NOTE: This is now mostly Friends Only. Just add me then introduce yourself :)
| DATE: | Tuesday, February 9th '10 (10:43pm) |
| SUBJECT: | HoF DESSERTS |
| MOOD: |  cheerful |
HoF
30 Sinan Lu (思南路30号)
Shanghai, China
PRICE: 元元
RATING: 
Helmed by Brian Tan, a Malaysian, the upscale HoF is a sweet tooth paradise. I like to call it a "dessert bar", because it's a fascinating blend of sweet treats, cocktails and wines. Dark and chic, HoF gets really packed in the evenings, especially after dinner when people roll in for desserts and a cocktail or ten.
I've had a love affair with HoF ever since my first bite of their luscious orange chocolate cake with caramel and sea salt - I think this was mid-year when they first opened. A dense, moist chocolate cake ("it's kinda like a brownie, no?" said my girl friend) with a thick drape of caramel on top, and interestingly, sprinkled with a few shavings of fresh sea salt. "To off-set the sweetness and it goes with the caramel", Brian says as he sprinkles it on with a flair. This particular dessert is the best cake I've had in Shanghai. Rich yet fluffy, I simply cannot resist this gem!
We also had the chocolate and caramel mousse cake which is a fluffy blend of the two flavours and smooth on the palette. I'm not a fan of mousse (even though it is Belgian chocolate mousse) so didn't go wild over it, but one of the girls declared it "the best dessert at the table". The marbled cheesecake with macaroon looks beautiful, and for that reason, we order it too. It's a light yet creamy blend of cheese, but not as heavy as the traditional New York cheesecake.
For the non-chocoholics out there, the vanilla and strawberry trifle is a winner. A light chill vanilla custard encasing layers of soft cake bits, and topped with sweet strawberries. It's a small dish, but it hits the spot.
Randomly, we also had a salami and mushroom pizza to cut through the sweetness. It was much smaller than I'd expected (think the size of a dinner plate) but I loved the thin and crispy base, which wasn't oily at all (very rare in Shanghai, where they love all their food drenched/dripping with oil). A very generous serving of salami made this slightly-spicy pizza oh so tasty!
Brian beckons me over to check out his chocolate truffle selection and I am suddenly fixated. He promptly gives me one to try and I also promptly get more for the table :P Mine is the Original flavour and is incredibly creamy and milky, with a rich flavour of dark chocolate and cream. Oh it is wonderful!!!!! The nicest truffle I've had in a very very very long time - often I find the cocoa dusting is too bitter, or they include weird things like liqueurs on the inside. The truffles also come in Osmanthus and Jasmine flavours but I am too in love with my Original flavour to try the others :P
We had a splendid time chilling out, eating and drinking. I think this is a great place to come with friends to hang out. I'm already trying to plan when we can go there again :P
Salami and mushroom pizza
Orange chocolate cake with caramel and sea salt
Vanilla and strawberry trifle
Chocolate and caramel mousse cake
Marbled cheesecake with macaroon
Truffles
Birthday cocktail
Birthday girl with her cocktail, and one of the most expensive chocolates in the world
This is apparently why it's so expensive..!
Hmmm. True. Sometimes!
You Are a Milkshake
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You are a naturally sweet person who loves to have fun. You always have something to smile about.
You have a very optimistic attitude, and you light up a room with your laugh.
You see the best in everyone, and you rarely give into negativity. You think bad thoughts are toxic.
You are willing to give anything a chance, but when it comes to what you love, you tend to stick to your old favorites.
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| | xoxo
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So I bought a pair of earrings without realising there was an extra "0" in the price tag. ON THE END!
Yeah, you read about stuff like that happening in comics or movies, you don't think it would actually happen in real life. Unless you're me.
I was at Lilli's Shanghai which is my FAVOURITE jewellery store in Shanghai.. and one of my favourites in the world. It's a gorgeous boutique, specialising in gemstones, pearls and diamonds. They make everything by hand and every piece is unique - they don't do duplicates. The quality is astounding - so different from other similar jewellery that I've seen.
Only problem? They're EXPENSIVE. Catered towards the expat market and rich Chinese, the prices are pretty painful. But, there's nothing similar, I've found. And I just adore their jewellery :) So I was eyeing this pair of earrings... made of a gemstone and encased in black gold. I forgot what the gemstone was (oops) but it's pretty rare and looks like a crystal with a very very very slight hint of pink. And the black gold is a dip, underneath is regular gold. But I'd never seen black gold before and just loved the whole understated-yet-beautiful effect.
