Linguini Fini (Hong Kong)

Only when I'm on vacation do I have such extravagant lunches. I swear. I thought my lunch at Nobu InterContinental Hong Kong was already a feast, but I was not prepared for this...


My friend Elliot took me to Linguini Fini (@Linguini_Fini) last week for lunch.  Linguini Fini is a sister restaurant of Posto Pubblico (@PostoPubblico), Hong Kong's first osteria concept that introduced Hong Kong to age-old New York Italian home-cooking using local organic produce and animals sourced from neighbouring farms. 


Linguini Fini, taken after the crazy lunch rush.

Linguini Fini is all about rustic, home-made Italian cuisine.

If I was the one ordering, I would not have ordered so much food! But because Elliot is good friends with Chef Vinny (@86Vinny), I was semi-prepared for an extravagant lunch even before walking into the restaurant lol~

White Gold Bars - Herb breaded Pubblico mozzarella, marinara

Caprese - Local romaine, Pubblico mozzarella, basil, 30 year balsamic

8 Hour Tripe - All natural beef & pork, pancetta, tomato

Fried Calamari - Lemon, cherry pepper aioli

Homemade Spicy Pork Sausage - Natural pork, onions & peppers, roasted garlic mostarda

Cured Pork Tenderloin 

Full Cup Cafe (Hong Kong)

After a huge lunch feast at Zuma and many hours of shopping, I was still not very hungry...more exhausted than hungry really (I was not used to all the walking haha). I just wanted to chill somewhere, rest my tired feet and munch on something small. Knowing the perfect place to go, my friend took me to Full Cup Cafe in Mong Kok. This is a cafe that you will never "stumble upon" or "walk by" because you will most likely never find it unless 1) you make an effort to go and look for it, or 2) someone you know has been and is taking you there.


Full Cup Cafe is in a tall skinny building and spans three floors. There are no signs whatsoever outside. Upon entering, they will ask whether you smoke as there are different floors - one for non-smokers, one with an indoor area for nonsmokers, and an outdoor deck for smokers. We went to the 5th floor for non-smokers.

I love the decor at Full Cup Cafe! It has such a vintage feel to it. The polished concrete floors and ceilings, CDs on the walls, fabric curtains from the 60’s, vintage collectibles lining the walls and on the tables are all so retro.

Full Cup Cafe has an endless selection of teas and coffees; they even have a picture of each tea / coffee in their menu, which I found to be quite daunting and took me forever to decide on what to get. They do not serve alcohol, a disappointing *sigh* for some people for sure.

NOBU InterContinental Hong Kong

NOBU InterContinental Hong Kong is such a beautiful restaurant. My amateur picture taking skills does not do this place justice at all. NOBU Hong Kong has a stunning harbour view dining room, bar lounge, and sushi bar. The whole restaurant was said to be inspired by Chef Nobu Matsuhisa's cooking and imagery of the Japanese countryside where he grew up.


NOBU is known for its innovative new-style Japanese cuisine; there are numerous NOBU locations worldwide. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa had his classical training in Toyko but also spent time abroad in Peru, Argentina, and around the world - he created a whole new trend in Japanese cooking.

I went to NOBU last Sunday for lunch with my friend, Elliot and a couple of his friends. Lucky for me, Elliot is friends with NOBU Hong Kong's executive chef, Erik Idos, so instead of ordering from the menu, we left everything up to Chef Idos :)

Harbour view. What a gorgeous day.

Bloody Sushi - Vodka, tomato juice, yuzu juice, wasabi, pepper and shiso leaf (left)

Sake - served in bamboo (right) *Hi Ali, Hi Elliot =D*

Shishiito and Edamame

Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing

Toro with Jalapeño

Toro Tataki with Yuzu Miso

Japanese Wagyu New Style - Ginger chives, sesame seeds, yuzu soy, seared with hot sesame and olive oil.

Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Sauce

King Crab Tempura with Amazu Ponzu

Black Cod Saikyo Yaki 

Alfie's by Kee (Hong Kong)

You know how I said in my most recent post that I might just  take it easy and not blog while in Hong Kong? Well well... look what we have here. Three days in and I'm already posting! But you know what, I just can't help it. I see food in front of me and the first thing I want to do is take pictures of it. And since I have pictures, might as well do a post...right? O_o Although I am blogging, I'm going to keep my Hong Kong posts short with mostly pictures and minimal text.


My friends and I went to Alfie's by Kee for lunch on Saturday. Alfie's is the result of a partnership between Alfred Dunhill and KEE private members club. It is located in the Hong Kong Home of Alfred Dunhill at Prince’s Building. The decor is really warm and rich and very British with the leather, dark woods, warm red, copper and brown hues, complemented with rich fabrics and carpets. 

