Cafe O-kay - Cafe O

I usually avoid going to the Cafe O along Caine Road for a good reason, but since it is one of the only two cafes open for breakfast along Caine Road (the other being Starbucks), I was left with no choice the other morning but to eat there.
After placing order at the counter we walked upstairs and sat at the table with an amazing aerial view of the water bar, so we could watch the servers made the juice, smoothies and of course, our coffee.

The second floor of the cafe had a disturbing reddish lighting and the temperature was not very consistent. There was also a stale smell from the sofas too, and the tables felt unclean. Luckily it was quite quiet as it was early in the morning.

We ordered two flat whites, a banana slice cake and a granola bar, my second favourite breakfast food after the breakfast trifle.

Minutes later the servers gave us our breakfast. I was quite disappointed by the flat white tho, as the frothed (or foamed?) milk was really very, very thin and weak. The coffee was too sour and the texture was watery. It was awful and I struggled to finish it only for the sake of staying awake in the afternoon.

My granola bar was quite huge in portion, perfect for brunch if you plan not to have any food in the afternoon. It was eaten cold but was not crumble to touch, and the flakes of granola, muesli, fruits and nuts still stuck very well to each other. It tasted sweet but not over-sweetened, and I liked how the texture and flavour were rich and varied. There were flakes of shredded coconuts that gave the granola bar a mushy and chewy texture above everything - lovely!

The banana loaf slice tasted authentically banana-ish but it was really stomach-filling - not a bad brunch food if you have a small appetite and plan not to have lunch.

Not a bad place to have a leisure brunch or lunch, but you have to be careful with what you order - ALWAYS order the pizzas or pockets as they will be freshly prepared only when you order, while the salads and pastas and cakes are always mixed and cooked in advance, only reheated in the microwave.

Cafe O
G/F, 61 Caine Road, Mid-Levels

理論和現實的分別 - 澳洲牛奶公司

還記得從前讀geography的時候,有讀過用來'解釋'settlements的所在地的所謂central place theory.其中每個central place都有不同的hierarchy,越高級越貴的貨物和服務的range,即客人願意為貨物travel的距離,就越長,相反亦是.

很記得當然聽到這個theory第一個反應是:那深井裕記應該是high order還是low order?以服務種類來說,燒鵝只是低檔次的貨物,但現實是很多人願意長途拔涉的去深井食燒鵝,那它的range應該很長...而當時老師的解釋是,'theory is theory,reality is reality.'

沒有薑的Ginger Bakery

在灣仔拿了新鏡頭，肚子咕咕叫，便想吃點賣相漂亮的東西，滿足自己之餘也可以試玩新玩具。在灣仔值得吃的餐廳有很多，但大部份都是吃中式或港式食物的，其賣相,好極有限。本來想去華星冰室吃個奶醬豬，但正是放lunch的時間，華星想必會很逼，坐得不舒服也沒法慢慢試機。所以想了想，就把心一橫，去一間想吃了很久的小餅店！

沿軒尼詩道走不遠,就能看見Ginger bakery,天藍色的門面和簡約的logo很是搶眼.看來lunch一族並未將之攻陷，小小的店子只有一枱客人在吃意粉。午餐套餐的意粉和三文治都不吸引,份量又太大,就決定來件蛋糕吧！

時間還早,還是滿滿的蛋糕櫃裡有好幾款都很吸引，有lemon meringue pie,chocolate cashew tart,banofee pie,還有最愛的apple crumble!但問過不會附上雪糕或雲尼拿汁，還是下次外賣回家自己再加工更合心意! 於是在同樣吸引的crunch cake,banana chiffon cake和carrot cake之間,選擇了前者,再加一杯latte,就是很滿足的lunch了.

坐下等了一會,咖啡和蛋糕很快就送到面前,都是漂漂亮亮的,正好!

先嘗latte($30),用上白色高身瓷杯盛載,和普遍用的闊身杯有別,感覺雖不太..正宗,但比較homey!杯面窄,表面也有縮小的心形拉花,相信難道更高!欣賞完畢再輕嘗一口,覺得奶泡溫太高,也不厚,但打得很幼滑,表面沒有甚麼多餘的氣泡,喝來質感細膩又舒服.咖啡的味道濃郁而不單薄,又不會偏酸,很是討好.
不過一杯高身的咖啡要喝完也不容易,最終喝剩了三分一 - 如果有細杯份量可以點,就不用浪費了.

