February, time for romance @ Island Shangri-La

The CNY aside, February is always a busy yet rewarding month for men and women alike. We plan what to buy, where to dine, and how to spend the romantic night together. Everwhere you have special treats and menu for Valetine…

As I can hardly resist a nice afternoon tea, I was excited to try the Island Shangri-la’s recent special that is only available for a short while. As if a decent cuppa and fine little sweets are not enough, this afternoon tea came with Pierre Jouet’s Rose. Having afternoon tea in a Harbour-side hotel with your loved ones sounds, I know, cliché, but you do have a decent Champange here to brighten things up. It was foggy day when I was there for a media event; that glass of champagne was particularly helpful.

The scone here is commendable; it is difficult to find a nice piece of scone these days, even in London, let alone in Hong Kong. I was still haunted by my recent experience in one of the big name hotels in London, but the scone here was a pleasant surprise, though it is by no means perfect. It got a nice fluffy texture; it would be better if it is more buttery. The flavour needs some more work. I had much worse but I indeed had better ones.

 

The menu was, I presume, tailored to suit the champagne. I found the lobster sandwich, Alaskan crabmeat sandwich and foie gras terrine went particularly well with the champagne. The champagne marinated Gravlax was very refreshing; could be a good appetizer for my dinner.

Many of the sweets are worth trying. I would recommend the cherry and champagne cheesecake and the mascarpone and champagne rollcake. I am not a big fan of cheesecake but I did like this one. It was not heavy at all and actually quite balanced between the cheesy and sweet flavours. The rollcake was very moist and filled with creamy mascarpone. Shangri-La should consider keeping these items in their cake shop. But it was the Amour cake that won the day. It was beautifully constructed sponge cake with champagne infused cream layers, with shiny bubbles on top, possibly a tribute to the champagne. I could easily finish my slice.

 

Apart from the tiny glitches here and there, this thematic afternoon tea was beautiful. The chef’s effort in pairing the food with the champagne was particularly commendable. There was no “tea” per se here; this French interpretation of tea works just fine for me.

Island Shangri-La

Pacific Place, Supreme Court Road, Central, Hong Kong

Food: wwwwwww
Service:wwwwwww1/2w
Environment: wwwwwww1/2w

It’s just a poolside bar @ Fish Bar

Although I can hardly swim, swimming pool can always, for reasons yet to be known to the point of writing, attract me in summer… Having lunch at a poolside bar or something might be a good idea to satisfy my desire. This drive for swimming pool landed me to Fishbar, a poolside restaurant in JW Marriot.

My first impression to Fishbar was like going to a resort; the wooden furniture and the waiters’ tropical outfits enhanced this feeling.

It was not difficult for us to order as the menu did not offer too many choices. We had the lobster and crab cake as appetizer, with battered sole and pan-fried barramundi as main dishes. We were prevented from ordering too much by the thoughtful waiter who advised that it would be too much for us if we were to order mussels as well…. I am glad that he had done so!

Without wasting much stomach space on the baguette, which was mediocre at best, we focused instead on the outstanding lobster and crab cake. The crabmeat and lobster were fresh and generously portioned. The pan-fried sides were crunchy without being too oily and the inside was as creamy. The homemade tartar sauce was the highlight of the dish, as its refreshing lemon and vinegar taste lightened the heaviness. Perhaps it is just me, but I think it would be better to share the dish as it was still a bit too heavy to finish them off alone.

good to share

generous portion of crabmeat~

can't eat without it~

When I was waiting for my main dish, the brats in the pool splashed some water on me. Accident? Who knows? One could hardly avoid it as there were only a few bushes separating the bar and the pool.

The main courses came with 3 side dishes: mixed greens with vinaigrette, corn and creamed spinach. I love spinach, especially served with cream, but the spinach was tasteless this time.

it would be better with some cheese

CM’s main dish was battered sole with chips. Thick-cut chips are my favourite! They are firmer and less oily. Chips here were not bad. As for the fish, it was a bit of a disappointment. The batter did not separate from the fish; good, but we thought it could be a little bit thinner. Sole is good to be served battered; it has a mild and buttery flavour which does not need much seasoning, and the batter helps preserve its taste. The fillet was buttery and flaky as expected. CM found it satisfactory at the first few bites; however, parts of the fish were undercooked. The margin between halfway decent and perfect is slim indeed.  

