Miscellaneous Food: Kimberley Hotel Restaurant

After reading about his fantastic meal at the Kimberly Hotel, I followed Chubby Hubby's lead and headed there for a meal while last in HK. I dragged many of my friends with me to sample this meal, especially after hearing that a large group was neccesary to try all the delicious and large portions. After a lengthy planning period, we had a great group, with two in particular who trekked out to make the initial booking and to make a pre-payment, which is neccesary if you want to have the roast piglet.

As often mentioned, the facade of the hotel is faded and the inside of the restaurant looks even more like something out of Macau, with gilt and tufted chairs everywhere, fake pussy willows and peonies and a complimentary karoke monitor stuck to one wall. One thing that I felt Chubby Hubby's post didn't stress, is how huge (huge, not large) the portions are. In the end, we didn't wind up with as many people as I thought, thanks to last-minute flakers (don't you hate those!) and we drastically shortened the menu but this is how much food we had left over. We felt awful about it and each bag did go home to worthy families.


We started with separate dishes that were reminescent of a "cold dish" or "leng pan" that you find at wedding banquets. One was salt and pepper squid, one was a deep-fried salmon skin. I forget what the others were, since even those two excellent, crackly dishes were clearly too generous to be finished. One of the odd dishes that we were served was a large basket of char siew pao. Even though it was very tasty, we all thought it was a bit out of place and filled up our much-needed tummy space.

We then had a lovely double-boiled soup and the salt-baked chicken, followed by a giant crockpot of lemongrass braised beef ribs. All of the dishes were excellent, piping hot, fresh and with clean, distinct flavours. Suffice to say that we were full mid-way through the meal but we kept eating and eating determinedly.


That is, until the roast piglet showed up. It definitely lived up to the hype of being a thing of beauty and the crispiness, the succulent, light mouth-feel of the skin and the sticky glutinous rice, ah, it's too much! It was a truly lovely dish and one that, I think, is probably best executed in an industrial restaurant kitchen. Everyone oohed and aahed over the tray that was wheeled in, posed for photographs and munched their way satisfiedly through their slice. An excellent highlight!


There were a couple of vegetable dishes in between the middle and the finish, which we could hardly manage but the ending was particularly sweet. They brought out bowls of noodle that were really simple and resembled maggi noodles (or the instant mee goreng type noodles) - I don't know if it was the combination of chives, dark soya sauce or onion oil but they were fantastic! Not just delicious but comforting in that unexpected yet spot-on way.


And, just as we thought we were done and way too full for any dessert, they brought out hot-steamed malaikou, wafting it's warm, lightly-caramelized fragrance across the table. The best malaikou I have had, in memory - I would eat it anytime. Overall, it was easily one of the best meals I have had in Hong Kong and I would definitely return with my family. You should try it!



Kimberley Hotel Restaurant
28 Kimberley Rd, Hong Kong
Tel: 2723 3888
Website

Miscellaneous Food: Hong Kong - a 3-Day Itinerary

I am always asked about HK itenaries and I prepared this one for some colleagues, so I thought I'd post it here as well. This is an extremely biased 3 day itenary based on what I would do, eat and see. Enjoy!

HK: Day 1
Arrive in HK and take the high-speed Airport express into HK Island, since I use the MTR extensively, I always find it worthwhile to buy a stored value Octopus card bundled together with my Airport express train ticket. For shopping and eating purposes, I find it easier to stay on HK Island as it more compact and accessible. Some of the lovely hotels in HK are the imitable Four Seasons, with it's beautiful bouquets of lily and gardenias and tastefully large rooms, the hip Hotel LKF by Rhombus and the boutique JIA hotel, designed by Philippe Stark.

For the more cost-concious, there are good deals to be had in HK, such as the Hotel Lan Kwai Fong (not to be confused with the former), a tiny but newly and keenly-decorated hotel at the brilliantly central Wellington Street. Double rooms used to be available here for as low as $120SGD a night but after they won the best boutique hotel in Asia award, I'm sure they've gone up. There are other good rates to be had in Central, namely at Jen Hotel (www.hoteljen.com) $140SGD at Queen's Road West and the Ramada Hong Kong $130SGD at Des Veoux Road but other cheaper budget options to check out would be the L Hotel in Tin Hau, which is nearer to the city than similarly cheap hotels in Cyberport.

After checking into the hotel, spend the day eating and shopping at Central. Almost the entire of Central, in a tribute to the MTR's extensive access, is connected by underground or inter-building passages. Start your browsing at IFC where the quality of shops and gourmet produce at City Super definitely trumps anything we have in Singapore. Walk to Landmark to ogle at items you can't buy- check out the Valextra store, the Miu Miu store, the Aveda store, the NARS boutique and the DVF boutique, all carrying lines largely unavailable in Singapore.

Walk out onto Pedder Street and visit the Club Monaco flagship, the Bathing Ape flagship and the On Pedder flagship, all pretty much in a row, walking your your way toward D'Aguilar street. If you are lucky enough to come during sale season, the sales in HK go down to 80% off regularly, unlike the 15% that Singapore's retail seems to understand as a 'sale'.

