Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sushi Shin

Being in Hong Kong for 2 years..I started accumulating a small restaurant bucket list :) Kenjo's has always been on my "Must try before I die" list ;) and Sushi Shin, is of no exception. It's the brain child of Kenjo. 3 apprentices originally from Kenjo flew the coop and went and opened Sushi Shin. Confused? Me too...

So, one beautiful Saturday afternoon, my anxious and trembling stomach was fortunate enough to finally cross Sushi Shin off my "try before I die" list! :)  (Coming for you HK!) Sushi Shin really is a hidden jewel nestled in the ever, expanding "foodie' haven of Tai Hung. It's a tiny, quaint, and authentic Japanese restaurant (easily missed, if you walk too fast). Lets begin!

Steamed egg soup :) This is my favorite way to start any Japanese meal. The steamed egg dish was layered with lots of fresh veggies, piping hot, and literally melts in your mouth
Lunch set :) There's sweet shrimp (Botan ebi ), sea urchin (uni), and...scallop, was it?? Over a bed of seaweed and steaming hot rice!
I got scallops (moist and sweet), uni (fresh, hearty portion :D), and.....
Im gonna say this is...tuna? ;) It's been a while! My memories are a tad foggy. Whatever. Everything tasted fresh, juicy and perfect.
Otoro.....Fatty tuna is possibly my absolute favorite thing to devour. Otoro is the under-belly part of tuna. The fattiest part of the fish, (which also makes it the most delicious part of the fish). It's fat, juicy, rich and melt in your mouth goodness. Life is amazing.
Miso Soup. Light, cleansing & refreshing. I finished it before I could snap a picture. I'm sure y'all know how it looks like ;)
The meal's not over yet......
Black Sesame Ice Cream. If you know me, well. I'm a creature of habit. Black sesame and actually anything goes hand in hand :) I love this stuff. It's my go to chinese dessert too!
 I really wanted to try the "yuzu" flavor...so the waitress was nice enough to bring us a small portion. It was more like a sorbet, refreshing, tangy and light! :) But..black sesame ice cream WINS hands down.
I ended up finishing both black sesame ice cream ( Super glad you don't enjoy sweets)...Hey, their loss, my gain! ;)

A really enjoyable lunch and chat. Thank you :) Sushi Shin has exceptional Japanese food, though at a price. Can't wait to cross Kenjo off my list. I'm coming for ya!

Sushi Shin (鮨辰) 2398 8000
Shop 1-2, Ground Floor
Wing Hing Court
110-114 Tung Lo Wan Road
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong



<3 Always, Jess

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Cafe Loisl & Teakha

Good, Great friends are rare to come by. Luckily, one of my best friends resides with me ;) I'm talking about you..jie :) Since moving to HK, I've also made some new good friends!

One being....*drum roll please*.... Vivian Lam, yup...I'm talking about you. Viv's an amazing woman. Independent, smart, loving, Godly, caring, and beautiful (to name a few)... It's awesome...our personalities just... click. In Chinese..it would be called "Yuan Fen" "緣分". Wiki's description. 

Anyway..let's get to the food! So...one lazy but beautiful Saturday morning, the three of us went out for a lovely brunch filled with girl-y, giggl-y, gossip-y chit chat time :) 


