Hong Kong Archives - Page 3 of 4

In Bakery

Paul Lafayet: French Patisserie in Hong Kong

September 24, 2012

Paul Lafayet is a 3 Michelin starred pastry chef who bring the citizens of Hong Kong authentic French pastries and desserts. This location is in K11 in Tsim Sha Tsui. They are best known for their yummy macarons and delicate cakes. The price is quite expensive compared to other food items in Hong Kong.

When you walk in, you will see their large display case of macarons on top with various different flavours.

Then below that are the variety of cakes. I bought a few different items about bought them home to eat after dinner.

I ordered 10 macaroons in total and they put them all neatly in a box so it doesn’t get crushed during the ride home.

Oolong Macaron was a unique flavour! The taste was very subtle, but well put together.

Chocolate Macaron was another delicious choice and great for everyone.

I loved the chocolate one because it was very chewy and rich with chocolate mousse in the middle.

Matcha Macaron also has a nice subtle flavour

Caramel Macaron was a bit more sweet than the others, but still has a good taste.

Pistachio macaron tasted good as well, but they could have done a but more to enhance the pistachio taste.

Raspberry macaron has a lot of color to it, so when you eat it, your lips and tongue turn a bit red.

Sesame macaron was one of my favorites. It’s not a common flavour to see around. Plus, they make this one look pretty.

Earl Grey Macaron is another tea flavoured macaron. I really do love tea infused macarons because it suits very well with a cup of tea. I found this particular macaron interesting because the 2 side of it are different colors!

Chocolate Mousse was what my little sister ordered. It comes in a cup and can be reused for other uses like making other desserts or drinking from it. The mousse was rich, smooth, and had a great flavour.

Cheese Cake with fresh blueberries on top was ok. It wasn’t as amazing as I thought it was, plus it was very small and quite expensive.

Overall the macarons had a nice flavours, but the texture of the macaron was not perfect. Since the weather of Hong Kong is quite humid, it made the macarons fall apart easily. You could twist the 2 side off like an oreo cookie. None of the items were disappointing, they all had great flavours.

We Rate Paul Lafayet:

Address:
Shop G23, K11, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

Website:
http://www.paullafayet.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=18+Hanoi+Road,+Tsim+Sha+Tsui&hnear=18+Hanoi+Rd,+Hong+Kong&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Causeway Bay

Yee Shun Milk Company: Steamed Milk Custard in Hong Kong

September 21, 2012

Yee Shun Milk Company is located in Causeway Bay and is a popular destination for tourists. I spotted this when using my Trip Advisor app and it was ranked quite highly. The company originated from Macau and opened 4 locations in Hong Kong.

They specialize in steamed milk custard. If you have heard about Australian Milk Company, the products are quite similar.

When you pass by the exterior of the store, you can see a large amount of the steamed milk prepared ahead of time. The turnover rate is quite high, so they do have to prep that many.

Double Steamed Milk (雙皮燉奶) is very smooth and creamy. My little sister loved it and would not put it down! If you come here, someone at you table must order this. The texture reminded me of tofu pudding.

Steamed Milk With Ginger (薑汁燉奶) has a strong intense taste of ginger. A lot of people online rave about how good it is and I absolutely hated it because I don’t eat ginger too often. Some people do love this but its not for me.

Red Bean Ice was what my mom ordered. Its a common drink found in Hong Kong and contains red beans, evaporated milk, ice and sugar syrup. Mom mom thought it was ok, but not great.

Overall, it was fun to come here for a snack to try Steamed Milk Custard. The line ups were not long and we did enjoy the experience despite my hate for ginger.

Words of Wisdom:

Not long waits compared to Australian Dairy Company
Double Steamed Milk is a must!

We Rate Yee Shun Milk Company:

Address:
G/F., 506 Lockhard Road,
Causeway Bay

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=G%2FF.,+506+Lockhart+Road,Causeway+Bay&hnear=506+Lockhart+Rd,+Hong+Kong&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Chinese

Chao and Hak: Chiu Chow Chinese Restaurant in Hong Kong

September 18, 2012

Chao and Hak has 3 locations all over Hong Kong – North Point, Sheung Shui, and Diamond Hill . They specialize in Chiu Chow cuisine. We came to the Sheung Shui location for some dim sum.

