Hong Kong: The Food Edition
30 Nov - 4 Dec 2014
Haven't done one of these travelogue thingees in a while! This post took weeks to write!
It's been more than a month since I got back but I was reminiscing about the holiday (as always) and the FOOD... we literally ate from morning till night on our last day there. Walked from Prince Edward to Tsim Sha Tsui. Ate from 10am to 10pm! Haha. Must have tried at least 6 or 7 different stalls that day. Worth getting fat for! Ahahaha.
Speaking of fat.... THE DIET HAS TO START NOW! :x #10moremonthstoslimdown
#ohmanwheredidthetimego
This was my 4th trip to Hong Kong and for a different HK experience, we trekked the Dragon's Back trail and also visited Lamma Island! More on those next time. This post will specifically focus on all the food I ate in HK!
Our travel companions! :)
Digress a bit, the bears are very excited coz we managed to source for some new t-shirts for them! Made to measure ok! Bespoke t-shirts from Queensway hehehe :)
For this trip I ploughed through several recommended lists and read lots of foodie reviews online, so all the food places listed here were specially curated! We planned our route to cover most of the eateries and I would say that I managed to visit about 80% of my shortlisted places haha.
Tai Cheong Bakery
35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central
Nearest MTR: Central
First foodie stop - Tai Cheong Bakery for egg tarts!
Best eaten warm, buttery and fresh! We had this on the first and second days and both times we just stood outside the shop to eat.
Tai Cheong is just steps away from another awesome Cha Chan Teng...
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Lan Fong Yuen 蘭芳園
2 Gage Street, Central
Nearest MTR: Central
Which was unfortunately closed on Sunday when we first arrived in HK :(
But we went back the next morning! And had the most awesome 奶茶 ever~
猪扒捞丁 - essentially just 出前一丁 noodles (Hong Kongers love their 出前一丁) and a nice hot cup of 丝袜奶茶 (silk stocking milk tea) which is one of their signature items. The milk tea is so fragrant I could have it every day! I also like that it comes with no sugar so you can customize the sweetness to your liking.
Their other signature item was the pork chop bun but I found it to be quite normal. It came with mayo and a slice of tomato.
Wanted to save stomach space and didn't want to overeat, but I read that the french toast here is also another must try!
What it looks like when open. Really a hole-in-the-wall eatery - the seating area is located behind.
***
Tsui Wah Restaurant 翠華餐厅
15 Wellington Street, Central
Nearest MTR: Central
Tsui Wah has quite a few other outlets in various parts of Hong Kong but for some reason most people refer to this one in Wellington Street.
Central really has a lot of good food. We would walk over to Central for breakfast every morning from our hotel!
Had to order the breakfast set coz we were there before 11am! Eggs, ham, mock abalone & macaroni. There's something about the milk tea in Hong Kong that makes it super fragrant! Just tastes different from our local teh tarik.
Crispy buns with butter and condensed milk (奶油猪仔包)
And we reeeeealllly wanted to try the pork chop bun from Tsui Wah which was another recommended item but we were too full, so we we tabao-ed it to eat in Shenzhen. :D
A bit wasted though, coz it was cold and a little soggy by then. I'm sure it would have been much more awesome when eaten straight out of the kitchen!
Tsui Wah is right opposite Yung Kee which we didn't get to visit this trip. But we did visit another awesome roast goose place! (Which I will talk about later)
***
Mak's Noodles
77 Wellington Street, Central
Nearest MTR: Central
And just further down along the same street...
We ordered one bowl of 水饺 + 云吞面 to share after our first breakfast at Tsui Wah. HKD$50 (about SGD$8) for this tiny bowl! But it's so delicious I'd gladly fork out the cash. Love the springy noodles and the generous and fresh fillings of the dumplings!
Nom nom nom nom
IMO the serving size is just right because it allows you to try more food after you finish your noodles!
***
Tsim Chai Kee Noodles 沾仔记
98 Wellington Street, Central
Nearest MTR: Central
Right opposite Mak's is another famous noodle shop! I actually didn't know about Tsim Chai Kee till I was doing some research on places to eat in Central when I was there. Haha. Love that everything is within walking distance on Wellington Street!
Ordered one bowl with handmade fishballs and wanton to share. Share everything in HK to free up more stomach space for other food!!! Especially since we were travelling in a pair, we have to be more selective about what goes into our bellies.
