One Bar (Closed)

Went here today for lunch with a bunch of friends. We each ordered almost different main course, ranging from linguine carbonara, laksa, udon, pad thai, to mung soup noodles, etc. Unfortunately, the mung soup noodles took a long time! The mung didn't come even when 7 of us were already eating and some of us even finished the main course! It was far too strange! Service of the waiters was good though! They kept on smiling and apologizing when necessary. When it came to dessert, the cakes were huge and yet comparatively speaking, the portion of the main course was tiny! Anyway, overall price is affordable in such a busy area in Central. Food could be fresher though and service could be more consistent. continue reading

朋友提意食crunch cake，我當然奉陪啦。我哋要Noodle + Cake Set($108)，我order 咗個炒金邊粉，而朋友就要海鮮冷烏冬。炒金邊粉 - 賣相OK，金邊粉炒得很乾身，可惜味道一般，材料也少得佷，只有四隻小蝦和少少豆腐乾。海鮮冷烏冬 - 烏冬口感一般，但加上醬汁，味道不錯，都算幾足料，材料有蝦、蟹柳、魷魚和青口。主角出場 - Crunch Cake - 蛋糕很鬆軟，Whip cream 很滑，不算太甜，加上香脆嘅焦糖，真的很好味。呢度嘅食物，味道一般，唯一吸引我再來啲只有Crunch Cake。朋友有九折咭 continue reading

I havent been to One Bar for a long time. I used to come here often whenever all other restaurants were fully booked. This time, my friend made a booking a few days ago but somehow, we were given a rather bad table. Hmm.... their business must have improved.Anyway. One Bar has this set lunch which is quite cheap. You can choose a noodle + a drink. There were a few choices which I struggled with, but at the end, I chose this cold udon with seafood. It was quite good. It's basically a Japanese style salad with udon.Although their business might have improved, there is one thing that is still the same. Bad service. It seems the waitress / waiter only comes around once in a blue moon..... continue reading

I remember reading Foodiewil raved about their cakes here in July (where is that guy nowadays? ), then scouring through the 1st page of reviews, discovered from GourmetKC that the Strawberry version is also recommended. It certainly sounds strange - a Restaurant serves and sells the best crunch cake in HK, huh?! Anyway in Aug 09 then again in Oct, I arrived here eating my Early Dinner - Cakes, I just adore them! ******************************STRAWBERRY CRUNCH CAKE - Only this remained available by the piece. The Strawberry Cream outer coating was generous yet fluffily soft, it also carried a very berry-like aromatic profile even though its confectionery! Under this first coating, lied surprisingly another thin 'Chocolate Cream layer' under - which was pretty good and the whole concept probably a variation of Napolean Ice Cream! Chiffon cake inside was moist and wonderful, more about that next.....CREAM CRUNCH CAKE - Here's some shocking news first : though Maxim's HK advertise their own crunch cake version as 天使蛋糕 in Chinese, in reality, its TERMINOLOGY errr... might not be entirely Correct. Authentic Angel Cakes in English, even Devil's Cakes aka 魔鬼蛋糕, are merely 'borrowed names' due to the case of convenient interpretations between English and Chinese. The translations into Chinese appeal highly to potential cake customers, but its just another good marketing ploy invented by Maxim's Group! In reality, AUTHENTIC Angel Food Cakes don't carry moistness in the base sponge like a Chiffon foam Cake - one cannot mix them up, as Patissiers must adhere to rules and distinguish between different bases.The One Bar Crunch Cake version used a real, moistened & fluffy Chiffon base and is NOT an Angel cake-base, it cannot as such be called a 天使蛋糕! ITS VERY ADDICTIVE. The Crunch referred to are Honeycomb Crumbs, crispy, full of aerations and surprisingly not cloying - perfect and light years ahead of the super hard versions of Maxim's, now that could chip some brittle teeth! Here its just right, Crunchy yet Light. Personally, I found the Strawberry Crunch Cake version to suit me better. The normal Cream Crunch Cake version becomes filling after just 3 bitefuls, its also quite sweet. My other favourite Cream Cake is the plain cake from Italian Tomato Cafe (the only cake I eat from there!) - the cream in that version is whipped to a harder texture but is more natural in cream taste. The cream layer in One Bar's cake is more velvety, almost like shaving cream, but its not entirely made of natural cream, hence their slight tasting differences.CAFFE LATTE & CAPPUCINO - Using a specialty blend from a well known brand, its a Cross-Over collaboration by a famous Australian Roaster together with a well known Commercial Coffee Supplier - the Espresso di Manfredi by Piazza d'Oro blend is slightly artisanal in taste with a biggish body but not overly roasty - it carries a very unique peanutty taste and grittiness in the background, with a long finish.Unfortunately? The Espresso-Shots here are made by pressing a button on a full-sized Automatic Machine, so they aren't extracted well as its impossible on ALL AUTO MACHINES, definitely NOT what the original Roaster had in mind. Also the milk frothing part by different baristas on separate days yielded really different outcomes. My Caffe Latte was nice enough for an 'Auto Job' 1 day, it paired well with my cake. Yet a Cappucino on latter visit was thinnish and had crappy acid. (Starbucks Beans in comparison have been roasted specifically for usage in their Fully Automatic Machines, even the double milk-frothers in Starbuck outlets operate automatically these days and no longer adjusted by Baristas much. Since their operations are mostly Automated, it eliminates Barista inconsistencies & that's why they taste the same everywhere - meaning underperforming and watery! Auto-machines are highly flawed in concept, compared to a Semi-Auto or Manual-Pulled machines.... I therefore can't slap down a Summary Judgement on the potential of this Imported Coffee, as they were never given an opportunity to defend itself as a true calibrated extraction! However its possible to buy it for making & trying in your house or at a friend's cafe! (Note: I actually know this coffee brand - its actually regarded more Commercial-Biased than Independent-Roaster Artisanal back in its homeland, though its bean characters instantly stands out relatively within HK anyway, since many 'modernised' commercial blends in Australia don't taste very commercial unlike the Italian commericalised counterparts, the latter usually focussed on that full-bodied experience with loads of roastiness and cremability. In Australia, the terminological difference between 'most, but-not-all' Commercial Brans vs Independent Roaster Coffees or anything in between - is more calculated by Production Scale or Market Share, than judged by the Flavours.... but as always, there are many exceptions.) ***********************PERSONALLY:CAKES - '5' COFFEES SERVED HERE - '2' - '3' COFFEE BLEND POTENTIAL - 'Unknown Until Tested') continue reading

一直沒有吃過美心所謂的天使蛋糕。聽吃過的太座說其水準認真麻麻，令她的心靈帶着絲絲遺憾 (因她是極愛吃white cream的)。此後便道以後不會再試類似的產品云云。小弟知悉後，馬上從這兒訂下一個原味的crunch cake給她試試，想必能令她回心轉意吧....一個差不多兩磅的蛋糕，一行八人不斷努力地吃啊吃，都只能吃到一半，肚子已是飽得要命了。雖然很飽，但可是值得之至 ---- 面層的忌亷極厚身之餘又是真正的滑不溜口，而且最好的是不會一味的死甜，感覺上不會十分的"漏" (吃至尾段力有不逮之原因乃在於那厚厚的cream而已)....內層的sponge cake是名符其實鬆軟得像海綿一樣，且同樣沒有過甜之弊，好吃.....附送的焦糖脆也是如實的極crunchy，不帶燶焦味。只是味甜得很，與cream及蛋糕本身剛好相反。對不愛極甜東西的我來說，當然"淡口"一些就更好....太座只吃了一口便大聲叫好看來小弟的任務亦能完成了.... continue reading