The week-end before my Taipei trip, I went for a Happy Hour at the newly open Ritz Carlton Hong Kong. The Hotel is located in the International Commerce Centre, right on top of the AEL/MTR Kowloon station, occupies the 102-118 floors of the buildings where you can find  Ozone – Bar and Lounge, Tin Lung Heen the Chinese restaurant, Tosca – the Italian Restaurant,  The Chocolate Library, The Lounge and Bar, and the Pastry Gems.

I eventually went to the Ozone which claims to be the highest bar in the world so far, with an indoor and semi open air( a balcony on the 118 floor please don’t ask me how many metres high!  Serving drinks with Asian Tapas and Japanese specialties..

Sitting indoor to have my tapas and drinks…..

Mocktail…….Dungeon Crab Cake Fritter

 

Prawn Tempura Creme Soup, Lamb Kebab

 

 hm……forgot the name, the fruit was Pear……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

one interesting thing on this visit, when we made our reservation, we were told there’s a dress code policy of Smart Causal with No Shorts for male guest, when we were queuing for the lift at the hotel entrance, there was a couples waiting as well while the  western guy  was in a trendy branded white shorts and a pair of white leather shoes without socks, and the lady was in a very nice feminine dress, unfortunately they were  being stopped by the staff because what the guy  wearing was against  to the hotel dress code….of cos the guy was pissed  and complaining about it and saying that all his friends were waiting at the Ozone……About an hour later  while I was finishing my tapas at the Ozone, I saw that guy still in his  shorts running around, having  a good time with his fellas….  I think it’s nice to be flexible on rule and regulations, I just wonder  how  many times can it  be flexible? For this guest will he comply with the rule next time he visit again, or if it was a non-westerner, would he be allow to get in?

I have  been told that Rule and Regulations are made to be kept and broken, while the incident above is an example of the latter, the following is another……..

I remember many years ago when my father was a pianist at the Mandarin Hotel Grill Room, my cousin and her husband, an American, deliberately made trip from the Sheraton Hotel  at TST Kowloon (where they were staying) to the Mandarin in Central HK island, for a dinner and to visit my father at the grill room, only been told that there’s a dress code of ‘formal dressing’ at the door,  they had no choice but to go back to the Sheraton and changed

 

 

 

Last Sunday afternoon  in Taipei before heading back to HK, had a delightful lunch at a3 Bar and Restaurant Bellavita,  located next to the W Hotel Taipei

A fusion Italian  experience:

 

Bread and complementary hors d’oeuvre

Ahi Tuna with Salsa

Appetizer Crab Cake and Crab Meat Tartare

Lobster Bisque

 

Wild mushroom n truffle soup

Iced fruit tea

fettuccine wz assorted mushroom and truffle

fettuccine wz wagyu ox tail

Honey roasted walnut

marshmellow cake wz raspberry sorbet

Chocolate Fountain cake with Pistachio Ice Cream(oooops my mistake of the angle of this pic, the ice cream was blocked)

Cookies

 

It’s interesting that my friend and I had similar taste on food while she had the lobster bisque and the mushroom/truffle fettuccnie, I had the mushroom/truffle soup and the fettuccine with meat…. , and yes we both had pasta dishes….

and this meal ended our eating trip in Taipei!

As my previous post, I had a relaxing time in Taipei last week-end. Not much of sight-seeing, nor shopping, only having a good time with  good old friends…….

Traveling with me , my only female travel buddy for over 20 years….

on the first evening we had a Taiwanese dinner at the AoBa restaurant

 

Taiwanese style spring roll in curry sauce

Small abalone with special sauce

Stir-fried scallops with loofah, Stir-fried eggplant in spice meat sauce  

 

Braised pork in soy sauce, Deep fried pork with onion roll 

 

 

Enoki with chicken soup,  Dry radish fried rice

 

Free dessert: Fried Glutinous Rice balls

 

on the 2nd day went to have a Hot Spring at the  Beitou area, quite an easy plce to go, because you can just take the MRT system with a couple of transfer routes, on the last leg, you will take this special train to the final stops…

other than the special paint on the out side of the train , inside they also have different decor with the different compartments, telling you the story of ‘Hot Springs’

once you get off the train, you can either take a taxi or walk to  the Spa area,  we chose the latter as it’s not a long walk only 15 mins in total and some spots for you to explore…..first a Library…..

 

Then there’s the Beitou Hot Springs Museums( free of charge admission)

at last to the Spa I chose, the Villa 32, a newly designed  Hot Springs Spa with a nice Italian restaurant, I eventually had the 6 different Hot Baths within the 4 hours stay including a Tea set afterwards…

 

 

 

Right behind the Villa, there is where the Geothermal Valley( locals call it Hell Valley)

a natural sulfur hot spring where water temperatures can reach 100°C (212°F).

more picture taken inside the train on the way back to the city..

