Nanciful’s Blog

For all 3 of you that read my blog (you know who ya’ll are), sorry that I have been on a mini hiatus. I was busy um..eating. Apologies.

I had to interrupt my blogging about the rest of my trip in Hong Kong and China because this place blew me away, thanks to Sinosoul and the power of Twitter. ednesday is Date Night with the Hubs and I was stumped on our dinner destination. But I had a vast amount of resources at my fingertips; I tweeted for help and got a slew of replies along with links to the recommendations.

Among them was Cube. Sinosoul had already written a review on the place  (and way better pics!) and sent me the Aperitivo menu for the week. Alas my attempts of getting there before 7pm was futile. Damn you LA traffic. But that’s okay, there’s always the regular menu. Cube’s menu changes every week according to what the chef gets at the local farmer’s market and the food is inspired by a region in Italy. The week we went, the fare was inspired by Umbria. Cube offers Italian fare with strong Californian influences. After perusing their menu online, I was in the mood for tapa-esque, fusion-esque foods so this place was perfect.

As we were seated in a corner surrounded by chocolates, jams and olive oil from Italy, it’s evident that Cube is a restaurant/cafe with a nice marketplace incorporated within. there were chocolates in packaging that would put the Japanese to shame. We were handed a menu, a wine list and another small leaflet of their cheese flight. Cube carries 85 different types of cheese and thus the required leaflet. Hubs and I decided to consult our very nice and informative server Nick for his favorite cheeses. Nick was extremely helpful throughout the entire night. We ordered most of what he suggested and they were just perfect.

A word of warning here, I am still learning how to take pictures in the less than daylight conditions with my point and shoot. So add that on top of hunger, you get fuzzy pictures.

After giving Nick a very generalized preferences of how we like our cheese (no goat and nothing that smells like toe jam), he presented us with the below slab of beauty:

From left to right: Gruyere (semi-hard, cow, Switzerland), Tomme Brulee (semi-soft, sheep, Switzerland, Hubs’ favorite of the three) and my favorite, couch farm triple creme (soft). We also ordered mixed olives and regular prosciutto to go with our cheese. The slab was sprinkled with almonds, rosemary jam, dried apricots and these mini raisins. We were also offered their house crostini which I quickly devoured with the triple cream cheese.

Next up was my favorite of the entire meal, the diver scallop crudo with peaches, blood orange juice and peppercress. OH-EM-GEE, scallop crudo was melt in your mouth, made me feel like frolicking through a field of sunflowers goodness. It was a burst of refreshing goodness in my mouth. The peaches were sliced so thin but the flavor so pungent.

Soft shell crab was next and although fresh, the batter was a little much and tasted like a pastry. However the sweet corn puree that the crab was sittin’ on was delish.

I’m a sucker for any dish with the word crunch or crisp so I had to order the summer crunch made with farmer’s market beans, sweet corn, hazel nuts and pecorino. It was definitely a crunch a offered a pleasant contrast to the meltiness and gooeyness of the 2 items that preceded it.

Hubs and I decided to only order one main entree so we can save some stomach space for dessert and antipasti. With the high recommendation of Nick, we had the seared diver scallops with lemon risotto, asparagus and bacon vinaigrette. Yes, those were bits of bacon on top of the scallops. This is a MUST EAT at Cube. I’ve had my share of scallops before from French restaurants and Cantonese restaurants. But these scallops are possibly the best ones I’ve had so far. The bacon bits on top provided a nice opposition but not overly salted addition to the dish. I am not a fan of risotto but I was fighting Hubs for the last spoonful.

Next up was Hubs’ favorite of the bunch,the baked 4 cheese mac and cheese with fried guanciale and truffle oil. I have no idea what fried guanciale is but man it’s delicious! It taste like bacon but with a denser composition, very similar to the Chinese cured meat. The top layer of the mac and cheese was slightly crunchy and bottom layer a melted heaven. Great contrast and not too creamy.

By this time both of us was stuff to our throats but desserts (and soup) ends a good meal. There were so many tempting choices on the menu so we had to consult our server Nick again for his must haves. Here is what we ended up getting the Victorian rhubarb and raspberry cobbler with tahitian vanilla ice cream and  crispy cinnamon fritters  with dark valrhona chocolate and fresh cream for dipping in which Hubs’ proclaimed upon first bite, “They are like bites of clouds!” Gotta give him kudos for that since his literature consists of curly brackets and semi colons. The cobbler was a very generous portion of sweet and tart goodness. The top crust was not too overpowering and was a good balance to the mounds of berries underneath. Both were Nick’s suggestions and both were unforgettable in a delicious kind of way.

