Full 360

This is not a review or a recipe post.

In a month a half's time this blog will have done a 360, a full cycle. The very reason why I started blogging was to document and share the great foods of Hong Kong, which explains the weblink name, Honkiememories, for the blog. And during the 2 years that I have been posting here I have learnt and discovered so much about food. About my passion, although there were times where I hit the blogging wall and have only recently gotten back into it.

Needless to say I'm incredibly excited. The thought of the shopping and food is driving me through this exam period. However things in HK aren't very cheap any more, especially since the exchange rate has dropped =[ Meaning I'll have to work extra shifts at work and save up more.

I'll probably blog as often as I can in HK so I don't end up with a backlog of posts. So if you're interested, come and check every now and then over summer or you can look at my Hong Kong posts from the start of the blog. However, I'm considering to end this blog after the trip. It just feels like I've accomplished what I want with the blog.

Please drop a comment if you have any good suggestions on where to eat in HK, or what foods are must eats.

Malaysian Festival QV Market

On Sunday, at Queen Victoria market was the Malaysia Festival which mainly consisted of delicious food. There weren't many stalls, I would say 15 or so including a chorizo and churros one, a takoyaki one and a few tornado potato ones. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll probably realise 80% of the time I eat out it's Malaysian food. It's no coincidence, I love the cuisine. 

Curry Puff $2

From the stall that sold the satay, I really wish I looked at their stall name because their satay sticks were sooo good. The curry puffs, crisp but nothing spectacular inside. Not saying it was bad but the quality of the other foods on offer were just so high. 

Assam Laksa $5 and Teh Tarik $3

I was expecting a msg flavoured soup with soggy mushy noodles but this was good quality assam laksa. The noodles were very springy still except the fork provided were incredibly inappropriate as the gaps between the prongs were a lot thinner than the fat noodle. But the noodles weren't the highlight of this dish, it was the soup. They were definitely not stingy on the ingredients, plenty of fish and spices, giving the soup a massive punch of flavour. The teh tarik was decent but not amazing as it wasn't very "pulled" but had a strong tea flavour. The bag it came in was like in true Malaysian style. There was more in the bag than in the picture, it was just too tempting before I took a picture. 

Satay $10 (for 10)

Best satay I've had in Melbourne hands down. They were done on charcoal which gave it that delicious smoky flavour. The beef had a little fat on it which made it even tastier whereas the chicken was leaner but still incredibly delicious. The satay sauce was the proper stuff. A little part of me cries every time I read a satay recipe that only uses a jar of peanut butter and coconut milk to make satay sauce, it is so much more. Lemongrass, shallots, garlic, spices all combine to make an incredibly delicious sauce. The pressed rice cakes were great for soaking up the rest of the satay sauce. This satay reminded me a lot of the ones from Mamak in Sydney. 

The charred crispy bits =]

Most definitely coming back next year. Hopefully they promote it a bit more as I only found out from the boy who got an email from the Malaysian club at uni. There were a few flyers up at uni but they weren't very noticeable.

Eating Out: Menya [City, 3000]

We were originally planning on going to Coconut House but as we were walking there we remembered that Menya was only a few doors down. With Malaysian and Japanese my two favourite cuisines we were faced with a dilemma. The prices at both are about the same ($8-$10) and meals come out very promptly. The difference is Coconut House is more flavour packed whereas Menya has much larger portion sizes. 

Curry Katsu Don $8.50

Likes:

+ One whole crispy pork cutlet

+ Very Japanese curry

+ Tender vegetables

Disikes:

- The large portion size felt like a waste as it was impossible to finish

- The pork coating was very salty

Oyako Don $8.50

Likes:

+ Heaps of egg, chicken and crunchy veggies

+ Nice sweetish sauce

Dislikes:

- Lacked seasoning (I think more sauce would have made it even better)

Food: It’s decent but nothing incredible, usually Japanese has very distinct flavours and good seasoning. Just felt lacking here.

Service: You get led to your table, you order +pay at the counter, grab a number and the meals will come out promptly. Tea and water are all self service.

Environment: A rather large restaurant for the city and clean but you’re still packed like sardines and during lunch it runs at full capacity.

Value: I challenge anyone to finish 2/3 of the rice, an impossible feat unless you are starving.