Macarons @ Jouer

This is a long overdue post. I finally got the time to write when I had a day of sick leave... it's true when people say minor ailment is a blessing. 

It was a steaming hot evening in early July. While not as graphic as a polar bear on floating ice, isn't this summer - the stickiest summer EVER in my life - a solid proof of climate change? :( Walking in the streets in such weather and sweltering in work clothes was hardly the smartest idea, but I just couldn't wait to check out Jouer, a stylish shop that sells both homeware and macarons, after reading about it in several magazines. 

Jouer is located in Sau Wa Fong. I had no idea where it was until I looked up the place in Google Map and learnt that it's within my favourite haunt Star Street Precinct! When I was finally there I saw why I had missed Sau Wa Fong all along. Apparently the only way to reach it is by climbing a flight of unassuming steps from St Francis Street. The flight is signposted but the sign is so small that it easily goes unnoticed. 

Crowd-phobic me immediately fell in love with this obscure little square for its tranquility and quirky shops. The empty, tree-shaded street made me feel relaxed and calm, even though I was almost soaked in sweat. I found Jouer at the end of the street. 

The moment I entered the shop, I was mesmerized. Look at all the tastefully arranged vintage-style decorations and curiosities - doesn't it look like a shop in Paris (the French name Jouer certainly helps with the association!)? Every corner was just so photogenic, no wonder it's often featured in magazine photo shoots! The lady in the shop was so nice that she let me take tonnes of pictures during my brief visit. :) Although none of my pix does justice to Jouer's chicness due to my poor photography skills, let me show you some snapshots:

Penguin Clothbound Classics make great photo props!

Beautiful customizable cook books set from Juniper Books :)

Macarons here...

Macarons there...

Macarons everywhere!

Even the backyard exudes rustic charm

I don't think anyone can leave the shop empty-handed after seeing so many tempting macarons around! At the time of my visit Jouer was offering a 4-course macaron "menu du jour", which consisted of both savoury and sweet macarons. I ordered it without any hesitation! :P The 4 flavours were:

Appetizer - French onion soup

Main - "Partner in Crime" (foie gras & Sauternes)

Cheese course - Ancient blue cheese

Dessert - Classic French apple tart

Because the minimum order is 6 pieces of macarons, I chose 2 more from Jouer's signature Asian flavours. They had a range of exotic flavours like Tom Yum, Chinese Vinegar & Ginger, Kaya & Salt, etc. on offer. My choices were HK-Style Milk Tea and Ginger Milk. :) The macarons come in paper gift box, or in a luxurious glass box if you are willing to pay extra. The glass box is really lovely, but since the macarons are already quite expensive by themselves, I settled for the cheaper option...

Apart from the milk tea macaron, which didn't have much discernible taste apart from sweetness, all macarons tasted just like what their names had suggested. In particular, the blue cheese macaron had such a strong taste of stinky cheese that Hellish was reluctant to take a second bite! But the filling in most of the macarons was so thin that it's not even visible (see golden standard of macaron filling here), which meant that the macarons didn't have the rich, creamy texture that I was looking for. The shells were not very crispy either, but since it's possible that they had softened on my way home given the humid weather, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. 

I appreciate very much the creativity behind Jouer's exciting flavours and the cute idea of having a 4-course macaron menu. HK needs more independent shops like this! But there's absolutely a need to adjust the macaron formula (or at the very least, enlarge the macaron a bit) if they are to charge ~$17 for a piece. The shop lady said they might be offering Japanese flavours soon, which is going to be another interesting experiment. Next time I am going to have the macarons right inside the beautiful store (they do offer this option), which will certainly help me feel better about my money spent. :P

INFO

Jouer (website)
G/F, 1 Sau Wa Fong, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Opening hours: 11:00am-7:30pm (Mon - Sun)

Macarons: $100 for 6 or $180 for 12 (in paper box), $160 for 6 or $280 for 12 (in glass box)

Afternoon Tea @ VIEW62 by Paco Roncero

The opening of VIEW62 back in May 2012 was highly anticipated. Every food columnist was talking about it - with good reasons. The restaurant is an ambitious project by Paco Roncero, Michelin 2-star chef and protégé of legendary Ferran Adrià (i.e. the big name behind elBulli). It features nouvelle cuisine, which is said to be a more advanced approach to cooking than molecular gastronomy - sounds more like magic than cookery doesn't it? And if you used to love La Ronda of Furama Kempinski Hotel, you would be happy to know that VIEW62 is a grand revolving restaurant where you can relive your fond memories!