So here’s my only decent picture throughout the entire night.

Yes yes, take some time to admire that. See what a full and happy stomach can do?

Cube is now one of my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles. I was so in love with my experience there that I wanted to come back the following weeks but didn’t because I was ashamed that I haven’t blogged about it after telling Nick I was going to. (Sorry NIck!) Cube’s food is fresh, fabulous and flavorful and the service is top notch which made the food that much better. Now that I blogged about this gem , I can return without shame.

615 N. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90036
Tel:323-939-1148

I always end up eating at the same place every time I travel to my usual destination for business. I chalk it up to having no time and no hassle but really it’s just pure laziness. Laziness to decide where to eat and if the new place ends up being a fluke, you wanna kick yourself in the arse for trying new things. However, I had an urge to try new restaurants this time around on my trip to Hong Kong. My co worker and I walked around our Hong Kong ‘hood, Causeway Bay and found a restaurant called Red Ant, tucked in a tiny side street behind Times Square. Their menu taped on the side of the window, full of dishes that play on both spectrum of East and West.,dishes such as Lah-sa with glass noodles and Scallion Pancake Pizza caught my eye. And there were pretty pictures of food on the menu. Yes, I’m a sucker for visually pleasant things.

Stepping into the restaurant was like stepping into a cross between Tao nightclub in Vegas and Burke Williams. Lots of reds and bamboo textured seating and I swear I heard a fake waterfall somewhere. . But the food made up for the Asiancentric decor.

My coworker felt like noodles so she opted for a prawn cioppino with noodles. Once my eyes landed on the words scallion pancake and pizza, my mind was already made up. I ordered the Peking duck scallion pancake pizza. That is very CPK-esque but I was taken to liking the fact that instead of regular pizza dough, it’s made with scallion pancake. I have a weakness for carbs that can be both chewy and crispy at the same time. We decided to share a smoked salmon dragon fruit salad with mango dressing. I needed something RAW after all those fishballs on a stick.

As I was still on my infatuations with tomatoes, those cherry tomatoes were sweet and delicious. The noodles were cooked to al dente and there were generous chunks of fresh prawns in the pasta. Luckily, my coworker didn’t seem to mind as I was only eating the cherry tomatoes. Love that the portions were huge for Asia standards.

Here is my Peking duck pizza on scallion pancake.

I loved the texture of this pizza, chewy, cheesy, meaty, crispy. The chef was smart not to overkill the pizza by adding any other ingredients to spice up the pizza as the peiking duck already had a very powering taste and the slight scallion taste from the dough and the sprinkles just added that kick.  Yes my friend, I ate every piece of this pizza, all by myself. I really like that this restaurant took new approaches to Chinese and Western food without completing reinventing the actual dish. Sometimes a little tweak is all we need to make things fresh. Definitely recommend.

It doesn’t matter where in the world I am, I am still a lover of breakfast. Hong Kong is no exception. I love going to “Tea Restaurants” for breakfast. Tea restaurants in Hong Kong offer an economical and eclectic menu consisting of both Asian dishes such as porridge and Western influenced dishes like pork chops. Garden or Baccali in Monterey Park are good examples of tea restaurants.

My breakfast of choice this time was the instant noodles with a fried egg and ham. Macaroni is also offered if you are not an instant noodles fan. Other toppings include Viennese wieners, canned meat, sausage, and Spam.  Okay, now that I’ve written them down in English, it sounds like something that they would serve in Alcatraz. But it’s actually very tasty and fills the stomach.

Pineapple bread is also popular in Hong Kong for breakfast and also for high tea. It does not contain any pineapple and does not have any sort of pineapple flavoring. It is called the pineapple bread because the top looks like a pineapple. The golden crust is flaky and sweet. The bread underneath is much softer than the white bread we get in the US. The Cantonese will usually put a pat of butter in between the pineapple bread. I decided to forgo the luscious pat. All of the Chinese/Taiwanese bakeries such as Nini’s Bakery and JJ’s carry pineapple bread.

One new breakfast item that I tried on this trip was the steamed sweet egg whites. I like to think that it’s healthy because it’s made of egg whites. The texture is extremely smooth, you can such the egg whites between your teeth smooth. The taste is slightly sweet and I detect a ever so slight ginger flavor. This dish is popular for breakfast and also good as a dessert.