There was a large line up and getting a table for 5 took quite some time. If you come at 12 or 1pm, you will have to wait for a table.

The interior has a lot of tables and has a nice elegant decor.

Fried fish, bittermelon and vegetables in black bean sauce was not my favorite dish because I dislike bittermelon and bones. It’s also not kid-friendly either since its hard to find those small bones.

Marinated Pork Hock are the joints of the foot of the pig. You get a lot of flavourful skin, fat, tendon and bits of tender meat.

Pickled Jelly fish and Pork skin and meat in jelly tasted really good. It’s a dish served cold and makes for a great appetizer.

Pig ear, marinated egg, duck and pork sausage was quite an oily dish. This dish is great for sharing with others at the table.

Marinated eggs, beef, and marinated tofu with a side of vinegar. I enjoyed it!

Spring rolls were cool and long like bread sticks. No one else at the table seemed to like it, so I ate a majority of it.

Sui Mai was ok. We had to wait a long time for it and it was a bit disappointing.

Minced Meatball also took a long time to arrive. It was very moist and flavourful.

Xiao Long Bao was the last dish to arrive. We had high hopes for this dish, but was not what we were expecting.

Overall, the marinated appetizer dishes were very good, but the steamed dim sum items were very disappointing. Also the service was very slow.

We Rate Chao and Hak:

Address:
Shop 501, 5/F, Landmark North, No. 39 Lung Sum Avenue,
Sheung Shui

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=39+Lung+Sum+Ave,+Sheung+Shui,+Hong+Kong&hl=en&ll=22.502556,114.127629&spn=0.005739,0.009345&hnear=39+Lung+Sum+Ave,+Hong+Kong&t=m&z=17 “]

In Chinese

Lung Wah Hotel: Eating Pigeon in Hong Kong

September 16, 2012

Lung Wah Hotel (龍華酒店) in Sha Tin, Hong Kong is known for their deep-fried pigeons. My little sister loves to eat pigeons, so the relatives made sure we had pigeon during our trip. The restaurant is located in the middle of nowhere, so you can either take a long walk from the MTR or take a short taxi ride.

It does have a lot of history as it opened in the 1950s and is still in operation today. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a hotel since the 1980s. The dining room is usually hustling and bustling with people wanting to eat pigeon. Rumor has it, Bruce Lee stayed here during the filming of his movie “Big Boss”.

From the main street, we walked up this long covered path to the hotel. You are in the right place if you see this path.

The interior is very out dated, so you kinda feel like you have gone back in time. The service is very horrible and the staff are always grumpy. If you only order the pigeon, the food comes fairly quickly since they specialize in that dish and is the most ordered.

We ordered additional dishes beside the pigeon but they lost our entire order except for the pigeon. Apparently this is a normal occurrence.

Deep-Fried Pigeon arrives all on one plate depending on how many you order for your table.

It comes with the head as well, so it can be a bit scary for some people. If you don’t want to stare into the eyes of the pigeon, you can just rip the head off. I know it seems cruel, but these pigeons were farmed especially for human consumption.

You are given gloves to eat the pigeon because it can get quite oily.

The meat is very flavourful and tender. The exterior skin is crispy and thin too. It’s way better than duck or chicken!

After our table devoured the pigeons, all that was left were the discarded bones and used up gloves. That’s what happens when you’re eating with a bunch of carnivores. Yum Yum.

Big Boy Tsingtao Beer is a great drink to accompany the food. It cuts through the greasy oily feeling of the pigeon.

Fried Noodles with mushroom, chicken and vegetables was very yummy! One of my favorite dishes since the crispy texture of the noodles blend well with the savory sauce.

Salt and peppery tofu was firm on the outside with spices on top. When you bite into it, it’s very soft and silky on the inside.

Rice noodles with beef and vegetables has very tender beef, but the sauce that accompanied the dish was a bit salty.

Tofu Pudding is another one of their specialty items.You just scoop some into the bowl and add some ginger syrup.

