It was a nice dim sum meal… good presentation, excellent variety, great taste and prompt services. The only downside was probably the price… HK$400+ (US$50+) for 3 adults, probably the most expensive dim sums I have ever had.

Not complaining though… it was our last meal in Hong Kong, and it’s a pretty good feast to end our Hong Kong journey.

Fried spring roll

Variety of dim sum at Maxim’s Chinese Restaurant

Actually we went into the restaurant because I was desperately in need of a washroom when walking around in Mongkok. At first glance they had an interesting variety of food (lots of Hong Kong specials) and from their billboard it seems like they were highly rated by local papers.

Cart noodle, egg tart and pineapple bun

We ordered a cart noodle (車仔麵), an egg tart and a pineapple bun (菠蘿包). The food quality was quite a disappointment honestly… it was not too bad, but it’s the kind of quality that I would not be interested to visit the restaurant again.

Well, at least I managed to try the cart noodle and pineapple bun before I left Hong Kong… so I shouldn’t be complaining too much.

Cart noodle was one of the food icons in Hong Kong; it got its name from street vendors who used to operate their business on roadsides using carts (I think they no longer exist these days). This restaurant was supposed to be famous for selling this noodle.

There is nothing special about the noodles; the essence of cart noodle is actually the variety of toppings the customers could choose from… the common toppings are radishes, pig blood cubes, fish balls, pig skins, Chinese sausages and beef balls etc. The customers could choose according to their likings or simply include everything (like what we did).

Congee cooked with pork and pig organs

It was odd hours (~11am) on a weekday, but the restaurant was still packed with customers… it got to be good.

We ordered a pork innards congee (猪杂粥) – rice porridge cooked with pork and pig organs like intestines, liver and stomach… and it was great. The ingredients were fresh, and they didn’t add too many additives (pepper, sesame oil etc.) in the congee, so you can really taste the core flavour of the pork and organs.

We also ordered two dessert soups, which was quite tasteless and forgettable… we should have just stick with their congee.

The restaurant had a lovely Westernised deco, but surprising offered mostly Chinese food on its menu. We ordered a spicy stewed beef (with rice) and mushroom soup… nothing superb, but not bad.

Spicy stewed beef and mushroom soup at Corner Cafe

We didn’t have much option for dinner in the hotel… this restaurant seemed like a cheaper one. It was a fast food style restaurant which served ready made salad, sandwiches, pasta, rice, congees, desserts and drinks.

The Hollywood and Dine restaurant… fried glutinous rice (tasted really good) and Mickey fruit jelly

We hesitated for a while when we reached the entrance of the restaurant, as we were the only group there… turned out that the food was actually ok. Besides, the staff were super friendly… thumbs up for that.

Roast goose at Yung Kee Restaurant

Dined at Yung Kee in Oct 2007 during our Hong Kong visit. We already knew about the price, but we had promised ourselves to spend a bit more on one of our meals for fine cuisine, and we picked Yung Kee.

We ordered some iconic Hong Kong food… roast goose, roast quail, fried rice-noodle with beef (乾炒牛河; cau ngau hor), some veges and century eggs (皮蛋).

The century eggs were served as starter and are the best I have tasted.

The roast goose was superb as well. The goose was served in typical Hong Kong style, with cooked groundnuts and fermented veges. The meat was tender and the gravy blended very well with the meat. Top class.

The fried rice-noodle was just ok.

I was quite disappointed with the roast quail though, which was dried and tasteless. I am not sure if roast quail should taste that way as it was the only roast quail I have had in Hong Kong… and I didn’t like it.

The bill was above HK$400 for 3 adults… a bit expensive but I think it’s worth the splurge.

Address: 32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. [Official website]

Yung Kee Restaurant… century eggs, roast quail and fried beef-rice-noodles

Hon Po Palace is part of Hon Po Group, famous for its seafood… lobster in particular. Although not fame for its dim sum, we decided to give it a try because it’s so convenient from our hotel.

The restaurant and its dim sum…

It turned out to be a good meal. We ordered various kind of dim sum, including the common prawn dumpling (蝦餃; har gao), pork dumpling (燒賣, siu mai) and other delicacies.