Of course, what is a tea restaurant meal unless it’s accompanied by milk tea. The milk tea in Hong Kong is orange-ish in color and is flavored not with just milk but with evaporated milk and condensed milk. Al that dairy makes me a little nauseous so I usually will have a sip of someone else’s milk tea for taste and order myself a coffee. (Milk tea in background)

There are of course the usual dim sum items also available for breakfast such as congee and fried dough wrapped in rice roll. I’m surprised that there are no food on sticks offered for breakfast. Light bulb! If my day job doesn’t work out, maybe I’ll move to Hong Kong and open a breakfast joint that offers mini pineapple buns on sticks!

One of my favorite things about Hong Kong is the desserts. I never feel bad after having dessert in Hong Kong because it’s either a refreshing treat filled with fruit or an tasty herbal concoction that does good for your body.

One of my must go places is Lucky Dessert in Causeway Bay. They are famous for their mango sticky rice roll. Fresh mango wrapped with mochi like roll sprinkled with coconut shreds. I love the consistency of this dessert, chewy then juicy.

Another one of their house specialty is mango sago with fresh pomelo pulp. However, I always get this when I come Hong Kong so I decided to be different and  add some sweet silky tofu in the mix. I like to think that I got my fruit servings and also my protein intake with this dessert.

Another one of my must go dessert destination is Hui Lau Shan Dessert. These are almost as abundant as Starbucks use to be in the US.one of every other corner. This place is famous for having several variations of the fresh fruit slushee drinks with mango, aloe, coconut, kiwi, strawberry with mini boba balls, rice balls or herbal jelly.  Cantonese desserts of red bean soup, mango sago, fresh fruit with mango sago and the like are also popular at this restaurant.

Here is an example of one of their drinks, red bean soup with sticky rice balls with sago topped with coconut milk.

Here is their variation of their mango sago with pomelo pulp with fresh fruit. They added a scoop of mango ice and a nice dollop of coconut milk.

Next up is Honeymoon Dessert in Causeway Bay at the World Trade Centre. Again they offer traditional Cantonese dessert such as herbal jelly, red bean soup, sesame soup, walnut soup, sweet tofu, rice balls, sago, more mango and pomelo pulp and more. They have an extensive menu but from my keen observation, they are just different combinations of the above items with or without fruit, hot or cold. Either way, it’s delicious and good for you (from a Chinese medicine type of way).

Sweet tofu with freshly grounded sesame soup. Thick and silky texture.

Red bean soup with herbal jelly.

Last but not least is turtle herbal jelly from Hoi Ting Tong. It’s basically an herbal jello made with Chinese herbs and boiled turtle shells. Click here to see the making of this weird but good for you treat. I know I just lost some of you at “turtle herbal jelly” but I think it’s a great treat that is also good for you. The consistency is just like jello and the taste is slightly bitter with herbal aromas. You can add syrup or sugar to suit your taste. However, I like to have it straight up without any other condiments. This place boasts having the herbal jelly will cure many ailments such as constipation, acne, respiratory system problems and generally detoxifies your body.

There are just so many dessert places in every nook and cranny in Hong Kong. Just like Hong Kong, the desserts cover a wide range of tastes and styles.

I am all for trying new restaurants when I’m in Hong Kong but I always make sure to get some food on sticks. I get my fill by going to one of the many street stalls in Causeway Bay.  The stalls are a staple in Hong Kong and every time I pass by one, there is always someone buying something on a stick. They have everything from fish balls (my fave),octopus, shumai, fried intestines, fried tofu, chicken wings, chicken legs, sausages and so much more. The vendors will ask if you like it spicy and if so, they will dip your stick into a spicy curry sauce. Condiments such as chili oil, hoisin sauce and mustard are at your disposal as well.

My favorites are the fish balls dunked in spicy curry sauce. I’ve already 3-4 sticks in the past 4 days that I’ve been here.

My sister is a huge fan of the octopus. She likes her smothered with mustard. Look at those tentacles!

Our most recent obsession with the stall is the styrofoam bowl full of goodness with the likes of pig’s blood, intestines, pig skin, turnip and a few sprigs of chives in a broth. Of course we add spoonful of the spicy curry sauce to give the mixture a little kick.

Here’s the lady cutting the intestines.

Turnips

The masterpiece.

The cost of each stick is around $1 and each bowl of pig’s blood goodness is around $2.50. A good deal for a light dinner if you ask me. More versions of Hong  Kong comfort food to come.