BLT Burger: The Good Glutton

Confession: I am not big on burgers.

There. I said it. It’s not that I despise beef patties sandwiched between two burger buns, it’s just that the burger is not really something I would actively order off a menu. Maybe it’s from living next to an In-n-Out Burger shack for two years back when I was in LA. Maybe.

(BLT Burger)

(It's what's inside that counts...)

Despite my burger ambivalence though, I do appreciate a good burger when I’m fed one. And the ones that BLT Burger churn out are. Good, that is. So so good. And as part of Laurent Tourondel’s empire of deliciousness, why wouldn’t BLT Burger kick ass? I went with the signature BLT ($98)–a large and in charge 7oz 100%Black Angus beef patty, blackened and charred around the edges and still beautifully pinked and juicy in the middle. Topped with big fatty strips of bacon and the “LT” veggies… I chomped away happily on this under the soothing blast of the restaurant’s 80s soundtrack.

(Chocolate-praline layer cake: OMG, I love you)

But if the burger was good, the dessert was killer. Absolutely. The Valrhona chocolate praline layer cake ($58) puts the best things about American gluttony and transforms it into a delectable layer cake. Moist, dark, sweet, sinful. Amazing. There must’ve been a gajillion calories in that hefty slice (and à la mode, no less!) but really, when it’s so beautiful, who gives an eff?

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 3/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4/5 (if you love 80s rock)

BLT BURGER ($$)
Shop 301, Level 3
Ocean Terminal
Tsim Sha Tsui
2730-2338
www.diningconcepts.com.hk

Nadaman: Prelude to a Meal - The Hotel Lobby Smell

I l-o-v-e the Shangri-La hotel lobby fragrance. Seriously, someone should bottle whatever scent that is and market it. I’d buy it. And I also love the fact that, whenever I smell that particular Shangri-La smell, it’s almost always a prelude to a wonderful meal at the hotel. Be it at Petrus on the Island or, in my most recent case, Nadaman at Kowloon Shang.

Not wanting to think about my order, I went straight for the mini kaiseki lunch option, which my lunch-company also went for. We started with a very artfully arranged set of seasonal eggplant and mushroom with sesame sauce, chestnut with miso paste, pumpkin cake roll and grilled crab meat with and beef rolled with asparagus. Too busy catching up and yammering away about which new movies were worth watching and which new restaurants worth going to, I stupidly forgot to take the lid off the eggplant and mushroom for my photo. Duh, me. Well, at least the pale purple pot it was served in was nice and pretty.

(eggplant and mushrooms in a pot, crab and gingko nuts, beef and asparagus, pumpkin cake, chestnut miso roll)

Next course was a very stomach-warming chicken soup with seasonal veggies. Very comforting – I felt like I was glowing after downing this broth and greens. I was kinda elated when the next dish to come up was sliced seasonal sea bream sashimi. I’ve recently realized just how much I love the sea bream with its delish firm flesh and lovely distinct flavor. I polished off the sashimi like nobody’s business. No joke.

(Hearty chicken soup)

(Sea bream sashimi)

The following course was probably the cutest – deep fried lotus root dumpling with shrimp, dried scallop, assorted veggies and grated radish sauce. A very interesting dish with an interlocking layering of flavors and textures. The deep fried lotus root was actually pulped to a creamy paste and was encased in the perfectly crispy “shell.” The shrimp and scallops provided most of the taste to the dish and rode well on the radish sauce. A dish that took a lot of heart to make, I can tell. This was followed by an Indian-inspired grilled silver cod and mushroom with special turmeric sauce. I love cod, I love mushrooms and I love turmeric so this was definitely a winner of a dish for me, though not exactly “Japanese-y.” The fish was soft and fluffy and the mushrooms were wonderfully fleshy. The turmeric could have been a little more prominent but I guess maybe they didn’t want to overdo it on the spices? Ah well, ‘twas good nonetheless.

(Silver cod with mushrooms and turmeric)

(Deep-fried lotus root "sphere" - cute.)