Vivian & Jie
 Viv is a HUGE foodie..I'm telling you, you need to blog! She has tons of insights on where and what to eat! :) Super thankful for that. Viv knew about this cute cafe tucked away in Sheung Wan...
Cafe Loisl! :) They're known to have really tasty coffee.
:) Small, cute, and quaint
OH MY...... :) Can you guess which one's mine? You can't tell...but there's VANILLA ICE CREAM nestled inside! Absolutely delicious, sweet and refreshing to boot!
 Then we trekked to our "Original" destination, Teakha...since it opens at 12PM..we went to get coffee first...which, I did not mind one bit.
TEAKHA...I've been wanting to try this place!
FRESHLY BAKED...Bread pudding *DROOL* We ordered that ;)
SCONES galore...what an interesting flavor! If only I had two stomachs!
Roselle and apricot scones!!!!! HOT OUT OF THE OVEN..lucky me
My Marsala Chai Tea w/ steamed milk. Hot, soothing and spicy.. (surprisingly)
Jie with their original black tea, Viv w/ their Iced Thai tea
Roselle Scone.... :) You look sooooo good. And, you were! Flaky, crispy, soft...and melts in your mouth deliciousness.
Breakfast Sandwich (I'm more of a savory person..I know..shocking, cause I love sweets too! Life is tough!) Bo-Lo' gne Bakery brioche bread (OMG....) Ham, avocado, red bell peppers, and whipped scrambled eggs. This combo is ridiculously amazing. I can't even explain how good it tasted! The eggs were hot and perfectly scrambled! All the ingredients texture mixes perfectly on a sandwich. MMM MMM good ;)
*Special of the Day* Vanilla Sponge Cake. This was my least favorite. The sponge cake was a tad too sweet! The freshly whipped cream was nice and light, but was just ordinary for me
Bread pudding ;) This was pretty good. But also, feel like I can get this else where!
 Teakha is the perfect place for a lazy Saturday or Sunday brunch spot. But be warned..space is very limited. Seating is 12-15 people max. Also, if your really starving and want to eat the moment you get in. I would not recommend coming here! Waiting time for food was a bit lengthy. We waited a good 10-15 minutes just for our teas. I'll still be back though..the breakfast sandwich alone was worth my wait ;)

Viv, hope you have an amazing time on your missions trip. I pray you enjoy, experience and just learn more! Can't wait to hear all about your sure to be life-changing time in Cambodia and more outings when you get back! I'll be praying for you.

<3 *Penguin Hugs*

Cafe Loisl 9179 0209
Tai On Terrace,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Teakha 2858 9185
Shop B, 18 Tai Ping Shan Street,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
上環太平山街18號B鋪


<3 Always, Jess

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Brickhouse, Bun Me, & Tai Hing

Hong Kong restaurants are ridiculously packed. Your always going to be needing a reservation..but in the past month; last minute spurs led to last minute meals. Nonetheless, they all did they trick. No reservations needed :)

1) Tay Tay & I stopping at the agency...
Mochi Treats for the agency
 ....Random outing #1! Brickhouse for Happy Hour :)
The Gorgeous Vanessa and always beautiful Taylor R.
Her drink was fruity(rasberries), spicy with a kick..hint of jalapeño, and fresh (vodka?)  ;) Diabla!
2) Working days :) For example, I grabbed 'Bun Me' and hopped on over to Marek's
 With my awesome hair stylist Keith at Marek's Art of Hair. He's dolling me up for work event! I forced him to smile ;)
Often a nice cool vanilla latte keeps me buzzing along!
This working day, I got myself some Viet food and ate over at the salon
I LOVE bread and Vietnamese Baguettes remind me so much of good ol' college days! So this baguette nicely tied me over! I've returned countless times!
3) Casting Days! Late Lunch/Afternoon tea with sister dear who works over in Wan Chai at Time Out Hong Kong!! :) Tai Hing it is...HK style cafes :))))
Getting ready to feast!! I'm not sure what happened with the lighting on the camera ;)

Char Siu...I could go on and on about this dish. Tai Hing's supposedly the roast specialist, but this was slightly bland and tough to chew

We were still craving something else...so Roasted Goose it was!! This was slightly better, but lacking in flavour and hard! :/

Jie...Mmm Mmm Mmm...Meaty Meals :)
Brickhouse (None)
G/F, 20A D'Aguilar St, 
Central, Hong Kong


Bun Me! 2581 0000
Shop A, G/F, Sen Fat Building,
No.6 Bonham Strand
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong


Tai Hing 2576 8961
G/F, Shop K, Po Ming Blgd. 
49-57 Lee Garden Road,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong


<3 Always, Jess

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Jie, love, Macau

I have been slacking (quite a bit) in the blogging department. However, I do have a ton of material to share with all of you, which i will...*eventually*....and several other EXCITING NEWS that will have to wait...*naturally*! :)
.....................................
I couldn't fall asleep last night, I'm not sure why. Contemplating, anxious, and stressed about the future? Hmmm..or perhaps it was just the mid-day Starbucks coffee, afternoon nap, or simply insomnia? So, as I lay in bed, quite restless...I finally decided to do something that's been put on the back burner. Write. I journal-ed and then finally decided to blog. But before I did, I felt compelled to re-read a lot of my sister's blog posts. I'm definitely her biggest fan, not that she needs much help... she's one heck of a writer. But as I kept reading further back in time...I got to... 'The Start of a Journey'. Which was dedicated to me when I first moved to Hong Kong. It still resonates with me to this day even though two years have passed. Thanks jie, I needed that.
.......................................

