Food & Dining: Crab & Prawn Soup Udon by DONKA @North Point

DONKA
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What's better than a bowl of hot noodles for lunch on one of those coldest days of the year?

DONKA in North Point could be one shop you might want to visit some day. The shop is about 5 mins walk from Fortress Hill MTR station, right beside City Garden Hotel.

Looking out from the shop
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The shop is not exactly a big one, and not exactly at a popular area where there are numerous pedestrians, instead it is one family-owned mini-restaurant which you will expect quality food from.

Green
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Before we placed our orders, we were drawn to the garden-style decor.

Homeliness and coziness
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Very simple blend of real plants, wooden furniture and ceiling, warm ceiling lamps to create focal points. It is like one of those warehouses in the gardens, or a sweet little wooden hut up on hill tops.

Daily lunch sets
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It offers a variety of selection for lunch, but its signature dishes are not on the lunch menus.

A la carte menu
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The best are on the a la carte menu.

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The four most lethal soup bases: crab soup, vegan soup, fish soup and prawn soup.

Crab soup udon
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My wife is a crab lover, so she never hesitated. Crab soup was thickened with eggs, perfect for mixing with adequately chewy udon.

Hot lime tea
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And it comes with a lime drink! My wife loves this set, and wants to go back for more just by looking at the photo.

Prawn soup udon with prawn and fish fillet
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As for mine, the prawn soup udon with prawn and fish fillet was definitely the best choice for someone like me who adores richness and depth in taste. One sip and I could tell the soup was the essence of hundreds of prawn shell extract. Never have I encountered a more stimulating version of this soup. It is the one soup that is capable of making all bland tastes great!

Charcoal grilled prawn and deep fried fish fillet in soup
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In addition to the incredibly mesmerizing soup was the charcoal grilled prawn. Too bad there weren't four or five of them in the bowl because one was less than my bare minimal requirement.

Deep fried fish fillet failed
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The udon was almost perfect, except that this wonderfully golden deep fried fish fillet was only semi-cooked. Probably because the fillet was frozen before fried, so the centre had little time to reach maturity.

Beautifully fried fish fillet (second piece)
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The chef cooked a second attempt for me without hesitation, but in spite of this, the second attempt yielded similar result. This confirms my prediction that the fillet had not been probably defrosted. The second piece did have a better bite as it was soaked in the soup, and maybe it should be served separately in the future.

Done
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Overall, it was a great experience and I drank every last drop of the soup. The fish fillet though, I did not dare to consume.

Happy couple feeding
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At over $120 a bowl, I would say once in every 3 months is about what we can afford, but if you can afford it, it is the one bowl of udon you will be impressed with every time you have.

Food & Dining: School Food @Time Square Causeway Bay

Interesting wall decor
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My Dropbox has been stacking up too many photos taken of visits to new restaurants, now that my confirmation report has been submitted, it is about time to clear them up.

Back in late June, my wife, baby Muse and I visited School Food at Time Square. My wife had been wanting to try out the food for a long while, so after several persuasions stretching across several months. I think it was time to let her have her say. (I'm just joking, she always has her say).

Pork fried rice
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One reason why I never really wanted to visit this restaurant, was the lack of amazing, wowing food on the recommended food board they place outside their restaurant. What's so interesting about sushi at a Korean restaurant? Or fried chicken that looks inferior to that of Pizza Maru's? Why would I want to try replicas and not the original? Then I tried to persuade myself that, fusion food is always worth a try, so what the hell, just try it.

Strawberry special
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I only opted for the pork fried rice, for it is the only dish that looked filling to me. It was good. The strawberry special was baby Muse's favourite.

Sushi
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 Sushi was, well, sushi-like.

Sushi from a different angle
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 The lack of soy sauce and wasabi but the presence of a few drops of salad sauce made the difference.

