Adventure #235: Le Souk

Felt like having something different tonight and finally decided on middle eastern food. We then picked Le Souk in Soho.

The restaurant was not big but very colourful décor.

Was recommended this Egyptian beer.  A little sweeter than normal once. Quite nice, more of a lady's beer.

Our starters: Hommos with grilled lamb and Lebanese Babaganoush. The hommos very creamy and the lamb soft and succulent. As for the babaganoush, I am a great fan of eggplant, so what can I say. Served with warm pita bread, it was so good, we finished every last bit!

Chicken Tagine - we ordered this so the kids have something to eat. And they loved it.



Cous cous a Le Souk - a signature dish.  The roasted lamb shank was wonderful.  Juicy and soft.  Served with veg and cous cous.  The bowl of sauce (soup?) seemed a bit redundant.

A selection of homemade Baklava pastries.  Not the best we have had.

We really enjoyed this meal. A first for the kids and a change from the usual western cuisine.

Le Souk
4 Staunton Street
SOHO
Central
Tel: 2522 2128

Adventure #234: Ocean

It was a couple of weeks after returning from France before we were ready for some rich western cuisine.  This evening we were invited to have dinner at a private kitchen in Happy Valley called Ocean.

It was on the 1st floor of an old building with very steep stairs. But once inside, the atmosphere is cool and calm.

This private kitchen is what the owners called 福音私房菜. The owners are Christians and the wife and the restaurant's namesake will tell diners all the miracles associated with the opening and running of this restaurant.

Something to wet the appetite - strawberry with foie gras.

Baked US oysters with hollandaise sauce and tomato provencal. We were to eat the hollandaise sauce one first and then the tomato.  Very well made, really enjoyed them.

Cream of mushroom.  Smooth and full of mushroom flavour.  One of the best mushroom soup I have had. Excellent!

Lime granite - to clear the palate and ready for the main course!

Although the restaurant also offered a chicken dish and a seafood dish, all of us chose the beef dish.  We were told that this dish is not always on the menu. They were celebrating their 3rd anniversary and thus this signature dish is back on the menu for a limit period of time.

12-hour slow cook Australian Wagyu beef cheek with lettuce mashed potato and port wine jus.  This is truly a great dish. The beef is so flavourful and just melts in the mouth. Heavenly!

Rasberry panna cotta with lychee jell-o, strawberry ice cream and mixed berries. I ordered this for both G and I because we just loved panna cotta. I later changed to the dish below.  The panna cotta was good but after a heavy dish like the beef cheek, a lighter dessert is perhaps a better choice.

Coconut and pineapple in five texture. I won't normally choose this as I am not a fan of coconut.  But this turned out to be quite enjoyable. It was light and different from the traditional dessert.

Finished with a choice of coffee or pukka tea.  A wonderful end to an excellent meal!

Ocean
1/F, 9 Sing Woo Road
Happy Valley
Tel: 3480 0512

Adventure #233: Fish La Boissonnerie (Paris)

We spent the morning visiting Musee d'Orsay. It was great for the kids to see some of Monet's water lily series after our recent visit to Monet's Garden in Giverny.

After the museum, we went for lunch at Fish La Boissonnerie in 6e, our final gut busting lunch in Paris before we leave. The restaurant is run by a Kiwi and a Cuban with an Englishman in the kitchen.....in Paris.....interesting. This set-up makes the restaurant particularly popular with English speakers.

Very interesting frontage.

Boiled egg with potato salad. Delicious.

Lamb liver with melon and pickled onions. A little taken aback when the dish first arrived.  The liver looked a bit dry. But it turned out great. The sweetness of the melon and the sourness of the pickled onion went really well with the liver.

Pork with vegetables on a sweet potato mash. Pork is moist and tasty. Went really well with the sweet mash.

Steak with parmesan polenta and courgettes. Beef is a mouth watering medium rare. Love the polenta.

Tuna with cabbage and cucumber with black current sauce. Another wonderful dish with still pink tuna.

