Hong Kong 2010 trip
10 February 2010
22 Comments
Hong Kong, the land of dumplings, good shopping and acid attacks. Fortunately for us, we didn’t experience the latter. However when I picked up the paper from the bottom of my hotel room door, the first thing I saw was a front page article about acid attacks in the area we were staying in. I figured there was a higher chance of me getting hit by a car, so I soldiered on and got on with the rest of my week in Hong Kong. For the record, Linda and I went on a two week holiday to Hong Kong and Japan in January.
I love Hong Kong for many reasons, the food is fantastic and the shopping is cheap. But the food is something different and is not just dim sum and won ton noodles. Hong Kong food is diverse, it is what I call a “mash up” of everything. From yum cha and won ton noodles to roast goose and spam fried pasta with milk tea, Hong Kong has it all.
Yum Cha
Tim Ho Wan, 1 Michelin Star
Choosing somewhere to have yum cha in Hong Kong is not easy. After reading an article about a cheap one Michelin star joint near Mongkok, we had to give it a try. This place is known as Tim Ho Wan, named after the chef who had plied his trade at a 3 Michelin star restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. How much more better can a siu mai or a char siu bao get ? He basically dropped everything he had and opened up a hole in the wall restaurant in the suburbs. Think of it like Luke Mangan leaving the Hilton Hotel to open up his own cafe in Balmain, leaving everything behind for a hole in the wall joint.
Left to right : The man, har gao, siu mai, garlic pork ribs
Eating at Tim Ho Wan is different, it’s like Coke vs LA Ice cola, there is a subtle difference in taste that sets it apart from regular yum cha fare. Everything on his menu has a bit of an edge to it, whether it’s the ingredients or his technique or a combination of both, the difference is noticeable. Take for example the prawn dumplings, where the skin doesn’t taste like dough and the prawns don’t taste like the frozen kind from Woolies. The garlic pork ribs don’t taste like they have been doused in bi carb soda and the siu mai actually have thick pieces of pork in them and not minced pork.
Left to right : Radish cake, pork buns, chicken pot, garlic, prawn & cheese spring rolls
If you ever visit Tim Ho Wan, you must try his BBQ pork buns. They are not your regular pork buns where the bun is white, soft and fluffy. He uses a combination of regular BBQ pork filling and a more crispy bread, similar to bo loh bao (aka pineapple bun) which gives it a slight crispy and sugary taste. He apparently churns out in excess of 700 pork buns a day.
All this cost us $160HKD, a mere $22 AUD, bargain is an understatement.
Tim Ho Wan is open daily from 10am-10pm. I suggest lining up before it opens, otherwise the wait can be up to 2 hours to get in.
Shop 8, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street
Mong Kok, Kowloon (00852 2332 2896)
Lin Heung Tea House
We were staying in the Central area and stumbled upon this restaurant by accident one morning. I had a peak inside and noticed an old school feel about the place which was filled with retired people reading the daily paper. It looked more like a retirement home than a yum cha restaurant, but because of this I an inkling that this restaurant would be good. This place has character and history, and when there is character and history there is good food.
Walking up the stairs into the restaurant, we were intially confused as to how the whole thing works. Gesturing to the ladies pushing the trollies that we needed a table for two, she quickly waves her arm at us, telling us to find our own seats. Feeling flustered and desperately looking for empty seats, a old gentle man kindly indicated for us to join his table, and even poured our tea for us. Surrounded by chatting, dishes clanking and the trolley ladies yelling what’s on offer, it wasn’t hard for us to get a feel of what it’s like to eat with the locals.
We had a couple of the more popular dishes, Har Cheong, Siu Mai, Ham Sui Gok, unfortunately none of it was spectacular. However I think having the opportunity to experience the old school charm of the Tea house is worth the money spent.