As you approach D'Aguilar/Pedder/LiYuen Street entrances of the Central MTR, this is where the real shopping begins. Next to Shanghai Tang, you will find an opening for Pedder Building, a 7 story mecca of warehouse and outlet merchandise. Ignore the security guard and take one of the lifts to the 1st floor, where you will find a store that sells Armani suits with their tags cut- these retail for $200SGD and they are some of the best suits you can buy, soft yet supple and perfect for Asian women. They also sell ad-hoc jacket tops, pants and skirts for as low as 99HKD/20SGD. On their racks you will also find, if you have sharp eyes because all the tags will have been cut, some luxe dresses- my friends have picked up Missoni, DVF and Catherine Maledrino dresses here for $100SGD. Other stores on this level sell cashmere cardigans, on level 2, there are stores that sell Banana Republic merchandise, then on the level 3 there is Pantry Magic and Bumps to Babes children's merchandise. On some of the higher levels, there are two jackpots- a two-storey shop that is packed full of BCBG/Hugo Boss/Chloe dresses for $100SGD and another more expensive store that a beautiful collection of branded outfits, curiously arranged by colour!

Exiting the building, stop at the back of Shanghai Tang to appreciate their cheongsum tailors at work. These are where some of the most expensive and innovative cheong sums in HK are made and you can run your hand over the bolts of heavily embroidered lace, tulle and chiffon, awaiting their wedding turn.

From here you have two options, walk up the hill to Wellington Street and you will be at Yung Kee in time for a roast goose lunch and Kee Wah Bakery is right next door to buy Cantonese biscuit snacks and gifts. Or walk down the hill to Queen Street, where you will come to the giant 3 storey H&M. If you walk up to Wellington, try to do so along the cross-streets of Li Yuen East or one of the sharply-pitched streets, where I am always amused by the tourists groaning their way up the cobblestone, the Halloween stalls lining the road catering to expat LKF madness and the little tailor shacks which retail the most innovative cheongsum buttons, lace, chinese fans, tassles and trinkets.

Along Wellington Street, stop in for a bowl of wanton noodles and dumplings as big as your palm at Tsim Chai Kee, for HKD15. It is opposite Mak's Noodles but please don't get cheated there, the quality is much superior at Tsim Chai Kee. Opposite the store, there is a shack with good fresh orange juice and another one with interesting bead necklaces. Continue down Wellington Street and at the base of Cochrane Street, make an appointment with Happy Foot Massage. They are regularly called to the Peak by the who's who of HK society, so they are really good and after a hard day, you will need a good acupressure massage (about SGD$50 for an hour, tip $20HKD).

From here, you can go up Cochrane Street where there are two good food stalls, one on the right, hidden by the trolley shacks, selling the most incredible HK milk tea and XTC gelato for the best scoop in HK (try their vanilla bean which is chock-full of fresh Madagascan specks). You can also continue up Lyndhurst Terrace to Chris Patten's egg tarts, stand on the corner and burn your lips on these still wobbly custards.

After snacking, walk to the top of Lyndhurst Terrace and visit the creative GOD homeware/clothing store that specialises in HK-savvy products. Then turn right and walk along Hollywood Street visiting all the comtemporary and modern Chinese art and antique galleries as you go. I have spent an entire afternoon here and thank God they are so expensive that it is impossible to do any damage. Along Hollywood Street, you will eventually come to Expat Centrale where you will find the achingly laid-back cafes (not pubs, mind you, pubs are in Wanchai) and eateries of the Press Room (similar to our PS Cafe but food is better), Wagyu (set up by a bunch of Australians, good to know they are colonising HK as much as Singapore) and Mint.

If you really want to, ride the Escalator (I find this a giant waste of time but different strokes for different folks!) and peer into people's apartments or continue into Sheung Wan to the Western Market area (a quaint little colonial Dutch house cum textile market) and go to Honeymoon Desserts for some of the best local cold-fruit-and-hot-bean desserts

Start back to the hotel to put down your shopping, wash up and dress for dinner. Being the first day, there might be excitement enough to go out big for the night and there's no place for fancy like Hong Kong.

Some of the posh eateries to consider would definitely be Nobu at the Intercontinental in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST- forget about the crappy and hardly visible laser light show but take time to walk out onto the groyne at the TST pier, especially if the waves are dark and stormy), Hutong at One Peking Road in TST, or if you're not keen to go far, M on the Fringe in Central is a cosy little gem of a restaurant at the top of a squat brick tower. There are many, so many other posh places in HK, after all every high-end culinary name is represented there. To be honest, for most part it's a feast for the eyes and a no-go on the wallet I'm afraid. In terms of food, you are best placed at Nobu or M on the Fringe but I will say that Hutong has the most beautiful and evocative restaurant decor. Remember though, never never take a car across from HK Island to TST unless it's the middle of the night, the train ride is 10 minutes underwater, a taxi stuck on the bridge can take an hour.

After dinner, head to the Lan Kwai Fong bar street for drinks at FINDS and clubbing afterward- the proximity allows you to hit up as many as 5 clubs in a night, including Drop, Prive and the iconic Dragon-i where you might come face to face with many celebrities or Zhang Ziyi in her pre-Vivo days. A lot of the young HK expats will hit the clubs several nights a week so chances are you will probably find what you're looking for. If you are too old, like me, then you could try a drink-with-a-view at Felix at the princey Peninsula, Zuma, the Silk Road-esque Water Margin or my personal favourite, Feather Boa, a little tucked-away bar in Soho, decorated to look like a Victorean lounge. Part camp, part bordello and with a seriously watchable crowd, it serves the most delectable chocolate martinis and strawberry daiquiries.

It sounds like a lot but look at it this way, you can do all of that today and never have stepped food outside a 3km sq area if you choose the dinner retaurant in Central. Welcome to HK!

