Travel Bite - Totoro Cream Puffs in Tokyo

I saw a food magazine post a picture of Totoro cream puffs on their Facebook site, and I thought they were from a Hong Kong bakery, but I was wrong! They come from a small bakery called Shiro-Hige in a Tokyo suburb. So, I kept them in mind and a trip to Shiro-Hige was fixed into the trip itinerary! It's a must-do for any foodie x Totoro fan.

Totoro Cream Puffs from Shiro-Hige

They are seriously almost too cute to eat. I just wanted to stare at them. The ones with the green leaf are the custard and cream ones. The one with the white hat and blue ribbon are chocolate cream. These are available all year round. The one with the pink sakura flower is strawberry cream, which is available from January to May. They have a peach cream one from June to September, and a chestnut and chestnut cream one from October to December. They also sell some cookies.

Custard and Cream, Chocolate Cream and Strawberry Cream

Custard and Cream, Chocolate Cream and Strawberry Cream

All of these puffs are filled to the brim with cream! They were all good, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the original custard and cream, being simply vanilla. The chocolate was really good too, not over-powering the cream, and you could feel the cocoa powder on your palate. The strawberry one tasted like fresh cream mixed with a strawberry jam. Not sure if the jam was home made though. I would probably prefer it if the cream was mixed with fresh strawberry puree, but that would mean that the cream would be less stable and could separate. The puffs must be consumed the day you buy them for maximum freshness.

For sure, I'll be making a trip out to Shiro-Hige just for their puffs the next time I'm in Tokyo. Call ahead and reserve them, because they sell out quick! 

Shiro-Hige storefront

Shiro-Hige
3-21-21 Takaidohigashi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03 3334 4689
www.shiro-hige.com

Quick Bite - Lab Made Ice Cream

Lab Made is a place I've wanted to try for a while, and I finally made it on a lazy Sunday afternoon. And yes, I eat ice-cream in all temperatures. Back in Chicago, when it was -30C out, I would go to Cold Stone with friends and we could eat our ice cream without any fear it was going to melt!

Ice Cream in progress

The selling point is that Lab Made makes the ice cream in really small batches with a Kitchenaid mixer, the ice cream base, and a dash of liquid nitrogen. 

Flavors in rotation

There are four flavors a rotation, and this time (January 4 - 20) it was Custard Bun, HK Crispy Toast (with PB Sauce), Super Lemon Meringue Pie, and Purple Rice. Purple Rice was $39, the rest were $44. We had Custard Bun and Super Lemon Meringue Pie.

Super Lemon Meringue Pie and Custard Bun Ice Cream

I think the highlight of both ice creams was the texture. It was very smooth, but it did melt quickly. The Custard Bun was very creamy, and had a nice custard flavor, but a bit too sweet for me. There were specks of hard egg yolk, which does show they used egg custard, but it detracts from the smooth texture. The Super Lemon Meringue Pie had a clean lemon flavor, not very heavy like Custard Bun. They added a sprinkle of small meringues, which were okay.

A bit of a gimmick, I know, but fun nonetheless. You can keep a track of what flavors they're featuring on their Facebook page. I think I'll stop by again when I see other interesting flavors.

Lab Made
No. 6 Brown Street, Tai Hang, 2670 0071

Quick Bite - Froyo at Smile Yogurt & Dessert Bar

Froyo with Honey Crumbs

I haven't had much froyo lately, but a friend suggested froyo after lunch and so why not! We were in Causeway Bay and it was between Agnes B (which I've had, but I found a bit watery for my taste), and trying a new place together!

Smile offers a handful of froyo sundae combinations, prices ranging from about $40+ to $60+. You can create your own froyo too - the froyo base plus one topping for $36, additional toppings from $5-$10 each. 

I stuck with the froyo and 1 topping (if you can call it a "topping", since it's sandwiched between the two mounds of froyo). I was pleasantly surprised by the froyo texture - it's creamy, soft, and no grainy ice crystals. It's not tart, so expect it to be more like soft-serve. 

Will definitely go back and try their cakes!

Smile Yogurt & Dessert Bar
Shop 509, Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, 2811 8321

Tsukemen at Shugetsu

You know, I don't remember how I came across Shugetsu. I think I must have read about it in a magazine or newspaper, but I found my way to this small shop on Gough Street. Now, being a part of the Central workforce, I'm a brisk walk away from one of my ramen favorites in town. The wait time varies, but it's more likely you'll get a seat here than at Butao.

This is not the place for thick, tonkotsu stock ramen like at Butao. This place is for Tsuke-men (ramen dipped into a concentrated stock, like eating soba), and Abura Ramen ("oil noodles", ramen tossed in an oily soy sauce with toppings). They serve noodles in broth, but in my opinion, it's not as good as the Tsuke-men and Abura Ramen.

I think the thing that keeps bringing me back to Shugetsu is the fact that they make their noodles on site, and the thicker noodles used in the Tsukemen and Abura Ramen have an unbeatable al dente texture. For the Tsuke-men, you can choose between 100g, 200g and 300g servings, and they're all the same price ($85+10%)! 200g is about right for most people, 300g is good if you're starving. Once you're done with dipping and eating the noodles, they will come around with hot chicken stock to pour into your dipping sauce to turn it into a drinkable broth.