Lin Heung Tea House
162 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Under the bridge spicy crab
Dodgy aircon, sea snails in spicy broth, typoon crab, spicy fried chicken wings
Having seen every episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and with the help of Teresa, Under the Bridge Spicy Crab was on our list of “must go” places. Upon inspection of their website, we noticed that there was about 6 numbers to call, calling each number, we were dissappointed that no one was there to answer our calls. Desperate not to miss out on the meal we arrived at the location at 6pm, luckily it was only half full. However, I had a feeling that 6pm is way too early for most HK residents to eat dinner.
We ordered the much talked about Typhoon crab, which consisted of fried crabs topped with copious amounts of garlic, chilli, salt and pepper, Fried chicken wings, sea snail stir fried in a chilli sauce, steamed Bamboo clams with garlic and vermicelli noodles, and Typhoon mantis prawns. One of the main reasons I love returning to Hong kong time and time again is the availability, not to mention the cheap price of the seafood.
What made the experience even better was knowing that Jean Claude Van Dam had dined here before as well as having the aircon leak water next to us. Everything about the place looked dodgy but the food was amazing, there is something about that kind of eating experience which appeals to me regardless of the shortfalls.
Tokyo Chilli House, Private Kitchen
I’ve been reading a bit about private kitchens and how they are quite popular in Hong Kong. The concept is that an individual or group of cooks/chefs run their own private kitchen, whereby they cook whatever they want at a fixed price. It’s an interesting idea, something that I think should pick up in Australia with Masterchef piping everyones interest in food again. It’s similiar to what Rachel Koo and Frankie Unsworth are going to do in Sydney, but on a more permanent basis.
Private Kitchen not only allows you the opportunity to try different food, but also meet different people. What’s better than a group of strangers with one common interest, coming together enjoying and discussing all things food related. We were lucky that e-ting (originally from Melbourne) kindly offered to organise a tweetup with a few bloggers and tweeters in Hong Kong. Tonight, we were told was Thai Food night.
I revelled in the opprotunity to tasting what Thai people call home food, eating dishes that are not in your typical Thia Restaurant menus. While the food was good, it wasn’t as good as the ‘authentic’ Thai food I’ve had here in Sydney in Suburbs like Fairfield and Canley Heights. But none the less, it was intriguing to see how the private kitchen was run.
Street Food
We only had a few days in Hong Kong which made hunting down weird street food joints difficult. But we did manage to find this one in Central called Lan Fong Yuen, by accident once again. We saw a line of people waiting to go into a tiny corridor, so we joined the queue but luckily didn’t have to wait long for a seat.
milk tea, crispy chicken noodles, french toast, toast with butter and condensed milk
The food is quite random and we ordered what everything else was ordering. It’s comfort food more than anything but I adored the french toast and the toast with butter and condensed milk. Once you wash it down with freshly made milk tea, you feel less guilty about the calories.
I had the biggest won ton balls I had in my life in Central, they were the size of golf balls. A bowl like that would set you back $3 AUD, which is bloody good value.
left to right : roast meats, awesome umbrella, man cutting veges, frogs for sale
I saw a few fish stores at the markets sell live frogs, not something you would see in Sydney. They even kill and gut the frogs right in front of you, it brings a whole new meaning to the word ‘fresh’.
left to right : crowd at midnight, pippies, steam scallops, salt and chili ribs
On our last night we headed out into the streets to check out an outdoor restaurant which we saw earlier in the week. It’s similar to the outdoor dining in Chinatown in Sydney, except it’s a a lot more packed and the food is amazingly cheap. These three dishes for supper and a long neck of beer cost us $10 , Aussie dollars. It was the best $10 I spent all trip. The street was packed out on a Thursday night at midnight with people chatting away while eating great food cooked fresh in outdoor kitchens.
Hong Kong is up there as one of my favourite places to eat in the world, it has everything from street food to Michelin Star restaurants and the value overall is impressive. I might have one more Hong Kong post to come, but most likely I’ll show you guys what I got up to in Tokyo and Sapporo in Japan with my next post.
LetsEat
must go next time!
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Great post, but guh so jealous!
I’ve found eating in Hong Kong delicious but difficult – will definitely re-read this before my next trip there.
lili – pikelet&pie´s last blog ..Tropical custard and jelly, almost trifle.