Shanghai Tang
12 Pedder Street
Pedder Building, Central
Mon-Sun 11am-7pm

Tsim Chai Kee
98 Wellington Street
G/F Jade Centre, Central
9am to 8pm daily

Happy Foot Massage (chain)
11/F Jade Centre
98-102 Wellington St, Central
Opened till 12 midnight daily

XTC Gelato (chain)
G/F, Shop B, 45 Cochrane Street, Soho
www.xtc.com.hk

Chris Patten's Egg Tarts/Tai Cheung Bakery
32 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central

The Press Room
108 Hollywood Road, Central
Tel: 852 2525 3444
www.thepressroom.com.hk

M on the Fringe
2 Lower Albert Road, Central

Honeymoon Dessert (chain)
Store 4-8, G/F Western Market, Sheung Wan

Feather Boa
38 Staunton Street, Soho


HK: Day 2
If you wake up early and not confused and hungover (the more realistic HK experience actually, I think), one of my favourite things to do in the morning is take the touristy tram up to the Peak, enjoy the misty view in the relative quiet of the early morning and then run back down to get some exercise and the nighttime excesses out of your system.

My local friends generally look at me like I'm mad when I say things like that (and no, I don't karoke so don't expect those kind of tips from me) but downhill, it's not that tough a run.

When you are through with the morning ritual, head to Admiralty and take a look around the Pacific Place complex or skip it completely for two shops.

The first, from the MTR's exit A is at Admiralty Center Tower 1 and is a customized shoe shop. There are two stores on the 1st floor, a cheaper one called Edwina and a more expensive one known as Lili or Alan Chan.

Wall to wall of Christian Louboutin-like red soles and beautiful stiching, exotic skins, buttery soft calf leathers in every colour of the rainbow- even if you are not intending to purchase anything, it's quite a sight. The shoe makers here will take an imprint of your foot and I would suggest, if you have the restraint, that you don't get shoes here becuase after a customized shoe that only fits your foot, every other shoe you own will feel uncomfortable!

The other shops in this complex are also interesting, it has a bit of a reputation of being a discount complex, so many stores offer merchandise that you see island-wide but here, they are on a particularly hefty discount.

The second store is at Exit B of the Admiralty MTR, in Far East Corporation building, on the 9th floor. This is a store called Acetex, but it is in an office space. Acetax is one of the distributors for Max Mara, Chloe, Stella McCartney, Prada, Bottega and a number of other high-end labels (unlike in Singapore and say, Club 21, European brand owners hardly ever grant exclusive licenses to distributors in HK, this explains why there is more competition and also more of these random distributor wholesale spots) and this office is the space where they pull together a lot of collections at a deep retail discount. The prices are not as low as in the true outlets but the trade-off is that the collections are complete and edited so you're not sifting through any junk.

Today is local food day and the best food is available in the seedy underbelly of Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. The best dim sum is probably found at the Peninsula Hotel, Maxims at the pier and Che's Kitchen in Wan Chai.

After lunch, take a cab from Wan Chai to Ap Lei Chau (WanChai is the nearest place on the island to take a cab there) to spend the afternoon at the outlet stores. There are two places in Ap Lei Chau, one is the famed Space/Prada Outlet, which is a lovely suited up showcase of discounted Prada/Miu Miu/Jil Sander merchandise and the second is the South Horizons Building at Yi Nam Street, which is a 27-storey mecca of warehouse outlets.

I think the building is taller than that but it's irrelevant because 27th floor is Max Mara, 25th is Lane Crawford and 21st is Joyce Warehouse. (Something like that, my memory fails me) Go to Blumarine at 22nd floor because they have new Armani and a Moschino outlet that also has collection of Jimmy Choo shoes for $200SGD.

If you have time, check out the home furnishing and furniture stores that populate the rest of the floors, the Italian wholesale produce/food store on the I believe, 9th floor and the Early Learning Center kid's toys outlet, as well as the baby emporium on the 21st floor.

That should keep you busy up to dinnertime, though note that these complexes are not open on Monday and close at 7pm at night on other days.

Take a cab back to the hotel (beware of traffic stuck at the Aberdeen tunnel should you choose try to get back to HK Island at peak hour) and choose between local food and Japanese food for dinner.

For local food, my favourite Cantonese restaurants are still Yung Kee, the China Club (very different from ours) or Futong Cantonese Restaurant in Wan Chai, which has the most kick-ass Cantonese style food, their soups, stir fried fish and crab roe and braised yellow chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and mushrooms were truly excellent.

For Japanese food, which, in HK is some of the best in Asia, my two favourite places are the hidden, unknown and very affordable Etsu in Tin Hau or the counter of Sushi Immamura in Causeway Bay, which has the quintessential chef-diner atmosphere and some of the most innovative Japanese sushi I've had for a long while.

After dinner, walk around the local shops at Causeway Bay, which really comes to life and bustle in the night, when the pedestrain-only streets are shut off. There are lots of bargains on the street-front shops but also a lot of local brands, like Joy & Peace, Mirabell, Staccato, IT, Izzue, Massina, Zucca. Along Causeway Bay to Paterson Street, there is the giant Sogo, the Island Beverly (which is like Far East Plaza here for local young HK designers), the Fashion Island and Delay No Mall.

The reason I would come to Causeway Bay after outlet shopping is that you will probably realize that the outlets on sale are cheaper than the local shopping not on sale but you may find the taste and trendiness of this stretch irresistable as well!

