Hui Lau Shan :)

I am sure any one who has been to HK would know Hui Lau Shan (from now on known as HLS)...and if you love mangoes, it will be your favourite place :) I went almost every day! For me, the combination of mango and coconut is simply ingenious!! And speaking of, there is such a combination at Boost juice (tropical storm?) but nothing beats HLS! (Actually I just had it this morning and it is no where near :P)

Anyway...let's go through some of the things you can find HLS ya? :) A collection of pictures from my month long stay in HK, and frequenting (is there such a word even?) the place with my friends!


'guai leng gou', mango juice (thick, from fresh mangoes!), coconut milk, topped with mango cubes...yum! My favourite 'on-the-go' HLS :)

Speaking of, they have an extensive take-away menu, inlcuding other yummy non-mango drinks...spoilt for choice really. Oh...I have to share this story here! One day, we were waiting for a table in HLS (at Tsim Sha Tsui I think!) and finally a bunch of people left so we started making our way in. A caucasian man was on his way out and as he walked past the counter, he said to one of the ladies (who was working there) 'Thank you very much' I think she didn't know what to say or how to react because I swear, no one in HK would do anything of that sort. So while she looked really puzzled, he continued 'Thank you, that was the BEST dessert I've had in my life' I swear that was exactly what he said, including the 'in my life' bit. I think HLS is great, but I wouldn't go that far ;)

But wait, that was not it :) He then walked past a container with a bunch of straws...those thick ones for drinking pearls/jelly/whatever else (illustrated in the photo above)...held one up and commented 'what is this?!?!' My friend who was walking past said 'that's a straw' He looked at her and said 'thank you', with a smile.

It was just quite funny, to me at least :)



fresh mango & crystal jelly in mango juice, topped with mango ice cream - 2 different views :)
This...is a favourite of many of my friends, including a scottish guy who would frown at many of the different HK food we tried to get him to sample - chicken legs & smelly tofu were a couple that left him horrified. But HLS, he loves. His parents were going to visit him in HK after I left so I asked him where would he be bringing his parents to...and he immediately answered 'mango dessert'...hehe...he's cute!


black glutinuous rice & coconut milk with mango pieces & pomelo sacs - this is one of MY favourites because I love everything in it, maybe except for the pomelo


a variety :) the one at the corner of the left-hand side has mango pudding in it, which is also a favourite of many


'yong ji gam lou' - which combines mango and pomelo


fresh fruits in mango juice


fresh fruits with mango ice-cream


fresh fruits + glutinuous balls in your choice of fruit juice (mango and watermelon is my favourite combo :D)


fresh fruits + mango ice-cream in bird's nest dessert



if you can't make up your mind :)

And, if mango is not really your thing...


papaya and almond dessert


bird's nest in coconut


erm...taro maybe? with spicy radish cake (which is yummy!!)

...plus plenty of other things!!



HLS is all over the place in HK (except Central!! That was a horrible night because we couldn't find dessert...even KFC ran out of portugese egg tarts...which by the way, according to people, are the one of best around!) You will love it :)

The Camels Hump

We found a new place for desserts! ^.^

The Camels Hump - and it's without an apostrophe.

The Camels Hump is a very very VERY nice cafe/dessert/coffee place that just opened up about three months ago. We found the place with the recommendation of Sis's friends, and trooped down there last Friday for coffee and cakes when Sis had craving. Sis is having cravings like every second of every minute of every hour of every day, I'm beginning to think maybe she's pregnant (no, just kidding).

The first thing we immediately liked was the decor of the place! Camel Hump is decorated very very nicely indeed - with pretty rattan chairs, soft couches, tables with nice tableclothes and discreet camel-themed stuff here and there. Each table was an individual booth, so there's privacy for each party. We took pictures, but didn't come out really well as it was pretty dark in there.

It's VERY nice and pretty, trust me.

We were served with cute and very delicious white/milk/dark chocolate covered coffee beans/raisins upon arrival.

I am a chocolate addict so I ate most of that HAH.

Sis had an Ice Chocolate ($7.00). Me and San shared a pot of Costa Rica ($8.00) coffee, which was supposedly a very special exotic blend.

Ice Cold Chocolate!

Check out the totally adorable teacups!! I wanna buy them!!

