Cathay Pacific x Betsy Beer Launch [ Hong Kong, London & Manchester] - World's 1st Craft Beer Created for 35,000ft Enjoyment

 Cathay Pacific Airline (CX) has launched a World's First Craft Beer for its passengers to enjoy at 35,000ft,  named 'Betsy Beer' after its first commercial air plane called Betsy.  It is served on board Cathay Pacific flights traveling on the Hong Kong to London and Manchester routes, as well as in the Business Lounges.   For a short period, customers can also get a quick preview of the beers at the participating restaurants under Swire Pacific Group such as The Continental, Cafe Grey at Upper House, Plat du Jour, Mr and Mrs Fox, etc.

The Launch of Cathay Pacific's 'Betsy' Beer in February 2017,

at Mr and Mrs Fox.  The Beers have undergone testing and research, so that they could be enjoyable at attitudes of 35,000ft in the air,  where different cabin pressure, air and physical conditions can affect our human taste perception.

Betsy Ale - It's made from Longan Fruits, which has a similar character to Lychee.  Also local New Territories Honey from Yuen Long, HK.  The Fuggles hops from Britain are the best of its kind.  Making this a very Hong Kong and British beer in both ingredients and style..

The Taste Perception changes at 35,000ft in the Air - 
Here we were doing tests to see what kind of changes in beer taste we might experience during the flight,  and generally we agreed that at Ground conditions simulation,  the beer will taste even more pronounced sweeter.

Beef Slider and Betsy Beer -
Taste of the Ale Beer is quite honeyed sweet, almost zingy.  With a distinct hop floral note that is not bitter, followed by the stone fruit Longan flavor.  Quite approachable and almost like a Belgium style Golden Pale Ale.  It also has 10% more Carbonation than usual to compensate for the High Attitude taste sensation!

For more Information about Betsy Beer,
Visit Cathay Pacific's Website at :   bit.ly/2kGiLfa

Available from 1st of March:
Cathay Pacific Airline - London & Manchester to Hong Kong flights Business to First Class
Cathay Pacific Business Lounges


Preview Tasting at Participating Restaurants:
Mr and Mrs Fox

Sugar

The Continental

Plat du Jour

Cafe Gray at Upper House
Public

Dragon-i [Hong Kong] - Savouring Art Menu by Lan Kwai Fong x FeedMeGuru.com

 Lan Kwai Fong Group is collaborating with FeedMeGuru.com on the March 1st to 31st 'Savouring Art' Dining Menus.  We had a quick change of venue and switched from Cassio to sister Nightclub and Restaurant Dragon-i instead.  The 5 Course Menu here is HKD $628,  and here are the dishes available.

Dragon-i -
The most Internationally famous Night Club in Hong Kong,
also is a Dining and Bar Venue outside of clubbing periods.  They are also famous for their Dim Sums.

Savouring Art Menu, exclusively booked via FeedMeGuru.com :
They have created a code under my name, using 'HKEpicurus' you can get HKD $50 discount for all bookings on their website.

Course 1
Salmon Carpaccio with Citrus, Salt, Arugula Rocket Leaves, Mango Passionfruit Sauce -
The salt component is essential in this dish, as it highly contrasted with the citrusy note.

Course 2
Raw Botan Ebi Layers with Avocado, Mango Passionfruit & Strawberry Sauce -
Served with Sweet Potato crisps.  This was refreshing again as a dish,  and still using exotic fruity sauces.

Course 3
Pumpking Soup with Seared Scallop - 
This looked pretty yet minimalistic.  The base soup seemed to carry some seafood stock,  and the scallop was huge and just cooked mi-cuit.

Course 4
Poached Fish Nori Roll, with Matcha Cornflake Coating, Fish Roes and Red Pepper Sauce -

This Main Course dish seemed quite healthy, and the menu is predominantly Seafood orientated.  The matcha cornflake was an interesting contrast although probably by default softened up to work with the fish and gelatinous skin.  The pepper sauce could be slightly more balanced with sugar or some ketchup tomato sauce instead of matcha powder.

Course 5
Oolong Tea Ice Cream with Dry Ice Tea Smoke, and Japanese Dango Dumplings -
The ice cream with the tea smoke was encapsulating.  The dango were colorful and artsy,  I personally thought it could do with some mitarashi savory-soy sauce.

Dining at Dragon-i is an Experience - 
They are also famous for their Dim Sum items and also Champagne Happy Hours, with free Canapes.  This 5 Course exclusive menu above can be booked at FeedMeGuru.com and don't forget to use the online coupon code 'HKEpicurus' to get HKD $50 discount.  It is interesting when I can book meals online too using my own online name for a discount, hopefully one day I will be worth more ..

