Ronin in HK

I will confess – despite the rave reviews it opened to, I didn’t enjoy my first experience here. We sat by the door and faced a wall all dinner. The menu read like a grocery list and the servers that explained it seemed condescending. The food, however, was pretty good so it did deserve a second go.

 

My second visit here was slightly more spontaneous, we were wondering the neighbourhood for decided to pop in for a few bites – plates are petite and dainty. The menu has changed since I last went. They now offer a tasting menu for HKD 900 which like the daily printed menu is based on the fresh seafood that they source.

 

Ronin will always be compared to Yardbird since it is their second venture hoping to strike gold like yardbird. Well, if Yardbird is yang, Ronin is yin. Like the food, the environment is more zen from the adrenaline pumping yardbird where you sometimes need to shout over dinner. The flavours are softer, clean and light – they let the ingredients do the talking. And on a totally random note, I really like the stoneware that they picked out for the restaurant.

 

 

We skipped the sashimi section this time.  We tried some the last time and the flavours were nice but the fish didn’t seem to be at the right temperature slightly on the warmish side despite being served on a bed of shaved ice. After seeing a few pictures of this delicious creation of this on the internet, we decided to try to heftily priced flower crab with mitzuba and uni. It is a luxurious combination without being too rich. The creamy uni gives it that richness and the crab gave the slight sweetness and I could have spoon after spoon but I think it lacks something that will give it a good pop – maybe ikura? We finished off with their unagi chirashi. The unagi was plumped, glazed and grilled and spiked with sprinkles of sancho pepper served on a bed of rice. The sancho pepper gave it that interesting dimension of lemony flavour and tingling sensation, this dish I really liked.

 

So my second visit here was more successful. Perhaps the early kinks have been evened out and the cooking and staff have found their stride. I might give the tasting menu on my third visit.

 

Ronin
8 On Wo Lane
Central, HKseats@roninhk.com

Tai Ping Koon - HK Retro Food

I’ve been in a retro mood and my recent dinner at Tai Ping Koon just fed it even more. Tai Ping Koon is a Cantonese Western restaurant where time has stood still. The décor is retro and the dishes and service are old school to match. Much like the genre of “western” food that we have in Singapore where they serve up localized western dishes like chicken chop, Tai Ping Koon is famous for a number of these like the Swiss-style chicken wing name has its own history and a taste that has nothing to do with its name. The flavours here are more localised, Swiss-style chicken wings are braised in a sweet soy sauce, which was tasty in their own sticky and not overly sweet way. The main reason why we came here was to sample the roasted pigeon. Only way to eat pigeon is to get stuck in with your hands and just gnaw away, not the most polite way but probably the best. The pigeon is roasted whole and the skin was nicely glazed and evenly roasted and served with a sweetish soy sauce at the bottom that I don’t think was really necessary. I had a good gnaw at it, and it was good. To end off, we ordered to soufflé. Man, I didn’t know it was that large! The table of 2 next to us valiantly tried to conquer it but I would recommend at least 4 people? It is soufflés like that put the spectacle element into dining out and makes it fun. We all had a giggle and took photos of that gigantic thing and dug in with our spoons together. I was a little concern about it not being cooked in the centre but it turned out ok. What it had in size, it had had in wow factor but not that much taste. I appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet but it was more a textural rather than favourful spoonful.

 

Tai Ping Koon, CentralG/F 60 Stanley Street
Central, HK

Cronuts by MO Hong Kong

The cronuts, they have arrived in Hong Kong an I have had a taste. Well, err... it tastes of what it should be, part doughnut, part croissant - an airy layered textured doughnut. I have no clue how close this tastes to THE Cronut that has taken New York by storm but as I have never been a doughnut kinda girl, I still remain unconverted after this. 

The Mandarin Cake Shop

M/F, Mandarin Oriental HK

5 Connaught Road

Central, HK

Coconuts for Joez Coconuts in Penang

Joez is the man when it comes to coconut jelly. This is a rather random coconut trading shop that sits between some tyre shops in the middle of nowhere. I first ordered the coconut pandan – which essentially is fresh coconut juice but that didn’t quite do it for me as it wasn’t as fragrant as the young coconuts and not cold enough for the hot sun that we were walking under. I was hankering after something colder and the coconut jelly that I subsequently ordered really hit the spot. Made from the young coconut, the coconut is roasted and then rapidly cooled down to form this rich flavoured, jell-o soft coconut jelly set in its own shell. Served cold, this is a great refreshing thirst quencher as the cold jelly slowly slides down your throat. Luscious delicious! This was one of the best things I ate in Penang on this trip.