The earrings were super sparkly and not too long, something I can wear for daily use and also for the evening. And so far, I've been wearing them constantly since the neutral colours work with virtually every outfit I own.
So I love them, but only downside was there was that extra "0" on the price tag. Because I'm always converting prices back to AUD, I guess somewhere along the way I forgot/didn't realise there was another "0". Which made the earrings TEN TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE than what I was thinking. So I paid, crowing away to myself that I got a brilliant deal for such a rare piece of jewellery... then went home and realised there was an extra "0" to it. Oops!
Annoying, but still, I love them and still think they're worth it even at the ten-times-more-expensive price I actually paid. But, lesson learnt - next time, pay a bit more attention when buying something! I a such a FAIL sometimes..
Gemstome and black gold earrings, from Lilli's Shanghai
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So here's my first gig as an official food reviewer for City Weekend :)
Was fun, and nice to see my opinions published. It's also listed on their website here. I envy food critics - what a dream job they've got going on!
City Weekend magazine
My review :D
The cafe that I reviewed
| | xoxo
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| DATE: | Sunday, February 7th '10 (11:16pm) |
| SUBJECT: | APPLEBEE'S |
| MOOD: |  calm |
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar
No.18 Basement, 131 Tianyaoqiao Lu
Xujiahui
Shanghai, China
PRICE: 元元元
RATING: 
We were surprised to see Applebee's, an American chain, in Shanghai. But we immediately went in to check it out - because I love American food, especially their portion sizes :P We were pleasantly surprised that the service was top-notch. Fluent English, so friendly and helpful, and not sullen or pushy like some local joints are. Spacious yet warm inside, it was a great place to hide out from the winter cold.
I thoroughly enjoyed my cocktail, I forgot the name, but it was a luscious creamy blend of vanilla ice cream, alcohol, and other pleasures. It came in a tall frosted glass and was filling enough to be a dessert. Chris' Long Island Ice Tea was packed with alcohol, enough for 1-2 of these babies to get you tipsy ;)
Our deep-fried chicken, onion rings, nachos and quesadillas appetizers came PILED onto a plate, with so much food we had to poke around to see it all! The cheese quesadillas were simple and well-prepared, the onion rings were crispy and not too oily, and the deep fried chicken was spectacular and so tender. My only complaint was that the nachos were those really thin chips and not that kind that we normally get in Australia.
The rack of pork ribs, fries, coleslaw and beans was fantastic comfort food. The ribs were good and were very decently cooked, but not melt-off-the-bone spectacular. The chicken smothered in cheese, with rice was average. The chicken breast was charred nicely but a little plain. Fortunately, it was offset by some juicy sliced mushrooms and melted cheese on top. The butter rice was probably the best part - so buttery and rich!
Unfortunately they're really far from where we live, so it's not easy for us to go there again. But if we did, we would most definitely get their cocktails again, as well as their appetizers. Wouldn't re-order the 2 mains we got, but I'd love to try their steak!
Luscious creamy cocktail, and long island iced tea
Very pleased with my cocktail
A tumble of onion rings, deep fried chicken, quesadillas, nachos
Ribs and fries
Chicken and cheese with rice
Afterwards, a chocolate fondant in a cream puff, from Beard Papa.
Weird combination but it tasted good!
Chris likes it too. ROFL!
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I bought a XIMAX Limited Edition 'M008' mobile phone :D
It's the smallest phone I have ever seen or held in my life! Measuring a tiny 91*34*15mm, it's made of a Zinc alloy along with hand painted Cloisonne pattern with 24K gold. Despite being a wee 'lil thing, it's got Bluetooth, and a camera, plus a bunch of other features. But really, I got it because it is FRIGGIN' ADORABLE. It's girly and cutesy, but does all the key things that I want in a phone - which really is just to make phone calls and send SMSes.
Will be very useful if I'm out clubbing and/or using a small bag, and I don't want my BlackBerry to take up half of the space. Best of all, a steal at US$70!
Taken with my webcam - Me holding it up to my head, for comparison :P
| | xoxo
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silly
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