look like the one I had in London

some parts were undercooked

My main dish was pan-fried barramundi with potato mash. I was more impressed by the mash. It was smooth and augmented with the small potato pieces inside (my favourite style~) that provided a healthy dose of twist to its texture. The fish skin was crispy but too salty. While CM’s fish suffered from undercooking, mine was overcooked. I understand that barramundi is not as tender as sole or cod, but it should not be that coarse-textured! Even the snapper I had in W52 was tenderer than it.

mine is overcooked

Beside the unsatisfactory fish dishes, the environment was less than desirable, particularly in summer (a good reminder to the stark contrast between fantasy and reality). The few overhead fans worked hard to drive away the terrible heat of the place, which was not air-conditioned. It would not be a problem if the ventilation system of the kitchen worked. It did not; the bar was soaked with the oily smell from the kitchen…

Even with 15% off DXX visa card discount, I still have to pay 400 HKD per head for this; it was far off the mark of “reasonable price”. After all, it was just a poolside bar!

Fish Bar

金鐘金鐘道88號太古廣場香港JW萬豪酒店7樓平台

離開 這一刻感覺不會忘記 ~ Classified Mozzarella Bar

好友將遠赴英倫求學一年，走之前與我食頓生日飯。相識十四載，實在捨不得…雖說非每週見面，但要闊別整年委實難熬…無論如何，我明年定必再赴英倫，與好友同遊，這亦算是苦中作樂，至少有令我倆期待的事。

同為芝士愛好者，亦同樣喜愛大坑的環境，本相約到大坑的Classified，但我事前要先到教會，遂改到更為就腳的永豐街分店。誰料到不改好過改…好友認錯路，駕車在中環迷路，遲到一小時有多，哈哈~

午飯時間，空肚飲了杯latte，等到tea time胃痛難耐，好友仍未來，我唯有先入座，點了件Brownie醫醫肚。店內僅有兩張大木桌和一張釘在牆邊當吧枱的木板。食客與陌生人圍坐於兩張大木桌，與身旁朋友閒聊的、邊看報紙邊食brunch的、專心服侍腸胃的…絲毫不覺「搭枱」突兀。我極愛這種大木桌，在歐洲很多小店都有，profile pic就正是攝於置有這類大木桌、我鍾愛的咖啡小店…與偶遇的人於天朗氣清的早晨，閒聊一會未嘗不是賞心樂事~

Brownie是我印象中食過最美味的，朱古力味濃郁，甜而不膩，中間夠濕潤而密度高，絕不鬆散，擊倒了我於倫敦borough market嘗過的home baked brownie，簡直是驚喜，只是未知水準是否穩定，我必定常再來，引證究竟是撞手神，還是真技高~
 
食完brownie不久，好友終抵埗。她要了份panini set lunch，而我則單點了Monty’s Cheddar on toast~

lunch set包括了餐湯/沙律，是日餐湯是粟米湯，口感濃厚又香甜，用附上的法包沾湯食，甚為滿足。主菜panini卻不突出，鴨胸加芝士…總覺得怪怪的不甚合襯。餡料亦偏少，不值一試~

我的Monty’s Cheddar on toast甫上桌已惹好友注目，熱辣辣微溶的cheddar cheese覆蓋整片toast，芝士的鹹香撲臉，真正令人涶涎~!用上厚切的toast和味濃的cheddar，味道和份量均配撘得宜，夠胃納不多的女生當午餐~

 

另又散點了bacon wrapped mozzarella，bacon包著mozzarella cheese，看上去有點像煙肉腸仔卷，bacon的鹹香配以較淡口的mozzarella，取的是芝士的質感，是穩陣的配撘，沾點微辣蕃茄醬，更為惹味~

咖啡則平淡無奇，有好的brownie和toast，卻沒有好咖啡，美不中足~

邊食邊聊，不知不覺已差不多兩小時。等候和用餐期間，身旁食客亦換過數次，感覺仍自在舒服，實在很愛這種小店色彩 (雖則擁眾多分店的它絕非小店行列)。想念你之時，我應該會再來這裡，回味這天的歡樂時光，期待來年與你同訪倫敦的小店，歎一口具水準的咖啡~ ^^

Classified Mozzarella Bar 

灣仔永豐街31號地下