Abura Ramen

The Abura Ramen ($85+10%) is my favorite; despite the fact that I might be tempted by Shugetsu's seasonal noodle, I always end up getting the Abura Ramen. It's topped with Shugetsu's roasted kurobuta pork, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, spring onion and a raw egg. Think of it like a carbonara, where the heat of the pasta "cooks" the egg lightly and forms a sauce. You can add a bit more soy sauce and vinegar to your taste.
 

Kurobuta Roast Pork

If you can't get enough of the melt-in-your-mouth pork, you can always order a side of it ($48+10%)!

Shugetsu
G/F, 5 Gough Street, Central, 2850 6009

P.S. They do take-out too!

Omurice at Hidden Kitchen

It seems like there aren't many places in Hong Kong that have a good Omurice (Japanese Omelette Rice). I tried the one at UCC but I was very disappointed. The rice was really dry and the egg was rubbery.

My problem was solved when I found Hidden Kitchen in Causeway Bay!

Omurice with Tomato Sauce

Hidden Kitchen's Omurice is super good. They have a fluffy, runny omelette draped gently over a bed of fried rice, instead of the fried rice being wrapped in a thin egg "crepe". They use Japanese rice in their fried rice too. The Omurice lunch set was $98+10% (includes salad, soup, and a drink).

The Omurice Omelette

Other choices on their lunch menu include hamburg steak in demi-glace with rice ($108+10%). The hamburger patty is moist, but the star is the demi-glace for sure.

Hamburg Steak with Demi-Glace

Their beef cheek stew ($148+10%) is also very good - the beef is very tender. I just wish that there were more chunks of beef (I think there were only four).

Beef Cheek Stew

Worth a try if you have time for a lunch in Causeway Bay. Unfortunately, they don't take reservations and they are closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Hidden Kitchen
Room D, 3/F Prosperous Commercial Building, 54 Jardine's Bazaar, Causeway Bay, 
2504 1511

Sushi Kuu

There's been a lot of hype around Sushi Kuu, so a friend and I went to try it out. I've already found a sushi place that's hard to beat - Sushi Ta-ke in Causeway Bay, which deserves a full blog post. Given the hype, I thought Sushi Kuu might give my favorite spot a run for its money.

Kuu, however, didn't come anywhere close to Ta-ke in terms of food, environment or service.

The fairest comparison was to order the deluxe sushi set, which was $340 + 10%. Same price point as Sushi Ta-ke. 



Kuu's Deluxe Sushi Set - Warning: it looks better than it tastes!

In the set there's only one salmon roe gunkan and two pieces of egg. My friend traded pieces before the photo was taken.

Disappointment #1: even if you sit at the sushi bar at Kuu, the deluxe sushi set is not made piece by piece like it is at Ta-ke.

Disappointment #2; the maki (rolled sushi) for both the regular and deluxe sushi sets is three pieces of a California roll. No negi-toro roll (minced fatty tuna with chives) for the deluxe set.

Disappointment #3: the seaweeds of the gunkan sushi was already soft when it got to the table. Even Senryo makes their gunkans and handrolls to order!! Ta-ke goes the extra mile by serving the sushi with seaweed separately, after you finish the other pieces.

Disappointment #4: the udon served with the set is not the good quality chewy udon, and was either over-cooked or sat around for too long after it was cooked.

Disappointment #5: I asked for no wasabi in my sushi, but they still set down a plate of sushi with it. Only when I saw the green through a slice of white fish and told them did they realize.

I conclude that at this price point, I'd rather save up the money and go to Ta-ke on the weekends. Look for a mouthwatering post on Sushi Ta-ke soon!

Sushi Kuu
1/F Wellington Place, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central, 2971 0180

Mostaccioli Brothers

I had lunch with a bunch of girlfriends today at Mostaccioli Brothers up on Elgin Street. This restaurant is owned by El Grande Concepts, the same group at Grappa's. Even though it's on Elgin, the actual restaurant is down the stairs and in the back of the building, so look for a green sign and a set of stairs.

All lunch sets included a vegetable soup, and coffee/tea/Italian soda. Set lunch prices ranged from about $80 for paninis up to about $120 for pastas.

Minestrone

Risotto with Parma Ham and Rocket

I thought that the minestrone was decent, but a bit on the sweet side. The risotto was really salty though. Since the ham and rocket are laid on top, I feel like the restaurant has a pre-made risotto base, and just add the toppings and flavors accordingly. The problem here is that they don't realize that Parma ham is pretty salty already, and so is the shaved Parmesan cheese. The risotto could be creamier. 

Even though my risotto didn't come out as well as I hoped, some of the other pastas at the table looked good - there was a baked Mostaccioli pasta, one of their signature dishes. It was a garganelli pasta baked in a tomato-based sauce with Italian sausage and lots of cheese. Another friend ordered the pasta with fresh fish (I think today's fresh fish was salmon), and that was good because the seafood flavor really came through in that tomato sauce on top of spaghetti. They had a nice variety of pastas to pick from.

It's worth trying if you are up on Elgin Street, just make sure that unless you really like your dishes salty, don't order the risotto with Parma ham.

Mostaccioli Brothers

B/F & G/F, 16 Elgin Street, Central, 2525-5770