November 11, 2009 8

Man Fai (Hong Kong: Causeway Bay)

//// By Freda in 09: Hong Kong, Favorite Food Entries

Couple doors down from Mak’s Noodle is another famous local joint, Man Fai. These local joints are usually famous for 1 or 2 signature dishes, and Man Fai’s specialty is Cuttlefish Balls. Mak’s Noodle left our stomachs unsatisfied so we came here right after.

The Cuttlefish Ball with Thick Rice Noodle. The cuttlefish balls are AMAZING! They’re so springy but soft, fresh and very very delicious! The broth was light but very flavorful with preserved dried mustard greens added in. You have the option to add seaweed but I don’t recommend it. For me this is not only heaven in a bowl, it’s also THE quintessential taste of our childhood.

Our father (a loyal Man Fai fan) brought us here as children back then frequently, I could only remember how the seaweed would always soaked up the broth by the end (that’s why we didn’t add seaweed). We came back here the next day for brunch as well. This reminds me, we didn’t like wonton noodle that much when we were little, because we always preferred Man Fai’s Cuttlefish Ball with Thick Rice Noodle.

The portion was normal size, so we’re finally fulled.

Man Fai
22-23 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay.

Tags: Chinese, Hong Kong, Noodle

November 11, 2009 6

Mak’s Noodle (Hong Kong)

//// By Freda in 09: Hong Kong

We dragged our tired, sick bodies to Hong Kong for a short stay. Hong Kong is a tiny place of extreme abundance, our experience here is really true to its materialistic glory: Shop till you drop, Eat till you pop. Since it is our hometown, we went for nostalgia and the more local, grassroot food. The hotel we stayed at is right next to Jardine’s Bazaar, a foodie hangout packed with small local eateries. First thing we did after landed? Dashed to a Wonton noodle joint!

Mak’s Noodle is one of the most famous Wonton Noodle in Hong Kong (it has its own English Wiki), though the fame is rather notorious for its overpriced stingy portion.

The one at Causeway Bay is typical HK local joint size: TINY (6 tables).

The famous Mak’s Wonton Noodle. $28 I know everything in HK is painfully small but this is just…ridiculous! The bowl was shallow and smaller than my small girly palm. The broth was very flavorful (made of powdered dried flounder, dried shrimp roe and pork bones) and without the ‘alkaline water’ flavor at all. The four pieces of wontons (radius 1.5cm) were really eye popping-ly mini, but I have to say they’re indeed very tasty, fresh and got great texture…but it’s really hard to savor them due to the stingy size.

Shrimp Roe Dry Noodle. $48 Great texture and the noodle didn’t have that ‘alkaline water’ flavor at all, though portion was still small.

Our stomach is still emptied, so we walk right into next door for more. That’s how you eat in Hong Kong! I really appreciate the lighter Cantonese flavor after a week of Shanghai’s brown sauce flavor.

Mak’s Noodle
44 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay
77 Wellington Street, Central (the original shop)

Tags: Chinese, Hong Kong, Noodle, Wonton

November 6, 2009 4

Franck (Shanghai)

//// By Freda in 08: Shanghai

Our final entry on Shanghai is on…French food. Ferguson Lane is a mini square with expat boutiques/cafe/winebar tucked in the French Concession area. The historic buildings are reserved from the concession period. The surrounding area is quiet, upscale and pretty.

One of the restaurants there is Franck, an authentic French bistro (with a bar/lounge at the back) my friend who lived/work in Shanghai for few months strongly recommended. We didn’t make reservation, thinking it might be alright as most restaurants in Shanghai during dinner time was empty…boy were we wrong. The place was full house on a Tuesday night (filled up immediately after I snapped the photo below).

The french owner did manage to squeeze us to a table. They brought over the menu, which is all handwritten on a chalkboard and was in French only. The wine menu was extensive as well.

Vegetable terrain. Light and healthy tasting.

Lamb Chop. Classic, good quality and very satisfying.

Joan was feeling sick so she tried to stay light with a vegetable meal: Jumbo Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, Egg, and Bacon. The friendly waiter gave us complimentary Macaron for free!

Mont Blanc. Autumn is the chestnut season so this is a seasonal item~ Delicious, fresh chestnut flavor and the cream was fresh and light but a little runny, not as rich as the ones I’ve had in Paris. Though it gets a bit sweet toward the end. (btw it still boggles my mind that I can’t find Mont Blanc in Los Angeles at non Asian-owned French bakeries/restaurants, what’s up with that?).