Afterwards, we walked about 15 minutes to the entrance of the Shatin Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. It looked a little bit awkward with barbed wires, but it was not too scary. It wasn’t too steep compared to some other places I’ve been, but it is a workout when it’s 35 degrees outside.

Remember, if you see any monks asking for money, they are just beggars. Do not pay them money! There are signs posted all over the trail telling tourists not to fall for their tricks. On our way up, we were approached by 3 fake monks, but we just said “no” to every single one.

The walk up is very beautiful and is lined with a lot of statues. Each statue is different and some are very cool to look at.

The top has a few sights and the pagoda type of structure.

You also get a nice view of the town of Shatin.

Overall, it was an awesome day here! Having pigeon and going on a short hike was very memorable. I would still go back to Lung Wah Hotel for some pigeon!

Words of Wisdom:

Deep Fried Pigeon and tofu is a must!
Very horrible Service

We Rate Lung Wah Hotel:

Address:
22 Ha Wo Che Chuen,
Sha Tin, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.lungwahhotel.hk/

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In Food for Thought

Mangosteen: Finding Exotic Fruit in Hong Kong

September 14, 2012

Mangosteen is a tropical fruit found in South East Asia.It is only in season for 6 to 10 weeks of the year. You can usually find really nice ripe ones from July to September.

When I was in Hong Kong in August, it was very hard to find at the supermarket or on the streets. My grandpa knew I was looking very hard for these for a few weeks. One morning, he left early to go to the market and brings back a whole bowl full of mangosteen. They looked very fresh and I was in awe.

We cracked open the leathery tough skin to find the delicious white fruit inside. It kinda tastes like a grape or lychee. At least one of the pieces inside have a seed, so better not eat it. Nothing bad will happen to you, but it’s always weird eating seeds by accident.

It is very hard to get a hold of mangosteen in Vancouver or North America because it doesn’t ship very well. It will definitely be very hard to find any mangosteen that look this fresh and plump. Plus, very expensive.

My sister found a few mangosteen from T&T, but they look horrible and was very tiny. Nothing comparable to anything you can find in Asia. If you ever have a chance to go to the Asian countries, remember to try some of this delicious fruit.

Have you ever had mangosteen before? How did it taste?

In Chinese

Grand Hall: More Dim Sum in Hong Kong

September 12, 2012

We were looking inside Silvercord in Tsim Sha Tsui for Ho Choi Seafood Restuarant, but in its place is Grand Hall restaurant. It serves the same exact food, except they did major renovations and changed their name. This was confirmed by our waitress and is still operated by the Ho Choi Group. They own various restaurants all across Hong Kong.

We went around 11:30 and it was quite empty until around 1pm. It got really busy around 1pm. We ordered a bunch of different dim sum dishes for a group of 9. There were so many dishes that it was hard to keep track of whats what.

Rice Rolls, Deep Fried Wontons, and Beef Stuffed in Rice rolls.

These all tasted pretty good especially with the sauces they are accompanied with. There were so many sauces on our table that it was hard to remember which sauce goes with what dish. As long as you dunk the rice rolls into a dark sauce, you’ll be alright.

Minced Meat Balls was very moist and contained a variety of items inside the meatball. Very delicious!

Minced Chicken on Steamed Rice tasted ok, but was a bit dry and could have used some more sauce.

This was another rice dish, but I don’t remember what this is.

Spring Rolls look like long bread sticks! It was so weird seeing them in this form!

Steamed Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) comes in 4 pieces. The skin was very thin, so no matter how carefully you picked it up, it would always break.

Big Dumpling in Soup tasted very good. The broth was delicious and the seafood stuffed inside was yummy.

Double Steamed Milk was so delicious and melted in your mouth like custard. So good!

Overall, the meal was pretty solid. Some items were a hit and miss, but it was a good venue for a large family gathering.

Words of Wisdom:

Great for large parties
Decent Prices
Gets busy around 1pm
Lots of tables
Recently renovated and clean

We Rate Grand Hall:

Address:
3 / F, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha

Website:
http://www.hochoi.com/

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In Fast Food

IKEA Hong Kong: Different Food and Drinks

September 10, 2012

After coming back from the Ten Thousand Buddhist Monestary in Sha Tin, we went to a Home Square mall and it contained an IKEA. This location is the largest in Hong Kong with 8,400 sq meters. I really wanted to see how the store layout and food compared to how it is in Vancouver.