There is nothing like supper in Hong Kong and my favourite place is Yee Shun Milk Company for double-steamed-skin milk. That sounds quite horrible but the actual product is the most heavenly thing on earth, sweet, soft, cool and refreshing, reminscent of cold milk but a much cleaner, smoother taste. These come in cold, hot or ginger varieties and you can also order the steamed egg (not as heavenly, in my opinion) and the mango or papaya milkshakes. There are many outlets but a good one is in Causeway Bay just outside exit C of the MTR, on Hennesey and Patterson Road.

My brother, more of a street junkie than I, in his time in HK did an exhaustive survey while eating a horrifying amount of his favourite beef brisket noodles, which you can find by searching his old posts in the blog.


HK: Day 3
In the morning, take a hike on Dragon's Back in Shek O country park, so named because the humps of the mountains resemble the scales on a dragon. One of my most treasured gifts from a HK friend is on all the hiking trails in HK, there are so many and they are so beautiful, often winding round the fishing villages or the green Chinese-style mountains.

One of the big benefits of going in winter, is not just that the food tastes better but that the best hiking weather is during this season, which gives you a great chance to explore some of the islands that surround the HK city. It may sound paradoxical that in a city full of eating and shopping, hiking is actually one of my favourite reasons to be in HK.

So far, I've done some mountain hikes, a beach hike across Repulse Bay and a fishing village in Saikung. Do some research and choose one that is suited for your health and fitness and don't forget to bring a cap and water!

For those who aren't interested, other things you could do would be to go to Kowloon and visit the Bird Market and the Flower Market, especially in the mornings. You can take a stroll to see the Jade Market in Kowloon as well. For those with children, you could go to Ocean Park or Disneyland and spend the day there (get ready to elbow rude Chinese children out of line!). For those who have more shopping and some er...counterfeit ambitions, you can take the KCR train and alight at Shenzhen's Luohu station.

If you do go up to TST, there is a wonderful local dim sum place on Canton Road called Happy Garden, which is virtually next door to Sweet Dynasty (88 Canton Road), which is where you can get your fill of HK desserts.

One hidden place in TST is on 17 Carnervon Road, called Excellent Tailor/Fabrics, it's a little store selling bolts of discontinued or retro cloth. When I first went to this place, I almost died, they sold silk scarf cloth that had been woven in Hong Kong (the textile industry in HK has been non-existent for at least 30 year years) and they had flawless reams of rare geometric and chinese prints.

I would use Day 3 to eat at the restaurants that I didn't get to the first two days or visit a local 'cha chan teng' for lunch snacks like thick coconut-spread bread or crispy HK noodles. If you can't, squeeze in the massage that you booked on one of the nights then perhaps after the hike would be a good option.

The last flight to Singapore out of HK departs at 6.30pm and before you leave, you could swing by Yung Kee or the Cafe de Coral at the Airport Terminal to pick up some roast duck rice and milk tea for dinner.

Central Hong Kong: Right in the Heart

The Hui

I used to think that it wasn't possible to have dimsum for a working lunch, given that you only have an hour. However, after having lunch at The Hui, and observing just how packed it was at lunchtime, dimsum might actually be a good idea for lunch.



If you don't order too much, food comes relatively quickly and you're done in about forty odd minutes. The trick is in getting a reservation though; lunches in Central are ridiculous, rather like hordes of inmates being set loose for a day.



I'd actually walked past The Hui on my way to work a number of mornings, without ever realising what it was. Located just off Lan Kwai Fong, in a commercial building, with an escalator as its only egress, it's really quite easy to miss.



While the usual dimsum suspects were quite well done, what I really enjoyed was the winter melon soup seafood rice. Almost akin to Teochew porridge, the soup was clear and sweet, the rice grains were perfectly plump with bite; the whole dish was refreshing.



The carrot cake was also excellent; generous cubes of crispy, starchy radish, the Chinese equivalent of complimentary bread to work up an appetite (except this one's not free).



The custard buns were a little rough around the edges (circumfrence, whatever), and the custard tasted a little artificial, but perhaps I was just being picky.



Xiaolongbaos make every dimsum lunch better. There doesn't seem to be much of a xiaolongbao culture here in the same way as there is back home - no accompanying black vinegar and ginger.

Central may be an odd place to come for dimsum, but it certainly beats trekking all the way to Tsim Sha Tsui or Maxim's for your dimsum fix.

The Hui
3-4th Floor, Entertainment Building
30 Queen's Road Central
Tel: 852 2877 3993

Isola

IFC has a couple of pretty fancy restaurants, catering to the well-heeled investment bankers who can expense their meals.



One of these is Isola, an Italian restaurant and bar that is a real pain to find, sandwiched between Lane Crawford and Longchamp on the third podium. Reservations are a definite must for dinner, as even booking a table for two at 7pm, I was told I had to clear off by 8.30pm. Sure enough, by 8pm the place was almost completely full, on a Tuesday night.



Boasting an attractive open kitchen, Isola clearly has a white theme, with tablecloths, linens and even decorations in a pearly hue. It's cliched, but sensible, as it makes it much easier to control the lighting tone with minimal artificial lighting.



One of the prime attractions, of course, is the night-time sea view. For the full effect one could probably sit outdoors, and I imagine in winter those seats need to be reserved weeks days in advance. Even in the restaurant though, the view is pretty good.



A shame, then, that the food is somewhat short of spectacular. While it's understandable that prices reflect the high rents in IFC, I did think the pizzas and pastas suffered a dearth of interesting ingredients and creativity.

The pizza I had was generous on the button mushrooms, but not much else. Still, the chefs clearly have some skill; as the crust was wafer thin and not the least bit oily.



Great place for a date, as long as you've got an expense-paid account.

