Yat Lok Restaurant @ Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong - 一樂燒鵝 @ 中環士丹利街香港

Cuisine: Chinese / Cantonese (roast meat)

Map: Yat Lok Restaurant @ Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong - 一樂燒鵝 @ 中環士丹利街香港

Price: HKD105 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 12 July 2014

Food: 9/10

Atmosphere: 3/10

Value for money: 9/10

Services: 3/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Thinking of having Cantonese style roasted goose with crisp skin and juicy tender meat, I can assure you that Yat Lok does offer one of the best in Hong Kong and perhaps in the world. It is just a blog of commercial build on Stanley Street, Central Hong Kong (only a few buildings from Luk Yu Tea House). A few minutes walk from MTR Central station in fact. Yat Lok offers really good roasted meat from early morning but the goose is usually ready around 11am just before lunch time. Make sure you do arrive early to avoid queue and in consequence to avoid disappointment from goose running out.

If you are going to visit Yat Lok, just bear in mind that you are there for food and nothing else. It is a kind of old style venue where you are there for a quick good meal. Forget about lovely service, nice friendly words, or those hygienic routine. One thing I noticed is that the floor was somewhat slippery and I was not so sure how long since their properly floor wiping (T_T). Anyway believe me, just looking at those hanging roasted meats and you would already drool so forget all other factors and enjoy your roasts.

Yat Lok @ Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong

It was around 11am of Saturday lunch time when we were there and was lucky to be the first one to arrive around the period. So our food came pretty fast. We had only roasted goose (10/10), bbq pork and crispy belly pork (8/10), and vegetable with oyster sauce (5/10) which costed HKD22 (but forgot to take photo). These roasts went pretty well with both rice and noodle (both stewed and soup).

The roasted goose was the very best. So juicy, so sweet, so tender, and so flavourful. There is no need to make so hard effort at all to bite meat off the bone. It is hard to stop eating this and it is difficult not to fall in love with it. I personally love to have it with rice. A friend of mine also recommends to order a drum of goose and a drum of chicken to have with boiled rice for a satisfy combination. BBQ pork and crispy belly pork were as well delicious but not as spectacular as the roasted goose. It is worth an order but you may probably find this quality of bbq pork and crispy belly pork in other places in Hong Kong.

Anyway, have a go with this local style Yat Lok and you would probably forget the famous and well-known Yung Kee nearby. Bon appetit many more times.

roasted goose - half (HKD240)

wonderfully tender and juicy

bbq pork and crispy belly pork (HKD130)

stewed noodle (HKD25)

noodle in soup (HKD16)

Yat Lok Restaurant @ Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong - 一樂燒鵝 @ 中環士丹利街香港
34-38 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong

Open Hours: Mon-Fri 07:30am - 09:00pm and Sat-Sun 09:00am - 05:30pm

Tel: +852 2524 3882

Summer Palace @ Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong

Cuisine: Chinese (Hong Kong / Cantonese)

Map: Summer Palace @ Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong

Price: HKD675 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 27 September 2013

Food: 5/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 3/10

Services: 6/10

Here comes another Chinese fine dining with award of 2 Michelin Stars "Summer Palace @ Island Shangri-la, Hong Kong". First thing I have to say is disappointment. Not even sure if I had ordered wrong menu or something. Anyway, I just think such prestigious restaurant should perform so much better for all dishes.

Summer Palace is located on the 5th floor of Pacific Place./ Island Shangri-la. To come here, it is pretty easy, not to mention taxi of course. Pacific Place is connected directly to MTR Admiralty Station and travelling by tram can also be pretty convenient. The dining is kind of grand and elegant in the sense of Chinese tradition with red and gold theme. Again, we were not so impressed with the kind of service in fine Chinese restaurant. We suppose that with this price tag, the service should be clearly none or less fabulous with helpful and knowledgeable staffs.

Summer Palace @ Island Shangri-la

traditional and elegant entrance

big dining room

Anyway, let's get into food. For our starters, we had Baked King Prawn in Truffle Pesto (5/10) and Steamed Fresh Crab Claw with Winter Melon in Egg White and Mashed Yunnan Ham (7/10). Cooking skill and quality of ingredients are no doubt. Prawn was cooked to near perfection with soft but meaty texture whilst the aroma and the overall touch of crab claw was cool with fresh and firm crab meat. I like the cool touch of winter melon with egg white which can be really good for Summer dish. However, the taste of king prawn was a bit plain. The East meets West magic of king prawn dish did not quite work for us.

