HK: Australia Dairy Company (澳洲牛奶公司)

Australia Dairy Company is a popular Hong Kong style cafe in Hong Kong, it is the kind of place where you'd expect a long queue before going in. The cafe is quite busy and crammed; consider yourself lucky if you don't end up sharing a table with someone you don't know. The pace at Australia Dairy Company is fast: you order, eat, pay and leave...all in about 20 minutes or so. It's not the type of place where you can sit down, chat and relax or else you will start getting 'the stares'. Why Australia Dairy Company? Honestly, I have no idea. It has nothing 'Australian' about it in terms of the decor and food...perhaps the milk they use?

HK: Kong Wo Dou Bun Chong (公和荳品廠）

Tofu pudding ( 豆腐花) is one of my favourite Chinese desserts made of very soft tofu which can be served hot or cold. While in Hong Kong this time, i had a mission to find an awesome place that served tofu pudding. After some 'research', i was directed to Kong Wo Dou Bun Chong in Sham Sui Po. This little tofu place still retains the essence of the old style Hong Kong eateries with folding tables, round wooden stools and large fans all around. It even has a large ceramic dragon-embossed pot where the tofu pudding is made and subsequently scooped out into smaller bowls.

Kong Wo sells all things made of soy beans such as soy milk, tofu pudding fried tofu and stuffed beancurd. Since it was hot, i ordered a bowl of cold tofu pudding (HKD7) and a cup of soy milk (HKD4). The soy milk was delicious and not overly sweet - perfect for the hot weather; the tofu pudding had a nice silky texture (hot version is even silkier) and was slightly sweetened. You can always add the 'yellow sugar' that is readily available if you prefer the tofu pudding to be sweeter. 

Overall, i enjoyed my dessert time at Kong Wo and will certainly be coming back. Delicious soy milk and silken tofu pudding definitely made my day! Apart from being a healthy and inexpensive dessert (both items added up to HKD11 which is only around AUD1.5!), i got to 'experience' an old style Hong Kong eatery!

Kong Wo Dou Bun Chong
G/F, 118 Pei Ho Street, Sham Sui Po
Kowloon, Hong Kong
tel: (852) 2386 6871

HK: Ovenhouse Deluxe

Sorry for the lack of updates but now that i am back in the capital, there will be more blog posts. I've been away for close to 5 weeks in the land of awesome shopping and eating, Hong Kong (especially now that Australian dollar is so strong!)! It's good to be back and enjoy the not-so-hectic pace that Canberra has to offer but not so keen on the freezing weather though =P

Anyways, here is my first Hong Kong blog post for 2011.
 ***

We found Ovenhouse Deluxe purely by accident as we were walking around Tsim Sha Tsui. It mainly does cakes, breads and cookies for take-away because it doesn't have many seats in it (8 seats max., i think). It also has quite a vast collection of wines from what i saw. Ovenhouse has a simple and classy decor which gives it a bit of a high-end feel. The cakes are placed neatly behind the cake counters and the cookies are nicely packed in bags. There is a small section at the end of the counter where you can sample their cookies. On this visit, we tried the two cakes that looked the most appealing to us: Lady Peach and Charcoal.

Lady Peach is a sponge cake filled with white peach mousse and white peach champagne coulis in between. The name definitely suits the cake's pretty appearance and it was the 'looks' that sold it for me. Taste-wise it was a bit weak on the peach flavour and the mousse felt a bit 'hard' (probably had a bit too much gelatine).

HK: Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Specialty Shop

- Visit Tim Ho Wan.

Ticked.

There i was (with my lovely auntie and grandma) waiting outside Tim Ho Wan along with another 30 or so people on a hot and humid Saturday in Hong Kong. Docket 173 seemed to take forever to be called although the lady at the tiny counter did tell us to come back after an hour or so. Acting in disbelief, i refused to leave hoping that somehow we wouldn't have to wait that long to be seated. I was wrong, we ended up waiting an hour and a half to be seated in a minuscule table for two (yes, the three of us).

Why all the fuss?

If you are not aware, Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Specialty Shop (Shop 8, Taui Yuen Mansion Phase 2, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok) has been awarded a Michelin Star and it is the World's Cheapest Michelin Starred restaurant. The shop is humbly decorated with a few Chinese calligraphy writings hanging on the wooden walls and a few awards that the restaurant has won. The shop is tiny and only fits 20 people comfortably but on the day that i went, there were a total of 30 people in there. Our table was so small that i barely had space to take photos and eat - my chopsticks would literally touch the wall as i ate. Was it worth it though?

