The Cat’s Choices

A couple of places we’ve tried recently. The Cat chose.

First was Christmas day lunch. Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant(Ala Moana Shopping Center, 4th Floor).

A little historical (or is it hysterical, no definitely not hysterical) reference. It was just after their grand opening. Friends had invited us to dinner to celebrate Chinese New Year. One of the dishes they ordered was a whole steamed fish (because they know The Cat likes fish heads). One bite of the fish and The Cat is whispering in my ear “the fish is borderline spoiled”. She discreetly tells the waiter the problem (our hosts are not Chinese and don’t speak Chinese). At first, the waiter offers us complimentary dessert but one of the managers nixes the offer. We’re not faulting the restaurant for serving a bad dish (it happens). We’re somewhat miffed they didn’t try to rectify the problem. Since then  I haven’t returned.

Fate dealt The Cat a different path. Her business partner wants dim sum on a weekly basis. For a while now his “go to” choice had been Panda Cuisine, just outside the Ala Moana Shopping Center. Last month they closed for renovations (they changed owners). And The Cat’s business partner had to find a new place. The nearest place with dim sum was Jade Dynasty. They’ve been there several times. The Cat thought the service improved and the dim sum was decent.

The Cat saw the advertisement for their Christmas buffet and wanted to try. She was hoping that there were several things on the buffet line that she normally doesn’t get (the business partner does most of the ordering). So we get there and we are told they can seat us but we only can stay an hour because of the next seating (we didn’t have reservations, that’s a whole story in itself). The food on the buffet line is not what The Cat expected and the selections were not consistent. It felt like the restaurant made a limited amount of pans of each dish and brought it out willy-nilly. One pass didn’t have a certain dim sum but the next pass had. Once the pan was empty (and they emptied rather quickly), a different selection came out. If you weren’t there at the right time, you lose. Not to mention there was no char siu, roast duck, or custard tarts as advertised (they probably ran out of those too). You would think that a company that has 22 restaurants in Hong Kong (Paramount Catering Group) would have their act together. Big sigh.

While some of the food was alright, it was just alright.

Mouse's Plate

I must say though, the shoyu pork and the steamed mochi rice were above decent. The rest was alright.

Cat's Plate

The Cat said the chicken feet wasn’t done well at all.

Mouse's Plate, Second Round

Shrimp and Spinach Dumpling, Right Place, Right Time

Deep-Fried Taro Gok, Shrimp Dumplings, and Deep-Fried Tofu Skin Roll

Spring Mountain Coconut Bun (Green), Snow Mountain Char Siu Bun (White), and Mango Mochi (Yellow)

At least the pictures turned out pretty.

On a positive note, nothing was spoiled, so I guess I’ll upgrade my rating from “bleh” to “meh”.

The second choice was also at the Ala Moana Shopping Center. On the advice of one of The Cat’s clients, we tried Rokkaku Authentic Japanese Cuisine (Ala Moana Center, 3rd Floor).

Sign

A quick scan on their online menu and we thought better to try lunch first (less risky and less pricey).

Entrance Lighting

Chopsticks

For the day after Christmas, the restaurant was offering a few specials. The Cat chose Kamo (Duck) Nabe.

Kamo (Duck) Nabe Teishoku

Kamo (Duck) Nabe

Duck

The Cat said the dish was well done, good ingredients. But she prefers the Chinese roast duck and five spice taste (personal preference).

I originally chose the tofu and egg nabe. What I got was shirauo (icefish) and egg nabe.

Shirauo and Egg Nabe

The server got the order wrong. Rather than make a fuss, I said I would eat it. The impression I got was she was trying to convince me that that’s what I ordered. Sigh.

According to Wikipedia,  icefish “have translucent or transparent bodies, and lack any scales. The head is strongly depressed and has numerous teeth. The adults are believed to be neotenic, retaining some larval features. For example, the skeleton is not fully ossified, consisting largely of cartilage.”

Shirauo

Uhm, really not my favorite. Maybe if it was deep-fried like smelt, but in  soup, too icky for my  tastes. My order came with sides similar to The Cat.

Green Salad

Edamame

Soup

Rice with Shiso Leaves

Pickles

My favorites were the rice and pickles. The pickles were really well done. The shiso leaves in the rice gave a nice aroma and taste.

The restaurant had an interesting custom. One teacup at the beginning.

Genmaicha (Roasted Brown Rice Green Tea)

Another cup, same tea, at the end of the meal.

With Toothpicks

Totally off the subject, but the high point for The Cat was her visit to the bathroom. The toilet is one of the Japanese high-tech numbers. Regular wash, strong wash (her clothes got wet), massage, blow dry. The blow dry cycle starts of cool and gradually warms up until the temperature gets rather toasty. She was in the bathroom for a while going through all the options. She was having so much fun, she forgot to get a picture. The Cat said the visit to the bathroom was worth the price of lunch. She couldn’t stop laughing. 😉

Two restaurants at Ala Moana, two mehs (my opinion). One entertaining toilet.

I guess in every journey there are potholes (and sometimes funny bathrooms).

Enjoy.

The Mouse

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