Apricot crumble. Different but yummy.

Banana bread with chocolate ganache.

G wanted the cherries pannacotta but they ran out. G was really disappointed and must have looked the part coz the waitress came back with whatever they have left of this dish just for him!

Very good food in a cosy setting. 

Our last gourmet meal in Paris.....with preparation, the food we had on this trip is generally good. Very pleased but starting to miss Oriental food......... 

Adventure #232: Jeanne B (Paris)

After a great lunch at L'ourcine, we spent the afternoon wandering around Montmatre.  It was very touristy and I think I saw someone being pick-pocketed!  Glad all our things were intact throughout the trip. 

There were lots of restaurants in this area but somehow you get the feeling all were tourist traps.  Most of the restaurants we walked past were full to the brim but when you looked at the food that was on their tables, you were glad that you weren't having that for dinner.  Anticipating that, we did some research as to recommended restaurants in the area and decided upon a deli cum restaurant called Jeanne B, also off the beaten path and main tourist drag.  We didn't book ahead but they managed to squeeze us in for an early dinner if we could finish in an hour and the half.  We always do!

Loved the deli style layout.

The wine list. How creative!

Carpaccio de tomatoes. Small but refreshing.

Homemade foie gras.  We didn't have much of this during this trip, so maybe one before we leave.  Very rich!

The signature dish, lobster sandwich. Simple yet delicious.

Also ordered this rabbit pie.  Popular with the little one, as long as she didn't know it's rabbit.

Prune tart.  Love the fruit tarts in France.  The tanginess, yum.

Meringue floating on chocolate sauce.  Well, the kids literally took over this one.

A good and simple meal in a very relaxing atmosphere.  Good choice.  No way we will eat in any of the tourist joints we saw along the way.

Adventure #231: L'ourcine (Paris)

We finally arrived in Paris, the capital of gourmet food! We only have 2 and a half days here! So much good food, so little time.........

After much time spent on the internet, taking into account where we were staying and where we wanted to visit, G narrowed our food destinations down to a few places.  

Today, we ventured out to a restaurant in the suburbs.  When we got there, it took us a while to find it.  The people in the suburbs are so much friendlier as several people stopped to ask us if we were lost!  We were the first patrons for lunch and wondered if we made the right choice.  However, it soon began to fill up and by the time we left, the place was nearly full.  Not bad given that the restaurant was definitely off the beaten path.

Bistro style dining.  
No fancy decor here but we came for the food not the decor.

Amuse bouche made of carrots, bacon bits and croutons.  Mouth wateringly delicious. Can't wait for our first course!

Salmon with salad and octopus ink sauce.  Looks so colourful and appetizing and it tasted refreshingly fabulous.

Terrine of foie gras with pickled mushroom.  The pickled mushrooms went amazingly well with the foie gras.  It doesn't look like much but the juxtaposition of flavours and textures were exquisite.

Crab with avocado mousse (The crab is hidden under the mousse). 
Made from my two favourite ingredients!!!   Very, very tasty!!!

Pork with vegetables.  Pork was succulent. Not as amazing as the beef cheek below but still very good.

Braised beef cheek stuffed in tomato.  The beef was tender and moist and the vegetable mix was so fresh and cooked al-dente.  The tomato sandwich was a delightful twist.

Fish pie. This was meant for the little one but it was so delicious, I had quite a few mouthfuls!  If we all weren't so full from our own dishes, we would have gobbled this up as well.

A dessert made from melons, honey, ginger and lime. Delicious and a great summer dessert.  G loved the combo as he is partial to ginger and lime.

I went for my favourite cherries.

We were very glad we made the extra effort to trek out specifically in search of this restaurant.  It is not often that G does this but he made a beeline to the chef's kitchen and complimented their cooking.  They probably didn't fully understand what he was saying but I am sure they understood his thumbs up sign.  In terms of value for money, it's definitely one of the best lunches we have ever had.