Meeting up with my food buddy from Melb tomorrow :) (its past 12 so considered tomorrow)
Planning to go Mongkok since there's tonnes of food and shopping :) and tourists....and beggars....
So hopefully it'll go to plan and we'll get to eat all the things we want to. Planning to cross off as many things on my "things to eat in hk" list as possible.
Aim:
-Takoyaki
-Ice cream glutinous ball thingo
-Little ball waffle thingo 鸡蛋仔
-Mango Pancake
-Whatever else we come across
Sound like we'll be eating a lot more dessert than lunch as planned.
Also have to go find that Mahjong rubiks cube I saw a week ago and actually BUY it this time. Have to try and hide my accent at Mongkok, otherwise if they know you're a foreigner they'll rip you off BIG TIME
And the post about my China trip last weel.....it's coming along. Crazy amount of food to blog about =.="
Going on another food tour at the end of this week =S
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Noodles-Dai Pai Dong 大排挡
For brunch yesterday we went to a dai pai dong, what's that? A street stall, the hygiene might be a bit below standard but that's where you normally find the most authentic food.
Another first for me. Fish Dumpling Noodle Soup with FRIED FISH SKIN. Doesn't sound that special but it is. The dumpling skin is made from fish meat and flour and inside the dumpling is pork meat (in this case pork meat and a crap load of MSG). Dip some crunchy fried fish skin into the soup, soooooo good. The fish skin isn't fishy, it's kinda like fish flavoured potato chips....kinda...
Apart from the msg, it was pretty decent. Filled me up to last me till dinner and a 3 hour bike ride.
So after lunch we hired 2 bikes from a nearby bike shop and grabbed my uncle's electric bike and went for a bike ride. Never thought bike riding in HK would be so nice. Riding alongside the river, lots to see, pretty flat bike path. Only one downside, we went during school holidays and a Saturday, sooo many people riding it was CRAZY. First time riding an electric bike, it's a semi foldable bike with tiny wheels, like the type of wheels you would find on a 4 yr old's bike. And there's a button you press when you want it to be electric and it just goes. Pretty cool. Also had a mango drumstick along the way, very refreshing after an hour or two of riding,
That night we went to my mum's cousins place for dinner and had dinner with a few of my mum's cousins and their families. Hot pot :) Sooo much seafood since my mum's cousins husband runs the fish shop at the market. Tried lots of new things, like the floating part/device thingo fishies have. Mum's side of the family loves fish/seafood because they're fishmongers. Dad's side love their cars/tranport and electronic stuff. I see where my passionate food and my petrolhead sides of me come from.
So what are your hobbies/passions?
Another first for me. Fish Dumpling Noodle Soup with FRIED FISH SKIN. Doesn't sound that special but it is. The dumpling skin is made from fish meat and flour and inside the dumpling is pork meat (in this case pork meat and a crap load of MSG). Dip some crunchy fried fish skin into the soup, soooooo good. The fish skin isn't fishy, it's kinda like fish flavoured potato chips....kinda...
Apart from the msg, it was pretty decent. Filled me up to last me till dinner and a 3 hour bike ride.
So after lunch we hired 2 bikes from a nearby bike shop and grabbed my uncle's electric bike and went for a bike ride. Never thought bike riding in HK would be so nice. Riding alongside the river, lots to see, pretty flat bike path. Only one downside, we went during school holidays and a Saturday, sooo many people riding it was CRAZY. First time riding an electric bike, it's a semi foldable bike with tiny wheels, like the type of wheels you would find on a 4 yr old's bike. And there's a button you press when you want it to be electric and it just goes. Pretty cool. Also had a mango drumstick along the way, very refreshing after an hour or two of riding,
That night we went to my mum's cousins place for dinner and had dinner with a few of my mum's cousins and their families. Hot pot :) Sooo much seafood since my mum's cousins husband runs the fish shop at the market. Tried lots of new things, like the floating part/device thingo fishies have. Mum's side of the family loves fish/seafood because they're fishmongers. Dad's side love their cars/tranport and electronic stuff. I see where my passionate food and my petrolhead sides of me come from.
So what are your hobbies/passions?
Christmas Day
Whoops 2 days late. Just a recap of my Christmas Day in HK.
-Woke up feeling sick.
-Ended up eating noodles for brunch in front of the tv (watching nigella lawson make christmas dinner on tv =P)
-Dad decided to make us walk to the Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery an entire suburb away, I was totally puffed walking there thanks to being sick. Body did not like climbing the never ending steps up the mountain to the temple place. Pretty ironic, visiting a temple on Christmas Day....
-Walked around Ikea after visiting the temple. Honkie Ikea is awesome, super cramped but tonnes of stuff. Was going to eat Christmas Dinner at Ikea but the restaurant was too packed so we decided to leave. On the way out there was an Ikea fast food kinda place that sold hotdogs, popcorn and softdrink. Bought a hotdog meal (hotdog and a bottomless cup of soft drink) for $10 (AUD$1.50) Never find that in Melb. Finally had Cream Soda since coming to HK.
-Crashed my Aunty's place for dinner, they don't celebrate Christmas dinner but it felt like it, so much food =.="
-Woke up feeling sick.
-Ended up eating noodles for brunch in front of the tv (watching nigella lawson make christmas dinner on tv =P)
-Dad decided to make us walk to the Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery an entire suburb away, I was totally puffed walking there thanks to being sick. Body did not like climbing the never ending steps up the mountain to the temple place. Pretty ironic, visiting a temple on Christmas Day....
-Walked around Ikea after visiting the temple. Honkie Ikea is awesome, super cramped but tonnes of stuff. Was going to eat Christmas Dinner at Ikea but the restaurant was too packed so we decided to leave. On the way out there was an Ikea fast food kinda place that sold hotdogs, popcorn and softdrink. Bought a hotdog meal (hotdog and a bottomless cup of soft drink) for $10 (AUD$1.50) Never find that in Melb. Finally had Cream Soda since coming to HK.
