HONG KONG: A vegetarian restaurant for meat lovers!

Gah! What? A vegetarian restaurant for meat lovers? It must be, I need my meats for a fulfilling dinner. I've been to numerous vegetarian restaurants and no matter what how they've made their dishes or how full I become, I've never been fully satisfied. One of the girls that brought me there is the same way, we both need our meaty dinners.

Life's purpose is "be the change you want to see in the world." It sure changed MY view of a vegetarian meal. This restaurant served such gastronomic delights that I went twice in the same week! Price ranges from $40hkd for a starter to $110 for a main, such a good deal for such fine ingredients. Everything served is organic including Organic beers and wines! The menu indicates whether it's a vegan dish or gluten-free; quite handy for the health freaks (not me).

They always have a Soup of the day($45hkd), the soups are always hearty and very filling. Warning: share with a friend. It's such a nice soup to have on a cold winter day (although that only happens about a month out of a year in Hong Kong). Always loaded up with veggies in their soup and bursting with flavours. Organic DOES really make a difference. It is served with an organic sunflower seed bread.

The Life Salad ($80hkd) is mixed baby greens, julienne carrot, julienne beet, sprouts, nuts,
organic hummus & Life’s classic dressing. Served with Life’s organic flaxseed cracker. The salad was served in a large bowl and again, PLEASE SHARE. It's (again) organic thus the vegetables were naturally sweet, with or without the dressing. The dressing enhances the freshness of the veggies.


Now the mains. We could NOT possibly eat anymore at this point but since we already ordered, we didn't have much of a choice but to try everything. We shared 2 mains amongst the 3 of us. The Sesame scented tofu, seasonal vegetable & organic quinoa stir fry ($95hkd) was very flavourful, it tasted very Oriental... it's just LIKE Chinese stir-fry minus the oil. Finding such an unhealthy dish prepared so healthily is just like a fat boy finding hot fudge cake with ice cream on top... such a nice feeling. The tofu was barbequed with actually grill marks.. one of the hardest things to master according to my chef-friend. The only thing was that they added a bit too much salt, oh well, at least their ingredients are natural and healthy!


and the Whole wheat pizza with roasted garlic, mushrooms, smoked mozzarella & rocket ($95hkd), the pizza crust was a bit on the hard side, a bit like biting into a biscuit. I know, some people might enjoy that but I personall don't. I like it crispy, chips-crispy, not hard. The combination was excellent, I LOO-O-VE my 'shrooms. I was actually glad that it was not served in a very generous portion as we were already stuffed, however if I only ordered that, I probably wouldn't be that happy about it.

And... desserts.. we didn't order any! They had organic cookies and carrot cake or something like that.. it didn't sound too appetizing so we passed. Life needs only one more addition: a better dessert menu!

Life Organic Health Cafe Soho Central open daily from 8am - midnight, Reservations: (852) 2810 9777

VANCOUVER: Kintaro

Should be the most popular Ramen restaurant in the Lower Mainland. Whether it's in the cold miserable winter or sunny Vancouver, the restaurant always seems to be able to gather a little crowd outside their doors on Denman. Their hot steamy bowls of ramen on a cold winter day is always welcoming, their cold ramen on a sunny Vancouver afternoon will never be rejected.

The freshly made ramen comes with a rich vegetable and pork broth. You can have your choice of lean or fatty pork. The flavours vary between the traditional Miso, Shoyu, Curry or even CHEESE! Yes, CHEESE.. I love it! I must say, it will not disappoint cheese lovers. As the menu says "The ladies loooo-ve it!" Boy, do they ever know what ladies LOVE! Heavenly!!

The noodles here are nice and springy, but not overly chewy nor soggy. The soup is to die for, though you really can't have it more than once a month or you'd really probably die of cholesterol. The portions are big enough for a grown man, too much for a lady, especially the cheese ramen, really fills you up.

HONG KONG: Desserts @ Stonegrill

Been to Stonegrill in Vancouver? Well I have a few times and never wanted to go back. A friend of mine brought me to the one in Hong Kong and I didn't have any expectations whatsoever. She told me it was good though, so we went. The ambiance is totally different as the one in Soho, Hong Kong is very classy, very elegant and looks very much like a French restaurant. The food was superb, much tastier than the one in Vancouver. I was impressed by their selection on their menu. What impressed me more was their desserts. The presentation was very exquisite, each artistically put together, didn't even want to touch them when they arrived because they looked so nice.

We ordered the Mille Feulle with mangoes and strawberries and blackberry with chocolate drizzle. The crust was very crispy, and their selection of seasonal fruits made a good combination.

We also ordered the Chocolate tower with iced mango filling. Never realized that chocolate tasted so good with mangoes. The chocolate was rich but the cake was fluffy, evened out perfectly, and I love the presentation of this one, very simple but very detailed.

