Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle (坤記竹昇麵), Wing Lung Street, Cheung Sha Wan

We made the trip to Cheong Sha Wan for some old school bamboo noodles with prawn roe. Yeap, egg noodles made with bamboo poles known as zhuk sang meen (竹昇麵); a process from back in the day when there were no machines. A experience in a taste of history for egg noodles in Hong Kong was what we were hoping for. Those bamboo noodles were exactly what Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle (1 Wing Lung Street, Cheung Sha Wan, Hong Kong, tel : +852 3484 9126) was renowned for.

We had a couple of their dried shrimp roe noodle offerings. Didn't think so much of their wanton. The dumplings had thicker skin than I was expecting and also didn't have the aroma of dried sole. While the ingredients on the side passed muster, I wouldn't quite term them as mention worthy. But those chewy noodles with generous sprinkles of har ji (虾籽) were pretty good. Bowl of accompanying soup was nice too.

Liu Yuan Pavilion (留園雅敘), Lockhart Road, Wan Chai

Pretty pricey but tasty Shanghainese food to be had here at Liu Yuan Pavilion (3/F The Broadway, 54-62 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel : +852 2804 2000). We heard that the restaurant was known for hairy crab during the seasons so we came to try our luck to see if we were able to score anything at the tail end.

These were finely chopped vegetables with bits of dried bean curd. They were described as stewed vegetables on the menu and it was served cold as a starter. If you couldn't tell from the picture, this dish was flavoursome and also refreshing.

We had stir fried shrimps with green peas and black truffle. Not getting so much from the black truffle flavour but the shrimps were sweet. This was pretty good. Pretty pricey too.

Possibly the most expensive vegetable dish I've ever ordered - hairy crab cream with stir fried pea shoots. The cream here refers to bits of meat mixed with roe from the crab. Crabbily delicious and even more expensive than those little shrimps above.

We had originally wanted to get something with hairy crab roe but the restaurant mentioned that the dishes that were made with a lot of roe had to be pre ordered. So for carbs, more of those crab cream with ban mian (拌面). Possibly the most expensive single serving noodles we've had so far.

The noodles were served in a separate bowl from the crab cream. We tossed them together with a healthy splash of vinegar before eating. Good stuff.

Tsui Wah (翠華), Wellington Street, Central

Of the years we've been visiting Hong Kong, this was our first time at Tsui Wah (15 Wellington Street, Hong Kong Central). It is an institution in this country which had started more than half a century back that has possibly fed millions in the years and branches it had been around. 

But given that there's a whole lot of things to eat here, one can imagine that a chain cha chaan teng would be very easy to overlook. Overlooked we did.

Anyway we did come by for lunch. They looked upgraded and it was a much better eating experience that I had imagined.

For starters, they've a Chaozhou styled fried rice with preserved olive leaves and chicken that was bloody addictive. Very savoury. The portion was huge and in an almost frightening surety - mouthful by mouthful, we finished it. 

Going meatless can land one stir fried eggs with okra and black truffle paste. Pretty decent Chinese truffle dish if you asked me. Just needed a little bit of soy sauce or salt.

In an odd bit of irony considering that truffle flavouring has been overused in the recent years, they might just have come up with a naturalized East West dish that can in probably only be conceived in this part of the world. Just saying.

There's even almond cream with egg white for desserts. The egg white bits were a bit chunkier than the usual shreds, but this wasn't bad at all.

Belon, Elgin Street, Central

I just realized that Belon (41 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong, tel : +852 2152 2872) is run by the Black Sheep Restaurants group which has more than a dozen joints under their portfolio. My only other experience in their group was Motorino. 

Belon's French. They call themselves neo-Parisian. Classy yet contemporary. Evidenced also by an almost old-ish schooled decor with a clean marble and leather. Not that I'm an expert in interior decor. It had a sort of retro charm that doesn't smell antiquated. That's what it was. The chef's a Daniel Calvert who has a decade of experience working in Michelin starred restaurants. Ok......

