Location: Hong Kong

Author: My Husband

After three days in Hong Kong, it was time for us to travel to our next destination. But before I post about that, here are some photos of the HK odds and ends to wrap up this visit.

The best Portuguese egg tarts, we found at Lord Stow’s in Macau. However, HK also boasts some very good egg tarts as well. For instance, the ones available in Tai Cheong Bakery are pretty good.

Creamy custard filling, and interesting pastry shell made with oats.

Here’s where you can find them – Tai Cheong Bakery. There are branches all over the city, and word is that the last governor of HK – Chris Patten – used to be a regular patron.

My wife loves beef, so we weren’t going to leave HK without eating at Kau Kee (九記牛腩) first. This restaurant has a rich history of serving beef brisket (and only beef brisket), and boasts a customer list that reads like a who’s who of HK high society. Their beef brisket was very good indeed. So good, in fact, that the waiters did not see any particular need to provide much – if any – service to the customers.

Beef brisket noodle in clear broth. The noodles were interesting – they were flat and delicate, and had a texture somewhere between al-dente and mushy. The beef is tender and flavorful. Broth is chock-a-block with umami.

Beef brisket in clear broth. The beef in this dish is even more tender than that in the dish above. Very satisfying indeed.

Kau Kee is an institution, and plenty of customers flock to it. This also means that they haven’t refreshed the place in ages (i.e. it is little more than a hole in the wall), and have in their employ waiters who do not even speak to you when taking your order. It was really quite the experience…

I happen to like HK milk tea, especially like the iced version; however, I usually have to rush against time to finish it lest the melting ice dilutes the flavor. In HK, several “creative” solutions have been applied to this particular problem. An ingenious one is to freeze milk tea into ice cubes, and then use them in the preparation of the final drink. I was on the lookout for this, but did not manage to find it. Another solution, albeit one that is quite gimmicky, is this:

Ice-well milk tea. Since the ice is on the outside, it can’t dilute your drink.

You can find the above at Tai Hing Roast Meats – this place is apparently popular amongst locals, but I found the food to be quite average.

We also went to one of the more popular cha-chan-tangs (茶餐厅) in Central called Honolulu. They are pretty well known for their egg tarts, pineapple buns, and milk tea, so we ordered those.

More egg tarts. The custard was excellent, but the pastry had gone a bit limp as it had been out of the oven for a while. Fresh out of the oven, these tarts would have been awesome.

Pineapple bun. It was also a little limp, but the top coating was pretty good. I would say that Lido’s (Central Square, Richmond) version, often regarded as the best in Metro Vancouver, is as good as Honolulu’s.

Iced milk tea. Strong and creamy, this was superb. I haven’t found any in Vancouver that are better. And because Honolulu is owned by my good friend’s family, I actually have a tub of their tea leaves sitting at home.

I really like Hong Kong, and I can’t wait to visit again. After HK, my wife and I pushed on to our next destination:

This tower is not particularly well known, but it is a landmark of the city that we travelled to. Any guesses as to where this is?

Finally, to end our series of posts on HK, the following photos are of a meal we had at Leung Man To’s (梁文韜) Tai Wing Wah Village Restaurant. Leung, also known as Hugo, is a celebrity chef in HK and has a well-deserved reputation for being a gourmand. Since both Christina and I like to watch his TV shows, we were really enthusiastic about trying out his food.

The Tai Wing Wah in Kowloon. The place was pretty packed – good thing Christina made a reservation.

Smoked oysters. These were pretty decent; the oysters were suitably smoky, and had a pleasant texture.

Family-style chicken. This was ok. Not bad, but not fantastic.

One of Hugo Leung’s more popular dishes – rice with lard and soy sauce. Sounds disgusting you say? It is actually really flavourful. You are provided with the lard and soy, and you can add as much as you like.

The rice was beautifully cooked.

A cold platter of roast suckling pig and jelly-fish. The roast pig was very nice. Skin was crispy, and the pork very tender.

Another of Hugo’s popular dishes – “rice fried” duck that is supposed to be limited to only 20 per night. The duck was flavorful and pretty rich, but also quite chewy.

Yet another of Hugo’s popular dishes – Ma Lai Gou. The serving size was gigantic. It had a very fine texture, was suitably moist, and had more than a trace of butter. This was very good indeed.

The food at Tai Wing Wah is meant to be “village” food, so everything is served family style. The dishes are not meant to be fancy; rather, they are supposed to be rustic and honest. Judged in that context, Tai Wing Wah delivered in spades. What’s more, the food was very reasonably priced by any standards – all the food above (plus beer for me) came to approx. CAD $60.

However, in absolute terms, truth is, the food was really just so so. Perhaps we were expecting too much, or maybe it was a bit of an off night for the chefs, but we didn’t walk away wanting to visit again soon.