Kung Woo Bean Products (公和荳品廠), Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

In spite of sounding obvious, this place (G/F, 118 Pei Ho Street, Sham Shui Po) does sell bean based products which one can either purchase for home consumption freshly made and cooked items to be had in the premise of their shop. I hear that this particular stall has been around since the 60s.

Since the interior of the shop had already been filled to the brim, we had to settle for huddling along tables on the sides of the shop in the alley. There was a small plate of pan fried assorted tofu and tau huay/tau fu fa and a some smokey scented soya bean drink. Was all pretty good stuff if one was into their bean based flavour. It helped as well that the turn over for food was pretty high judging by the unabating crowd and cooking that was constantly in progress. I'm not sure if everyone could relate to this stuff but it was to me a taste of a time gone by. I'm not sure if this kind of quality can ever be found back home.

Wai Kee Noodle Cafe (維記咖啡粉麵 ), Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

Here's a bowl of salt, cholesterol and fat for lunch in the form of pig liver and noodles with a couple of sliced and pan fried luncheon meat. This particular stall (G/F, 62 & 67 Fuk Wing Street / Shop D, G/F, 165-167 Pei Ho Street , Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, tel : +857 2387 6515) as I understand has been around for decades and is a haunt for locals.

Was there anything particularly mind blowing about it? No, there certainly wasn't. I think it'd be pretty unrealistic to expect any out of this world experience for food like that. The noodles were a little too soft for my liking as well. But it was a bowl of uncomplicated and pretty comforting food. And I did agree with the livers which were not overcooked and still tender. The livery and savoury (if not visually too appealing) broth was surprisingly clean and tasty. Luncheon meat only made it better. Definitely would not mind re-visiting.

Australia Dairy Company, Jordan, Hong Kong

We hit this place (47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, tel : +852 2730 1356) for a quick breakfast after hearing about their vibrantly sunny and fluffy scrambled eggs which was part of a breakfast set that could be had for HKD26.

Those nicely seasoned scrambled eggs they had were pretty damned good and definitely hit the spot for an morning empty stomach. If not for anything else, they (and the milk tea) were worth the trip. We were pretty fortunate to have arrived just before the queue started getting long. But it seemed that the turn over was pretty fast driven by the efficient floor staff managing orders, servings and seatings.

Yasuhan Japanese Restaurant, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

This dinner at Yasuhan (2/F, Radiant Centre, No.7 Cannon Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, tel : +857 9222 8843) was an omakase arranged by a friend (thanks Alice!).

From the facade in streets just outside the building, one would little suspect that it housed the tiny 18 seater (I approximated) that whipped out exquisite Japanese cuisine at a price point that would put shame to similarly typed establishments back home.

There was a pretty textured paper place mat that denoted the season.

I liked the food. I was pretty sure that the pan fried A5 wagyu and fat laced toro slices, both of which were sweet and buttery swerved me towards a favourable disposition. I would have been remiss if I had not mentioned, that the largest hunk of floral uni which was the length from the tip of my thumb to the base helped as well. I am sometimes that easily made happy.

The rest of the items were so so, but the taste from the food were clean and precise. The fruit served at the end were surprisingly aromatic slices of apple of a balanced sweetness. Best damn apple I've ever had.

Dragon Garden, Mongkok, Hong Kong

No, Dragon Garden (G/F, 230 Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mong Kok, Hong Kong, tel : +857 2381 8511) or Chiu Long Yuen as I am able to translate wasn't the name of any Chinese restaurant. It was just one of numerous ubiquitous frills free eatery along Watercress Street located just a few units away from the Yee Shun Milk Company. After having had a breakfast and a supper, we decided that this place was definitely worth a mention

The food was probably not unique, but it was conveniently located near the hotel we were staying that it was possible for us to revisit for a not so late night supper (they close at around midnight) of their tender and fatty beef brisket and mixed beef offal with rice that included tripe, liver and braised beef lungs!

The brisket and the tendon options for either soup or rice came with different gravy. Each of their generously portioned rice meals were accompanied by a savoury seaweed soup. The very definition of hearty meals without frills. I wasn't able to find out anything about this eatery so I think these guys may be fairly new?

Fung Lam Restaurant (楓林小館), Shatin, Hong Kong

This restaurant is located just across the road from Tai Wai MTR station and from what I've been told, is considered an institution around these parts. Apparently, they are known for their deep fried pigeons and they were pretty much the reason why we picked lunch here.

The first of the orders that arrived were deep fried salted prawn. The shells were salty in a good way that it made me suck them of as much flavour as I could before shelling them to get to the firm crunchy meat of the crustacean. With little to de-track from the original flavour, these were as good as one could get with fresh deep fried prawns.

There was deep fried tofu stuffed with a strip of shrimp on the top. The hot and silky textured tofu tasted much like how they looked.

Hairy gourd with chopped garlic.

I remember having had roasted pigeons a couple of years back in Macau. These deep fried version from Fung Lam were a little less succulent, less tender but I guess they were tasty the same. I was expecting the birds to be smaller but the pigeons were pretty large here.

The second bird dish that made lunch today came in the form of chicken stir fried in a black bean sauce. The sauce, to my standards was excellent, possessing of much more body in the flavour and aroma than what can be commonly found back at home. I had no idea what else when into them and I only wished that I had space for more rice to go with it.

Fung Lam serves a pretty passable fried rice with conpoy. Did not remember much of it apart from the fact that it lacked the wok hei that many people are fond of, but it left the impression of being quite respectable if a little damp and bland.

The restaurant served a complimentary dessert of a diluted walnut paste of sorts. I didn't think it was memorable.