We got a few dishes including the must-order Crispy Honey BBQ Pork Buns, Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow), Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings (Siew Mai),  Liver Rice Rolls, BBQ Pork Rice Rolls, Mango Pudding and 杞子桂花糕 (Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly). I didn't manage to take photos of all the dim sums as they were arriving too quickly and we had to finished them quick to make room in our tiny table.

I really liked the Crispy Honey BBQ Pork Buns. They came out pipping hot and the thin layer of sweet buttery topping was perfectly crisp. The Honey BBQ Pork filling was delicious and the three of us just loved the buns. Highly recommended.

The Shrimp dumplings were a bit of a disappoinment as the skin wasn't as thin as i was expecting but the shrimp filling was still good and fresh. The Siew Mai was alright but not outstanding.

We also ordered the Liver Rice Rolls and BBQ Pork Rice Rolls. The rice flour sheets were thin and soft but  unfortunately there wasn't much filling in the rolls. It was the first time that i 've had liver filling rice rolls and i have to say that it was interesting (okay) but i still preferred the BBQ Pork rice rolls, which was lovely.

Liver Rice Rolls

As a sweet treat we ordered the Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly and the Mango Pudding. The Mango Pudding was too sweet for me and it didn't have a nice and smooth texture. On the other hand, i S-I-M-P-L-Y loved the Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly because they had the perfect level of sweetness and were deliciously refreshing. This is probably the best Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly that i've ever had (we ended up ordering 2 more servings to take-away) - please let me know if there is another place with awesome Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly too!

All the dim sums from Tim Ho Wan range from HKD12 - 20 (AUD1.71 - 2.85) and that is a bargain for a Michelin Starred Restaurant. As a whole, the quality of the dim sums are good with some being more outstanding than others. I highly recommend ordering the Crispy Honey BBQ Pork Buns, BBQ Pork Rice Rolls (or Liver Rice Rolls for a change) and the Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly. I would definitely go back for more of those buns and also to try other dim sums. Was it worth it? For me, yes...despite the wait and the crammed table, we all ended up enjoying some delicious and cheap dim sums!

HK: OWL Our Wonderland

I immediately loved OWL Our Wonderland (5/F, Tern Plaza, 5 Cameron Road, Tsim Sha Tsui)from the very moment that i stepped out of the elevator - although i did struggle a bit to choose between this place and another Japanese restaurant (Japanese restaurants are my weakness, i have to confess). What i liked about Our Wonderland was its unique and fun decor - white walls with random drawings and graffitis here and there. They are so fun to look at that i think my head couldn't keep still during the whole meal.

Starters and some of the drawings

We decided to go for the Dinner Set for Two because it was pretty good value for money (HK$288 - AU$41.15)  and it had a few dishes that we wanted to try.

As starters, we got some Homemade Foccacia (accompanied with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil) and a bowl of Cream Chowder each. The foccacia didn't taste fresh and the chowder didn't have much taste. Next up was the entree which was Smoked Duck Breast Salad, it was alright but there was quite a bit of fat in the duck that i couldn't help but trim off some of it.

The service felt a bit rushed because we got our Seafood Homemade Ink Noodles in Tomato Sauce before we even finished our entree. The pasta dish was average since the noodles were a bit overcooked and the dish as a whole tasted a bit dry. The Mango and Crab Meat pizza, on the other hand, was something quite unique and different (especially when the other 2 choices were Hawaiian and Margarita Pizza), so i decided to give it a go. The pizza came out pipping hot and that melted cheese was so inviting. The thin crust was good and though the combination was rather unusual and 'very-Asian', i still liked it a lot! *maybe because i am Asian?

Seafood Homemade Ink Noodles in Tomato Sauce

Mango & Crab Meat Pizza

OWL Our Wonderland is definitely a place for people who would like to have a relaxed dinner surrounded by some cool graffiti and soothing background music. The food is alright but its decor is definitely something that would make me want to go there again.

HK: 紅蔥頭 Cafe MED

Cafe MED (Shop 1M-1T, G/F, Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok) is just located at the sides of one of the busiest and most popular markets in Hong Kong: The Ladies' Market. It's a place where you can find a lot of different things such as souvenirs, clothing, stationary, watches, fake designer bags, DVDs...you get the point. Tip: Don't get there before 12pm as most of the stalls won't be open.

