Greyhound Cafe @ Harbour City 海港城 (Hong Kong)

There was such a hype when Thailand's Greyhound Cafe opened its first overseas outlet a few months ago at the IFC Mall, Hong Kong. Bookings were required a few days in advance for lunch and dinner. I have been there twice and both during off-peak hours because I have heard mixed reviews on its service during other times. My experiences at the IFC Mall outlet was not quite memorable on the service as well as food. Of course given the fact that both my visits were during the first few months of opening, things may have improved by now. I guess a revisit is required? Oh wait, this post is not about the IFC outlet but the recently opened Harbour City branch across the Victoria Harbour. Since this visit was an invitation by Harbour City, it would be quite difficult to accurately judge its service (which was great of course) or even perhaps the food. What I can say and do want to share is that my experience at this outlet was more enjoyable for various reasons. One being the wider selection of items only available at this outlet and the another being how I can actually have a complete conversation with my friends without yelling at the top of my lungs!

Thai Liang Zhi Thai Restaurant 泰娘子泰國餐廳 (Hong Kong)

One thing I realized after my many meals since I started this food blog is the need to step out of the box named "laziness" when it comes to food and try not to surrender to the tempting words of "convenience." I have been a victim of such many times and I am trying to get rid of this bad habits of mine when it comes to a pleasant meal. I am not talking about spending the efforts or money to get myself a fancy meal, I am referring to all sorts of meals, cheap or expensive meals can be equally enjoyable or equally regretful. I had a chance to review a newly opened Thai Restaurant for Timeout Hong Kong and it was another great example of how not to be lazy when you are searching for a decent meal, travel the extra mile please, at least you can leave the restaurant filling slightly satisfied. Check out the review <here>. 

Pee Long Thai Restaurant 隆姐泰國美食館

Sometimes I tried to find excuses to eat certain food but honestly I don't think I need any excuses for good and yummy food right? I took my cousin who arrived in Hong Kong for just a few hours to this Thai resto in Kowloon City. She likes crab so crab she got!

Thai Basil

Among 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, there are meals that exciting and full of surprises but there are many that are plain boring. I feel bored even writing the review myself. Therefore, I am creating a new label / category named Boring Meal. Less description will be provided because they will be boring anyhow but I don't want to waste the pictures I have taken and deprive reader's

A semi-open kitchen approach but seemed like a semi-fast food counter to me from the speed of serving the dishes, both hot and cold.

Valuable real estate here hence the packed arrangement of tables in my opinion

Refreshing Pomelo Salad but a boring dish.

Thai Prawn Cakes were nice with or without the sauce. The sauce was a bit ... too sour for me to be honest.

Ywannn .... didn't I tell you that it is boring?? Sauteed Spinach leaves was a bit too salty, other than that it tasted like another sauteed spinach leaves everywhere.

Char-grilled cod fish was rather interesting. It was curry broth instead of thick curry. The fish was nice but not of optimal temperature unfortunately.

Char-grilled satay platter was unexpectedly pleasant. Soft and tender beef plus pork skewers. At least they were hot!

Char-grilled Duck Breast wok fried Hokkien Noodles was a bit too greasy and too moist for my liking.

Likes:

• Casual atmosphere
• Rather pleasant Char-grilled satay platter

Dislikes:

• Can be quite noisy
• Food pacing was pretty fast
• Sauteed Spinach leaves was a bit too salty

Avg Spending: HKD 100 - 200 per person

Thai Basil
Shop 001, Basement, Pacific Place,
88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2537 4682
http://www.maxconcepts.com.hk/eng/index.htm


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Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 3 (Spa, Eat & Sleep!)

Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 3 (Day 1 & Day 2)

Spa

After a quick breakfast at the hotel on Day 3, our last day of this weekend getaway, we headed for our much anticipated spa session at the Oasis Spa Bangkok. This time all 4 of us went together and if we were to be stuck in traffic, all of us will be there to suffer!!! I have been to the Oasis Spa Bangkok once before and the landscape, decor, environment and atmosphere has captivated me so much that I have to come back at all cause.