HONG KONG: BO Innovations

Steamed foie gras, sticky lotus leaf, "yun nam" ham: This is the first time I've had foie gras in this form, Chinese style, the foie gras, as it usually does, melts in your mouth, the flavor is trapped in between the sticky lotus leaf, giving it a fresher aroma

Slow cooked pork lasagna in chinese vinegar, braised lotus root in beet root osthamus

BO Innovations is one of my favorite restaurants in the world. They charge quite a bit for their chef's menu but very much worth it(EVERY bite of it). It's the only thing you should order there as a la carte ordering just isn't as satisfying. With the demon chef, Alvin Leung supervising every item on the chef's menu, you can be sure that everything served is to the highest of standards. BO Innovations is a fusion restaurant, mixing the east and the west in a very peculiar way.

"Famous in Hong Kong for combining Chinese cuisine with molecular gastronomy, Chef Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation shares his unique cooking philosophy with Lifestyle HK. " Lifestyle Asia

Alvin's dishes are known to be unpredictable, just like the demon; mischievous and breaking all the culinary rules. Who would imagine, dishes such as STEAMED Foie Gras, Aruvga Caviar with smoked quail egg on taro crust, etc... honest to God, if I heard of these dishes prior to trying this restaurant, I'd probably be grossed out, but I was fortunate enough to not see the description of the dishes before going the first time. I just kept going back for more afterwards and have recommended it to many of my friends, now recommending this fabulous restaurant to anyone who is in for an adventure.

Lobster, preserved duck egg with English mustard: Preserved egg is not necessarily good for you but once in a while, bite-size pieces won't hurt, besides, it tastes good.

Duet of Oysters: Salmon roe, oyster and ponzu sauce; ground up oyster mixed with tofu

For $880 hkd (Approx. $126usd), this is what you get:

• Duet of Oysters
• Smoked quail egg, crispy taro crust, avruga caviar
• "bo" sashimi platter"
• Shot of Waldorf salad
• Spinach ice cream
  
• Steamed foie gras, sticky lotus leaf, "yun nam" ham
• Lobster, preserved duck egg with English mustard
• Ox-tail shitake soup dumpling with lobster essence
• Slow cooked pork lasagna in chinese vinegar, braised lotus root in beet root osthamus
• Australian m-9 plus wagyu striploin, black truffle rice noodle roll
• "bo" dan dan noodles
• Almond foam, cognac chinese red date sauce
• Crispy chocolate cake, salty kumquat butterscotch ice cream

"bo" Sashimi platter

Note: Pictures consists of previous dining at BO Innovation as well

Shot of Waldorf salad: Interesting way of your daily greens

Smoked quail egg, crispy taro crust, avruga caviar: The taro crust is like the stuff you have at dim sum(i love this stuff), and quail egg + caviar that melts in your mouth, can never go wrong

Ox-tail shitake soup dumpling with lobster essence: Freshness of lobster, ox-tail giving the soup dumping a very tender texture

Slow cooked pork lasagna in chinese vinegar, braised lotus root in beet root osthamus: Fatty pork, boy, this is soooo bad for me but I managed to finish it. The Chinese vinegar was made perfectly, not too sweet and not too sour.

Australian m-9 plus wagyu striploin, black truffle rice noodle roll: Striploin was okay, the truffle rice noodle roll on the other hand was superb. The sauce was made out of black truffle, you can smell the aroma from the kitchen!

"bo" Dan dan noodles

Crispy chocolate cake, salty kumquat butterscotch ice cream

The whole restaurant is truly a piece of art. Every single item on the menu are things that I've had in the past but never ever in the served combinations. I highly recommend this restaurant for those who like to try something extraordinary, something unexpected. You will not be disappointed.

HONG KONG: Modern Toilet

Concept restaurants have had their highs and now most of them are in their lows. Most of these restaurants are not about the food, people get bored easily. I believe the Modern Toilet can only follow through the same pattern as the past ones. While this concept restaurant is still fairly new and one of the only ones in Hong Kong, there is still quite a lineup during dining hours.
The concept is TOILETS. Nothing BUT toilets. The seats are toilet fixtures, the tables are sinks, the decor uses urinals and plungers, the specialty corner is a bath and shower fixture, the dishes are served on miniature toilets/bathtubs and drinks are served in miniature urinals.

This restaurant originated in Taiwan where all the creative F&B people reside. The food I must say was pretty notorious but the concept is cute. The owners claimed to have thought of this idea while watching Mr. Slump, a popular Japanese cartoon.

The dishes are mainly Asian dishes, serving dishes like Curry, Korean Sorak Pork with rice, Baked rice, Japanese milk hotpot, Szechuan spicy hot pot, etc.

Desserts are however, the most interesting. They had desserts such as chocolate ice cream placed inside a toilet; chocolate ice cream with strawberry drizzle, giving them unappetizing descriptions, bloody poop, stuff like that.