Baked King Prawn in Truffle Pesto (HKD180)

Steamed Fresh Crab Claw with Winter Melon in Egg White and Mashed Yunnan Ham (HKD200)

For the more serious and heavier dishes, first of the three was Deep-fried Crispy Chicken (7/10). The chicken was pretty tender, juicy, and delicious. Skin was really crisp which brought the wonderful touch apart from tender meat. Nevertheless, this dish can be a little oily in which I would recommend anyone to have this with plain rice rather than just pure chicken.

Next was Stewed Spare Ribs in a Clay Pot (5/10). Ok, this was nice but did not meet the expectation of Michelin Star awarded restaurant. It tasted like delicious home-cooking food really. Well, the pork was tender I have to admit. But still not spectacular. The flavour of this one was thick and rich. Again, plain rice is highly recommended to go with the dish.

Lastly, we ended our meal with Fried Rice with Minced Beef and Egg White in Preserved Shrimp Paste (3/10). Guess what, my fried-rice is perhaps similar to this one at Summer Palace. Come on, anyone would not expect soaky fried rice, wouldn't they. The overall taste was ok but the texture and mouth feel just ruined the whole dish.

Well, we would prabably not return to Summer Palace @ Island Shangri-la for the second time, unless we are really bored with other restaurants on Hong Kong island. (^^)

Deep-fried Crispy Chicken (HKD230 for half)

Stewed Spare Ribs in a Clay Pot (HKD175)

Fried Rice with Minced Beef and Egg White in Preserved Shrimp Paste (HKD180)

Summer Palace @ Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong
Level 5 Island Shangri-la Hong Kong
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Central
Hong Kong

Open Hours: Daily from 11:30pm - 03:00pm for lunch and 06:30pm - 11:00pm for dinner

Tel: +852 (0) 2820 8552
Web: http://www.shangri-la.com/hongkong/islandshangrila/dining/restaurants/summer-palace/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/islandshangrila

Cuisine Cuisine @ IFC Mall, Hong Kong

Cuisine: Chinese (Hong Kong / Cantonese)

Map: Cuisine Cuisine @ IFC Mall, Hong Kong

Price: HKD660 per person (what we paid for)

Visited: 26 September 2013

Food: 6/10

Atmosphere: 5/10

Value for money: 4/10

Services: 5/10

Awarded 1 Michelin Star Cantonese style Chinese restaurant, "Cuisine Cuisine", is located on the 3rd floor of the famous IFC Mall (another branch is at The Mira @ Tsim Sha Tsui). The location is pretty much convenient with Hong Kong MTR station right below the mall.

From outside, the restaurant looks pretty much elegant and in a rather modern style. However, the interior is not so impressed. It is rather crowded from my sense. Perhaps it is because tables are just put around the big hall without any divided section or partition. If privacy is needed, do ask for more private tables which are located near the entrance.

For the night, we had a bottle of Billecart Salmon Brut Rose to accompany us which was somewhat disappointed. It kind of showed the over-aging or unwell storage of the champagne. Anyway, the taste of champagne is not the big point, it just reflects how much care they put for their customers. Otherwise, the overall service here is at average standard.

Cuisine Cuisine @ IFC, Hong Kong

kind of elegant entrance

rather crowded open floor setting

Upon arrival, we were welcomed with a cup of herbal juice which tasted like Roselle drink in fact. To start our meal, Abalone Marinated in Chinese "Hua Diao" Wine (4/10) and Steamed Whole Tomato Stuffed with Assorted Fungi (7/10) were selected. The tomato and fungi was splendid. Tasty, sweet, and soft peeled whole tomato. Stuffed fungi was light but enhanced with flavour well. If you like fungi and tomato, do not hesitate and just go for it. However, the abalone was rather disappointed. If would not say it is a dish served in an awarded restaurant. Ok, it was not unacceptable, it was perhaps at par. The abalone itself had firm but soft texture with good natural taste. Nevertheless, the wine sauce was just overly alcoholic that was unbalance. I would not personally recommend this dish.

herbal juice

Abalone Marinated in Chinese "Hua Diao" Wine (HKD88)

Steamed Whole Tomato Stuffed with Assorted Fungi (HKD88)

As for more serious dishes, we decided to have roasted meat which is of course the well-known traditional Cantonese choice. Roasted Crispy Pork Belly and Sliced Suckling Pig (8/10) were delicious. Suckling pig was crisp to the max and full flavour. So tasty and not overly salty. Crispy pork belly was tender and crisp on the skin. Minimum fat layers. As a crispy pork belly lover, I really like it. The other dish was Roasted Crispy Goose (7/10). This goose dish also gave me a lot of pleasure. Skin was crisp. On the palate, the flavour was fabulously yummy. I just wish that the dish would come as boneless which would make it much easier to eat and a better "finale".

