18 grams...

is the amount of ground coffee required to make an expresso and also the name of a little gem cafe i found on openrice.com on monday when i was craving some real coffee on this little island of inhabitants that prefers drinking tea.

we visited the mongkok 18 grams cafe, which is located at shop b04, gala place, 56 dundas street. the eat street is a bit hidden... if you are heading from nathan road, you need to walk past the main entrance to the gala place arcade... continue past starbucks and you will discover the entrance to a smaller arcade of eateries. 18 grams is tucked away at the end of the arcade. you will notice the posters advertising the cafe and their menus before you actually reach it. they are open 7 days, between 11:30am - 9:00pm.

the little bit of research i did on this place tells me that, 18 grams is run by glory coffee, who are local coffee importers and roasters. the location of this cafe at the end of the arcade helps provide a cosy quiet feel... something that is quite rare in hong kong. we arrived around 3pm on a weekday, so it was very quiet...  lovely and relaxing.

because of the time of the day we arrived. we chose to have their afternoon tea set with coffees (of course!). lasagne & house blend coffee and spaghetti boscaiola & cafe americano.

firstly, the coffees.... it was like the sweet complex but well co-ordinated tones of a symphony after a week of going without coffee. i had the cafe americano, which i suspect has been prepared more as a long black judging by the beautiful layer of crema that was still evident. the blend was smooth & full, with no acidic after taste.... it was great.

our barista...

the pasta were both in smaller portions for afternoon tea, the spaghetti was cooked al dente with a really nice good resistence. the cream sauce with mushrooms, bacon & onions was combined wonderfully.  the lasagne tasted fresh and homemade with beef mince, eggplant, tomato, italian herbs... the flavours mixing together in a wholesome and fresh combination. ooh i so missed my western cuisine & thoroughly enjoyed the food & coffee served at this little gem of a cafe.

did i mention that this meal was a steal at HKD $106! and for travellers, they do understand english... and this cafe had photos of sydney on one of their walls... talk about pulling at the heartstrings! they also have cafes in causeway bay (i intend to try this one, it has been described as an australian style cafe) & also at tsim sha tsui.

spaghetti boscaiola

lasagne

"long lunch" @ district dining

district dining... a restaurant that i have been eagerly anticipating to eat at, a foodie friend has been raving about this restaurant & loves it so much she even held an intimate surprise wedding dinner at this venue about three months ago. so when dext arranged lunch on sunday... i just could not refuse the invitation.

firstly, they are located at 17 randle street, surry hills. they have the sunday "long lunch" for which they are open from 12pm to 5pm and there is a set menu for $70 which includes entrees, mains and desserts. my first thought was that this is a little pricey for lunch... (its even more expensive than the press club), but it didn't take long for these thoughts to be forgotten.

first impressions... we were the first to arrive & the restaurant was very quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, a nice spot to have a long lunch on sunday. the location is very convenient, if you are driving, there is lots of street parking available & if you are catching public transport - the restaurant is just a walk across the road from central station. the staff were very friendly & the service was delightful. we were directed to our table which oddly ran alongside a wall where there were a set of lift doors, the lifts never opened, but sitting next to it, i had this feeling that i'd hear a "ding" at any moment & the doors would open with people wanting to come out... that was a tiny bit off-putting. however, as we were a large group, this was probably the best location for us to sit. however, if you have a smaller group i'd recommend getting a table along the side where windows are... much better lighting for photos of the food!

once i got over the possibility of suddenly hearing chilled out elevator music coming from behind me, it was easy to settle in & enjoy myself at district dining. we were served bread, italian nocellara del belice olives (which are beautiful to look at & wonderful to taste), and olive oil as a pre-lunch nibble. the atmosphere is very chill, we weren't rush to order food or get on with it... it was enjoyable to be able to spend a long lunch with friends, & to talk uninterrupted except to be served delicious food. parents with babies had lots of room around the table for prams, & doing what they have to do with a sometimes restless baby... we had three little people & three prams, the bubs were very well behaved & even caught up on a few Zzz at the restaurant (that must be saying something!). some helpful trivia for parents, i was informed by two of the mums that there is a bench in the ladies' that is big enough to change nappies on.

:: entree ::

this was lightly seared kingfish... cooked on the edges & raw on the inside

kingfish is my sashimi of choice, i thought this was nice & light, a good entree for summer

i particularly liked the wasabi pannacotta... it gave the dish a bit more depth

:: main ::

the ras el hanout spices had a little zing to it, i found it a bit too salty for my taste, but otherwise the duck was succulently tender.

the sweet potato chips & pomegranate were a lovely combination with the ras el hanout

:: dessert ::

i chose the chocolate mousse, because i was craving it massively

the serving was very generous. it was good & rich... so if you don't have a sweet tooth choose a lighter option, or if there are a few of you... choose something lighter to compliment this.

the hazelnut crumble was ridiculously delicious & very crunchy. i really enjoyed this but could only consumer a third of the dessert.

some three and a half hours after arriving at district dining, we finally left... i really enjoyed my dining experience here & would return for more, especially for the sunday long lunch. i was really impressed by the total package, it was a great venue with nice ambience, wonderfully helpful staff who was nursing one of the babies for a time there (hehe, he was offered free lunches & dinner for life... i guess that's food sorted for him). and the food was as good as it looks in the photos.