-Crashed my Aunty's place for dinner, they don't celebrate Christmas dinner but it felt like it, so much food =.="
Doesn't look like much yeah? Cos that was only half. It was really good to finally have a home cooked meal after eating out for 2 weeks. The chicken just tastes so much better in HK, not too sure why, it just does. My aunty also made these spareribs that I hadn't had for ages, it's salty and sour, YUMMY!
After dinner the entire family sat in front of the telly and watched honkie drama, I see where my addiction comes from, inherited XD
It's nice to spend Christmas with family.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
Hope everyone is having an awesome Christmas wherever you may be.
This year Christmas is a bit different for me.
- I'm not in Aus.
- I'm not spending it with my cousins.
- Not having the usual Christmas dinner with family
- Not drinking =P
- And I'm sick with a cold or something like that
So how do you spend your Christmas?
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Michelin One Star Restaurant-Tim Ho Wun? Mongkok
Sounds fancy right? It's this tiny place that serves dim sum XD but they serve very good food at a very cheap price. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling the best thanks to the stupid bowl of noodles I had for lunch.
Just a warning, you have to wait at least an hour or two to get seats at this restaurant, but the food is so worth it.
We got a ticket (like a booking thing), decided to go for a walk, ended up at a travel agency which had a massive line cos it's Christmas and everyone goes on holidays, signed up for a tour for next month, walked all the way back to the restaurant 10-15 minutes away in the Mongkok night crowd (those who have been to Mongkok at night know what I'm talking about) and after all that we still had to wait 15 mins before it was our turn to get a table.
I didn't take a picture of everything we ate, just majority.
Chiu Chow Dumpling? Supposedly the hardest dim sum to master according to Masterchef i think...One of the best ones I've had, the pastry was soo thin and delicate, inside was really crunchy from peanuts and some vegetable which I have no idea what its English name is.
I didn't try the beef meatballs but I tried the Shao Mai. Although they were pretty small they where delicious. I don't know how to say it but I guess you could say it was springy? Lots of prawn meat (very rare in shao mai nowadays) and just tasted right.
I have no clue what this is called English but its some sort of jelly with this flower and Goji berries. My mum makes it aswell but it doesn't taste as good as what you can buy XD Tasted pretty average, nothing very special about it.
This is what the place is famous for. Can you tell what it is? Some bun? Char Siu Bao :) Shortcrust Pastry. IT WAS HEAVENLYYYYYYY. Even my upset stomach was going YUUUMMMMYYY.
Pretty much it was this sweet crunchy outside with a softish inside of the pastry? And a yummy savoury roast pork filling. TO DIE FOR. The mix of savoury and sweet, crunchy and soft, dry and wet was absolutely perfect.
I'll post the address soon.
Just a warning, you have to wait at least an hour or two to get seats at this restaurant, but the food is so worth it.
We got a ticket (like a booking thing), decided to go for a walk, ended up at a travel agency which had a massive line cos it's Christmas and everyone goes on holidays, signed up for a tour for next month, walked all the way back to the restaurant 10-15 minutes away in the Mongkok night crowd (those who have been to Mongkok at night know what I'm talking about) and after all that we still had to wait 15 mins before it was our turn to get a table.
I didn't take a picture of everything we ate, just majority.
Chiu Chow Dumpling? Supposedly the hardest dim sum to master according to Masterchef i think...One of the best ones I've had, the pastry was soo thin and delicate, inside was really crunchy from peanuts and some vegetable which I have no idea what its English name is.
I didn't try the beef meatballs but I tried the Shao Mai. Although they were pretty small they where delicious. I don't know how to say it but I guess you could say it was springy? Lots of prawn meat (very rare in shao mai nowadays) and just tasted right.
I have no clue what this is called English but its some sort of jelly with this flower and Goji berries. My mum makes it aswell but it doesn't taste as good as what you can buy XD Tasted pretty average, nothing very special about it.
This is what the place is famous for. Can you tell what it is? Some bun? Char Siu Bao :) Shortcrust Pastry. IT WAS HEAVENLYYYYYYY. Even my upset stomach was going YUUUMMMMYYY.
Pretty much it was this sweet crunchy outside with a softish inside of the pastry? And a yummy savoury roast pork filling. TO DIE FOR. The mix of savoury and sweet, crunchy and soft, dry and wet was absolutely perfect.
Vedict? If you like your Char Siu Bao (A bell XD) must try. If you have the chance to, go to this place.
Service: Alright, extremely busy restaurant. Steamed food is very quick to reach the table, also you order your food whilst you wait for a table.
Value: Pretty cheap, all dim sum is around $10-15 (AUD$1.50-2ish) for a steamer of 3 or 4 depending on what it is. The awesome Char Siu Bao is $12 (AUD$1.70) for 3, awesome value.
Taste: Definitely at the top, I guess that's why it's in the Michelin guide.
Yes that is a crowd of people waiting for a table. Something funny, the shop next door has a sign saying NO STANDING IN FRONT OF OUR SHOP WHEN YOU ARE WAITING FOR A TABLE NEXT DOOR (cept in chinese). Actually watched the shopkeeper tell some lady off for standing in front of the shop.
I'll post the address soon.
Evil Noodles-Some random place in Mongkok
Worst noodles I've had since I've come back to HK.
Smoked Duck Breast with Noodles in a Hot and Sour Soup.
So why were the noodles evil? Not because the soup was chilli, well not exactly. Evil because it made my stomach feel horrible for the rest of the day. It wasn't exactly a stomach ache but it wasn't a nice feeling. 8 hours later and I'm still not feeling too great.
Verdict? Hating those noodles!!!!!
Service: The waitress who served us sounded like someone from McDull (for those who know who that is =P) Some random waiter was swearing at another one.
Value: $23(AUD$3.40) so I guess pretty good value. But not worth the stomach ache.
Taste: Couldn't taste much thanks to the numbing.
Smoked Duck Breast with Noodles in a Hot and Sour Soup.
