the best-salted eggs I’ve ever tasted. The ice milk tea is rich in taste and thick in texture, only one word can describe it – SHIOK!

I will definitely recommend this place to anyone visiting Hong Kong, as MX is a place to experience what the locals are eating at more affordable rate. For those visiting Hong Kong, do look out for the big red sign – Maxim’s MX to wake your holiday tastebud up.

Address: 18 Shatin Centre Street, Shop 451-453, Level 4, New Town Plaza-Phase 1

Website: www.maxims.com.hk

Spruce @ Phoenix Park

Spruce is on the check it out list since it’s opening and since an old friend of mine wanted to check out this place too; we head down one Friday evening with a reservation at 6.30pm (the only time slot that was available).

Spruce is located at Phoenix Park along Tanglin Road. It’s not as difficult to find as I thought it would be. If you’re driving up from Orchard, turn in from Tanglin Road; look out for Tanglin Hill and Ridley Park on your right and the next thing you know…Phoenix Park is just right after.

Sweet Onion Crepe

 We started the dinner with a Sweet Onion Crepe with White Truffle Fonduta – $16 to share. I’m not a big fan of onion, but it’s one of the more “interesting” starters on the menu. The aroma of the white truffle (oil) was heavenly, the crepe (cut into 3 pieces) sits on top of the creamy delicious cheese sauce looked a little small and “sad”. Taste wise; the sauce goes well with the crepe however the onion could have been more caramelized in my humble opinion.

Braised Duck Pappardelle with Rosemary

For mains, we shared the Braised Duck Pappardelle with Rosemary – $22. Hearty portion but the pasta was a little overcook, resulting to a little soggy. The saving grace was the duck, it was well infused with rosemary, it’s quite addictive just feeding on the duck.

Spruce Burger

We also ordered the Spruce Burger with Hand Cut Chip – $17. Not a big fan of burger, however the beef patty was done medium rare,  juicy and rich in flavour. The handcut fries were awesome, fat and chunky. 

The "cold" room

 To end the dinner on sweet note, I ordered a  Steamed Ginger Date Pudding – $12 for myself and my friend ordered a cheese platter. The GDP came soaked in chocolate toffee sauce. A little too sweet for my liking. I think just the toffee sauce is good enough. However, the SDP from MP is still on my top list. My friend  had the 3 cheese platter – $15.  You get to talk a “walk” to the cheese cellar and pick the cheeses of your choice.

It was a pleasant dinner with good company. The food was above average. Ambience was good, dim lighting, rustic. Service was prompt. Do note that reseravation is highly recommended!

Address: 320 Tanglin Road, Phoenix Park.

Tel: 68365528

Another read on Writing Clichés

Hey Guys,

Apologised for the lack of posting, many things had happened, work stress, loss of a relative and typical relationship problems. I promised to be on track soon. Do give me some time.

Best Regards!

In the mean time, enjoy the following article by Epicurious.com on “Top 5 Most Annoying Food-Writing Clichés”.

My wife and I play a game when we go out to eat: Name the cliché that food writers would use to describe the place. If the restaurant has a fireplace and it’s crowded: It’s cozy. If we have the chocolate cake, we know it will be described as decadent by a critic soon. Here are our top five most annoying food-writing clichés. But I’m also curious what readers think. Does your local food scribe make you cringe? How so? Please add your own clunkers in the comments field.

Decadent dessert
For some reason this is hard-wired into emerging food writers’ brains. If it’s a dessert, and not tart or fruity, it must be decadent right? Wrong. Maybe it’s sweet. Or made of chocolate. But what does decadent really mean? And how many non-decadent chocolate cakes have you had?

Cozy interior
What does this really tell you about a place? Answer: Nothing on its own. Better to say what you see, feel, hear, smell, taste. Chances are the writer is trying to avoid saying that the place is small, crowded, cramped, has low ceilings, employs candles, or seems old-fashioned. Charming tends to fall into the same rut.

Yummy
I frequently want to use the word “yummy” or even “yum” and “yummo” (sorry) when I have had a particularly pleasing dish. But what does yummy say? Delicious in a cute way? Avoid at all costs specially when paired with fries (as in “yummy french fries”).

Wash it down with…
Technically, we do wash down our food with drinks. But the phrase is overused and evokes plumbing more than good eating. When you read these words, you are witnessing a clunky segue from food description to beverages. It’s typically a last sentence in a short review and often just a reiteration of what’s on the cocktail or wine list.

Save room for…
Imagine a grandma wagging her finger at you: Save room for dessert! Don’t fill the belly! I can’t believe you ate the whole thing. Ack! It’s like an attack of the cuteness monster. Get it away from me!