Please be minded that the spa is located in the middle of the city districts, hiding somewhere inside the busy streets! An Oasis indeed!



Soon after we arrived, we were led to the waiting area to select the spa package(s) over a soothing cup of tea.



I picked the King of Oasis package and ... ... how can a spa session go without a milk bath! I just cannot resist having a milk bath in a big bath tub located outdoors under the open sky with the sounds of birds and the sound of leaves in the wind all around me. Alright, I might have exaggerated it a bit but the bath tub and the shower was indeed situated outdoors and it was indeed a perfect environment for some personal reflection. Not to mention coming out with silky smooth skins!! The entire 3-hour spa session lasted not long enough; how I wish I can spend the whole day here, in this little oasis.



==========================

Lunch

For lunch, our dear food guide took us to a nice little restaurant nearby. According to our friend, this place is a popular family restaurant in the neighborhood serving very traditional / local everyday Thai food. Perfect!!! Exactly what I was looking forward to try.



The kitchen of this restaurant is situated at the back of the building / lot and I sneaked out to take a picture of it.



There wasn't much decoration to the main dining area; plain, simple yet very homely.



So how local was the restaurant? Well, many items were only in Thai so we have to rely on our food guide to help us order. I don't know how to type Thai and not sure how to translate the Thai names into English, so the following will be another photoblog. :)















Although the weekend getaways was short, we all had an amazing time and we are already planning for our next little venture to somewhere sunny, warm, dry and of course a place where there are wonderful spa establishments!

Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 3 (Day 1 & Day 2)

~ The End of Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 3 of 3 ~

Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 1 (Drink, Eat & Sleep!)

Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 1 (Day 2 & Day 3)

Nothing is more relaxing than a weekend getaways to a destination where all you do is sleep, eat, spa, eat and sleep. One of my favorite destinations to achieve such a weekend is Bangkok (BKK), Thailand. It has been a while since my last visit, 1 year and 6 months ago to be exact. With the cold spell hitting Hong Kong in the middle of November, with a few close friends of mine, we decided to head to BKK for a warm and relaxing weekend. In order to maximize our pleasure and minimize the use of available annual leave, we took the daily last flight to BKK on Friday. By the time we arrived, it was almost midnight BKK time.



After we checked in at the Banyan Tree Bangkok, it was almost 1am but after a full day of work and 2 hours of flight time, we were in need for a drink! We were lucky enough that the famous open-rooftop Vertigo restaurant & bar on the 61/f was still open for drinks! Woohoo!!



In order to get to the rooftop area, you need to climb the very steep stairs on the side of the building. It was rather dangerous in my opinion and Ladies with HIGH HEELS and SHORT SKIRTS, please be careful!



Nice view indeed but the heat wave and dampening humidity hit you right in your face! Within minutes my jeans were starting to feel sticky against my legs. Alright, you don;t need to know that but I just cannot imagine people dressing up and eating at this open-rooftop under such weather conditions!



We were here for drinks and drinks we shall get! I ordered something interesting, Mekhong Thai Whiskey, which is Thailand's first domestically produced branded golden spirit accordingly to wiki. It was quite smooth but rather weak in my opinion. Perhaps I have been indulged with the luxury of single malt whisky a few times too often in Hong Kong?



For some odd reasons, we were all physically tired but mentally all excited, perhaps because we were away from Hong Kong and from WORK! We just did not want to sleep yet even the time just passed 2am (3am HK time).



So what was the first thing to do at this hour? EAT!!! We wanted to order KFC but was told by the Concierge that only 24-hours fast food outlets in BKK were McDonald's and Burger King. Ah well, we can always order room service and so we did. To our surprise, the late-night menu was rather extensive in terms of different cuisines and took us a while to decide what to order. At the end, Thai food all the way!! While waiting for the food, I was attempting to make myself a cup of coffee to keep myself up using the provided coffee machine, but after studying for well over 10 mins, I was still starching my head. They should have used a Nespresso machine, simple and easy to use!



