2017 Jun. Hong Kong
This was a special trip to commemorate our 30 years of friendship since we first met as 13 year old boys back in school. Scary how time flies, but with this bunch, the unspoken bond and shared frequency only gets stronger over the years. The trip itinerary is to eat and eat and eat and maybe shop a bit in between. Many places I’m blogging here do not need much introduction, as there are already famous and well known. There are also a few lesser known gems we tried, for sharing here. My blog is loosely organised based on location clusters. I usually like to stay near 中環 Central as there are a lot of good old eating places. So right after dropping off our bags, the feasting starts…
First stop is 一樂燒鵝 Yat Lok at 34 Stanley Street, famous for its juicy goose with slightly crispy skin. After I had Yat Lok several years back, I have never gone back to 鏞記 Yung Kee again. This is currently my favourite place for roast goose in Hong Kong, with crisp skin and juicy meat, served in a casual unpretentious setting.
Next on, *pay attention here* my “die die must eat place” in Hong Kong is 九記牛腩 Kau Kee Beef Brisket at 21 Gough Street. I strongly recommend that you try both the soup beef hor fun, and the curry ee mian. One version is light but flavourful, and the other rich and intense. The brisket is of cos always tender and excellent. This is one definitive place that I think about all the time and a big reason to visit HK, yes, it is that good. Must eat!
Right across the street from Kau Kee, is 勝香園 Sing Heung Yuen which is famous for its tomato stock macaroni or noodles and 檸蜜脆脆 toast bread with lemon honey. I would usually refrain from ordering drinks at Kau Kee, and instead head over here after my brisket noodles fix for toast dessert and 咸寧七 salted lemon 7-Up/Sprite.
蘭芳園 Lan Fong Yuen is nearby at 2 Gage Street along the escalator to mid levels. Famous for its stocking milk tea and many snacks and dishes, this place is good for breakfast, tea or anytime in the day. I love the simple comfort food 豬扒包 pork chop bun and 心多多丁面 spiced pork cube instant noodles, accompanied with 絲襪奶茶 milk tea.
Just around the corner is 泰昌餅家 Tai Cheong Bakery at 35 Lynhurst Terrace, now also available in Singapore. Eat the egg tarts fresh off the oven while it is hot, so fragrant and good.
We had our big group gathering dinner at the Maxim’s Palace at the Conference Hall, also near Central area. Nice ambience and good service with decent food at very reasonably priced. The restaurant is also very popular for dim sum during the day.
Sweets after dinner at Emack & Bolio’s. Sinful and decadent ice cream with interesting cones. Followed by sugar cane and prune drinks at a traditional shop to quench the thirst.
Also in Central vicinity, Lin Heung Teahouse 蓮香樓 is an old time restaurant for dim sum and opens early in the mornings. The old school ambience and the crowd snatching dim sum antics is more interesting than the food quality here, which can be a memorable experience. If you remain on your seats, you will most likely not get to eat any of the more popular or even regular items, as the trolleys will never make it to your table. Most items are snapped up the moment they are pushed out from the kitchen.
黃枝記 Wong Chi Kei is a popular restaurant originally from Macau known for its 雲吞面 wanton noodles. The wantons are good, but the other pig trotter rice dish we ordered was mediocre. It is a decent place to have good wanton mee, but I was not wowed to make it a favourite or must go place.
To experience the quintessential crossing to Kowloon side from Hong Kong Island, you have to try taking the star ferry. Once over in Kowloon, other than shopping, many awesome famous food places awaits. A stop at 澳洲牛奶公司 Australian Dairy Company and the next door 麥文記 would make it worth your while. I usually like to eat my braised pork knuckle noodles at 麥文記 first (the star dish here, and deservingly so), then queue to eat the scrambled egg, drinks and dessert at 澳洲牛奶公司.
The queue at 澳洲牛奶公司 is crazy, but worth the wait. Service is brisk and be warned this is not a cafe to hangout and chill or take your own sweet time. You wait in a long line to get in, once in, you eat quickly and off you go. The service staff would make very sure of that, otherwise get ready for some serious stares and snide remarks, hahaha. Some say the scrambled eggs is the best anywhere, definitely worth a try.
金華冰廳 Kam Wah at 47 Bute Street is another tea cafe in that serves good stuff. The bolo bun with butter and milk tea are supposedly famous, and tasted up to standard. But I must confess by this time my usual discerning tastebuds may have been numbed a bit as I am simply too full already. The beef hor fun turned out to be way below expectation, so remember to skip that when you order.
There are a few surprise finds in 上環 Sheung Wan for this trip. The best meal I had for this trip is at this simple eatery 坤記煲仔小菜 Kwan Kee Claypot Rice at 253-363 Queen’s Road W. The restaurant sells claypot rice, soup and stir fry dishes. The claypot rice is amazingly delicious, the rice at the bottom is perfectly charred and crispy without a single grain burnt. We had the claypot eel rice and claypot chicken rice, both are excellent. The soup and dishes are also excellent. Highly recommended. ( *Revisited again in Dec 2017 and food is still awesome. PSA: Call ahead +852 2803 7209 to make reservation before you go, I was turned away rudely when I was next in line, but persisted and managed to get a table after having already waited for an hour.)
Around the corner 2 parallel streets away on 32 Centre Street is 源記 Yuen Kee Dessert that serves an unique traditional loranthus soup with hard boiled egg. A bit pricey for desserts, but apparently this shop is quite famous with locals and very crowded.
Another nice restaurant we tried in 上環 Sheung Wan is 聚點坊 Dim Sum Square on 88 Jervois Street. We were looking for a convenient place for dim sum near 中環 Central, without having to travel too far out to places like 一點心 One Dim Sum or 添好運 Tim Ho Wan. The dim sum was up to expectation and we had a good time.
We tried two casual 大排檔 places for this trip. One of them is 東寶小館 Tung Po on 99 Java Road near Northpoint MTR. It is located on the second floor of a local wet market. The place is usually packed and you should come very early get a table once the place opens if you do not want to queue in the long line. The fun thing about dining here is you drink beer out of bowls!
Nearby is the 利強記 北角雞蛋仔 eggball stall at 492 King’s Road, literally operating as a hole on the wall at the corner of the street. A very simple snack done well with basic ingredients, crispy on the outside and spongy on the inside, that won over the hearts of many.
Another place we tried is 祥正海鮮大排檔 Cheung Ching at 16 Bowrington Rd in Wan Chai. Food was alright, nothing particularly impressive. Just a place to consider if you are looking for casual local wok fried stuff.
For those who are not familiar with HK, you can do an early city check in for your luggage at Airport Express in Central (Hong Kong MTR), and enjoy a last burst of shopping or food at IFC before flying off without lugging your bags around. There are some good food options here, I usually go for Tim Ho Wan right above the check in counters, but this time we ate at another established local favourites 正斗 Tasty Congee & Noodles Wanton Shop. Food quality is very good, and the place is packed with lunchtime crowd.
It was a delicious, fun and memorable trip to HK. Always looking forward to another return visit to eat again. 🙂
*Add-on Recommendation in Dec 2017
Visited HK again in Dec 2017 and finally tried 甘牌燒鵝 Kam’s Roast Goose, 226 Hennessy Road in Wan Chai, which was awarded one Michelin star. The queue was super long with over a hundred people waiting when it just opened at 11:30am. Luckily as a lone diner, I was squeezed in to fill an empty seat after an hour wait. Food was good, and cheaper than 一樂 Yat Lok. Wished I could have the drumstick with more skin which was not available when I requested. Maybe next time. Strongly recommended!