Lets get to Macau. Why Macau? Well..jie had to leave HK for her working visa. And, because I'm the most cute, awesome, sweet, caring, wonderful (did I mention...cute) baby sister ;) I accompanied her one beautiful Saturday evening!
One brief ferry ride away and we were there
Veggies. I was barely able to chew this. Much too hard! :(
:) I usually love this stuff. The 'Char siu' was dry. The 'Suckling pigs' skin was perfectly crunchy, but it was all bone :/
My Chinese herbal soup...meh..way too salty
Not going to lie. The meal was sub par (at best)
Jie's Malaysia Curry...Chicken was really tough... Macau..MGM...Square 8. Tsk Tsk Tsk

Not the best decision with Square 8..however, the talk we had was amazing ;) Made everything worth it! Quality jie/ mei heart to heart! <3

One thing...Ladies...watch out when you go to Macau, make sure you always have someone with you....too many creepy old men! Jie, despite you not being very good at 'saving me' ;) I still love you.
Thai Thai iced tea was good :)
Jie got one too!
Whoops..didn't get the memo! ;)
Take 2 :) LOVEEEE :)
Cheese. TWINSIES
She's been in Hong Kong for close to 4 months now. I'm just extremely thankful to have her in my life. I'm a very blessed girl. And, one of the biggest reasons...is her. Thank you for always being there for me. Supporting, motivating, encouraging, pushing and loving me...when I forget to do it for myself. You're always catching me right before I fall. I'm so lucky to be able to call you my jie. I love you.

Watch out world! Have a great day!

Square 8
MGM, MACAU

<3 Always, Jess

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Red Mango

I'm big on routines. Don't get me wrong...there are times when I'm rash, impulsive and even surprise myself. But for the most part...I'm a creature of habit. Especially with food :)

For example,  Cafe O, 'O'll Day Breakfasts (I can eat that for every meal!) Well I just love my breakfast foods...Eggs + Toast. Peanut Butter + Toast. Waffles..all good (OK, I'm just a big fan of bread). Or the way I constantly crave Chicken Tikka Misala (you have to try this...it's a game changer), or the fact I need to get a Steamed Almond Soy Milk from Starbucks :)

Well...Red Mango Froyo is another one of my foodie haunts. It's a much healthier dessert choice! Especially w/ Miss Taylor Richard. Check out her healthy living blog! She's honestly one of the best people I've met in Hong Kong and shes an amazing model over at Starzpeople!
Tay Tay and I :) <3

Tay Tay's 'glammed up' version
Oh right...the fro yo... You can pick from a few flavours- Original (plain tart), strawberry, mango, and 'special' of the week!
Original Froyo w/ tons of fruit! (Unlimited toppings!!!)
Then...we ventured in again w/ Miss Lili Zhang (also after another trip to our company, Starz)
Taylor...seriously love your effects! :)
<3 girl bonding time!
And AGAIN we went (usually after work or our agency visits!) Taylor and I actually went a few other times for fro yo, but of course..we gobbled up our treats and didn't get a chance to snap pics of the yogurt or of ourselves...
:)
Lots of love, Tay Tay.
FRO YO!!! :) MMMM MMM good
Red Mango's originally from the States, but they recently opened shop right behind Taylor and I's company and well the rest is history! :) WE WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK!
BTW: you get to pack as many toppings as you can fit....free of charge! :)

Enjoy your day everyone!!

Hope everyone has an amazing Monday and great start of the week!!! <3

Red Mango 2907 1199
G/F, 71 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong

<3 Always, Jess