Oct 7, 2013

Guilt Pleasure!

平時蝸居于Downtown,難得大家都有時間,假日Brunch后,約了朋友去黃金海岸半日遊。即使是公眾假期,午後的黃金海灘也不是太多人,比起Stanley和大浪灣的人潮,這裡相對清靜,從黃金海灘,到咖啡灣、新咖啡灣,海灘範圍很大,有沙灘排球設施,還有Kayak可以租用;又或者如我這般懶人,只是踩踩水、發發呆、看看書,一個悠閒的下午就是這麼輕鬆愜意。放空腦袋一個下午,日落西山,是時候好好滿足自己的嘴巴了!


選了黃金海岸酒店的Dinner Buffet,老實說,是希望有個好的環境,對於食物,雖然我是十足foodie,但也很flexible,要有驚喜很難,要讓我失望也很難吧,呵呵!

走入餐廳,大廳寬敞開闊,步入低層的Cafe Lagoon,座位都算舒服,喜歡他們有outdoor section,現時天氣逐漸cool down,在戶外吹吹風吃晚餐是不錯的選擇,不過因為燒烤區域也在此,可能會有少許煙塵,但只要風勢不大,基本是沒有影響的。朋友很怕熱,我們還是老老實實坐在室內了。

走一圈了解一下有哪些選擇,然後發現tons of options,從東方美食到歐陸饕餮,從精美小碟到街邊燒烤,從家常小菜到餐廳推介,開動前要好好遴選一番才行!

凍食方面,sushi, sea food such as mussel, shrimp, Parma ham with melon, kinds of cold meat and salads, of course. 光是starter,已經可以吃飽吧,呵呵! 


 


我的刺身拼盤-三文魚、吞拿魚和明蝦:三文魚和明蝦都正常,吞拿魚就差了一些,肉質很散,不夠緊實。

Parma ham with melon味道不錯,原只火腿即時削片,咸香鮮美,蜜瓜稍欠甜味,不然會更好。
 
 
 
 
漸入狀態,各款歐陸美饌陸續有來!細數下來吃了不少,從最美味的說起吧,美好的記憶總是先跳出腦海。

法式田螺酥盒:這是此餐最喜歡的菜式之一。田螺鮮美,加以洋蔥,用白酒和牛油燴煮,香味異常濃郁;酥盒溫熱,散發牛油香氣,與田螺和醬汁很是搭配,吃在口中非常濃郁和讓人滿足。這個美味小盒,worth the calories~~
 
香橙芝士焗海鮮:只是此餐的又一亮點,我本身很喜歡焗這種烹飪方法,最上面慢慢的芝士讓人垂涎。我嚐過多次類似的焗菜,都是用番茄或者彩椒做底,這次用橙,讓我期待。橙雖然是清新的水果,但味道卻不清淡,用過
lemon zest orange zest 做菜的朋友都應該有所體會,少少一點就滿是清新香氣了。果然,海鮮汁里有濃濃的橙香,讓傳統的海鮮忌廉汁多了一份酸甜清新。如果家中有oven
,完全可以在家中嘗試這道菜。
 

龍蝦汁三文魚配羊肚菌菠菜:喜歡三文魚、菌類和菠菜的我,這道菜自然不容錯過了。煎香的三文魚,味道不在新鮮的刺身之下,我喜歡灶頭大火令三文魚表caramelize,但中間部份仍然半熟以保持三文魚原有的肥美。這片三文魚很薄身,爐灶的火力也不夠,所以廚師煎的時間比較長,但未免overcooked,我主動叫停廚師。(這點大家留意一下,如果你的口味比較西化,最後留言廚師煎煮的時間。)菠菜加以羊肚菌炒香,美味又健康,鋪在三文魚下面,綠與橙黃的顏色搭配也頗為好看。最後三文魚上加以鬆脆的小點心和黑魚子,讓口感更為豐富。