Looks good yeah? The smoked duck breast was definitely packaged. Tasted sooooo weird, like a smoked sausage with a layer of fat and duck skin. Super chewy clearish noodles that felt like chewing gum, not good for digestion. Deadly soup, doesn't look chilli right? I have no idea how much Szechuan pepper they put in but the chef must have been half asleep. I hate the numbing effect of Szechuan pepper, it's lasts forever and ruins the taste of all other food you eat. Made my milk tea seem numbing.
So why were the noodles evil? Not because the soup was chilli, well not exactly. Evil because it made my stomach feel horrible for the rest of the day. It wasn't exactly a stomach ache but it wasn't a nice feeling. 8 hours later and I'm still not feeling too great.
Verdict? Hating those noodles!!!!!
Service: The waitress who served us sounded like someone from McDull (for those who know who that is =P) Some random waiter was swearing at another one.
Value: $23(AUD$3.40) so I guess pretty good value. But not worth the stomach ache.
Taste: Couldn't taste much thanks to the numbing.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Cameraless Day-KFC and Italian
Yesterday I when I was going down the lift to go out I realised I had forgotten my camera. So I couldn't take a pic all day.
Lunch: KFC. Another thing to tick off my list. But I'm not sure why but the KFC I went to SUCKED. The coating on the chicken was extremely thick and wasn't crunchy. Only good thing was the chicken wasn't dry. And if Konman is reading this, I had MUSHROOM RICE XD but don't worry, it sucked. Their popcorn chicken called hot shots were super duper salty for some reason. This has turned into a KFC bagging session XD but honestly KFC has been going downhill in Aus and in HK.
Dinner: Can't believe I had two crap meals in a day. But for dinner I went to this tiny Italian restaurant. I have nothing against Italian food, I love Italian food. I just have something against Italian food in HK. You either pay an outrageous price for actual Italian food or you buy a cheap horrible attempt at Italian food. Had option 2 yesterday. Paid $48 (AUD$7) for a small plate of seafood pasta which lacked seafood and had too many mushrooms.
Lunch: KFC. Another thing to tick off my list. But I'm not sure why but the KFC I went to SUCKED. The coating on the chicken was extremely thick and wasn't crunchy. Only good thing was the chicken wasn't dry. And if Konman is reading this, I had MUSHROOM RICE XD but don't worry, it sucked. Their popcorn chicken called hot shots were super duper salty for some reason. This has turned into a KFC bagging session XD but honestly KFC has been going downhill in Aus and in HK.
Dinner: Can't believe I had two crap meals in a day. But for dinner I went to this tiny Italian restaurant. I have nothing against Italian food, I love Italian food. I just have something against Italian food in HK. You either pay an outrageous price for actual Italian food or you buy a cheap horrible attempt at Italian food. Had option 2 yesterday. Paid $48 (AUD$7) for a small plate of seafood pasta which lacked seafood and had too many mushrooms.
Wonton Noodles-华姐清汤腩, Electric Road, Causeway Bay i think?
After spending 5 hours walking around an expo I was very tired and extremely bored. Parents decided to have dinner before heading home with 5 massive bags of things they had bought. We found a small noodle shop and decided to have a quick dinner. As I was walking through the door I saw many pictures of food celebrities who had eaten there.
1. Parents ordered their speciality dish, Beef Brisket with Rice Noodles in a Clear Soup (yes I made that name up, they don't have an English menu). Parents loved it, I guess it must have been like what they ate when they were kids.
2. Dougs noodles, I've forgotten what he ordered. But essentially its wonton noodles in a chilli soup. He said it was pretty good.
3. My wonton noodle soup. I had vegetable wontons which were pretty good. However my noodles seemed to be everlasting and I couldn't finish my noodles as I was half full before dinner thanks to being greedy and eating all the free tasting thingos at the expo. Ate too many instant noodle trials...but it was FREE XD.
That's the shop. If you go to HK you MUST go and have wonton noodles or something similar from a horrible looking noodle shop cos that's where they serve the best food. Looks pretty dirty and only for locals. Make sure you can read Chinese(or able to say what you want) as most places like this don't have an English menu and the waiter speaks limited English. But I'm sure a bit of pointing and English will be good enough to get what you want.
1. Parents ordered their speciality dish, Beef Brisket with Rice Noodles in a Clear Soup (yes I made that name up, they don't have an English menu). Parents loved it, I guess it must have been like what they ate when they were kids.
2. Dougs noodles, I've forgotten what he ordered. But essentially its wonton noodles in a chilli soup. He said it was pretty good.
3. My wonton noodle soup. I had vegetable wontons which were pretty good. However my noodles seemed to be everlasting and I couldn't finish my noodles as I was half full before dinner thanks to being greedy and eating all the free tasting thingos at the expo. Ate too many instant noodle trials...but it was FREE XD.
That's the shop. If you go to HK you MUST go and have wonton noodles or something similar from a horrible looking noodle shop cos that's where they serve the best food. Looks pretty dirty and only for locals. Make sure you can read Chinese(or able to say what you want) as most places like this don't have an English menu and the waiter speaks limited English. But I'm sure a bit of pointing and English will be good enough to get what you want.
Egg tarts
Egg tarts are a MUST EAT in HK. Flaky pastry with a golden custard, absolutely heavenly. Nowadays there are many variation of the egg tart, went to an expo thingo and they were selling egg tarts, quite expensive for honkie prices but there were many out there flavours: durian, milk tea, coffee and I think there were a few others. I had a portugese tart straight out of the oven, super duper hot custard is not fun.
The tart was a tad too hot for me to actually taste it but it was very sweet. The custard was nice and set, sometimes you can get jibbed and get runny custard cos the maker was tight and didn't use enough eggs.
But all in all, not a bad tart, better ones in Macau.
The tart was a tad too hot for me to actually taste it but it was very sweet. The custard was nice and set, sometimes you can get jibbed and get runny custard cos the maker was tight and didn't use enough eggs.