 

Joez coconut jelly is deliciously addictive. We returned the second day for a second helping of jelly and ordered the coconut shake that was made from coconut juice, ice cream and tapioca pearls – which brought out the creamy characteristics of coconut but the jelly was still the top offering. When in Penang and you are looking for something cold to battle the heat, drop by Joez, it is worth going out of your way to find it.

Joez Enterprise
201 Jalan Dato Kramat
Georgetown
Penang, Malaysiahttp://joezcoconut.com

Coffee & Kopi in Penang

ČStarbucks is in Penang but there are other options and here are three places that we stopped by for a cuppa.

Toh Soon Café


Toh Soon is a back lane café where everything is still done the old and slow way. The bread is still steamed or toasted over charcoal, runny eggs are served in punch cups and my delicious iced kopi was served in a beat up plastic ice cream soda cup. We had not intended to come here but a local secondhand store dealer pointed us in this direction for a good local coffee and I’m glad we followed his lead. Popular with the locals, this place was a hive of activity when we got there on a late Saturday morning. We had to stake out our own seats and fortuitously sat down with an extremely friendly local Penang couple whom we chatted with about the local culture and history and shared with us their favourite eating haunts. Together, we shared a little bit of everything with our new found friends – steamed bread with peanut butter, steam bread with kaya and nasi lemak but amongst everything the winner in spite the waiting for our orders to be taken was the iced kopi which was a good reprieve from the heat, iced, strong and not too sweet, that and the local company made it a good combination.

SiTigun



This was a lazy Sunday afternoon pit stop for us. The locals swing by for a coffee and cake. We stopped by for a coffee and shade. The beans are roasted in house and the standard drinks are double shot strong. Strong, aromatic with a long after taste, this was a good reprieve from the heat as we sat under the rapidly spinning fans and a cold coffee in hand.

Mugshot


I don’t know what the history of this place but my guess is this was set up by three friends (two guys and a girl) - a barista, a cook and a host - who spent time abroad and returned to Penang and decided to set up something that reminded them of their time overseas. Boasting to serve good bagels and even better coffee – it delivers in doing a decent job of both but it is the service that will makes me choose to never return. Don’t count on any hospitality from lady who takes your orders and mans the cash machine unless you are a personal friend. Don’t even expect a plastic smile or pleasantries – just surrender your orders and hand over your cash, and expect to wait a while because service is slow.

Toh Soon Café
Lebuh Campbell, off Jalan Penang
Georgetown
Penang, Malaysia

SiTigun
30 Jalan Nagore
Georgetown
Penang, Malaysia

Mugshot
302 Lebuh chulia
Georgetown
Penang, Malaysia

Line Clear Nasi Kandar in Penang

 Whilst the order system is not as the name “clear line” suggests, the nasi kandar here is the said best in Penang. Unless you know what you want and by implication what they have or go at odd hours when there are no pressurizing crowds, ordering here can be confusing and stressful. We stood in line and tried to figure out what they had. When we got to the front of the line, we picked our choice of rice and protein, then without warning, then they started working their curry campur mix magic – dishing a little bit of curry from all their different dishes that magically creates a symphony of curry flavours. But we wanted to order more, we wanted some more vegetables and dishes, so we kept inquiring if they had lamb or mutton or what vegetables they had on offer. The Line Clear guys were clearly not pleased, firstly they told us, “please order everything once, all at once!” But we lingered around and held up their service line and in the midst of it my dining partner got splashed with a little curry on her face and a larger spot of curry on her big toe. Just a small price to pay for being in their line of curry dishing or perhaps they were just trying to get us moving alone, either way it was rather comical.



What is the verdict? From our small sampling of their line of dishes … their fried chicken and the grilled squid, whilst the flavours were ok they were both a tad dry. Their strength is really in their spice blend that creates all the different aromatic curries. My general conclusion: anything with gravy is excellent; everything without a gravy/curry not as good.

Nasi Kandar Line Clear (24 Hours)
Behind 177 Penang Road
Penang, Malaysia

Sun King Yuen Curry Restaurant

This is my second time here for a pork chop curry. I’m not a fan of the Hong Kong version of curry but they serve a more Singapore/Malaysian style curry with stronger spices and a hotter chilli kick that reminds me about home. Here, the pork chops are flattened and deep fried on the bone and the bowl of curry is served with a token potato. I also tried their dry-fried beef hor fun (乾炒牛河), well oiled and well fried, the noodles was tasty and had taken on a good amount of wok hei. I’m not sure why I haven’t been back sooner but I will certainly return here for more of that pork chop curry.

Sun King Yuen Curry Restaurant
20 Spring Garden Lane
Wan Chai, Hong Kong