mochi sweets || nom nom nom mochi

FEATURED FOOD OF THE MONTH!

http://mochisweets.com.hk/eng_index.html

Shop 38, B2, Langham Place, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

 

*Photos taken with an iPhone 4. Excuse the picture quality! Sorry!*

[top left] black chocolate
[top middle] red bean
[top right] green tea
[bottom left] chocolate mousse
[bottom middle] chestnut
[bottom right] strawberry


Oh my gosh, it's so fluffy!!! I love everything Japanese. I love Japanese culture, I love Japanese boys and I love Japanese food! =D Whenever I drop by J-Town in Toronto, I always buy tons of mochi to eat.

Mochi is a traditional Japanese dessert, the most traditional flavors I know inside mochi are red bean paste and green tea filling. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake with paste/fillings inside, when you eat it, it gives you that chewy texture because it is made from glutinous rice. The ones I always eat from J-town are always sweet but I know other places like Hong Kong/Taiwan may serve mochi with shredded dried pork which is also very delicious!!!

When I went to Hong Kong, Mochi Sweets was one of my top places to go to. I have seen some of my friends took pictures of mochi sweets on facebook and seeing how Mochi Sweets placed their products on the display instantly attracted me to go there. Hey, what girl isn't attracted to colourful things? lol.

What is special about Mochi Sweets is that they offer varieties of flavours, not just only the traditional green tea or red bean paste/filling. Flavours like purple potato (aka sweet yam), chestnut cream and sakura are very creative and unique flavors. Why am I not surprised that I can only find these kind of stores in Hong Kong? Because Hong Kong is well known to get creative with their food - by giving you a whole list of different flavours to experiment with.

FYI: Most mochi range from $1.25 CAD to $1.50 CAD. (prices may change from time to time). It may be more cost efficient if you buy them in a half dozen (6 in a box) or a dozen (12 in a box).

TIP: It is best to consume the mochi when its skin is soft. Do not refreeze it after thawing.

Critique: I tried the black chocolate one and it tastes like the 70% Lindt dark chocolate candy bar. I like this flavour the most because it does not taste artificial compared to the fruity-flavored mochi strawberry. The outside of the black chocolate mochi is a layer of dark chocolate flour which is bitter but once you eat the inside, which is a filling of sweet creamy milk chocolate, the bitter/sweet flavours just clashes together and you can taste heaven. LOL.

Check it out and give them a try! :)

-Anna

the chocolate library @ ritz carlton || so you fancy, huh?

1 Austin Rd West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/HongKong/Information/Default.htm%20


The Chocolate Library

As promised, I would blog (and possibly, there will be a bit of bragging involved haha, just joking!) about my trip to Asia. First off, I would be blogging about a five-star & a world class hotel's high tea restaurant! I gave it a five star rating for it's five star service & food & the price (surprisingly).  

Courtesy of Ritz Carlton Hong Kong

Do you see this amazing view?! I was at the 103rd floor! Sorry I didn't get closer, I am afraid of heights. Apparently, Ritz Carlton is the tallest building in Hong Kong at the moment! I definitely enjoyed the view, too bad I went during a foggy day...

the concept of Chocolate Library

hungry, anyone?

Why is it called the Chocolate Library?

I think their concept is pretty cool. The way CL presents their desserts is unique. the desserts are placed on a "shelf-like" box. I would say, it looks exactly like the shelves that I see at my local library. Sometimes it's not the food that attracts to go to the restaurant, it is also their concept that amuses me!! 

This is where the desserts are placed in, in one big box! I remember when the waitress brought it over to my table, all my friends were so excited. Once she opened it, we all went "WOWWWWWWWWWWWW". A moment worth to cherish hehe.

I highly recommend this place for young adults, especially for girls because I know us girls JUST LOVE desserts (way more than guys). I went with my couple of girlfriends and we stayed there for literally 4 hours just talking and having a good time =).

the WOW factor

Look at the intricate details of their desserts/high tea goodies! Everything is made to perfection!

service || great! they didn't seem to care that we stayed for such a long time and occasionally, the servers would come to refill my teapot without me having the need to ask.

food || *chocolate afternoon tea starts from 2pm-6pm*, the chocolate cake that is shown above is part of the tea set. I LOVED IT! It's probably my favorite one out of them all because it tastes like ferrero rocher~ the cake is sweet to my tasting. One box of CL is probably enough for two people, don't order too much or else you'll have to take them home! Also, the smoked salmon pastry was good too, the bread part was soft and you know, when bread is soft and easy to chew on, you know it's fresh out of the oven ;)

price || one set is around $250HKD, two set is around $440HKD PLUS service charge (~$20CAD to $30CAD per head). High tea-ing in 5-star hotels like the ones in Toronto are SUPER EXPENSIVE. Usually around $40 to $50 person (add taxes/tips on top of that). So in my opinion, high tea-ing at Ritz Carlton was affordable. 

