(淂記) Duckee restaurant, Causeway Bay, HK

The place is in the basement of the Lee Garden phrase 6 (opposite to the main Lee Garden complex).  I called in for a booking at 8pm (when it's about 6pm) but then got told it's fully booked and asked to change the booking at 7:30pm. So I asked if I should return the table at 8pm.  The reply was no need.  So I hurried to this place.  Ended up there were only 3-4 tables occupied (about 1/10th of the total).  The waiters were also in a rush to try to finish everything as soon as possible.  This simply told they didn't want to entertain any customers after 8pm.  I found it not nice to lie in that way and why not just tell that they would close earlier.  It was also very disappointing all the dishes we ordered weren't of any standard.  Bland chicken chilled in wine.  Thin soup.  Salty veggie.  interesting steamed dumplings and the oily salty stir fried cubes with sesame pastry.  

 

Tien Tien Chicken Rice cum Old Bazzar restaurant, Causeway Bay, HK

Passed by this shop and wondered if it's from Singapore as that one is a street stall shop in Chinatown.  On a second thought, there are some becoming a restaurant though they are just a simple cafe or shop.  Turned out this one is the one from the renowned Tien Tien chicken rice in Chinatown of Singapore.  

The chicken was the type of "white lean meat with jelly under the skin".  Ordered one braised beef brisket and tendon.  It was also very nice and steamy hot. 

 

Chatterbox Express, Taikooshing, HK

After it landed at K11 Musea, it targeted at Taikooshing's outskirt to Taikoo Place.  Quite a wise choice as there aren't many similar shops around.  Besides, quite a no. of foreign companies are in Taikoo Place.  This name isn't any stranger for those who visit Singapore and often got told it was the number one Chicken Rice shop.  Interesting that I was tempted to try their Bah Ku Teh (spare rib soup) and Stir fried Kuay Tew (noodles) but sold out.  A bit ironic their signature chicken rice was still available.  When it was served, I found it a business class main course tray for some oriental dish.  The portion was indeed a bit too small.  The sauce plates were the standard size, not because of a wide angle.  They served an extra chili sauce because they ran out of the ginger/scallion oil.  I could take 2 bites and sips and finished the soup.  After all, the chicken and the steamed rice were quite nice.  Ordered the barley drink and herbal drink plus a stir fried turnip cake.  

 

南堂館 (Nantang Resturant), Chengdu, China

The deco. of this place looks quite Shanghai style, but it's a local Sze Chuan cuisine.  It was quite refreshing for having a light sweet soup of goji berries and snow fungus.  We ordered bean curd with truffle casserole, boiled choy sum and a spicy and sour fish filet.  At first, I thought the bean curd was just with a few slices of truffle, instead of blending it in the bean curd.  The truffle flavour was too overwhelming.  The choy sum should be trimmed for a better serving.  The spicy fish filet was a bit too spicy, but not the pepper aroma.

手感抄手 (Hand made dumplings), Chengdu, China

It seemed to me the food I tried in Chengdu wasn't that heavily seasoned or salty.  It's rather with more Chinese herbs, and mostly in Sze Chuan pepper.  I found my stomach better after taking the Sze Chuan pepper.  I recall the first time I tried the hot and spicy hot pot in Taipei, that Sze Chuan pepper was used.

This shop was quite impressive to me as they made the chicken broth very aromatic.  The dumplings were freshly made to order.  So RMB24 for this soup dumpling was quite a bargain deal.

柴門頭啖湯 [Bavindoor (first sip) soup], Yanlord Landmark mall, Chengdu, China

The shop was very near to the hotel I stayed.  The waitress was very kind to explain the menu pages and let us take time to check for the dishes.  So we ordered a guard leaves in chilled soy sauce, Ma Po bean curd, roasted duck in Sze Chuan spicy sauce. double boiled pear with pork, Dan Dan noodle and a steamed bun with chopped veggie and dried bean curd.  A bit interesting that all the dishes weren't that heavily seasoned but rather in an intrigue pepper flavour.  Very different from those we had in HK and other Asian places.  The closer one is the Kiki restaurant of Taipei.  Another delight was the peanuts.  It was surprisingly good and well deserving as 天府花生 (heaven residence peanuts).  The meal was so nice that I came back for a second visit before leaving Chengdu.

醉云喃滇民族菜 (Zui Yunan, local cusine), Wanda Plaza, Kunming, Yunan

Watched some gourmet programs about Yunan cuisine, like steamed pork belly with taro (photo 5), steamed chicken soup in clay pot (photo 2), cabbage in taro paste (photo 3), and wheat pancake in honey (photo 4).  The dishes were actually a bit greasy to me but it's nice to try them.

船歌魚水餃 (Chungge fish dumpling), Qing Dao, China

Dumplings seem to be quite popular in Shan Dong province.  Perhaps Qing Dao is just by the seaside.  I have seen quite many different seafood dumplings.  This one caught my attention.  It was rather more impressive for me to taste a very authentic tofu veggie soup and a prawn stewed with cabbage.  The strong home style cooking of these 2 reminded me of my childhood.

Song Fa spare rib soup, Central World, BKK

Have seen this shop in Singapore expanding a lot and now going overseas.  Those branches in Singapore are much too busy that alternately I'd try the branch in BKK.  The soup was a bit hotter in pepper flavour than that of Singapore.  The other dishes were also quite Singaporean.