Friday, February 25, 2011

Hong Kong 2010 :)

It's about time I documented what I did for a huge chunk of the holidays, which was, of course, going overseas -to a place I've been a billion times but I still LOVE- Hong Kong :) I know I'd never get around to writing about everything during my trip so here's a few of my more memorable meals, mostly for my future reference :)

Egawa Sushi (江川壽司)


Sashimi Rice $36 (~$5 AUD) with miso soup, seaweed and dessert (mochi)

One of our first meals out in Hong Kong was at Egawa Sushi, which we found after walking around the whole shopping centre just to find something to eat. It had an extensive illustrated menu but we stayed with the afternoon menu which was ridiculously cheap (by Australian standards anyway) and the food did not dissappoint either. We ordered a sashimi rice which was a deliciously colourful array of small sashimi cubes on a very big mound of rice, lightly flavoured with soy sauce and vinegar.

Pork Bone Ramen $34 (~$4AUD) with salmon nigiri and mochi

I ordered the pork bone ramen, thinking that the pork bone referred the broth - so I was surprised to find actually pieces of pork bones within the ramen! The soft bones tasted like hard tendons were really yummy along with tender and flavoursome pork meat.

Sam's Place (天然居海鮮酒家)
Corn and Fish Cakes

Who could go to Hong Kong without having Yum Cha? With breakfast/morning specials (here, $11.8 HKD per dish), yum cha is extremely afforable. At the bright hours 10 in the morning (I'm not usually awake at this time if I'm at home...), the restaurant is fairly quiet, mostly with small groups of old grannies and grandpas. The system of choosing food by ticking from a piece of paper makes sure that everything arrives very hot and cooked to order. Unfortunately, it makes ordering a lot more difficult for people who can't read chinese- thank goodness I have my mum :)

These corn and fish cakes arrive steaming hot. The golden brown fish cakes are essentially fritters of fish paste, dotted with kernels of corn. Both flavoursome and crispy, we have no problem gulping them down within seconds.

Steamed Thousand layer buns/cake

The layers on this are clearly countable and nowhere near a thousand but this is an addictive treat, with layers of steamed bun and yellow custard.


Fried Salad Rolls
One of my favourites are these rolls, deep fried with a thin crispy exterior, and a delicious salad like filling of prawns and various fruits in a pool of mayonnaise.

Tum Yum Thai

Thai restaurant
My uncle recommended this local thai restaurant to us which was popular with the locals due to the authentic and affordable food. We didn't find the food that great but it did however turn out to be one of my most unforgettable meals, thanks very much to this fish.

Grilled Fish

This is basically a big fish stuffed with herbs, marinated with lots of salt and grilled until pretty much half burnt. The fish itself was tender but tasted quite ordinary- the crispy skin looks very appetisting but is covered in a layer of salt and is probably not meant to be eaten.

Yeh lam Kok (椰林閣餐廳)
Fried Vermicelli with Duck Breast
Vermicelli $24HKD (~ $3AUD) with hot drink
This small comfy restaurant is the perfect place for us to rest our sore feet after hours of shopping amongst the busy streets of Mong Kok. The vermicelli is fairly generous for its price and very flavoursome. Unforunately, the vermicelii is a little on the stiff side, leaving us wishing they'd cooked the whole dish a little longer. (We later ordered this again at another branch and it was much better)
Coconut Curry
Baked Coocnut Chicken Curry $25 HKD (~$3AUD) with drink
The coconut curry is a lot better, with its addictively delicious coconutty sauce and tender chicken pieces. We particularly like the edges, where the sauces has dried up and gone crunchy (if a little burnt).

A Shanghainese Restraurant with no english name :S

We stumbled across a Shanghainese restaurant whilst shopping at Diamond Hill. Not wanting to eat any thai, japanese or vietnamese (as we were buffeting at night) we chose something we didn't eat often. The meal itself was memorable, both because of the fact that we rarely eat shanghainese food in Hong Kong and because it was delicious.


The xiao long baos (from memory which came with my la mein meal) were easily the best xiao long baos I've ever had with a thin wrapping and insides filled with water which didn't burst too easily. We almost ordered anoter steamer of them!

