Bon Appetit

Venue: Style very much alike to my living room. Dim lighting with a lot of cloths (similar to Le Blanc) hanging here & there. Not exactly the same as what u c in their website. Private room avail.

Dishes :

- http://www.bonappetit.com.hk/menub.php
- Pumpkin Tomato Soup: cold soup (mainly strawberry sauce with some other thing) in a cold peeled tomato served with hot pumpkin soup. Pretty interesting. <3.5>
- Goose liver
- Parma ham <2,>
- Mussel baked with garlic <3.5,>
- Duck with red wine sauce
- Fried half chicken in white cream sauce <3.5,>
- Angel hair with escargot in white cream sauce <3,>
- Dessert: 'Flaming Snow Mountain' <2>
- Rose Tea <3.5,>

Other info:
- no charge on water; rose tea unlimited refilled
- cash only
- only 3 garlic bread served for 2. They cud serve at least four for 2 persons right? Chez Moi is much better in this regard. They serve a small basket fully loaded with well prepared garlic bread !
- Sue (the waitress) is very friendly & 'talkative' (in the good sense).
Expenses: $320 per head

Conclusion: A good choice with enuff quantity without spending too much. If you look for very 'gwai lo' style, that is not the one. In a way it is quite HK style. If u wanna impress someone without spending too much, this is the one. Given the money spent, it will be very harsh to request better quality food.

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One/F Oyster Restaurant

銅鑼灣摩頓台5號百富中心一樓

Dishes Tried:
Veal with Tuna Source: so so
3 Franklin Bay + 3 Tasminia Oysters: Fresh.... $18 each.... good deal..... Around 6 choices of oysters to choose..... NO BELON..... sori~~~~
Duck Liver Risotto: My frd said it was nice
Clams with Luiguine: $118... small portion.... too "watery" ... I wud rather pay $88 in Al Dente for its vongole
AL Ranking: Pass. There is nothing really wrong with this one but there are things in life that you just dont feel right. Example 1: we were greeted with 2 toasts (one with baked tomato & one with fried mushroom) as pre-appetizer. They tasted ok but they were served with a big A la carte plate. Isnt it weird? Cant they be served with a smaller plate for God sake? Example 2: we had the olive oil bottle on our table but we were never served with bread further after the toasts. Example 3: In ordering, I wanna try the shells. The order is for 4 shells. Since I ordered 6 oysters, i asked if I can have half portion. The waiter said no. Well well... it's ok.... After the oysters, i found I want more & decided to order the shells. The waiter asked me if I wanted the cold ones or the hot ones. I confimed to have the cold ones but instead they get me the hot ones. The waiter asked me if I would like to give a try in a non stop fashion & my reply was the same for 3 times in a row - no, no & no. The waiter also told me this was the last order (I guess to persuade me to go for it, a trick or a tactics) & my reply was still a no.
Conclusion: Not a particularly pleasant dining experience & this is not a real Italian restaurant. Spent $500 for 2 & didnt have dessert & tea ~~~~~~ Wud i go again? The answer

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Xi Yan

I finally went to prestiguous private kitchen Xi Yan. A minimum of six mainly serves Chinese fusion. Each pays $360. The food itself is not expensive but the main emphasis is on the sauce & the way they prepare. The portion is more than enuff.
AL Ranking: 4/5
Dishes Tried:
Appetizers:
- Peeled Tomato
- Spring Sprout
- White Carrot
Main:
- Si Chuan Beef Stew
- 'Saliva' Chicken
- 'Dou Mei' boiled with rice sauce
- Soup
- 'Silver Snow' fish with steamed sticky rice & 'dou si'
- Fried pork
Some other info:
- Seafood menu served also which charges around $500 each
- Drinks has to be ordered separately at additional cost. Chinese tea $15 each.
- The speed of serving is quite efficient.
- Clean, sufficient space with nice simple decoration
- Hygience washroom
- Minimum Six

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食肆分類 （2）

一試無妨：

- La Fleur : 蘑菰湯有水準，其他一般。兩位是夜消費五百 （沒喝酒）。
- Cafe de Paris : 很有法國 feel，因為餐桌距離擠擁。青口不俗，需要訂位。
- CRU (Soho) : 夠碟頭，味道一般。早餐不錯但食齊吟多樣就好貴。
- 囍宴 ： 三五百蚊位食 D 高手烹調價但價錢平的食物，值唔值就真係見人見致。雖然預約咗，但唔係熟客就要預俾人放飛機。