We finished the savory part of our meal with ochatsuke with grilled salmon rice ball. Again, an interesting dish with different textures and flavors. The perfectly-grilled rice ball was scoring massive brownie points with me (I love grilled carbs of any form). And after a short interlude of assorted pickles, we were brought the finishing course of homemade mango tiramisu. A light and sweet end to long and satisfying meal. And with that, and a mini bottle of sake the good folks at Nadaman let me have, I started planning in my mind, when the next time would be that I’d be back in the flower-scented Shangri-La hotel lobby.

(Grilled rice ball)

(Mango tiramisu)

FOOD: 3.75/5
SERVICE: 3.5/5
ATMOSPHERE: 3/5

NADAMAN ($$$$)
Lower Level 2
Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel
64 Mody Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
2733-8751

Go Koong: It All Just Keeps Getting Better

A “go-to” place is an absolute necessity in my life. In LA, it fluctuated between Susina, Amandine, and this particular bench in front of Dodd Hall. In New York, I had Bouchon Bakery and Central Park :) - places that put a giant smile on your face no matter how many times you go; places that make you feel comfortable yet don’t bore you. I need places like that. And since about two months ago, I’ve found my new “go-to” place in Go Koong, also known as my absolute favorite restaurant in town.

I must’ve been here a gajillion times already, and every time is better than the last. I really can’t find anything I dislike about the restaurant. This time around, I managed to tear myself away from my beloved seafood pajun to explore other parts of the menu. We went with the daegoo gooi/grilled silver codfish ($140) to start off (that is, following the amazing banchans <3!

(Codfish: grilled to loveliness)

The following dish was somewhat disappointing in comparison and probably my least favorite of all the dishes I’ve had at Go Koong. This was the haemool dwenjiang jungol/seafood and bean paste soup hot pot ($300). The broth was way too salty to be had on its own (well, it was miso after all) and the shrimps – though impressively large, weren’t as fresh and firm-fleshed as I would’ve liked (but I loved the fact that the stellar staff team help you de-shell your shrimp). Thank God though that this dish was followed by the absolute high of the entire evening – the danhobakgaalbijjim/steamed sweet pumpkin with beef ribs ($188). O TO THE M-G…this was amazing. Truly, madly, deeply. The ribs were soft, and so tender, they fell clean off the bone. Flavor-wise, it was a perfect balance of savoriness with a tinge of aromatic sweetness from being steamed inside the pumpkin. And the pumpkin, what can I say about the pumpkin to do it justice? It was beautiful. With a soft, almost crumbly texture and a rich yet unheavy sweetness. It actually tasted somewhat like mooncake egg yolk. Without a doubt, my new favorite dish at my favorite restaurant.

(Seafood hot pot: meh...)

(Steamed pumpkin with ribs: can I marry you?)

(Please ignore the dirty plate)

Next up was the complimentary Korean styled scrambled eggs. I know I must’ve said it before but I really do love Go Koong’s food generosity. They’re always spoiling us with free goodies on top of the other heap of goodies we already have on our table. The eggs were nothing too special but, for some reason, I found myself finishing the whole thing and craving a second serving. Food champion much? Hells ya! The last savory course was the mool nengmyun/homemade buckwheat noodles in chilled beef broth ($90). A PERFECT closer – being light and chilled. It was easy on the stomach after the absolute feast we had just eaten. I love the slurp-worthy, chewy noodles and the sweet, refreshing chilled radish strips went extremely well with them. I mixed in a giant spoonful of spicy sauce and a little mustard and downed everything with a happy heart. We ended the night sipping our after-meal chilled cinnamon tea, with a giant satisfied smile on our faces and a very well-fed stomach. I’ve found my “go-to” place and I hope you find yours.

(The K-style scramble)

(Chilled noodles)

FOOD: 5/5
SERVICE: 4.5/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4.5/5

GO KOONG ($$$)
202, Toyomall
94 Granville Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
2311-0901

Go Koong: Food Generosity

Maybe I’ve been unconsciously affected by Los Angeles…or the fact that Yvonne has been feeding (i.e. forcing) Super Junior clips into my brain (I still cannot believe I know the members by name now instead of hairstyle description) but I’ve been finding myself falling madly in love with Korean food. It’s crept up and slammed Jap-fare down on the “My favorite Cuisines” list. I guess it can’t be helped – eating K-food brings back happy memories of dinner extravaganzas with the Debs and the Sun and it’s become sort of a comfort food for me. And though Hong Kong’s Korean restaurant scene can’t compete with that of LA’s K-town, we still have some pretty kickass choices here. Enter Eddie’s restaurant – Go Koong.

