{Tea diaries}

Here's an entry from the previous food blog that HKFoodie and I started... glimpsed through it and seems most of the suggestions remain appropriate for this summer. Take advantage of the fantabulous weather that has re-emerged recently!

@ the beach... in HK August 23, 2004

With summer flying by and gloom weather abound... here's a selection of restaurant/ food suggestions for when your stomach starts grumbling while lazing around various beaches in HK...

Enjoying a budget dinner in Central sounds like an oxymoron - especially around the IFC/ LKF area. Am determined to seek out all the resonably priced restaurants that serve good food within the Central region for our late night dining purposes. Am happy to say HKUAA proves to be one of the rare few that's left standing. HKUAA stands for Hong Kong University Alumni Association, and is meant to serve as a meeting place and gathering point for the alumni of HKU. This place has been in existence for the longest time, but never gathered momentum until last year, when it managed to poach the second-in-command of Luk Yu Tea House over as its head chef. Since, it has been serving the latter's signature dish at a discount, and was an instant success overnight. Even the real alumni couldn't manage a reservation. Rumour has it that earlier this year, that chef left and the standard plummeted, so it is much easier to get a place now. Given I am a fan of Luk Yu, I decided to try it out for a recent friends' gathering to compare the two.



And the answer to your most obvious question is no, you do not need to be an alumni or to have a membership card to dine here. In fact, no one ever asked me for any details when I made the reservation.

After a deeply satisfying local dinner, my aunt recommended heading over to the nearby Raoho Street night market for an after meal stroll. If it were't for the fact that we were totally stuffed from dinner, I'd probably be able to give you a more personal view of the vast variety of local snacks on offer at the night market. Now, there's only a pictorial account, which I still find highly fascinating~ (hope you do too)

Located behind Sungshan Train Station, Raoho Street Night Market is one of the more famous ones located in Taipei, and is home to over 700 street vendors. We arrived at around nine, and even thought it was a Monday night, the place was still bustling with people. I used to think that night market visits are only for tourists, but the locals outnumbered the foreigners this particular weeknight. We were totally awed by the interesting food stuff on offer - although I have no clue what half of the dishes are! Will add in random comments here and there~

Since my going to Taipei was a bit of a late notice, Sherwood cramped me in one of the smaller corner rooms this time round.... normally the rooms are more spacious than what you see.



Pros:
+ Centrally located

Was in Taipei recently for work, and when we heard how awful the catering was at the hotel, we decided to sneak out for lunch in between the all day meetings. Knowing how much my overseas colleagues love wonton and dumpling, we hailed a taxi for Din Tai Fung.

With its immense success with both locals and foreigners, Din Tai Fung has expanded to two branches within Taipei, and many more overseas, including Singapore, HK, and Japan. Having only ever visited the original store, we headed for the new one on the busy Zhongxiao East Road. Arriving at twelve thirty on a weekday, we saw a queue of office workers forming outside the place already. There were more than fifteen tables ahead of us, but because of the quick turnaround, the hostess mentioned the wait would only be twenty minutes. We began ordering while waiting, making efficient use of our time.

As promised after 15 minutes, it was finally our turn. Upon entering the restaurant, one is greeted by the amazing sight of thirty-odd people cladded all in white busy making Din Tai Fung's renowned dumplings behind a huge glass window. Some were in charge of rolling out the dough, while others were busy filling up the steamers. Personally I prefer the original store where one actually walk directly pass the kitchen area, brushing shoulders with the chefs busy at work, with an up close and personal view of the whole process, before heading upstairs to the seat down area. Guess this is the less hygienic version.

One late Friday evening with no particular destination in mind, we drove aimlessly past the cross harbour tunnel in search of dinner. Being a bit more adventurous, we headed all the way to Sha Tin for Lung Wah and its famous pigeons. (see my friend with her flying pigeon below!)

Those that are from HK will most likely have been to Lung Hwa at least once in their lives, likely when they were young as kids ( if you were my age). Back then, as the traffic system wasn't as well developed as now, we always got very excited with this big outing all the way into nowhere. Catering to crowds like ourselves, Lung Wah, perched on the side of a hill, built a small playground out front, raising peacocks and pigeons (what else!) in cages and also incorporating an outdoor mah jong area for the adults. Our revisit this time round sees these facilities sadly either have been boarded up or poorly maintained. After going past the long and empty corridor, we were greeted by a bustling dining hall, our appetite kept growing as we saw the endless plates of pigeon being brought in while we waited for a table.

In addtion to the normal roasted pigeons and pigeons braised in soy sauce, it was amusing to see that Lung Hwa had been creative and now includes variations such as Korean-style spicy pigeons. We played safe and ordered the trustworthy roasted pigeons. While there is only a HK$5 difference between the regular and large size pigeons, we opted for the regular, as the younger version normally is more tasty with a more tender texture. (I know this sounds cruel and heartless but the same applies for many other meat that you eat right?)

Wonder if it were Sha Tin pricing but the beer was outrageously cheap at HK$18 a large bottle we couldn't resist not ordering it. The dishes are priced affordably at HK$50-80, which is hard on HK Island. Cheers & the obligatory victory sign!

Dreading the crowds at Stanley for dragon boat racing, we decided to stay in town for a leisurely lunch on Dragon's Boat Festival. The Folks comes highly recommended by my friend, who just went there the past weekend and was raving non-stop about it.



