Yung Kee Restaurant

The morning after the typhoon and Hong Kong came alive again. Really weird to see Hong Kong a ghost town but this helped me to appreciate that a city is more about its people and not just the buildings and stuff. 

Our flight which was supposed to leave at 9 am had been delayed to 6pm. Hurray! Another few hours to spend in HK. I thought I have to let this two get a taste of roast goose before leaving HK or the trip wouldn't be complete. Roast goose to me is very symbolically linked with Hong Kong because when we were young whenever my dad came back from Hong Kong, a roast goose was what he would always bring home with him and until today I can still recall the feast that followed. 

Remembered passing Yung Kee on my quest for the wanton noodle in  Central, it looks terribly grand and expensive but I didn't want to waste time looking elsewhere as I want to leave some time for shopping too. So Yung Kee it had to be.

Everything look so good from the window. But regrets set in as soon as we sat down and had a look at the menu...

A less than 1/2 (probably 1/4) a goose serving cost HK$150!

And this plate of white-cut chicken cost HK$120.

This meal with rice and chinese tea cost HK$300+  and it was the most expensive of all the meals we have had in Hong Kong. The goose and chicken were good but not spectacular and I know we could have easily gotten the same thing for a fraction of the price in many other roast shops. Will I go back there again? A definite NO even if I am to encounter another typhoon. 

Char siew Pau

I have Typhoon Nuri to thank for having tasted the best char siew pau in the whole of my ?? years. 

On 22nd of August, our third day in Hong Kong, the day I thought I would be able to indulge myself in the many shopping malls, Hong Kong decided to take a day of rest (can you imagine every single shopping mall and shop were closed) during the worst tyhpoon in more than five years. We knew there was a typhoon but we didn't know the extent of it as we didn't watch the news at all. If I had known the typhoon was at level 9 alert I wouldn't have been so brave! 

About 10 am, we ventured out for breakfast and thought it was eerily quiet but I thought as most shops usually open only about 11 am or later we were not overly concerned. I wanted to look for a porridge shop on my list that was not far from the hotel. As we walked, the rain and wind got stronger and stronger, and if we were to hold up our umbrellas any longer we would be flying around HK like Mary Poppins.

We were practically 'blown' into the only shop that was open, a restaurant with huge posters featuring HK$3000++ abalone dishes and with a name like ' Sportful Garden Restaurant' (Had it not been for 'Nuri', I don't think I would have ventured here  as the abalone posters with that kind of prices would have scared me off). We had to enter to get away from the gusts and rain. The girl at the door told us they serve dim sum too. Thank goodness the inside was like any normal dim sum joints with many locals sipping tea and reading newspapers. The dim sum menu wasn't very extensive and I couldn't find the price. I treaded very carefully and ordered only familiar items without anything 'abalone' attached.

There wasn't much dim sum choice so I had to order char siew pau (with abalone sauce) which I normally would skipped and gone on to something more interesting. I have had too many unpleasant experiences with this dim sum item. I don't like food that needs to be dug out from the roof of my mouth and that leaves a medicinal after-taste. I'd rather have the Hainanese version of char siew pau than this laughing dim sum pau, that was before I tasted this... 

This had to be the most perfect pau I had ever tasted. The skin was soft but not airy, had a bite without being heavy and ... so smooth (not quite the right word but I can't think of another more appropriate description), the filling was not overly sweet like they always seem to be (another reason why I didn't like it before) and the gravy just tied everything together perfectly. I couldn't help myself and asked for another tray.  

The dim sum here were really good, better than Treasure Lake but with less selection.  

The kids' favorite - shui jiao. I liked it too, the skin was super smooth yet had a bite to it (any idea how they do that? We always do this dish at home but getting a good skin like this has been very elusive).

Can't get them like these back home.

Vegetable dumplings with dried shrimps.

Xia lung pau, yes, Leanne striked again. Skin too thick but like most of the xia lung pau we tasted elsewhere here in Hong Kong the fillings were good.

Lotus leaf glutinous rice with very few ingredients but unbelievable myriad of flavors and tastes with the lovely aroma from the lotus leaf.