#makesurethecaloriesareworthit
Need some fibre! 油菜 in Hong Kong is actually quite yummy, pity we only discovered that much later into the trip.
Huge handmade fishball!
The fishball is different from the bouncy types that we're used to over here.
Some have said that the soup at Tsim Chai Kee is more flavourful compared to Mak's but I think their differentiating factor is that they sell other toppings such as gigantic fishballs and beef slices in addition to wanton. If you're talking about value-for-money, Tsim Chai Kee's is probably more worth it than Mak's.
***
Tim Ho Wan 添好运
9 - 11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po
Nearest MTR: Sham Shui Po
Ahhh... when in Hong Kong, how can we miss this? I've tried the Tim Ho Wan in Singapore once and the char siew baos were really pretty good. Since we're already in the land of dim sum, we must give this a try!
Apparently the outlet at Sham Shui Po is one of the 2 outlets with the Michelin Star (the other being their first outlet in Mongkok which has closed down according to DanielFoodDiary) so we went down after our day trip to Shenzhen. It's about a 10min walk from Sham Shui Po MTR. Not exactly the most convenient of locations but ah~ the lengths we'd go for good food lol. Got there at 6pm and luckily there was no queue!!!
I always order 皮蛋瘦肉粥 when it comes to porridge - I'm predictable like that
"Chiu Chow" Style Steamed Dumplings
Steamed beancurd skin roll filled with meat and vegetable
(Item description directly taken from their English menu)
Another shot with the chee cheong fun we ordered
My photos here all have a reddish tint to it! :(
And the pièce de résistance - the famed Tim Ho Wan baked char siew baos!
Warm, juicy goodness with a baked crust. Definitely one of the better char siew baos I've had. But then again I'm not a huge char siew bao fan haha.
Paul says that it's better than the one in Singapore! The one in SG didn't leave much of an impression he says.
If it's good enough for #paultheporklover then I think it's good enough for us plebeians!
We didn't order that much (only 5 items!) because we wanted to save stomach space for our second dinner! Heh :D
***
Little Sheep 小肥羊
1F - 4F, 16 Argyle Street, Mongkok
Nearest MTR: Mongkok
Our second dinner!
There are many 小肥羊 outlets all around and the price is cheaper if you go after 9pm. I think we paid about HKD$138 per pax or thereabouts? Ate till our bellies were so round!
We had the mushroom broth tried not to over order. Haha. (We never finish all the food ordered at steamboat buffets except once.) Paul finished 2 plates of thinly sliced beef! And a few times the food we ordered never came. And because the menu is in Chinese, I had some problem understanding some of the terms they used... like I thought 猪滑 is pork slices but it's actually pork liver. So most of the time we were trying to figure out whether what we ordered was what actually arrived. LOL.
We didn't really like the fish though, it was too bony!
***
Ho Hung Kee Congee and Noodle Shop 何洪记
Level 12, 1204-1205 Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay
Nearest MTR: Causeway Bay
I had wanton noodles at 3 different places this trip. The third one is at Ho Hung Kee, the only wanton noodle shop that has a Michelin star! Never knew HK had so many eateries awarded with stars. I don't think our local culinary scene pales in comparison to Hong Kong's. How come we don't get the highly coveted stars?
Apparently it moved to a swankier mall from its old location
Again, my usual order of 皮蛋瘦肉粥
Some say that the porridge is also very smooth and good but I didn't have much impression of it. The one that lingers in my mind the most is the porridge at 糖朝 (my must-go haunt each time I visit HK) which I sadly didn't get to visit this trip due to stomach constraints :(
But then... how bad can food in Hong Kong be? I would say almost everything I ate was good!
One star noodles! Ordered a bowl with a mix of wanton and dumplings.
Also tried some beancurd skin wrapped something
I think I highly resemble the Michelin mascot!
Anyway, after trying all 3 highly recommended variations of wanton mee, my vote goes to Mak's! Somehow Mak's left a deeper impression. It could be the whole environment of the place too, coz Mak's feels more authentic with the whole cha chan teng setup while Ho Hung Kee felt more atas (and it's located in an atas shopping mall in Causeway Bay).
That said, I still I love Hong Kong style wanton mee! The noodles are so thin and springy and QQ, so different from some of the starchy mee kia here! And I love the prawn dumplings and wanton! Ratio of skin to filling is just right! The soup is so tasty too although I'm not sure if they put in any MSG.
