Yay another Hong Kong Eats post! Then again, the next 2 posts will also be about Hong Kong Eats because I'm slowly ticking posts off my whole Hong Kong series. Like, bear with me I'm almost done. Not really, I'm not. Now if you recall, I stopped Hong Kong Eats when I wrote about Day 4, 5 and 6 so here are the recaps of chomps I've had around those days!
TSUI WAH RESTAURANT (翠華餐廳)
With a setting just like what you would see in Kim Gary in Malaysia, Tsui Wah sets to be one of the oldest "char chan teng" places in Hong Kong. They have a few branches spread out all over and the one we picked was at Tsim Sha Tsui. It's not hard to spot when you come up from the Tsim Sha Tsui stop of the MTR station because it's smack in your face when you simply turn your head to the left.
And it is also hard to miss when you see crowds like these lining up to go in.
The thing about eateries in Hong Kong is that it's always packed and you always have to line up if you want a seat; what more on a Saturday when we visited. The insides of Tsui Wah is much like a traditional Hong Kong tea restaurant with tables cramped here and there in order to maximize on the number of pax they can bring in.
Corner stalls and busy people.
They even have a second floor to accommodate MORE!
Coming in a group of 6 does give us both an advantage and a disadvantage, I suppose. While we got our seats almost as immediately as we stepped at the front door, we were pushed into this little circular "room" where we simply cramped up against each other and servers somehow didn't notice us as much! I don't have a picture for our seats but I think if you look closer at the picture above, you'll notice the circular outline somewhere in the background.
Fish balls and fish cakes with flat rice noodles (Hor fun in layman terms lol!) in fish soup.
Kagoshima style pork cartilage with tossed instant noodles.
I figured that when you've tried Ipoh "hor fun", you will somehow look down on any other noodles that promises a slurpy finish but when I had a good mouthful of the fish balls and fish cakes with flat rice noodles in fish soup, I was definitely proven wrong. The soup was really flavourful without the disgusting fishy smell and the fish balls were also fairly chewy to bite into so I've definitely undermined food in Hong Kong at that point. The Kagoshima style pork cartilage with tossed instant noodles was also scoffed at when it first came because it really just looked like Maggi with some sliced pork on top but I clearly didn't think about how different instant noodles are in Hong Kong. I mean, how could ANY instant noodles be so springy yet not rubbery or stiff at the same time? I can't even properly describe it at this point of time; I'll just say I miss this dish. A lot.
Deep fried prawns with spicy, sweet and sour sauce.
Shredded pork and mushroom with fried noodles and abalone sauce.
We hit quite a blunder with the deep fried prawns however when the sauce got a little too thick to taste and I just didn't like it as much as the other dishes. They were very generous on portion though because within that golden brown batter lies a huge and fresh prawn (or two if you're very lucky!) just waiting to be bitten. The shredded pork and mushroom with fried noodles and abalone sauce was also really good to taste but I didn't find the abalone taste in the abalone sauce! IT IS A LIE!
Crispy bun with sweet condensed milk.
Pineapple bun with iced butter.
I can now proudly walk around and parade to say I have tried what the locals call "奶油豬" because that is exactly what the crispy bun with sweet condensed milk is. Everything is so much nicer when you pronounce it in Chinese (Not to mention extra dramatic, you'll see why later!) that I think the translation simply doesn't cut it. Crispy as crispy does it, the bun wasn't overly sweet for my taste and I liked the combination of butter on top then the drenching of sweet condensed milk over. Always noted in Chinese movies, the pineapple bun with iced butter is also called "冰冷菠蘿包" ! See? So dramatic! The cool butter came by the side of the bun of course but you're supposed to slide it into the warm bun so it melts along the way as you chomp into it. The flaky top is a good touch to this but I still prefer the "奶油豬" when you put them in comparison.
Tsui Wah Milk Tea
Of course, you cannot be entering a "char chan teng" and not get milk tea. It's just not right! Although not particularly good, the milk tea does have its ups as it slowly trickles down your throat in all its glory. I still vouch for the "Teh ais" at the coffee shop outside my house though. Hits and misses, you can't get too far from them.
Tsui Wah Restaurant
G/F & Cockloft,
2 Carnarvon Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui
Sundays to Thursdays: 7 AM - 2 AM
Fridays and Saturdays: 7 AM - 3 AM
WING FAT NOODLE （禜發粉面專家）
Whilst there's nothing much to shout about in this little shop, Wing Fat noodles still deserves to be talked about for the sole reason that it was near where we have stayed and that my grandmother has a striking memory of it since the last time she has been in Hong Kong more than 15 years back.
Chef and daddy.
Unfortunately, I didn't quite get a lot of shots of Wing Fat Noodle but I could say that it is a tiny shop that is very cramped for space. Then again, it's the same for most shops in Hong Kong where space is the epitome of luxury. Serving handmade octopus balls as a specialty, they're surprisingly still packed when we walked in and that was nearly 10 PM.
Octopus balls with flat rice noodles.
Fish balls with thick rice noodles.
According to daddy, the octopus balls were a far cry from what they were in the past but I thought it was fine. In fact, I much prefer octopus balls to fish balls today because of how chewy a texture it held. The flat rice noodles were also good to slurp to and the broth was just right. In contrast, the fish balls were chewier than what you get from Malaysia but definitely loses out to the octopus balls. The thick rice noodles were inconsistent because it was good on bite in the first bowl but when we ordered an extra after, they were extra soggy.
Our bill came up to HKD 88 with each bowl of noodle being HKD 19 and we also had a plate of vegetable to boot. I figure it's not too expensive as a little store placed in the midst of such a homey area and we came back on the morning of my 9th day in Hong Kong because my grandmother kept talking about how good their food is. Sometimes, you just can't fight the elderly.
Wing Fat Noodle
88, Baker Street
Hung Hom, Hong Kong
Open everyday from 7 AM - 1 AM
2 comments
I know lines often mean the food is good, but I have a tendency to RUN in the other direction when I see them. I'm not fond of crowds.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! In Hong Kong, there's lines and people EVERYWHERE!
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