6 days in Hong Kong
The last time I was in HK was more than 7 years ago when I went on a whim after a "great offer" from aunt to subsidise part of my $550 SIA airfare and her deluxe room at Grand Hyatt. How to not resist? I have been wanting to go back to HK since that fateful trip which marked my first ever solo trip out of Singapore and instigated the wanderlust in me. Ever since that trip, I dream about Tat Cheung egg tarts all the time, the street life in HK, street stalls in Mongkok, the huge Chinese bookstore in Wanchai, that very good wanton noodle in Wanchai, milk curds... the Grand Hyatt room... and just basically everything in HK. :) I had originally wanted to go to Bangkok with all those cheap deals going on because of their crisis and since the office said it is too dangerous for me to go Bangkok alone, I changed my mind and decided on HK. And once I decided on HK, I managed to cho-cho-ed 3 other colleagues to come along and we had a HK trip planned!
This HK trip is pretty much about food. Our itinerary was planned with food in mind. Our shopping was secondary, for once! RIght after we touched down, checked in, we made our way to He Hong Ji, which was highly recommended by another colleague who just came back from HK. I couldn't remember what I had and don't have any pictures of the food. But the others had the 猪肝 (pigs' innards) which they said was out of this world. Now I think I had congee, it was tasty and obviously full of Ajinomoto. The 干炒牛河粉 (fried beef hor fun) was also highly recommended, it was tasty too but I find it too oily and it didn't taste as "out of this world" as I expected.
何洪記
香港銅鑼灣霎東街2號 (2 Sharp Street East, Causeway Bay)
Causeway Bay MTR Exit A, right behind Salvatore Ferragamo boutique
電話: (852) 2577 6558
We wanted some desserts after that, got some recommendation from the chefs in 何洪記, popped by the shop and it was full! At 10.40pm! So we kept the shop in mind and left for the hostel. We didn't go back there eventually, too many food places to check out! Haha!
Day 2, to fulfil my "Project 10 egg tarts" we hit Tat Cheung Bakery first thing in the morning to get our egg tart fix! I only managed to have 5 egg tarts and it took me the entire morning to gobble all 5 down.
This is the main shop at Lynhurst Terrance, which I think they renovated because the old and dingy-looking one I went last time is gone. I even remember queuing 15 minutes for my egg tarts and sugared doughs. I rather miss the old and dingy shop. It looked more authentically Hong Kong.
I still dream of their egg tarts ever so often. Oh! I saw St Honor's in Hong Kong! Another great bakery to get egg tarts from.
泰昌餅家 Tai Cheong Bakery
中環擺花街35號地下 (35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central)
電話: (852) 2544 3475
We adjourned to Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園) across the junction to have a proper Hong Kong-styled breakfast, and had the "panty-hose" milk tea. "Panty-hose" because the sieve they use to contain the tea leaves are... panty hose.. or they look like one.
The potent milk tea. It tastes really good! Smooth and milky. I didn't finish the small cup because it was very thick and I was a bit concern about getting into a caffine high on my first full day in HK. Just in case I get diarrhoea.
Buttered toast. Yum yum!
Here's the table menu.
We ordered this just to fill our stomaches till lunch.
蘭芳園 (Lan Fong Yuen)
中環結志街2號 (2 Gage Street, Central)
電話: (852) 2544 3895
Our next destination is Tung Chung, the outlet store area. But before that, because it was drizzling, one of us walked into Sasa with the intention of getting an umbrella. And all of us being sucker-bugs, we ALL bought something from Sasa. I think myself and Syl took the cake; we each bought a few boxes of 我的美丽日记 masks and hauled them all over HK for the entire day and everywhere we went, there was a Sasa selling those masks! It became joke of the week after that - carry a bag of masks which weight at least a few kg, full of water, all around HK when we can get them practically everywhere else. Anyhow, wasn't impressed with the stuff at Tung Chung, I bought a Nike sports bra and a pair of Peddle Red shoes, that's all.
We headed back to Central to have lunch at the famous Mak's Noodles (麥奀雲吞麵世家) which was recommended by Syl's "new friend" whom she made at the airport while asking for directions. They talked through the entire MTR ride from Central to Fortress Hill! We were teasing her throughout the trip. We had really high expectations because we believed that if a place is recommended by a Hong Konger, it should truly be good.