Their dim sum was not served in the traditional dim sum cart, but was made to order… so it was still hot and not over-steamed when served. Their har-gao is one of the best I’ve tasted – the dough was thin and chewy, and the prawns were nice. The rest of the dishes were nice too, better than lots of dim sum I’ve tried in Malaysia.

The price was reasonable; can’t remember the exact figure, but it’s average by Hong Kong standard.

We ordered 2 sweet soups (糖水; Tong Sui) – a red bean soup and a barley soup with lotus seed and tofu skin. The desserts were just ok… not too sweet, but we preferred thicker sweet soups instead.

The price was reasonable, around HK$8-12 for each bowl.

Kau Kee Dessert and the sweet soups

Wonton noodles

Me and my eldest sis went there for supper on our 2nd day in Hong Kong (Oct 2007). We ordered a wonton noodle and a bowl of pork trotters (braised with red fermented tofu; 南乳).

Their wonton were huge! The wonton were not the conventional wonton with pork and prawns, but using just prawns. The dough was thin and nice; while the prawns were fresh, firm and juicy… top class!

Their noodle was handmade with no preservatives… it was chewy, but a bit too chewy for my liking; my sister loved it though. The broth was mild but sweet; I heard that it’s made of some kind of fish stock.

Their pork trotters were excellent. The tenderness was cooked to perfection; and the taste of fermented tofu blended very well with the meat and fat. I am not sure if Westerners could stand the flavour of the fermented tofu though; even the Chinese have split ideas about it… it was kinda like a love it or hate it thing.

Cost of the meal was HK$40++ ($46 if not mistaken); opens from 12noon to 12.30 midnight.

Address: 51, Parkes Street, Jordan, Hong Kong.

The noodle shop; pork trotters cooked with red fermented tofu

Australia Dairy Company and our simple breakfast

ADC is located at Parkes Street (白加士街) in Jordan (佐敦); in fact Parkes Street is quite popular among local food seekers… try to find your way there if you are on Hong Kong gourmet tour.

The eatery is famous for its pack customer, fast services, and their scramble eggs. We ordered 2 set of breakfast, each with scramble eggs toast, soup pasta and a cup of Yin-Yeung (鸳鸯； coffee-tea mix), which cost around HK$26 per set.

The food was decent. The scramble eggs were as good as it could be, toast was ok, but we had mixed opinions for the pasta… my eldest sis hated it, but I kinda liked it. The Yin-Yeung was just nice.

What really amazed me about the restaurant were the environment and its pace. It was packed as expected… we had to share our table with others, and some customers had to stand and wait for their seats.

The waiters and crew served customers with great efficiency, and those that were eating were quite cooperative too, finishing their food ASAP to give their seats… I guess the fast moving pace is part of Hong Kong culture, and this restaurant reflected it perfectly.

The name of the restaurant is quite weird though… they do sell milk and dairy products, but I guess it’s not what they are famous for.

Address: 47-49, Parkes Street, Jordan, Hong Kong.

Beef soup rice-noodles, pork blood cube and some meat at Hing Fat

We found the street from a map that marked it as a food-themed street; quite true but too bad most of the restaurants were Japanese or Korean style… while we were looking something local instead.

Hing Fat was the one of the few options we had… and it was pretty crowded (rule of thumb for food hunting), so it got our nod.

Hong Kong people seemed to be living in a faster pace; their waiters were a bit impatient when ordering food. Some people might actually feel that it was poor service, but I guess it’s a way of life for Hong Kongers. Good thing is, the food was served very fast as well.

We ordered a bowl of beef soup rice-noodles, 2 set of rice meals (with chicken, roast pork and roast goose) and a bowl of pork blood cubes.

The meat was decent, but the rice was really good… I guess they cooked the rice with chicken broth (or something else), and the rice they used had a really nice texture. Their rice-noodles were different from most of those we have in Malaysia; theirs were chewier… my sisters kinda liked it, but not for me (I felt like eating rubber band).

It’s hard to explain how the pork blood cubes taste like… it’s basically tasteless, and it’s the gelatin like texture that matters. The first or two cubes tasted nicely for me, but it’s kinda gross after finishing the whole bowl.