Isola
Level 3, IFC Mall, Central
Tel: 852 2383 8765
Website

Central Hong Kong: International Food in International Alleys

M at the Fringe

One of the best things about eating in Hong Kong is finding good food in the unlikeliest of places. From holes in the wall to swanky restaurants, first impressions are always the wrong impressions.



M at the Fringe seems follow that line of thought. Located in a strange old building that looks like a public toilet, the only indication that there might be a restaurant there is the lone menu that's pinned up when you enter the dark entrance.



Going up, the hallway is strangely dim and silent, and a red stairwell leads up into the unknown. As my friend said, it seemed like something out of Disney's House of Horrors.



Entering the restaurant itself though, all fears are dispelled. The walls are painted in artsy hues, a massive flower decoration in the centre of the restaurant commands attention, and the service is courteous and friendly.



Though empty at first, the restuarant very quickly filled up, and seeing as how M at the Fringe has the reputation of being one of Hong Kong's best restaurants, it would be a very good idea to secure a reservation.

Food here is eclectic European and defies classification; drawing inspiration from French, Spanish, Italian and almost every other European cuisine.



The gazpacho was done in two styles: traditional Andalucian red and creamy ajo blanco, both cold. The traditional was excellent, sweet, piquant with a hint of basil and tomato oil. The ajo blanco however, was less enjoyable, being extremely creamy and possessing a strange, powdery texture that I did not like at all.



The squid ink risotto, however, was absolutely amazing. Perfectly executed, each grain reached that sublime point of almost fusing, but still retaining their individuality. More importantly, the squid was not at all rubbery, and the flavour of the ink and acidity of the lemon juice cut through distinctly. The entire thing was finished in a few minutes.



One of M's specialities is their version of suckling pig, a mammoth order of pork with crispy crackling, served with glazed apple and fennel, in a pork sauce. I'm not a big fan of pork, and the huge portion was too much for me to finish. The crackling was quite addictive, though.



The name of my dessert was "It Takes Two to Mango", which I found really amusing. What it entailed was a triumphal mango souffle, served with a cold mango sorbet. This was an excellent dessert - the mango souffle towered out of its ramekin, and the flavour of the mango mellowed some of the richness of the egg. Paired with the cold sorbet, it reminded me why mango is one of my favoured fruits.



What M at the Fringe is apparently very famous for, is their pavlova. A crusty baked meringue topped with fresh fruits, whipped cream and passionfruit sauce, I can't think of a sweeter way to end dinner.

M at the Fringe
2 Lower Albert Road, Central
Tel: 852 2877 4000
Website

Te

Hands up anyone who's ever had Japanese pasta. Can't imagine there can be that many.



Te's a really interesting eatery that's good for a quick, appealing meal. Found it, coincidentally, on Sook's Food Notes, after she tried it while in Hong Kong. Almost impossible to locate unless you know what you're looking for, it's above the 7-11 along Cochrane Street.



A Japanese restaurant specialising in Italian pasta, Te has managed to effectively fuse the two traditions: Japanese efficiency and Italian cuisine. Upon ordering and paying for your food at the counter, the staff immediately begin cooking your meal (you can actually see it happen - it's an open kitchen), and it arrives in about the amount of time it takes you to find a seat.

The secret to their ruthless efficiency is that everything is prepared - the pasta has been pre-cooked and freeze-dried in exact portions, the clams are sealed in vacuum-packed bags in exact portions, there's a squeeze bottle of garlic oil handy...you get the idea.



Recommendations include the mentaiko pasta and the spaghetti Japonese, which is basically vongole with Shimeiji mushrooms.

The flavours are excellent, the pasta is al dente, and the concept is unusual. Te is a great place for lunch or dinner if you're in a hurry, or just looking for some really good pasta even if you're not.

Te
1/F, Cheung Hing Commercial Building,
37 Cochrane Street, Central
Website
Tel: 852 2110 6910

Lotus



Lotus is an Australian style bar-restaurant that has a lot going for it. It looks like it would be equally at home in bustling Lan Kwai Fong or trendy Soho, yet it occupies a modest spot on one of Central's most innocuous streets.

Featuring a modern Asian menu by a talented young Australian chef, and boasting possibly the most creative drinks on the island (by one of these new-fangled mixologists), Lotus is a great place to lounge around for drinks or to enjoy a good Asian-style dinner.

I say Asian-style because while the menu is clearly Thai-influenced, there are plenty of non-traditional elements to spice up the act. Also, unlike other Thai restaurants, the portions here are quite generous, and it took us great difficulty to finish just three dishes.

One of which was a cassia bark chicken with black vinegar caramel Sichuan salt and pepper. The contrived name notwithstanding, it was actually really good. We were given a whole chicken, which had a crispy layer of skin brushed with black vinegar and caramel, giving it a sweet yet tangy flavour. The chicken itself was meaty, and had a bit of crunch due to a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

To go with that, we had a Pheanang curry of slow braised beef cheek with Thai basil and chilli. Another slow-cooked beef dish, but this time in Western fashion. The beef was fork tender, and the curry was somewhat sweet, redolent with the aroma of the meat and the fragrant basil.

After all that, the stir-fried Asian vegetables with Thai basil and tofu seemed a little ordinary, but they were competently done and rounded out the meal nicely.

Lotus occupies a useful midway between the really cheap eats off the streets and the decidedly swankier joints around town. Popular with a chic crowd, who come to enjoy the drinks more than the food, Lotus is the sort of place that has something for everyone.

