November 25, 2009 2

Tai Cheong Bakery (Hong Kong: Central)

//// By in 09: Hong Kong

More nostalgia! I’ve always been a lover of Hong Kong style Egg Tart as a child (you can get them at dim sum places), and I wanted some good, old fashioned Egg Tart. Tai Cheong Bakery is one of the most famous Egg Tart Bakery with more than 50 years of history. It’s also famous for being the last Hong Kong Governor‘s favorite spot for egg tart.

IMG_0916IMG_0921

Up on the longest outdoor escalator in world looking down at the old streets of Central, where the bakery and many old school eateries are. 

IMG_7151

The famous Egg Tart. It taste very old fashioned, meaning it is made with traditional tart crust (instead of the lighter, puff pastry type) and VERY buttery. The crust is very crispy and crunchy. The egg part has very smooth texture and not too sweet. It’s very good but also very loaded because of the buttery thick crust.

IMG_7149

They’re also one of the few remaining places that still sell “Sayon” – Hong Kong style donut (not in photo). 

Tai Cheong Bakery
35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong

Tags: , ,

November 24, 2009 3

Tsim Chai Kee Noodle (Hong Kong: Central)

//// By in 09: Hong Kong

Right across from the famous Mak’s Noodle (Central’s original shop) is another well known old school Wonton Noodle joint Tsim Chai Kee Noodle.

IMG_0920

Tsim Chai Kee is known as the ‘anti-Mak Noodle’: big portion, cheap and down to earth. The clean interior is decorated with Chinese lantern to amp up the ‘La Chinoise-style’ for the expats/tourists populate in the area. 

IMG_7146

Wonton Noodle HKD 16. The wontons were big with thin skin, fresh shrimp and pork fillings, very satisfying! The soup based was a little generic tasting (compare to Mak’s).  

IMG_0919

Dace Ball Noodle. Huge portion and yummy!

In general I think this place is not that amazing, but it’s simple, good and satisfying.

Tsim Chai Kee Noodle
Shop B, G/F Jade Ctr, 98 Wellington St, (Central)

Tags: , , ,

November 24, 2009 6

West Villa Restaurant (Hong Kong: Causeway Bay)

//// By in 09: Hong Kong

Eating dim sum is a MUST in Hong Kong. There’re too many fantastic places for dim sum in Hong Kong so it was difficult to choose just one. At last we decided on West Villa mainly for its location (near our hotel + our next destination) and its reputation for fresh, MSG-free high quality dishes.

IMG_0874IMG_0866

Like many other dim sum places, West Villa serves dim sum at lunch and fine Chinese cuisine (mainly Cantonese and Chiu Chow style, particularly Seafood dishes) at night. Perhaps due to its high end location, it’s known for its celebrities/socialite patrons (apparently they named their specialty BBQ pork after Jackie chan because he likes it so much).

IMG_0868

BBQ pork bun. Absolutely AMAZING! The BBQ pork fillings was one of the best I’ve ever had. The BBQ flavor was balanced perfectly and the bun’s texture was great.

IMG_7137

Shumai – Good and fresh tasting

IMG_7132

Shrimp Cheung fun. Nice thin translucent skin. It’s a pity they don’t have the scallop one though.

IMG_7136

“Snow shadow Almond juice bun” – fancy name. Really good thin crispy texture on the skin and the inside was incredibly soft with bubbling almond juice. Very very good. A must get dessert dish.

IMG_7138IMG_0871

Fried Turnip cake (good, but I still prefer the traditional thin slice ones) and the not very good Sticky rice omelete. Its name sounds more interesting on the menu than it really is.

Full and satisfied. A minor thing I would complain about this place is that there’s not as much varieties in the dim sum choices as I would like. I missed “Pearl Chicken” (stickey rice with chicken steamed in Lotus leaf) for instance as that’s not on the menu. I wish we had more days in Hong Kong to try other Dim sum places.

West Villa Restaurant 西苑酒家
Unit 101-102, 1/F, Lee Gardens Two, 28 Yun Ping Rd., Causeway Bay

Tags: , ,

November 23, 2009 6

People’s Recreation Community (Hong Kong: Causeway Bay)

//// By in 09: Hong Kong

It’s rare to see small and interesting “indie” cafes in Hong Kong on the street level due to the outrageous rents in this city. So it has became a trend to open cafes on the upper floors of business buildings which has cheaper rent. Thus these cafes were coined “Upstair cafe.” Upstair cafes are usually themed, homey and have more personalities than your boring Starbuck.