Wanton and Drunken Chicken

After Disneyland all I wanted to do in Hong Kong was to eat and shop. Leanne and myself (minus Bryan as he wanted to catch up on sleep after staying up the whole night listening to a duet performance by two renowned snorers (:-0zzz (:-0zzz ) made our way to Central to look for the two famous wanton noodle shops face to face in Wellington Street featured in Terri's Hong Kong trip last year. 

No trouble finding them although it was quite a long uphill walk. 

Mak's

Tsim Chia Kee

Didn't know which one to go for until Leanne decided the better looking shop it would be which was Tsim Chia Kee. 

This is easily the best wanton I have ever had. The wantons were as big as the soup spoon that you can see on the top picture. There must be about 4-5 chunks of fresh prawn meat in each and they were so fresh every bite gave that heavenly crunch. The helping was very generous as I had a hard time finishing the noodles. It cost HK$16 per serving and that's less than RM7!

This one came from Mak's. As we were too full to try out Mak's, I decided to doggy bagged for Bryan. I asked for two helping as I know Bryan can eat. What you see in that cup was two helpings and they cost HK$59! No wander Tsim Chia Kee has more customer. I must say the soup did taste better but TCK's wanton wins hands down. 

Went to Mongkok for shopping. As usual, one wanted to go book store, another wanted to see all the newest gadget in electronics and I wanted shoes, clothings and all the finer things in life...Ok, so I thought I'd accommodate them first and do my things the next day but as it turned out the weather did not cooperate. Did managed to sneak into an Esprit outlet and came away with a denim skirt. I have to admit I am not only a picky eater but also a picky shopper. I just have to find something I really like before buying and most times I can shop the whole day and have nothing to show. 

After all that walking in Mongkok (so, so crowded that sometimes the crowd just push you along), the heat, hunger and sore feet tell us to slow down and look for a place to eat. We hopped into this Shanghai restaurant as the air-conditioning was so inviting.

I wanted something cold but also wanted to eat rice (another 'fun tong' rice bucket in the family), so I ordered this drunken chicken. Most time when I tasted this dish the chicken was always too oily and flavor of wine not properly soaked into meat. As this was a Shanghainese restaurant and I know they are famous for this dish, I hoped (and prayed) for the best. 

I was not disappointed at all. The fragrance of the wine hit me before I even get to taste it. I detected no oil at all either on the chicken nor the wine sauce. My taste buds work overtime ever now as I am writing and staring at this photo. Can you see the gelatin between the skin and the meat. The meat was prefect, soo smooth yet with a definite bite and the flavors of the chicken...olala... I wander what wine they used?

Bryan ordered the fried noodles and I thought it look just like the hokkien mee back home. Tastewise not as intense or lardy but pretty good.

Trust Leanne to ordered this sai lung pau everywhere we went. The skin was a little too thick on top but the filling and soup were delicious.  

I almost single-handedly finished this savory dessert.

This restaurant offers a lot more dishes and they all looked (spying the next table's dishes) very interesting. Must go back there again with a bigger and hungrier crowd so can order more dishes.

Dim Sum and Disneyland

Knew I had to squeeze in at least a sizable meal before setting out for Disneyland, as from past record this would be a whole day affair. Checked my food bible and bingo, a dim sum chain restaurant is only a stroll from our hotel.   

Treasure Lake Golden Banquet Restaurant

I was overzealous in ordering as I was famished and so starved of good dim sum. There was no mobile food carts like in the old days. The ordering had to be done on a list which we ticked the items we wanted and you don't see the food until they arrive at the table. This was what three of us had that day...

The classic must-have items. All came in bigger sizes than the ones we get in KK, each basket had at least four pieces and that's when I knew I was in trouble for ordering so much. Two baskets each of the har gau and siu lung pau too.

The fried dim sum and they were all delicious especially the top two, ham sui kok (glutinous meat dumplings, my favorite of the deep fried dim sum) and the almond coated rolls with a sweet filling of cream and fruits. Yummz.

We didn't do justice to the last two dishes as we had to force ourselves to finish them, naturally they didn't taste that good at that time. Leanne kept saying if her daddy was there as he would be able to finish the food! 

This is the day for Leanne. Although he didn't say but I know Bryan was also looking forward to Disneyland. Who wouldn't? I know I was excited too but was very apprehensive about the weather that was hovering around 30c.