With such an impressive profile, it almost seemed absurd not to visit VIEW62. When they started to serve afternoon tea in August, I knew it's the time to go! 

In terms of view, VIEW62 is no match to restaurants in Ritz-Carlton, which pride themselves on the stunning vista of Victoria Harbour. But here you can enjoy a 360-degree panorama of Hong Kong Island without moving your butt! A shame that the weather was rather bad on my day of visit. 

As the restaurant was only half-full (obviously their tea set was not known to many ppl), the tea set arrived soon after we placed our order - 

Anchovies with tomato, basil and black olive

Mini burger with old fashioned mustard

Iberico ham baguette

Melon caviar and chocolate truffle cake

Melon caviar!

Chocolate macaroon and berries with white wine jelly

Pistachio sponge with yogurt and lemon cup

White coffee cream

The savouries looked rather conventional but they were brilliant taste-wise. The anchovies were fresh and silky. The addition of pesto and tomatoes neutralized the heavy saltiness of the fish and the result was surprisingly refreshing. I also liked the Iberico ham, which was delightfully juicy and chewy. It formed a great combination with the crispy baguette shell.  It's not easy to find decent Iberico ham in HK (which is why I often crave for it ever since my visit to Southern Spain some years ago), but I was quite satisfied with what I had this time. 

But the good things seemed to end here. The sweets had a relatively more futuristic take; the finest examples being the melon caviar and pistachio sponge. The former was invented by Ferran Adrià and is now a classic dish in molecular gastronomy. Through a technique termed "spherification", liquid melon juice is transformed into jelly-like caviar. Sadly, the chemistry behind was far more spectacular than the caviar itself - the orange pellets were soft and tasteless like tapioca. There's a faint hint of fruit but I didn't think I could name it if the menu didn't say it's melon. The alien-like pistachio sponge was another letdown. It had the most unusual, if not weird, texture. It was extremely light, even lighter than soufflé despite its pretty solid appearance! Eating it was like swallowing a gush of nutty-flavour air. An interesting work of art, but as a cake it was seriously unsatisfying... :0

That was only the beginning of a series of disappointment. The macaron was neither crunchy nor chocolatey. The white wine jelly, which had the most self-explanatory name ever, was just white wine made into a simple jelly (at least that was what it tasted like). I was also shocked that they served cream that tasted nothing more than the cream topping of Starbucks coffee as part of the tea set... even though the lemon cup (I loved the langue du chat cup!) and chocolate cake were ok, they could not change the fact that the tea set was doomed.

Each tea set came with 2 choices of beverage - Earl Grey, English Breakfast, coffee, etc... boring stuff. I was more curious about the "choice from special tea trolley" mentioned in the menu. The waiter explained that I could choose from a list of over 40 special teas at an extra cost of $40 per person. The price was steep definitely, but I got curious as I was browsing the long list... "Check Mate", "Pink Flamingo", "Gold Rush"... it was unmistakable that these were blends from Canadian tea brand DAVDsTEA!

Since we had never seen DAVIDsTEA anywhere else in HK, we seized the opportunity to order Earl's Garden and Kiss of Love (officially known as Read My Lips). Earl's Garden was a sweet, girly blend with a dominant strawberry candy flavour. Though it's supposed to be a variation of Earl Grey, the bergamot flavour was glaringly absent. Kiss of Love was a more complicated tea - a chocolate-flavoured tea that also tasted spicy and minty. Guess what, the website says it even contains little red candy lips! Too bad I did not check the teapot. Overall, the teas were interesting; I would recommend them to light-hearted tea drinkers who look for fun more than taste. 