 
炭燒德國豬手:德國豬手有小小驚喜,豬手的瘦肉部份鬆軟入味,可見事先腌製過,不肥不膩,是攝取蛋白質的好選擇。上層的豬皮脂肪已經在焗製過程中消耗大部份,留下的一層薄薄皮質濃郁甘香,表皮鬆脆並有炭烤香氣,即使是女生,我也建議一試。
 

Grill Lamb Chop: 總的來說還不錯,肉質細嫩,少少的羊脂絕對是亮點,油脂濃香讓美味升級。喜歡medium rare的朋友最好給廚師heads up,我的slightly overcooked,好在影響不大。


煎大蝦配牛油雪梨酒汁:味道不錯,大蝦很新鮮,肉質緊實,清甜的蝦本身已經可以收貨。如果想試濃味的吃法,sherry butter sauce是不錯的選擇,有淡淡酒香,牛油味香濃,蝦肉與醬汁一淡一濃,是不錯的搭配。


西班牙海鮮飯:材料非常豐富,青口、鮮蝦、蜆等各式海鮮很是足料,但飯的部份讓人失望。飯已讓番紅花染成黃色,色澤誘人,但入口淡而無味,沒有海鮮應有的鮮美,但飯里卻有足料的海鮮,讓人不解了。


紅酒燴牛尾:牛尾有骨有肉有膠質,是燉湯的佳選。這道紅酒燴牛尾,酒香不足,牛尾雖肉質細嫩,但還不到入口即化的程度。可以交代,但仍有空間做得更好。 



甜品部份,選擇也不少,並且非常kids friendly. 小小的甜品加上各式Face,新奇有趣。各款蛋糕上增添的蝴蝶、蘑菇等裝飾,很明顯是花了心思的,很值得鼓勵。Chocolate Fountain更是小朋友的最愛,好吃更好玩。Ice creamHäagen-DazsDreyer’s,相信這兩家都各有Fans。較為特別的有法式橙酒班戟,此外blueberry cheesecakepink mini cupcake亦很美味,算有小小驚喜。

法式橙酒班戟:班戟放入融有牛肉和焦糖的熱鍋中,再加入橙酒和橙汁,讓班戟充分吸收各種材料的味道。起鍋后,伴以鮮橙片,多一份新鮮水果的清新。最後加上ice cream,并撒上杏仁片裝飾,無論味覺、嗅覺還是視覺,都讓人傾心難忘。除了橙香給味蕾的衝擊,雪糕的creamy也讓整個甜品更上一層樓。


Blueberry Cheesecake: 這是我最喜歡的甜品,卻往往沒有期待,因為往往對favorites都特別挑剔。這個cheesecakecheese味濃淡適中,感覺很適合香港人的口味,質地也恰當,不會硬亦不會如mousse般太過輕盈。最上面的blueberry preserve毫不吝嗇,但感覺有些甜過了頭, 蓋過了cheese的味道。視覺上非常吸引,但從味道出發,可以考慮減少blueberry的分量。


Pink Mini Cupcake: 我向來對cupcake不感冒,因為通常都很甜,cake本身又太乾。這個小傢伙卻不是。表層的粉色糖霜很討喜,味道也是甜;但下面的cake有驚喜。質地非常mosit,也不太甜,反而淡淡雞蛋和牛奶的香氣。另外還有一種綠色的材質,像是某種herb,但我不確定是什麽。總之味道很好,不輸Sift.