Sis and I decided to have dinner at Cafe MED because it looked quite cute on the outside and the menu looked more attractive than the other five or six restaurants ahead. The simple restaurant has a red-ish tone and a few small cute pictures hanging on walls. Judging by the prices (less than HK$100 per head - AUS14.30), i knew that i wouldn't be getting authentic Italian/French food but the Hong Kong version of Italian/French cuisine. It is a modified version which tends to be sweeter to suit the palate of many Hong Kongers. I just treat it as a unique 'cuisine'...something unique to Hong Kong!

I decided to order the Duck Breast in Tomato Sauce with Angel Hair and sis ordered a Smoked Salmon and Mushroom in Truffle Cream Sauce with Angel Hair. My main came with a Minestrone soup which was quite sweet for my liking and ended up not finishing it.

We also got a Baked Potato Skin as an entree. The potato was baked with cheese and looked very appertizing when it arrived. The only downside was that the potato used was not fresh because it tasted quite powdery and dry.

The portions were quite generous but somehow there was always more pasta than anything else. I think there was only five slices of duck breast in my pasta and two slices of smoked salmon in my sis' pasta. 

I liked the Salmon Pasta more than the Duck Breast Pasta maybe because the Truffle Cream Sauce tasted way better than the Tomato Sauce. It didn't taste like a 'normal' tomato sauce but one that has been sweetened and modified with soya sauce - if that makes sense. But then again, it's the Hong Kong version of Italian/French cuisine =P

The atmosphere was relaxed, the staff was friendly and the food was alright. If you would like to try the unique Hong Kong version of Italian/French cuisine, Cafe MED can be a choice on your next visit to Hong Kong!

HK: 翠華餐廳 Tsui Wah Restaurant

After the first round of shopping in Hong Kong, Mom and I decided to take a break and have lunch at Tsui Wah Restaurant (77-78 Parkes Street, Jordan). Tsui Wah used to be a very small tea house that was first  opened in 1967 and have now become a corporate group with 18 restaurants across Hong Kong and Shanghai. Mom told me that she used to come here after school and it was a popular destination for many Hong Kong celebrities.

Tsui Wah Restaurant is a Cha Chaan Teng; this is a common term used to describe Chinese Tea Restaurants found in Hong Kong that serves affordable meals from Hong Kong cuisine or Hong Kong-style Western cuisine. Tsui Wah has a simple yellow-themed decor and what stands out for me is the yellow and white jigsaw puzzle wall and the cute coffee cup. 

Mom ordered a Tender Pork Ribs with Vermicelli in Tom Yam Gong Soup (HKS32 - AU$4.50) and i ordered a Hainanese Chicken Rice (HK$50 - AU$7.15). The Tom Yam Gong soup tasted nice and it even came with prawns and fish cakes. The ribs were tender and loved chewing on the soft bones.  

I enjoyed my Hainanese Chicken and i think it was a pretty good value for money. The portion was pretty generous and the chicken was tender, soft and very tasty. The hot chilli sauce and the ginger sauce complemented well with the chicken and i also liked the picked vegetables (the ones that are marinated in vinegar). The meal also came with a bowl or rice and a traditional Chinese soup (not the msg kind!).

It was a lovely well-spent lunch with Mom and definitely got my energy bar 'maxed up' for the second round of shopping!

HK: Afternoon Tea - Steak Expert & Match Too Cafe

One of the things that i love about HK is that you can eat anytime and anywhere you want! Afternoon teas are very common here and it's not all about cakes and coffee. It is offered in most restaurants and cafes and you can choose from pasta, rice, fried food, you name it...

The afternoon tea menu tends to be cheaper and perhaps smaller but the food is usually as good as the food from the lunch menu. Here are two different places that we went for afternoon tea: Steak Expert and Match-too.

Steak Expert

(2/F, In's Point, 530-538 Nathan Road, Mong Kok)

Steak Expert has quite a few franchises all around HK and has been around for as long as i can remember. I remember coming here with mom and siblings when i was little and we'd share a steak or two with some sides. I always got excited when the steak came on a sizzling plate and i eagerly waited for the moment when the waiter would gently pour the sauce over it and "Shiiiiiiiiiiiz". It was quite fascinating! (don't know why).

In regards to the food, honestly, i was never a fan of it. Their steaks always tasted as if they were soaked in bicarbonate of soda and the other dishes didn't have much of a taste in them. This time we decided to give steak another chance by ordering the most expensive steak meal (HK$ 438 - AUD$63) that came with a Superior Rib Eye Steak, bread roll, soup of the day and a drink. To my surprise the steak was quite nice: juicy and tender. The moral of the story? You get what you paid for.