Code of Conduct (On Food Verbiage)

A fellow foodie posted this on HGW, I found it rather interesting so I thought it’s worth a read.

Have a good read =)

(Extracted from May issue of Appetite. )

Gentle reader, it has come to our notice that there’s been a disturbance in the force. What force, we hear you say? Why, the food police force, whose ranks have been swellilng with independent constables and plainsclothes detectives ever since the advent of blogspot and twitter. Now, to the average person in the street, the field of food writing can sometimes seem like its own secret world, a gnostic enclave of pursed-lipped, eagle-eyed experts who murmur furtive notes into their handphones during meals and trade barbs about balsamic, like the Freemasons, but with better hair. This is not true; somtimes our hair is not that great.

But we do acknowledge that food writing has its own codes that may sometimes be opaque to the average person. Dear reader, we would like to help clarify the bubbling stockpot of verbiage and help you to navigate the gushing torrents of opinion, and so this month, we bring you a guide to reviewspeak. Here is a glossary of frequently used terms and techniques, and what they mean.

A must-try : one of only three dishes that were picked for me to try.

A whole new level : I’ve never paid this much for food before.

An acquired taste : I spat most of it discreetly into my napkin

Chill out ambience compilation CDs featuring Euro DJs you’ve never heard of are playing in the background, and the service is glacially slow.

Deconstructed : unrecognisable; requiring two minutes of instruction from your waiter as to how to eat it.

Distinctive flavour : I’ve never eatern this dish/ingredient before, but I’m pretty sure it tastes like itself.

Exciting new concept : an existing concept, with bigger menus, color-coordinated staff uniform, and crockery from a Japanese $2 shop.

Explosion/explode/bursting with flavour : I mostly eat porridge at home.

Fresh/freshness/refreshing : it used to be that ingredient freshness was a given, and thus not worth singling out for attention. From the frequency with which these words are now used, its seems to be more of a novelty these days.

Impeccable service : my ice water glass was refilled promptly and without charge.

It was very good/yummy/tasty/nice/appetising/interesting : I can’t be bothered to get out mu thesaurus.

It was cooked just right/ to perfection : well I liked it anyway. Thesaurus? Whats a thesaurus?

Modern twist : smaller plates, bigger garnishes, higher mark-up.

Molecular : I don’t recognise at least six of the eight things assembled together in this course, eve n as food. Why doesn’t anything even move when I tilt the plate? Ok its deflating, now what do I do?

Mouth : a place in which apparently almost anything can happen, including melting, falling, exploding, flooding, gushing, playing , kicking, punching and so on.

Negatives : two negatives in the hand – ‘the soup was neither too spicy nor too sour’ – are worth one positive in the bush. Very useful if once can’t come up with enough positives. Bonus points for adding longer modifiers, such as ‘not overly..’ and ‘ not excessively’…

Rustic Charm : I’ve never seen that many shades of brown in one place before, and the floors aren’t swept properly.

I was pleasantly surprised : because after seeing the rustic charm of the place, my expectations were way low.

Signature dish : the most expensive of the three dishes I was made to try.

The taste was indescribable : I’m not entirely sure what I was eating..come to think of it I’m not sure whether I enjoyed it either.

Tender/crispy/fluffy/juicy/creamy/succulent : these are the most popular texture adjectives found in all food writing. The frequency of their use however, is often more proportional to the excitability of the writen than the quality of the food.

Bedrock @ Pan Pacific Serviced Suites

This review is long overdue… :p

It was a simple dinner appointment that turned out pretty enjoyable for both CG and myself. CG suggested checking out the new Pan Pacific Serviced Suites, which means Oriole Café or Bedrock. Oriole was so packed and Bedrock is just so tempting since I’m too lazy to walk elsewhere in search for dinner. We looked at the menu and decide to just walk in.

The interior is dark (not helpful for food-tography), but definitely a good place to date or have your girls night out. As this is our first visit to the restaurant, the waiter guides us through the menu and their specialties. After a good 10mins, we decided on the following:

Smoked Tomato Soup – $12.00

300g Ribeye with Mustard Seed Sauce – $42.00

Twice Cooked Duck – $36

2 glasses of Montes Red – $12.00 per glass

Complimentary bread was served with butter and a cloves of ROASTED garlic drizzled with what seems like olive oil (?) The flat bread was served warm and taste good with the butter. What stole the limelight was the roasted garlic! The garlic was nicely roasted till perfection and indeed literally garlic spread when you just poke a piece and spread it on the flat bread. A must try for those non-garlic eaters; this clove here will change your opinion on garlic.