Lotus
37-43 Pottinger Street, Central
Tel: 852 2543 6290

Lin Heung Tea House

I must admit to being fairly disappointed with the dimsum offerings in Hong Kong. People keep telling me I've been going to the wrong places; but dim sum and Hong Kong are a bit like France and foie gras - so deeply associated with the cultural identity of the place that the foreign psyche has been indelibly ingrained with the belief that one cannot possibly be dissatisfied, no matter where one goes for the food in question.

So when I found a few oblique references to Lin Heung ("Fragrant Lotus"), one of the last remaining traditional teahouses in Hong Kong still serving dimsum, I was instantly intrigued.



As it turns out, I'd walked past Lin Heung previously, and wondered why there was such a long queue snaking out the door (I use the term loosely - there isn't one).

Authentic old-school dimsum plus long queues? I'm there! What particularly attracted me were the reports that the dimsum baskets still came served on trolleys, and it was "dimsum conducted in the same way as in the 60s".



The problem, of course, is that in the 60s, no one spoke any English. Also, no one got their own table. Sure enough, these wonderful traits have been preserved, so it's best to go with someone who speaks Cantonese, and with the possibility of having to share an exceedingly cramped table in mind, because the place gets exceedingly crowded during lunchtime.



Basically people have to hover around tables and swoop the moment the other patrons leave. If you gamble wrongly, it could mean another fifteen minute wait. The cacophony of chopsticks clacking, of old men greeting each other and tea being poured is pervasive, as are the odours of pork lard and rice flour.

If you're here with friends - make sure they know what to expect. I was soaking up the sounds and smells, but my friends from Hong Kong looked distinctly uncomfortable, probably unused to the colloquial nature of Lin Heung, a far cry from the normal civilised dimsum houses.



Still, you're here for the atmosphere, and no one could accuse Lin Heung of being gimmicky - not even when the dim sum comes on metal trolleys pushed by little old ladies. There's no menu; you just pick what you want off the carts.



Granted, the food isn't as refined and delicate as some of the posher dimsum joints. But it's still delicious; made and served in a fashion that bespeaks custom. Har gao, siew mai, cheong fun...all the perennials are here; you just have to find the right cart.

Lin Heung Tea House
160-164 Wellington Street, Central
Tel: 852 2544 2556

Central Hong Kong: Oodles of Noodles

Mak's Noodles

I know my sister's poured cold water on Mak's noodles, but it's widely touted to be the best noodles in Hong Kong, so I figured I had to try it.

To be fair, I didn't do an apples to apples comparison with Tsim Chai Kee, since I ordered a bowl of beef brisket and wonton noodles from Mak, and Tsim Chai Kee doesn't serve beef brisket noodles.

While Mak's noodles certainly weren't bad, they lacked the springiness of the ones at Tsim Chai Kee. Also, for the money you pay (HK$38), the small bowl that you get really isn't very worth it. However, it was quite interesting to see the staff at Mak's filling the wonton and jiao zi. The precision and speed of their operation is truly quite amazing - they're like automatons.

Mak's Noodles
77 Wellington Street, Central
Tel: 852 2854 3810

Tsim Chai Kee Noodle

Well, my sister's already posted about this place and their over-sized dumplings, but suffice to say it's definitely a good place for a noodle fix.

Tsim Chai Kee Noodle
98 Wellington Street, Central

Law Fu Kee Noodle Shop



Further up the road, Wellington Street joins Lyndhurst Terrace, and opposite Tai Cheong Bakery is a convenient noodle house called Law Fu Kee. While perhaps not as famous as the noodle shops on Wellington, it's still a decent and respectable place.

Law Fu Kee has two other outlets in Central, one on Des Voeux Road Central and another on Queen's Road Central.



The noodles they serve aren't quite as fine and springy, but they're generous with the beef brisket, and they price themselves fairly competitively. Apparently, they're more famous for their congee than for their noodles, but I'm not that fond of congee, so I haven't been able to verify this.

Law Fu Kee Noodle Shop
50 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central
Tel: 852 2850 6756

Kau Kee Noodles

Hong Kong's justifiably famous for its noodles, such as wonton or char siew noodles. What seems to be really popular among the locals as well, is a steaming bowl of beef brisket noodles.

The beef is braised till it's all but falling apart, and the tendons and fatty tissue have become soft and gelatinous. Served with a hearty beef broth, the flavour of the meat and flecks of beef permeate the whole bowl, making it hard to tell what's noodle and what's beef.



Apparently, one of the most famous places for beef brisket noodles is this shop called Kau Kee on Gough Street. You'll find them on wikipedia and one most Google searches for beef brisket noodles in Hong Kong. So famous are they that (like Mak's), they close at 8pm everyday. Unlike even Mak's though, Kau Kee does not appear to open on weekends.

So I was really looking forward to trying a bowl of exclusive beef brisket noodles at this place.



Surprisingly though, they don't appear to serve the traditional beef brisket noodles; or at least, the beef brisket noodles you see all over Hong Kong. Firstly, they don't use the normal thin, stringy Cantonese noodles, but the much coarser mee pok type noodles. Secondly, the beef brisket and soup are much lighter coloured and less savoury than is usual, putting me in mind of the well-known contrast between light and dark bak kut teh.



It's a matter of taste, really. Kau Kee's version of beef brisket noodles presents a much cleaner taste, a little unctuous, but there's not denying that the soup is pregnant with the flavour and aroma of the beef. It's not as robust as the traditional beef brisket, which I suspect is darkened with perhaps dark soya sauce, but it was a refreshing change.