THE VERDICT 

Ambience: B (I thought I was in a Macau hotel when I saw the mishmash of glossy panels, glittering surfaces, satin cushions, as well as the gold-purple colour scheme.... sorry, just not my idea of tastefulness) 

Service: B- (We thought the tea trolley was only a symbolic term as the waiter did not show it to us, but we saw the trolley, which was fully loaded with small pots of tea leaves, when we left! :0)

Food: C+

Overall remarks: With a price tag of $500 per 2 persons (it was well over $600 including the cost of special tea for 2 persons and 10% service charge), VIEW62's tea set is easily one of the most costly tea sets in HK. I definitely expected it to be extraordinarily good, considering that it's even more expensive than the tea sets offered by The Repulse Bay, Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, etc. To my dismay, it was the biggest disappointment of the year. When I went to the restaurant I was prepared to be amazed,but I didn't expect the amazement to come from their courage to charge such an extortionate price for such a mediocre tea set. I believe they really want to make their tea set special, or they would not have curated DAVIDsTEA for the tea trolley. Perhaps they just need a bit more time? Though I am not sure if I would take the risk to give their tea set a second chance... 

INFO
VIEW62 by Paco Roncero (website)
62/F, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong 
Afternoon tea: 3:00 - 5:00pm daily
$500 for 2 persons

teakha Before What It Is

Lined with some of the coolest shops in town, Tung Street + Tai Ping Shan Street is my favourite neighbourhood in HK next to Star Street Precinct. Though its location is rather inconvenient, the cheap and chic tableware at Loveramics gives me the reason to drop by every now and then. The opening of teakha earlier this year has provided me with yet another incentive to travel all the way to this secluded spot in Sheung Wan. With its range of homemade baked goods and specialty teas, this quaint little cafe plus zakka store has received rave reviews from local tea lovers. 

teakha may be one of the newest members to the locality but it's hardly new in the foodie community. It was actually born more than a year ago, in Ship Street, in the form of a pop-up stall. :)

I adore pop-up retail. It's about surprise, experiment, fun, and exclusivity - what's not to love? ;) Unlike many designer pop-up stores that use limited edition goods to stir up competitions among customers and gain media attention, teakha - at least to me - was a low-profile stall about sharing and peace. Without massive promotions, it attracted a small crowd in the know that was truly enthusiastic about food and tea. The atmosphere was casual and laid-back, perfect for chit-chat or serious discussion about food among customers, or with the friendly stall owner Nana. 

Nana was responsible for everything at teakha - from brewing specialty teas to answering questions from customers intrigued by her project. I had been following Nana's blog for some time before visiting teakha (and finding out that Nana is actually my friend Eric's friend!). She impressed me as someone who was  artistic, adventurous, and passionate about cooking. And when I finally got to visit teakha, every bit of teakha - whether it's the beautiful piece of cloth that lined the box of scones, the experimental menu featuring original recipes with an Asian touch, or its pop-up nature - told me that my impression was probably right. ;)

The simple menu

Tea in brewing. Love this hammered copper pot! :) 

In Eric's hands: milk teas flavoured with red dates + honey and brown sugar + ginger honey respectively. Full-bodied, creamy, nectarous and hot, they made perfect beverages for a chilly winter afternoon. :9

Buttery homemade scones by Nana! They had a unique chewy texture that was surprisingly likeable. It would be even nicer if they were served warm, but of course we wouldn't complain given it's only a pop-up stall! 

I feel happy for Nana that she has finally found a permanent home for teakha. I loved it when it was a tea stall. I gather that its delicious food, delectable tea, and other-worldly charm, have been preserved in its new home. Better yet, the menu has been expanded and now you can sit down to while away the afternoon with your favourite cake and tea. I am so going to visit teakha in the near future! Anyone going with me? ;)

INFO

teakha (website)

Shop B, 18 Tai Ping Shan Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Opening hours: 11:00am-6:00pm (Wed - Fri), 12:00pm-7pm (Sat & Sun)