Up next was the smoked tomato soup, made from roma tomato and smoked with apple wood; this soup is subtly bursting with the right amount of sweetness and tanginess. The soup goes well with the bread and taste good even if they serve the chilled version (IMO).

GC had a Ribeye done medium rare with mustard seed sauce. I believe most must have read her review so I need not say much.  =)

I ordered the twice-cooked duck aka duck confit. Serve with fine mashed potatoes. Having taste the jackpot hitting duck confit at Sage. The one here is far from my liking. Not that it taste bad, but there’s something about it irking me off. Every bite is holding me back from enjoying this dish. The small tiny bits of broken chipped bone are the killer! I have to pick the bits of bone along with every piece of meat I put inside my mouth. It’s very frustrating. The skin of the duck is not crisp enough resulting in no explosion of fats and the meat is just tad dry. The only thing I like is this duck confit is not too salty. The very fine mash at the side is forgettable, too fine in texture for enjoyment. (IMO)

There are always hits and misses when it comes to food, however; overall it was a pretty ok experience for me. The tomato soup and bread is something that I might crave for. In terms of mains, I would suggest just go for the steak. Service was good and prompt. There’s a Citibank of 10% for cardholders.

PS: As the lighting is way too dim for food-tography, no pictures for this review.

Go India @ Vivo City

Disclaimer: This was an invited food tasting session. Review is based on my personal preference but I will still be fair and harsh when I have to.

Great thanks to the dudes from HGW for the invitation and now I shall waste no time and let’s…Go India.

Go India a restaurant serving north Indian cuisine, this restaurant is conveniently located inside one of our mega shopping mall – Vivo City. If you’re looking for something different from your usual fare this might be the place for you. I like the simple ivory colour décor as it creates a soothing environment for a nice meal, to top up your dining experience, I suggest to go alfresco.(no breeze? It’s okay, they’ve overhead fan.)

Papadum

We started the dinner with a plate of rolled papadum and 2 dips,a mint one and another one that taste like spicy tomato chutney. The mint dip works quite well for me, it was a refreshing and a little bit spicy however, the spicy tomato chutney(?) was just ordinary.

The following dishes were served one after another, so it was quite overwhelming for me at the moment. So here it goes…

Lamb Kakori Malai Kebab (Minced Lamb Seekhs)
- I find the taste of lamb a little too strong for my liking. The lamb texture is too minced, like too mashed up IMO.

Prawn with Garlic Butter
- One can’t go too wrong with garlic butter; the prawns were of good size and well infused with the garlic butter. I like this, perhaps can tone down a little on the salt used.

Three Pepper Fish
- The fish is well seasoned and moist but a little too salty for my liking.

Masala Crab Cake – $24 (Crab meat patty tossed in masalas dipped in tangy coconut cream sauce)
- I’ve tried masala chicken, masala mutton and even masala tea, but masala crab cake? This is my first and I simply love it. The creamy coconuty sauce compliments the juicy crab cake so well I think I can have one all to myself. I would say this is a must try dish and don’t forget your naan to go with the sauce.

Onion Chilli Cheese Kulcha – $7
- Kulcha is another kind of Indian bread that taste like naan and this one here has bits of onion, chilli and what seems like cottage cheese(?) in it. Quite good on texture and not that oily too. I hope they can put more cheese and chilli.

Aloo Papri Delhi Chat – $10 (Crisp Papris topped w chopped potatoes, onions, chillies, fresh coriander, chat masala & chutneys)
- The street food of India; this dish don’t look appetizing to me, but never judge the food by its appearance. The potatoes goes well with the chutneys, its quite a tasty snack, worth a try!

Raj Kachori Chat

Raj Kachori Chat – $10 (Semolina baked cups filled w Indian spices topped with curd, mint & tamarind sauce)
- This is similar to the one above but without the potatoes. I personally prefer this one than the one with potatoes as this has a slight sour-ish taste from the curd/yoghurt dressing (I think) but it does compliment the crispy baked cups very well.

Lalla Mussa Dal – $18 (Black Lentil)
- This “plain jane” is a star on its own. Cooked for more than 10hrs, it’s so simple yet bursting with flavors. Eat it with your naan or paratha, simply delish.

Lagan Kelamb (Spicy smoked minced lamb w hot buttered Indian bun)
- The spicy smoked minced lamb is not as spicy as I thought it will be, I like this lamb, very tasty and has a nicer texture. Didn’t try the bun as I was really full by then.

Dum Briyani Lamb $18
- This is the dum one and there’s a not so dum one (heh…pte joke aside), being a briyani lover, I find the briyani here mediocre and the lamb was a little too tough.

