Oddies Foodies, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

Along with Dim Sum, Wanton Noodles and Roast Goose, the Egg Waffle must rank amongst Hong Kong's most iconic must-try dishes. Shaped as rounded bubbles rather than the gridded waffle shape more common in the west, Alissa and I ran out of time to try them during our last Hong Kong trip in 2013, and as such Alissa wanted to ensure a dessert of Egg Waffles was added to our dining itinerary this time around. Scouring blogs and Instagram feeds, Alissa came upon Oddies Foodies, a Wan Chai hole in the wall serving a particularly food porny take on the Egg Waffle.  Little more than 500m away from our ramen dinner at Kamitora, we decided to pop into Oddies afterwards for dessert.

Gelato Messina, Fitzroy, Victoria (Alissa and Donovan Eat Australia)

In the culinary battle for Australia's best foodie city, I've always felt that Gelato Messina was a massive feather in Sydney's cap, and one that Melbourne just did not have as good an answer to. For those who have not been fortunate enough to try Messina's exceptional gelato, their aesthetic is best exemplified by the process that goes into the making of their famous Apple Pie Gelato, where pie pastry and apple pie filling are made from scratch, giving their gelato a reality of flavour that simply cannot be found in lesser, essence/extract based ice cream. With an artistic, almost Heston Blumenthalesque drive to discover new wild and wonderful flavours, Messina are probably the best gelateria in Australia, and the opening of a Fitzroy branch in 2013 gave serious leg up in the Sydney/Melbourne intercity rivalry.

I Scream Caffe, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 2, Part 5)

Feeling full after our delicious dinner at The Monogamous Chinese, Alissa and Iwalked the Mid-Level Escalators back to Central. The reason for our walk was three-fold: to work off some of the calories from our dinner, to work out how to get from the IFC shopping complex near in Central to Caprice for dinner the next day and to have some ice cream at the well regarded gelateria I Scream Caffe.

My initial plans to dine at I Scream Caffe came about because it used to be located immediately above Monogamous Chinese. Due to expensive rent and either upgrading or downsizing, restaurant relocations are very common in Hong Kong and I Scream Caffe has relocated to IFC's high end shopping complex.

The shop looks like a typical gelateria, featuring a great array of flavours with the tubs displaying that wavy poured-in surface that screams legit gelato.

Alissa always says ice cream is a dessert that you can eat even if you're full as when it melts it can fit in the gaps between all the other food, and having recovered slightly from the dinner I had three scoops to Alissa's two.

My three were in order from the top: Black and White Sesame, Lychee and Ginger. Alissa's were Pistachio and Earl Grey Tea. To begin with the texture of all five flavours was spot on gelato, having that fluffy airy texture I come to expect from good quality gelato.

My three were the more Asian flavours, and I Scream Caffe were very successful in combining these flavours with Gelato texture. The Black and Whit Sesame was my favourite – I've had sesame ice cream before but this was by far the most successful I've had. The lychee had decent chunks of fruit within, and the ginger was well balanced, neither having too little or too much ginger.

Alissa's favourite combination of flavours is salty and sweet, and the pistachio ice cream got this balance perfectly. The Earl Grey was even better, not just tasting of tea but actually tasting like Earl Grey tea in particular.

The Verdict: Very Good
Its not quite on the level of Gelato Messina in Sydney (my favourite gelato joint in Australia), but as an ice cream fiend, its great to find quality ice cream in a new city. With its very central location I Scream Caffe makes its easy to recommend.