可以再去：

- Chez Moi (CWB) : 鵝肝烹調得宜，但勿叫牛排，除非你有朱咪咪嘅牙力！ Garlic Bread 有心機整，見微之處如此，必屬佳品！

彫，勿去！

- Frying Pan : 全天候早餐 concept 好但出品差，澳洲牛奶公司好食好多！

- Tao Coffee & Juice (Sogo) : 結賬時，我同賓藉伙記講這是我有生以來喝過最難喝的一杯咖啡。他回應說 ： 「$127，please.」

冇特別，可去可唔去：

- Le Blanc : 裝修似小弟家，我煮得好食過佢。

- Bon Apetite : 二流享受，不去也吧！

荔灣艇仔粥之憶 - 王亭之

荔灣艇仔粥之憶 - 王亭之

天時暑熱，不禁想起廣州荔枝灣的艇仔粥。賣粥的艇插一枝黃旗，十分醒目，以便遊艇上的客人叫船娘呼喚。

那些粥艇獨沽一味，賣艇仔粥就艇仔粥，連油條都不賣，所以遊艇上的船娘叫買十分方便。「蝦記，五碗」，簡單清趣利落，永不出錯。她們都相熟，憑叫聲就知道是帶金的艇，抑或是帶娣的艇叫買，粥艇穿梭送粥，碗碗新鮮熱剌。

正宗的艇仔粥，用魚骨熬粥，乘熱入碗，灼熟生魚片與鮮蝦仁，至於魷魚鬚則事前已經灼熟，加上已熟的炸豬皮（名為 「浮皮」）、叉燒片、海哲絲、蔥絲、芫茜，再臨時加上一大把炸花生，攪一攪，讓作料與粥混和，然後再加一匙羹炸香的蝦子，那種滋味，如今只能在夢裏尋求， 因為即使在香港避風塘，也吃不到如斯鮮美甘香的製作。

這樣的艇仔粥，有咬口，而口感則款款不同。吃叉燒與魷魚鬚時，帶韌；吃海蜇絲與炸花生時，帶脆；吃浮皮與魚片時，帶爽，都沾上炒蝦子的鮮香，吃時十分佩服其選料配搭的匠心。

艇仔粥很難家庭製作，光是熬魚骨粥已經無法可比，因為斷没有他們那麼多的魚骨，所以王亭之未吃此粥已四十餘年，比「余致力」還久。

加拿大多倫多星島日報
2006年7月12日

闊佬炒飯- 王亭之

王亭之前來溫哥華小住，人請王亭之飲茶，去一家三層樓金碧輝煌的酒家，叫一碟名為「闊佬炒飯」的瑤柱蛋白炒飯。飯來，灰白色，王亭之心知，此即起鑊用油既少，又不勤於洗鑊之過，見其色不由作悶，於是悄悄起座，溜出去吃粥。

今時今日，王亭之於飲食已甚不合時宜。既稱甜品而不甜，既稱為炒而無油，都為王亭之所厭，是故除熟店外，不敢光顧。

其實，「闊佬炒飯」即是香港人「保健」的先河，怕蛋黃有膽固醇，是故唯用蛋白，但又要賣錢，便加一些瑤柱絲。如此設計，十分不合飲食文化，瑤柱帶韌，豈能用來炒飯？若為了炒飯而將瑤柱久久浸泡，則瑤柱已少鮮味，倒不如光用蛋白來炒，加一小撮炸香的甫魚絲，反而冶味。

當年在香港陸羽飲下午茶的闊佬，喜歡吃甫魚淨麵，除甫魚絲外，還有十粒八粒小魚泡，走過油，吃時香脆，抑且魚泡有滋陰之效，這才可稱為闊佬的飲食，此豈「闊佬炒飯」所可比者耶。

不過有闊佬吃過王亭之的「膽固醇炒飯」，用龍蝦膏、蝦子、蟹子、鹹蛋黃、膶腸來炒，吃過大為讚賞，說言：「亭之，此始為真正的闊佬炒飯！」

加拿大多倫多星島日報

2006年7月11日

繼續拒絕 Starbucks

孔少林專欄正式向 Starbucks 投降了 (見下圖)！嗚乎，哀栽！小弟除了好飯後一杯上等藍山外，對於附庸風雅、假裝中上階層的 Starbucks 絕對討厭，絕對屬於「可以唔去就唔去」之列。試想用兩三倍價錢去顯示你有些不知所謂的品味，愚者也！對於其企業宗旨更不敢苟同 (The April 23 2006 edition of 60 minutes)。最反感的經歷莫不是與好友暢遊故宮之時有人提議去 Starbucks ！真是痛心疾首，不知所謂！故唯有獨個兒四處逛逛，再顯「怕人多」本色！