Felix

For my birthday this year, my mom booked a table at Felix at the Peninsula for a family dinner. I remember going to Gaddi’s which is the French haute restaurant in the basement and didn’t like it. But this time around, Felix turned around my impression of the Peninsula with a night of nothing short of amazing!

pretty!

First, the view is just amazing. You get the entire view of the Victoria Harbour and HK Island skyline, which I have to say is one of the prettiest skylines in the world.

panoramic view of victoria harbour

All of us went for the set dinner which saved us a lot of mind cells to choose from the menu. All 3 courses were very well-thought and well-cooked. I am so delighted to find such high standards of western food in Hong Kong, which I have spent the past year looking for. Given the decor and the view, it’d be a very romantic place to bring any of your significant others to

Pan-seared sea bass with pea puree

Seared ahi tuna

<3

Mama’s on Washington Square

On a rainy morning, we lined up for an hour in front of famous Mama’s on Washington Square for our first brunch in San Fran. Thankfully I could use the time to catch up with long-time no see friend Chester!

Took us 45 minutes to finally get close to the door finally!!

zagat rated extraodinary!

At Mama’s, you don’t order after you get seated. Instead, you line up in front of the cashier which allows you to talk a walk along the open kitchen to observe what is that one dish out of the very appetizing menu that you want!

Since we waited for so long, inevitably we overrrrr-ordered to compensate for all that line we spent lining up. We ordered a French Toast, a Monte Cristo, an Eggs Benedict as well as Pancakes! (I know…loads and loads of carbs, therefore you can see my face that is getting rounder and rounder day by day).

Eggs Benedict

Monte Cristo

French Toast

Given its fame, sure Mama’s lived up to its expectation. Stef happily got her fix of carb-loaded brunch

Mama’s on Washington Square
1701 Stockton Street, San Francisco
(415) 362 6421
www.mamas-sf.com

Masa’s

After almost 12 hours of flight, jet-lagged self and Michelle stumbled into michelin-star Masa’s in Union Square for our first dinner in San Francisco!! West coast really does have its appeal, the moment I landed I just feel so relax and chill albeit the horrible windy and rainy weather.

Masa’s decor is amazing, it is posh and elegantly decorated yet gives out a cozy feeling to its guests.

Masa's

I have to say the food is just absolutely top-notch. I had the Sashimi of Shima Aji as appetizer, which was fresh and coupled with delicious vegetables on the side. Now that I am away from Hong Kong, I can finally realize the difference it makes to have organic and home-grown veggies!

Sashimi of Shima Aji

My second dish was the Olive Oil Poached Columbia River Sturgon, which I’d say is one of the most amazing fish dishes I’ve had (on par with Daniel)!

Olive Oil Poached Columbia River Sturgon

And my main was the Prime New York Beef, which to my amaze the surprise came from the leeks on the side…which tasted so sweet and fresh.

Prime New York Beef

A bottle of wine, good food and hours of chatting & gossiping – 3 happy bankers and (lucky ex-bankers) happily went home. Be sure to make time for Masa’s if you ever drop by San Fran next time!

Masa’s
648 Bush Street, Union Square, San Francisco
(1) 415 989 7154

Brunch Series

It is not even an overstatement to say brunch is one of my favorite activities. Below is a series of brunch places I have recently been:

1. Brunch Club
Just purely the name of this place could easily lure me to pay a visit to “Brunch Club”. I went to the causeway bay location (the do have another location in soho). The decor is quite cozy , you are first led by a cute stairway into the restaurant where there is an on-site boulangerie and even a piano! Word of warning: try to come early (I know…hangovers can make that very hard) but it does get crowded the closer you get to noon.

I just couldn’t resist but order my favorite brunch dish – eggs benedict with mushrooms. Honestly speaking, I was a little disappointed but maybe I had too high of an expectation. But it is definitely a cute little place to spend your weekend afternoon and chill with a couple of friends over mimosas and bellinis

Eggs Benedict from Brunch Club

cute staircase leading up to Brunch Club =)

Brunch Club & Supper
13 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
+852 2890 2125

2. Oolaa

For those who live in CentreStage, for sure you will be familiar with this neighboring Australian restaurant. Lucky for us, on a busy Saturday we managed to slip into a table right next to the bar area. I’d say there are three distinct areas in the restaurant – dining room, bar and cafe, each with a distinct atmosphere.

Didn’t mean to make this a cook-off but of course I couldn’t resist and went for my favorite eggs benedict again. But this time I have to say…to my surprise I was amazed by the standard of food here! (partial creds to the advocado I guess…everything tastes good with advocado in it!) But I’d say the portions were generous and the food is very well cooked (not the usual blend-tasting eggs benedict you find in Hong Kong). Although it can get quite loud, but there is generally always a good crowd of expats in here.