It is good! Springy noodles, tasty soup (remember, when I say the soup is tasty, it means it is full of Ajinomoto. Hhahaha!)
The downside - the portion is reeeaaaallllly small. I wish I could have a second round but was saving the space for other food.
麥奀雲吞麵世家 (Mak's Noodles)
中環威靈頓街77號地下 (77 Wellington Street, Central)
電話: (852) 2854 3810
And we shopped around Central, shopped H&M, headed to Langham Place at Mongkok for dinner. They had Chee Kei (池记) wanton noodles while I met Anna and had Vietnamese with her. It was the meal I had the most number of prawns in my life. Was so stuffed after the meal. Went back to Fortress Hill and had mango dessert at Hui Lao Shan (許留山)
Day 3, we made our way to Macau and stayed a night at Venetian Macau. This is another post for the later.
Before going on further, we had sub-standard HK food at sub-standard restaurant with rude waiting staff. The soy bean drink was ok, Syl's cold one didn't taste fresh, and the cheung fun was stiff. Yikes!
We came back in the afternoon of day 4 and went on a mad rush to Maxim's Palace (美心皇宮) at City Hall. There are a lot of Maxim's cafe all around but this is a banquet-styled restaurant, so remember don't go into the wrong one. There is one Maxim's cafe outside City Hall. You have to take the lift inside City Hall to get into the restaurant.
This is almost like a wet dream come true!!!
I can't remember what is this but this is good. I think there was banana in them.
Can't remember this too but it is good as well! Hahahah.
YUM!!! The others were overdosed with friend wanton but I wasn't! This was sooooo good!!! YUM!
Super yum 蝦餃 (har gao - streamed prawn dumplings). The skin was so thin and filling was generous!!!
Custard bun, another YUM!
Raddish cake, YUM!
SIEW MAI!!! (燒賣 - pork dumplings) I could die of food orgasm.
Mango pomelo and sago dessert (杨枝甘露) which was yum but CY's black sesame was the top winner for dessert!
中區大會堂 - 美心皇宮 (City Hall Maxim's Palace)
香港中區大會堂低座2樓 (2/F, Low Block, City Hall, Central)
電話: (852) 2521 1303
We were so happy after the lunch, went back to the hostel to drop our bags, change and headed out to Kowloon for some shopping. Walked Female Street, Fa Yuen Street, was looking fervently for the milk tea place which farahdean recommended, I probably wasn't looking hard enough :( We then headed to Sweet Dynasty (糖朝) to meet J and her hub for dinner.
唐朝河粉; which was okay-ish only. There wasn't enough sauce so some parts were kind of... dry.
唐朝先生炒饭; which was also okay-ish. Colleague wanted this all to herself and said it so smugly till she saw the plate of fried rice and she changed her mind. It became joke of the week too.
唐朝XO腸粉; this is top class! You must order this when you are at 唐朝. Super yumz!
Definitely cannot miss their desserts. That's what they are famous for! Their speciality is 唐朝豆花. It's a big tub for 6 of us.
Mega yum-za.
The dinner was so good that I went back to 唐朝 for lunch the next day! Haha. I planned to storm as many H&M outlets as I can during my "me-morning". I started off at Langham Mall (waited for a bloody hour before H&M opens and not getting anything there at all!!!) then headed over to Tsim Sha Tsui from Mongkok. So I went into the H&M at TST, didn't get anything too and felt hungry, so 唐朝 came to mind, naturally.
炸醬麵; the noodles were really Q! Highly recommended!
Soup that came along with the food.
The view from my single seat. I think they were really assertive. They seat the singles by a discreet corner of the restaurant and made us sit facing all the "action". I had a Japanese lady who sat at the table beside me, she seemed a difficult woman (I deduced with the half-Jap, half-Canto, half-Mandarin conservation they had) so I didn't try to speak to her. Anyway, I was very impressed by their attention. After my noodles, one of the waiter checked for my dessert. Then another came and asked if I was alright. Then, a few minutes later, when my dessert still didn't come, the waiter checked again. When it finally came and I was happily eating my dessert, the waiter came and said "终于来啦！" So yea, I had a great time in there and would recommend 唐朝 everyone.