But all in all, not a bad tart, better ones in Macau.
Fairwood
You're probably wondering what Fairwood is.....or not. It pretty much the same as Cafe de Coral just a different company. Went there to grab a quick lunch before heading out. I forgot the exact name of what I ordered so I'm just going to make it up. Crumbed Pork Cutlet with Mushroom Sauce and Omurice with a Peach Drink?
The pork cutlet was pretty good, wasn't tough and had a thin layer of crumbs. Although a tad dry it did come with a sauce so it was fine. The omurice was different, it's tomato rice omelette, the egg was way overcooked but you can't expect perfectly cooked eggs at a place like Fairwood. All their food is pretty cooked to meet demands. The peach drink was really good. Fizzy with little cubes of jelly. Yummy :) All for I think $36 (AUD$5ish)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
China for the weekend
I'm going to China for the weekend on a food tour :) Won't be back till Monday probably. I have a few things still to blog about from today but I don't think I have the time to till next week. So coming up...
-Fairwood
-Portuguese Egg Tarts
-Wonton Noodle Soup
-China Food Trip
Anyone eaten something special lately? Leave a comment :)
-Fairwood
-Portuguese Egg Tarts
-Wonton Noodle Soup
-China Food Trip
Anyone eaten something special lately? Leave a comment :)
Market Dinner-Aberdeen Market 2nd floor
I think I can honestly say that this was probably one of the best meals I've had since I came to HK. And guess where it was? On top of Aberdeen Market. Honkie markets are very different to Melb Markets. It's a whole lot dirtier, wetter, more cramped, smellier and gross-er? One section is fruits and veg, this section isn't too bad. But once you walk into the meat section it's pretty disgusting, they don't pack the meat like the butchers do in Melb. All the meat is just hanging off hooks all around the shop, including pigs heads, trotters, every part of the animal. No fridge whatsoever. Seafood side smells and is wet and slimy. Live fish flapping around for customers to see. All types of seafood. Watching live fish get cut up, live eel cut up into three parts and all parts are still moving.
And this is the type of place where you can get the best dinner.
Starter: Blanched Prawns. DELICIOUS. They were extremely fresh and juicy. The meat was firm and full of prawn flavour. Dipped in a bit of chilli soya sauce and it was beautiful. Simplicity wins (as long as it's fresh).
And this is the type of place where you can get the best dinner.
Starter: Blanched Prawns. DELICIOUS. They were extremely fresh and juicy. The meat was firm and full of prawn flavour. Dipped in a bit of chilli soya sauce and it was beautiful. Simplicity wins (as long as it's fresh).
Razor Clams: First time eating razor clams I think. They were stir fried in a black bean sauce. Tastes just like pipi/clam, just a lot more meat. Unfortunately you can get razor clams in Aus so have to make the most of it when you can get it.
Oysters: Deep Fried Oysters. I thought the batter would be thick but it wasn't, the oyster was just massive. The oysters were just cooked through but still was extremely plump. The oyster flavour wasn't very strong which was good as it can be extremely overpowering sometimes.
Fish: I have to say that I didn't particularly like this fish, it tasted very different to what I'm used to. It was wild fish from the sea and tasted very weird. I can't exactly describe the taste.
Chlli Whelks: First time eating whelk out of its shell that I know of. It didn't really taste like anything just chewy. The sauce was very chilli and covered the flavour of everything, not that whelks really have much flavour.
Also had a couple of other dishes but didn't get to take a pic of them. Garlic Chicken, Lamb Hotpot.
All in all, a very good meal. Lots of new experiences. It was nice to try new things, although I didn't really like many of them. But you should always try something at least 5 times to really see if you like it or not.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Steak Expert-Megabox, Kowloon Bay
Steak Expert is this steak chain all over HK and possibly the world. They aren't exactly known for great steaks but I guess some are cheap.
I had a lunch set which included a pepper steak with vegies, soup, breadroll and a drink. All for HK$39 (AUD$5.50)
Soup: Borsch soup. Tasted quite nice, only contained cabbage and was unusually sweet but a good start to the meal.
Steak: Don't expect a good steak when you order a cheap meal like this. The steak lacked flavour and was drowned in pepper gravy. The vegies were just like the ones you get on camp.
Breadroll: The breadroll wasn't like the breadrolls you get in Melb, it was a honkie breadroll. Whats the diff? It's a lot sweeter and softer, which I love :)
I had a lunch set which included a pepper steak with vegies, soup, breadroll and a drink. All for HK$39 (AUD$5.50)
Soup: Borsch soup. Tasted quite nice, only contained cabbage and was unusually sweet but a good start to the meal.
Steak: Don't expect a good steak when you order a cheap meal like this. The steak lacked flavour and was drowned in pepper gravy. The vegies were just like the ones you get on camp.
Breadroll: The breadroll wasn't like the breadrolls you get in Melb, it was a honkie breadroll. Whats the diff? It's a lot sweeter and softer, which I love :)
Vedict? If you're looking for a decent steak, this is not the place to go unless you're not willing to fork out the money. You get what you pay for I guess.
Breakfast on the run (first breakfast in a while)-Snack Shop opposite Tai Wai Railway Station
Had to grab breakfast on the way to the bus stop today due to the lack of food at home. Opened the fridge in the morning and saw a couple of slices of plastic cheese (kraft singles), I was going to eat them but my brother reminded me that my uncle leaves a lot of food in his fridge for years.
Walked outside and it was FREEZING, suddenly became cold overnight in HK. Decided to get a few skewers of hot food for breakfast and to warm ourselves up. The long awaited/craved CURRY FISHBALLS and SHAO MAI. Yes on a skewer, a honkie snack.
<-- Yes that's my bro posing for a photo with his Shao Mai. What is shao mai? It pork mince that SHOULD be hand minced with a cleaver or two then wrapped in a wonton wrapper, steamed and SOMETIMES (rarely nowadays) grilled. However the Shao Mai you find at snack stores in HK don't contain much pork, they mix A LOT of flour into the pork mixture. But you can't ask for a full pork Shao Mai for HK$5 (AUD$0.70) a skewer of 5.