Soup of the day & bread roll

Premium Rib Eye, you don't even need to dip the steak in the sauce.

We also ordered some French Escargot and a bowl of Ramen with Beef Slices from the afternoon tea menu. As expected they didn't taste really good. The escargots were really salty and weird; the noodles were overcooked and the beef slices didn't taste like beef at all. 

French Escargot

Ramen with Beef Slices

Steak Expert is a place that you get what you have paid for. I don't recommend ordering any steaks that are below HK$200, to be safe, go for the most expensive. The things on the afternoon menu are cheap, but i don't think i will be back for them. The service was attentive and helpful though.

Match Too Cafe

(Shop 403, 4/F, Langham Place, 8 Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong, Mong Kok)

Heel and Sandal

Match Too Cafe is located inside the unique Langham Place and has a rather cute logo containing one high heel and one sandal. The place is small but it has comfortable arm chairs *thumbs up. We ordered a Korean Kimchi & Seafood Soup Rice served in a stone bowl meal and a Vietnamese deep fried chicken wings with fries meal. 'Meal' being 'with a drink' and I ordered a HK-syle Ice Lemon Tea. The cup is so adorable and it even features the cafe's name.

HK-Style Ice Lemon Tea

A while after the drinks arrived, we got our food. The Korean Kimchi & Seafood Soup Rice served in a stone bowl was done well and the amount of seafood was quite generous, considering that the whole meal was only (HK$40+ - AUD$6) - probably my favorite of the two meals. The Vietnamese deep fried chicken wings with chips was alright but nothing WOW, and the only thing that made the dish 'Vietnamese' was the dipping sauce.

Korean Kimchi & Seafood Soup Rice served in a stone bowl meal

Vietnamese deep fried chicken wings with fries

Match Too Cafe is a good place to relax especially after a hectic shopping trip. The food is quite decent and inexpensive. It will probably be the place that i would go for an afternoon tea if i had to choose between this and Steak Expert.

HK: 金華冰廳 Kam Wah Cafe

"They are famous for their egg tarts and pineapple buns" - mom tells me, pointing to a cafe. The next thing i realize, is that we are inside Kam Wah Cafe (G/F, 47 Bute Street, Prince Edward) waiting to be seated. By now, mom and all the members of my family are used to me taking photos of food whenever we go out to eat. It is almost like a ritual now. They even suggest places to go so that i can blog about them later.

Kam Wah Cafe has been around for a few decades (at least 30-40 years) according to mom, and they serve famous egg tarts, pineapple buns and good HK-style milk tea. It is located in the busy streets of Hong Kong and i guess their big blue name plaque helps one to find the place.

Left: Other HK style cakes and pastries; Right: a tray full of freshly baked Pineapple Buns!*drools

On all the occasions that i visited Kam Wah Cafe, the place was always full. Thus, if you are going there by yourself, don't find it weird if they put you in the same table with someone else. If you are thinking to take away some of their famous egg tarts and pineapple buns instead, expect a queue as well. Freshly baked pineapple buns and egg tarts come out quite often...maybe every 10-15 minutes (from what i've noticed).

As soon as we got seated, we knew what to get: pineapple buns (波羅包), egg tarts, 猪仔包 (some kind of bun) and HK-style milk tea. The egg tarts were quite disappointing, to be honest. It didn't have the WOW-factor that i was expecting but they were not bad. The freshly baked pineapple buns, on the other hand, were hands down! The crust was awesome and the bun was soft. NOTE: It is highly recommended to have the pineapple bun with a slab of cold butter! Definitely the highlight of the afternoon tea together with the Milk Tea. The blend of tea was nice and the use of 'Black & White Evaporated Milk' makes the milk tea very flavoursome with a super 'smooth' texture.

The highly-acclaimed Egg Tarts

The awesome Pineapple Bun w/o butter.

猪仔包 was ordered for granny since she doesn't like eating 'unhealthy' food - it just tastes like plain bread, if you must know its taste.

Deliciously smooth and flavoursome HK-style Milk Tea

Kam Wah Cafe is small, crammed and busy, but you can truly experience a typical HK-style afternoon tea. The food is inexpensive and the service is fast, definitely worth a visit for its Pineapple buns and the Milk tea. What was cool? Seeing the same 'old uncle' coming out every 10-15 minutes with a tray of freshly baked goodies and shouting 'Please Suu-cue-suu me'!