decor || warm tones like the food chocolate itself! The sofas are very comfy and the tables are huge! The view is also one of things worth going to this restaurant for. If you want to see a higher/better view without eating any of the food, you have to pay $150HKD just to go few levels up, definitely not worth spending that money!

what I ordered || two sets/boxes of chocolate afternoon tea, for every box of pastries ordered, two drinks are included. I ordered a tea that tasted similar to jasmine tea. TIP: if you want to make your money's worth, my suggestion would be to order tea because they give you a huge teapot and refill it every time it's empty. :D If you order drinks like latte or cappuccinos, they will not refill it.

café en passant || reader's choice french cuisine

10133 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, ON
http://www.cafeenpassant.com/index.htm


I have never tried French cuisine at Uptown before, to be honest, I never knew there was one in Richmond Hill until one day I was reading a Chinese magazine and I have discovered Café en Passant. Café en Passant is one of those restaurants that you always pass by but never thought of trying it out. I went there on a hot summer day with a good friend of mine's and we sat outside on the patio. Sitting outside on the patio was not a great idea because there was not enough shade and secondly, the flowers they placed outside attracted quite a few bees and insects.

The restaurant is small in size and the decor lacked originality, some people may find the decor out-of-date and if people are picky, some may even find it squishy to sit inside. One thing I noticed was that this French cuisine charges atleast $20/head but has no AIR CONDITION inside the restaurant. Well, not when I was around. I mean, if you were to charge people at a costly price, why not just treat your customers a bit better and not let them sweat like crazy? lol.

For the appetizer, I tried the Baked French Onion soup (surprise!). It's like a tradition, I have to try the French Onion soup at every single French cuisine I go to. The French Onion soup has won many awards so I had super high expectations from it. After tasting it, I notice that it was a bit to salty, I didn't like it all that much because I hardly tasted the onion, it was just cheese and tons of salt. French Onion is definitely not easy to make.

baked french onion soup



escargot a la Bourguignon (escargot marinated with red wine)



creme bruleé - classic french dessert



cobb salad - a healthy meal <3




















































 Creme brulee is a classic French dessert, the surface is a crusted piece of yellow sugar. This dessert was made nicely, the steamed egg inside was super smooth and the sweetness did not take over the taste of the egg. Most important of all, this dessert wasn't too sweet!!! I totally recommend this dish.



FYI: A little fact of Café en Passant: the chef Ralf is German himself; there is free parking behind the restaurant & the restaurant has been operating for more than 30 years!

service || friendly, the waitress was quite talkative and we were joking with each other, haha! 

food || the salad was nothing special, Drake Hotel's cobb salad was 10x better because they used way more ingredients for the same price and it had a stronger taste with bacon and eggs. But I do recommend their creme bruleé

price || $30-40 per person (DURING LUNCH TIME, it was TOO PRICEY)

decor || needs renovation, too ugly for a French cuisine.

what I ordered || escargot a la Bourguignon, creme bruleé, cobb salad

dolce || gelato goodness

697 College Street, Toronto, ON
http://www.dolcegelato.net/

I apologize for the "slightly" low quality pictures from my past few entries (including this one)! I forgot to bring my camera with me so the photos were taken with an iPhone 4 instead =P.

I ate this really yummy gelato as dessert right after eating at vivoli's! The one on the left is pear-flavoured and the right one is chocolate-flavoured. I really liked it even though I was half drunk after the 60 oz red wine sangria hahaha. Gelatoes are great when they are soft ~~~

service || average
decor || modern (black&white), designed like any other ice-cream/dessert place, there are high chairs there for people who wants to sit individually
food || the gelato was soft, which means it's freshly-made!? =D 
price || $5-$10/person
what i ordered || pear-flavored gelato

jump || summerlicious 2011 menu

18 Wellington St West, Toronto, ON
http://www.oliverbonacini.com/Jump.aspx

*Edit on my last post: Taste of Danforth is at the beginning of August (stupid me =_=", I thought it already passed....) 

Another O&B franchise - jump! Starting as an amateur food blogger, I first thought to myself: "isn't it important to try at least some of the summer food events/festivals in Toronto?" Well, summerlicious is definitely an event one foodie CANNOT MISS. You are eating at one of the most notable restaurants in Toronto (I hope) for a good value price. Unfortunately, I couldn't book Summerlicious menus for the restaurants I REALLY wanted to go, I am a tad bit late. So I have not much choice left but to choose Jump. Not that there's anything wrong with Jump....just wanted to try something else....