It also won one “Best Restaurant Awards in 2012” for a Fast Food Restaurant on OpenRice.com.

All of the items in the IKEA bistro are similar to what you can find in North America. The item that I noticed that they have is popcorn. I haven’t seen this in the IKEAs in Vancouver.

There is also the Swedish Food Market where you can find frozen Swedish Meat Balls, fish, jam, juice, etc.

At the IKEA Restaurant, they have a few of the usual items like Swedish meatballs, vegetarian medallions, shrimp cocktail, and apple pie.

Their kids meal is a bit different too. Spaghetti, corn and sausages.

We were still full from a large lunch, so my sister and I got bottled drinks.

Grapefruit Juice was good and similar to the usual bottle juices.

Organic Soy Milk isn’t sweetened, so it tastes pretty bad if you are not used to drinking unsweetened soy milk. It is healthy for you, but I found it so hard to drink.

Another thing I found that was super different was the washing machine in the kitchens! It’s usual in Hong Kong. With the limited space, that’s where it goes instead of the dish washer.

Address:
L6, HomeSquare
138 Sha Tin Rural Committee Road, Sha Tin

Website:
http://www.ikea.com/hk/en/

Telephone no.:
3125 0888

Open daily:
Store: 10:30am – 10:30pm
Kid’s Playroom: 10:30am – 10:30pm
Restaurant and Cafe:
8:00am – 10:00pm (Weekday)
9:30am – 10:00pm (Weekend/PH)

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In Sheung Wan

Fat Boy Fruits: Fresh Juice From Street Vendors in Hong Kong

September 9, 2012

We were walking along the street markets and we all got very thirsty because the weather was about 35 degrees. There were even warnings about how hot it was outside.

On the corner of Wing Kut Street, there is a man who sells juice. The juice is made fresh right in front of you, so there are no preservatives or an other ingredients. Pure 100% juice!

He offers a wide variety of juices and you can even request your own combination. You may even want to try juices that aren’t available in North America. A small drink is $7 HKD, large is $12 HKD and extra Large is $17 HKD. Very cheap and affordable.

There were lots of people ordering especially business men that were passing by. He wait wasn’t too long as he works really fast to make the juice.

Depending on the item you order, it can be made from a juice extractor…

or if its a orange..it will be from a juicer.

You can also purchase fruit as well if you don’t want juice.

Pineapple Pear Lemon (Large-$12) and it was so good. It was a surprising combination of flavours. Unfortunately, since he doesn’t use ice, the drink isn’t cold enough. Nonetheless, the flavours were great.

You can continue doing a bit of more shopping after you get your drink! There are other places all around Hong Kong that sell juice on the street. I don’t think this particular stand is famous or anything, but it has a convenient location in the business district in Hong Kong.

Words of Wisdom:

There is an english menu
Use cash
Short lines

We Rate Fat Boy Fruits:

Address:
153 Queen’s Road
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

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In Central

Lin Heung Tea House: Oldest Tea House in Hong Kong

September 8, 2012

Lin Heung Tea House was established in 1926 and is one of the oldest tea houses in Hong Kong. With over 8 decades of serving locals and tourists, dim sum is served with the most traditional recipes that results in an endless flow of diners. This place is packed all the time! Not many places in Hong Kong still serve traditional dim sum. You may want to come very early in the morning or late in the afternoon ( 6am and 3:30pm).

They serve dim sum during the day and main dishes during the night.

Don’t be afraid to get cozy with strangers. You may be forced to share tables, but it’s a natural occurrence in Hong Kong. It really helps if you come with someone who can speak Cantonese! It will help a lot when ordering and finding your table.

Service is quite horrendous as the servers are very rude and not very helpful. People are here for the food and not the service.

You will need to wash your utensils even if they look its clean. Just dunk it in tea! They don’t give you napkins either, so make sure you bring a pack of tissues with you.

