Holy Chef: All-day Breakfast Rising Star?

20:20 5.5 Emptyplates , All-day breakfast , Cafe , Western 0 Comments

位於長沙灣與荔枝角的中間，好日都不會經過，找了一段時間發現它坐落於車房與住宅區中間，在all-day breakfast界漸露頭角的Holy Chef，吸引了我和Lorling在一個很大風的秋天走進這特色小店，至令我們還未在香港找到非常合心意的brunch好去處。餐廳的設計很有新式年輕一派的個人特色，黑白色用marker筆設計的的塗鴉與卡通，木色的小擺設，還滲了一點復古風的美國特色與日本食品。說可愛或舒適又說不上，但深受年青人愛戴亦不感到出奇。

Cheung Sha Wan is definitely not a place where the Gang frequently visits but then so happen that we were around the area and we heard about the hype that is going on with this upbeat all day breakfast place. It took Carly quite some time to find this spot around the corner near car repair shops (was a bit sketchy!) The place was not spacious as it could only fit up to 19 people max (including the bar area) but liked how the interior design was modern with a simple black and white graffiti theme and a bit of mixture of American and  Japanese vintage style. The upbeat twist matched with their target base of attracting younger generation of foodies that are more accepted to brunch (late risers!) and all day breakfast for meals.

Crab Aligue Pasta 蟹膏意粉

樣子看上去很吸引但份量和味道都欠奉，蟹膏味不夠濃亦不太出色，點點的蟹肉顯得這這意粉的份量特別少。意粉的咬口與質感不俗就是我們會形容為  “al dente” 的那一種，有趣的是意粉有點接近天使麵的幼度卻又因為蟹膏與蟹粉的醬汁不是特別幼滑的那一種，所以太幼的意粉會不好掛汁，不能夠一口意粉裡嘗盡意粉的咬感與醬汁的味道。

Aligue is the crab fat or crab roe that gives this rich, creamy taste and texture to the pasta which formalizes a great sauce base. The pasta was sort of the combination of spaghetti and angel hair which was a determining factor as to how much sauce the pasta will carry when you take a bite in one spoon, the aligue sauce was thick enough to hang with the pasta, the creamy texture I will give it a pass, but then it was lacking the richness, seasoning and flavor of crab fat.  It is the best season around to indulge in some fatty hairy crabs! Forget about pasta just go with the whole winter Chinese cuisine!

Egg Benedict with Parma Ham
Farm bread/Poached Egg/Hollandaise Sauce/Parma Ham with Side salad

好吧，我承認我對Egg Benedict的要求要頗高的，在加拿大吃了得多年，回港後就是找不到一間煮Egg Benedict有水準的餐廳。有機會是因為雞蛋的品種，外國的蛋特別大隻且蛋香較重，所以煮出來的poached eggs亦會較大和挺身。挺身的蛋會較彈牙而且新鮮的雞蛋才會有這效果。火腿又是特別厚身，所以那一點點的火腿咸香和出色的poached eggs，配上烘到微脆的英式鬆餅(English muffin) ，這就是我最懷念的Egg Benedict，在香港就只有18 Grams 的Egg Benedict是本人比較滿意，其他相對出名的Brunch Club, Bricklane, Caffe Habitu, Simplylife都只是中規中矩。Holy Chef Egg Benedict味道還可以，poached egg的蛋黃流心，Hollandaise sauce夠杰身，parma ham吃得出不是最平宜的那一種且帶有咸香，只是略嫌farm bread太薄身，切厚身點，把麵包再烘得脆點，口感會更加豐富，而且亦不會被overflooding的蛋黃和hollandiase sauce蓋過風頭，Egg Benedict的麵包亦很重要的呀！

Traditionally, I would love to have my egg benedicts served with hash browns (okay just anything fatty will do) but again Holy Chef is not traditional American style of all-day breakfast. What makes a mind-blowing Egg Benedict? Few things – Crispy and slightly buttery English muffin, flavorful & non-soggy Hollandaise sauce, runny and cooked just right poached eggs with fresh ingredients of parma ham/bacon/spinach/smoked salmon. At least these were the standards back in Canada/North America. Portions are relatively small compared to its average price of HKD 98 to 118 per item. Can tell they used a higher grade of parma harm as it gives a darker reddish tone and decent ham savory taste. Poached eggs was cooked about right as the egg yolk was still runny when it was served warm to the table. Instead of English muffins (which I would love a traditional buttery, crispy one to go with the runny egg yolk), Holy Chef offers a healthier choice to go with thin slice of whole wheat farm bread and no butter added. Liked how it was not as hard as the ones at Simplylife (their bread is stone hard! Can be used as a weapon haha!)