My dessert, 唐朝芝麻汤圆.
Awesome sweet gingered soup.
AMAZING sesame filling!!!
After trying to storm all H&M outlets for the morning, met the rest to go to the Peak. It's a place I had to (and wanted to) go because if I didn't, I would have gotten a shelling from my father again for not going to the Peak when I was in Hong Kong. Also, the Peak experience is a true-blue HK experience, just like catching the view of HK Island harbour from Kowloon and taking the Star Ferry.
糖朝 (Sweet Dynasty)
尖沙咀廣東道100號 (100 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui)
電話: (852) 2199 7799
Our last meal in HK was at 黃枝記, which was recommended by my... er... "friend" who sat beside me on the plane. She is this HK version of SPG-ish lady who is working at a beauty consultant in Phuket and was back in HK to meet her boyfriend. I forgot how we started chatting but I know I was kind of annoyed by her frequent toilet trips (she drank a hell lot of water on board) and she was wearing a tunic that just cover her ass cheeks, sans bottom. I was feeling embarrass for her, the men on board had an eyeful. She has a good body though, so nothing to complain about.
We weren't impress with the food. We probably ordered the wrong kind of food, their speciality is their wanton noodles and by then, we were quite skick of wanton noodles so we decided on something else instead.
This is a super huge wanton.
Looking at my hand vs. the wanton!!!
姜蛋炒饭 was highly recommended by my "friend". This was the saving grace. I never had something like that before, the ginger was really light. So, it tasted like the normal egg fried rice with a tinge of ginger in it. I like it, except that it was a bit dry. It could be better if it is oilier, or not so dry.
Carrot cake, nay.
We went off, feeling disappointed with the good. But if you are ever there, do try the wanton noodles. I heard they are very good. Also, the 姜蛋炒饭. I will be back for the noodles and 姜蛋炒饭 when I go back to HK.
黃枝記粥麵店 (Wong Chi Kei)
中環威靈頓街15號B地下 (G/F 15B Wellington Street, Central)
電話: (852) 2869 1331
We headed off for desserts and ended up in some posh looking restaurant. My stomach was bursting by then so I skipped dessert but this was something which tasted very fragrant. I need to check out where is this place.
Hmm... Kind of summed up my "foodie" trip to HK. I have a "mini Macau" post coming up (read: when I next feel motivated again).
I can't wait to go Taiwan!!! :D
This HK trip is pretty much about food. Our itinerary was planned with food in mind. Our shopping was secondary, for once! RIght after we touched down, checked in, we made our way to He Hong Ji, which was highly recommended by another colleague who just came back from HK. I couldn't remember what I had and don't have any pictures of the food. But the others had the 猪肝 (pigs' innards) which they said was out of this world. Now I think I had congee, it was tasty and obviously full of Ajinomoto. The 干炒牛河粉 (fried beef hor fun) was also highly recommended, it was tasty too but I find it too oily and it didn't taste as "out of this world" as I expected.
何洪記
香港銅鑼灣霎東街2號 (2 Sharp Street East, Causeway Bay)
Causeway Bay MTR Exit A, right behind Salvatore Ferragamo boutique
電話: (852) 2577 6558
We wanted some desserts after that, got some recommendation from the chefs in 何洪記, popped by the shop and it was full! At 10.40pm! So we kept the shop in mind and left for the hostel. We didn't go back there eventually, too many food places to check out! Haha!
Day 2, to fulfil my "Project 10 egg tarts" we hit Tat Cheung Bakery first thing in the morning to get our egg tart fix! I only managed to have 5 egg tarts and it took me the entire morning to gobble all 5 down.
This is the main shop at Lynhurst Terrance, which I think they renovated because the old and dingy-looking one I went last time is gone. I even remember queuing 15 minutes for my egg tarts and sugared doughs. I rather miss the old and dingy shop. It looked more authentically Hong Kong.
I still dream of their egg tarts ever so often. Oh! I saw St Honor's in Hong Kong! Another great bakery to get egg tarts from.
