Saturday, June 30

High Tea at Peninsular Hotel

Hello everyone,

school has officially started so it'll be a little more trying to update this space but I will definitely do my best since I enjoy keeping a record of the nice foodie places that I've been to.

I think this will be my second last post on HK because I think the rest are pretty average/ slightly above average so I will not blog about them (:

Today's post will be on the famous high tea at Peninsular Hotel, Hong Kong. It's possibly HK's most renowned high tea place and if you have the luxury of time to queue for a table, you definitely should visit this place!


The building retains the old colonial/ British structure and it stands quite stoutly amongst other well-known hotels in that area (:

The high tea officially starts at 2pm but people start queueing as early as 1.15pm! This photo was taken when I was in the queue around 1.45pm. The diners who were still seated were there before high tea (possibly brunch-ers or lunch-ers) so we had to wait for some of them to be done with their meals before we could sit down too!


Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long for our table as we were seated around 2.20pm (: The lighting's pretty dim because the ceilings were quite high but I guess that adds to the homely ambience.

A warm cup of cappuccino to begin! (:

My sisters are going to roll their eyes when they see this but I spotted bread & butter pudding on the menu and could not resist ordering it! (: hahaha It was tres bonne! Delightfully warm and well-made!




We also chose to have the high tea set for two and it was very filling! I think three tiered high tea sets are deceptively small because it actually takes quite a bit of effort to polish off everything on the three tiers! Maybe the long conversation also helped to make us feel fuller faster since we tend to take our time to eat the individual items instead of tucking in and finishing a course. The high tea food was pretty good and I think the item that left the fondest impression on me is the bread & butter pudding. haha


Sprite to end the meal! (: They serve it in cute little green bottles (:


I do miss HK and all the activities that I did there but I comfort myself with thoughts of the next adventure! (:

Alright that's all for now. Time to head out! Have a great weekend everyone! (:

Saturday, June 23

Tim Ho Wan

Hello (:

My hols are drawing to an end & it looks like I won't be able to complete my HK posts before the end of hols so I'll play by ear and see what happens. Anyway, today's blogpost will be about the famous Tim Ho Wan one-star Michelin restaurant. It is reputed to be the world's most afforadable one-star Michelin restaurant because you can get a meal below $20! And they're NOT kidding! (:

Thankfully for us, we lived near one of the few Tim Ho Wan restaurants in HK and with the map given by the concierge at our hotel, we made our way there for an early dinner.

It was only 6+ in the evening but the queue is already starting to form! We were pretty thankful that we decided to head there early because we only waited for about 20mins. Apparently the wait lasts as long as a couple of hours during peak dining period!

Tim Ho Wan's seating capactiy (at least for the outlet that we went to) is actually very small - I think it can sit up to a maximum of 30 people, which explains why we've to wait for quite a while for turnover. There's only one small kitchen/ counter and there're a few skilled chefs making all the dimsums. The menu's quite limited but I think it's sufficient for most to have a taste of authentic dimsum in HK (:

Unsurprisingly, the desserts came first and this was quite a powerful bowl of clear sweet soup with white fungus and dates. I actually liked it a lot because they were not stingy with their ingredients! The sweet soup didn't taste like syrup and actually tasted pretty full-bodied (:

THE famous osmanthus jelly (: It is by far the most flavourful jelly of this type that I've eaten in my life! No wonder my colleague's daughter loves it! Thanks for the recommendation, EM! (:

We also ordered a plate of fried noodles, which was not too oily and nice to eat (: The portion size is just right for two people!

Chicken feet, which I skipped. Apparently it's good too (:

Absolutely cannot remember what this is but those who actually eat this will probably know what it is.. heh. Pardon me.

Oh steamed vegetables with garlic prawns dumplings! (: I think the garlic bits made it taste different in a good way. I would definitely have this again!

And the other of HK's famous 'dessert'/ tea snack: ma lai gao (which I guess translates into steamed sponge cake?). I could distinctly taste egg in it! I think HK cooking involves a lot of egg and milk and it's difficult not to taste these ingredients when we eat! Lovely lovely dish which I would love to have again.