Mr.Big – A Full English Big Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs/Button mushrooms toast/Roasted Tomato/Ham/Baked beans/Salad/Cream Potatoes/Sausage 雖然話就話係英式早餐，但誠言不是真的很傳統。沒有厚厚的煙肉，沒有傳統的black pudding和一般的炸物如薯餅。Holy Chef的all-day breakfast都是走較健康的路線，可能會比較形合香港人的口味吧。只有炒蛋炒得頗滑，蛋味和蛋香不錯之外，其他的沒有甚麼好值得一提的。

So many different varieties for a big breakfast and it is does have the English twist to it when you offer baked beans and sausages but it was lacking bacon and other fried items like golden hash browns and black pudding. The scrambled eggs were creamy and smooth with a rather orange color, yet the color of the egg yolk is determined by the hen’s diet rather than the breed so it is impossible to tell what kind of origin the eggs are from.  

Matcha Milkshake 綠茶奶昔

很久沒有喝過好味的奶昔！在Starbucks的Green tea latte偏甜，很多地方的奶昔因為用雪糕打出滑身的質感，但壞處就是很甜和heavy，喝完大半杯就已經沒有多餘的胃口吃正餐。Holy Chef的奶昔出奇地有淡淡的奶香，不會很heavy，而且綠茶的茶香在喝完一口的奶昔才慢慢回湧，加上點點的Orea碎讓不太甜的朱古力味把看似簡單的綠茶奶昔變到不平凡！絕對會因為想在週末的時間，走進Holy Chef喝一杯輕盈又好味的奶昔。

Green Tea milkshake topped off with oreo crumbs. Favorite item at this place! Usually milkshakes are done with just a heavy base, scoops of icecream which you ended up having an overly sugary drink that quickly fills you up before you can get to your regular meal. Great thing about the Match milkshake here is that it is rather light which gives you a light Japanese green tea aroma whilst as that richness and smoothness  of milk itself, I am guessing that full cream 3.6 milk might be used. To top it off with a little bit of chocolate so that the green tea and milk flavor stands out. It is a milkshake but it is great light drink to go with the main dishes at Holy Chef. I will come back to try more!

Bloody Smoothie 紅菜頭雪梨奶昔

紅菜頭與雪梨出奇地夾，味道清新還有少少的雪梨微粒，增強了口感。個人還是偏愛他們的奶昔，就是沒有在其他嘗過如此有水準的奶昔。

Beetroot and Pear mix type of smoothie. Refreshing and loved the natural sweetness of pears as it adds a bit of chunkiness, a great choice for healthy eaters I was myself a bit surprised that the pears and beetroot which no one is really a fan of can complement each other so well. But again, the milkshakes here are better than their smoothies.

Holy Star

Holy Chef推介的甜品，星形泡芙，棒子忌廉加上杏仁碎和鹽味焦糖醬。泡芙吃上去像空氣，棒子忌廉有淡淡的果仁味但略嫌不夠濃，鹽味焦糖醬咸一點會更加突出焦糖的甜味。

Airy, light puff with hazelnut cream filling, sprinkled with roasted almond flakes and salted caramel sauce. The dessert looks photogenic but as a signature dessert dish, I was expecting something that will woah me over, if this was not in a ‘star’ shape then it would just be another ordinary cream puff. Flavor-wise was average, it would get better if the salted caramel sauce added an extra hint of savory taste.

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Ice Cream

這個容許我說是不好味吧。拖肥布丁暖暖的上碟，是有翻焗的，味道卻很淡，吃不出拖肥，只是吃得出有麵粉和點點的蛋香。雲尼拿雪糕水水的，味道很淡，有一點失望吧。
Surprisingly, this tasted really bland. The toffee flavor did not stand out even as the pudding cake came out warm but rather floury. Ice-cream was vanilla flavor from Haagen Dazs so not much you can expect.

我會再來嗎？如果經過長沙灣一帶有可能吧，記得去之前要打電話訂位。如果要苦等一小時才吃得這小店，會有一點不高興啦。但因為他們的奶昔，我係會返來嘅！期待Holy Chef定期轉一次餐牌，給他們多一次機會，如果不是，我只能說近期的好評如潮是有點過譽了。

Would I give this place a second chance? Yes but not so much of the cravings anymore since there are better all-day-breakfast choices out there in Hong Kong (18 Grams and Bricklane still on top of my fav list). I will come back for their milkshakes though and try out their new items as they change it on a regular basis. It might be the menu this time didn't do them justice as they change their menu items regularly, it is fair to say that the pictures look more appealing than they taste yet I am still looking forward to the next experience at Holy Chef so I can go “Holy smokes! This is the best all-day-breakfast place ever.”