Paul likes his wanton mee with char siew so all the wanton mee we had probably didn't satisfy his char siew loving tendencies haha. But if you add char siew to Hong Kong style wanton mee then it won't be Hong Kong style anymore!
Also read that there are various noodle shops all bearing the name Mak's - apparently they all stem from the same shifu. I tried Mak Man Kee (which was right beside the highly popular Australian Dairy Company) during my last trip to Hong Kong and it was quite similar to the Mak's at Wellington Street!
***
Hui Lau Shan
Various outlets across Hong Kong
Some mango dessert after noodles at Ho Hung Kee. Hui Lau Shan needs no introduction, but I think there are probably better and nicer dessert shops in Hong Kong (didn't focus much on desserts this time round)
***
Yee Shun Milk Company 義順牛奶公司
506 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay
Nearest MTR: Causeway Bay
Next stop: steamed milk with ginger (姜汁燉奶). I've been going back every time ever since my first visit when Gillian (or is it Mabel?) introduced this to us. And I order the same thing every time LOL (predictable again). So smooth and the ginger warms the belly up on a cold night!
Didn't get to try the steamed milk from Australian Dairy Co. (was rationing belly space). Heard their steamed milk is good too! Ah well. Next trip!
***
Capital Cafe 華星冰室
Shop B1, G/F, Kwong Sang Hong Building
6 Heard Street, Wan Chai
Nearest MTR: Wan Chai
Macaroni soup with char siew
Star item at Capital Cafe - scrambled eggs with on toast! This was good! Comparable to ADC! I feel that ADC's scrambled eggs wins by a slight notch coz it's more fragrant. But this would be a good substitute! (and also I feel that the little bits of truffle makes it more photogenic LOL)
Wall filled with signatures of famous folks (presumably)
And the exterior on a cold and wet evening
***
Sang Kee Congee Shop 生記粥品專家
G/F, 7 - 9 Burd Street,
Nearest MTR: Sheung Wan
You guessed it! 皮蛋瘦肉 hahaha. I like mine with lots of pepper. Had this before we left for Lamma Island!
More photogenic now with 姜葱 added
***
Yat Lok Restaurant
G/F. 34 - 38 Stanley Street
Nearest MTR: Central
It was already Day 3 and we realized that we haven't had any roasted meat in the land of roasted meat! What a travesty!
Instead of going to the rather pricey Yung Kee, we went to this humble little eatery that has garnered rave reviews for its roast goose. Plus it's cheaper too! :D
Do not underestimate this plate of rice. LOOK AT THAT GOOSE!
Some roast pork and char siew for #paultheporklover
And some greens for fibre
***
Holly Brown Cafe
G/F, 22 Stanley Street, Central
Nearest MTR: Central
Didn't really get the chance to do cafe hopping in Hong Kong. Went to 2 cafes (18 Grams and Cafe Corridor, both in Causeway Bay) and both were closed/was closing -___-"
Passed Holly Brown after Yat Lok and decided to go in to seek shelter from the rain. Honolulu was supposed to have an outlet at 33 Stanley Street but when we went there, we couldn't find any unit 33! Either it moved or we were too blind to see it. But never mind we managed to go to another Honolulu at Wan Chai.
Had some waffles with fruits, can't remember the name now but it was pretty average
***
Sing Heung Yeun 勝香園
2 Mee Lun Street, Central
Nearest MTR: Sheung Wan
This is actually a Da Pai Dong! Probably my first Da Pai Dong experience in Hong Kong.
They are known for their tomato noodles - maggi noodles in tomato broth and we had a pork chop to go with the noodles. Doesn't look that appetizing but I quite like the broth!
Also ordered a 猪扒包办 to try
It's located directly opposite the famous Kau Kee beef noodles! Sadly, didn't get to try it coz it was closed
***
Urban Bakery Works
Room 322, 3F The Landmark
12-16 Des Voeux Road Central
Nearest MTR: Central
Located at quite an atas shopping mall, I came here originally to try the Ball Law Cowssant that Ladyironchef recommended. But I was informed that they stopped selling the Ball Law Cowssant :( so I had their other new item for the season - salted egg custard croissant.
Part of the display. Saw a lot of the office crowd come here to tabao lunch
Though they heated the croissant, the custard wasn't very flowy! I supposed they wanted to recreate liu sha bao but in croissant form.
***
Started off our foodie walk from Prince Edward to Causeway Bay with...
