是誰 在敲打我窗, 是誰 在撩動琴弦......

The grimy facade in the midst of aged apartment blocks was an indication of interesting things to come. Amidst one of the dark alleys of Kowloon latticed with water pipes, half shaded by haphazard zinc shelters under dim fluorescent luminance, lies Hung Fook Restaurant (G/F, No. 86 Lok Shan Road, To Kwa Wan, Kowloon, tel : +852 2365 0112). Hell, I'm not even sure that's the real English name for the location since there wasn't any I could find.

 

If anyone had the interested or could recall, this was the place where the triad bosses were seen having hotpot in various scenes from Infernal Affairs II. I was told that the business and prices of this old restaurant has risen from the media attractions that was garnered from the movie. Basically, this joint was today a fairly popular location for the locals for hot pots and charcoal grilled live seafood.

 

The offerings were the usual that one could expect from steamboat or hot pot shops. Apart from the sliced beef, some tau pok balls which were really good for soaking up the spicy hot pot broth, obligatory greens and deep fried fish skin, it was mostly the seafood on grill for us. Since it was what this restaurant was known for. We would have wanted to order more from the tank but the laws of physics refused to compromise for our bellies. Due to the tight quarters and that my hands were stained perpetually with seafood juices, I was only able to get some shots of some of the shellfish and their crustacean buddies squirming in their death throes.......

 

.......and a blurry view of the mess on the table from all that beer.

 

A post clubbing snack from Beyrouth Cafe

This was a lamb kebab from a Lebanese place (G/F., Lyndhurst Building, 37A Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong, tel: +852 2854 1872) which seemed to operate 24 hours down at the Central. I decided to take away in the wee hours of the morning as we were heading back home to catch up with some sleep. There was the regular stack of lettuce and sliced tomatoes along with what sealed the deal for me - onions and a spicy garlic yoghurt with the grilled slices of lamb. My mouth waters thinking of them now.

Yuen Kee Restaurant (源記燒味粉麵茶餐廳), Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

We were led into this place (18 Granville Road, Shop B, G/F Kiu Yip Building, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel : +852 2721 7881) by our new friend Sheng, who is a urologist in Dublin and had spent his childhood between Hong Kong and Singapore. Him having spent years in Ireland as a doctor and myself being the food tourist, we've come into an agreement that we wouldn't be eating anywhere else that doesn't serve what is generally accepted as local food. While that's was something that was not entirely unfamiliar, it was yet different enough in quite a few ways which we really enjoyed. 

This was one of the numerous tradition char chan teng locations that's scattered around. The point to this particular one were the roast meats, soup beef briskets and wantons. Roast meats in Hong Kong are similar yet different from home. Portions are usually more generous, char siew have a nice soft layer of fat as compared with leaner varieties at home and the roast pork belly in general have a good crispy layer of crackling. I'm guessing it's like that almost everywhere her. This lunch pig out also included delectable bowls of tender mixed beef tendons with briskets huddled in a rich broth and fat tasty wantons that had a flavour of dried shrimps in the stuffings.

Gourmet Burger Union, Cochrane Street, Hong Kong

GBU (45-47 Cochrane St., 1st Floor, Cheung Fai Bldg, Central, tel : [852] 2523-9011) was an impromptu decision while wandering around looking for lunch. A quick decision made from too much drinking the night before and an empty stomach looking for the first meal of the day. This was also the point where the decision was made that we would not be eating any more of ang moh food for the stay in Hong Kong. 

It wasn't that the burgers were bad. In fact, this place was pretty decent if one could just overlook the fact that eating in there leaves the residual scent of the burger grease on you. Not to mention the fact that the air conditioning was switched off in winter and circulation was quite bad. Especially for a place doing char grill.

The word Stilton was caught by my peripheral vision and registered. Hence I got their GBU Big Boy even though I had been staring at the menu for a while. What I thought strange was that it came with bbq sauce (which I had opted out) which would create more contention amongst the flavours that was already there.

So what was in? A juicy New Zealand Angus patty that was dome somewhere between medium well to well done topped with a generous wad of melted Stilton blue. A flame grilled portobello mushroom cap and a couple of strips of bacon resting on some wild rockets. The fries were forgettable, but I liked the burger. Reminded me a little of The Handburger.

Kau Kee Restaurant (九記牛腩), Gough Street, Hong Kong

The premium of real estate must have really driven old time stall owners with limited physical business space to resort to a semi regimental seat allocation system where the owners dictate where one seats and if they may be seated if not all of the group has arrived. 

This was kinda what happened down at Kau Kee (21 Gough Street, Central, Hong Kong) which was one of the numerous noodle restaurants that dot the neighbourhood I was staying at in Central. One should not expect genteel service and should order quickly and shortly depart the premise after eating to avoid scowls. As I've been educated, Kau Kee is known for their ngau lam mee. The soup wasn't a beef broth as I had expected. Just the same soup base for wonton noodles. It took a helping of their home made shrimp paste chilli sauce to get to the point where it was really drinkable. The accompanying beef briskets were decent. I was expecting exceptional by any me. In the end, it was a passable bowl of piping hot beef noodles which was made enjoyable by the cool weather.

Tsim Chai Kee Noodle (沾仔記), Wellington Street, Hong Kong

I was recommended this noodle shop (98 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong) by a friend who was trying to convince us that their wantons were much larger over here in Hong Kong. It turned out to be a place that sold only noodles with a modest options of toppings. Their king prawn wanton noodle which looked to be sitting on almost everyone else's table had dumplings the size of a plum. This steaming bowl of noodles was satisfyingly impressive. Three of those shrimp filled dumplings with pork in a bowl laden with hearty portion of thin chewy noodles that that was coupled with excellent texture and bite. My type of noodles. So good in the cool evening of winter. The side of vegetables in oyster sauce was commendably tender yet crunchy without being the least fibrous. 

I was so taken in by this place that I headed back out here the following evening for dinner. Which wasn't so remarkable. Had their three topping noodle which included sliced beef (unidentifiable protein mass) and a fishball that was textured like a meatloaf of sorts. Shall stick to the wonton noodles.