Kau Kee Noodles
21 Gough Street, Central
Tel: 852 2850 5967

Man Yuen Noodle House

In Hong Kong, like most other Asian cities, the best food used to be found in makeshift roadside stalls, which would attract the locals from all over.

These dai pai dongs were cheap, quick and served wholesomely good traditional food. Sadly, with rapid urbanisation and development, a lot of these dai pai dongs have been forced to close when their leases expired.

There was a huge uproar when the popular Tai Cheong Bakery was forced to move out of its old premises in 2005, but happily enough instead of closing down, it simply moved to a new location opposite the road.



One of the oldest surviving dai pai dongs in Hong Kong is Man Yuen Noodles, and it too faced the same fate. Forced to close due to the non-renewal of its lease, it instead moved just a few feet away to occupy a new shopspace at the corner of Elgin Street and Hollywood Road.



Truly a hole in the wall, Man Yuen is one of my favourite places to come for noodles, because it's cheap, tasty and the service is pretty good. As a family business, you quickly recognise all four staff members after about two trips here.



The beef brisket and wonton noodles are a steal at HK$22 (HK$16 if it's just one ingredient), and they're generous with the brisket. Within minutes a steaming hot bowl of noodles appears before you, rich and satisfying like nothing else. The soup is remarkably oil-less, and the brisket is stewed with ginger and bay to give it an extra hearty kick to warm you up.

Man Yuen's a great place to come when it's drizzling outside, and you want nothing more than comfort food cooked the old-fashioned way.

Man Yuen Noodles
68-70A Hollywood Road, Central
Closed Sundays
Tel: 852 2291 0308

Central Hong Kong: So Good, it's Soho

Living and working in Hong Kong's Central District for a month means that I've got plenty of chances to check out things to eat in the area. It just so happens that there are quite a number of good eats in this exciting district.

Unfortunately, as I only just got my hands on my camera, not every entry will have photos to go with it.

The Press Room

Located just below the new CentreStage appartments, the Press Room is an American-styled bistro serving hearty wholesome favourites like steak, pasta and meatpies. The cuisine is eclectic, but mostly Western-type food.

The restaurant's understandably popular with the expatriate crowd, but is nice enough in its own right, with dark wood panelling and chalkboards setting out the specials for the day.

The Press Room also does an excellent brunch, where I ordered quite possibly the largest burger I've ever eaten in my life. The thing was so enormous that it kept me full all the way to dinner.

I can't imagine most people would come to Hong Kong looking for pasta and ribs, but if you're here for the longer haul, it's the sort of place to come to for a nice, relaxing meal along with a robust glass of wine. Even better if you have a date, I suppose.

The Press Room
108 Hollywood Road, Central
Tel: 852 2525 3444

Nambantei of Tokyo

Soho's an interesting part of Hong Kong, a bit like Singapore's Holland Village. I hesitate to call it a cultural melting-pot, but I will grant that it's the one place you can find plenty of international food and watering holes clustered together, and where the patrons are young savvy Hong Kongers (probably educated overseas), or expatriates enjoying a night out.



Nambantei is a Japanese yakitori restaurant, grilling up and serving skewers of chicken, beef, pork, mushrooms, assorted seafood, and even goose liver. Every order is typically two skewers, and quite yummy.



They go a bit heavy on the salt here, and watching them throw handfuls of salt at the grill is slightly alarming. Strangely enough though, the generous seasoning seems to work.

This is one of those restaurants you come to knowing you'll spend a while eating, so stock up on good jokes and conversation skills.

Nambantei of Tokyo
G/F, 55 Staunton Street, Soho
Tel: 852 2559 6221

Tribute

After Chubby Hubby blogged about this place, I thought it sounded pretty good, plus it was pretty close by.

Billed as a Californian-Chinese restaurant, Tribute actually serves fairly contemporary modern European fare. Dinner is a prix fixe affair, about HK$400 for a four-course dinner.

The restaurant is quite tiny, accommodating about 20 people, but fortunately I was able to get a table even without making a reservation. It features an interesting counter with a view of the chefs preparing food, although the drawback of the small space is that you get an earful of the next table's conversation.

I had the grilled roasted duck breast to start, which was expertly cooked and served with a lightly sweetened sauce. Tender and soft, it felt a bit unusual having duck cooked in such a Western fashion in a city where you're more likely to find crispy roast duck in a derelict noodle shop down the road.

After that was a light pasta course, with little pasta squares (what do you call ravioli halves?) served with a light and simple dressing of olive oil, and a modest sprinkling of what might have been fennel.

I particularly enjoyed my main course of grilled roasted lamb saddle, wrapped in seaweed with pinenuts, accompanied by a rich lamb jus. The jus was perhaps a bit salty, but that's in the nature of jus. Though I had my doubts about the pinenuts at first, I was pleased to find that they added a welcome texture to the lamb, complementing its succulence with a toothsome crunchiness.

What really took the cake though, was dessert. I'm something of a panna cotta fanatic, and I'm really particular about the taste, texture and trembliness of my panna cotta. So far, incredibly, none of the panna cotta I've tried in Singapore have matched my (admittedly high) expectations.

For once though, I didn't regret ordering the panna cotta. Silky, creamy and meltingly smooth, it was flavoured with a touch of grappa and dotted with vanilla seeds. The only thing they could have improved on was in the fruits they supplied with it. Three blueberries and a gooseberry just don't cut it.