Carbonara Korean year cake
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Carbonara Korean year cake was nice, but I have yet to try anything Carbonara that isn't nice. It is the safest sauce to go for if you know / don't know what you are doing.

Korean fried chicken
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And we are near the last dish. (Really? That quick? Yes, really.) Korean fried chicken was better than McDonald's but still has a lot of work to do to catch up with those of Pizza Maru.

Well, these are just my personal opinions, my wife in fact is full of praises for them a lot and has recently said she wanted to visit the restaurant again. Though at a not-so-school-food price and really school-food quality, I wonder why there is always a waiting group outside the restaurant.

For more food and dining, click on the FOOD and DINING tags here.

Resources:
School Food @Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/restaurant/causeway-bay-school-food/143281?tc=sr1

Food & Dining: Best Fried Korean Chicken and Pizzas by Pizza Maru Express!!!! @Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2015/05/food-dining-best-fried-korean-chicken.html

Food & Dining: Best Fried Korean Chicken and Pizzas by Pizza Maru Express!!!!

Chickeny goodness!
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Ever since the broadcasting of famous Korean drama "You Who Came From The Stars", Hong-Kongers have not only become big fans of rich and handsome Korean-looking aliens, but also of Korean fried chickens. If you still have no idea that Korean fried chickens should be served with beer, you have got a huge problem.

It happened that my wife and I wanted to give a new shop (new to us at least) a go one day and ended up going back again and again!

Pizza Maru Express at Hysan Place
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Located on the 11/F of Hysan Place in Causeway Bay, Pizzamaru Express is the one shop you must go to every time you visit. There are a few misleading points implied by its name: 1) nothing is 'Express' here, every order takes at least 15 to 25 mins,  2) they offer a range of lovely food other than pizzas, and 3) their fried chicken is their best and most popular dish in fact.

Oh man! All that juice and sauce!!!
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At $89 a set and about half about chicken you get, it is the kind of luxurious food you most likely won't have every day, more like a treat for yourself after a week of hard work. But is it worth it? Just look at the juice in the photo above and the texture from the chicken breast below!

Even the chicken breast is tender!!!
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There are 4 choices of taste: sweet and spicy garlic (chef's recommendation), sweet and spicy, spicy, and original. And you might have guessed it correctly, it is basically a combination of 2 types of sauce that gave the 4 choices.

We tried the sweet and spicy garlic for the first time and then it is every time, simply because it offers the most complexed yet the most well-blended taste ever! The crunchiness of the exterior makes incredibly similarity with corn flakes in your cereal, only that it isn't! It is just one giant addictive commercial secret! Would love to run into their kitchen for that secret, but I know I won'that be able to get pass the two pretty staff at the cashier. One thing to remember, ALWAYS ask for EXTRA sauce!!!

Fresh out of the oven
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What is not so secretive is the flattening of pizza dough which is demonstrated publicly next to the cashier, but that's all you get to see as the crust will then be passed back to the kitchen staff through the hole in the wall.

20 mins of waiting and out came the gorgeous-looking cheesy pizza. The pickle that went with it did not matter, what mattered was the amount of space in my stomach and the last piece that was left on the plate after just 10 mins.

Cheesy goodness!!!
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I did manage to share piece with my wife though, if this tells the quality of it.

Disclaimer: I did not receive sponsor of any kinds, money or food or whatsoever, as usual.

Resources:
TV & Technology: You Who Came From The Stars (aka YWCFTS) feat. LINE & Didier Dubot @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/02/tv-technology-you-who-came-from-stars.html

Travelling & Living: One Great Day At Kai Tak Cruise Terminal With Family

Baby Muse is enjoying her run in the park at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal
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One fine day near the end of last month, I took my whole family to Kai Tai Cruise Terminal for our first ever green outing on my Tesla Model S. It was my second time to be here (the first being the Tesla Model S first RHD delivery event), but my first to actually target the greenery rather than the superchargers. Just posting the video again here, it is an excellent piece reminiscence:

It was also my first time to visit the superchargers there, took a little while to find the stalls but I was lucky enough to be the only car there when I arrived, though immediately another petrol car arrived to block our chargers. In fact, most of the cars there at Kai Tak are used to blocking charging spots, whether they are standard 13A or the Tesla superchargers.