Well, Cuisine Cuisine at IFC Mall may not be the ultimate Cantonese restaurant but it offers pleasure and joy. I would not mind returning to this restaurant to try other dishes.

Roasted Crispy Pork Belly and Sliced Suckling Pig (HKD280)

pork belly along side suckling pig

Roasted Crispy Goose (HKD188)

roasted goose comes with traditional sweet dipping sauce

Cuisine Cuisine @ IFC Mall, Hong Kong
3101-3107, podium level 3, IFC Mall
Central
Hong Kong

Open Hours: Daily from 12:00pm - 02:30pm for lunch (10:30am - 03:00pm on Sunday) and 06:00pm - 10:30pm for dinner

Tel: +852 (0) 2393 3933
Web: http://www.cuisinecuisine.hk
FB: https://www.facebook.com/CuisineCuisine

Si Fang Cai (Hong Kong Home Cuisine) @ Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 24 (Sathu Pradit 19), Bangkok

Cuisine: Chinese

Map: Si Fang Cai (Hong Kong Home Cuisine) @ Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 24 (Sathu Pradit 19), Bangkok

Price: THB500 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 16 August 2013

Food: 5/10

Atmosphere: 5/10

Value for money: 4/10

Services: 4/10

By its name, this restaurant "Si Fang Cai or Hong Kong Home Cuisine" has already told us what it specialises in. Si Fang Cai is located within Soi Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 24 or Soi Sathu Pradit 19 or locally known as Soi Wat Pho Man at Nara Place. It of course offers decent Cantonese style Chinese food. When I say decent, I mean it is enjoyable but not that great. It is a restaurant that can be enjoyable for any day but not the one to be looking forward to.

Si Fang Cai store front

seatings

hidden toilette

The place is not big, just a block of commercial building. There are probably around 10 tables. Typically I do not expect much on the service side from local Chinese restaurants, however, this one is better than expected. The decoration is kept in Chinese style. What surprise me was the way they hide toilettes; it looks like a panel of drawers but it actually is toilette.

random picture

cutlery in Chinese style

cup of tea....yeah

We had ordered 2 kinds of tofu dishes. The first one was cold bean curd with century egg - เต้าหู้ไข่เยี่ยวม้า (6/10).  The other one was tofu in Sze Chuan style - เต้าหู้ผัดสไตล์เสฉวน (5/10). Both were ok. Cold bean curd with century egg was basic but still delightful. Tofu in Sze Chuan style was not so hot but still maintained richness of taste.

cold bean curd with century egg (THB99)

tofu in Sze Chuan style (THB120)

To have Cantonese food, how could I miss roast dishes. This time we had half roasted goose - ห่านย่างครึ่งตัว (5/10) and crispy roasted pork - หมูกรอบ (7/10). I did enjoy the crispy roasted pork a lot: so crisp on the skin and soft inside. Roasted goose was not that amazing but still yummy. If it could be more tender, this would be a highlight dish as the overall taste was good already except texture.

half roasted goose (THB950)

crispy roasted pork (THB260)

We were recommended by a staff to try steamed egg white with tiger prawn - กุ้งนึ่งไข่ขาวกับมันปู (4/10). Indeed, I did not hesitate to order so. However, it was not so great as expected. It was just a basic steamed egg white topped fatty crab sauce and 4 small tiger prawns. Anyway, at least it was not that bad.

I then spotted on an advertised card on the table that they also do serve egg yolk bun - ซาลาเปาไส้ไหล (4/10). So, why not. Egg yolk bun has been so famous in Bangkok during the past year, especially, the one at Chef Man @ Eastin Hotel. Well, this one was ok to eat and to enjoy but not up to standard of Chef Man. It was too sweet to my liking in fact. Anyway, there is not 3 months queue here. (^.^)

steamed egg white with tiger prawn (THB245)

egg yolk bun (THB120)

runny filling

Si Fang Cai (Hong Kong Home Cuisine) @ Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 24 (Sathu Pradit 19), Bangkok
Nara Place
297/439 Soi Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 24 (Sathu Pradit 19)
Chong Nonsri, Yannawa
Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Open Hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm daily

Tel: +66 (0) 2674 1414, +66 (0) 85 088 3835
Web: http://www.mywaterlibrary.com/chamchuri/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/hongkongsfc