Bloody Alfie's - Belvedere Vodka infused with pure British black pepper, Taylor's 10yrs Tawny Port, tomato juice, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce and Tobasco

AMUSE-BOUCHE

Salmon Mousse with Crispy Quail Egg

Prawn Cocktail - Avocado mousse, prawn cracker

MAINS

Weekend Roast - Pork Belly, Vegetables, Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy

Hong Kong for the Holidays

Hi, everyone ^_^ I will be Hong Kong bound tomorrow morning!!! Super excited as I haven't been back in ages; I was born there and immigrated to Toronto with my family when I was eight, went back to visit in 1993 and haven't been back since! I know, crazy right? 18 years! Hong Kong will be a whole new world to me =) I'm absolutely thrilled though! I will be spending a bit more than two weeks there where I will be visiting friends and family, doing lots of shopping and eating! The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the 15-hour flight there >_<

I'm sure a lot of you have seen this generic picture of Hong Kong I found online =D

My friends have been asking me where I plan to eat because I tend to research and plan all the restaurants I want to hit up before every single trip. But you know, all that can be quite stressful and tiring sometimes so I figured that for this trip, I'm going to go against my natural tendency to plan (eek!) and be spontaneous, and just wing it (eeeek!). I know a lot of you will have tons of restaurant suggestions for me, which I of course, welcome =) but honestly I'm just gonna roam around Hong Kong like nobody's business. 

Having said that, I do know that street food is a must (hopefully I don't get sick).

Photo credit: CW's Food & Travel

Or if I suddenly feel super high-end, here's the 2012 Michelin Guide for Hong Kong & Macau:

However, an absolute "must" for me is to go to Yardbird, where a friend of mine is working at right now (sorry guys, that's not her LOL). 

Photo credit: Sassy Hong Kong

Yardbird was recently named "Best New Restaurant of 2011" by Time Out Hong Kong. As per Time Out:

"2011 was the first year Time Out gave any restaurant a full-star review, so it only makes sense for that restaurant to be crowned our best newcomer of the year. Former Zuma chef Matt Abergel’s pad is almost too cool for school, a bi-level building that peddles perfectly cooked yakitori. That means Japanese-style skewered ‘n’ grilled chicken by the way, and Yardbird’s menu goes from shichimi-dusted wings to fatty chicken butts. We also give the restaurant credit for making cauliflower cool (order the ‘KFC’ if you want to see why) and for getting one of the most attractive and enthusiastic service crew we’ve seen in a long while. A hands-down sure-fire winner."

Photo credit: Sassy Hong Kong

That's it folks, I don't have anything else planned. I feel a bit ashamed of this but I honestly cannot be bothered this time around; I just want to relax and take it easy, for once in my life!

I still haven't decided whether or not I will blog in Hong Kong.  If I end up getting lazy I probably won't see(?) you guys till 2012! So just in case that happens, I sincerely wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 

Eat lots! Indulge! And most importantly, don't miss me too much =)

V^_^

F'Amelia - Revisited

Ahhh my second visit to F'Amelia (@FAmeliaRisto)! After my dinner there the first time around a month ago I knew I wanted to go back and try more of their pizzas and pastas. Not only did the food make a lasting impression, I also love F'Amelia's quaint and cozy ambiance. This time, my friend Adrienne and I were seated in the room with the bar and the pizza oven. We sat at a table against the wall (funny how the last time I was seated against the wall as well but directly opposite in the other room). Anyway, this was our view that night.

For more pictures of the restaurant, please click here for my first post.

Bastianich Rosato - a lovely Italian rose wine.

APPETIZER


Roasted Warm Ontario Vegetable Salad with Mustard Greens - Adrienne and I both really enjoyed the salad as everything was extremely fresh; roasting the vegetables also really brought out their natural sweetness. It was a nice change to have a warm salad on a cold night. Oh and I  ♥ artichokes!

MAINS

Braised Rabbit Pappardelle - Juicy and soft, the braised rabbit was very very tender. The pappardelle was done al dente...perfect.

3 Funghi Pizza: Crushed San Marzano tomato, fior di latte, mixed sauteed mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano D.O.P., basil, extra virgin olive oil - MmMMmm mushrooms! Great veggie pizza if you're looking for something light as it had a really thin crust. Loved the random dollops of Mozzarella.

Enoteca Sociale

Finally, my dear followers and readers, I finally made my way to Enoteca Sociale (@EnoSociale) for dinner. I honestly don't know what took me so long but I was there two weeks ago Sunday and that's all that matters right now =D


I tried getting a dinner reservation the day of (I know, not the smartest move on my part). I went online and there was nothing available until 10PM. Knowing that Enoteca Sociale leave tables for walk-ins, I tried my luck and went to the resto around 6pm. The only available table was indeed still at 10PM but I was told by the hostess that there was plenty of room at the bar. I took that offer up without hesitation as they had a very spacious bar with comfy stools.

I sat at the end of the bar.

I ordered a glass of Sauvignon blanc 2009 IGT, Bastianich, Friuli, while waiting for my friend to arrive. 

My friend Mike arrived shortly after. It didn't take us long to decide what we wanted due to the fact that we were both hungry and Mike's allergy to nuts gave us little choice on what appetizers we could have; if you check out Enoteca Sociale's menu a lot of their appetizers has nuts - hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachio, almond etc.

Bread and olive oil.

APPETIZERS

Grilled Octopus, Pepper Tuffo & Potato ($19) - Extremely tender octopus. We both really enjoyed all the different flavours and textures from the octopus, potatoes, beans, and sauce.

Arancini Con Stracciatella ($13) 

Deep fried risotto balls? Even if this had nuts I was going to order it anyway and just have it all by myself. Super crispy shell and I loved the al dente texture of the risotto. Mike thought they tasted a bit bland but the caramelized onions helped. I do agree with him to some extent on this.