People's recreation communityPeople's recreation community

Just when our tired feet could not walk further, we spotted the catchy signage of People’s Recreation Community at Causeway Bay. I’ve read about it before as it was one of the first upstair cafe + bookstores in Hong Kong that started the trend. Using Mao & Communist propaganda as theme, People’s is more known as a bookstore that sells political books about Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong and the touchy subjects between the three. They have special sections on banned-in-China books as well as books on “6/4.”  They also carry design, lifestyle and indie comic books too.

People's recreation communityPeople's recreation community

People is located on the 2nd floor and the space is compact. We noticed one shelf was filled with Japanese baby formula for sell. At that time I thought they were just being ironic with the Poison milk scandal in China. Later on I read that they deliberately sell these Japanese baby formula as they became a super hit commodity among Mainland Chinese tourists. Guess that’s also another way to lure them to check out the  banned books?

People's recreation community

The interior space is small but they managed to fit in 3 tables. The vibe was cozy and quiet. And it’s great that you can take and browse any book while sipping drinks.

People's recreation community
People's recreation communityPeople's recreation community

I love love love the menu! It was pasted inside an old communist Propaganda clip art book. (Kind of a waste though). There’re lots of cool clip art inside, I wish I could own this book. They have other old clip art books for sell but they aren’t as good as this one. I bought one nonetheless.

People recreation community

I got an Apple tea with Tibetan comb honey. Very delicious. It smells wonderful and refreshing.

People recreation community

Hazelnut latte. Surprisingly good coffee. Rich and strong.

They also have homemade dessert. The drinks are high quality, and so many interesting books and magazines to browse though. Definitely a cool place to hang out. If you find yourself around the Time Square area in Causeway Bay and need a coffee/tea break, skip Starbuck and come here instead.

People’s recreation community 人民公社
1/F, 18 Russell Street, Causeway Bay,
Hong Kong

Tags: , ,

November 20, 2009 5

Vegelink (Hong Kong: North Point)

//// By in 09: Hong Kong

Our childhood’s doctor Dr. Fung treated us to Vegelink, a member’s only private kitchen operated by a Taiwanese Vegetarian company. She told us they do refined and creative vegetarian prix fixe course dinner. We were intrigue by how versatile vegetarian cooking can be.

IMG_0864IMG_0842

The beautiful furnish and size of the place feels likes an actual restaurant. There’s also store next door that sells their product.

IMG_0841IMG_0845

Appertizer. Dried Soy Squid (yummy). 1st: Four Happiness Combination Plate: Plum Tomatoes, Dried Tofu and Cashew, Wasabi Cucumber, Seaweed. Tasty, highlight of the night.

IMG_0846

2nd: Vegetable Dumpling. Pretty and healthy tasting.

IMG_0847IMG_0851

3rd: Soup (forgot what it is) 4th: Hundred Flower Blossom (stir fried vegetables and mushroom).

IMG_0849

5th: Braised Kyoto Eggplant. Taste a little light.

IMG_0853IMG_0855

6th: Thousand Layer White Jade. Three layers of Tofu with soy meat in between like a terrain, and the sauce is pumpkin, carrot and yellow pepper. It’s interesting looking and the sauce is tasty, but the tofu and the sauce don’t feel integrated. 7th: Wild Mushroom with Vinaigrette. Healthy tasting.

IMG_0858

8th: Golden Nest. A crispy, fried granola-ish dish. Not sure what it is.

IMG_0860

9th: Sicily Fried Rice. Not sure why it’s called Sicily. It taste a little light (wish there’s real pancetta or sausage in it, that’d be great…hm I’m missing the point).

IMG_0862IMG_0863

10th: Banana Pie. By this point we were too full, so we packed this to go (and left it in the hotel room, forgotten T_T) . 11th: Taro Soup with Sago, a bit predictable.

The flavors in general are a little light for my taste. I’m glad that most of the dishes features actual vegetable, instead of the soy meat (fake shrimp, fake beef, etc.). They also don’t have that kind of unpleasant processed soy flavor that’s usually found in Chinese vegetarian cooking.

We were late for the dinner, so they rush out our courses in rapid speed. It was kind of overwhelming and stressful. Though the price is very reasonable (about $20 per person) for the amount of food you get.

Vegelink
Shop 108, 1/F, Foo Yet Kall Building, 56 Java Road (North Point)

Tags: , , ,

Older Posts
Newer Posts