Eggs Benedict from Oolaa

Happy ladies at brunch

One worthy note is the vintage store right across from oolaa called select-18. One of my favorite shopping routines in New York is hop down to the village to check out the vintage stores and select-18 IS the place to go to for anyone who likes vintage. The owner Thomas is immensely friendly and you would very frequently find hidden gems in here (My friend has scouted an amazing vintage gucci bag for HKD400!)

Oolaa
G/F, Bridges Street, CentreStage, Soho, Hong Kong
+852 2803 2083

3. The Press Room

I’m sure many of you will be familiar with this place, possibly one of the most popular brunch places in Hong Kong. Located a street away from oolaa, press room offers a similar menu but with a more cozy twist to its decor. That might be explained by the fact that it is opened by architect turned restaurant entrepreneurs Alan Lo who also owns Classified and the Pawn. If you are lucky, you can get seated in one of these sofa seats we got which is perfect for a “Sex and the City” style gals date fix.

Eggs benedict from The Press Room

Again, I ordered a salmon eggs benedict which I’d say ranks between the above two. The hollandaise sauce somehow was a little too sour for me. But I’d say the clientele here is a little more young than oolaa (which you can sometimes find families with babies and kids).

All-in all, I am jealous of you peeps who live on Hollywood Road….or maybe should be renamed as “Brunch Road”?

The Press Room
108 Hollywood Road, Central
+852 2525 3444

Toba Nagoya Cuisine

Recommended by my long-time friend since elementary Carmen who came back to Hong Kong for vacation, we came to this Japanese restaurant called Toba which is marketed to be the only restaurant in Hong Kong totally dedicated to Nagoya cuisine.

We ordered quite a few of their signatures and I have to say we were very much impressed. All their dishes are quite special, not the ordinary sort of dishes you can find elsewhere in every other Japanese restaurant.

A few of the highlights were the fried tofu with poached egg was delicious, egg is warm and watery and yet the tofu is not too oily and also the fried chicken wings which were infused with 15 different spices! Other dishes we also tried were the assorted oden and grilled eel rice bowl.

Deep fried tofu with poached egg

Spicy chicken wings

Assorted oden

looking happy from the plum wine

All-in all, I would really recommend this place to anyone who is tired of the ordinary mundane Japanese menu on the street. But remember to reserve ahead! It does get crowded

Toba Nagoya Cuisine
21/F, L’ Hart, 489 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay
+852 2891 7188

Nicholini’s

My friend Jacky is an avid reader of Daisy Wong’s column – the famous yet mythical young female columnist who works in a top magic circle law firm with a writing voice of what I would allude to almost like a Bridget Jones of Hong Kong. (If you can read Chinese, try reading some of her pieces, she even has an app which you can download to follow her column. A little of a warning though…it gets quite addictive!)

Enough of Daisy, back to food…The reason why I brought her up was because Nicholini’s is one of the places she frequently mentions in her column where it is one of the many lunch favorites of bankers and lawyers in town. Like pilgrims, we decided to pay a visit!

One big regret – I should have ordered the set lunch which comes with the lunch buffet. I had a few bites off my friend’s plate and it was just absolutely delicious….Big bread basket with freshly baked bread, crispy romaine salad, fresh salmon, soup, selection of parma ham and even a friendly chef to chat with!

Foolishly, I opted out the buffet option and just ordered the acclaimed linguine with clams, which of course did not disappoint me (well only complain is maybe the portion was not enough for big foodie like me?)

Linguine with fresh clams and white-wine sauce

All-in all, it was good food and service was great. Although, I’d say it’s probably not the place to go for a quick lunch but would be great place for executive / business lunch! (Indeed I would say yes to everything with such good food!)

Nicholini’s

8/F, Conrad Hong Kong, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway,  Admiralty

+852 2521 3838

Australia Dairy Company

A bit ashamed that I have lived in Hong Kong for 20 years and yet I have never been to Australia Dairy Company! Finally, on a Friday night when I feel too tired make my way down to the always packed LKF, I made my friend drive all the way to Mongkok to try the infamous fried eggs from ADC!

Just as any local cha chan tang, don’t expect michelin star service. Stepped in and was immediately hushed by waiters into a corner table. I ordered fried egg with toast and also a “steamed/stew milk.”

Macaroni / Fried eggs / Steam Milk

Fortunately, ADC didn’t disappoint me. The eggs were indeed soft and fluffy (can definitely tell the yummy butter inside).  I would crown it as Hong Kong Balthazar (you New Yorkers must know which restaurant I am talking about!). Not a big fan of steam milk but friend really enjoyed it so I assume it must be good for people who like it.

If only I live around here…I would have breakfast here everyday!

Australia Dairy Company

G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, Hong Kong

+852 2730 1356