As I’m sure most of you know already, Dr. Pepper has been boasting that its beverage of carbonated deliciousness is comprised of 23 flavors.  Now, I’ve taken quite a few classes in beverage tasting and analysis but it is beyond my palate as to what most of these flavors are.  The few flavors that I think I can find in there are: ginger, anise, almond, cardamon, and although the company denies it I think I taste prunes.  There are many blogs and websites out there discussing the possibilities.  Their ideas range from the slightly absurd (burnt rum) to the possible (almond extract which is also used to flavor maraschino cherries) to the overly scientific (one guy claims that the plant genus prunus which apparently has over 30 plant and tree species, many of which bear fruit).  You can read more here at Kulturblog.

Aside from my weak attempt at naming the 23 flavors, I am inspired by the people who are giving it a real try to discover the true 23 flavors.  Maybe some day Dr. Pepper will let us all in on the secret, although I doubt it.  Its just good to see others out there living to eat up these flavors.

Located at 27 D’Aguilar St. in Lan Kwai Fong is a little Lebanese restaurant/bar/hookah lounge called Beirut.  Like most places in LKF, Beirut serves decent food, probably has a great lunch deal, and is packed on a Friday or Saturday night with the bar crowd.   The unfortunate thing about MOST restaurants in the Lan Kwai Fong area is that they tend to “dumb down” their food to match the masses of people they entertain during the wee hours of the night.

Some of my family is Lebanese/Syrian and the food they put out is PACKED with flavors and cooking techniques.  While Beirut does serve up some classic middle eastern foods, (eg. hummous, shawarma, and salads packed with rough chopped veggies), they are done without the flare which draws us to their cuisine.

Their hummus, while sitting at a perfect consistency, was lacking in flavor.  The lamb shawarma on the other hand lived up to the flavor profile that I was expecting, but unfortunately they decided it was necessary to cook the life out of it.  The rest of the dishes we had this evening were quite tasty, but please don’t ask the names as I can’t pronounce them let alone remember the spelling.

Beirut also offers an pretty decent wine list comprised mostly of new world wines dotted with a few French favorites.

I recommend going to Beirut, especially if you enjoy hookah as it smelled quite tantalizing walking in.  I would just stick to the appetizers and drinks/smokes next time.

Until next time, keep on livin’ to eat!

Is it just me or is cooking a meal for 3 a nightmare?  Even cooking for myself tends to be a challenge.  I always make waaaay to much.  I can cook for 2, and anything 4+, but 1 and 3 seems to be extremely difficult for me.  But I suppose without this dilemma I would never have a chance to play with all the leftovers

Today I got hungry a little early so I headed down to see what there was, and might I just say, why is it that when we open the refrigerator we always expect something new and fun to be there even though we were the last ones in there?  Anyway, I was greeted by an abundance of Tupperware containers filled with random goodies and decided to have some fun.

I found some chicken which I sliced up and microwaved to heat up.  I also found some tortillas so I put my hot chicken on the tortilla, sprinkled with with shredded cheese and back into the microwave it went.  Once everything was nice and hot I spooned a bunch of salsa on top and called it a meal.

Now, if you know me at all you may be tempted to call me a hypocrite for using a microwave to cook my meal but I say neigh.  I merely used the microwave for one of my3 approved purposes which is reheating.  The other two are of course defrosting and making popcorn.

This was just a simple tasty meal with limited clean up all made from leftovers.  Ah living to eat is so much fun.

The other day I was shopping in a part of town (Mong Kok) which I am not totally familiar with.  I know a few streets in the area (Night Market, Ladies Market, Flower Market, and Shanghai Street) which are known for having good deals while shopping but this day I was on a mission.  I had to find small chalkboards and some baskets of a certain size for a work project so I was determined and just kept walking even when I reached as far as I had been before.  By the time I realized I had no idea where I was it was too late.  I had myself so turned around I didn’t know which way I had come from and by this time everything was in Chinese so there was no hope in trying to read a sign.  I was also becoming increasingly aware that I hadn’t eaten a very large breakfast and it was way past lunch time.  I made an attempt at getting back to where I started but when I get hungry all I can think about is the next meal so I wound up getting even more lost.  Finally I decided to just stop into the next restaurant I ran into and just point at something and hope for the best.