<--Guess who. Very hard to see the curry fishballs but it's just 6 small fishballs on a skewer with some curry gravy over them. They cook the fishballs in this curry gravy for forever until someone buys it. Also a lot of flour mixed into the fish balls but still nice to eat. HK$5 for 6 fishballs.
This is another must eat in HK, street snack stores. Especially good in the winter.
Walked outside and it was FREEZING, suddenly became cold overnight in HK. Decided to get a few skewers of hot food for breakfast and to warm ourselves up. The long awaited/craved CURRY FISHBALLS and SHAO MAI. Yes on a skewer, a honkie snack.
<-- Yes that's my bro posing for a photo with his Shao Mai. What is shao mai? It pork mince that SHOULD be hand minced with a cleaver or two then wrapped in a wonton wrapper, steamed and SOMETIMES (rarely nowadays) grilled. However the Shao Mai you find at snack stores in HK don't contain much pork, they mix A LOT of flour into the pork mixture. But you can't ask for a full pork Shao Mai for HK$5 (AUD$0.70) a skewer of 5.
<--Guess who. Very hard to see the curry fishballs but it's just 6 small fishballs on a skewer with some curry gravy over them. They cook the fishballs in this curry gravy for forever until someone buys it. Also a lot of flour mixed into the fish balls but still nice to eat. HK$5 for 6 fishballs.
This is another must eat in HK, street snack stores. Especially good in the winter.
Chinese Roast-Tai Hing Roast, Tai Wai
Yesterday we went and had Chinese Roast. Unfortunately I had half a packed of mini spring rolls just before parents decided to go out for lunch and therefore I was not hungry at all. We ordered a Roast Goose on Rice, Roast Pork on Rice and a Eight Roasts on Rice.
Roast Goose on Rice: I have to say that this place has gone downhill with their roasts. The roast goose was tough but not very fatty. It was about the standard we get in Australia. At least you get a lot more meat here.
Roast Pork on Rice: I have to say this was the worst dish we ordered. Roast Pork isn't easy to make, but I'm pretty sure they used the wrong cut of meat. The entire piece of roast pork was meat, no fat whatsoever, very disappointed. The skin wasn't crunchy.
Eight Roasts on Rice: This one was the best out of the three dishes. The roasts meats were pretty average but I guess it was pretty cheap at just over HK$50. Came with an entire salted duck egg, a treasure in Australia but an average ingredient in HK.
Roast Goose on Rice: I have to say that this place has gone downhill with their roasts. The roast goose was tough but not very fatty. It was about the standard we get in Australia. At least you get a lot more meat here.
Roast Pork on Rice: I have to say this was the worst dish we ordered. Roast Pork isn't easy to make, but I'm pretty sure they used the wrong cut of meat. The entire piece of roast pork was meat, no fat whatsoever, very disappointed. The skin wasn't crunchy.
Eight Roasts on Rice: This one was the best out of the three dishes. The roasts meats were pretty average but I guess it was pretty cheap at just over HK$50. Came with an entire salted duck egg, a treasure in Australia but an average ingredient in HK.
Vedict? Recommend? No, this place was pretty good when I went 3 years ago, but now it's under par. DEFINITELY better chinese roasts in HK, way better. Was quite disappointed.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Shopping :)
Today I went shopping with some friends at Mongkok. But before shopping I had to fill myself up with lunch. We went to a small honkie cafe and I ordered a bowl of Chicken Wings with Noodles in Hot and Sour Soup. Not the usual hot and sour soup, it was a clear broth that looked like chicken stock but was sour and spicy. HK$24 (AUD$3.50) with a drink.
Shopped at Argle Centre for about 4-5 hours. Managed to buy 2 tshirts, a jumper, a jacket, socks and some snacks.
Was very hungry after shopping so we had dinner. RAMEN!!!! Ajisen ramen.....cheaper than Melbourne but taste is about the same. I had the sweetcorn ramen and it was sooooooo salty, so much msg it was crazy. At $40 a bowl it's decent. Noodles were nice though, the pork was small but fatty and there was a lot of other ingredients to mix with the noodles. The sweetcorn was a good addition and made the salty soup more tolerable. It also came with an egg but I don't eat hard boiled eggs so dad ate my one.
Vedict? If you have a choice, avoid Ajisen, they use a lot of msg but their ramen isn't too bad but there is DEFINITELY better ramen out there, just whether you can find it.
After dinner I wanted to go ice skating but people had ice hockey training so we couldn't ice skate. Just watched them train for a while, now I want to learn to play ice hockey. It incorporates two of my favourite sports, skating and hockey. I reallllllllyyyyy want to try it.
Shopped at Argle Centre for about 4-5 hours. Managed to buy 2 tshirts, a jumper, a jacket, socks and some snacks.
Was very hungry after shopping so we had dinner. RAMEN!!!! Ajisen ramen.....cheaper than Melbourne but taste is about the same. I had the sweetcorn ramen and it was sooooooo salty, so much msg it was crazy. At $40 a bowl it's decent. Noodles were nice though, the pork was small but fatty and there was a lot of other ingredients to mix with the noodles. The sweetcorn was a good addition and made the salty soup more tolerable. It also came with an egg but I don't eat hard boiled eggs so dad ate my one.
Vedict? If you have a choice, avoid Ajisen, they use a lot of msg but their ramen isn't too bad but there is DEFINITELY better ramen out there, just whether you can find it.
After dinner I wanted to go ice skating but people had ice hockey training so we couldn't ice skate. Just watched them train for a while, now I want to learn to play ice hockey. It incorporates two of my favourite sports, skating and hockey. I reallllllllyyyyy want to try it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Afternoon of Shopping
Today after lunch we decided to go shopping at New Century Plaza in Shatin. Walked the entire shopping centre only to buy some MUJI pens. Love muji pens, sooooo awesome.