The tea doesn’t come in a tea-pot, but they have these traditional type of tea pots. You steep the tea in the larger cup and pour it into your tea cup when it’s done steeping.

It’s really difficult to pour if you’re never tried it before.

When you need to get your tea refilled with hot water, the server brings a huge kettle and pours with crazy accuracy. Every time they come by to pour hot water, I am always so scared just in case they scald us with hot water.

Steamed Beef Balls comes in 3 pieces and are delicious!

Pork tripe is a bit scary since it’s an organ. It’s a bit tough and chewy

Beef Tripe and intestines were very chewy, but the sauce that it was in was delicious.

Steamed Sausage Bun is yummy and a great item for kids.

Braised Chicken feet is a typical dish found in Dim Sum. Some love it, some find it super scary. You kinda have to get use to it. I personally like it since you essentially just eat the skin off the bones.

Steamed Fish Head is very succulent and has a delicious flavour when you suck the meat off the bones.

This dish has chicken, mushroom, and fish maw in a yummy flavourful sauce.

Braised Liver looks really nasty, but the liver does have a chalky flavour and texture to it. If you haven’t had liver before, you may not like it.

Chicken Feet wrapped in bean curd wrap was something I haven’t seen done before. the bean curd did taste good.

Fish Cake wrapped in Cabbage was one of my favorite dishes.

Steamed Chinese Sponge Cake (Ma Lai Go) is very very tall compared to most places. It’s usually made out of flour, eggs, butter, lard and brown sugar and then steamed. It tasted very good!

Words of Wisdom:

Wake up early to order the Big Chicken Bun (“Dai Bao”)
Very unique traditional dim sum items
Good Prices
Horrible service and cleanliness
Anthony Bourdain approved

We Rate Lin Heung Tea House:

Address:
160-164 Wellington Street,
Central

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In Bubble Tea

Gong Cha: Bubble Tea in Hong Kong

September 7, 2012

Gong Cha first launched in Taiwan in 2006 and soon opened locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, China, Malaysia, and Philippines. There are a lot of locations all over Hong Kong and attracts locals and tourists. They are best known for their signature milk tea with a dollop of cream on top.

The location in East Tsim Sha Tsui was very busy and had lots of tourists ordering drinks. The menu had some english and the cashiers knew a little bit of english too. It’s not great english, but at least it will make your ordering experience go smoothly.

On top of each drink are instructions on how to consume it:

Open the lid and drink, letting the tea pass through the foamy layer.
Insert the straw and enjoy the flavour of the tea.
Use the straw to stir and enjoy the combined flavour of the tea and milk.

Milk Tea ($10) has the tea on the bottom with the dollop of cream on top. It was delicious and different than usual bubble teas. The cream does change the taste a lot and not everyone will love it. My sister liked the drink at first, but eventually started hating the cream on top.

Gong Cha Milk Green Tea ($12) needed a good mixing in order to incorporate the layers together. I tried mixing it together very well, but it was a bit hard to do that. The cream itself was salty.

Afterwards, my sister and I headed to Kowloon Park to walk around and enjoy the fountains and trees.

Overall, Gong Cha was ok, but not the best bubble tea I’ve ever had. We were not a fan of the cream on top.

Words of Wisdom:

Lots of locations in Hong Kong
Most locations have no seats, just take out

We Rate Gong Cha:

Address:
Shop A2, G/F, 41C Granville Road ,
Tsim Sha Tsui

Website:
www.gong-cha.com

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In Airplane Meals

Cathay Pacific: Beverages and Meals from South Korea to Hong Kong

September 3, 2012

It was finally time to leave Seoul after 5 good days of enjoying this beautiful place. Time to head back to Hong Kong and eat more. hahaha. It only takes 3 hours to get to Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific offers you one meal and some beverage service. My flight was around 5pm.

I don’t know the model of this plane, but the plane did look a bit old and was definitely different from the plane that I arrived in Korea on.

They provided us a pack of peanuts and a beverage of our choice. I saved the pack of peanuts for my little sister since I know she loves plane snacks.

The meal was also crappier compared to the other meal I had with Cathay Pacific. I was waiting for the ice cream to arrive, but it never did. We got our choice on entree, fruit, bread and another beverage.