When I got to the restaurant they had the menu outside so I made up my mind the drink and food items I was going to point too and did so once inside.  Apparently I had 2 other choices to make with my food item and with a little help from the waitress I did so.  She brought me back this massive bowl of noodles and a delicious malty creamy beverage.  Since her English was pretty decent and the place was empty I decided to fess up and ask about the items I had ordered.  She told me it was traditional wide noodles in a spicy broth with veggies.  I asked about some of the veggies and she promptly brought me an English menu.  I felt pretty dumb but all I could do was laugh.  It turns out I chose the only 2 fermented vegetable options on the menu which isn’t something I would normally do when this hungry but I’m glad I did.  It was a terrific meal and a steal at only 28HKD.

Getting lost turned out to be a great reason to Live to Eat.

I’ve been in Hong Kong for almost a year now and people are finally taking me to the “real” local food joints.  Unfortunately I cant tell you the names of the places I’ve been to as they are all in Chinese characters that I am unable to read.  On the bright side though I do have some pictures and thoughts to share

Some friends took me to this place in Causeway Bay a few weeks back.  At first I thought we were going to eat outside at one of the little places on the street but instead they took me up to the 2nd floor where we were greeted by the sweet smells of local cuisine and the loud conversations being held over the even louder dice games.  This place was great because not only was the food delicious, it was cheap too.  For the 2 dishes you see plus a HUGE bowl of oyster congee and six 22oz beers the total came to a mere 280 HKD  You’d pay more than that for 6 pints down in LKF let alone the food.

The Braised Chilli Chicken was quite spicy as you can imagine with all the peppers laying right there on top.  Among the chillies was a pleasant surprise of juniper berries, the dish was full of them and their pungent aromatics played a heavy role in making this dish as delicious as it was.  The chicken was very tender and flavorful as well.

The garlic & chilli chicken legs were drumsticks that had been roasted to a perfection of crisy skin and juicy meat that was only made more amazing by being covered with fried garlic, chillies, and fermented beans.  This dish had really deep and rich flavor from the mountain of garlic.

I cant wait to have more local food!!

I know what you’re thinking…there are maybe two or three restaurants and they are all terrible…well my friends, the times have changed.  I will start off by saying that although I haven’t had Mexican food in about 3 months, I wasn’t having such large with-drawls for my opinions to be altered just because of a craving.  With that said….

If you’re looking for Mexican food in Hong Kong (Central in particular) then you have to go to Tequila located at 11 Old Bailey Street.  It just happens to be the next restaurant up from another amazing restaurant, The Flying Pan (or as my friends and I call it: The Pan), but that one will have to wait for another posting.

There are two sure fire ways to test a Mexican restaurant for quality without ever having to order an appetizer.  First, the Margarita.  Now if this is anything close to a decent place they will have a margarita list (much like a wine list only more dangerous) but for the test you have to order either the house margarita or for a level playing field, the gold margarita.  I always get mine on the rocks with salt and this , while not PERFECT, was a delicious balance of sweet and tangy orange, lime, and lemon along with a slight taste of the tequila.

The second test is the chips.  EVERY Mexican restaurant should serve tortilla chips with salsa no matter what you’ve ordered.  These chips were hot, crispy, and lightly seasoned to perfection and the chipotle salsa that came with it was amazing.  If your Mexican restaurant of choice fails in both of these categories, run.  Do not walk out, run for the hills and never come back.  The meal you are about to embark upon is going to be a bland, poorly prepared pile of spicy crap on a lukewarm plate.  If only one of the categories flop its up to your discretion…if you stick around for the meal you may be pleasantly surprised by a wonderful experience…or another failure, at that point its all what you make of it.

Back to Tequila…the restaurant….

I started off with a gold margarita (explained above) and shared a plate of fried jalapenos with my dad.  YUM!  Sorry there is no picture but they didn’t last that long.  Fried to a delicious golden brown, LOADED with gooey/melty cheese, and packed with just enough heat to make you flush.  AMAZING!

I then moved on to a chicken chimichanga…Ah…words can’t describe the joy I was filled with (after the burning sensation went away) from my first bite.  *WARNING* A chimichanga is deep fried and all that steam pouring out once you cut into it is probably a good indication that it is REALLY hot inside.  Once I could taste again this was scrumptious.  The beans weren’t overcooked at all, the rice was well seasoned and dry but not so much that it turned crispy five minutes after you get your plate.

