Kale

In the final week of April all I want to do is recover. I’ve had the cold, the flu and severe stomach aches most of the month so I’m doing my best to get back to 100% asap. Food choices obviously would make a huge impact on this process, so this week I’ve been opting for healthier options for lunch.

 

Lifestyle Asia had an article on healthy lunch options in this link earlier, so I’ve decided to go ahead and give Kale a try today as I’m really not a fan of the salad places near my office. http://www.lifestyleasia.com/hk/en/dining/eat/feature/nourish-5-healthy-lunch-spots-hong-kong/

 

After about 10 minutes I found Kale in a building that’s quite old near the Gateway Supermarket (actually I’m not sure if it’s still there). Sitting on the 13^th floor this place is quite nice considering it’s located in such an old building. I nervously decided to go for the salad instead of the mini sliders because I had more confidence that the couscous salad would fill me up more than the sliders. I was nervous because I haven’t been a fan of couscous so wasn't sure if I’d end up hating my lunch. For $65 you get a pretty decent sized salad, and you can choose to get everything on their salad board. I hate beetroot so I got everything but that.

 

Conclusion: To my surprise the couscous actually tasted pretty good and I didn't hate my lunch. Was a little disappointed though that they don't pack the box as tightly as they do at Open Kitchen or Simply Life. I was worried that the portion wouldn't fill me up until I saw that they gave me a lot of pumpkin. As a result, I think I was actually fine for the rest of the day. Wing Lok Street might sound really far away, but it’s actually just around 10 minutes from IFC One. I’d recommend you giving this a try if you are looking for something different but still healthy and doesn’t make a dent in your wallet.  

 

Location: Rm 1301, 13/F, Cheung’s Building, 1-3 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan

Website: http://www.kale.com.hk/

Flaming Frango + Godiva

I came across this restaurant on either Sassy or another food site featuring new restaurants. This is definitely not a cheap cheap restaurant but looked interesting because their main dish is something called piri piri chicken – something I have no idea what it is. It sounded interesting enough though so my friend and I decided to go give it a try.

It’s all the way on Staunton Street by Feather Boa (btw, has that place finally shutdown yet?), so it was quite a trek especially in the hot weather. We were sat on a high table and was told there is no set menu, however they had a promotion where upon ordering a main from 2 specified sections you get a soup and a non-alcoholic drink. My friend used to live in London and she said the place reminded her of Nando so she was quite happy we went to give this place a try. We got the chicken thigh, and for sides we got the mashed potato, Frango rice, seasonal roasted veggies and “shoestring” fries.  

 

This is what I thought of the food…
Mushroom Soup: Was ok, my friend didn't seem to like it though because it was sour.
Piri piri chicken: I liked the taste as it was slightly spicy and went well with the coriander sauce and spicy sauce. Problem is whatever chicken they were using was too small and it was obvious that we were gonna be hungry afterwards.
Mashed potato: Was fine but I don’t like how they had chunks of potato in it (I know some people like that).
Shoestring fries: Er, they weren’t really shoestring fries… but nonetheless still quite tasty so I liked it.
Frango rice: Subtly flavored. I liked it but my friend did not.
Seasonal veggies: Our least favorite of the sides as it was extremely uncooked and hard.



Conclusion: My friend and I agree that the good wasn't bad but not sure if we would go back since the portions aren’t exactly big for people from Europe and Canada (we eat, a lot). Our meal ended up being around $150 which was reasonable, but then again not so reasonable since we weren’t full. In fact we had to go to Godiva for a soft serve afterwards to satisfy the rest of our appetites. Thoughts on the Godiva soft serve? Well I had to try it since it’s been seducing me for weeks with all the ads around IFC. $45 isn’t super outrageous considering the brand, but let’s just say I still prefer the cheaper Nestle or whatever ice cream cones from convenience stores and super markets.

Flaming Frango
Location: 36 Staunton St, Central
Website: NA

Godiva

Location: IFC
Website: http://www.godiva.com.hk/

Mana (Fast Slow Food)

... well actually, more like slow slow food. Seriously there was a while people had to wait 30 minutes for their wrap and this was at 12:00... not even lunch rush hour in Central yet!

I've never been one of those super healthy vegan, gluten free people, and honestly do not think I will ever become one of those people any time soon. However I do feel that every now and then I need to "cleanse" my system and have a healthy day. Some people might think that's useless to have just one healthy day a week, but I feel like at least I'm doing something good for myself every now and then. 

Today was a "stressful" day so I went ahead and spoiled myself and got their lemonade ($45) as well. Someone told me their lemonade is VERY good so I thought I'd give it a try. Well, meh, it was not life changing. Along with the full "Pick Four" wrap my bill was at $130, which is super expensive considering it's self serve fast food kind of place. Oh well, I deserved it today. I will put this price range at $70-100 tag because I normally would never get a drink which lowers the damage to $85, which is still high but once a week I can handle. I think a half wrap is around $40-50, but I really do not understand how that can possibly fill anyone up. I always get the full wrap with hummus, tofu, cheese and rockets (all the filling stuff to make sure I stay full until dinner). My recent discovery is that along with the hot sauce I steal from Nam Kee, these wraps tastes so much more awesome.

Location: Wellington street near the escalator
Website: http://www.mana.hk/