Tribute
G/F, 13 Elgin Street, Soho
Tel: +852 2135 6645
Email
Website

Bricolage 62

Bricolage 62 is the sister restaurant of Tribute, and is located only 20 metres away. Nestled next to an old-fashioned teahouse, Bricolage 62 is like something out of Harry Potter - my eyes just slid completely past it, never realising it was there, till I actively tried looking for it.



Almost claustrophobically narrow, Bricolage 62 redefines 'small', seating only up to 20 people. Apparently it's a cafe of sorts during the day, but becomes a bar-lounge at night.



Unfortunately, Bricolage 62 does not quite live up to the standards set by its sister. While definitely an attractive chill-out option, the food it serves comes in almost nibble sizes, inadequate for a hungry diner looking for dinner. In fact, we were so hungry even after eating here that we decided to wander around Soho in search of more food, which led us to the next restaurant on the list.

Bricolage 62
62 Hollywood Road, Central
Tel: 852 2542 1991

Yi Jiang Nan

Just because you're in Hong Kong doesn't mean you have to keep eating Cantonese food.

Wandering around SoHo, I came across this small, Szechuan eatery. Having had a big dimsum lunch at The Hui, I just wanted something cheap, light and nutritious for dinner, preferably nothing oily and fried.

Yi Jiang Nan seemed to fit the bill quite well, and I recall seeing it recommended on a few websites (okay, maybe that makes it a bit touristy, but don't knock it).



The decor is tasteful enough, with wallpaper depicting idyllic scenes of flowing rivers and green hills, with traditional Chinese houses and boats in the foreground.

As with most Chinese restaurants, they offer a stunning variety of teas even before you sit down, for which you'll be charged HK$20 - not exactly cheap. Then again, they do give you a whole teapot, so it probably makes more sense to come with company.



While lots of options jumped out at me, I was there alone, and didn't feel like gorging myself, so I settled on a bowl of noodles. Unfortunately I wasn't brave enough to order the super-spicy lamb noodles, instead having a bowl of clear soup noodles, served with poached chicken and vegetables.

While perhaps not the best Szechuan restaurant around, it's a good alternative to the endless Occidentalism of Soho.

Yi Jiang Nan
33-35 Staunton Street, Soho
Tel: 852 2136 0886

Miscellaneous Food: Hong Kong Part 4

The next couple days in Hong Kong were fairly uneventful and work-filled. Thanks to the blistering heat and then the blowsy air-conditioning in the hotel, Colin was starting to feel a bit ill, so we reverted to looking for comfort and soupy food. We had planned to go to Yung Kee for dinner but were defeated by the long lines and wanted to make it to a massage after the meal.


Given the time constraint, we trooped around the corner at Cochrane Street and came upon this restaurant that I've seen often and which my cousin has told me is a restaurant with live Snake. The restaurant is called Se Wong (or Snake King).


Well, desperate times so we went in anyway and luckily they had tons of soups. We tried to ascertain that we were ordering one without snake and also got two plates of char siew noodle.


While distinctly a sub-par HK noodle, this was still superior to anything that the rest of Asia offers, so we were fairly happy and noted that there was nary a snake in sight (though the word snake, was all over the menu).


The next day, we did go back to Yung Kee and we finally got our meal of clear chicken, carrot and corn broth, roast goose, sweet and sour pork and vegetables. It was satisfyingly solid, Yung Kee is such a pain to queue for but it's hardly a disappointment.


After dinner, my brother and I had a little time and I'd be leaving Hong Kong the next day. We decided to go get some dessert and because my beloved shuang pi nai (steamed milk pudding with two films, I love that name!) was way out in Causeway Bay, we decided to stay in expat Central and go to Honeymoon Dessert in Sheung Wan.


There used to be a Honeymoon Dessert smack in Central near Lan Kwai Fong, in Entertainment Building, but it didn't seem very popular and now the only Central-esque branch that remains is in Sheung Wan, near the Shun Tak ferry terminal to Macau. You can take a cab there or just walk all the way down Hollywood Road toward the kitschy Western Market building.


The Western Market building is very interesting, it was built to house greater things but today, it just has a lot of strange make-shift textiles shops, dessert huts and on the top floor, some KTV that streams live 'music' from their patrons through the whole building.


The highlight of Honeymoon is the sago desserts, of which there are a huge variety. Pretty much you can get any kind of fruit with sago and any combination of those and other HK desserts, like soyabean, black bean, sesame, papaya and fungus. My favourite is their mango pomelo sago and they have this awesome hot dessert, which is a baked taro with sage. It sounds dense but it's really yummy. I also quite like the papaya shake, though not as good as at Yee Shun.


One quirky thing that I like a lot about this place is the melamite bowls and plates that they have. The cheery yellow plates are inscribed with the corniest pictures and wordings, all disturbingly featuring children. For example their plates have this little girl dreaming of a muscle man and the captions are typically Japanese lost in translation. Apparently the guy who makes them takes classic propaganda motifs of Communist-era children and mixes them with captions off Japanese stationary. I've tried to buy the crockery off the owners but they refuse to do a private order. I thought it'd be hilarious to use it at home, with every scoop, the baby on the spoon laughs up at you through your dessert.


Honeymoon is a chain and is also available in Shanghai. I think there are obviously some great local dessert huts and I have a few favourites but I think this shop, being one of their largest, is consistent, convenient and clean. Definitely worth a dessert stop if you're still hungry!


Yung Kee
32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
(852) 2522 1624
info@yungkee.com.hk

Honeymoon Dessert
Shop 4-6, ground floor,
Western Market, Sheung Wan
852-2851-2606
www.honeymoon-dessert.com