The Folks occupies the top floor of Coda Plaza, which has now become a quasi shopping mall for the nearby expats with a number of restaurants, facial salons, and food deli moving in (il Bel Paese, Hitakacho, Lulu, Cotton House etc to name a few). Tastefully decorated with Chinese dark wood furniture, The Folks has a panaromic view overlooking the nearby Hong Kong Park and Victoria Harbour. Even though we arrived at two, the place was still bustling with both local and expat patrons.

A couple of people have been recommending Café O to me as an alternative to The Flying Pan, but I have been hesitant to visit every time I walked past its Arbuthnot Road outlet. Somehow, I just couldn’t associate a relaxed brunch with the high, uncomfortable stools I see inside the shop. Finally decided to try it out one lazy Saturday afternoon when my friend mentioned Café O has opened a new branch in Sheung Wan.



This Café O occupies the ground and first floor of a hip service apartment block close to the Sheung Wan MTR station – settling in comfortably amongst the surrounding mom and pop stores 

After our recent Sai Kung outing (see the Chuen Kee entry by HKFoodie) in the pouring rain, a few of us had been craving for good seafood ever since. So I did some rummaging online, and unearthed this gem in Causeway Bay – Yuet Wah Hui Seafood Restaurant. And I'm happy to say, we all came out of the restaurant satisfied and eager for the next visit.




On the outside, the restaurant looked plain and annoymous, the same could be said for the inside - there were only around ten tables and decoration was simple and bare. Arriving on a rainy Wednesday night, we were surpirsed the place was already filled up and glad that I decided to make a booking in the end. Was slightly worried, by the looks of the place and the clientele, that the food may turn out to be so-so, but doubts were quickly put off when my friends raved about the small complimentary dish of honeyed walnuts with seasame seeds, which they quickly cleaned out saying it's very fresh and crunchy tasting. (I don't like walnuts so didn't try it). While they were pigging out, I did the ordering, rattling off a list of signature food items I collected from reading other people's food reviews.

It was pouring cats and dogs today when I woke up, so I called up the stables to check on the conditions in Fan Ling... as it turned out, lessons were still on, as it will be in the covered home paddock. So i forced myself out of bed, hurriedly packed everything and lugged my backpack off to Fan Ling for my riding lesson... 

When I signed in, I noticed that instead of Speedster, which my instructor loves to put me on and that I always have a hard time controlling, I was on the Star Warrior (A271 星運猛將) today... was actually rather excited about trying a new horse...  here's a pic of the horse on his last race before retiring... very handsome looking and striking! (yes am talking about the horse NOT the jockey)

While I could probably go on and on about the fabulous food we had in Korea, decided to splash all the remainder out in this one entry, in case people get bored of this endless Seoul series. 

  

Plusses:
- Comfy and huge rooms (and slippers)
- Spectacular view from the bathroom
- Service impeccable, and concierge knowledgeable and more importantly helpful. My friend once, in his rushed travelling, got them to get two bottles of kaya spread, one each from Killiney's and Ah Yun, on very short notice! (PS Thanks, that was very kind of you~)

My colleague passed me this brightly colored leaflet the other day introducing a new soup delivery service in Central called Soup Sense. This came at just the right time as I was on the verge of collapsing from an overdose on Canteen (try 3 meals a day at least 5 times a week). Checked out their website (http://www.soupsense.com/eng/index.aspx), and was tempted by the selection of colorful and wholesome looking soup choices on offer. The emphasis was on hearty, home-cooking style and nutritional lunch with no MSG (yah!). 

    Choice of soup         +       Steamed rice    OR       Italian bread      +    Fruit cup            = HK$68
   +      OR      +    

Ever since Eating Plus was forced out of IFC from the high rent, we have been eagerly awaiting for its replacement - Union Bar and Grille of the Dan Ryan's Group - to begin operations. Was disappointed on my recent visits (both lunch & dinner) - and to summarise as my friend appropriately put it - a total replica of Dan Ryan's, coupled with a lack of character and much reduced menu. Because there wasn't much to try out, this is just a brief quickie review...

While Dan Ryan's takes its inspiration from a 1940's Chicago bar and Grille, with lots of memorabilia reminiscent of the "vintage Chicago night life (whatever that is), we couldn't really decipher what Union is meant to depict - The Union Square? Apparently - it's trying to recreate the MPD of New York - yup, the Meat Packing District! I could never have guessed in a million years~ although I do adore the candle lamps hanging low from the ceiling and the comfy leather chairs.

It is notoriously difficult to get a booking for Lei Garden's IFC branch- weekdays weekend lunch or dinner. I know someone who actually block-booked a table for lunch for a whole week two months in advance in order to secure seats. In spite of the complaints that one hear about the place - saying the service was rude, the quality fluctuates tremendously day by day, and that it always run out of food listed on the menu (Once I went for dinner and of the 10 boiled soup, only 1 was available) - the masses just keep revisiting. Went there recently for lunch (two days in a row actually~ see how thorough we are!!!) to check it out to see if it is worth all the fuss.




As there were 8 of us, we ordered a wide variety of dishes from the dim sum sheet, in addition to a rice and a noodle dish to share. In general, we were impressed with the quality, as the food tasted as if it was freshly prepared rather than re-heated. I particularly enjoyed the pan-fried turnip cakes, which not only was fried to perfection, but was full of bits and pieces of fillings, which is becoming a rarity these days.