Red Ant Restaurant


Noodles $40HKD(~ $5 AUD) with drink
I've always liked red ant restaurant, not for its food but more for it's very pretty interior design which makes me feel that I'm eating at a much more expensive restaurant. We stopped here for afternoon tea after shopping and shared 2 meals between the three of us as we were going to dinner shortly after. The portions were pretty big for afternoon tea and weren't dissappointing either!


Japanese Curry $40HKD (~ $5 AUD) with drink
This japenese curry tastes almost identical to the ones we make from the box sauces but it wasn't expensive and I loved it all the same :)

Metropark Hotel (Mong Kok)
We had lunch at metropark hotel which was rather cheap for a hotel but also slightly dissappointing as I'd always imagined hotels looking much prettier and have a better selection of food. Still, it was a far cry from the usual RSL buffets in Australia and I had a great time!


I loved that they had baked snails because I hadn't had them for AGES....but was dissappointed as they were not hot and the snails themselved were really chewy :(


The dessert selection was the highlight for me- I think I tried 90% of all the desserts. The cheesecake was delicious and it wasn't only me who thought so- they dissappeared so quickly that my mum missed out :( The chestnut tarts were also really good- they had a deliciously flaky tart shell with a sweet creamy chestnut cream filling :)

So, I'm not too good with long posts, so I'll stop there for now...there'll be more up soon!

13 Comments:

E. said...

All that food looks sooooo yummy! I would love eating the curry, desserts, xiao long bao, and fried noodles. Your trip looks so fun. I never went to Hong Kong before, but now I kind of want to. I'm also really hungry now and that doesn't help b/c it's midnight over here and I should be doing hw haha. I can't wait to see the rest of your trip's pics.

grub said...

is this where you disappeared off too? :) omg it's past 1AM and i just read your post and it's making me HUNGRY!!!

EVERYTHING looks so TASTY and i want some of that steamed thousand layer bun now..ahhh!

going to dream of sweet food and will be awaiting for your delicious food photos and holiday snaps :D

Anonymous said...

thanks for the writeup! I love hong kong too! Good food, good shopping! time to plan another trip!

Quay Po Cooks said...

Great post and nice pics. Looks like a trip to Hong Kong is due.

Cooking Gallery said...

I need to visit Hong Kong again one day...!! All that food makes me drool...Especially the yum cha one of course ;)...

Viv said...

i noticed that everythings so cheap over there!!
that snail dish looks interesting ;)

Von said...

Hi Esther! Thanks! Maybe it would help if you stopped reading blogs after midnight haha.......:) these photos make me hungry too :D

Hi grub! yup! that's also where I dissappeared off to last year....but I don't think you were reading my blog then :) Hope you had an awesome dream then!!

Hi travellingfoodies! No problem :)Yay! You like Hk too :)

Hi Quay Po! Thanks!! :)

Hi Cooking Gallery! you should! haha...I love yum cha in hong kong too!

Hi Vivienne! yeah- it's asia afterall :) and it means I can almost eat as much as I want to without feeling guilty of spending all my parents money...haha :)

sugarpuffi said...

ahhh! so much food! i can hear my stomach grumble :/

MaryMoh said...

I love Hong Kong food...just too many to choose. The ones here are all my favourite. Hope to go to Hong Kong again one day.

Juliana said...

Wow, I need to make a visit...everything looks so yummie, would love to try them all :-) Nice pictures!

Maria said...

Such an interesting selection of dishes, most of them I've never tried!

A Canadian Foodie said...

VOn - sorry I have been so tardy.
A BILLION TIMES! You are a very fortunate young gal! What a spread. The food is stellar. Let me know if you ever get out of school and want to act as translator for my new culinary travel and tour company. I would definitely take a tour to Hong Kong with a foodie translator!!! I am in awe. Even the chairs are gorgeous.
I think I have a spring job awaiting you should you ever take a break from school!
:)
valerie

Von said...

haha...me too! :)

Hi Mary! That's very true...no amount of time is enough for me to try everything I'd like to just in Hong Kong :) haha...

Hi Juliana! Thanks! And you should go to hk!

Hi Bette I totally agree :) haha....I can find a lot of HK snacks in the asian supermarkets here, but it isn't quite the same as buying it there- but i guess you're right, it's good enought to satisfy me until my next trip!

Hi Valerie! WOW! You have a new culinary travel and tour company!?!? That's so cool! I now wish I lived all the way on the other side of the world just to join your tours :D haha....I'm probably a pretty bad translator :P

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