Kiku, another Japanese Restaurant

I was strolling on my day off at Central and stumbled across this restaurant, Kiku – I have read a couple of reviews on this restaurant and was pretty stocked when I stumbled across it. I have to admits - It's not the cheapest Japanese Restaurant, it is one of the fanciest Japanese restaurant I have been thus far in Hong Kong. Décor was simple with traditional Japanese design features. It does get extremely busy and booking even for lunch is a must! I was lucky to be there early enough to get a table, however, I was told that I had to leave after about 1 hour, which suits me fine.

Menu was quite intensive – almost all styles of Japanese cooking and fresh seafood played an integral part on the menu – grilled, simmered, steamed, you name it, they had it! Prices also varied pending on what you order. Unfortunately, I was dining solo, which means my ordering was limited to just one person! I wanted a salad to start off with, saw Smoked Salmon and Mango Salad – and thought perfect! I am a huge fan of agedashi tofu – and tofu is usually light so ordered that and a I was craving chicken karage – so I ordered that too!

The salad came first – smoked salmon and mango salad – it was just too pretty to eat! The salad consisted of shredded cucumber, lettuce, bit of onions and carrot, which was topped with a generous serving of smoked salmon, mango and Japanese caviar roe with mayonnaise dressing. The combination of it all was simply divine, the mix salad, with the saltiness of the smoked salmon, the sweet mango and the creamy mayonnaise… I savoured every single mouthful I took… it was just absolutely delightful – I could have definitely eaten another plate of that!

Agedashi tofu came not long after, and it wasn't what I expected! I was expecting a bowl of tofu cut into small pieces, instead just one tofu served in a small plate with seaweed and mushroom. Probably a good thing, as I may have ordered too much! Agedashi Tofu is silken firm tofu, cut into cubes lightly dusted with potato starch or cornstarch and then deep fried until golden brown. It's then served in a hot tentsuyu broth made of dashi, mirin, and sho-yu (Japanese soy sauce) topped with finely chopped negi (a type of spring onion), grated daikon or katsuobushi. (One can easily make this at home – however, I am not big on deep frying food at home!). The tofu was definitely soft with a crunchy exterior and sauce was a little tangy.

Last but not least – chicken karage. I went through a phase this week where I was craving chicken karage. I was a little disappointed with the chicken karage – the chicken was not as moist / juicy / tender as I have hoped - It was a little try. The tempura was perfect, it wasn't heavily coated, however, if it was a more tender and moist, it would definitely have been better!

All in all – it was a great meal. Will definitely have to bring Hubby here, so I can try more things. I hear there is a Japanese grill, which provides an excellent smoky cod in miso sauce (is it as good as Nobu though?) and the stone-grilled Wagyu sirloin is also a favourite! Next time!

Kiku
B/F The Landmark,
16 Des Voeux Rd, Central
Hong Kong

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

Wang Fu, Central

One of my ultimate favourite foods is dumplings – loads in carbs but when dipped in vinegar and chilli – what carbs? Who says they have carbs? It has to be 'right' though – the correct texture, the right thickness of skin, and flavouring. If the skin is too thick, it totally ruins the dumplings experience!

I have heard and read about Wang Fu many times, and when my cousin in law wanted to go for dumplings I suggested this place. I thought about Din Tai Fung, but we have that in Sydney and wanted to try something different.

Wang Fu is not a big place, probably could sit around 30 people, and it's not 'flash' but it didn't bother us and it's exactly what we wanted after a few drinks.

My 'ideal' meal would be to get a couple of different types of dumplings, alas, not everyone had the same idea – it was out ruled! After much negotiations, we decided to have 1 boiled shrimp and pork dumplings, chicken and cashew stirfry (very very gwailo food – but funnily enough I was craving for chicken and cashew!) and eggplant stirfry.

The shrimp and pork dumplings were very balanced – you could taste both shrimp and pork. Dipped (sometimes 'drenched) in vinegar and I was a happy camper! I could have seriously eaten a whole plate of it on my own.

Next came the chicken and cashew stirfry – I find this a very non-traditional Asian meal and would order it from time to time. I utterly enjoyed this dish – the chicken was moist and had the 'right' amount of cashews and chillness. One downside would be it was a tad bit oily, but nothing tea can't wash down!

Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetable. Unfortunately I don't get to cook it very often at home as it's not Hubby's favourite meal! So when we go out with friends, I try and order an eggplant dish. This dish didn't disappoint either, the eggplant was cooked extremely well, with capsicum, ginger and onion. Bit on the oily side, but otherwise, it was perfect and a great compliment to the chicken / cashew stirfry.

Great meal at Wang Fu, reasonably cheap also – will definitely go back! Next time will have to try all the different types of dumplings! Was a tad disappointed that we only got one, but its another reason to go back!

Wang Fun, Central
G/F, 98A Wellington St, Central,
Tlp: 2121 8006.