輕嘗過咖啡,再來就是小店很著名的crunch cake($30).乍看切得薄薄的蛋糕很其實高很厚,裡面的海綿蛋糕與兩朕忌廉梅花間竹地黃白黃白的很是吸引!

灑在表面和碟邊的caramel crunch給得慷慨,真是老套點也要說句:真是開心死!
味道呢,是intense的甜,但並不膩,一吃之下就會覺得美心的脆脆味道又淡又假.強烈的焦糖味和海綿蛋糕的蛋香,一脆一軟,正是絕配!

海綿蛋糕並未像預期般乾錚錚,也不是美心那種輕盈得像在吃空氣,反而偏濕潤,但最底層的蛋糕明顯比頂兩層的更重身和濕,是因為cake mixture先沉澱再烘焙的關係?如果質地更一致就更好了!
但味道很不錯,濃郁得來除了蛋香,還有陣陣清新檸檬香,是用檸檬皮的原故吧!個人幾欣賞這種做法,清新的淡酸能中和了忌廉無可避免的甜膩 - 雖然和ready-to-use的whipping cream相比,這homemade的明顯輕盈得多,也帶天然又濃郁的奶香.但從四方八面地包圍住蛋糕的忌廉,份量可是一點也不少,雖這天午餐就只吃這件,但吃著吃著,還是覺得太肥膩:覺得殘忍又浪費,也要飛掉點才敢繼續吃!

話說回來,這件crunch cake雖然非盡善盡美,但已算是吃過當中最好的!相信舌頭嘗過這件高水準之作,以後再也接受不了美心的同類型出品-這一吃,真的無回頭!

下次-會有下次的-這小店舒服又homey的感覺很討好,除了crunch cake以外的蛋糕和pie也很吸引,所以希望可以逐一品嚐,當然包括最愛的apple crumble! 在臨走時也詢問了whole cake的詳情,這裡6寸的mini cake($170)聽起來很合適又吸引,希望不久的將來會有機會訂一個來嘗嘗吧!

Ginger Bakery
G/F, 55 Johnston Road, Wan Chai
Mon - Fri: 10:00 am-8:00 pm
Sat - Sun: 11:00 am-8:00 pm
28611100
http://www.gingerbakery.hk

睡得不好,早上來個賓廚

六月上旬(驟雨)

外國人有週末起晚點,第一餐吃個brunch的習慣,其實和中國人週末去飲早茶,一盅兩件的習慣有異曲同工之妙.不過也許是大多brunch foods都是雞蛋多士之類,份量雖大但價格不低.很多香港人會覺得,與其去付六七十塊吃隻蛋,不如去逼茶樓飲個茶更實惠.但brunch所吃的,不只是食物,還有環境和環繞這一餐的放縱和懶洋洋.其實難得放個假,為甚麼還要去辛辛苦苦逼茶樓,用翻蒸又翻蒸的點心蒸飯塞飽自己?個人覺得,起來輕鬆吃個賓廚,感覺更佳.

在多外國人活動的soho區,吃brunch的店當然不少,但最得我心的,始終只有flying pan和brunch club兩間.前者的egg dishes獨步天下,但如果想坐得舒服又吃得輕怡,位於卑利街的brunch club會比較舒服.這天雖不是週末,但前一晚睡得不好,肚子空空,想飲杯咖啡醒醒神,也就去了這裡吃個不知是否由'賓廚'煮的brunch.

叫得做brunch club, brunch的選擇一定不會少.輕怡如水果,重量級如french toast,早上都可吃到.眼看museli, milk, yogurt, fresh fruit和honey($42)的選擇,就著了魔般要了一客,再加flat white一杯,份量其實多過平日的不少但當時腦一片混亂couldnt think straight. m 比較清醒,只點了個homemade croissant($17)和同樣的flat white.