Good wine (got a bit drunk at the end), good food, good vibe and friendly waiters, it’s a nice meal to end our Shanghai trip even though it was quite expensive ($20-30 per entree range). We had a chat with our waiter (a young French guy), he told us that we should have come to Shanghai during the National Holiday, which was just a week before we went. The city was actually empty, quiet and peaceful, much less crazy traffics and you could enjoy the city a lot better.

This concludes our trip to Shanghai. Next up: Hong Kong!

Franck
Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu, French Concession (near Hunan Lu)

Tags: French, Lamb, Macaron

November 6, 2009 2

Hof (Shanghai)

//// By Joan in 08: Shanghai

Our tired feet brought us to another afternoon tea break, this time at Hof, a dessert + cocktail lounge on a pretty small street called Sinan Lu that’s just off a big main street of glitzy malls. As we first step in, we noticed the slick interior and wondered if this is an overprice place (afterall it’s closed to the glitzy malls), we took a look at the menu and saw that the price is not too bad (not cheap nor expensive, about $4-5 per dessert). In fact it was packed with local young people as well as expats, which made it kind of hard to take picture of the space.

Since they specialized in chocolate so we got the Chocolate Sinan Lu. Good rich chocolate flavor and the cake was moist.

Rose-honey panna cotta with a kumquat compote. The rose flavor was a nice touch. And I’m glad for the balance from kumquat since the panna cotta got sweeter the more you eat it.

The coffee was so-so. Overall it’s a pretty good place to take a break if you’re in the area. The staffs were friendly and attentive. Apparently they have interesting cocktails that go with the Chocolate desserts too. They also have light meals like sandwich and pasta, probably not that great though.

Also it’s nice to take a stroll toward south on Sinan Lu where Hof is at, it’s one of the few streets that still has some of the feel of 1930s Shanghai. Lots of pretty old villas that were from the early 20th century, you’d pass by Zhou Enlai house and the house where Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching Ling lived for six years which turned into a museum.

HoF
30 Sinan Lu, Huaihai Zhong Lu

Tags: Coffee, Patisserie

November 5, 2009 4

Plum Gallery / Old China Hand Reading Room (Shanghai)

//// By Joan in 08: Shanghai

Our B&B Owner told us about her friend’s gallery on Nanjing West Road. It took us awhile to figure out where it was as I didn’t write down the address.

Hidden behind all the fancy malls on Nanjing xi lu is this small alley that leads you to this old longtang (traditional Shanghai townhouses) neighborhood. We walked few blocks down the lane and saw only locals (mostly old people) hanging outside their houses, we began to doubt if the gallery exist at all.

Found it! We walked pass all these old dwellings and found the very cute Plum gallery + cafe hidden among them. It is opened by a Taiwanese music video director.

The exhibit was called Tiny Shoes, featuring artworks by Fukuda Sakae, who was at the gallery when we were there.

There was a local press reporting on the show. The artist was posing for photos while she finished the painting on the wall).

We love her works and bought two of them. Inside the gallery there’re tables for afternoon tea and dessert. It’s a fun space to chill and hang out.

We got Plum Soda and Ice Coffee. Very refreshing and needed as we were so tired and thirsty from all the walking.

I’m glad we didn’t give up the search. This place is such a pretty and quiet getaway from the chaotic city outside

Plum Gallery
No. 1025 Nanjing Xi Lu, Lane 37

Another Tea break. On the very pretty and literary centric Shaoxing Lu, there’s a bookstore+cafe called Old China Hand Reading Room.

It’s a all-you-can-read bookstore opened by a photographer. They have an extensive selection of tea you can order. We got a very good Ginger + Kumquat tea. We spend a long time reading books and sipping tea, specially books on the history and architecture of Shanghai. good times! They have quite a few of English books too. It’s a good way to sample books and we ended up buying some of them. This would be a regular hang out for me if I were to reside in Shanghai.

Old China Hand Reading Room
Shaoxing Lu 27

Tags: Cafe, gallery, Tea

Man Fai (Hong Kong: Causeway Bay)

Mak’s Noodle (Hong Kong)

Franck (Shanghai)

Hof (Shanghai)

Plum Gallery / Old China Hand Reading Room (Shanghai)

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