I am very pleased that we managed to check off Tim Ho Wan on our "to eat" list because it was one of the few places that I was looking forward to visiting! The food lived up to my expectations and I would recommend this to all who are going to visit HK (:

Alright that's all for now (: Have a great sunny and cheery weekend! (:

Thursday, June 21

Mak's Noodles

Hello (:

Since someone posted a comment on the previous entry saying that the noodles in that post looks like Mak's noodles, I thought that there was no better timing than now to post a photo of the famous Mak's noodles:

Although the bowl looks pretty decent in size, trust me when I say that this was possibly the most expensive bowl of noodles if you divide cost over quantity but thankfully the quality wasn't too bad. Having said that though, I felt slightly disappointed because Mak's noodles didn't wow me; I had thought that it would at least be on par with the noodles that I had at the cha can ting next to my hotel but I personally didn't find that to be the case. Nevertheless, it is worth a try if you want to have a taste of above-average noodles! (:


The good thing about having a light main course (i.e. Mak's noodles) is that it leaves you with plenty of room for dessert! I knew that I could not leave HK without trying the HK version of tau huay, which is actually made from milk and eggs if I'm not wrong, so we went looking for a stall nearby that sells these! (: Somehow, I preferred the white to the yellow even though I'm not a fan of milk and I think that is because I don't particularly like egg yolk? haha I realised I'm quite particular when it comes to food. These are definitely worth a try because I think it's one of the iconic desserts that tourists like myself try when we go to HK! (:

Ok I need to kick the restlessness out of my body FAST and SOON.. but for now, goodnight!

Tasty Congee and Noodle Wantun Shop

Good morning! (:

Somehow it's down to the last few days of the hols and I really wish that time will slow down just for a little! Shall cherish these precious days and look forward to the next break! (:

Today's post will be on Tasty Congee and Noodle Wantun Shop at IFC Mall! (: We woke up and left the hotel late one day (around 4pm?) and had a bit of trouble looking for places to eat at because some of them only serve tea at that time or some of them were closed and will only open for dinner! We wanted to try something new so we didn't go to the places near our hotel but instead, went all the way to IFC Mall at Central because the dimsum restaurant that we wanted to go to was closed till dinner! =(

Thankfully for us, the dimsum restaurant that we had wanted to go to was pretty near IFC mall so we made our way there and found this restaurant!

We ordered our favourite carbo dish - noodle soup with shrimp wantons and though it was good, we felt that the noodle and soup cannot compare to the one near our hotel!

Some shrimp and chives steamed dumplings

Their reccommended dessert, which can be found in most HK restaurants! I can't remember the name but I'll know it when I see it!

My favourite custard eggyolk buns! (:

Prawns in fried beancurd skin.

Osmanthus jelly with dates! (: I chose to try this because I knew I would be going to Tim Ho Wan soon to try their famous osmanthus jelly so I wanted a preview and something for comparison! This tasted like konnyaku jelly and was a nice and light touch to the end of the meal! (:

If you're in Central area in HK and would like some good, simple HK fare, please go to this restaurant! Service is fast, the staff are generally friendly and the general ambience is nice too (:

Alright that's all for now (: Have a good Thursday! (:

Wednesday, June 20

Another Cha Chan Ting

We had pretty good weather the first 3 days of our trip but it soon became grey/ cloudy/ rainy/ stormy for the rest of our stay so we were quite pleased that we did most of the sightseeing during the first few days! Not only did we get to see quite a bit of HK life, we got to dine at a few cha chan tings like the one below too! I absolutely do not recall where this was located but I think it's not too faraway from our hotel (perhaps about 15mins walk?).


Stir-fried kai lan again! (: I told you it almost became a daily dish! haha

Roast pork that wasn't very nice according to the person who ate it!

Apparently one of the 'must try's - fish skin dumpling noodles!

Fishball and fishcake noodles.

I observed that the chilli paste that the HKers make tend to be spicier than Sg's and it generally has more kick! I always end up having to order iced milk tea to fight the fire on my tongue, heh.

Alright time to take a short break before clearing more stuff later! (:

Have a good 'hump' day!

Tuesday, June 19

Yung Kee

Hello (:

Time has gone by quickly the past two days because I was at a 2day course which made me think a bit more about people - how they become who they are and how does who they are affect how others in turn become, which was much preferable to dealing with post-course personal stuff that would have been easier to settle if some people would quit being so impossible to deal with. 

Anyhow, it's the end of the second day of the last week of my school hols and I'm booked for 6hours straight tomorrow so I better get some work done tonight.. but not before I do ONE HK post (: I suspect I'll do this one HK post a day till I'm done posting the post-worthy food photos as it allows me to relive the glorious foody days in HK.