Price: HKD $628 No 10% Service Charge Per Person
Food: ♕♕♕♕ 

Address: 中環雲咸街60號中央廣場平台
Podium, The Centrium, 60 Wyndham Street, Central
Ph: 31101222

  

Dohtonbori Okonomiyaki 道頓堀御好燒 [Hong Kong] - Finally, Good Authentic Okonomiyaki by お好み焼 道とん堀 in Hong Kong at K11

 Okonomiyaki and Modern Yaki, Hiroshima Yaki, or Tokyo style Monjya Yaki have made appearances here and there in Hong Kong over the years.  Some have disappeared over time and only 1-2 remain in operation,  but none before the opening of Japanese import Dohton Bori Okonomiyaki  お好み焼 道とん堀 in K11 has been as legit in recipes and taste.  This is the only Okonomiyaki shop I recommend in Hong Kong for an authentic taste, bar the occasional better dishes served at KOZY Okonomiyaki.

Dohton Bori Okonomiyaki -

The place name suggests it's Osakan style pancakes,  although the shop is from Tokyo side.

Menus - with Japanese Savory Pancakes, and behold, also Western style Dessert Pancakes -

Teppan Griddle - This one is for DIY Cooking, or you can also request for the staff to assist you.  Some places offer teppans only for keeping them warm.

Hiroshima Yaki with Noodles - $78

I am surprised this Hiroshima yaki is very authentic in recipe,  which is usually only eaten in Hiroshima side and I visit there for them.  Even within Japan itself,  many Hiroshima yaki pancakes aren't done correctly...  Kudos to this shop for getting the basics correct

Hiroshima Yaki Pancake with Pork & Noodles - 

The aori seaweed to be sprinkled on top.  I prefer larger Bonito Katsuo bushi flakes,  but overall I was very happy with this.  The sauces, the flour, portion, flavors, even the thick springy noodles were what you expect to find in a better Okonomiyaki shop in Kansai or Hiroshima side.

Beef Tendon Okonomiyaki - $88

For us, especially dining with a fellow Osaka friend, ordering Okonomiyaki without beef tendons is like not eating it properly.  However this doesn't come with any meat,  so for this pricing point it was too expensive relative to other dishes.  

We Added Extra Denmark Pork for $20 - Total $108

So the total pancake price came to $108 for this one, a bit too aggressive..  but you can always order other pancake options which are much more reasonably priced starting from only $68

Voila!  'Gyu Suji' Beef Tendon Okonomiyaki with Pork Belly Slices 

Tasting very good,  not only by Hong Kong standards,  but also by Japanese standards for once!

The queue is long here, and to avoid it try to arrive before 5:30pm on weekdays.  On weekends one can forget it for now as I have tried to return back and you would easily wait for 3 hours+ even with the Ticket in hand..

Price: Approx HKD $68 to $108 + 10% Per Person
Food:  ♕♕♕♕ 1/2 to ♕♕♕♕♕

Address: Shop 210, 2/F, K11, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
尖沙咀河內道18號K11 2樓210號舖
Ph: +852 24682264

Suppa 十下 [Hong Kong] - Chinese Hotpot with a Taiwanese Accent

 Suppa 十下 opened up underneath the radar without much noise or fanfare, but after a short opening and perhaps coinciding with the cooling down weather,  has already gotten a few loyal fans on board for their Taiwanese inspired hotpots.  I personally was keen to come here for their Sour Pickles soup base, which is something I miss eating in Taipei..

 

The Homely Retro Chinese Design is Instagram worthy -

It has attracted Customers keen for both their hotpots and also to take photos

The Menu - 

Click Photos to Zoom in for Details

Mix of Sauces - HKD $20 Each Person

Not as abundant as some hotpot shop offerings in town, but in Taiwanese style hotpots I guess its most important to just have Sha Cha Jiang 沙茶醬

2 Soup Bases Mix - Sour Pickles with Pork & Tomato Fish HKD $138
The Sour Pickles base was appetizing and balanced lovely.  The Tomato Fish broth was white milky but did not carry enough tomato or fish taste for our liking.

Seafood Platter with Scallops, Prawns and Clams - Market Price

The scallops were especially huge.  We also saw others having really giant prawns but we are glad we had normal sized ones..  The scallops were must orders and plump

Hua Diao Wine Chicken - $78

Lovely marination, fragrant and had good chicken flavor.  Probably unexpected but one of our favorite dishes tonight..