As it got late we decided to have a quick dinner at a random restaurant we walked by, why that restaurant? HK$78 (AUD$11) Peking Duck. That's 12 pieces of Peking Duck. So we ordered a 4 person banquet and a Peking Duck....for 7 people. But we weren't particularly hungry so everyone was full.
The banquet consisted of many dishes which you choose. Drunken chicken, fish, lamb, xiaolongbao(shanghainese dumplings), dumplings, pig stomach, shanghainese noodles, hot and sour soup.
The food was pretty good, not outstanding but still decent.
I love hot and sour soup. I have an obsession with sour food and chillies. Absolutely heavenly :)
As it got late we decided to have a quick dinner at a random restaurant we walked by, why that restaurant? HK$78 (AUD$11) Peking Duck. That's 12 pieces of Peking Duck. So we ordered a 4 person banquet and a Peking Duck....for 7 people. But we weren't particularly hungry so everyone was full.
The banquet consisted of many dishes which you choose. Drunken chicken, fish, lamb, xiaolongbao(shanghainese dumplings), dumplings, pig stomach, shanghainese noodles, hot and sour soup.
The food was pretty good, not outstanding but still decent.
I love hot and sour soup. I have an obsession with sour food and chillies. Absolutely heavenly :)
Anyone else like sour food or spicy food?
Roast Pigeon
For lunch today we met up with some family friends and went to a back alley restaurant in Shatin. Supposedly they have really good roasted pigeon. We ordered a total of four pigeons for seven people and three other side dishes.
The pigeons were a bit oily but that's expected from roasted (fried?) pigeons. The meat tasted very gamey with a nice pigeon flavour. Usually roasted pigeon is served with a small plate of peppered salt but the peppered salt they gave us lacked a bit of pepper. But this is way better than what we get in Australia, roasted pigeon is a luxury in Melb.
This is definitely a must try, but maybe not at this restaurant, I'm sure there are better roasted pigeons in HK.
Main Dish: Claypot of battered fish, roasted pork, shiitake mushroom, tofu and vegies. It was pretty good, all ingredients were plentiful, presentation was good, taste was pretty average. Nothing special about it.
Main Dish: Tofu stuffed with mince pork
I'm not a fan of tofu but this dish was acceptable. The sauce made the tofu more pleasant and the mince pork gave the tofu extra flavour.
Also a very average dish.
Main Dish: Mushrooms on a bed of Bok Choy sprinkled with fish roe
Sounds fancy yeah? But really it wasn't that special. The fish roe looked like dust and the flavour wasn't very strong. The vegies were nice and crunchy.
Overall:
Taste: 7/10 nothing special, all dishes are available at chinese restaurants.
Value: No idea, I didn't order or pay :P
Service: 5/10
The pigeons were a bit oily but that's expected from roasted (fried?) pigeons. The meat tasted very gamey with a nice pigeon flavour. Usually roasted pigeon is served with a small plate of peppered salt but the peppered salt they gave us lacked a bit of pepper. But this is way better than what we get in Australia, roasted pigeon is a luxury in Melb.
This is definitely a must try, but maybe not at this restaurant, I'm sure there are better roasted pigeons in HK.
Main Dish: Claypot of battered fish, roasted pork, shiitake mushroom, tofu and vegies. It was pretty good, all ingredients were plentiful, presentation was good, taste was pretty average. Nothing special about it.
Main Dish: Tofu stuffed with mince pork
I'm not a fan of tofu but this dish was acceptable. The sauce made the tofu more pleasant and the mince pork gave the tofu extra flavour.
Also a very average dish.
Main Dish: Mushrooms on a bed of Bok Choy sprinkled with fish roe
Sounds fancy yeah? But really it wasn't that special. The fish roe looked like dust and the flavour wasn't very strong. The vegies were nice and crunchy.
Overall:
Taste: 7/10 nothing special, all dishes are available at chinese restaurants.
Value: No idea, I didn't order or pay :P
Service: 5/10
Would I recommend it? Not this place, it's in the middle of nowhere (extremely hard to find), a long walk down a back alley. All the dishes were average and easily found at any Chinese restaurant. However I think everyone should try roasted pigeon at some time in their life.
HK Delicacy-Frog
Honkie people are known for eating weird and outrageous things. One of which is FROG!!!!
I went to the market yesterday to buy some seafood and whilst I was waiting for my parents to choose what they wanted I saw a cage filled with FROGSSSS it was creepy. Frog is something I refuse to eat. The ones you eat look disgusting and spine chilling.
Here's a pic of them, I know its not very good, I took it from a distance.
I went to the market yesterday to buy some seafood and whilst I was waiting for my parents to choose what they wanted I saw a cage filled with FROGSSSS it was creepy. Frog is something I refuse to eat. The ones you eat look disgusting and spine chilling.
Here's a pic of them, I know its not very good, I took it from a distance.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Yum Cha
Yesterday I went and had Yumcha with my aunty, uncle and cousin. Unfortunately no pics as I forgot to put the memory card back into my camera. Yumcha in Melb an Yumcha in HK isn't actually that different taste wise, choice wise HK wins hands down.
So what is your favourite yumcha dish?
I love shaomai.
So what is your favourite yumcha dish?
I love shaomai.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Cafe De Coral 大家乐
So after coming back from Taiwan we decided to go out for dinner at......Cafe De Coral. It like this massive food chain in HK and its AWESOME.
So pretty much you order at the counter, they give you a ticket with a number on it and you wait for you number to be called out to collect your meal.
Dougs meal: Escagot on mash potatoes. Sweet potato chips. New Zealand steak with a black pepper gravy. The steak was way over done but still soft. All this for I think HK$44 or AUD$6.20.
My Meal: Also Escagot on potato mash. Never had escagot before but I know the escagot here was pretty bad. Didn't taste like anything.
Also had sweet potato chips.
