Xia Mian Guan

Our last lunch in Hong Kong was at Xia Mian Guan Restaurant at the Elements Mall.  This was another feast arranged by Ed, and he took the opportunity to order some food that we hadn't tried yet. Siao long bao was first on the list, and Nikki was telling us that this restaurant also placed good marks on the scale.  Clear fish soup, fried pork cutlets and french beans came in next.

I liked the crab meat which was mixed with egg whites, the mixed veggies and the mapo tofu, which was not too spicy.  The fried rice wasn't that great though, it lacked some salt.

The surprise of the meal was the prawns cooked with salted duck eggs; and this dish is one that is absolutely at the top of the totem pole.  In Manila, we've only seen this at the Gloriamaris seafood house, and that one wasn't as exciting as this version.

The interiors of the restaurant blend functionality with the old world charm of Shanghai, and I felt that I was dining backwards in time, with a setting sometime during the mid-thirties.  We spent something like HKD 120 per head for our group; and it was just lucky for us that we were able to get a salon for some privacy.

Din Tai Fung (Tsim Sha Tsui)

Upon the suggestion of Eric, my friend Johnny's son, we had lunch in Din Tai Fung at the Silvercord Building, right across from Harbour City.  I was eager to take Vicky and Monique there, as I had high regard for the much ballyhooed siao long bao, which I had tried at their Singapore branch.  The restaurant is so popular that long lines are still formed despite the fact that reservation numbers were called out practically every 5 minutes.  We got in at around 11 am, and we were probably the second or maybe even the third sitting for the table that morning.

The pan fried dumplings were lined up and connected, and it seemed that this was done intentionally, and that the dumplings were not just stuck to each other by mere chance.  The polonchay in garlic was one of the best I've tasted, each was soft and without a single fibrous strand.

In addition, we had some peanut noodles and ma chang (sticky rice with pork stuffing).  I was disappointed though with the ma chang, as this was very bland, and the local versions were comparatively much better.  The siao long bao, however, did not disappoint; the soup inside the pork version was hot and filled with flavor, while the crab roe siao long bao (shown below, with a flour marking shaped like a crab) was very exquisite and truly worth the trip (this is not something you can find in Manila).  In sum, the three of us spent something like HKD 450 for our lunch.  Quite recommended dining spot, the only drawback is that with the visibly long queues, you have to stand up once you finish your food in order to give the table to the waiting customers, making extended chit-chat with your friends and impossible thing to do.

Macau Restaurant

The Tsim Sha Tsui area was our next target locale for dining.  I particularly wanted to have some decent roasted goose (I wasn't very happy with the one in Tung Chung), but I didn't want to travel all the way to our old favorite, Yung Kee in Central.  Upon the suggestion of Jonathan, we hied off to meet up in Macau Restaurant along Lock Road, which was quite known for their egg tarts (you can see the display stand in the picture above, right at the front door).

The flavors were amazing!  The food was just slightly spicy, and served within a minute from leaving the wok. We had noodles, french beans, roasted chicken, and fried rice, but the stars of the show were the roasted goose (HKD 400 for one whole goose, which is very reasonable) and the beef curry (which absolutely superb, enough for Monique to ask for a second round).

Sometimes the simplest of desserts can be the most satisfying.  We had peanut butter toasts, and this was topped with condensed milk and butter.  Yes, I was watching my cholesterol count, but I couldn't help it, and I downed two of these simple but yummy creations.  All in all, we spent HKD 100 per head, which was such a bargain!

Inakaya

We were delighted to have lunch at Sky Dining 101, the fine dining area at the 101st floor of the International Commerce Center.  Suzie was able to get reservation at Inakaya, which featured trained teppanyaki chefs creating culinary wonders right in front of you.  We arrived some 30 late as we were coming in from the Alexander House in Central; fortunately the taxi driver was able to get out of the mid-day rush in a jiffy.  We are amazed at the elevator speed; took us less than a minute to zip up all 101 floors!  The view was simply breath-taking!  It was bright shiny day, and you could see the whole harbor from end to end!

Our friends were half-way through their lunch, and we had to catch up.  Vicky, Monique and I shared three different teishoku sets.  What a way to have variety!  Light miso soup, tuna and salmon sashimi and some salad for starter.  For our entrees, foie gras with sweet sauce (slightly sweet, not overpowering at all) and seared scallops topped with fish roe.

Well, as you can see, they top everything with fish roe.  The main dishes came in succession. We had prawns, live abalone, fish, rolled sirloin and some teppan wagyu.  We have never seen live abalone cooked before and we were entranced watching the chef do us the honors. The beef was tender, sufficiently marbled, and the underlying blend of seasoning was very oriental, but I could not even make out the exact herbs or spices they used.

What better way than to top off the meal with a scoop of green tea ice cream?  This was supposed to be made in house, but I could have sworn it tasted like the one made by Haagen Dazs!  Our bill went up to a whopping HKD1,800, but dining with the family and long-time friends overlooking an amazing view, and double that with the wonderful teppan flavors and service fit for a king, I just couldn't complain.  Priceless!

La Maison Du Chocolat

I was so delighted when Ed, our friend from Hong Kong, introduced us to La Maison Du Chocolat, the famous Parisian chocolatier.  I have only heard of this store, but I have never tasted the truffles, till now.  The box was priced at a little over HKD 400, and I thought it was quite expensive.  I understand that the truffles are hand made, and flown in from France on a regular basis, which explains the price.  Very smooth pieces, with fine texture and exquisite flavour.  The box of assortments, however, did not contain a guide to identify the creations, and thus, we were guessing flavours and sampling at random.  We quickly finished the box at the bank lobby, where we had a very brief meeting with some old acquaintances.  Fine chocolate is probably meant to be sucked slowly, but, it was so good, and being the foodies that we are, the box was empty in 10 minutes.

Stormies

Civic Square at the garden deck of the Elements Mall houses some restaurants and bars, and after our long ride from Disneyland, we wound up having drinks at Stormies.  It was a fast round; as soon as our drinks were served, the attendant informed us that the bar was about to close.  We had ordinary cocktails and beer, which was around HKD 60 per person.  The crowd was thinning, the music was muted and there wasn't much to enjoy, except the thought of our beds, which were just a couple of minutes away.

Food Republic

Our visit to the Citygate Outlet Mall in Tung Chung started off with a big bang as we found out that several stores had real good discounts.  However, by lunchtime, I was super stressed as I couldn't locate Vicky and Monique.  I thought we would meet at Food Republic (fast food food court run by the Bread Talk group of Singapore), but it was almost 1:30 pm and they both were nowhere to be found.  By then, I was really worried.  It was a good thing that our friend Jonathan went around the mall to try his luck, and he was able to locate them both.  Oh, what a relief it was!

I had roasted goose for my rice topping, which costs HKD 49 at the Hao Chi Cantonese stall. The taste was good but the parts they gave me was the ribs, and this was full of goose bones. The remaining meat wasn't that soft either.  So much for enjoying my first taste of HK roasted goose.

Vicky and Monique had much better luck at the Korea House counter.  They had meatballs in soup, dumplings, chap chae and bibimbop.  The only problem was that we didn't put the spicy red sauce of the bibimbop immediately, and Vicky found the mixture quite bland. They spent a little more than I did, something around HKD 70 per head.