Skye High in Hong Kong: The Food.
June 24, 2015If you're thinking of heading to Hong Kong, maybe this blogpost will help you plan!We'll start with breakfasts at cha can tengs. Cha can tengs are like the breakfast places for locals.
I love breakfasts in HK cause it's socially acceptable to eat maggi mee for breakfast. HAHA. Most cha can tengs are small, and you usually sit in a small booth/table, elbow to elbow. If you hate your personal space being invaded...go with less people. Haha.
Introducing Hwa Xing Bing Shi, a cha can teng.
Hwa Xing Bing Shi
B1, Kwong Sang Hong Building, 6 Heard Street, Wan Chai (short walk from WC MTR)
Kam Wah
45/47 Bute Street, Prince Edward (Prince Edward MTR)
I think the best of Kam Wah is the boluo baos (boluo yao/pineapple buns). They look huge on first sight but trust me, you'll totally want one to yourself.
They're so soft, with a crunchy, sweet crust. Not jelak at all (but then again I have a huge sweet tooth).
They also have alternative buns like char siew buns but aiyah, if it's your first time, do go for the boluo bun. Certified awesome by like ten thousand food bloggers and food enthusiasts on Open Rice (a nifty food app that comes with reviews and addresses).
We also ordered eggtarts (ok-ish), french toast (avoid, too oily and eggy imo), noodles with ham and noodles with beef! The beef in Hong Kong looks like pork, tastes super succulent and soft. It's amazing. (Apparently they're minced and processed? I'm not entirely sure.)
We also ordered milk tea, yuan yang (coffee and milk tea) and coffee. Shiok life.
Aren't the little coffee cups cute? Put them on sell for tourists like me please. This place oozes the vintage nostalgia old coffee shop vibes that Singaporeans love.
The only meh about this place is the never-ending crowd (and the french toast). Don't expect to linger around in this busy little shop!
Next up, we have some delicious congee, situated in the upper floors of a wet market.
Mui Kee Congee 妹记
11-12,4/F, Fa Yuen St Market, Mong Kok (630am-3pm)
The aunties and uncles here were very friendly. One of the first things they asked us after taking our orders were if we were Singaporeans. Haha were we so obvious? Apparently the way we spoke Canto gave us away. (When I say 'we' I mean Pok and Kokswee. Complete Canto noob here hahaha)
The uncle caught Pok stirring the congee and gave us some tips. He said not to stir the congee or it would become watery.
The uncle then had a chat with the canto-proficient people in our group (lol), but I made Pok translate for me after. HAHA.
- Why is the beef in Hong Kong so different?
This involves corn starch, marinate with sauces and sugar (other info lost in translation) - Mui Kee Congee has been around for 40 years. They use a charcoal stove and cook the soup/rice for 6 hours!
- They use natural ingredients, meaning no MSG and so that their congee won't be so salty.
- "Eating congee is like art."
Tsim Chai Kee
98 Wellington Street, Central
Tsim Chai Kee is located somewhere in the Central district. At lunch time, where it was blazing hot at about 32 or more degrees, you have tons of men and OLs in blazers and shizz. And they don't look like they're breaking a sweat. Win sia.
This shop is literally opposite the famous Mak's that sells mee also. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! But according to Kokswee, who ate both back to back, Tsim Chai Kee is better.
And when we were there, there was NO QUEUE at Mak's! What!
A look at the menu...
We ordered the 三宝 Three Toppings noodles (HKD $36, about $6.30 SGD)- with wanton, minced fish ball and fresh sliced beef. Not sure how the auntie took our order though... cryptic order chit.
Tadaaaa! Not much of a looker, but woah this hugeass bowl is packed full of amazingness. Just look at the mega fishball??? Lol. Highly recommend you to share so that you can eat other things later (like Tai Cheong pastries, that we'll talk about next).
Solid performance from the prawn dumplings. |
"Tsim Chai Kee thrash Mak's!"- Kokswee and the very succulent yummy beef slices |
Tai Cheong Bakery
35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Central MTR Exit D2
Actually Tai Cheong is everywhere lah. You see it at ferry terminals, at some malls and stuff.
We only ate the eggtart. Nomnoms. Wish it was just hot from the oven though! Would have tasted even better! You can also try the Sugar Puff (沙翁) - something like a donut.
Somewhere along Mongkok street:
Basically it's like a... yong tau foo x satay stick shop. But the food we had were COLD! Haha was shocked when I first had a bite. There's mustard and wasabi on our sticks of food, BURN!!! Hahaha. Refreshing though, especially in the Hong Kong heat.
Liked the squid I tried, wasn't interested in all the other organs and livers so I can't share much about that. Hahaha.
I also bought a HKD $3 (50cts SGD yo) eggtart from a random shop, and it was yummy. omg loves. Don't miss the Egglets (jidanzai 鸡蛋仔) too! (Psst, the ones on this street are rather average. For 'famed ones' try the shop at North Point 北角- it's Wenxin's favourite the last time we went to HK together).
112 Tung Choi Street, Mongkok, Kowloon
All the hype outside the shop... |
皮蛋粥 Century Egg Porridge
Not very thick, super shiok! The best part of this is the shredded balls of meat inside. Highly recommended!
Looks are deceiving. No soup, no shiok meat. It's a strong 'No' from me. |
You can also check out Tim Ho Wan, we didn't have time.
Tim Ho Wan
9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po (10 min walk from SSP MTR)
Aight, I didn't cover everything that we ate in Hong Kong, but hey, I really love cha can tengs so here's one more.
Shun De Ren 顺德人 (Jordan)
Address: somewhere near Australian Milk Company (lol)
What's special here: it's close to Australian Milk Company (which is always crowded). We tried the satay beef + 出前一丁 instant noodles. The toast here is different in the sense that they use garlic butter spread.
Here are also some other places we didn't manage to visit this time, but do check them out too! This can be your contigency plan.
Australian Milk Company (Jordan)
47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, MTR Jordan Exit C2
Go get the milk pudding. There was a crazy queue when we got there so we skipped this. Lots of good reviews from friends about this place too!
Mido Cafe
63 Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei
One regret I have about HK is eating too little desserts. We have average ice desserts, and I didn't eat as much cake or ice cream as I wanted (too full, lol). Boo. Will be back with a bigger dessert stomach next time.
Will be back soon with the next installation of the Skye High in Hong Kong series, featuring places to go in HK! Stay tuned and thanks for reading! I hope this helps you in your travel plans, especially if you're a HK n00b like me who can't even speak/understand Cantonese.
Special thanks to Darren & Yi'an for sharing their travel itineraries with addresses and all! And to my HK travel buddies Cass, Kokswee and Pok!
For pretty pictures taken in HK, check out my post: Artsy Fartsy
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