I got the chicken with rice. It was ok, but not my favorite airplane meal. There really wasn’t anything special about this particular meal.

I guess with airplane food, you can’t expect what you’ll get. How was your experience with Cathay Pacific in terms of food?

In Causeway Bay

Hakata Ippudo: Limited Summer Edition Noodles in Hong Kong

August 11, 2012

Hong Kong has 3 Ippudo locations and today I visited Hakata Ippudo across from Times Square. It is very popular and sometimes there can be long line ups during peak hours. Of all the ramen places in the world, this chain is definitely my favorite.

After going to Ippudo HK, I knew it was a great place to take Naomi out for some lunch!

Since it was about 11:30am, the restaurant was pretty empty, but it usually gets busy around 1pm when people go out for lunch. To our surprise, they were offering a limited time only summer dishes. It looked cool, so we ordered the 2 featured items.

Hakata Cold Ramen ($78 HKD) was really good! You mix this all up and it’s very easy to share. I would highly recommend this dish to anyone! This fish roe on top definitely adds a lot of flavour and character into the dish.

Hakata Tsukemen ($78 HKD – Small) comes with the sauce in one bowl and then the cold noodles, egg and seaweed in another bowl. You simply grab some noodles and dip it into the broth. Very delicious. They even had instructions on how to eat this dish.

Hakata Style Rice Dish is topped with cold Hakata roe, BBQ pork, seaweed, and egg. It was ok, but not very good compared to the ramen.

Overall, the ramen dishes were pretty good! You can’t really go wrong with either the Summer menu items or the original items. I’ll definitely be back for more!

Words of Wisdom:

Come around 11:30am when they open for no lines
Any ramen is delicious
Located across from Times Square
Causeway Bay MTR Exit A

We Rate Hakata Ippudo:

Address:
2/F, 8 Russell Street,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.ippudo.com.hk/en/hakata.html

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In Airplane Meals

Cathay Pacific: Meals and Beverages from Hong Kong to Korea

August 6, 2012

I decided to take a side trip to South Korea. I’ve always wanted to go and this was my chance to do so. Lots of things to see and lots of things to eat! The only seat available was on a late night flight from Hong Kong to Korea with Cathay Pacific. The flight wasn’t very long and we were even offered dinner.

I don’t think anyone on the flight wanted to eat since everyone was already taking a nap when they woke us all up. I love food, so I did manage to wake up and have a few bites.

We had bread, watermelon, choice of drink, Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream and choice of entree.

I chose the penne pasta with cream sauce. I always choose to order a pasta dish as those are generally more delicious and better executed than rice dishes. Even though there was no meat in this dish, it was actually a pretty decent meal!

Cookies and Cream Haagen0-Dazs Ice cream too! Yum! It was definitely a treat at the end of the meal! After consuming all of this food, I went back to sleep. hahaha

Overall, the food on Cathay Pacific wasn’t bad. Since it was only a 3 hour flight, I didn’t expect there to be food, but there was!

In Fast Food

McDonalds Hong Kong: Soy Green Tea + Himalayan Tea + Cheesecake + Lamingtons

August 5, 2012

I finally visited McDonalds in Hong Kong since I get very hot one afternoon. To my surprise, their McCafe’s sell completely different items than in Canada! This is the best part about travelling- discovering new fast food items. Seriously, I love fast food and differing menu items across the world.

They have introduced 2 new drinks for this Summer – Soy Green Tea Frappe and Himalayan Tea Frappe. You can alternatively get them hot instead of cold.

The prices are in Hong Kong Dollars, so, just divide it by 7.8 and you should get the approximated Canadian price. It’s not exactly cheap, but I just had to try it.

Medium Iced Soy Green tea Frapp is my little sisters addiction! She enjoyed the whipped cream on top.

Hot Soy Green Tea was pretty good! It wasn’t too sweet, but it was yummy and creamy. Definitely one of my favorites but after I saw how they made it, it wasn’t very magical. I’ll get to it at the end of this review. Nonetheless, I would still order it again.

