Thursday, November 02, 2006

My Hongkong Getaway Part I

This is my third visit to Hongkong in 5 years. Why do I like HK so much? Many people love this shopping paradise, but for me, shopping is never a priority. Maybe because I always go at the ‘wrong’ time of the year, and always miss the summer sale. My sole reason for returning – FOOD. This is my first trip as a ‘food traveller’(can’t help laughing at myself for this description), so pardon the picture quality. Ready to go?

By the time we checked in at the hotel, it was almost 3pm. Luckily we stuffed ourselves silly before and on the flight (okay, I exaggerate here). So we dropped off our bags, had a quick rest and down we went for out ‘tunch’ (lunch + tea). There is this Cha Chan Teng(loosely translated as Tea Restaurant – chinese style cafés which are dotted all over HK) across our hotel. It serves pretty good hot food and snacks, and I love the name – Relax For A While – just what we need.

The restaurant was so cold that we needed some hot food. Here's a steaming hot bowl of Seafood Congee, with huge succulent prawns

Char Siew Cheong Fun (rice rolls with roasted pork). The best cheong fun are in HK, so soft and silky smooth, unlike the local hard and dry versions. The interesting thing is, they wrap lettuce in it too, so there is rice roll, meat and vegetable in each mouthful.

Next up is also cheong fun, but a different version. This one encased You Tiao (deep fried dough stick) in it, and served with sweet sauce and sesame paste, a change from the usual savoury black sauce.

The next two photos show our breakfast on our last day, from the same café. Such cute arrangement of the breakfast set.

My simple sandwich of egg and luncheon meat.

Finally we’re down to some main courses. We were just walking around aimlessly, when ‘nature called’. Since It was close to dinnertime, we decided to find a place to eat. In a nearby mall we found a restaurant named Hang Heung’s Kitchen. Hang Heung is famous for their Wife’s Biscuits(flaky pastries encasing a sweet winter melon filling), so we have confidence in this restaurant too. Judging from the steady stream of customers, it should be good, and it did not disappoint.

Sweeet and Sour Prawns – a lovely combination of tangy sauce with crunchy prawns. Once again, their huge prawns served put the puny ones we get here to shame.

Of course, a balanced meal must have some greens right? This dish of stir-fried French beans is chockful of fresh scallops and tender chicken, and full of 'wok hei', which is so important in Cantonese cooking.

Where are the meats, are you asking? Right here:


How can I leave HK without eating the Siu Ngor – Roasted Goose. Check out that juicy piece with glistening crispy skin.

Since we ordered a ‘twin combo’ of roast meats, the other meat which hubby would definitely choose would be the Char Siew. It’s his criteria of determining how good a roast meat stall/shop is. With a balance of lean meat and fats, and roasted to perfection, this char siew did not fail.

Alright, are you full? *burp* I’m going to stop here, for you to digest these mains first. Will be back with more :p

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Angie, welcome back home! I was very excited when i found out from ur blog tht uve just been to HK. My family and I will be going to HK in Dec, This will be our 1st trip to HK. I will greatly appreciate if u can advise where to stay ( Miramar Hotel any good? ), where to eat and shop for baking stuff like hello kitty jelly moulds, Minnie n Pooh cookie cutters? Thks in advance.

Gattina Cheung said...

I must ask you Hang Heung's address when I go to HK next time. Oh golly, look at that crunchy prawns, scallops, roasted meat... two thumbs and two toes up!
I never see lettuce in any cheong fun in my life, but I know HK people try to eat healthy now...
That congee, its consistency is cooked to perfection! If I have to be picky (hehee...), the skin of that cheong fun (esp the one with you tiao) looks a bit thick... but as I said, I'm picky.
now I'm crying... why you didn't pack me inside your luggage that time *whoowoo whoo...*

Gattina Cheung said...

forget to add... excellent photography!!! Any waiters questioned you when you taking pic? just curious...

Gattina Cheung said...

forget to add... excellent photography!!! Any waiters questioned you when you taking pic? just curious...

^cherie said...

Oh Angie, u are SO wicked! Lol. Really tempting this poor preggy woman here with all the delicious food!

I love HK myself too! And like you, food is my no.1 when i do go there. Haha..

Gracio said...

gosh, im drooling now, im so hungry just by looking at the pics of the food in hk. esp the succulent char siew!!!! arrggghhhhh! I WANT SOME!! :P

Unknown said...

Incidental Chef,
Hi there and thanks for the welcome :)

I've stayed at The Stanford Hillview, Prudential and this time Kimberly Hotel, which is opposite Miramar. All 3 are good enough for us. Miramar is a little more expensive than the 3 above. Actually I think generally hotels in the Tsim Sha Tsui areas are okay.

For shopping of bakeware/moulds etc, Shanghai Street in Kowloon would be a good place. There is a stretch of several bakeware shops. I bought some stuff from Chan Chi Kee (316-318 Shanghai Street) this time.

Eating - plenty of eats in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mongkok, Central, and Causeway Bay, depending on what you like. The area around Ladies Market has lots of eating places, esp at night. You could try Yung Kee in Central for roast goose. Dim sum - go for those where you see a lot of elderly eating there, high chance it's good(that's how we gauge, hee).

Gattina,
I always buy Hang Heung's pastries never expect to find the restaurant this time. Ya man, the congee is lovely, thick and gooey. Oh yes, the cheong fun for the 'Zha Leong' is actually two layers, but lucky thing it's still very soft.

Oh, photo taking. No one questioned me when I whip out my camera, in fact, on two occasions, the nearby table also started taking pics of their food *LOL* But there were two dinner places where we 'dap toi'(share table with others), too close so I didn't take pics.

I'll take an extra luggage next time, to pack you and Grace in ;p

Sherie,
*High Five*, fellow HK food lover :)

Grace,
Oh yes, I remember you like char siew a lot :p

Anonymous said...

Can't wait for your post in SD's forum so I jumed here to droll at the photos... Mouthwatering.... Defenitely need to go to hongkong reall soon! ;)

Gattina Cheung said...

Angie,
they may be bloggers then *lol*
Oh where those dessert and "tong shui" you ate? I know I'm greedy, can't wait!

Unknown said...

White_Poplar, yeah, HK is indeed a good place for foodies :p

Gattina, arh...someone can't wait to have a glimpse of the 'Tong Shui', patience patience.. *grin*