One Dim Sum 一點心
Shop 1 & 2, G/F, Kenwood Mansion, 15 Playing Field Road, Prince Edward
Nearest MTR: Prince Edward
We queued around half an hour even though we were there at like 3pm on a weekday!!! This was another place that was awarded a Michelin star but I read that Dim Dim Sum is actually better. Nevermind, next trip! Overall not bad, prices were reasonable.
Steamed water chestnut cake
Ordered only 4 items to conserve stomach space!
***
Kam Wah Bakery
G/F, 47 Bute Street, Prince Edward
Nearest MTR: Prince Edward/Mongkok
Took a walk from One Dim Sum to Kam Wah. There's a line outside to order bo luo baos for takeaway! Apparently one of the best bo luo baos around.
We were pretty full from dim sum so we bought one to takeaway. It's nice but I think the whole eating experience could have been heightened had we sat down in the cha chan teng to savour and enjoy it. It needs to come with a slab of butter inside!
After that we detoured to Mongkok for some quick shopping and walked to Mido Cafe at Temple Street (Yau Ma Tei) only to find it closed! :( Such a pity though coz Mido is one of those places that looks very vintage and it is one of the oldest cha chan tengs around.
***
Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司
47 - 49 Parkes Street, Hong Kong
Nearest MTR: Jordan
We continued our walk down the MTR line to ADC. EVERYBODY knows about ADC and their amazing scrambled eggs on toast made with Hokkaido milk (and some say their steamed milk too) so I shan't elaborate...
You can see the sign for Mak Mun Kee's noodles just next to it
I had so many milk teas this trip!
The eggs were indeed good, but to my untrained tongue they were about the same as Capital Cafe's.
Visiting it is more like an "I WAS HERE" thing haha
***
Sun Kee Cheese Noodles 新記餐廳
Champagne Court 16-20, GF 13-14, Kimberley Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
Nearest MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui
Strolled further south in search for these cheese noodles, which came strongly recommended by Paul's friend.
Look at all that cheese!
We had ours with pork chop
Verdict: it's good but I imagine I'd get really sick of the cheese if I were to have one full bowl by myself (we shared 1 bowl). The pork chop was not bad though. Worth a visit but not a MUST visit every time. Unless you really really like cheese.
***
Hung Lee Restaurant 洪利粥店茶餐厅
2A Hou Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui
Nearest MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui
This place isn't as famous and well-known as the rest but I visited it because a blogger was raving about the fish dumplings. We were already pretty stuffed from all the food so fish dumplings were all we had!
Verdict: Tasty, but not mind-blowing
***
Went back to Causeway Bay after our foodie trail and spotted the mobile soft serve truck that I've seen many write about, outside Island Beverley!
Didn't try; belly protesting
***
Honolulu Coffee Shop 檀島咖啡餅
176-178 Hennessy Road, Hong Kong
Nearest MTR: Wan Chai
Finally found the other Honolulu outlet (the one at Central mysteriously disappeared) and savoured their famous egg tarts at 10pm after a long day of eating and walking! And that concluded our foodie trail where we ate and walked from 10am to 10pm.
Somehow egg tarts just taste better in Hong Kong!
***
Good old Macs in Hong Kong Airport at 6am (our flight back to SG was at 720am hence the lack of food options)
Paul has very fond memories of Hong Kong/Macau's Macdonalds because of the pork patty! :p
Ending off with some curry fishballs that we had while in Lamma Island!
***
Hotel Ibis Hong Kong Sheung Wan and Central
No. 28 Des Voeux Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Nearest MTR: Sheung Wan
Special mention about our hotel - location not too bad as it was a 15-20 min walk to all the eating places in Central. Walkable to Sheung Wan MTR or just take a tram. Plus, we had a fantastic view of the harbour! Room wasn't that small and cramped either.
Night view
Even the bears are enjoying the view heh :D
School has started and it's only Week 1 sigh. It feels like forever already! Having a bad week slogging over 1) school budget 2) canteen contracts 3) vendor contracts expiring/need evaluation/blah blah :(
At least I've got one trip to Bali in Jul firmed up! Yay!
Considering Japan (Osaka?) in June.
And I'd really like to visit Bangkok to nua, shop and eat all the desserts and food that I've been seeing on Instagram! *goes back to dreaming*
: lobster salad, Vietnamese spring roll
: roast duck (the mothers said it has a funny taste), jellyfish (too soft)
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