Rainbow Seafood Restaurant: Hong Kong, 12/30/07

For Sunday family dinner for four, I made a reservation at Rainbow Seafood Restaurant in Lamma Island. There are free ferry pickups at Central and Tsimshatsui; we got a ride at Central Pier 9. There are people in blue jackets with the restaurant name on; you confirm the reservation and they give you a sticker, the ferry ticket.

Here comes the ferry. The upper level is quite open, perhaps a little cold for this time of the year since the wind up there blows strong. The ride is about 30 minutes but on a windy day, those weak to seasickness may have a little bit of trouble, though not big.

I went during lunch time, but you get quite a view, though not extraordinary, with either the island/nature view or the Hong Kong city view. I bet during sunset it is beautiful.

After arriving at Sok Ku Wan, the smaller island of Lamma, you see a series of seafood restaurant, though the Rainbow Restaurant is the most popular- and also relatively pricy.

The pier to be visited later on for returning rides

The road is like a small marketplace

The place was quite crowded with tourists from all over the world, but also Hong Kong/Chinese people. I heard this place is a popular company gathering-meal place because there is a ferry ride from Central, a main business area in Hong Kong. Just a reminder that liquors here are a little pricy for that reason.

You can either use the menu to order or go to the tank and order. The people that help you do speak English and give some advice too. You can control your budget that way; the only part I failed was when I ordered Garoupa that was a little over my budget and gave up the shrimp. But it was okay, because the fish was pretty big, and though Rainbow Restaurant is not the cheapest place, in Hong Kong or in Korea, where I come from, seafood is much more expensive.

Thin slices of beef and peanuts, given as a sort of appetizer

Bamboo Clams with Bean & Chili Sauce, 112HKD(14USD)

The sauce was pretty good and went well with the bamboo clams. The only caution is that come of the red pepper bits are quite spicy and may water your eyes- don't chew on them unless you really intend to.

Steamed Scallops with Garlic Sauce, 100HKD (13USD)

The garlic sauce was very good, and went well with both the scallops and clear noodles. The scallops are not very big but perhaps this is just the right amount when you are having so many other things. The person helping the order usually accommodates the amount depending on how many people are on your table.

Fried Lobster with Butter Sauce, 300HKD (39USD)

One of the signatures of this restaurant: I guess this was everybody's favorite. I was a little worried if this may be too buttery, but it turned out just right. Because it is fried, the little legs are crunchy and edible with ease.

Steamed Garoupa, 350HKD(45USD)

I needed a fish dish for my mother and garoupa happens to be a popular fish in Asia. This was the garoupa I mentioned above, which was a little over what I was aiming for. However it was an enjoyable dish. The server disects(?) the fish so you can eat it easily.

Fried Crab with Honey and Pepper Sauce, 160HKD(21USD)

Gold prize winner of the culinary awards 2001: the sauce was sweet but not just sweet, which was good. However it is not the easiest dish to eat, and though it is a decent dish even if it doesn't fit your personal taste, it was not our favorite. Worth a try, though.

Fried Rice, 55HKD(7USD)

This fried rice was decent. Just the right amount for four people too. We also ordered a side of vegetable that was sauteed, but I think next time I will ask it to be steamed, since many of our other dish uses oil anyway.

So the bill was 1300HKD(167USD) with 10% service charge, which could have been just a little less by substituting Garoupa with shirmp or many other options available. Still everybody was content with the meal, and though maybe not an every weekend event-it does take time to go back and forth, and ferry rides can by tiring for many-it was an interesting experience.

City ChiuChow Restaurant: Hong Kong, 12/29/07

Today I went to Tsim Sha Tsui. I walked along Nathan Road and turned right at Grandville Road, crossing the road via escalator. Then I found my destination, City ChiuChow Restaurant. I promised to get a meal for my sister and unfortunately she does not like seafood that much, while most of the places on my list was mainly about seafood. Then I found a place where we could have a lunch meal that is affordable and not too heavy. So here it is.

The place is quite big, using the whole second floor. We arrived almost right after the restaurant opened, around eleven. They brought us the English menu and among the award winning specials there was the one I wanted to try: Honey Flavoured Smoked Duck Breast.

As you are seated, they bring you a hand towel, tea, red pepper oil and pickeled veggie. They do not charge you for the tea unlike some other restaurants but they charge you a little for other stuff served on the table.

