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| Beef brisket with flat noodles |
I think I am mostly recovered from my jet lag (Hong Kong and China are 12 hours ahead, Korea is 13), though it would be really really nice to sleep past 4 AM! My first stop in Asia was Hong Kong, and I really had no idea what to expect. If I’m being honest, I hadn’t done much research before I left…other than to download a DK Eyewitness “Top 10 Hong Kong” book to my iPad, which I skimmed through on the plane. It came in handy when I was looking for a lunch spot, though it did make me wish I had ordered the old-fashioned paper version…it was raining that day and I had to keep pulling out my iPad to make sure I was heading in the right direction.
Since I was already in Central, I decided to try to find a little place called Kau Kee. My guidebook had this to say:
Humble Kau Kee was once offered millions for its beef brisket noodle recipe. Taste and see why. This is a place of pilgrimage.
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| Dumplings! |
I arrived around 11:30 and there was already a line forming…outside, in the rain. For a multi-million dollar recipe, I joined the line and waited until they opened at noon. I managed to order the beef brisket with flat noodles (they gave me a menu in English when they realized I didn’t speak the language). It was a great first meal in HK.
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| Pork buns |
That night we met up with my friend Daniel and his friend Ray and went to Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese restaurant famous for their xiao long bao (soup dumplings). There are several locations, and I was fortunate to be able to go again in Shanghai. Yum. It was great because Daniel and Ray took care of ordering, and did a great job…I loved everything, but most especially the soup dumplings. They even give you instructions on how to eat them properly, so as not to burn yourself or spray soup on your tablemates. In addition to the soup dumplings we had tofu skins, pea greens, pork buns, spicy noodles, and beef with rice.
In general, I heard mixed reviews about Cantonese food…well, actually…mostly people told me it was terrible. I didn’t feel strongly about trying it, though we did decide to check out Maxim’s Palace in City Hall for dim sum as it had been recommended by a couple of people. I’m glad we tried it, but it was not my favorite. Actually it was my least favorite meal in Hong Kong, which could also be related to not knowing what’s best to order. We tried the barbecue pork buns, beef ribs with glass noodles, and several types of steamed dumplings (vegetable, shrimp, and pork with crab roe).
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| Lamb shank |
That night we met up with Thad’s friend Ben (a college friend and a completely random encounter the first night we were there) and he took us to a Sichuan restaurant in SoHo, Shui Hu Ju. I really loved the duck cucumber salad and the lamb shank. We were told that the chicken with chiles was their “signature dish”, so we gave it a shot. It looked a little intimidating, the chicken was black and covered by an entire layer of whole red chiles. I like medium spicy so this was a little too spicy for me. We also ordered dumplings with peanut sauce, dam dam noodles, and jade vegetable (which tasted kind of like a warm, crunchier cucumber).
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| Jade vegetable |
I wanted to try pigeon…it was a late night decision, fueled by a little liquid courage. We got sidetracked by another bar (HK loves Jaeger bombs!) and it didn’t happen…still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Overall, Hong Kong made me and my stomach very happy!
The rundown
Kau Kee
21 Gough Street, Central
中環歌賦街21號地下
Din Tai Fung
68 Yee Woo Street, Causweway Bay
銅鑼灣怡和街68號地下
City Hall Maxim’s Palace
5 Edinburgh Place, Central
Shui Hu Ju
68 Peel Street, Soho, Central
中環蘇豪卑利街68號
Kara Cooks and Eats 