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It was only after the petrol car has left then I saw a metallic movable sign hiding behind the supercharger stands.

I placed this sign to fend off ICE
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Immediately I took one out and placed it in the spot to fend off further musking. I have at least fended off three ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles after the sign was placed. The thing is, there were actually some other parking spaces available at that time but people just didn't care! Surely need to be re-educated.

Looks better than it tastes Image from Locky's English Playground

By 3pm, it was almost the end of the yum cha session, but since my dad insisted, we tried out the only Chinese restaurant there.

Crispy rice rolls?
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The food may look alright, but the taste is far from standard.

Looking good, taste average
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And the price is pretty expensive too, if it wasn't for my dad, or that we were extremely hungry, or for the view, we would have settled for a quick snack instead. The only thing that is worth mentioning about the restaurant is that it does offer free parking upon spending, but one has to remember to press that ticket button at the machine before entering, or the restaurant will not offer you rebate for the parking.

Baby Muse is learning about flowers from mummy
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After late lunch, baby Muse woke up and so we left the restaurant for the rooftop park. She was having a great deal of fun and experiences with flowers, plants and ample space for her to run around.

Baby Muse on the move
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There are toilets, seats and vending machines every 20 metres or so, very caring!

View from the rooftop
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The end of the rooftop has an amazing view of the arch, the signal tower and the harbour, taking a panorama of the scenery is a must-do!

One floor down
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Afterwards, we went down one floor for more photos and close up of the harbour,

Baby Muse on the grass
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then we headed down to the pasture for baby Muse to explore.

Artwork on the floor for display
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There were organizers running several art events for children on that day, there were group paintings,

Lots of children's creation to be dried by the breeze
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individual painting on round Chinese paper fans,

Pencil drawing by the wind
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as well as exhibits of wind's pencil drawings.

Baby Muse is charging!
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There are people playing music, reading books, or just sitting around enjoying their own private time. Overall, it is a top spot for a good family outing or even picnic if you have young children, there are eateries to fulfil your stomach's emptiness and even babies' room for changing diapers.

Parking is $8/hr for Mon-Thurs and $12/hr for Fri-Sun, so it is relatively inexpensive considering the parking fee could actually be the only price you have to pay to have a whole day of fun!

Model Ss charging at the superchargers
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And of course, if you do drive an EV, not just a Tesla, you can get your cars charged at the thirty-six 13A charging points all around the car parks! Free electricity, why not?


Resources:
Auto & News: Hong Kong Tesla Model S First Delivery Event!!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2014/07/auto-news-hong-kong-tesla-model-s-first.html

Tesla Model S First Delivery Event in Hong Kong @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrWeFsf2eo

Baby Muse's 1st Visit To Kai Tak Cruise Terminal @ YouTube
https://youtu.be/lgNObXrbPjI

Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 5

Double-deckered Hong Kong-style French toast
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So one day my wife, baby Muse and I went to this modern retro-Hong Kong cafe which I honestly considered nothing more than gimmick, sat down because we had had too much of Fairwood for tea and ordered Swiss wings and French toast.

Law Mark Kee @ Kornhill
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Never expected anything from Law Mark Kee despite the constant full-houseness at dinner time and their good-selling signature breadloaf chicken rice on most tables, I just don't understand the attraction.

Awesome thickness
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But when the toast arrived, I was shocked, not only by the size but by the gorgeous look. Never thought a tab of round butter would look so pretty on a square-shape toast. Makes me think wonder why no other cafe has ever done this before.  There was no sight of a syrup dispenser, just a plate with prefilled syrup. Not sure if this is the way I like it though.