This year, Jump offers a $20 lunch menu and a $35 dinner menu. I decided to pick the lunch menu for $20 because I noticed the lunch menu and the dinner menu is EXACTLY the same. Why pay $15 more for eating the same things? It just doesn't make sense to me! Some people may say: "That's because dinner portions are bigger!" Bleh~ I am a petite girl and I can't stuff myself anyways for $15 more. Just sayin' =P

Enough talk. Time to show the real deal.

I most often try to take pictures of the interior design of the restaurant, if it is allowed. 

jump's "sky high atrium glass ceilings"

jump's interior wood design - New York style

Bread and crackers to start off with :)

Berry Blast martini - $9.95 - fruity and not so alcoholic

Ravioli topped with cherry tomato pomodorina sauce and basil cress

Lemon curd & blueberry sauce

Wild & tame mushroom soup

Writing tremendous amount of food entries as got me afraid of one thing: being a food snob. But I also noticed that it does not take a genius to know what is good and what is not. Or maybe, overall, critiquing on food is a very subjective thing, people may like chocolate because it is very sweet but some people may hate chocolate because it tastes sweet. See what I mean? I think what I am trying to point out is that I am an average Joe and my goal is just to show people around town (or perhaps, later, around the world) things I have tried and whether they would try it later or not, it is solely up to their choice :).

All the food was good in general, I really liked the mushroom soup because I am a huge fan of soup. However, I thought the soup could have been a bit hotter (in terms of temperature). Drinking cold soup is disgusting, it is like trying to drink a warm beer. URGH. Oh, and I ended up trading my dessert with my boyfriend~ ALWAYS HAPPENS, I end up eating something he orders because his dish looks better than mine (plus, I noticed I am not a huge fan of lemon after all), doesn't that always happen to you too? Eating someone else's dish? =D

Amaretto Chocolate Marquise Cake - crunch crunch crunch!

service || do not expect friendly service during rush hours (i.e. Lunch time) but service is super fast.

food || average - great? The only thing I really liked was the mushroom soup, it was original because it had no cream nor butter. The soup had a fresh taste of mushroom, loved it!

price || $20+ (Summerlicious 2011 menu price)/person

decor || "This big bold American-style bistro by Oliver Bonacini carries plenty of bravado, with sky-high glass atrium ceilings, rich wood interiors and a killer New York style bar."(Jump - Summerlicious) - oh, and worth mentioning, they also have a huge patio outside! If the weather is nice, I highly recommend sitting outside or at least somewhere near the patio. :) Patio is NOW OPEN at jump! 

what I ordered || Berry Blast martini (not part of the Summerlicious menu), Summerlicious menu: Wild & Tame Mushroom soup (appetizer), Ontario Buffalo Mozzarella Ravioli (main),  Sour Cream Lemon Cake (dessert). 

yogoberri || yogurt orgasm

6070 Yonge Street, Toronto

 

Yogoberri is located at the heart of Yonge and Finch, I would call it Koreans' favorite area to hang around in uptown North York/Toronto. The way Yogoberri is designed - large tables, a coffee area, etc., it welcomes all ages, from teenagers to middle-aged adults. The owners there are always so friendly and the store is always so well-kept. Not to mention, I really like their washrooms HAHA. I just love their designs inside!! 

I highly recommend: Green Tea Yogurt at EXTRA LARGE, you will need it because your brain & tongue will ask for more, I guarantee IT! The yogurt is so light and not filling at all. To y'all girls out there, who are really anal about your weight, trust me on this one, you can eat 10 of these and you will not gain a pound. I ate two large ones the first time I discovered this place. Oh heavens, while writing this entry, I am craving for one right now. May I also recommend the top 3 toppings of my choice for this yogurt: strawberry, red bean and chocolate chips. Note: strawberries can be sour at times.

When I took this yogurt (refer to my picture above) back to my table, there were two girls who looked at it and it made them wanted to order one too, it is THAT GOOD. If you don't believe me, you will have to try one yourself! I also recommend the cakes they have there, last time when it was my mother's birthday, I bought a green tea cake, so yummers it was! Oh! I forgot to mention, Yogoberri does not only serve yogurt and cakes, they also have coffee, bubble tea and waffles. Do give them a try. But I would eat the yogurt first before anything to be honest. *DROOLS*


service || great
decor || modern
price || $3-$10/person
what i ordered || extra large green tea yogurt with strawberry, choco chips & red beans ($6.99 + tax)