Where To Go This Weekend? Island East Market, Hong Kong

Island East Market is such a sight for Hong Kong sore eyes. Here are some of the gorgeous things I've enjoyed there. I've bought a lottt of stuff, ate yummy food, enjoyed my friends' company, had a great time with my family, and I'm just so pissed off that I don't live anywhere near it. Grrrrrr.

Yummy things from Bread Elements.

I bought a loaf of sourdough. Love love LOVE it.


I've bought the croissants too. I absolutely adore how they are savory enough for me.

Next stop, Gary of Joie de Vivre's burger.

Look at the ordering form. How cute!


I had the duck cassoulet. Even the bread is homemade! OB robbed the chips off my plate T_T


Charlotte's AWESOME LEMONADE! Me. Want. More!

The cutest things in the market last week, Spark Studios' baked goods!

I say if it's too cute to be true, BUY IT!

Halloween is coming and these ghost cake pops are just too adoraBOO!


Gingerbread skeleton man!

Too awesome!

Some gorgeous neck candies...


More gorgeous jewelries.

Hello, wallet, get ready to be emptied.

Time for more savories.
Yummy baos from plusixfive Supper Club.

One is rendang, one is pork. Two for HK$70. I love the pork so so so so much!


I was too full but still wanted to try the laksa. The owners are kind enough to pack the laksa with one of the containers they had. I'm making a mental note to bring my own lunch box next time. I had the laksa at home for lunch ;)

I bought the valrhona chocolate caramel fig tart (HK$48). OMG. SO GOOD!

Can't wait to get my hands on them again.


Strawberry shortcake... next time, next time.

If you don't know where to go this Sunday. NOW YOU KNOW.

Visit their website for more info.
See you there!

Catalunya, Hong Kong

I don't know anything about authenticity - whether or not the flavors of the food served here are the same as the ones in Spain... dadadada gaga oh lala - but most of these dishes are yummy.

Green asparagus with black truffle, and soft boiled egg. Scrumptious.


Suckling pig tapa. Crispy skin on both sides. We love it.


Jamon Iberico croquette. Crispy exterior, creamy and tasty interior. Adore!


Squid ink black rice with red prawn carpaccio and red prawn essence. Very intense prawn flavor. I love it.


Cod fritters. Perfectly done. Crispy outside, creamy and tasty inside. They are really good at doing deep fried stuff.


Calamari Andalusian style with lemon mayo. This one is a "meh" for me.


Ham, cheese and truffle bikini. They're alright...


Scrambled egg on a potato bed with chorizo. Tasty.


Bombas from Barceloneta. Another tasty deep fried treat.


Prime natural beef rib eye 400gr. Absolutely delicious. Perfectly cooked, tender & tasty with really really lovely sauce. I love it.


Spanish paella - pork belly, clams, mussels with scampi. It's alright, quite tasty, but didn't blow my socks off. I want a bit of crust, and some of the seafood's not well done - the scampi flesh was rather crumbly...

The sweets...

Cheese flan. Nice, subtle.


Torrija, soft and sweet warm bread with smoked milk ice cream. Many of us wanted this because of the "smoked milk" - no smokiness came through but I do adore that charred bread with soft center.


This is very chocolatey, with a big kick of sourness of something passion fruit that shocked us. Can't help it though... I always order chocolate T_T

Overall, I would totally go back for my favorite dishes.
The 6 of us spent HK$470 per person (we didn't order drinks).

Catalunya
G/F Guardian House Morrison Hill 
32 Oi Kwan Rd, Wan Chai
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2866 7900
Email: reservaations@catalunya.hk

Great to dine with you again, Jason Bonvivant & Gastronomous Anonymous! It was one heck of a babylicious lunch!

Sponsored Post: K-Food & CN Blue Video Plus My Kimchi Ramyun Omelette

Are you a fan of Korean food? Do you remember your first Korean food experience? Mine sent me back years ago when I was studying in Sydney. I lived with Korean flatmates, and one of them is an amazing cook. She introduced me to homemade Korean food. I remember the flat always smelling of kimchi as my flatmates made a huge batch and we always had our fridges full of them. Interestingly, I was not in love with Korean food in the beginning, I was probably not as adventurous an eater as I am now. The thing that really got me hooked was… Shin Ramyun instant noodles (well, of course – isn’t it the official international student food?). We always had boxes of ramyun to survive on a student budget, and I still eat them often - up until now :)

I love Korean food a lot more now – thanks to my obsession with Kpop & Kdramas. Anyone with me on this? Tell me I am not the only mad and obsessed ahjumma here. Whenever I see my idols slurping a bowl of ramyun… (I don’t wanna finish this sentence, can you finish it for me?)