Medium Himalayan Tea had a very unique taste. I couldn’t figure out what it tasted like

They even have super cool cheesecakes and Lamingtons. Lamingtons is an Australian sponge cake. I’m still waiting for CommunityChannel to post up the video about how to make lamingtons. I should stop having hopes that one day she will make the video 🙁

Anyways, the drinks at McDonalds were great, but it seemed so simple to make! The staff just poured soy milk into a blender and put in a few scoops of powder and blended it up. Thus, that was how the drink was created. If you are in Hong Kong and in an area that has these items available, give it a try!

In Chinese

Moon Ting Fong Seafood & Hotpot Restaurant: Horrible Service in Hong Kong

August 4, 2012

Moon Ting Fong Seafood and Hotpot restaurant has a location in Tin Shui Wai. We want to cook dinner during this day, so we decided to just eat out for dinner. My grandpa said they have very good dim sum during lunch and at reasonable prices. He’s never tried dinner here, so we gave it a shot.

For dinner, the room was half full and some people were indulging on hot pots. We decided to go for a set dinner instead.

Pickled onions arrived at the table. We thought it was complementary, but at the end of the meal the did charge us for this. It tasted alright and I think we could have lived without it if we knew we would be charged for this. Also, they charge for tea too!

Daily Soup came with our set meal. It came in a huge pot to our table and what usually happens is the server will bring your bowls and pour it out for you. The server just left the pot there on the table and had no intention of serving us. This was the first thing that ticked us off.

The other ingredients in the soup get put into a separate dish for you to eat with your meal. It’s like two dishes in one! Eventually, we got the server to pour our soup.

Boiled Shrimp was good, but it did get quite messy after a while. The prawns were cooked well and were sweet.

We also got hand wipes to cleanse our hands after peeling all those shrimp shells.

Braised vegetables in fish broth tasted good as the choy absorbed the flavour from the fish sauce.

Steamed Fish in Fish Sauce was ok. The meat was soft and had good flavour. It had a few bones, but it wasn’t too bad.

Roasted BBQ Chicken was very dry and the only delicious part of this was the skin.

Overall, the food was ok, but the service was very horrible. Plus, there were a lot of extra charges that racked up to $100HK more than the price of the set meal. I wouldn’t return, not even for dim sum. A few weeks later, my grandpa wanted to go for some good cheap dim sum after 2pm and I just refused to go. Perhaps other people have had other better experiences, but I won’t return to a restaurant that treats their customers badly.

We rate Moon Ting Fong Seafood & Hotpot restaurant:

Address:
1/F, Block 1, Habour Plaza Resort City, 12 Tin Yan Road
Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong

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In Chinese

Maxim’s Chinese Restaurant: Dim Sum Stalking in Hong Kong

August 3, 2012

Maxim’s Chinese Restaurant has several locations all over Hong Kong. It is way cheaper than Maxim Palace, so it is affordable for random eats without breaking the wallet. The interior at the Tin Shui Wai location was very large and was quick to get a table on the weekend. There are some waits, but it shouldn’t be too long.

You can wash your utensils here too. It’s a normal thing, but if you are lazy, you don’t need to wash it again. Just double-check if there is grime on your dishes.

Thousand year old egg and pork congee was decent. It wasn’t the best congee, but definitely better than some other places I’ve been to. It could have been boiled for longer to let the flavours seep into the rice a little bit more.

Curried Octopus was a tad spicy, but bearable for those who hate spice. The octopus was slightly chewy, but nothing much to say.

Stir fried noodles had to be hunted down. It’s located way in the front of the restaurant, so you need to grab your slip of ordering paper and grab it.

Fried rice roll was a little bit different that other places, I’ve never seen the outside with this texture. It also comes with sauce on the side for dipping.

Braised Tripe with Fish Maw was ok, I was never a fan of the large honeycomb-like tripe.The part I liked was the fish maw because of it’s porous texture is great for soaking up lots of favour from the sauce.

Steamed Prawns and Fish Maw was very good and always one of my favorites.

Stewed Pork hawk had the meat falling off the bones and was very tender. Delicious sauce too.

Spicy tripe was very good. Ever since this Hong Kong trip, I’ve been into eating spicy food for some reason. This dish had a good amount of spiciness but I did find it a bit oily.