Dum Methi Prawn – $24 (Prawn tossed with methi, cashew nut onion paste)
- This prawn is super YUM! The rich creamy gravy is super addictive, armed with more naan…ATTACK!

Roomali Roti

 

Roomali Roti – $7
- The manager insisted that we all should try this and the next thing we know, he’s back with the roti. Rooma means handkerchief and this roti resemble a huge handkerchief when it’s open. As for taste-wise, it’s pretty plain, not oily and quite chewy in texture.

After stuffing ourselves with all the food, we moved on to the dessert department. We ordered the following to share.

Pistachio Kulfi
- A few months ago, I had my first attempt with kulfi at Little India, it was a pretty good experience. However this kulfi here was totally different from the one I tried. The one here is much creamier and it doesn’t sit well with me.

Garam Gulab Jamun

Garam Gulab Jamun (Deep Fried Cheese/Milk Ball)
- This is your ticket to sugar heaven, only for sweet sweet tooth only. The texture is somewhat like muah chee but not that sticky. I like this, it’s happy food!

Tutti Frutti (Ice cream sundae topped with mixed fruits and shortbread)
- Vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and mixed fruits, what you see is what you get.

It was an enjoyable evening and I was so stuffed after that. Food were generally not bad however desserts don’t score that well here. For those who want to check out and get a taste of Go India, do check out their lunch buffet.

Address: 1 Harbour Front Walk, #01-152/155 Vivo City

Tel: 6378 9644

Website: www.ivorykitchen.com/singapore/goindia/go-india

21st April…

What’s in the pink box???

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Happy Birthday Daddy...

The three princesses were cracking our heads, trying hard to decide where to buy daddy’s birthday cake. It was a tough fight between Canele and Centre Ps and we I decided on Centre Ps, and why? Personally I feel that Canele’s creations are sweeter and dad prefer something less sweet plus he’s fussy about the selections of cakes which explain why we have the same damn cake every year for his birthday. Haha, but that’s beside the point! This year he wanted Tiramisu cake but I decided to order him something similar, no alcohol and stronger coffee taste. Gateau Opera – $60 from Centre Ps is just what I’m looking for. Layer of coffee cream, coffee soaked almond biscuit and glazed with chocolate ganache. Simply divine!

The only bit of hiccup is they wrote 3 princess instead of princesses. The counter staff offered to redo it but I was rushing for time so I just forget it. Nevertheless, the whole family enjoyed the cake and next up in 2 months will be my sister’s 21st birthday.  Shall crack my head again on what cake to get for her and last but not least…

Here wishing daddy a Happy 55th Birthday! =)

Address: 78 Guan Chuan Street

Tel: 6220 1285

Website: www.centre-ps.com

Having fun in the Kitchen – Part 1

Having a weak spot for the famous “pick me up” I will always tend to order it whenever I see it on the dessert menu, but hey, isn’t it good to be able to make one for yourself in the comfort of a familiar kitchen and indulge it while you’re watching your favorite TV series? Well, I did, or sort of, but in someone else’s kitchen.

I managed to persuade D (a friend of mine) to share the making process and recipe with me. After 1 week on consideration, D finally agreed. So let’s go and have some fun in D’s Kitchen.

Things you need

4 egg yolks

3/4 cup of sugar

2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

250g of marscapone cheese

200ml of whipping cream

1 cup of strong coffee with your desired amount of kahlua

1 packet of sponge fingers

Cocoa powder

5 plastic containers

Mascarpone Cheese, Cocoa Powder, Coffee Powder, Vanilla Essence...

Sponge Fingers...

 Step 1

Blend egg yolks with sugar until smooth, add vanilla essences and blend till pale yellow.  Add mascarpone cheese in batches and blend till smooth. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for about an hour.

 

 

Step 2

Whip cream till stiff, then fold it into the refrigerated cheese mixture. Place in fridge again for another 1 hour, or till the mixture is firm enough to use without being too messy.

Step 3

Brew a cup of strong coffee and place it in a big bowl to cool.  Add your desired amount of Kahlua into the coffee when it’s cool. (In the mean time, D and me watch Shrek 3 to kill the time in between.)

An hour plus later…the mixture is firm enough to use.

Step 4

(i) Dip the sponge fingers into the cool coffee and layered it into the container.

(ii) Pour the chilled cheese mixture over the soaked sponge fingers, making sure its a thin layer just covering the sponge fingers.

(iii) Dust cocoa powder over and repeat step (i) and (ii) and lastly dust another layer of cocoa powder over.

Refrigerate for up to 8 hours and tadah….Bon Appetit!!! =)

PS: Please ignore the “bump” caused I didn’t layered the sponge properly and check out the mess after everything…