Here’s a video of one of my favorite Kpop groups, CN Blue – promoting Korean food. My bias is Jung YongHwa – liked him since You Are Beautiful (I love rooting for the underdogs), and he looks so charming in this video – especially on 00:47 mark where he’s promoting Citron tea. Cuteee! Are you a CN Blue fan? Who’s your bias?

Apart from enjoying my ramyun as per the cooking instructions with a lot of sinful toppings, I also love turning it into an omelette.

Very easy and tasty. Perfect for breakfasts or cut into smaller portion as a snack. I added kimchi, spam, and cheese too. My favorite combo!

The perfect snack for watching more Kshows and Kdramas 

A cup of citron tea would be lovely too.

Enjoy!

“This post has been sponsored by Korean Department for Agriculture and Trade, but all thoughts are my own"

SC Birthday Lunch At Caprice, Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong

I told SC that I've booked Cafe de Coral (a local fast food chain) deluxe for his birthday lunch. I am sure he didn't believe me. I really need to work on my prank skills :p
Anyway, we went to a special place for a special occasion.

Check out this view, y'all.

WOW.

As a start, we were served these free tiny panini.

How cute!

Bread & butter. SC said that the tall and slim one = him, and the fat and short one = me.

Hmph! Such an annoying guy. I didn't say anything because he's the birthday boy. Pfffft


SC chose the tomato gazpacho with Japanese scallops a la Plancha and broccoli puree. It arrived with dry ice and all (good drama for the bday boy), it's yummy and refreshing, perfect for the hot Hong Kong summer day. But the birthday boy concluded that he is not a fan of cold soup. Opppps.


I had the Violon zucchini veloute and cannelioni of Provencal Ricotta in virgin olive oil. I love my flavorful, rich and hot soup. I knew it was a hot day but I couldn't resist.


SC had the bass. Black sea bass, squid fricassee, white mushrooms and snow peas in natural jus. It's.... nice.


I had the braised Aveyron lamb shoulder and Paimpol white beans in Piquillo coulis. It's... nice. The lamb pieces were wrapped in filo pastry... it gave me the feeling as if I was eating.....a very meaty spring rolls.


I had the cheeses. The cheese guy chose this selection. First one would taste like cheese ice cream, very creamy and smooth. Second one's fruity, the third one has lots of crystallized salt in it (I told them I like salty), and the last one would transport me to a farm where it was made. It really did.


SC ordered dessert, but it was really my choice (oooops) and I love love love it. This is the pineapple and pabana tart, lime meringue and coconut ice cream. How cute are those tiny coconut with chocolate coconut "shells"!!! I absolutely adore this. Not too sweet, it has something tangy, sweet, creamy, salty, crunchy, chewy. It has everything. I love it.
PS. How does one cut a mango into a thick coin shape like that?


The petit four, coffee and tea were served. I was beginning to worry about the birthday cake I ordered. I didn't specify when the cake should be served, and since there's no sign of it after petit four, I almost thought that they've forgotten about it.

But they didn't (of course). When I called for the bill, our server got the cake and walked with his back towards us to hide the cake from SC. How cute!


This is one of the best cakes I've ever tasted. It has rich caramel flavor and lots of crunchy hazelnuts. I was a bit disappointed by how it looked, it's slanted and not as perfect as I imagine it would be... coming from the place. But the flavors made up for it. It's really really yummy.

And a plus for our server to have done this maple leaf pattern and the dots table side. He impressed the birthday boy.

It's weird that he plonked the cake on top of the maple leaf pattern he has beautifully painted...

but we enjoyed it nonetheless. Happy birthday, SC!

Caprice
+(852) 3196-8860
I did my booking about a month in advance via email (yay! I absolutely hate doing phone bookings)

Set lunch HK$480 per person for 2 courses or HK$540 per person for 3 courses + 10% service charge.
The cake = HK$260.

Super Easy Cheat Cherry Tart

Looks impossibly impressive, absolutely gorgeous, and super yummy!


I am not calling this a recipe. But here's how to make this beautiful yummy dessert.
Preheat oven to 200C, Lightly butter baking sheet, place frozen roti prata on top (one per person), brush the top with beaten egg, bake until it's fluffed, take it out of the oven. Arrange halved cherries on top, add some sugar all over, bake again until golden brown and serve.

It doesn't get any easier than this, no?
Enjoy!