經一輪熟悉的碰撞和噴氣聲後,兩杯flat white先到.flat white其實是和latte很類似,分別只是是奶的處理方法有別.面前的奶泡雖然用了較優質的澳洲pura奶,但實在打得太粗,表面有不少大大細細的氣泡,拉花只是一堆啡白色,賣相認真麻麻.而咖啡帶酸,起初一兩口還可接受,喝到底的真的酸得令人受不了.

接著的就是期待以久的-食物.我的用白色大碟盛載,加上一大支任落的蜂蜜,豐盛又健康的樣子真令人高興.yogurt是杰身那種,雖然是原味但其實偏甜,應該是greek yogurt吧?話雖如此,但更甜的蜂蜜和yogurt永遠是絕配,再加上點點生菓更是完美,最終本來很大碗的yogurt只吃淨底部的點點,蜂蜜也落了不知多少次!
但另一邊的museli實在太碎了,麥味沒錯是香的,裡面的菓乾和果仁也脆脆稔稔的幾有趣,但始終museli本身質地偏稔和煙膩,混合yogurt吃還可,一加入奶就變成黏搭搭的,味道和質感都曖昧起來,不太討好.如果可以單叫fruits+yogurt+honey的配搭,下次應該會偏好那個,免得白白浪費其實可以更好吃的museli和牛奶.

從前慕名嘗試過中環置地 Le Salon De Thé de Joël Robuchon的 '全港最佳croissant' ,覺得不外如是,反而這個更好吃-雖然比中環的貴兩元,但這個的優勝之處何只兩元之差?單是酥皮已經明顯更薄身和鬆化,輕輕碰到已會弄得一碟都是碎片,吃進口更是覺得酥皮脆得來充滿牛油香!雖然少不免比較油膩,如果再塗上牛油和菓占,熱量可真不得了!雖然如此,個人其實最偏愛croissant那兩隻牛角尖,貪其酥皮最厚身,烘得也最香脆,又香又酥的不加任何東西已經令人吃不停口!

吃完,頭還是有點暈,就再坐了大半小時才施施然離開-去茶餐廳或茶樓飲茶,如果你吃完再淨飲半小時,應該很難不會被趕走吧!
這樣去吃個brunch,付出的金錢可能你再別處夠買到不知幾多個早餐a,幾多籠特價點心,但無法買到的,正正就是這一種舒適,悠閒的懶洋洋,愛'磨'多久就'磨'多久的自由.

環境清幽,食物不錯,價錢合理,服務ok但不收加一像這次兩個人也只是百一,吃得滿足又坐得舒服,其實是超值的.

下次上班上到累,難得週末想休息一下的話,來這裡吃個賓廚,不錯的.

Brunch Club
G/F, 70 Peel Street, Central

The 'Standing Penguin Chicken'@Siu Lam Kung Restaurant

Thinking of a place for family dinner in the weekend is no easy job. I mean, it is almost impossible to make them have anything too fancy; therefore adventurous visits to places i have not been to can be crossed out. They also prefer traditional Chinese food, nothing fushion or creative, or too pricey. I always try to strive a balance between meeting their needs and at the same time exploring new places beyond their little comfort zone. This time I made it (yay!) by showing them a picture of the standing 'penguin' chicken at Siu Lam Kung Restaurant taken by my foodie friend Kent. Raising an eyebrow, they agreed to give it a try. I called to reserve the chicken and also a stuffed pigeon along with a table at seven in the evening.

With a name so confusing to read (is it laam or yuen?), the Restaurant can be easily accessible in Sheung Wan. The restaurant is one floor up while the Chaa Chen Teng branch is on the ground floor, and to our surprise it serves conventional chaa chen teng food and breakfast sets like toasts with scrambled eggs, milk tea etc. What a stark contrast with the Chung Shan dishes the Chinese Restaurant serves upstairs!
The Restaurant is by law and license a 'Clubhouse', and therefore a membership card, applicable upon our first visit, is necessary to eat there. It cost only $30 for a permanent membership and we got a vintage membership card, gold in colour. It reminded me of the VIP cards of Indian restaurants casually available in Chung Hing Mansion!

The menu is pretty extensive that you can almost get anything that comes to your mind, but since my family prefers something traditional, we ended up ordering 5 'signature' Chung-Shan dishes and soup.