So today's post is going to be on Yung Kee, which is possibly HK's most famous restaurant for roast goose! The kind concierge on duty at our hotel made a 7pm reservation for us on a weekday and we were thankful we made the wise decision to go to Yung Kee on a weekday because the restaurant wasn't packed full with diners so we were seated and served promptly.






Century eggs with ginger slices - must try! (:

Tofu! A bit too much for us to finish but it was good for variety!

Scallops with vegetables - I love this dish!


Here it is in all its glory: Yung Kee's famous roast goose! (: Underneath the duck sit wonderfully sweet and slightly hard yellow beans and they are seriously good! You have to try them, and the goose of course! (:

We actually ordered a plate of seafood fried noodles but somehow the order didn't get through, which is just as well because we were extremely full from finishing most of the dishes above! The dishes were delightful and I felt like a champ after the meal because I'd completed my 'pilgrimage' to Yung Kee (apparently 'a HK trip cannot be considered complete till one visits Yung Kee').

Definitely worth a visit if you're in HK! (: It's near the mid-levels so you can walk around to digest your food while taking in the nightlife in HK after you're done with Yung Kee (:

Alright that's all for now! Goodnight!

Monday, June 18

Best Noodles in HK

Hello everyone!

I've heard about how springy, light and delicious HK noodles are but nothing that I'd heard prepared me for the real experience, which was nothing short of mindblowingly awesome IF you go to the right shop!

Thankfully for me, I was given explicit directions to this wonderful noodle shop just a stone's throw away from Langham Place Hotel by a(n) ex-teacher/ ex-colleague/ friend (Thanks again Mrs Tan!) and I was simply over the moon when I first tried the noodles from this shop! It's a small shop tucked near the corner of the building and unfortunately, I didn't snap a photo of the name of the shop so if you want to look for it, you'll have to locate the shop that's opposite H&M (Langham Place outlet) along Shanghai Street! (: It's the only noodleshop along that stretch of 3-4 shops so it should be relatively easy to find!





We ate in the little shop (more commonly and fondly known as cha chan ting) one afternoon and was blown away by the sumptuousness of the noodles so guess what we did? On our last night in HK, we went down to the shop despite the rain and bought yummy noodles, along with two cups of warm and thick milk tea, back to our hotel room and had dinner there! A perfect way to end off the holiday! (:

Alright will blog about the other food we had in time to come.. dinner calls so I've to end this short entry! Have a good week ahead! (:

Sunday, June 17

Ming Court

Good morning everyone!

The question that is often asked after people find out that I've gone to HK for a break tends to center on dimsum. There are variations of what I call 'the dimsum question': did you eat a lot of dimsum there, was the dimsum really better than Sg's, have you been dimsuming a lot etc. and I'd like to say that while I didn't gorge myself silly on dimsum every single day of my trip, I did have my fair share and I am exceedingly pleased with what I tried!

Since we were staying at Langham Place Hotel, we HAD to make a trip to the famous Ming Court, a two-star Michelin restaurant, to try their food! I don't think that they were awarded their Michelin status for dimsum but we chose to have it anyway to satisfy our dimsum cravings! (:


 One of the rare Chinese restaurants that serve chrysanthemum tea (:

Cuttlefish cake if I'm not wrong - tastes like fried fish cake!

Pan-fried rice rolls (aka chee chong fun) with sesame and barbeque sauce.

Mushroom baos - the outer layer tasted like man tou, very yummy!


My favourite dish - custard eggyolk bao - and Ming Court, I daresay, serves THE BEST custard eggyolk bao (at least out of all those that I tried).

Mushroom and veggie dumplings - soft and flavourful.

Stir-fried vegetables, which we was one of our staple dishes because we had this almost every single day (not at this restaurant of course but at the others that we went to). This vegetable, I believe it's cai xin, is the most popular/ common vegetable dish in HK! (:


Last but not least, our phenomenal dessert: mango and birds' nest jelly in a cold, dry-ice filled box! I fancy the presentation more than the taste of the jelly, which was pretty bland in honest opinion. Nevertheless, this was a nice touch to end the meal (:

If you've limited time in HK, I would strongly suggest heading to Ming Court for dimsum because it's possibly the best dimsum meal that I'd during my stay in HK (: I would definitely want to go back again in future!