the balkans & russia

I spent the past two weeks traveling around the Balkans and Russia and was not expecting much in the food department - heavy meat dishes, rye bread and pickled vegetables just aren't my thing. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety of food we sampled. Here's a few snippets of my favourite dishes. 

Latvia:

fish broth

I think this was the best thing I had on the trip! It was so flavourful and fresh, with beautiful chunks of salmon and a nice variety of vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots, sorrel...) After trying one spoonful, my sister decided to get a bowl of her own - it was that good. The perfect meal for a chilly day. 

haloumi cheese melt

I was surprised to discover that Latvian bread is among the softest, fluffiest I've ever had - the different breads I tried have all been on par with BO-LO'GNE's in terms of pillowy goodness. While the bread looks slightly burnt on top, it was actually grilled just right and was my favourite part of the melt. 

escargots

Not particularly Latvian but they sure do it well! Too bad I'm so clumsy with my fork and tongs that I lost most of the delicious garlic butter sauce before I managed to get the snails out... 

salt crusted baked sea bass 

Our waitress expertly de-crusting and filleting our fish tableside. It looked soo good I couldn't wait to dig in. 

sea bass

Probably the most important thing for a good salt crusted sea bass is the quality of the fish and this fish was extremely fresh. The salt crust sealed in all the yummy juices leaving us with a delightfully moist fish without being overly salty. 

baked cauliflower with creamed spinach

duck confit

Estonia:

duck breast with caramelised pear and mash

One night in Tallin we decided to eat at a medieval restaurant. While our choice of restaurant was more for the gimmicky sword fight our guide book promised, the food was actually quite delicious, especially this duck breast which was really tender and came with a beautiful black current sauce.

ratatouille with wild rice

The rice was very flavourful, tasting slightly like bismati. The ratatouille was loaded with fresh vegetables with the juicy carrots being my favourite. I've discovered that the Balkan countries actually do French pretty well! 

chicken souvlaki

The chicken was real tender but they went a bit overboard on the spices. Would've been perfect if it were a souvlaki-pita though. 

St. Petersburg / Moscow:

To celebrate my sister's birthday, we headed to miX by Alain Ducasse, his first restaurant in Russia. Part of the menu consists of Alain Ducasse's siganture dishes while the rest is a fusion of French / Russian cuisine. 

freshly baked bread, Scottish, French and Russian

amuse bouche

parisian style cold salmon

pigeon cooked in coquette

cookpot of seasonal vegetables and fruit

salmon and spinach pie with white butter sauce

pan-seared suckling-pig

The food was all quite decent. The salmon was slightly on the salty side (as I found true of all the salmon I had on the trip) and the cookpot was a bit monotonous after a few bites but the fish pie and suckling pig were both delicious!

Finally, some local food at the GUM department store by the Kremlin:

pelmeni

Some Russian dumplings. Tasted pretty similar to Beijing soup dumplings but with a thinner wrap and no chives. Okay la. 

some fish.. very salty

pork - very tender

Okay, so I didn't try very much "local" cuisine but I enjoyed most of my meals which is more than most can say about Russia! :) 

main st. deli

The first time I visited Main St. Deli back in twenty ten, I really enjoyed my meal. I loved the diner ambiance, the deliciously thick milkshakes, and of course the American-sized portions. However, when I revisited last weekend I was sorely disappointed. Not sure if it's because my taste buds have changed or if the deli really has gone downhill, but I'm pretty sure I won't be back anytime soon.

strawberry milkshake (back) and peanut butter shake ($75 each)

The strawberry milkshake was one of the biggest disappointments, tasting more like strawberry milk. It wasn't creamy or thick at all - I would've much preferred slurping up McDonald's trusty shakes even with all its artificial flavourings and yummy chemicals :P The peanut butter shake fared better on its texture (I'm sure it's near impossible to make a peanut butter shake watery) but was just too heavy on the peanut butter flavours for me to enjoy.



thre french quarter ($138)

Trying to be slightly healthier, I opted for the French Quarter - ham, brie and honey mustard on a baguette should be hard to mess up. However, I found the slow baked ham lacked flavour, the baguette tasted stale, and the brie was added very sparingly. The sandwich actually tasted a bit like what I've had at Le Velo except Le Velo is yummier and a fraction of the price.

eggs bene ($138)

The eggs bene was okay flavour-wise (I wonder why they didn't use the same honey roasted ham for my sandwich??)  but the poached eggs wereabyssmal. If there's no runny yolk, it's definitely a fail. Also thought it a bit strange to receive french fries with the eggs!