And for dessert…

Apple Chimichanga

I must have needed some fat in my diet because I went with the Apple chimichanga.  This was tasty, but I’m not a huge fan of raisins mixed with anything moist because they suck up some of the juices and become these slightly shriveled, dry but oddly moist grape things that just don’t belong in my mouth.  Other than that the flavor was great and anything served with vanilla ice cream makes me happy.

Well there ya have it.  Mexican Food in HK can be done and is being done well at Tequila.

Finding your favorites…another reason to Live to Eat.

Sadly this will have to be a short review as I had already had lunch before making my way to Cafe O.  I pass this place on the corner of Caine Road and the escalators every day and finally, 8 months later, find my way in.  I wasn’t even planning on staying or buying anything but walking into a place where the staff has friendly smiles in Hong Kong doesn’t come around everyday.  Therefore I decided to get my caffine fix for the day with a “big” mocha.  I love their sizing options, its so simple.  You either get a regular, or a big size.  Everything else is just plain unnecessary.

The mocha I ordered to stay was brought to me promptly, with a smile, and as promised, in a big mug.  The restaurant itself is well lit and plainly decorated.  Not boringly so, the red and white stripes make the place just funky enough for me to possibly make this a regular hang out.

Friendly staff, tasty beverages, and free wifi.  I’ll definetly be back to sample to food.

So I mentioned previously that I would be getting back to Jaspas in Soho and tonight was the night.  Since my last meal there (the osso bucco) left some room for improvement I decided that tonight I was a vegetarian and gave their wild mushroom risotto a try…

This was DELICIOUS!  I’m somewhat of a risotto connoisseur and let me be the first to applaud Jaspas in their aldente perfection.  They also use the nice thick shavings of parmesean cheese for an extra surprise on your palate.  The mushrooms are also quite nice since they are so large and plentiful.  My one wish for this dish would have either been for the chef to have used a little more shaved parmesean when cooking the risotto or for an extra dash of salt right at the end to bring out the flavor just a tiny bit more.

We also had the eggplant rolls for an appetizer which were cooked quite nicely but I just don’t think I was in the mood for that much goat cheese tonight.  Otherwise, another nice dish indeed.  All swallowed down with a refreshing glass of ginger ale.

Giving restaurants a second try…yet another reason to Live to Eat

I’m not even going to pretend that I speak Japanese or know what “Tao Kae Noi” actually means.  But after having these crispy seaweed snacks, I’m going to say it really just means tasty seaweed.  Personally I love seaweed.  Then again, I don’t often run into foods I’m not fond of.

These seaweed snacks were quite tasty.  The good and bad thing about this snack is that it is just seaweed, oil, salt, and pepper.  Its good because you don’t lose the natural flavor of the ocean do to excessive flavorings.  Its bad because, although this was a decent sized bag, and I couldn’t stop after I had the first one, I was still starving by the time I got home.  I’m not sure if we can even classify seaweed with the snacks, its more like gum or mints where you just eat it for the flavor.  I just don’t suggest replacing the gum or mints with seaweed unless your date enjoys the smell of stale ocean on your breath.

I think next time I’ll try adding it into a sandwich or with steamed rice could be good too.

Today is Friday, the day where I must choose whether to repeat one of the set lunch menu items or go for one of the standard menu items.  Today I opted to go for the braised lamb shank on the standard menu with the soup of the day (potato leek).  This is probably one of my favorite dishes at The Real Bread Cafe because it is cooked PERFECTLY.  You can literately grab that boned and shake the meat right off.  The sauce is thickened just right as to be heavy enough for the mashed potatoes without being overwhelming on the lamb meat.  The vegetables are usually a little bland but today I was pleasantly surprised with a nice kick of garlic.

The soup on the other hand was a little off putting.  It may be an American thing where our potato leek soups have nice chunks of potatoes and leeks in a thickened savory sauce but that is what I was expecting.  Now don’t get me wrong, the soup was still tasty, but they had pureed everything together and ran it through a sieve.  I was saddened without soft little chunks of potato and still crunchy strips of leek.  Overall it was a good lunch and now I’m off to get some laundry.

Keep on eatin’