Great Cool Night.16C
I've just had a great buffet dinner with the annual party committee members at the Grand Cafe of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Not only the food was wonderful, but I have heard many interesting stories. Anyway, back to the food. It was magnificent. There were many choices: sashimi (it was ok, I think Cafe Too at Is-Shang was MUCH better, if the quality was still the same as that time I went so many years ago), seafood (mussels, shrimps, some sort of shell :P), great steak, lamb chop, fish, lobsters (I didn't have this because I don't really like lobsters), various types of salad, onion soup (I missed it!!!), cream of smoked salmon soup, water crest & pork rib soup (Chinese), and you can create your own noodles. And... there is a great selection of cheese (though not something that I'd touch) and DESSERTS!
Of the desserts, they have crepes, again with your own choice of fillings, sprinkled in heavenly dark chocolate sauce; waffles; various cakes, such as tiramisu (it's divine! The cake/lady's finger portion at the bottom was soaked in the right amount of rum so it's not too wet. The mascarpone cheese was not too soft and mushy, instead it's quite bouncy and like a rather stiff foam. Oh, it was so much better than the one I made. This would be my goal!), black forest cake, apple strudel, mango pudding, mango cheese cake, white chocolate ice cream, Chinese cup cake (I don't know how should I call it, but it's 缽仔糕), honey dew melon, hami melon, water melon, and the green apple sorbet that I really wanted to try but missed because I was way too full to take another sip.
And O-M-G! They actually have bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce!!!!!
I seriously have screamed it out loud when I saw the little card in front of the dish as it's covered. I couldn't believe that they would prepare it. And the British girl was rather astonished to see my reaction as I guess not many people, especially Asian, would like this rather dull and simple looking dessert.
My first bite was in Philly when my college friend took me to this Irish bar/restaurant in downtown one day. I love it the moment I tasted it. The bread and butter pudding (though similar, but different from bread pudding) we had was actually all soaked in custard sauce, a little harder, but you still couldn't feel that it's really bread. Anyway, it's divine. The portion was actually quite big and we two girls just gulped it all down. (um.. hopefully I remember it correctly, otherwise I'm making up my memories.) And from that moment on, whenever I go to a British/Irish restaurant, I would look for bread and butter pudding, just as I would look for tiramisu when I go to an Italian restaurant or green tea ice-cream at a Japanese restaurant.
And tonight's was not a disappointment, though the bread was like the mascarpone cheese in the tiramisu, it's a little cheesier and foamier than I have expected. Yet the texture was smooth and the vanilla sauce... oh, I just wanted to melt in it!
I don't know how much is the buffet, but I think it'll be very expensive. And the only thing that would lure me back will not be the lobster nor the sashimi, but the bread and butter pudding!
(sorry... didn't take any photos as it'd look kinda weird.)
finally can leave message here... hey u were in Philly?
ReplyDeletei love bread and butter pudding！！！
ReplyDeletemad dog: hehe... yes, they've finally fixed it.
ReplyDeleteyes, i was in philly for 4 yrs. sweet bitter years :)
carrie: bread and butter pudding rules! it's so hard to find good ones here in hk. in fact, there really aren't that many shops that would make it. :)
wow, i didn't know that there were so many B&B pudding lover... i thought i was the odd one out!
You know I do make desserts on my own (cheapie, homemade are always nicer and much more cheaper!!)?
ReplyDeleteB&BP is one of my specialy because it's basically a no brainer.
I'll try to remember to find the recipe I used, so that you can make it at home.
I think mad dog made it once as well, using panetonne (sp.) and REAL vanilla custard.
My version is very cheap: stale bread, milk, butter, cinnamon, raisins (I can't spell today, what is going on??). Custard is stricly optional as that's where all the unneccesary calories come from. :P
yup, i made it with panettone, really good. the panettone was on sale, only $25. lu, i went to philly once, it was 96 summer, were u there?
ReplyDeleteaulina: i love making desserts at home. the simpler the better. i could only make steam eggs/milk and flan... i don't have an oven at home anymore or i would've tried to make all sorts of things. mum was pretty happy that we didn't get an oven or she'll be the white mouse all the time. but yes, if you find the recipe, please let me have it!
ReplyDeletemad dog: i was in philly from sept 98. but philly was quite large so i doubt i'll bump into you even if i were there in sumemr 96. were you there for travelling? i found philly quite creepy some time. :P
sorry, so late...
ReplyDeletei studied in the States too, actually we went to Philly that year after my graduation, we stopped by a lot of cities in the east coast. u are so young, 98...
ar... no problem. better late than never. :)
ReplyDeleteyou're only a few years older, so that's also young! hehe... where did you study?
philly - did you like it? i think some parts are very nice but most of the time i think it's a creepy place. maybe becoz it's so old. i watched 6th Sense when i was still studying there. luckily we did a matinee show, but still, becoz we went downtown and it was in the middle of the old eerie part, it's still pretty scary!
I'm a big fan of bread and butter pudding as well. ^_^
ReplyDeletewow... the fans club is getting bigger!
ReplyDeletethat's unexpected!