Noodles, dim sum and roast goose in Hong Kong
MILLIE: A well-deserved trip was in the offing after three years of the pandemic. Hong Kong was my choice. Friends warned me that it was so expensive for shopping and that it was too hot, but I still wanted to go. Just to eat! Hahaha! Even Karla was not so keen at first, until she learned her good friend Jharvis was going to be there the same time as we were. So off we went!
In a way, it was expensive because the value of the peso had greatly declined. Besides, we were not really going all-out shopping for luxury items, just essentials and favorites we could not find back home. It was sad to learn that some of our favorite restaurants and shops had permanently closed since the pandemic, but then again, new eating places have sprouted and we also discovered fresh and exciting ones.
Our first stop, since we arrived in the evening due to a delayed flight, was an old favorite, Mak’s Noodle House on Leighton Road in Causeway Bay. We opted to stay on the Hong Kong side instead of Kowloon as it was closer to where my local friends lived.
For almost two weeks before our trip, we were avoiding Chinese food, dreaming of what was in store for us in Hong Kong. We ordered the specialty, juicy plump wontons with very fine noodles in a tasty broth, which is always a delightful treat! We could not resist ordering the beef with tendons.
KARLA: For lunch the next day, we were treated to dim sum at Lei Garden in Times Square. We had around 10 kinds of dim sum. We had a steamed selection of Shanghainese dumplings, pork dumplings with mushroom, shrimp dumplings and mom’s favorite, steamed rice noodle rolls with fresh shrimp and yellow chive.
To add to the dim sum lunch, crispy roasted pork never fails and we tried something new, the fried noodle dish with shredded chicken and beansprouts. The noodles were fine and fried to a crisp, which made the dish all the more enjoyable. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for mom’s shoes, which is the only thing she needed to buy in Hong Kong.
For fried dim sum, we had pan-fried rice rolls with dried shrimp and spring onion, fried dumplings with sticky rice and pork, taro puffs with pork and mushroom filling, shrimp spring rolls and my favorite, the fried flaky pastry filled with shredded turnip. The pastry reminded me of empanadang kaliskis, which I absolutely love.
To add to the dim sum lunch, crispy roasted pork never fails and we tried something new, the fried noodle dish with shredded chicken and beansprouts. The noodles were fine and fried to a crisp, which made the dish all the more enjoyable. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for mom’s shoes, which is the only thing she needed to buy in Hong Kong.
MILLIE : Walking around Causeway Bay on a Saturday afternoon was quite tiring and the heat was a bit uncomfortable, so we found ourselves at the bar on the top floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Leighton. It has a very nice view from the poolside.
For dinner, my friend Helen Tsui took us to Kam Tou, a small restaurant on Lan Fong Road in Causeway Bay, walking distance from the Crowne Plaza. It is said that Kam Tou is a spinoff from the famous Yung Kee Restaurant, popular for its roasted goose and other Chinese barbecue specialties.
We only really wanted to eat roast goose, nothing else. When we shared photos of our roast goose dinner with my family back home, everyone sent a text message back, asking us to bring some home!
KARLA: Kam Tou is owned by one of the grandsons of Kam Shui Fai of Yung Kee as well. While Kam’s Roasted Goose has expanded to different countries, Kam Tou remains a humble, 20-seater restaurant. Aside from the roasted goose, we also ordered century eggs for starters, kailan and vermicelli with shrimp noodles in a clay pot.
We were saddened to learn that one of our favorite roast goose restaurants, Goose Manor on Ashley Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, had permanently closed, but we learned about new places that offered roast goose that we were quite eager to try, if not on this trip, then perhaps the next! Tune in to our next article for more Hong Kong eats.
