Look who came to Park N Shop

Here's why I love living in Hong Kong. You could be grocery shopping when, just as you reach for the milk, this happens:

Get your greens

Silverview Centre may just be turning into the trendier part of town. A new yoga and pilates studio has taken over the former antique shop and now a new shop selling organic vegetables and fruit juices has opened there too. 

Allan, who runs it, is really friendly and can advise you on what's new in stock. He said his boss is part of a Tai O family, so you can also get the famous shrimp paste and dried seafood at the shop too.  

Fruit juices are HK$22 (add HK$6 for mixed fruits). I had the grape juice and I could taste all that antioxidants just coursing down my veins.

If you're facing the dimsum restaurant, the shop will be to your right.

New veg and juice shop

But I really don't know where it is. Near the Silvermine Beach Resort at a guess? This needs more investigation.

K's chippy opens!

K's has opened at the cooked food centre. Buffalo Wilbur was so excited he made me get there on the dot of 12.30pm, when it opened its doors.

 Chips!!

Cod is HK$158 for a large, HK$98 for a medium. Pollock is HK$80. But the portions are generous. And the side dishes are value for money at HK$18 for mushy peas or coleslaw.

As they were doing takeaways only, we had ours by the beach. It felt just like a beach holiday in Britain, complete with rain.

The cooked food centre is certainly going upmarket, especially after the opening of Como Lake, which is getting lots of rave reviews. Buffalo Wilbur was their first customer and he came back gibbering with delight.

Bedding wholesale shop in Mui Wo

 It's above the Thai restaurant.

Mike and Tess haven't formally opened it yet but if you ask the folks at Nitaya Thai Kitchen, they can call either one of them for you.

Super soft towels at HK$88, cushions at HK$88 and, best of all, entire duvet sets (duvet + 2 pillowcases) for only HK$499. They only have 12 sets left and once they're gone, they're gone. We bought to stock up for winter.

Drunken lion

You can't live in Hong Kong without seeing quite a few lion dances during Chinese New Year. Most of them show off their acrobatic skills but this is the first comic lion dance I've seen. Maybe it's a special Mui Wo village skit?

The lion drank beer and got drunk. It staggered up and then recovered in time for the lettuce tearing and lai si. The crowd loved it.

Chinese New Year market

The flyer said there will be a flea market section too. So guess what poor Buffalo Wilbur will be doing for the next two weekends?

The new cafe is called...

Oceania. And it's started by a former Cathay Pacific flight attendant. It will be opening in a week or two.

You heard it here first!

New shops in Mui Wo

The Mui Wo gossip mill is working at full speed. There are three vacant shops along the busiest stretch... what are they going to be?

Some say this is going to be a cafe.

Not sure about the former Typhoon Brewery.

Or the old Easy Reach office. And who is this Irene Linden who has her name up in many Mui Wo shopfronts recently?

Nitaya's Thai Kitchen

Our first trip to Nitaya's Thai Kitchen (Tel: 3489-1282) didn't get off to an auspicious start. The welcome was warm enough but when we tried to give our orders, the waitress couldn't seem to get it right (never mind that it was just F2 + D2 from the lunch set). 

After we finally got through (or so we thought), we sat down and waited...

... and waited. I got bored I started taking photos of everything in the place while staring enviously at the table next to us as they were served dish upon mouthwatering dish. I think they had about seven dishes between the two of them.

There was another waiter and waitress there but no one paid us any attention. Finally, after about half an hour, I asked the waiter what was happening to our order.

And, no surprises there, our gormless waitress hadn't put in our order. But strangely, the other two didn't think to check why two people were sitting at an empty table looking hungrier (Buffalo Wilbur) and grumpier (me) by the minute.

So we had to have our orders taken again. And waited some more.

But here's where the restaurant redeemed itself. The food was extremely good. So good we ate ourselves into a food coma.

The bill was extremely modest, even by Mui Wo standards. The lunch set was HK$43 for one dish plus a drink. And though we really shouldn't have, we had the mango and sticky rice (HK$39) for dessert and it was good enough to bring on eye-rolling ecstasies (me). Sorry, I was too busy rolling my eyes to take a photo.

Its location doesn't do it justice, tucked away as it is behind the pizzeria, next to the Bank of East Asia branch. But this is one restaurant that is sure to give the others in Mui Wo a run for their money -- provided it sorts out the service first.

New Discovery Bay kaido times

Tap Tap at Pui O

As promised, we tried out the new tapas bar in Pui O, opened on the site of the former Pui O Delicious. 

They're still in the midst of fine-tuning their menu. Here's a look at what's available. It's a pity that they don't have paella for two because that was the one we were most attracted to.

 The quality was good but prices a bit steep.

 The olives and water were free. The bread and homemade tomato sauce was HK$25 a serving.

I wish I could say we tried more of their tapas because lots of things on the menu looked yummy - but that's all we could afford. It's probably the kind of place that's best frequented in a group so you can share more of the nibbles.

The bill came to HK$210. We had to go back to Mui Wo and fill up on bread from Kit's Village Bakery.

Mui Wo restaurants up their game

Lately, there have been quite a number of new eateries popping up. And that is great news for diners because it means that the existing ones have had to upgrade their offerings to keep the clientele coming. 

The Kitchen seems to have gotten over their patchy hump with a new chef. Pedro looks like he knows what he's doing... although service is still a bit hit and miss. That's Pedro's special: beef cubes in wine. Quite yummy but I'm not sure it's value for money at HK$78,

China Bear has added a whole new juice menu. You can have freshly squeezed juice with your breakfast too.

Other changes:

• Gordon's has a new TV screen showing what he has to offer (the lamb briyani's always good). 
• Deerhorn has included more stuff in their menu. The prawn curry (HK$95) is to die for!
• Village Bakery is now serving coffee, along with deli stuff such as olives, prosciutto, feta-stuffed peppers (Buffalo Wilbur's favourite) and sundried tomatoes.

Village Bakery's grand opening

Kit's shop is open! The opening ceremony was so sweet, it felt like you were invited to a family gathering.

They're selling only white sliced bread today but the full variety will be up on Monday. So don't forget to stop by for a loaf.