Sis thought her drink was good enough but nothing stellar. It wasn't diluted, there's enough taste and it's a NICE ice chocolate but not spectacular. As for our coffee, I really love the aroma of it - it was beautifully aromatic and fresh. Unfortunately, I think there wasn't enough oomph to it, as I think it wasn't thick enough. There wasn't enough COFFEE in the whole thing, but it was a very good blend indeed. San likes her coffee weaker, so she thought it was really nice and fragrant, but yes, I'm anal and griping about the COFFEE-ness of it.

Ordered two cakes to share, first up, Chocolate Wedge ($5.50) - with the description of it being a rich, dark flourless chocolate cake with a hint of cognac, and it's served with your choice of ice-cream or cream. By the way, we ordered the slim slice, a bigger slice is available for $7.00.

Super super chocolate-y and yummy and pretty.

WOW. I really love it, and the girls agreed with me. The chocolate was thick and full and loaded without being overloaded. The texture was rich and gorgeous and each bite just literally melted in my mouth. Even more so with the vanilla ice-cream! Yummy indeed.

Baked Cheesecake ($5.50) was our second choice - baked lemon cheesecake powdered in icing sugar.

I'm a huge fan of cheesecakes and am rather picky about them - and this cheesecake gets an A+ from me. It's so delightfully cheesy yet light at the same time, with gentle lemon overtones and great fluffy, cheesy texture. Definitely a great cheesecake!

It's cheese and cake and I am a Mouse therefore I love cheesecake.

I apologise for the less than stellar pics - it was quite hard as it was dark and I didn't fancy flash pictures. We sat there chatting and playing cards till late - it really was a superb environment for a quiet girls' night out. And the service was really nice too, the people there were friendly, polite and attentive. I really like it there, so do the girls, and we'll definitely be there soon.

In fact, I really do recommend this place for a nice, quiet night out, especially if you're looking to catch up with a long chat. Great place for it.

- Mouse

EDIT: Camels Hump only opens on Thursday to Sunday, from 8pm till late.
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The Camels Hump
531 Nicholson Street
North Carlton 3054
Phone: (03) 9348 0979

Il Dolce Freddo

Durian + Mango, $4.00

Went to Freddo last weekend, around 5pm, when it had just reopened after closing for a period of time. We all have been missing it, esp MM and JK who have been talking and talking about going to Freddo! Thus here we are =D Altho we were all still quite full due to a late lunch at Nasi Lemak House, obviousy we not gonna let that stop us! lol.

Freddo has been very popular with its DURIAN ice-cream and since I LOVE durian so much, so durian ice-cream I gonna have + mango. But but but... this time the durian ice-cream not as tasty, the flavours wasn't strong enuff as compared to previously. Jk felt the same too=( What happens?! Hmmmm... ok, I hope this will only be a one-off thing as I always like the durian ice-cream there coz it's like a substitution for me for not able to have the fresh durians (in Malaysia).

Ample flavours to choose from

Fruit flavours

Still remember when Freddo just opened in 2002, it only has a few choices. But now it offers so many different flavours that your brain sometimes just dunno which one should u pick =)

Yea, the durian ice-cream is v popular! and the staff said they have another big tub to replace it =)

Mouse's Freddo's surprise + Macademia, $4.00

After we had satisfied our ice-cream cravings, it just feel so good (despite the durian was a bit dissapointing)! and oOOoo.... MM and I had also each taken away a small tub of ice-cream. Hehe.


Durian San

Il Dolce Freddo
116 Lygon Street,
Carlton
Phone: (03) 9639 3344

Koko Black

Last Saturday, we had a impromptu after-dinner walk at Lygon street (we had dinner at home btw) coz its Saturday and we've been staying at home for the whole day. Besides, when ones speaks of Lygon street, places like Koko Black, Brunetti or Freddo's just popping into ur head, wittingly or unwittingly! This happens esp after u just had dinner and what more you can want, after dinner, at least willingly and happily? Of course dessert desu!! LOL.

Hence, we decided to stop at Koko Black, bearing in mind that we might be disappointed as was Saturday nite and also the place was quite packed when we arrived. But luckily, there was a table for the 3 of us upstairs at Koko Black =D

It says: Have you ever wondered why quality chocolate seems to literally melt in your mouth? This is because cocoa butter naturally melts at around 37 degree ~ the same temperature as your mouth and about the same as a tropical jungle.