 

at the Taipei station it’s the after work rush hours

 

after doing a bit of shopping, had a snack at a local shopping mall, well it’s about 7pm, however we had to save room for our  late hot pot dinner with another friend….

Late dinner at the Tripod King (鼎王麻辣火鍋) we ordered the double hot pot with a  very spicy hot soup, and a very tasty preserved vegetable with pork soup…

The double soup, and the ingredient from the spicy soup, Tofu and the Duck-blood cake

All you can have steam rice and condiments

Lunch on the third day, at the KiKi Restaurant

Crispy Deep Fried Egg Tofu, Stir-fried silk melon with salted egg

 

Dan Dan Noodle, stir-fried sliced smoked pork

 

pan fried whole Sea-bream  with scallion, garlic and chinese spices,  Spicy braised bean curb with clams

chicken vegetable and chinese herbs hotpot

A local dessert Taiwanese sweet soup with those beans and stuff taste like those Singapore/Malaysian Ice kachang..

snacks continue…..

some kind of marinated chicken but the meat was sooo tough: a very tasty Bun :Guo Bao with  pork meat and herbs

 and the very big piece of Fried Chicken……

on the way back to the Hotel we bought the take away cake from the Crown Bakery

Creme puff and the Black forest cake

 to be continued……….

 

 

 

 

The past week-end had a realxing time in Taipei, Taiwan. Thanks to my co-worker in HKG, we managed to  have gotten a special rate at the W Hotel.

The Room – Wonderful Room as they call themselves….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kitchen cafe

 

 

The Woo Bar

 

 Had a friend’s dinner gathering at a Private Kitchen  called Number 12 at TsimShaTsui 2 weeks ago, a modern Chinese cuisine, fod over all were nice, only one thing Iwill comment is there might be too much fried stuff in the menu, they have 3 sets of menu ranging from HKD250 to HKD350/pp, with 12 appertizers, a soup and 3-4 more ain dishes, just having the 12 appertizers can make you full easily…. and oh I have just realized that  I have missed one pic of the appertizers….what a pity…!

Cold dishes: Pork Belly on Guava, Eggplant with chilly sesame sauce

 

Stir-fried assorted mushroom , deep-fried cheese-stuffed potato cake

deep-fried enokitake mushroom,  a cold dish Chinese Yam Rhizome( 鮮淮山)with berries sauce.

Cold dish dates stuffed with glutious rice, deep fried shrimp cake

deep-fried corns,  cold dish ….hmm……forgot the name of the vegetable….

Pan-fried Beef Bisket, oh a chinese sorbet a chillling lemon sweet drink  to rinse your palate before having the soup….

Soup and the Fried Chicken

fried eel with garlic, and Pork Ribs with garlic and fermented bean curd sauce(南乳)

Special Fried-Rice, one of the best I’ve had for years…. and the specail dessert –  fired tortoise jelly (龜苓膏)

 

 

 

 

 FEB lunch at Buongusto , Central HKG,  qualityLunch set at around HKD100/pp with soup, tea or coffee

Spagahetti with Asparagus, Beef and Red Wine Sauce

Chix  with orange/honey sauce

 

Dinner at Oceanna Time Square Branch  a dinner at around HKD600/pp without wine..

Anti-pasto platter

Since they don’t have Ossobuco, I opt for this Braised Ribs, however I could taste the raw water…..?

Cod Fillet with a 3 cheese sauce….

sauteed wild Mushroom, sauteed spinach

The best one of the night….Semi Freddo ice-creams I like the crunchiness

MAR afternoon tea at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Central – Tea Set with Dessert Buffet

 

 

 

MAR dinner at Kyoto Joe LKF Central…actaully it’s on10MAR the night before what’s happend in the eastern Japan….

 

Sauteed cucumber, Radish and lotus roots, crab meat salad and  marinated duck breast in sake

Green Salad with assorted Sashimi, and a 彷彿魚 Sashimi sorry I’m still serching for the English name of the fish used

A5 Wagyu beef Sashimi see my B…..orgasium?

Salmon/Tuna Sushi, softshell crab, avocado Sushi

Assorted Robatayaki

Prown Tempura with Basil…. Roast Chix with grapefruit juice

grilled Ribs of Beef and….soba…

Dessert : Creme Brulee in Green tea, Coffee and sesame  flavour

 

 

01APR in  HKG,  Judy Ongg  at a Concert for Japan …….