 

Disneyland at 2 pm in Summer in Hong Kong was insane. We had on three layers of sun protection - 1) sunscreen  2) caps  3) umbrella and I could still feel the heat. But that didn't slow down the kids one bit. They were able to do most of the rides and attractions (eventhough the queues were long it was not like in Tokyo Disneyland where each queue took hours!)

Disneyland HK is small compared to Disneyland LA and Tokyo and the magic being there didn't hit me like it did my last two trips (LA and Tokyo), I suspect it was the heat (I was melting away) as the last two trips were all in cooler weathers - winter and autumn.   

I am glad the heat and sweat didn't dampen the magic for these two.

This got to be my all time favorite of Disneyland. After a tour of this section, this tune was playing in my head the whole day '...It's a small world after all, it's a small, small world...'  

The special train with Mickey Mouse windows that took us from Sunny Bay Station to Disneyland.

Now Paris and Florida Disneyland would be her (Leanne's) next dream...and mine too but not in Summer!

From Kota Kinabalu To Hong Kong

The day (19th August) we left KK was the first day the new KK terminal opened for operation. The new airport is beautiful - very spacious and bright. It is quite similar to KLIA in design with great expanse of steel and glass. A hugh improvement over the old terminal next door which will be renovated to further extend the new terminal. 

About to land in Hong Kong, not sure where this place is, could be part of China? The first time I ever saw Hong Kong skyline looking so clear without any sign of smog. 

From the airport, we purchased (for Bryan and myself) the MTR cards that give two trips on the Airport Express line and unlimited 3 days MTR travel for all the other lines in Hong Kong for HK$300 each (~RM130). For Leanne she gets to travel the Airport Express Line free of charge by purchasing an Octopus card with a value of HK$76. We planned to travel extensively around Hong Kong and Kowloon on the MRT as the hotel we stayed was located right in front of the Sheung Wan Station in Hong Kong Island.

Disneyland Hong Kong is the only item in Leanne's agenda, electronics in Bryan's and food in mine when we arrived in Hong Kong. Can you imagine a more united front? I figured my agenda would prevail as everyone gets hungry, right? And most importantly, I hold the purse string. Hehehe! The minute we put down our bags, Bryan, a first timer to HK asked to go to Wan Chai (must have been doing his homework on the Internet) where a whole building supposedly stocked three floors of any electronic gadgets you can ever dream of (I, never but I am sure many do). From cellphones to cameras to computers to devices I don't know anything about. 

Anyway, let's get back to the more important things in life, namely, food. I did some homework too in the internet before the trip. As we were in WanChai, I looked up my note book and checked for any eateries here. Yes, a roast shop very near...but wait, I spotted the dessert shop with the most famous mango pudding, Hui Lau Shan.

Leanne had the fresh mango + sago + mango juice. Very good and so refreshing in this 30C weather.

I was greedy. I ordered the Mango Combo which has the famous mango pudding with fresh mango, top with mango ice cream, a sprinkling of pomelo and coconut milk. The coconut milk was unnecessary, tasted like canned coconut milk and spoilt the overall taste.

The pudding was super smooth and with the sweet fresh mango, ice cream and pomelo, every mouthful was a delight.

This roast shop in Wan Chai on Hennessy Road was recommended by one HK blogger and there was a queue in front of the shop. Once again, according to my dad's rule of thumb that's a good sign. Got Bryan to queue while I took pictures. There were no seats left in the shop so we had to take away. There was a special HK$50 (RM 22) for half a goose and I added some siew yoke. Rushed back to the hotel couldn't wait for my two to have a taste of this Hong Kong delicacy which I had been bragging about non-stop.

Boy! I was totally unprepared for the let down. I was so eager for the two who never had Hong Kong roast goose before to have a memorable first. I asked Bryan as soon as he took his first bite 'How's it?' Replied 'No different from our roast duck.' What?!! Took a bite myself, dry and didn't taste like goose at all. Oh no, could I have order duck instead of goose with my half-past-six cantonese?? Should have heeded Leanne's suggestion that I speak mandarin instead of cantonese... 

The siew york didn't fare any better as the meat was dry, the skin tough, thin and had none of the crunch factor at all, so so disappointed.