Sesame Seed Balls was crispy on the outside and the inside was very chewy.

Steamed pork buns comes with 2 in each order, so you may want more if you table loves the buns.

The bun had a good amount of meat and enough sweetness. My sister and I enjoyed it.

Overall, good decent dim sum in Hong Kong. Since the restaurant is so large and not all the cart can get to you quickly, you need to walk around the restaurant hunting the carts for what you want. It’s like getting exercise before and during your meal. It’s normal and it’s the part of dim sum that makes it kinda fun.

We Rate Maxim Chinese Restaurant:

Address:
Tin Yiu Shopping Centre, Tin Shui Estate,
Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong

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In Chinese

Choi Fook Restaurant: Dinner After HK 15 Fireworks

August 2, 2012

On July 1st in Hong Kong, they were celebrating the 15th anniversary of the handover of British rule to the Chinese. Every year they celebrate by having fireworks at Victoria Harbour. I find it amazing how July 1st is also Canada Day on the other side of the world. No matter where my little sister is on her birthday, she can always see fireworks!

After the fireworks, we headed to Choi Fook Restaurant. They were having a busy nights with large celebrations, so at 9pm, we still had to wait for a table of 5. This restaurant is owned by the U-Banquet group and has various restaurant all across Hong Kong.

The interior space was reduced since they had to close off sections of the restaurant for a few events happening at the same place.

They have a huge tank with all the different seafood.

You have an option of washing your utensil here. Some people do it, some people don’t. Sometimes their dishwashers don’t clean everything off the utensils and dishes, so do look carefully.

Sauteed shrimp in green onion and peppers was a good dish, but nothing too special.

Steamed Chicken was good. It’s a classic dish to order and you can’t go wrong with it.

Braised Duck Feet and mushrooms in a pot was delicious and is recommended to have rice to accompany it. Don’t let those juices go to waste. To some people, eating duck feet is weird, but it’s not disgusting. It tastes very savory and kinda like noodles.

Steamed Fish in Fish Sauce took forever to come out of the kitchen. There was a banquet next door, so I assume they just prepared all the fish at one time.

Longevity Bun is a Chinese steamed bun in the shape of a peach. It was my sister’s Birthday and this was the only option they had off the menu. The reason why it’s shaped like a peach is because it’s a symbol of long life. There is an old story of a lady who has a magical peach tree that bears special peaches that grant immortality to all those who eat them.

The inside egg yolk is very oily and it’s a good things that the yolks flavour in the oil seeps into the bun. Very delicious, but yet again, probably high in calories.

Overall, the food was ok and not anything amazing. The service wasn’t that great because some servers seemed a bit rude.

Words of Wisdom:

Fortress Hill MTR Exit B
Busy at peak hours
Decent food

We Rate Choi Fook Restaurant:

Address:
3/F, Olympia Plaza, 255 King’s Road,
North Point, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.choifook.com/

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In BBQ

Yun Fat Tea House: BBQ Meats in Hong Kong

August 1, 2012

Yun Fat Tea House (潤發茶餐廳) in Mong Kok is known to locals for their delicious BBQ meats. If you were just walking by, you would probably not notice this restaurant. It’s not aesthetically pleasing on the outside and has no english at all.

The inside looks like any other Hong Kong style cafe.

Chicken and bone soup was very good. The flavour from the meat and bones really made this soup fragrant and enjoyable.

Look at that meat!!!

BBQ Duck and BBQ Pork on Rice was what everyone else at the table ordered. You gotta eat their signature items here. The meat was very beautiful, tender and very flavourful.

Deep-Fried Fish in Creamed Corn Sauce on Rice comes in a large portion! I couldn’t even finish it! The creamed corn sauce was yummy, but I wasn’t a fan of the fried fish.

Minced meat and vegetable sauce with egg yolk on rice was very good! There was enough sauce for all the rice and my little sister really enjoyed it. I tried some of it too and the meat just melts in your mouth! Yum!

Overall, it was a good decent meal. The down side is that there is no English here. I had to get my mom to order something for me since I can’t read Chinese.

Words of Wisdom: