Chee Kei, Langham Place

I was told that this was one of the best places for noodles and wontons. It apparently won the Michelin star for fast food – I didn't even know there was such at thing! Their 'specialty' is actually wonton noodles, however, they've got delicious crab soups, five types of noodles you can choose from, and set lunches which includes either an entrée or vegetables and a drink all for 80 – 90HKD which is great value!

Was craving for Hainan Chicken rice, so I ordered that, and my friend ordered noodles with pork knuckles. We both ordered the set lunch so I got the vegetables (choy sum with oyster sauce) and she picked the entrée (fried wontons) and we both had a drink each.

The Hainan Chicken was a little bit of a disappointment, mainly the chicken rice, as it had too much 'stuff' in it – i.e. mix vegetables and mushrooms. It wasn't the proper traditional chicken rice that you get from Singapore or the ones that mum makes. It was different. It had too much. It just needed to be simple – cooked in the chicken broth with garlic and salt – that's it. They didn't have to put mix vegetables in it. The mushrooms on the side were great, but again, not required with the rice. The presentation made up for the lack of taste in the rice. It came out in a bamboo dish, like those in yumcha, so I assume it was steamed. The chicken came with the sauces, and the chicken was flavoursome and moist. Pity the rice didn't meet my expectations.

You can never go wrong with choy sum, unless it's totally over or under cooked. The fried wontons were crunchy and not oily.

The place does get busy so make sure you get there before the lunch hour rush. It does get a little noisy, however, we came with a baby and they were very accommodating. Will definitely be back for noodles and wontons I think!

Chee Kei, Langham Place

Sift – Velvet cupcake

I am always in search of the 'best' cupcake! What makes a cupcake the 'best' cupcake? Well for one, it has to be moist, it has to have the right amount of sweetness to it, the right flavour and the right bite size. I have had a couple of horrible cupcakes in my time – too dry, too sweet, too big and the worse, cupcakes that are like muffins so you just eat the top and not the bottom (muffin tops!)

I was invited to a wedding, hubby's cousins wedding and the wedding cake was a tower of cupcakes (just what hubby wanted for our wedding but it was over ruled!) 6 towers of cupcakes all in red with white (assuming vanilla) icings. I didn't realise at first this was from Sift until much later in the evening (i.e. after dinner!)

Doesn't that look pretty?

I was stuffed but had to have some! (There is always a second stomach for desserts!) Thought I would cut the cupcake into quarters, so I wouldnt stuff my face. I took one bite and thought I had gone to heaven. Could not stop after the first bite, and before I knew it, I had scoffed one cupcake down!

Ok the picture above doesn't look 'that appealing' but I was a little hungover, so it was good enough that I even put it on macro! The reviews were right; this velvet cupcake was absolutely divine… it was moist (tick!), right amount of sweetness (tick!), right bite size (tick!). I don't know if it's because I was drunk, however, I was lucky enough to take home FOUR cupcakes, and had it the next day and it was still divine!

I found out later on how the cupcakes are made. The red velvet cupcakes use a light Valrhona cocoa base with a hint of Madagascar bourbon vanilla. It is then dyed red and topped with a Madagascar bourbon vanilla cream cheese frosting. It's happiness in four bites.

Sift
G/F, Dominion Center, 49 -53 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, 2528 0084.

Sevva

Sevva is located at the Penthouse of Prince's Building in Central. It is an incredible venue: a 360-degree balcony with stunning views of the skyscrapers of Central and Admiralty, the harbour, and the Kowloon skyline – perfect for sunset drinks and impressing loved ones, friends or clients. I came here twice – once with Hubby and once with my cousin in law – I know – twice in the space of a week! The furnishing and décor is absolutely gorgeous.

The first time I was in Sevva was with Hubby, we got there about 6pm and we were lucky to have gotten a table – mind you it wasn't a sit down table or a comfy couch space. We got a tall round table along the sides of the terrace where you have to stand. By about 7pm, it was chockers with people in suits, people that are dressed to impressed and mostly gwai los or non locals.

This place is great for after work drinks, however, there is a price to pay! Beer and a glass of red wine totalled to 200HKD+!! OUCH! But like I said, you are here for the view and with the 'right' company – it is worth every penny!!! Every night, there is a band that plays – great live music, views, music – what more can you ask for?

They gave us an endless supply of chips / nuts / crackers. I would say the downfall would be – the service. Trying to order our drinks took a while, and waiting for our drinks took even longer – I don't think they had enough staff behind the bars making the drinks! However, I was happy enough with the supply of nuts! (I know I am easy to pleased!)

The second time I went here was with my cousin in law. Since we were waiting for hubby to finish work, thought we would get a table. Standing with my super high heels last time was not ideal and I know that we were going to be here for a while! Get there early-ish if you want a table or a couch! We were there a little bit before 6pm and had no problems in finding the table.