I admit it – I am shamelessly in love with Go Koong and it’s one of my fave restaurants in the city. I must’ve written about the place at least three times in the last two months alone. So when we had to pick a place for the Nelson’s special birthday dinner, we both agreed it would be no other place than GK.

Ahhh…the wonderful chime of “oso oseyo” (welcome) from the super-friendly staff always puts a giant smile on my face on walking in. We were guided to the table I sat at the very first time I visited the restaurant. Nostalgia. Like all first time Go Koong-ers, The Nelson was very impressed by the restaurant’s hefty, Bible-thickness menu. Choosing from the seemingly gajillion dishes here is never easy. Knowing about the restaurant’s large-and-in-charge portions though, I recommended we just order two dishes first, which should already be more than enough.

(Oyster pancake and potatoes, among other banchans)

And here, let me just say that, one of the reasons why I love Go Koong so much, is for their banchans. They have the most AND the best banchans of any Korean restaurant I’ve been to in Hong Kong and they never skimp. Being a self-proclaimed “Banchanman,” this was a VERY decisive factor in my love for the restaurant. That night, they had the slightly sweet potato cubes that I love so much, as well as an absolutely delish oyster pancake, PLUS nine other things, PLUS a small bowl of sweet pumpkin congee each. Sigh, I love food generosity.

Midway through stuffing my face with kimchi and listening to gossip the Nelson had to dole out, our seafood pajun (pancake) arrived. This is one of my all-time Go Koong favorites. So crispy around the edges and so moist and chewy in the centre, with generous amounts of squid and other seafood and scallions for an extra dose of flavor. Soooo good. Our other dish was the Nelson’s K-food favorite – Korean ja-jeung mien. The noodles had A LOT of sauce – no joke - pre-mixing, it appeared in its bowl as one big dark brown gloop. I’m not going to lie – personally, Korean JJ mien was never a favorite of mine but I enjoyed the dish enough that night. I like the slight sweet tinge to the sauce and the small bits of pork were deliciously tender.

(I love = seafood pajun)

But just when we thought we had ordered just the prefect amount of food, one of the super-friendly waitresses brought a big fatty plate of japchae to our table, telling us, “a gift from the chef.” Awwww…see? Is it any wonder I love this place? Go Koong’s japchae is nothing short of delish. In fact, I had it with my mom before who, in her own words, “doesn’t like japchae,” but, on trying Go Koong’s version, again in her own words, “did like japchae.” On top of the noodles, the restaurant also gave us two bowls of flavorful yet light seaweed soup to wash down the Korean feast we had. Had to abandon plans for the Korean shaved ice dessert yet again (I’ve only ever been able to stomach dessert ONCE after the main meal at Go Koong…and that was only because Eddie FORCED me to try it, despite my stuffed-to-the-brim-ness).

(Japchae, JJ mien, seaweed soup)

With a refreshing cup of sweet cinnamon tea, we ended our meal at Go Koong which, as anticipated, was awesome as usual. I seriously love everything about this place. From the excellent service (in true Korean resto style, the staff here help you take care of everything on the food-serving side, even helping you flip your meats on the BBQ grill and dividing up the pajun onto your plates for you) to the clean, comfy space to…of course, the effin’ fantastic food. To sum it all up, in four simple words: I Love Go Koong.

FOOD: 5/5
SERVICE: 4.5/5
ATMOSPHERE: 3.5/5

GO KOONG ($$$)
202, Toyomall
94 Granville Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
2311-0901

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Side note:

The times when we used to skip morning PE classes to grab breakfast at McDonald’s. The coffees we drank over long gossip sessions. The embarrassed looks we had when “Gregrid” didn’t let someone eat fried chicken. The “OH MY GOD!” presents (:D) I would receive in my mailbox in LA. The “gift wrapping lady” incident. The excited discussions about Stefano Pilati and Louboutins. All these things.

Happy Birthday hun!

You and Kenj make me very happy. Thanks for being in my life. Thank you.