grilled chicken club ($138)

I didn't try any of this but I thought it was a rather measly portion considering the price. Basically just grilled chicken (looked more deep fried to me?!), BLT and avocado on a sesame roll.

prawn club ($138)

This sounded pretty delicious - apple wood bacon, avocado and prawns on foccacia. Unfortunately, the bread tasted day-old here too...

curly fries (+$8)

You can add an additional $8 to change your regular fries/salad to curly fries! Hurrah! The first yummy thing I had! The curly fries came with delicious melted cheese and reminded me of the Hardees curly fries I used to love - why did they have to exit HK!?

beef lasagne ($168)

This lasagne was also pretty darn good, just because of the amounts of cheese they piled on top! Anything doused in cheese will be an automatic win in my books. The plate came out looking huge but it was actually quite manageable as the dish was really shallow. Still, a super heavy course for lunch!

I suppose not everything was a miss but for the prices you pay, I really didn't think the meal was worth it. I would much rather head to Oolaa / Sashay for eggs bene, Joel Robuchon's salon de the for baguette sandwiches (which are only $48!), McDonalds for milkshakes and Grappa's for lasagne - none of which would've charged quite so steeply.

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Main St. Deli

Lower Lobby Level

The Langham Hong Kong

8 Peking Road, TST

lardos

I'm always on the look out for good steak in Hong Kong and think I've finally found my match. This unassuming steakhouse in Hang Hau village dishes up beautifully tender chunks of meat at very attractive prices. Begun in 2002 by a seasoned meat supplier, Lardos is everything I want in a steakhouse - premium cuts without the additional fuss. The restaurant is crowded, service minimal, and you get kicked out after an hour and a half, but all this adds to the no-frills attitude of the restaurant which focuses solely on delivering great steaks.

ribs ($139)

new zealand lemon sole ($198)

australian mb2 ribeye steak ($195/8oz)

You can choose whether to have mashed potatos, fries or wedges with your steak, and there are also a variety of sauces including bearnaise, mushroom and black pepper. Being a meat purist, I opted for no sauce and the steak was perfect without. It was grilled to a lovely medium rare and was very tender and juicy.

I would definitely come back for their quality meats, perfect grilling techniques and very discounted prices. If only I could still pass for 12 years old, I would jump on their kids meal of mini burgers with fries and cheese too!

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Lardos

4-B, G/F, Hang Hau Village

Tseung Kwan O

zuma champagne brunch

I can't think of a better way to kick off the weekend than with champagne brunch at Zuma, my new favourite brunch in Hong Kong. Given all the rave reviews I've heard of this place, my expectations were naturally high and Zuma did not disappoint. 

For $550, you'll get a buffet + main course + free flowing Perrier Jouet, bellinis and sakes. Not a bad deal considering the above sans alcohol costs $428.

The buffet portion of the brunch was outstanding. There was a good selection of hot items (including chicken karaage and grilled wings), some salads, and of course, a lot of sashimi. I enjoyed the sweet prawn sashimi and hamachi the most, but the maki rolls were also perfectly constructed with just the right ratio of fish to rice (the soft shell crab roll stole the show!). The oysters were some of the freshest I've tasted, though you really had to pounce on them as they disappeared within moments of being brought out.

Some of the plates we had:

The mains didn't fare quite as well but we were sufficiently stuffed from the buffet that it really didn't matter. You could choose from five different dishes, including sirloin steak, miso-marinated chicken, tempura, grilled salmon, and udon. 

Two of us ordered the sirloin steak, which turned out to be too chewy and overly char-grilled for my liking. The picture above is the better of the two but still was a little tough for medium rare. Only the pieces in the middle were okay. The flavour was good though, as were the mushrooms on the side.

Udon noodles were left virtually untouched - probably shouldn't have ordered carbs on top of all the buffet items! The spices were...interesting and the noodles cooked to a perfect, bouncy consistency but it was just a little too foreign for my taste buds! 

Tempura apparently was decent, though I didn't try any as I'm not a big fan of the dish.

Then came dessert... a huge platter of cakes, ice cream and fruit. It even looked healthy! :) I remember being blown away the first time I ordered one of these over dinner and was really looking forward to their signature Zuma molten chocolate cake. Unfortunately, the platter we received didn't have my favourite cake but it's probably for the best as it would've been far too heavy for brunch. I did enjoy the strawberry ice cream and the raspberry cake to the right. Around the back there was also an amazing blueberry cheesecake which I happily devoured. 