My cousin and I were starving! Neither of us has had lunch so thought we would have something 'small' before dinner. We got the menu and I have to say, it wasn't your typical bar menu! I was expecting to see wedges / chips of some sort but alas no! They did however, have chicken wings which we thought were just too messy, and nachos – Indian nachos. We wanted chips so thought nachos would be perfect! The 'Indian Nachos" came shortly after and it was definitely NOT what I expected! When you see nachos on the menu, you would automatically think, corn chips covered in beef, avocado, beans and cheese. However, that's not what came to us! A small plate of what seems to be nachos was put on our table – what came was 6 crackers, and on top of each cracker was beef, avocado, with some curry flavoured sauce and what I thought seems to be cheese. However, it wasn't gooey but crunchy – I think it was fried vermicelli. Weird I know!!!! Surprisingly, the mixture of all was good, the different flavours mixed well together in your mouth – not your average / typical nachos that's for sure!

All in all – a great experience, if you have visitors coming from overseas, definitely worth taking them here for a drink or two. Dress to impress and be prepared to spend a bit of dosh here!

Sevva – Prince's Building, Central

Japanese Ootoya

On my days that I pretend to be a wanabe 'tai-tai' – I would try a restaurant on my own. I don't mind dining on my own – used to do it a lot when I was travelling for work. As long as I have a good book with me, I am happy to sit there and eat at the same time!

I have read about this Japanese place and have walked passed it several times. It is located in the Shama building opposite Times Squares. Their speciality is actually donburi (rice topped with meat or fish), classic katsu (deep-fried pork or chicken) and noodles. I was also told that their Bluefin tuna with rice was one of their specialities! Unfortunately, I wasn't craving for tuna / salmon like I always do.. I was craving for Unagi (eel).

I ordered the Unagi Donburi set – which was grilled eel, marinated in soy sauce, rice, soup and salad. The eel was satisfying rich - it was just absolutely divine. The salad, which was a small bowl of okra, cabbage, carrots and radish, was a great compliment to the eel. The soup was not your typical miso soup – I was told it was 'homemade and no it's not miso soup' – I would definitely expect it to be homemade and not from a packet! It could definitely taste the miso in it, but like your typical miso soup – it didn't have tofu. Overall, it was a pretty good meal!

The waitstaff was very tentative with my tea – it was always refilled which was an added bonus. I sat there for a while whilst reading my book and were not asked to leave. Mind you - it was rather late in the afternoon and was not peak lunch time hour. I thought if I sat for a bit I would crave for some dessert, alas no. I think I will definitely have to take hubby back so I can try more food.

Definitely worth going and exceptional quality for your dollar.

Ootoya Restaurant, Causeway Bay.

Vietnamese – Ha Noi Pho

This little Vietnamese restaurant can be found in one of the little alley ways in Fortress Hill. It's a very small and cozy restaurant – maximum of 10 people inside with a few tables outside to accommodate half a dozen more. We were greeted by a friendly yet older couple – whom I assumed owned the restaurant. The menu was quite intensive with your typical Vietnamese cuisine – although – I was a little surprise that they did not have fried chicken with tomato rice!

I didn't have to guess what hubby was going to get – he usually get the same – Pho! He thought he would be 'different' this time and get special beef pho – 'special' being the different types of beef (beef balls / tenderloins / beef strips). I have to admit – I usually order the same thing fried chicken with tomato rice, but they didn't have this, so opted for the pork with lemon grass and rice.

Hubby's pho came very quickly – not a surprise really – it would have to be one of the quickest meals anywhere! It came with thin rice noodles, and lots of different types of 'special' beef. It wasn't the best pho I have ever tasted and hubby agreed with me on this one. The fact that I was extremely thirsty after dinner indicated that they would have used a lot of MSG! The noodles and beef were fine, I think it was more the soup – it wasn't as good as the one you could get back home at either Bankstown or Cabramatta. It was lacking something – I wasn't sure what. Chilli perhaps? Or Lemon? I don't know – it just wasn't the same. It wasn't bad, but I am sure there are 'better' ones out there.

My meal came and to my surprise it wasn't what I ordered! Chicken wings came with the rice instead of the pork! I was too hungry to make a fuss over it… It could probably have been my fault when ordering – but surely I couldn't have gotten chicken / pork wrong! Anyway, it was better than I thought! Chicken wings can be a little messy at times, but this was definitely good! It was crispy on the outside and you could still taste the lemon grass in between the bones of the chicken wings - definitely well done. I have to admit – I think they over did it with the spring onions / shallots. I needed a strong drink or mint to get rid of the spring onions / shallots taste! (not a massive fan of after taste, but at the time – it was definitely good!)

Overall it was a quick / cheap place for dinner. It would definitely good if you wanted something quick for either lunch or dinner. Was a little disappointed that I didn't get my fried chicken with tomato rice, but I am sure I will find it somewhere!

Ha Noi Pho – Fortress Hill.