Marble Egg Pudding: 原以為這只是egg pudding,加上漂亮的雲石花紋。確實,蛋味和牛奶的一起,很香很滑;此外似乎還有淡淡cheese味道,但不會太濃,好味。此外,也有傳統的Bread and Butter Pudding, 但我更喜歡前者。

總體感覺,這是很適合既有小朋友,又有長者的闔家歡buffet,因為選擇實在多,各個年齡、各種偏好的朋友相信都可以找到他們的所愛。上述的歐陸美饌應該可以讓中青年朋友大快朵頤了,但小朋友和老人家有他們自己的興趣和口味。小朋友喜歡吃,更喜歡新奇有趣,所以那些可愛的cake一定可以吸引他們。而吃慣中餐的老人家,這裡的傳統中菜選擇不少,除了傳統炒菜,還有現場即燒的燒鴨/燒鵝,即煲粥品。此外,這裡海鮮亦很豐富,從starter里的螺蜆蝦,到主菜煎大蝦,意式seafood pasta or ravioli, 還有法國海龍皇湯,材料豐富,濃湯順滑。






環境是這裡另一優點。比起downtown的擁擠,這裡開闊不少,戶外部份毗鄰海邊,視野開闊,邊吃邊吹吹海風,眼前不在滿是高樓與人潮,人真的可以放鬆下來。

一個人的食量始終有限,實在無可能嘗試所有菜品,但就我吃到的,已經相當滿足。雖然美食當前無力抗拒,overate多少讓心裡有點guilty,但更多的是食物與環境帶來的pleasure,那麼所有那些卡路里也都值了,不是嗎?

Mar 17, 2013

La Scarola - Great Italian Restaurant in Chicago!

Finally, after a whole week meetings and those working meals, got a chance to have a real dinner. My lovely US colleague knew I'm a super fan of Italian cuisine, he took me to La Scarola, a famous Italian restaurant in Chicago. It's so nice to have a relaxing dinner after a long day.
 
 
 
I know the dish size in US usually big, so skipped appetizer, I ordered vegetable soup and a main course - Chicken Angelo.
Chicken Angelo was really good. The chicken breast was very tender and juicy, covered by bread crumble. Unlike Japanese style bread crumble, this coating was much fine and full of flavor of herbs and garlic. And it didn't taste greasy. Which most satisfied me was the fresh mozzarella, really fresh and creamy. The eggplant was very soft and sucked Marsala sauce, which was really nice. And of course, fresh and sweet tomato sauce was a must ingredient for most Italian dishes.
 

 
 
The vegetable soup was good as well, rich and creamy, especially the cannellini beans.
 
 
BTW, this restaurant was a little bit crowded, but for HK eaters. That should not be a problem, haha!
 
If you're looking for a restaurant in Chicago, if you love Italian cuisine, La Scarola's a good choice for sure. Enjoy!

Chan Luk Kee - One of the Best Roasted Pork in HK

Hong Kong BBQ is one of the tyical HK foods and most common food for ordinary families. BBQ tea restaurants are almost in every street corner. Although some high end Cantonese cuisine restaurants try to make HK BBQ food a higher level with better raw material, better looking presentation and better dining environment and service, I still consider the small but tranditional BBQ tea resturant the best place to teste real HK.

Chan Luk Kee locates in Sheung Shui, north HK, far away from downtown, but its name is known for all over HK I believe. A lot of eaters travels about an hour to have meals there, most for their most famous dish - roasted pork. Last weekend, I went to Sheung Shui to visit a friend. Of course stopped by Chan Luk Kee to have their roasted pork.


HK Style roasted pork choose pork belly, Chan Luk Kee's roasted pork are famous for its five layers: skin, fat, tender meat, cartilage and lean meat. From the pictures I took, the five layers were mixed and not in order. But it doesn't matter, the taste was really good. The skin was crisp. The fat layer was not very greasy. Most of the fat was already gone during rasting. But for girls, might be still fatty. But the fat is an indispensable part, adding much flavor to the whole dish. The meat was really tender and full of flavor.




Morevoer, the most impressive part was its smoky flavor. As what I heard bfore, they use woods to smoke and roast. I did taste the smoky, nutty flavor, which is not common in HK. I have no idea what kind of woods they used, it's similar to or had the same effect of Texas BBQ I ever had before.

If Bnthony Bourdain gonna film another eposide of Layover HK, I will recommend Chan Luk Kee. Really good food! Really local HK!