泰昌餅家 Tai Cheong Bakery
中環擺花街35號地下 (35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central)
電話: (852) 2544 3475
We adjourned to Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園) across the junction to have a proper Hong Kong-styled breakfast, and had the "panty-hose" milk tea. "Panty-hose" because the sieve they use to contain the tea leaves are... panty hose.. or they look like one.
The potent milk tea. It tastes really good! Smooth and milky. I didn't finish the small cup because it was very thick and I was a bit concern about getting into a caffine high on my first full day in HK. Just in case I get diarrhoea.
Buttered toast. Yum yum!
Here's the table menu.
We ordered this just to fill our stomaches till lunch.
蘭芳園 (Lan Fong Yuen)
中環結志街2號 (2 Gage Street, Central)
電話: (852) 2544 3895
Our next destination is Tung Chung, the outlet store area. But before that, because it was drizzling, one of us walked into Sasa with the intention of getting an umbrella. And all of us being sucker-bugs, we ALL bought something from Sasa. I think myself and Syl took the cake; we each bought a few boxes of 我的美丽日记 masks and hauled them all over HK for the entire day and everywhere we went, there was a Sasa selling those masks! It became joke of the week after that - carry a bag of masks which weight at least a few kg, full of water, all around HK when we can get them practically everywhere else. Anyhow, wasn't impressed with the stuff at Tung Chung, I bought a Nike sports bra and a pair of Peddle Red shoes, that's all.
We headed back to Central to have lunch at the famous Mak's Noodles (麥奀雲吞麵世家) which was recommended by Syl's "new friend" whom she made at the airport while asking for directions. They talked through the entire MTR ride from Central to Fortress Hill! We were teasing her throughout the trip. We had really high expectations because we believed that if a place is recommended by a Hong Konger, it should truly be good.
It is good! Springy noodles, tasty soup (remember, when I say the soup is tasty, it means it is full of Ajinomoto. Hhahaha!)
The downside - the portion is reeeaaaallllly small. I wish I could have a second round but was saving the space for other food.
麥奀雲吞麵世家 (Mak's Noodles)
中環威靈頓街77號地下 (77 Wellington Street, Central)
電話: (852) 2854 3810
And we shopped around Central, shopped H&M, headed to Langham Place at Mongkok for dinner. They had Chee Kei (池记) wanton noodles while I met Anna and had Vietnamese with her. It was the meal I had the most number of prawns in my life. Was so stuffed after the meal. Went back to Fortress Hill and had mango dessert at Hui Lao Shan (許留山)
Day 3, we made our way to Macau and stayed a night at Venetian Macau. This is another post for the later.
Before going on further, we had sub-standard HK food at sub-standard restaurant with rude waiting staff. The soy bean drink was ok, Syl's cold one didn't taste fresh, and the cheung fun was stiff. Yikes!
We came back in the afternoon of day 4 and went on a mad rush to Maxim's Palace (美心皇宮) at City Hall. There are a lot of Maxim's cafe all around but this is a banquet-styled restaurant, so remember don't go into the wrong one. There is one Maxim's cafe outside City Hall. You have to take the lift inside City Hall to get into the restaurant.
This is almost like a wet dream come true!!!
I can't remember what is this but this is good. I think there was banana in them.
Can't remember this too but it is good as well! Hahahah.
YUM!!! The others were overdosed with friend wanton but I wasn't! This was sooooo good!!! YUM!
Super yum 蝦餃 (har gao - streamed prawn dumplings). The skin was so thin and filling was generous!!!
Custard bun, another YUM!
Raddish cake, YUM!
SIEW MAI!!! (燒賣 - pork dumplings) I could die of food orgasm.
Mango pomelo and sago dessert (杨枝甘露) which was yum but CY's black sesame was the top winner for dessert!
中區大會堂 - 美心皇宮 (City Hall Maxim's Palace)
香港中區大會堂低座2樓 (2/F, Low Block, City Hall, Central)
電話: (852) 2521 1303
We were so happy after the lunch, went back to the hostel to drop our bags, change and headed out to Kowloon for some shopping. Walked Female Street, Fa Yuen Street, was looking fervently for the milk tea place which farahdean recommended, I probably wasn't looking hard enough :( We then headed to Sweet Dynasty (糖朝) to meet J and her hub for dinner.
