Feast your way through this bustling city - from Dim Sum to Noodles in a Bag, here are my seven favourite food experiences in Hong Kong that stray away from the usual suspects.
Hong Kong is a place teeming with people, buildings and of course, food. The small country in Asia is well known for its dim sum, noodles and street food. You can always quench your thirst with the refreshingly sweet Hong Kong milk tea from cha chaan tengs or a variety of soya drinks from the many vending machines scattered around. Tucked away in corners are also Instagram-friendly cafes, but be prepared to conquer a couple flights of stairs before arriving to one.
You have heard of One Dim Sum, Australia Diary Company, Curry Noodles and Tim Ho Wan. So what else?
1. Lo Dim 老點
(image from: https://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/r-lo-dim-mong-kok-guangdong-dim-sum-r124481/photos)
This fusion dim sum place was a stone throw away from our Hong Kong friend, Valerie, place in Mong Kok. Lo Dim had quite of a queue going on when we arrived but we managed to get a table within 15 minutes. Since it was the first place we went to eat in Hong Kong, I got too excited and forgot to take some photographs. Rest assured that the quality of the dim sum is excellent and they had one of the nicest serving staff - none of the "traditional" curtness that you will usually face in Hong Kong. Highly recommend ordering the Sake Chicken Soup and the deep-fried Man Tou (cloud-shaped steamed bun). First meal done right!
Disclaimer: These noodles are extremely addictive. We ate a bag almost everyday on the way back to Valerie's and sometimes even twice a day!
A light snack that can be eaten anytime of the day, even after a meal. Choose between yellow noodles, spinach noodles or pasta for your base (4 HKD/0.70 SGD) and add on any toppings that caught your eye for 4 HKD/ingredient. I loved adding beansprouts, jellyfish and octopus. Crunchy. You can then head over to the left side of the store to add in some sauce, chilli and/or garlic before mixing it all up! A store with light green banner in Argyle Centre, you can't miss it!
I love Portuguese egg tarts and these golden goodness (10 HKD/piece) are more a lot more accessible and economically reasonable than flying to Belem. The filling to crust ratio - GOLDEN. I usually like my crust a little more moist and on the flaky side while Lord Stow’s were a little more stiff. Still amazing nonetheless. Inhaled two at once and got another to end my day. You can get these in Macau or from The Excelsior Hong Kong.
Should you be unable to get your hands on one of these Lord Stow's egg tarts, there are also the Daan-Tat or Chinese Egg Tarts. I find them relatively more buttery with flaky crusts. But one thing is constant with both types - to enjoy them further, heat them up in the microwave for a pippin' hot and creamy dessert.
Valerie recommended going for the sandwich stuffed with prawn paste. The dish is supposedly famous for its golden, sesame-crusted toast and a generous amount of filling (38 HKD/6.50 SGD). However, the star was the Turnip Cake dish (36 HKD/6.20 SGD), almost finished in background.
Look at the glistening cubes of turnip that melts into your mouth and the beansprouts adding another layer to the dish, giving that nice crunch. Highly recommend when you visit Chau Kee!
To be fair, this is a recommendation catered to those who do not have access to really great Pan Fried Buns. If you do, please ignore this.
These Michelin Guide 2016, unassuming-looking pork buns completely blown us away. Bite into the fried skin of the buns only to be hit by a wave of savoury soup encased inside. There are three options: the original pork (30 HKD/4pc), pork with shrimp (36 HKD/4pc) or truffle with pork (35 HKD/2pc). And hands down, truffle is the way to go. They also have combination sets of two flavours which are great for solo travellers.
Word of caution: Don’t burn your tongue in the hurry of slurping the yummy soup.
Another Michelin Guide food, egglets or egg waffles. We ordered the banana and chocolate chip egglet (28 HKD/4.80 SGD) from Mammy Pancake. The other egglet we tried during our trip was Oddies's apple pie egglet (22-25 HKD/4~SGD). Though they had an instagramable decor and food options, Oddies's egglet fell flat for us. We could barely taste anything besides plain dough while 媽咪雞蛋仔’s was stuffed with bananas and chocolate chip so both flavours came through without overpowering each other. Not too sweet, not too doughy. Just light and fluffy, the way I like it.
Might be a slightly biased recommendation as we did not try any other mochi except this brand's. Yet, Hong Kong Mochi's mochis are huge, like bigger-than-your-palm huge! The mochi-to-filling ratio isn't the best except for the mango mochi, but the pillowly texture of the mochis are off the charts! We decided on the mango mochi which had a whole of mango inside with some mango puree and the apple yakult mochi (15-20 HDK/2.60 SGD).
In other words, make your tummy happy with all these food that made my trip great! This is only my second time in Hong Kong and I look forward to discovering new places as while as revisiting these great places!
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