For the soup we had the 魚雲羹.the soup was literally thick and rich in ingredients: you could find shredded cabbages, veggies, black fungus, chinese mushroom, as well as egg white and of course, fish head in it.

There was a hint of the unpleasant taste of fish but it could be easily overcame by adding in some pepper. I personally did not quite like it as i did not eat fish heads. But if you do, i am pretty sure you would be loving it just as much as my parents did.

Next was the 企鵝雞,a very popular dish at the restaurant as several others were served to other tables during our brief stay at the restaurant. We were first presented with the whole chicken, positioned in a pretty horrifying standing position (with the eyes poked through...gross), then it was taken away for a waiter to cut into pieces to serve.

The roasted chicken was nice - pipping hot from the kitchen, the skin was still crispy despite being a little oilish. The flesh were not particularly tender however, especially in the breast part, but i found the thinner pieces of chicken with more soft bones than white meat full of juice and flavour.
Even though the chicken was small, we three could not finish the whole chicken and ended up packing half of it home-and it tasted just as yummy as fresh after 24 hours in the fridge. Scarily amazing!

Next was the 炸鯪魚球 served in a basket. We were warned by the helpful manager that there was some preserved oyster paste inside the fish balls so we gota be careful when we eat. The fish balls were pipping hot, very spongy and juicy. The coat was thinner than i had expected-nicely deep-fried it was and it was better than what I had at Loh Fu Kee - the balls were more crispy but more oily.

The fish paste tasted fresh and not very flour-ish, which was great. Some had the preserved oyster paste in the ball but some did not have, yet the little plate of oyster paste was quite lovely - the oyster tasted slightly of alcohol and not very salty. It was really good and worth ordering again when we eat here next time!

Another dish we had ordered in advance was the 八寶鴿, a miniature of the 八寶鴨,the signature dish of Lin Heung Tea House. I had that years back and there were way too much stuffings in the whole duck and it was too heavy, not to mention that it was impossible for 3 to finish one. But i guess one pigeon could be easily finished by us.

The waiter first showed us the whole stuffed pigeon and cut it open with fork and knife on the table, exposing the stuffing - chestnuts, lotus seeds, drop's tears, you name it. The texture and taste was complex, nicely flavoured and sweet, some were softer while some were more chewy and crunchy. The skin of the pigeon was thin and not fat, and the little pigeon meat attached to it was sweet and tender. It was very nice - even the sauce was delicious! I think the stuffed pigeon would be even nicer than the stuffed duck for the duck meat got to be tougher. In short - you got to order this if you happen to eat at Siu Lam Kung.

Last was the 椒絲腐乳炒通菜. It was just so-so, nothing too special. Should have ordered the signature 農村啫啫菜 which was aromatic and delicious, according to the sizzling pots of veggies taken to other tables that ordered the dish.

We could not finish everything and packed part of the food away. As we asked for the bill the helpful manager asked if we would like to have some Chinese dessert - for free. The dessert of the day was hot green bean sweet soup(綠豆沙), something I do not usually have. It turned out to be surprisingly delicious however. It was less sweet than what we had at Yuen Kee but it was equally thick in texture. The green beans were cooked until they became more mushy in texture - the so-called '起沙' in Cantonese. The flavour, texture and smell, everything, was nicely balanced. It was marvelous. You got to have this no matter how full you might be after the meal!

It surprised me that my dad appeared to be so fond of the food; it is usually hard to please him. But while we liked the taste of everything we agreed that it is better to eat in a big crowd so that the huge dishes could be better shared. We also noticed some popular dishes such as the roasted suckling pig, cut and chopped on the table; as well as the steamed fish with dark bean paste, and many more. The decor of the place may not look modern and the menu may not be very special and fancy, but the taste of everything was full and nice. Do come with your family for a hearty Cantonese meal if you are to eat in Sheung Wan. I would certainly come again to try out other dishes - and probably one visit to the Chaa Chen Teng branch downstairs too, perhaps a breakfast in the morning or whatever!

小杬公菜館 Siu Lam Kung Restaurant
1/F, Alliance Building, 133 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan
2511 5566