Looking at the menu, our rationale were fighting with our gluttony as we were tempted to have EVERY dessert on it. Somehow in the end, our rationale (n the complaining of our purses) won. Hence, we ordered 2 desserts n 1 drink to share.

Strawberry Ice Cream Martini, $7.50

Iced Chocolate, $6.50

Chocolate flakes on top of it

Chocolate Moelleux with Raspberry Espuma, $14.00

Love the 3 of them. Simply irresistible! Maybe if I have to picky, for the moelleux, if only the raspberry sauce could b cold instead of slightly warm. Other than that, we were just contented with the food, service n environment!

Btw, Koko Black just opened a new salon at Collins street which mean now there are 5 Koko Black stores in Victoria and 1 in Canberra. Out of the 6, only Koko Black at Lygon St. is open til midnite (Friday & Saturday). We stayed until around 11.30pm and when we were leaving, there were still some ppl walking in. How nice it is to have this kinda place to hang out at this time besides bars, pubs or clubs.


KokoSan

KokoBlack
167 Lygon Street
Carlton, Victoria 3053
Phone: (03) 93492775

Brunetti

After dinner at M.O.O. Restaurant (scroll down for our review or click here), since it was still early(around 9pm), we decided to go to Koko Black at Lygon street. Too bad there wasn't any parking space near it and also Koko Black was practically packed with people inside. So, we head over to Brunetti instead to try our luck. Of course we managed to get a space to park the car after turning here n there a few times =) *thanks MM* Despite the fact that Brunetti was as busy as Koko Black, we were determined to get seats by waiting. Not long after, we got ourselves tables. Happy.

There are 2 Brunetti cafes in Melbourne ~ at Faraday st. & Flinders lane. This one at Faraday st. is much bigger and offering 4 sections of service and products -- coffee, pasticceria , gelati and restaurant. We were seated opposite the gelati section where Brunetti offers a variety of different gelati as well as freshly squeezed juices and smoothies. A lot of choices rite? Whenever I go over to their pasticceria section, I will hav a headache since I dunno what should i choose because of their wide variety of cookies, nougats, tarts, chocolates, cakes n etc. So this time I choose to just order a hot drink although I was tempted to get myself a cheeeeeeesecake(!!!).

inside Brunetti, near gelati section

our orders (back to front) ~ Italian Hot Chocolate, Spice Chai Latte, Portuguese Tart and Gelati

MM's Gelati (Bacio and Stracciatella)

Mouse's Italian Hot Chocolate

San's Spice Chai Latte

I had the spice chai latte ($3.50). I feel that the flavours weren't concentrated enuff and tasted as if it was a bit diluted. Mouse had the Italian Hot Chocolate, which was very very VERY chocolatey. It was really good and hearty for the first few sips, but was sort of overdone towards the end. But Mouse understood that that is the way Italian Hot Chocolate is supposed to be, therefore she will stick to the normal the next time! HAHAAHHAH. Also had the Portugese egg tart which is DRY DRY (hence not wet). Not good. (San : I think the egg tart was not bad, it would be much better if it was still warm!) Hello! MM guest-blogging!! San is lame. Erm...I had the gelati...it was ok, a bit on the sweet side without any actual flavour (i.e. sugary). Freddo's!! Please open up again soon...I need your ice cream. Despite that, I like the environment at Brunetti. It was very comfy and provide us quite a good place to drink coffees and hanging out with frens n family at the same time. All I can say is its another lovely nite out.


San wans a table full of cakes


Brunetti Cakes
194 - 204 Faraday Street
Carlton Vic 3053
Phone: (03) 9347 2801

Egg tart from Maxim Cake House

This mini egg tart is from Maxim Cake House, chinatown. Mouse jt bought a few of them and treat me one. *thanks mouse* It is still on my dining table. Wonder will I eat it tonite?

Just feel like a quote here: "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." by Ernestine Ulmer

San is still full from dinner

Maxim Cake House
173 Little Bourke Street

Melbourne 3000
Phone: (03) 9662 1980