Life in Hong Kong

Life in Hong Kong

I was sent to Hong Kong for work at the end of 2010 and spent 7 months there in the amazing city - a mixing pot of cultures living side by side: Europeans, Chinese, Americans, Indians and South East Asians. It took me perhaps 1 month to adapt to living here. I missed cheese, wine and Mediterranean food. I am ethnically Chinese, yet found the local Cantonese cuisine very heavy (relative to the cuisine of my ancestral home in the North East). Hong Kong was grey, with little sunshine and smoggy. But soon, as I grew accustomed to the culture and made a new circle of adventurous friends, both local and expat. With them, I got to know the heart of HK culture – food.

Breakfast during the week was usually a simple affair, if I wasn’t gorging on the tropical fruits in my fridge (how I miss the mangoes, watermelons and mangosteens), I would grab something on the way to work. occasionally I would visit one of the bakeries on Gage Street in Soho, along the trudge down the escalator for some Cantonese cakes (goes well with black sesame soya milk from 7-Eleven); and also maybe the Cantonese versions of croissants they churned out (less butter, so better conscience, but often stale). Occasionally I would also mix with the locals at Lan Fong Yuen (2, Gage Street) for a fried egg sandwich, and muse at the locals slurping away at macaroni and spaghetti hoops (both look like they came straight out of the can) so early in the morning.

I didn’t have too much time for Lunch due to the demands of work. Initially I flocked to Pret a Manger (IFC) for comfort. Sandwiches almost up to the UK standard. But then I got bored of the substandard bread. I discovered Olivers(Princes Building), City Super (IFC) or 360 (Landmark) for fresh Sushi, or some takeaway hot meals (Olivers does a good pasta/roasted meat takeaway option). 360 was a food hall offering cuisines from around the world (but limited authenticity, apart for the South East Asian food). For hot meals, I would usually head to SimplyLife (IFC), with a limited but delicious range consisting of tofu, bbq meats and stir fried greens. SimplyLife’s sandwiches are also highly recommended, especially for the Vietnamese Pork baguette (bread made with rice flour). However, the queues here stretch far outside the shop into the mall if you arrive after 1230 on a workday.

But Hong Kong is all about eating out. I looked forward to the evenings and weekends where I would go out and explore the range on offer. Here’s my favourites in addition to Hot Star and Tuk Tuk (already mentioned):

· DinTaiFung (TST): The best Shanghai soup dumplings. Can take a while waiting, but well worth it. Soup dumplings with a twist – fusion flavours such as truffle can be had. I had experimented myself with fusion dumpling fillings before, but this place really showed it in style.Image below: DTF's famous dumplings

· Wang Fu (LKF): Dumplings hand made to order, Beijing style. Ok – not soupy works of magnificence like DinTaiFung, but equally great. This to me is more comfort food that my relatives would make back in the North of China. A quick, informal meal – and don’t be shy to rub elbows with the table next to you. Take also the smacked cucumber, the shredded pork in JinJiang sauce with wraps and the DanDan spicy noodles.

· HotPot Super (MongKok): If you’re heading to the temple street market, then do drop by here for awesome all you can eat hotpot on the cheap. A plethora of meat, seafood and additional things to choose from. HK has plenty of more upmarket hotpot restaurants with more exotic options, but this offers great value and an introduction to Hotpot. Image below: two bubbling hotpots

· Rainbow (Lamma Island): A favourite of ours for afterwork on a weekday night was to catch the Rainbow restaurant shuttle boat and have seafood dinner. The shuttle boat is free if you eat at Rainbow restaurant. Get a group together, call ahead to make sure the shuttle is running, and take a six pack of beer for the 45min ride across the HK harbour. Timetable for the ferry is available by clicking the rainbow hyperlink.

· Yau Tong for seafood: For seafood enthusiasts, Rainbow on Lamma island is probably a bit overpriced and doesn’t have the widest range. My favourite was restaurants in the Yau Tong area – a bit of the way on the Kowloon side, but offers you the best deal (HK locals tend to come here). My favourite was Golden Ocean, but avoid the Lobster in cheese sauce. An overkill of butter/cheese sauce meant that attempting to eat any more than 2 pieces and you would get nausea from the sauce, ruining what otherwise was a very nice lobster.

· Sai Kung for seafood: If you have guests and want to enjoy a nice day with by the sea, then Sai Kung is probably a more entertaining place. Restaurants have a similarly impressive range of seafood like Yau Tong, but slightly more pricey. The restaurants become cheaper the further you head away from the pier. The best part about coming to Sai Kung is the activities you can do hear: jump on one of the small ferry boats to take you around: A trip to Sharp island is well worth it. You can also walk across the causeway from Sharp Island to Kiu Tau, a small island to the side of Sharp Island when the tide is low, for a bit of peace and quiet (sandals/flip flops recommended as the stones can be sharp). There are also squid fishing night trips from Sai Kung, but as we found out…the waters around HK don’t seem to carry much life! (Although our frustration was somewhat relieved when we found a karaoke system on board the ship). Image below: feasting on crispy squid with friends

· Nha Trang (LKF): Ok it’s now become a chain… but outrageously good Vietnamese food. A favourite place for Nena, my other half and I to visit. The menu is so big that one visit is definitely not enough to sample all the delicious food. My favourites were the Com Tam (broken rice with roast meat) and Cha La Lot Hanoi (bbq pork on fresh Lemon grass skewers). Image below: some delicious dishes from Nha Trang inc the Pappaya Salad

· Ye ShangHai (HK Island, and TST): Fine dining, shanghai style. We did a Chinese new year tasting menu here – gorgeous setting and great service. It is a great place to impress guests and visitors – while the food sticks to the realms of authenticity, and Nena was very happy, I left feeling somewhat overcharged and hungry still. I wouldn’t have minded eating such Shanghai food in a noisy environment with ill tempered waiters, but that’s just because I’m used to it.

· Yung Kee(LKF): The best place for roast goose: so good people can buy pre-packed cuts to take away on the plane…best to book in advance. If you don’t like eating skin..then it’s going to be a waste on you. Forget your reservations about eating fat. This experience is about eating the skin, fat and meat together in one mouthful. The sweet marinade of the skin induces an explosion of saliva as it caresses your tongue. Image below: the roast goose from Yung Kee

There’s probably a few more places I should mention:Sunday champagne brunch at one of the hotels such as the Intercontinental (all you can eat lobster, foie gras, crabs, dimsum and free flowing champage…), beef brisket noodles at Kau Kee, dim sum at city hall…I better stop there as I am rumbling!