*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Hong Kong Food Escapades

The Hong Kong Tourism Board should pay me to be their ambassador. Forget about Jackie Chan! Miss DimSumDolly is doing a better job at this! I think I'm doing a pretty good job at promoting Hong Kong as a tourist destination going by the response I've been getting from my blog readers. ;p

Anyway, a bit more of the food I ate in HK and eating places to recommend.

As mentioned, 公和 (Gong Wo) is a 茶餐厅 (cha chaan teng) specialising in soy bean products. Having been in operation for over 100 years, its soy bean milk is well known amongst Hong Kongers. It also serves noodles, rice, with other savoury dishes. Their lunch sets are pretty good value for money so I'd recommend that. I chose the soy noodles in melon soup with beef brisket and three big, fresh pieces of tofu thrown in (see left).

For the lunch set, you get to choose the type of noodles (soy, spinach, and can't remember what else), the type of soup (melon, tomato, pork etc) and two dishes to go into the soup. There's a wide variety to choose from. Any additional dish comes with an additional nominal charge.

The array of desserts is also pretty interesting--have the soy beancurd plain, or with black sesame pudding (see right), honey, gingko nuts, red bean etc. I've always been a sucker for soy bean products, so I really enjoyed my meal there. I'm not too sure how many branches they have though. I know one's in 尖沙咀 (Tsim Sha Tsui) and another around 太子 (Prince Edward) 'cos I went to both.

Olduvai's friends brought us to 深井 (Sham Tseng) to have roast goose for dinner. The place has many restaurants serving roast goose. The roast goose was yummy but extremly fattening! Oh, the layer of fat under the skin! After dinner, they took us to 黃金海岸 (Gold Coast) where the hotel I stayed in back in January was located. We had a look at the night market there and Olduvai and I each bought a very funky namecard holder. And that was the only shopping I did!

After that, we headed back to Sham Tseng and had desserts at 發記甜品 (Fatt Kei Desserts). The mango desserts, durian crepe rolls and banana rolls were so yummy. Man, we ordered and ate so much. But it was all great fun as we were chatting and laughing away as we ate.

For those people who love the old-style Hong Kong teahouses, please make a trip to 蓮香樓 (Lin Heung Lao) located at Wellington Street, Central. Another one to check out is 大榮華 (Dai Wing Wah) at 元朗 (Yuen Long). These two yumcha places are absolutely charming in their rowdiness and are full of local flavour. In the former, you can actually go into the kitchen and get the dimsum by yourself! The two yumcha places are always packed to the brim with people (usually retirees reading their newspaper and chatting away with their friends) and you almost always have to share tables. I love it!

During my trip to HK in March, I went to 流浮山 (Lau Fau Shan) to eat oysters. This is near 元朗 Yuen Long, and you can take a minibus or taxi from there to go to Lau Fau Shan. The area used to have lots of oyster farms but due to pollution, it no longer does so. But it is still a collection and marketing centre for the distribution of oysters. When you go there, you'll see heaps and heaps of oyster shells strewn everywhere. For a cheap oyster treat, eat at one of the 大排档 (dai pai dong) serving grilled king oysters with garlic and the oyster congee.

There are lots of seafood restaurants around Lau Fau Shan and one can choose whatever fresh seafood you want and get the chef in the restaurant you choose to dine at to cook the seafood in whatever way you want. The variety of fresh seafood to choose from is vast--many types of fish, prawns and shell fish. Note that most of these restaurants are all very old-styled and there's nothing fancy about the place. But I think therein lies the charm. Another place for good seafood, and following the same concept of choosing one's seafood and the restaurant, is 鯉魚門 (Lei Yu Mun). There are lots of seafood restaurants to choose from there as well.

And for something more taitai-ish, pay a visit to Intercontinental Hotel along Salisbury Road at Tsim Sha Tsui. Enjoy high tea with spectacular views of Victoria Harbour from their full-glass windows. My friend and I had initially wanted to go to the Peninsula but it was too crowded. But I think Intercontinental's better 'cos the view from the coffee lounge at the lobby is unbeatable. My friend and I had the high tea set (HK$250++) which was all very English with its three-tiered serving tray filled with morsels of food plus two pots of tea.

As you can see, I've really been eating my way around Hong Kong!

Hong Kong IS a crowded city and I do feel somewhat smothered by the crowds when I'm there. But I think there are some very lovely pockets of greenery and places where you can find some solitude too. The hills and trails at Lantau Island are absolutely lovely and there really is some gorgeous scenery to behold if you know where to look.

There's also an interesting mix of people and places. And listening in to some of the conversations in Cantonese just cracks me up. The language can be so witty and humorous.

One reason why I enjoy Hong Kong so much is because of my ability to understand and speak Cantonese to a pretty good extent (for a foreigner). So getting around and asking for things isn't too much of a problem. Another thing I love about Hong Kong is the public transport system. The buses and trains just about get you anywhere and it's so efficient. Taxis, though, are a whole different matter altogether--the rate at which the meter increases in value is enough to give me a heart attack.

I guess it's now time I demanded a Hong Kong-Singapore ambassador sash from the Hong Kong Tourism Board. ;p

Posted by DSD at May 31, 2005 9:02 AM