My sister noticed that Denise Keller, veteran MTV VJ / model / face of MasterCard / host of Discovery Travel & Living's Passage to Malaysia / H's crush, was sitting around the corner from us. After about thirty minutes of convincing H to go take a picture with her, he finally worked up the courage to get this:

Sweet ending to a perfect brunch. I highly recommend checking it out - it's great value for the amount and quality of food you get, the service is top notch, and who can say no to Perrier Jouet?

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Zuma

5/F, The Landmark 

12-16 Des Voeux Road Central

l'atelier de joel robuchon

I checked out l'atelier de joel robuchon for a nice Saturday lunch with the family. I've been to robuchon a galera last year and thought the food was a little hit and miss, so was eager to try out the Hong Kong branch to see how it held up. 

They charge $200 per head extra if you sit at a table so it was a no-brainer that we opted for bar seating. Not to mention, this way you get full view of the open kitchen :) All of us ordered the 3-course menu at $420 - plenty of food for lunch.

bread basket

The complimentary bread basket came piping hot and was absolutely irresistible. I tried their flute baguette (my favourite), a soft walnut bun, and that bread at the back full of cheese and ham. All slathered in soft, spreadable butter. Mmm. 

amuse bouche

I really enjoyed this one, though I was quite surprised that they would offer an amuse bouche of zucchini cream and onion when zucchini was one of the choices for starters. Luckily I didn't order the zucchini so I happily lapped this one up. 

le chou-fleur

This was a cauliflower veloute with parma ham and hidden croutons. I remember really enjoying the soup at Robuchon a Galera so was super excited for my appetizer. Luckily, it was just as good with a delicious creamy texture and the perfect pairing of parma ham and cauliflower. Stunningly simple :)

les petits farcis

The zucchini appetizer came with (from left to right) tomato mozzarella, eggplant caviar, and egg in "mimosa" style (sort of like devilled eggs). I didn't try any of this but the presentation was beautiful. 

le maquereau

Mackerel looked amazing and I almost wished I had ordered it myself. Taste-wise, very nice. It was lightly seared and didn't taste overly fishy or salty.

le canard

My choice of main course in a French restaurant is almost always duck because the French definitely do it the best. This classic duck a l'orange did not disappoint. The roasted Challans duck breast was perfectly tender with a strong ducky flavour and just a hint of nuttiness. It paired most beautifully with the orange reduction. 

mashed potato

Mashed potato was served alongside my duck and arrived looking like butter, probably because they used so much of it to make this deliciously creamy mash - you can see how it glistens! I wanted to lick the bottom of my bowl it was so artery-cloggingly good.

les cuisses de grenouille

These frog legs my aunt ordered might actually have been even better than my duck. Simple roasted frog legs served with fava beans, they tasted quite mild but had an excellent crunchy exterior reminiscent of the Chicken Man's amazing chicken wings. 

le porc iberique

The iberico pork loin was my least favourite out of the mains, but only because the others were so good. The "teriyaki" sauce was just a little too strong for my liking and the pork was pretty standard.

le banane

A chocolate caramel tart served with caramelized bananas and vanilla ice cream. I didn't taste any of this dessert but judging by how quickly my dad wolfed it down, it must've been good. 

le tiramisu

Very inventive tiramisu! I didn't eat the crackle at the top but the rest was delicious with a very rich coffee taste.

petits fours

Madeleines, macarons, chocolate and jellies - what more does a girl need? :) The madeleines were delightful and probably the best one I've had in Hong Kong (with the only other contestant being Monsieur Chatte :P). I wonder if they sell them in the Robuchon cafe downstairs? I was too full to attempt the rest of the petits fours - the dishes came out with surprising speed so there was little time to sit and digest. I even had to pass on the coffee/tea, though I know Robuchon makes a killer cappuccino. 

Despite our satisfied bellies,  we continued our day with a trip to Beertopia for beer and hotdogs!

The event was hugely successful and I had a great time with my beer - I sampled fruity apple beers from Belgium, dark wheat beers from Germany, a delicious hazlenut nectar from the US and many pale ales from the UK. The best though was this wheat beer from Japan though I forget the name already :( Too bad the hot dog was far too salty! Not worth the $120 it cost!! 

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L'atelier de Joel Robuchon

Shop 315 & 401

The Landmark, Central