Peanut buttery goodness
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Once it was cut, there was my second shock. My cholesterol detector immediately signaled that siren in respond to that ample peanut butter filling! Way too much for one person to devour unless one is looking forward to his first atherosclerosis diagnosis confirmation, maybe so even for two.

Distinctive layers
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But some will say,  it is the cholesterol that gives its flavour. I will have to agree with this point but for just this once. That look, those distinctive inter-ply of syrup, toast and peanut butter, possessed that magic of devilish forgiveness which made you forget all sins and guilt from breaking away your low-carb high fibre eating routine.


Scores:
Look:            ★★★★★ 5/5
Taste:            ★★★★★ 5/5
Smell:            ★★★☆☆ 3/5
Textures:       ★★★★★ 5/5
Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5
Overall:         ★★★★★ 23/25


Resources:
Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/food-search-for-great-french-toast-part.html

Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 2 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/01/food-search-for-great-hong-kong-style.html

Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 3 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/01/food-search-for-great-hong-kong-style_18.html

Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 4 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/02/food-search-for-great-hong-kong-style.html

Food & Dining: Best Rice Congee in Quarry Bay

Not just any rice congee
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I was never a congee person, whether that has anything to do with my childhood memory horror is something I cannot confirm, but this congee shop in Quarry Bay has brought a kind of gluttony I had never experienced before.

Dine in queue and takeout queue
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It is not usual to see queues outside a congee shop, this is one rare exception.

Menus on the wall
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 Menus are all on the wall, no English though, so you have to memorise those Cantonese food names of your choice.

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Price-wise, it is not the cheapest but more tha fair for what you will be getting.

Panoramic view outside the shop
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5 orders
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So what have I got? For this occasion, I bought pig's blood congee and deep-fried youtiao rice roll for my wife, and beef congee, fried noodles and plain rice rolls for myself.

Beef congee and pig's blood congee
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Just like all other types of food, there are dozens of ways to cook just one. This congee is knowing as the "raw-cooked" type, meaning that the congee is cooked from rice form to its congee form entirely on flame, not by electric stove and definitely not rice cooker.

Well, it is not as green and it is not so good in terms of carbon emission, but the texture -- that perfect, inseparable blend of molten rice and water, together with the ingredients added to the boiling only after you place the order, is unbeatable on a cold winter day.

Fried soy sauce noodles
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The fried noodles with bean sprouts was done so well that there is not one bit of burnt on one noodle, as opposed to most others.

Zaa loeng -- Youtiao rice rolls
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炸兩 (Cantonese: Zaa3 Loeng5), literally meaning "Fried Twice", aka Youtiao rice rolls, are oh-so-tremendous!! You get crispiness of the Youtiao, you get that bread-like softness in the middle, and you get that elasticity of the rice roll that bonds so well to it's inner crunch. It is served with soy sauce, sweet sauce and chili sauce but in my humble opinion, you can have it without all those and still get that smile of satisfaction.

Plain rice rolls
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Last but not least, the plain rice rolls, which has basically the same chewiness as the Youtiao rice rolls, but because of their compactness,  you'll find a multi-layered bite in them.

The best part about these two dishes is, they are excellent when hot and still delicious when cold.

Do you me any good other good congee shops? Leave a comment below.



Vocabulary:
gluttony -- (n) [U] disapproving when people eat and drink more than they need to
youtiao -- (n)[C] also known as the Chinese cruller, Chinese oil stick, Chinese doughnut, and fried breadstick,[citation needed] is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of dough eaten in China and (by a variety of other names) in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines. Conventionally, youtiao are lightly salted and made so they can be torn lengthwise in two. Youtiao are normally eaten at breakfast as an accompaniment for rice congee or soy milk.


Resources:
Youtiao @Wikpedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao

炸兩 (Cantonese: Zaa3 Loeng5) @Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhaliang

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/gluttony?q=gluttony+