They serve Estrella Damm Inedit here. Not that I expected it but I did appreciate that. Light, floral and easy drinking stuff.

I think these were gougères. Filled with 48 month aged Comte cheese. These cheese puffs were pretty damned good.

Bread's chargeable here. Belon serves a naturally leavened sourdough made in house. They tasted very fresh if fresh was the suitable word for a fermented product. Sourdough aroma was very nice and the texture was the pairing of a crispy crust with a chewy yet airy interior that tasted like it was steamed. Great with that Channel Island butter.

There's saucisson from the black pigs of Bigorre - from what I found out, also known as Le Noir de Bigorre. Those black pigs were apparently once on the verge of extinction but are now bred for high quality meat for sausages. It's nice, but I'm not sure what I paid for there.

They have their interpretation of the classic Niçoise salad with sliced shima aji and some dill. This is a half portion that they had thoughtfully split. That anchovy dressing and quantity they used all spoke of control. It wasn't too much and all the ingredients are of good quality. I liked it better than I thought I would.

Foie gras torchon great pairing with the cherries. This came with more of their house made sourdough which made me happy. 

With all the foreplay out of the way, we finally arrived at their pigeon pithivier. The very thing we were looking forward to. Dusky medium rare pigeon layered with spinach and mushrooms in a buttery puff pastry crust. Plus a fig and Amaretto pigeon jus reduction. To keep it respectfully short - this was delicious. Really expensive too. 

We were convinced by the staff that their mille crepe with Périgord black truffle was good. To give them credit, this was a very nice mille crepe. Possibly one of the best I've had with kickass Piedmont hazelnut cream. But we were not getting any of the truffle. Obviously, quite a bit of those thinly sliced fungus had been used - to no effect. 

As a self styled bistro, I smell a little pretentious-ness. Sure the food was nice, the staff friendly and the service very good. But not to kid ourselves, it's not a bistro. It's a finer dining establishment that's not quite fine dining and it's not bistro prices.

Sai Kee Congee (西記粥店), Prince Edward Road West, Mong Kok

I recall this congee shop (133 Prince Edward Road West, Mong Kok, tel : +852 2380 9630) being old and dingy in the past. We were quite surprised when we passed by and the current premise looked like it had gone through some major update. It seemed that their other branches which I wasn't aware of also got the face lift.

So we came for breakfast a couple of times. Got the blood curd congee which was a pretty decent bowl.  

I found myself liking their chewy texture of their mai fun - made even better with a squeeze of the chilli and sweet sauce. Not as flavourful as those smoky ones from Wai Kee though.

Fried noodles was pretty nice too. I wouldn't mind eating them again. I'm liking those firm textures.

Rice rolls had a rustic (read rough) feel and was quite tasty with the dried shrimps.

There was also delicious steamed radish cake to be had. Could taste the sweetness from the shredded strips of radish in there. 

Hoi On Cafe (海安㗎啡室), Connaught Road West, Sheung Wan

If you didn't already know, Hoi On Cafe (17 Connaught Road West, Sheung Wan, tel : +852 2540 6340) is a piece of history that harkened from the days of the original bing sutt in Hong Kong. They opened back in 1952 and from appearances, are still going strong today. We liked the food enough that we came two consecutive days in a row.

Drinks are atypical of the variety in cha chaan teng. We had both their condense milk fuelled 茶走 and lemon tea.

The food at Hoi On Cafe includes a bunch of noodle options amongst others. Their dry noodles with toppings were what we thought kicked ass. Toppings that included sweet caramelized char siew (good stuff!), luncheon meat (what brand is that?!) and flavoursome braised chicken mid wings. It is my not so humble opinion that these guys, for however long they've been serving these lou meen up, have gotten the texture of the noodles pretty much perfect.

They have a toast that's topped with fried egg, corned beef and a generous infusion of chopped spring onions. One could just imagine a light hit of umami from the beef coupled with that fragrance from those spring onions on hearty eggs and toast. The very thing to have here.