我最近在灣仔發現了一家叫摩廚麵館的特色小店。餐廳的招牌菜是撈麵,用的是自創的麵條,混合了北方擔擔麵及廣東雲吞蛋麵的元素,所以有前者的彈牙口感,又帶有後者的濃郁蛋味。此外,其他小菜也很有特色,例如乾燒日本吉品鮑,慢煮三文魚等等。有幾道菜味道偏淡,但整體而言食物水準不錯。我個人認為六道菜,只需每位$238-$268的Tasting Menu,最值得一試。With many upscale restaurants' obsession with molecular cuisine, nowadays one almost instinctively equates "molecular" with "stratospheric prices", so I got curious when I heard about a noodle bar that serves molecular dishes without charging prices that would make me need to remortgage my house.Opened by owner-chef Mauree
With many upscale restaurants' obsession with molecular cuisine, nowadays one almost instinctively equates "molecular" with "stratospheric prices", so I got curious when I heard about a noodle bar that serves molecular dishes without charging prices that would make me need to remortgage my house. Opened by owner-chefMaureen Loh, a fiercely independent and creative woman, Maureen is a small establishment that is situated behind the Blue House in Wanchai. The eatery can accommodate around 20 diners, and at the centre of the dining room is a long bar table overlooking a tiny open kitchen. The menu includes Chinese-style noodles, slow simmered broth, slow-cooked meats as well as molecular dishes that Ms Loh has been experimenting with. Worth a special mention are Maureen's signature lo meins, a crossover between thick, Sichuanese dan dan noodles and thin, Guangzhou-style egg noodles, which have a springy, al dente texture like the former, yet a beautiful, eggy taste like the latter; all noodles are served with a bowl of homemade broth.
You could come here just for a bowl of noodles, but the 6-course Tasting Menus at $238-$268 per person (min 2 persons) is definitely worth a try if you have time. In terms of hospitality, while I wouldn't peg the service as seamless, the staff were generally helpful and Ms Loh was very happy to accommodate any special requests.
(1) A plate of Tomatoes and Spanish Ham made its way to our table - the Spanish Ham was firm and flavour-packed, and the cherry tomatoes, marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and shallots, were brimming with exotic flavours.
(2) The Perfect Egg, a signature dish of the restaurant, comprised of a fantastically runny and velvety egg, cooked at 63°C and served with mushroom fluid gel and Chinese ham. While the egg was exquisite, the mushroom fluid gel was unfortunately a tad bland.
(3) The Charred Garden Vegetables were simple but brilliant - the choy sum, lightly torched, was delicate and fresh, and an enticing chargrill taste lingered on the palate.
(4) The Abalone with Truffle Infusion was extravagantly delicious, with the natural taste of abalone going surprising well with truffle's unique flavour. (5) The Grilled Japanese Abalone was well executed; the tender chicken infused with lemon olive oil, if not special, was at least pleasant.
(8) The Noodles Lo Mein, the crowning glory of the restaurant, were innovative and scrumptious. The al dente dan dan-slash-wonton noodles were a bundle of delight, and the other ingredients added a range of vibrant flavours. A blob of (molecular!) sesame oil mousse sat atop the mound, giving rich and enticing flavours to the dish.
The Chinese Broth, simmered for six to eight hours, had a fine layering of natural tastes; however, a pinch of salt was much needed to draw out the ingredients' flavours.
(9) Even though the taste of plums in the Braised duck leg in Plum Sauce ($68) was hardly detectable, this dish was overall accomplished and the flavours were well-judged.
(11) The Char Grilled Lamb Chops with Red Wine Sauce ($84) was nicely punchy. I wished it was served to us sooner though, before the lamb started cooling off!
(12) Our dessert was a Chocolate mousse with ground peanuts; while the chocolate mousse was tasty with an appealingly strong cocoa taste, the portion of ground peanuts was way too little to help break up the mousse's creamy texture - around a spoonful would have been needed!
The cuisine at Maureen was delicious in a playful, inspiring way, but a few dishes begged for more salt and more precision. It seemed that at times the playfulness of the food has trumped its taste; however, dining at Maureen was overall a fun-filled experience, replete with culinary creations that were designed to tease and excite the tastebuds. Our bill only came to around $300 per head - with all the abalones, slow-cooked meats and molecular concoctions that we got to try, it was not a bad deal at all!
牛仔骨以57度底溫慢煮48小時,肉汁完全緊鎖於牛仔骨之中,咬開無疑是細滑無比,可惜又是食味偏淡。點菜後,我早忘了墊底的是柱候蘿蔔汁,怎嘗,還是嘗不出味來。 慢煮,可能是創新手法,但成效我卻不敢苟同。牛仔骨,以慢煮入饌,的確保持肉汁也嫰滑如絲,但沒經過猛火洗禮的牛肉,脂肪沒法溶化成誘人油香,吃在口中,索然無味。慢煮,也不是萬試萬靈。 總計:HK$310 坐在吧檯,旁邊剛好坐了四位外國人,感覺跟老闆娘認識也是專誠來品嘗美食。我邊吃邊看,了解老闆娘有甚麼拿手好戲。忽爾,她從梳理台拿起一盤剛汆燙過的菜心,另一手拿起火鎗,炙了數下,再送到外國客人跟前。然後,以英文介紹:”This is poached Choi Sum and I grilled it to make it like barbecue.” 我由心底懷疑好端端一道烚菜,真的要再炙一下嗎?而炙過又真的還好吃嗎?而且,由鮑魚到豬肉到牛仔骨,通通都給以火鎗炙,有必要嗎?是技窮嗎? 麵條絕對好吃,但配菜古里怪氣。我真的不懂,不懂分子美食是中式麵的出路嗎?那麼,出路是給老外欣賞嗎? 我真的不懂。
Introduced by a food blogger, Maureen is located in a small ally in Wanchai. Maureen serves slow cooked food and molecular cuisine and is famous for her noodles. There are a small amount of seats in the restaurant so make sure you make reservations. I like to sit at the bar so I can see Maureen and her chefs in action! Cherry Tomatoes soaked in Vinegar - I'm a big fan of cherry tomatoes. After being soaked in vinegar, it makes the tomtoes even more appetizing! Chinese Wine Egg - My friend said
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Introduced by a food blogger, Maureen is located in a small ally in Wanchai. Maureen serves slow cooked food and molecular cuisine and is famous for her noodles. There are a small amount of seats in the restaurant so make sure you make reservations. I like to sit at the bar so I can see Maureen and her chefs in action!
