BBITES Mini-Post #9 x snack time @ Genie

Happy Easter!

Went to IFC the other day and stopped by Genie Juicery for the first time. I was following a friend who goes regularly, and decided to pick up a juice and snack as well.

Of course, I’d heard of Genie before; one of the founders (Cara G. McIlroy) is a fellow model in Hong Kong – and their PR machine is quite effective. The prices (each bottle costs around $70) are a far cry from the fresh orange juice I pick up from local vendors in my neighbourhood ($12), but it’s not for no reason: the recipes are complex and everything is cold-pressed.

Among the many juices on display was the Life Blood juice, a “blood cleansing uplifter“. Sounded like exactly what I needed, since I’d had alcohol the night before.The juice was delicious from the first sip with a consistency somewhere between water and a smoothie. The recipe was well-balanced: wholesome beetroot; apple and carrot, which always go well together; and lemon – the perfect citrus touch to round things up.

To pair with the juice, I also picked up a Pana Chocolate wild fig and orange bar. This brand makes chocolate by hand with no heat – and the result is an intense cocoa flavour, and an incredibly velvety, truffle-like texture. You have to keep these refrigerated as they melt once you start handling them, but that shouldn’t be a problem since I finished mine in under a minute. I eat orange-infused chocolates often, and this one was really great.

While I may not be ready for a 6-day cleanse just yet, I was certainly very pleased with my first taste of what Genie has to offer…

Bakker x

Sunday: Pho Day

Sometimes Sundays just have to be: PHO days!

After drinks on a Saturday night, there’s nothing like a steaming hot bowl of pho to make you feel better.

Usually I drag my lazy self to my neighbourhood pho – which is mediocre, but there are times when proximity trumps all. This week, however, my friend Claire and I decided we needed to step up our pho game.After a quick cab drive to Wan Chai, we arrived at Locomotive Café and immediately ordered 2x raw and cooked beef bowls of pho. It was an odd time for a meal – around 3:30pm – so we were relieved to see that it was still open, and blissfully quiet and empty inside as we were the only patrons.Locomotive has a charming back-story of how the scent of an old man’s pho broth caught the attention of commuters at a Saigon train station, and how he became a popular vendor afterwards.Quaint decor details, like luggage storage and clocks on the wall with times of different cities are a nice complement to the story – but the most charming of all is the pho itself!

When it comes to pho, the make or break is the broth. And, with a rich, sweet-salty aroma of spices – cinnamon and star anise shining through – the broth was a winner!

Unlike my stingy neighbourhood pho (which, by the way costs the same price!!), Locomotive‘s pho has all the goodies a good pho deserves to have: sliced onion, chives, coriander, fried shallots, as well as lime, bean sprouts and chilli offered on the side. Meanwhile, the beef cuts are wonderfully thin, tender and with just the right amount of fat. Some pho soups are too salty and heavy, but Locomotive‘s was the perfect balance to keep both Claire and I sipping away until there was nothing left…

Bakker x