Smoked duck cooked with mango, Culinary Awards 2003(Duck/Goose Division) . I guess lots of tourists take pictures, since the server lady courteously waited as I took out the camera.

So how was it? I am not a big fan of sweet meat but this was pretty good. My sister commented she likes it with a little bit of red pepper oil served on the side. It is only 98HKD(Half portion is available for 68HKD), coming upto be about 125HKD(16USD) for two. Perhaps some people may think this is not enough for two, but for a light lunch meal this was very nice.

Cecconi's: Hong Kong, 12/28/07

Going up the Mid Levels escalator, we got off at one point-probably not quite midway-and started to look for somewhere to eat. This place, Cecconi's, was close to- Fat Angleos? Anyway, three people coming through!

Quite closely placed tables, which is inevitable in this area of Hong Kong. Usually during lunch every place is just full of people. This was a little past lunch time and therefore roomier.

Most of the restaurants in Hong Kong have weekday lunch set menus targeting the business people. Cecconi's had a two course 88HKD deal(approx 13USD after adding 10% tax), with a main and either salad/soup or dessert. Paying extra you could make it three course.

White Bean Soup

Green Bean Salad with Tuna

Garden Salad

Spaghetti with olive, garlic and chicken

Parppadelle Primavera

Roasted Chicken with mushroom cream sauce

I wouldn't say the meal was amazing, but for the prize it was a wonderful deal. The pasta was not special but decent, and the chicken was pretty good. The salad and soup were all nice and all three of us were content with this lunch meal. Also, the service is good unlike many other places in lunchtime Hong Kong, so a nice place for a relaxed lunch.

Palisades Club: Hong Kong, 12/25/07

Today we had lunch at Palisades Club, a restaurant open for only Pacific Palisades residents. This is a place with decent food priced moderately, and also very close for the residents; I heard that my sisters have been eating here when mom didn't want to cook, so my whole family gave it a try this time.

Most of the entrees, small enough for one person with the exception of rice and noodles, were priced between 40HKD-80HKD (5USD-10USD), mostly because it is offered as a service for the residents. So here is what five people ate:

Shrimp with broccoli

Noodles with seafood

Fried Rice with shrimp

A tofu dish

Sweet and Sour Pork

I enjoyed this meal, and for its price (40USD for five people), it was amazing! The food was not cooked with too much oil, in general quite light. The fried rice did not have much flavor if you wanted to enjoy it just by itself, but it went very well with other dish, especially the tofu.

In the end we ordered another small dish of sweet and sour pork, which was fried just right; the pork was very chewy too. The nice part is that it is a little lighter than typical Chinese food, perhaps because many customers are foreigners.

Buca di Beppo: Birmingham, MI 12/14/07

So this was the first time I went to Buca di Beppo chain. We had a crowd of 6, including Linna and Owen(!). He probably joined because he like pizza. Anyway, the interior had quite interesting decorations and photos such as a bride in a wedding dressing playing with a soccer ball.

The garlic bread was served in a mini pizza format.

"Small" Antipasto salad that was enough to serve four people.

Holiday Special: Penne Cardinale

Chicken breast, artichoke hearts and white wine cream sauce. It was quite spicy and garlicky, which I liked. but the sauce is rather light in its texture and therfore often lost when tried with other dish: for instance, the Chicken Glorioso that we ordered.

Holiday Special: Chicken Glorioso

Chicken breast in romano cream sauce, garlic and mozzarella cheese- in the description there were sun-dried tomatoes but I am not sure it was worthy enough to be used to describe this dish. It was very rich and rather salty but otherwise okay- yes, the food here is rather salty in general. We enjoyed the cheese though.

These two probably shouldn't go together; the chicken glorioso's richness(and saltyness) overpowers the penne(except the spicyness). But I still liked it. The problem here is that the serving size is quite inconsistent; the small penne can definitely feed three people if not more, but the small chicken glorioso can be finished by a person or two at the most.

Half cheese, Half Arrabiata pizza that had to be made twice because of ordere errors. The service was really bad this day, I should say. Two servers consistently came right after the other already took an order- could be frustrating in middle of a conversation of six. Some of the servers looked clueless about what they were suppossed to do. Salt should be held a little, but the food in general was okay.