Hand Cut Local Beef (Large) - $268

These are sliced in quite a Taiwanese hotpot style, not as 'butterflied' cut as we are used to in Hong Kong.  Good beef flavors and despite little marbling, smooth to chew..

Beef & Tendon Balls, Prawn Balls and Cuttlefish Balls - $108
Freshly grinded, but not overly smashed on the metal trays to make them too bounciful.  I actually preferred the texture of these balls after boiling.

Sliced US Beef - $268

Good Beef Flavors and despite the half-frozen state before machine slicing them, they tasted like they were quite fresh and of good quality

We had other Side Dishes like Pumpkin, other Vegetables, and Eggs as dips..

Salted Duck Egg Fried Rice - $24 a Bowl

This was very good actually.  Although the taste is expectably slightly greasy, not many people do this recipe already and in fact it helped to end the meal well.

Grass Jelly with Chocolate Ice Cream - $28

A retro dessert that is more reminiscent of Hong Kong's past..

Overall the Hotpot here was more than decent.  Food selections and soup bases were very thoughtful and carried its own character, even if choices were somewhat limited but then again how much can we eat per session?  The prices are also more than reasonable and overall this was a wonderful hotpot meal and better than we expected

Price: Approx HKD $270 to $350 + 10% Per Person (Meal Organized by a Friend of Restaurant)
Food: ♕♕♕♕ 1/2

Address: 2/F, Circle Tower, 28 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay
銅鑼灣銅鑼灣登龍街28號永光中心2樓
Ph: +852 35204111

Pho Le 錦麗 [Hong Kong] - Pho Le from Ho Chi Minh Saigon, Vietnam, Now Open in Hong Kong

 Pho Le 錦麗 from Vietnam is said to be the best Beef Pho in the World by many globally.  I for one have been addicted with the noodles served at the original shop and concur totally with that assessment,  it was really memorable especially with its deep bone marrows broth, and has set the Golden Standard for Southern style Pho comparisons.  In Hong Kong,  the Tai Hing Group has brought the original Pho Le directly from Vietnam to Hong Kong at APM Shopping Mall.  Please note  previously HK has seen several Pho Le's opened in Tai Hang or Kowloon City,  but those were not run by Pho Le Vietnam as a collaboration.  So consider this the 1st outlet outside of Vietnam!

It's Newly Opened... 
Online reviews has been mixed and generally not positive.  And I suspect certain reviews on some online Platforms were jigged reviews by either competitors or those expecting too much from a new opening..

Herbs and Lime, Chili - 
Service here is disappointing and green.  I asked for fresher herbs than my initial stale darkened ones, and there was no Lime or Chili in my first 2 'herb cups'.  Eventually one lady explained they have run out of condiments...  This is expected at a new opening but considering Pho Le in Vietnam has unlimited beansprouts and herbs, chili, lime available for customers,  surely one would expect they will have at least ordered enough Herbs condiments relative to the Beef and Noodles they ordered together...

Beef Pho Combination - HKD $58
This was surprisingly very affordable!  With Beef Balls, Cooked Beef Brisket and Rare Hand Cut Beef...  The soup is balanced, its not close to the performance in Vietnam yet.  However it has the right balance of spices, beefiness, herbs aroma,  just lacking overall intensity.  Ultimately however this is the correct Vietnamese Saigon Pho style....  it's just slightly diluted and quite up to the original Pho Le standard  ~ 7/10

Rice Noodles - 
Fresh rice noodles that had rice taste.  It won't have as much chew as some Hong Kong locals love them, as those ones are the drier noodle type.  Probably no point explaining this difference to customers on the spot is my advice as its inefficient.  I can foresee that eventually the shop will need to offer two noodle options for Customers to choose.  Just ask any Pho shop operators in Hong Kong, they will succumb to pressure eventually even after educating the customers that this is the better authentic option.

Chili Sauce and Hoisin Sauce -
The Chili sauce was surprisingly very good!  It seems fine tuned and resembles more the taste expected in Vietnam, not just the off-the-shelf type.  Overall I thought Pho Le Hong Kong is getting there.  I would rather they charged $78-$88 instead of $58 though and carry more depth in the soup itself.  Otherwise I personally did liked the shop for now as it is more about 'balance' than purely in your face broth,  but the latter is probably what most locals in HK expect to eat somewhat..  

Price: HKD $58 Per Person

Subjective Food Rating: ♕♕♕♕ 1/2

Hong Kong Standard Pho Rating: ♕♕♕ 1/2

  

Address: Shop 19, 4/F, apm Millennium City 5, Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

觀塘觀塘道418號創紀之城5期 apm 4樓19號舖

Ph:  +852 23360130