WOW, not only was it fast (less than 15 mins), it was quite humm ... nice? Considering it was 2:30am, I have to give their service a two thumbs up!



(1) Khao Phad Kaprao
(Beef fried rice, hot basil sauce, fried egg)
Laugh all you want, but it was good and I enjoyed it very much. Perhaps it was because I was hungry and I was in a wonderful mood but the fact was that the the flavor was just right in terms of the spiciness and the fried rice was well prepared with a good texture to it (without rice being too sticky and the individual rice can be easily separated.) Not to mention the fried egg (and its yolk!). I love eggs and it went very well with any variations of rice in my opinion! What a wonderful dish to start my BKK trip!



(2) Phad Thai
How can a Thai meal go without Phad Thai! Flavors were rather light but the texture of the noodles and prawns were great! A bit more tamarind sauce would be nice.



(3) Hokien Mee
(Wok-fried noodles, pork, squid, prawns and vegetables)
Not exactly traditional Thai food but looks Thai enough to me. Plenty of ingredients but texture was overly moist. Flavors were alright, with a bit of chili sauce on the side made it a delightful dish indeed. Keep in mind that it was 2:30am and it was room service, I truly consider this "mid-night" meal a wonderful meal indeed.



We were all very full by the end of the meal but to top it off, we ended the meal with some exotic fruits! With a full and satisfied tummy, it was time to sleep in the heavenly bed!!

Likes:

• Great Service at the Banyan Tree Bangkok!
• Khao Phad Kaprao - right degree of spiciness

Dislikes:

• Hokien Mee - a bit too moist

~ The End of Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 1 of 3 ~

Bangkok Nov 2009 - Day 1 (Day 2 & Day 3)



Banyan Tree Bangkok

21/100 South Sathon Road

Bangkok, 10120, Thailand

Get Directions

02-6791200


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Thai Lemongrass

Thai Lemongrass is one of the many restaurants located in LFK under the management of the Lan Kwai Fong Entertainment group. Although the Thai decor at this place cannot be considered as traditional, the stone sculptures and the wood moldings are doing a good job at making me feel like I am in Thailand. I usually come here for lunch for its set lunches so this is the first time having dinner here. Arrived around 730pm and the place was pretty empty so windows seats were not a problem. Just to be safe, my friend and I decided to order some common / traditional dishes.

While reading through the menu, we were served with a dish of fried prawn chips which were pretty good in terms of taste. We tried not to finish them because they were rather filling. The menu wasn't long so it didn't take us long finalize our orders. For appetizer, we ordered a Platter to Share (Tom Sum Rub 自選拼盤) with 3 items, namely Prawn Cakes (Tod Mun Koog 炸蝦餅), Sliced Pork (Kor Moo Yang 燒豬頸肉 ) and Mango and Avocado Rice Paper Roll (Pau Pia Sod 芒果牛油梨紙米卷). Among the 3 items, the Rice Paper Roll was pretty good because it is rather refreshing. However, the Slicked Pork was cold and I suspect it has been grilled for a while sitting in the kitchen waiting to be served. The Prawn Cakes were fair but the outer layer was rather too chewy for my liking.

For our second dish, we ordered a Salad with grilled beef tenderloin in Thai herbs sauce (Yam Neur San 炭燒泰式牛柳沙律). If you are not a spicy person, don't be too greedy on the sauce. Other than that the citrus flavor were refreshing and I liked it. One thing we noted was that the restaurant was pretty generous on the beef.

Next come the Pad Thai (鮮蝦炒金邊粉). Nothing really special about this dish but it was really hot as in straight out from the "wok." I like my food hot when it should be. It is hard to get his dish wrong in a Thai restaurant and this place did a fairly good job with the sauce and just the right amount of bean sprouts to enhance the overall texture. I will certainly come here again for dinner to try other dishes such as curry and fried soft shell crab which looked very tasty from other people's tables.

Thai Lemongrass
3/F, California Tower,
30-32 D'Aguilar Street,
Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2905 1688