Hong Kong Cafe de Coral

Every food blog posting about Hong kong has got a timhowan review but no one has ever talked about everyday common places.

So if you've been to HK you would know 'dai ga lok' or cafe de coral, for those who haven't been to HK (you should). Every 100m of dusty street that you walk, you will definitely see a branch of this franchise, along with a Sasa stall haha.
Its basically asian fast food which in my opinion is really genius because asian food is de bomb

 Char Siew Rice with Egg ( their menu is most self-explanatory)

So thats a char siew rice with egg which sounds most unexciting but really any char siew in hk is amazing and my mouth was most satisfied especially for the price i was paying. More importantly the kailan is really green which is important to me because veggies are my life. And its chewy, unlike the soggy overcooked ones you get or the raw gross ones -- yum.

I digress but you can find good veggies everywhere in HK just look at the lush kailan. Makes we want to grab a whole bunch and run home to experiment with my oyster sauce, soya sauce, chilli oil and giant wok.

For low chinese-reading-ability folks like me, they have an easy-read menu blown up on the wall with English and it is most systematic (asian efficiency) -- theres a rice section with different meats so you pick the one you want. Then theres the macaronis, maggie noodles section, the other noodles section and the drinks. (because noodles)

If you are in hk and wondering what the food at this place is like, i say Yes just have it because really it is satisfying and affordable (especially for those with poor money management like myself and you realize you have about 50sgd left for 2 days in hk)

Have this over macdonalds if you want happy colons


Reason #1 i like hk:  because their 7-11 sells sushi i think the 7-11 of any city is most important really and if you have sushi then you have me

The Sushi Bar- Far East Plaza

Finally met the cellie/ ex-cellies for dinner in town :-) The only ones I'd travel out of school to meet even if for only 1.5 hours. 

Headed to The Sushi Bar cos gie was raving about it! :) 

Located on the upper floors of FEP, it was situated in an unassuming corner- nothing fanciful or glamorous (but probably also not representative of the prices of the food!)

The interior! Dont be fooled by the sparseness though! We got there really early, and by the time we left there was a long queue outside! It was a small space, so making a reservation is recommended :) 

Maguro Sashimi- 4.9 came in really thick slices! didnt try this cos im generally not a fan of other types of sashimi (apart from salmon!) 

Grilled & Roasted Sirloin Steak- 14.9 for 100g, 28.9 for 200g. This was so, so good, the meat was nicely charred on the outside, while rare on the inside and extremely tender. The seasoning allowed you to enjoy the steak on its own (no need for the accompanying sauces!) Enjoyed it very much even though seafood > beef is always my preference!  

Scallop Mentaiyaki- 13.9 was another favourite! fresh, juice scallop sashimi with mentaiko sauce & fish roe! could probably polish off a whole plate of this. 

! what we came here for (and have heard rave reviews of) Soft Shell Crab Salmon Aburi Roll- at 16.9 for 8 pieces, the prices are definitely steep. but definitely worth the price; we savoured the sushi extremely slowly (very much in awe) and deeply satisfied. The soft, seared salmon paired with the crunchy soft shell crab and creamy avocado, topped with mentaiko sauce truly made each bite so gratifying hehe. :-) 

heh as you can see i ate a part of the salmon off before taking a picture- the salmon is really really good. 

we also ordered the Salmon Aburi- 14.5 with salmon sashimi, crabmeat and avocado. however, we agreed that the lack of texture made the soft shell crab a better option! Although sashimi lovers would definitely enjoy this (I did :)) 

we also ordered the Tofu Cheesecake to share (after calculating our expenditure up until that point!) The tofu cheesecake had a nice hint of tofu, while being sweet and firm. But I think what we enjoyed also was the nice thick base! :-) Worth trying! :)   

The Sushi Bar
#03-89 Far East Plaza14 Scotts RoadDaily: 11.30am – 9.30pmNearest Station: Orchard

Moi Lum Cantonese Restaurant

After signing the official deed in URA, we headed across the road to Moi Lum Cantonese Restaurant, just beside the Red Dot Traffic Building for lunch. Initially, I wasn't expecting much from this small restaurant given that it was one we chanced upon. However, was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food served. :) I later found out that Moi Lum is an established restaurant with roots tracing back to the 1920s (ie quite ~ up there), which probably explained why it was pretty packed on a weekday afternoon as well. :)

The first dish we ordered was the Blossom Delight, a traditional chinese hot and cold appetizer plate that one would find during formal restaurant or hotel dinners. For me, this was reminiscent of the starters we have during our prom night dinners held in hotels- possibly because it was often the only course people stayed around to eat while the rest were missed as we moved table to table in a photo frenzy :-) 

Personally, the highlights of the 6 mini dishes were the smoked duck on pickled vegetables with pomegranate, as well as the crabmeat scrambled egg, with the smoked duck being particularly tender and moist (even though I'm not usually a fan of duck i rly liked this!). I found the prawns with salad dressing to be rather ordinary though! 

Next, we had one of their signatures- the Salted Egg Spring Roll. Crisp on the outside, the batter was extremely light and tasty ( much unlike many other deep-fried dishes around i thought), providing good contrast to the slightly moist and flavourful interior. It also felt non-greasy, and paired well with the sweet plum sauce provided. Would recommend it! :-)

 

We also ordered the Golden Coin Beancurd which came with xiaobaicai and mushrooms in a nice thick gravy. I enjoyed the dish although I did wish that the tofu to tofuskin ratio would be greater (tofuskin occupied a significant proportion of total volume ): )

Our last dish was one of their signatures- the Seafood Crispy Noodles. Didnt get to photograph the dish before it was portioned out for us, but i loved how generous they were with the omelette and prawns, and happily finished my bowl half wishing my stomach had room for more! It was a good dish on the whole :)

All in all, i would definitely recommend Moi Lum as a place to check out especially if you are craving good chinese food, or would like to celebrate a parent/ grandparent's birthday at reasonable prices. Only drawback might be a lack of ambience as the tables are packed pretty closely to each other. Otherwise, definitely an underrated restaurant worth visiting! Do go for the signatures there :)

Moi Lum Restaurant

38 Maxwell Road

Airview Building #01-01/02

Singapore 069116
Tel: 62262283

Sun-Sat: 1130am-230pm, 530pm-10pm