Cherry Tomatoes soaked in Vinegar - I'm a big fan of cherry tomatoes. After being soaked in vinegar, it makes the tomtoes even more appetizing! Chinese Wine Egg - My friend said this is a "must eat"! Once you bite into it, the strong chinese wine flavour floats out. I think I can eat 10 of these!!
Duck Leg in Plum Sauce - Not my favourite. A little rough and watery, cannot taste the plum sauce. However, the apple on the side is amazing! Salmon - A little over cooked., but still quite soft. 48hr short ribs - My favourite dish so far! the beef has been cooked for over 2 days, but still able to keep the juiciness. YUMMM!
Warm Chocolate Mousse - Can't finish a meal without dessert! I waited for 15min for this dessert, after asking, I found out that they do not put water into this mousse, only 2 types of chocolate and eggs, comes out like a souffle...rich and soft! Love it
Like to have noodle for dinner and read a few good review for this, so we went for dinner. We orderedChinese wine egg, The egg yolk is done perfectly for me taste, but found the wine is a bit over powering. I'd suggest they make it a bit more smoky, which will balance the bitter wine taste.abalone, it is a bit too hard, not the tender version I expected, so was somehow disappointed.salmon in the lukewarm water, this is a nice piece, it keep the fish very tender and juicy, which is nice, we both
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Like to have noodle for dinner and read a few good review for this, so we went for dinner.
We ordered Chinese wine egg, The egg yolk is done perfectly for me taste, but found the wine is a bit over powering. I'd suggest they make it a bit more smoky, which will balance the bitter wine taste.
abalone, it is a bit too hard, not the tender version I expected, so was somehow disappointed.
salmon in the lukewarm water, this is a nice piece, it keep the fish very tender and juicy, which is nice, we both enjoyed it. I'd suggest, as salmon is an oily fish, if it add a final touch to crispilize it after it, it will add aroma and double texture to it.
the noodle, is thick, very chewy and well balanced source, best I have in Hong Kong so far
soup, not bad either
also, the waitress from Taiwan is very nice and considerate.
Overall, it is a lovely experience, just wondering why it is empty when we walked there ... is it because of the bad weather?
Date of visit : 5 Apr 2013 (Fri) 8:30 pmNo. of diners : 2Average cost per head : $160 (with $50 corkage)Food quality : 8.5/10Environment : 8.5/10Service : 8.5/10Value-for-money : 8/10Overall rating : 8.4/10Maureen is noodle shop with a clean menu. The shop rests on an inner lane from the Queen’s Road East. From the waitress, the menus for lunch and dinner are the same, just that the price will be cheaper for lunch sets. They have a clean menu in terms of choices and cooking style. From the open
Date of visit : 5 Apr 2013 (Fri) 8:30 pm No. of diners : 2 Average cost per head : $160 (with $50 corkage) Food quality : 8.5/10 Environment : 8.5/10 Service : 8.5/10 Value-for-money : 8/10 Overall rating : 8.4/10
Maureen is noodle shop with a clean menu. The shop rests on an inner lane from the Queen’s Road East. From the waitress, the menus for lunch and dinner are the same, just that the price will be cheaper for lunch sets. They have a clean menu in terms of choices and cooking style. From the open kitchen there sit 2 sous vide (slow cook) water bath containers and a vacuum machine. A few of the dishes are cooked from them.
Last order at 9:30 pm and I would recommend visiting no later than 8 pm so as to enjoy the food without rush and synchronize with the slow cooking method.
The short ribs were quite meaty and already de-boned. They were tender, moist and cooked well done, however, I would prefer a medium rare beef to add a more chewy texture.
c) Salmon Sous Vide Canto Style 鮮味低溫浸三文魚柳(set for $103 with noodle and soup) – 9/10
As a local Chinese, I loved this dish as it resembled that of a traditional steamed fish. Slow cooking kept the tenderness and moisture of the fish, together with the slices of ginger and soy sauce. I felt like eating grass carp belly 鯇魚腩 at home.
d) Sichuan Dan Dan Noodle 分子撈麵(Noodle Set) – 8.5/10
There is only one type of noodle served in the shop - a fusion of dan-dan noodle 擔擔麵 (Sichuan style) and Southern wanton noodle 雲吞麵 (Canton style). Rather than the traditional dan-dan noodle in a soup base, the egg noodle was first boiled, drained and then seasoned with peanut and sesame dressing. Don’t forget to ask for an additional dish of home-made chili sauce to spice up the noodle.
e) Chinese Homemade Broth 香濃秘製老火湯 (Noodle Set) – 9/10
Soup of the day was winter melon, conch and chicken soup冬瓜响螺煲雞湯. The soup was rich in flavour and no trace of oil on its surface. The winter melon was stewed to give a texture.
04.2013
题外话/补充资料:
[i][b]Q : When will I go again?
A : For lunch or dinner, likely months later when they change their menu.
Q: What will I next order?
A : New dishes if available.[/b][/i]