Izumi Curry, Hysan Place Causeway Bay HK

 The shop claimed on its house signature home-made hamburg steak (normal one at HK$85 and a giant one at HK$98); so I had to give it a try of course.  The steak was used with mixed pork and beef.  Supposed it's a nice combination, but somehow it lacks the texture (from not having enough stir for more sticky and firm texture).  Yet, it wasn't aromatic enough - lacking some sort of meat flavour.  The curry sauce was so so.  Fortunately the snack deep fried chicken was pretty nice.

Ramen Tei, Silom BKK

 This shop has never been disappointing to me over the past 10 years.  Very nice soup and noodle and most of all, their stir fried egg with black fungus is awesome.  If you wanna have an idea about how we call "wok air" (鑊氣) - slightly burnt aroma in a super quick fry at high heat, this dish would tell.  At this recent visit, no matter how full I was, I still got to get a bite.

2012 Autumn review: The Grill Tokyo, Siam Paragon BKK

This place is one of my suggested eating agenda for friends I bring to eat around in BKK for the first time.  The purpose is to have a break from too many Thai hot and spicy food with something light at a reasonable price and a nice environment.  If I count back, only there was one time this place was a bit disappointing, 19 out of 20 times were all up above my expectation.  At this recent visit, the price has gone up by a further 15% (THB450 net for a 4 course meal lunch set, vs THB349 net for the same of 10 years ago).  No complaint since the food quality was kept up to its quality standard.

Kyoto Roll En, dessert shop, Gateway Ekkamai, BKK

 The shop has a very interesting an diverse menu of sweet, ice cream, shaved ice, cream roll, custard, ice cream sandwich...  For those who like typical Japanese sweet (to me it means super sweet), this is the place.

石山日本料理, Causeway Bay HK

On the bustling part of Lockhart Road behind Sogo Causeway Bay, I was brought to this home cooking place of Japanese food on the 2nd floor of a building.  The food is simple but delicious and very Japanese, from soaked tofu, radish, spinach in sesame sauce,  Grilled sticky rice cake, grilled salmon skin, and sticky rice roll.  Recommended if you wanna try some local Japanese food instead of overwhelming sashimi or tepanyaki.

Italian Tomato Cafe Jr., Wanchai, HK

Half year ago, on a bus ride back home from Admiralty and passed by the beginning of Hennessy Road, something very bright and red with a lovely tomato sign was so sharp. Italian Tomato cafe was once a regular place my friends and I used to visit. Without any hesitation, I came to this new branch for some good old memory. Turned out a horrible time. First the pumpkin soup was a yellow colour cornstarch seasoned water. The Caesar salad was with some cheap lousy dressing and the bruised chicken with months of fridge smell. The honey ham was so so and the pizza was made of some heavy cheap cheeze. At last, I thought the green tea cake can be something to make up for a lousy meal. Forget it. Never tasted such a tough and dry green tea cake. The whole meal for one person is about HK$110. Better go to UCC or Pokka cafe instead.

Aoba Japanese noodle soup, Vivo City, Singapore

Noticed quite many restaurants offering lunch set at the price range of S$15, covering a main dish and a drink. This is somewhat expensive because the portion isn't that big and considering it's a fast food type restaurant. The food quality is at average. So this meal with one more appetizer plus service and tax cost about S$25 per person (equil. to US$20).

Pokka cafe, Jusco, Kornhill, Quarry Bay, HK

It's sometimes to ask a kid over 10 years old for what their favourite food is. My nephew insisted on getting a mushroom soup (photo 4) and pan fried rice patty with chicken (photo 8) from this restaurant. I can say these 2 are the best out of all the others. Didn't mean the others are no good. The mushroom is awesome with a light touch of truffle oil in a fresh made cream soup base. The pan fried rice patty was very nice but unfortunately the chicken wasn't well done enough. I somehow got a 5 course beef filet dinner set with a pumpkin beet root soup (photo 2), scallop salad (3), beef filet (6), ice cream (9) and the superb Blue Mountain coffee. Only the Blue Mountain coffee is already HK$79, but this whole set is just HK$168. BTW, I was told that only this branch of Pokka at Jusco Kornhill is worth trying.