唐朝河粉; which was okay-ish only. There wasn't enough sauce so some parts were kind of... dry.
唐朝先生炒饭; which was also okay-ish. Colleague wanted this all to herself and said it so smugly till she saw the plate of fried rice and she changed her mind. It became joke of the week too.
唐朝XO腸粉; this is top class! You must order this when you are at 唐朝. Super yumz!
Definitely cannot miss their desserts. That's what they are famous for! Their speciality is 唐朝豆花. It's a big tub for 6 of us.
Mega yum-za.
The dinner was so good that I went back to 唐朝 for lunch the next day! Haha. I planned to storm as many H&M outlets as I can during my "me-morning". I started off at Langham Mall (waited for a bloody hour before H&M opens and not getting anything there at all!!!) then headed over to Tsim Sha Tsui from Mongkok. So I went into the H&M at TST, didn't get anything too and felt hungry, so 唐朝 came to mind, naturally.
炸醬麵; the noodles were really Q! Highly recommended!
Soup that came along with the food.
The view from my single seat. I think they were really assertive. They seat the singles by a discreet corner of the restaurant and made us sit facing all the "action". I had a Japanese lady who sat at the table beside me, she seemed a difficult woman (I deduced with the half-Jap, half-Canto, half-Mandarin conservation they had) so I didn't try to speak to her. Anyway, I was very impressed by their attention. After my noodles, one of the waiter checked for my dessert. Then another came and asked if I was alright. Then, a few minutes later, when my dessert still didn't come, the waiter checked again. When it finally came and I was happily eating my dessert, the waiter came and said "终于来啦！" So yea, I had a great time in there and would recommend 唐朝 everyone.
My dessert, 唐朝芝麻汤圆.
Awesome sweet gingered soup.
AMAZING sesame filling!!!
After trying to storm all H&M outlets for the morning, met the rest to go to the Peak. It's a place I had to (and wanted to) go because if I didn't, I would have gotten a shelling from my father again for not going to the Peak when I was in Hong Kong. Also, the Peak experience is a true-blue HK experience, just like catching the view of HK Island harbour from Kowloon and taking the Star Ferry.
糖朝 (Sweet Dynasty)
尖沙咀廣東道100號 (100 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui)
電話: (852) 2199 7799
Our last meal in HK was at 黃枝記, which was recommended by my... er... "friend" who sat beside me on the plane. She is this HK version of SPG-ish lady who is working at a beauty consultant in Phuket and was back in HK to meet her boyfriend. I forgot how we started chatting but I know I was kind of annoyed by her frequent toilet trips (she drank a hell lot of water on board) and she was wearing a tunic that just cover her ass cheeks, sans bottom. I was feeling embarrass for her, the men on board had an eyeful. She has a good body though, so nothing to complain about.
We weren't impress with the food. We probably ordered the wrong kind of food, their speciality is their wanton noodles and by then, we were quite skick of wanton noodles so we decided on something else instead.
This is a super huge wanton.
Looking at my hand vs. the wanton!!!
姜蛋炒饭 was highly recommended by my "friend". This was the saving grace. I never had something like that before, the ginger was really light. So, it tasted like the normal egg fried rice with a tinge of ginger in it. I like it, except that it was a bit dry. It could be better if it is oilier, or not so dry.
Carrot cake, nay.
We went off, feeling disappointed with the good. But if you are ever there, do try the wanton noodles. I heard they are very good. Also, the 姜蛋炒饭. I will be back for the noodles and 姜蛋炒饭 when I go back to HK.
黃枝記粥麵店 (Wong Chi Kei)
中環威靈頓街15號B地下 (G/F 15B Wellington Street, Central)
電話: (852) 2869 1331
We headed off for desserts and ended up in some posh looking restaurant. My stomach was bursting by then so I skipped dessert but this was something which tasted very fragrant. I need to check out where is this place.
Hmm... Kind of summed up my "foodie" trip to HK. I have a "mini Macau" post coming up (read: when I next feel motivated again).
I can't wait to go Taiwan!!! :D