But I had a baked scallop, pork steak and chicken steak with black pepper gravy. Also HK$44. Unfortunately very salty but you can't expect grand food.
Value: 7/10
Taste: 6/10
Service: 7/10 straightforward with no one bothering you whilst you eat.
Would I recommend it? It is a must go. Whether its for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner, if you go to HK, you must visit Cafe De Coral.
So pretty much you order at the counter, they give you a ticket with a number on it and you wait for you number to be called out to collect your meal.
Dougs meal: Escagot on mash potatoes. Sweet potato chips. New Zealand steak with a black pepper gravy. The steak was way over done but still soft. All this for I think HK$44 or AUD$6.20.
My Meal: Also Escagot on potato mash. Never had escagot before but I know the escagot here was pretty bad. Didn't taste like anything.
Also had sweet potato chips.
But I had a baked scallop, pork steak and chicken steak with black pepper gravy. Also HK$44. Unfortunately very salty but you can't expect grand food.
Value: 7/10
Taste: 6/10
Service: 7/10 straightforward with no one bothering you whilst you eat.
Would I recommend it? It is a must go. Whether its for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner, if you go to HK, you must visit Cafe De Coral.
Taiwan
Just got back from Taiwan yesterday. Can't exactly say that it's my favourite place.
Taiwan in one word: Scooterland
Day 1-Kaohsiung
All we did was go visit temples and stuff. Nothing special or particularly interesting. Saw this little statue at 佛光山. It was sooo cute.
The food was pretty average as they took us to really random places, sorry no pictures because there was no time. Everyone was starving and dug in the second the food hit the table.
Taiwan is famous for their snacks and night markets.
We went to 六合夜市, didn't buy much as a lot of the snacks sold there didn't look very clean. We had takoyaki (in taiwan?), it wasn't very good but at NT$40 (AUD$1.30) for 6 it was insanely cheap. Also tried a Honey Bitter Melon Juice, it was definitely not pleasant. Felt like I was drinking grass. Parents bought pork knuckle that was a speciality in the area, I took one bite and refused to eat the rest. Last thing we bought from the night market was cherry tomatoes stuffed with a slice of date(something like that) and it tasted awesome.
Day 2-Taichung
Day 2 consisted of more temples but also an awesome afternoon at a theme park. Opposite the theme park is a really nice building and garden. I wonder if anyone recognises it.
Another night market that night where I tried this really cool ice cream. It was green tea icecream but have a look at it. Came out like a soft serve machine. NT$25 or just under AUD$1. Also drank another Taiwanese speciality, Paw Paw Smoothie kinda thing. Its like paw paw and milk blended together, tasted sooooo nice. Last thing we bought was a very weird sausage thing. It was a sausage of glutinous rice cut down the middle with a taiwanese sausage in it. I didn't particularly like it.
Day 3-5 Taipei
Food wise there wasn't really anything special in Taipei. Visited many places, temples, military performances. Ate this sesame chicken noodle soup at one of the night markets in Taiwan. It smelt just like sesame flavoured nissin instant noodles. Followed by a bowl of Bak Kut Teh (in taiwan???) not that good though. All this was washed down by a massive cup of Bubble Milk Tea with Pearls :)
Final day lunch was the long awaited Taiwanese Beef Noodles. With only 10 mins to finish an entire bowl I didn't get to actually enjoy my noodles but they tasted soooo good. Great end to my Taiwan trip.
This was a really shortened version of my trip, I'm sure I've bored you enough already.
So how is everyone else's holidays going?
Taiwan in one word: Scooterland
Day 1-Kaohsiung
All we did was go visit temples and stuff. Nothing special or particularly interesting. Saw this little statue at 佛光山. It was sooo cute.
Taiwan is famous for their snacks and night markets.
We went to 六合夜市, didn't buy much as a lot of the snacks sold there didn't look very clean. We had takoyaki (in taiwan?), it wasn't very good but at NT$40 (AUD$1.30) for 6 it was insanely cheap. Also tried a Honey Bitter Melon Juice, it was definitely not pleasant. Felt like I was drinking grass. Parents bought pork knuckle that was a speciality in the area, I took one bite and refused to eat the rest. Last thing we bought from the night market was cherry tomatoes stuffed with a slice of date(something like that) and it tasted awesome.
Day 2-Taichung
Day 2 consisted of more temples but also an awesome afternoon at a theme park. Opposite the theme park is a really nice building and garden. I wonder if anyone recognises it.
Another night market that night where I tried this really cool ice cream. It was green tea icecream but have a look at it. Came out like a soft serve machine. NT$25 or just under AUD$1. Also drank another Taiwanese speciality, Paw Paw Smoothie kinda thing. Its like paw paw and milk blended together, tasted sooooo nice. Last thing we bought was a very weird sausage thing. It was a sausage of glutinous rice cut down the middle with a taiwanese sausage in it. I didn't particularly like it.
Day 3-5 Taipei
Food wise there wasn't really anything special in Taipei. Visited many places, temples, military performances. Ate this sesame chicken noodle soup at one of the night markets in Taiwan. It smelt just like sesame flavoured nissin instant noodles. Followed by a bowl of Bak Kut Teh (in taiwan???) not that good though. All this was washed down by a massive cup of Bubble Milk Tea with Pearls :)
Final day lunch was the long awaited Taiwanese Beef Noodles. With only 10 mins to finish an entire bowl I didn't get to actually enjoy my noodles but they tasted soooo good. Great end to my Taiwan trip.
This was a really shortened version of my trip, I'm sure I've bored you enough already.
So how is everyone else's holidays going?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Day 1
Woke up at 7 something HK time. (HK time is 3 hours behind Melb time)
Lazily got up and ready and finally out the door at 9.
Wasn't feeling on top of the world so I requested to eat congee for breakfast.
My food enthusiast uncle (he knows sooo much about food it's amazing) took us to a Honkie cafe (茶餐厅) nearby (my uncle has pretty much tried most of the places in the area we're living in). I was amazed as I could read about 90% of the menu, so I guess my 13 years of Chinese School paid off :D
I ordered a 皮蛋鱼片粥 congee with fish slices and thousand year old egg (i used to hate thousand year egg but now I can accept it, its definitely an acquired taste.) It was only HK$18 (divide it by about 7 to get to AUD) so its around AUD$2.50. Amazing value. If you wanted to get something similar in Melb it would cost you at least AUD$8.
It was pretty good, lots of thousand year old egg and a fair amount of fish. 7/10
Lazily got up and ready and finally out the door at 9.
Wasn't feeling on top of the world so I requested to eat congee for breakfast.
My food enthusiast uncle (he knows sooo much about food it's amazing) took us to a Honkie cafe (茶餐厅) nearby (my uncle has pretty much tried most of the places in the area we're living in). I was amazed as I could read about 90% of the menu, so I guess my 13 years of Chinese School paid off :D
I ordered a 皮蛋鱼片粥 congee with fish slices and thousand year old egg (i used to hate thousand year egg but now I can accept it, its definitely an acquired taste.) It was only HK$18 (divide it by about 7 to get to AUD) so its around AUD$2.50. Amazing value. If you wanted to get something similar in Melb it would cost you at least AUD$8.
It was pretty good, lots of thousand year old egg and a fair amount of fish. 7/10
The second pic is my bros one. He rated it 5/10 because the pigs blood was really sticky.
Then we went off to Sham Shui Po 深水埗. And whilst we were walking around this shopping centre we saw ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI TRAIN!!! for HK$43.9 or AUD$6.50. It costs AUD$6 for a small box of sushi in Melb.
It was awesome. All you can drink green tea, they give u a tea bag and theres a hot water tap to share between two. You get to watch the guy make the sushi and we were lucky enough to sit right in front of the "chef" guy so we got the freshest sushi out of everyone.
Numbered from left to right, top to bottom 1-15
1. Tobiko-Tobiko is awesome, I love how it bursts in your mouth.
2.Prawn-The prawn was a tad flavourless but you can't expect too much as it was so cheap.
3. Octopus?-Can't remember what it tasted like but I think it was a tad plain.
4. Smoked pork/bacon-Weird combination with rice but the meat had a strong smoked flavour.
5.Tobiko inside out sushi-Tasted like all the other inside out sushi.
6. Unagi like fish-Not exactly sure whether it was unagi as it didn't taste like it but it was coated in a sweet sauce. Good combination with rice.
7. Jellyfish in a yellow sauce-Looked like curry but wasn't curry, it was spicy and sweet. An interesting but nice combination.
8. Seaweed salad-The seaweed was warm but it was nice.
9. Squid-The one I found the hardest to swallow. It was slimy, fishy and just unpleasant.
10. Corn with mayo-Quite liked this one as the sweetness from the corn and the rice went well together. But I've never heard of corn with sushi
11.Conch- A little chewy but not too bad. Don't get to eat conch very often in Aust.
12. Octupus in sauce- The sauce was sweet and many chunks of octopus. Quite nice, bro loved it.
13. No clue, yellow fish roe fillet-I didn't try it as it looked very interesting and unappealing to me. Bro tried it and said it was like tobiko but not as good.
14. SALMON-The best out of all the ones I tried. The salmon was oily and tasted nice.
15. Porkfloss-Didn't particularly like this one as the pork floss fell out and went all over my face. Combination of dry porkfloss and wet rice in your mouth is sooo weird.
In general the rice was sometimes room temperature and sometimes warm, I'm pretty sure sushi rice is supposed to be cold. The sushi rice didn't contain enough vinegar, salt or sugar and was not packed enough as it was done be a machine.
Value was amazing, the restaurant was packed with people. 9/10
Taste 6/10
Service 7/10
My rating overall 7/10 thanks to the price
Would i recommend it? Yes but you probably won't go back again as there is way better sushi out there.
Bout to go out for dinner now :)
Flight to HK
I officially hate flying =.="
I think I have really bad travel sickness :(
So we flew to Sydney first then from Sydney we flew to HK.
Plane is never good right?
We were served lunch on the flight to Sydney. Pumpkin, Leek and Fetter Quiche, sounds good? Well it looks like something right out of the school canteen, those who go to my school would probably agree. Taste? Just like canteen food. I think the people who make these pies have to realise that Fetta cheese is salty and additional salt is most probably not necessary.
I think I have really bad travel sickness :(
So we flew to Sydney first then from Sydney we flew to HK.
Plane is never good right?
We were served lunch on the flight to Sydney. Pumpkin, Leek and Fetter Quiche, sounds good? Well it looks like something right out of the school canteen, those who go to my school would probably agree. Taste? Just like canteen food. I think the people who make these pies have to realise that Fetta cheese is salty and additional salt is most probably not necessary.
Before we landed we saw some pretty nice scenery. Beaches, coasts, cliffs.
The flight to HK is when I pretty much died. Felt sick the entire way. We were served dinner at 4pm AUS time. Don't think I've actually ever had dinner that early.
"Slow cooked" pork. It's a nice way of saying overcooked pork. The lemon sauce didn't taste like lemon and was just a cream sauce but it didn't taste too bad. The salad leaves were just horrible. But the best part of the meal was the Belgian chocolate brownie. It was soooo rich and moist I wanted another one.
My bro loves to start the "cup noodle craze" on the plane. As there is around 5 hours between dinner and supper people started to get hungry at around 7. Many don't realise that cup noodles are available. So my bro decides to ask for a NISSIN cup noodle and the smell wafts all around the plane and all of a sudden all the flight attendants are doing is walking around serving people cup noodles. The pic above is my bro with his finished cup noodle, and you can see the man behind him stuffing himself with noodles XD
At around 9 Aus time it was sunset time. It was really pretty. I really love sunsets.
So we arrived in HK at around 12:15am Aus time or 9:15 HK time. I was totally wasted by the time I got into bed.