HK: Yummy Delight

Yummy Delight (Shop 326-327, 3/F, Plaza Hollywood, 3 Lung Poon Street, Diamond Hill), what a weird English name for 甘味讚岐手打烏冬 Restaurant. Its Chinese/Japanese name actually says what this Japanese restaurant specialises in: hand-made Udon! I love hand-made noodles in general, they tend to have a nicer texture when made and cooked perfectly! Let's see how their hand-made udon taste...

Yummy Delight is a newly opened restaurant that is nicely decorated with cute lamps and Japanese-inspired fabric hanging from the ceiling - I like nicely decorated restaurants! The place is cute and does make you want to go in!

We ordered a few Udon dishes, nigiris, sashimis and a salad. We got the Mixed Mushrooms Hand-made udon soup, Grilled Beef Ribs Hand-made udon soup combination and the popular Pork Ribs Hand-made udon soup. The udon had a nice 'springy' texture and you can definitely notice the difference from the packaged udon. The mixed mushrooms hand-made udon was quite light whereas the other two had a stronger flavour. The Beef Ribs were not as nice because it was marinated with a substantial amount of bicarbonate of soda, which took the beef flavour away. The Pork ribs, on the other hand, were better and it was my favourite udon combination.

Left: Grilled Beef ribs hand-made udon soup combination; Right: Mixed mushrooms hand-made udon soup

Pork ribs hand-made udon soup

Next, was the fancy entry of the nigiris and sashimis that we ordered. First up was the Tobiko and Ikura nigiri, followed by the Flame Seared Tuna nigiri and Flame Seared Salmon belly nigiri. The Tobiko and Ikura nigiris were okay but i kinda liked the flame seared fish nigiris more. I think I've been having this 'thing' for flame seared fish lately...you should try flame-seared salmon belly (if possible), they are awesome and packed with 'good fats' that melt in your mouth! yummm~ *they didn't have TORO! so sad...

Tobiko & Ikura Nigiri

Front: Flame seared tuna nigiri; Back: Flame seared salmon belly nigiri

Next up was the sashimi clan: Red Clam Sashimi, Salmon Sashimi (no photos for these at the moment, they are in the other SD card) and very thinly sliced Sea Bass Sashimi! Oh, and we got a Tuna Sashimi Salad as well. The Red clam wasn't really fresh because the meat felt a bit tough, the salmon was okay but i liked the sea bass sashimi the most. The Tuna Sashimi Salad didn't taste particularly good...you can tell the difference in grade between THE Tuna Sashimi and the Tuna Sashimi used in Salads =P

Sea Bass Sashimi

Tuna Sashimi Salad

Lovely decorations and lovely dinner with a few hits and misses. Since the place specializes in hand-made udon, don't expect it to offer the best grade of sashimi or the best sushi. The hand-made udon, however, is nice. Focus on popular dishes and you should be alright =)

HK: One Dim Sum

What will a HK trip be without having yum cha?

There are so many places to go for yum cha that you can scratch your head for a good half an hour, just to decide where to go. I wanted to go to Tim Ho Wan - the 1 Michelin star yum cha place - but since it was packed (and granny didn't want to wait) we ended up in One Dim Sum (Shop 1 & 2, G/F, Kenwood Mansion, 15 Playing Field Road, Prince Edward). This place is presumably on par with Tim Ho Wan, according to a recent magazine review.

One Dim Sum (一點心) is a very small and humbly decorated place, so if you don't get there early enough, expect to wait for a while.

We ordered quite a few dim sums and it didn't take long for them to arrive. In no time, we see ourselves eating at an increased pace to make sure that our tiny table could still hold all the dim sums that kept coming. Pretty hectic!

One Dim Sum offers traditional dim sums and here below is what we ordered.
Shrimp Har Gow: Can't go to a yum cha place without ordering this! The skin of the har gow was thin and the prawn filling tasted fresh and juicy.

Beef balls with beancurd skin: i normally don’t order this dish because the taste of coriander is so strong that overpowers the whole dish. Since mom likes this dish, we ended up ordering it anyways. To my surprise, i adored this dish! The balance of beef and coriander flavours were good and the beef balls were very juicy. They usually serve it with worcestershire sauce. I recommend it =)

Steamed Rice Rolls with BBQ Pork and Cha Leung (Yau Tiu wrapped with steamed rice rolls): The ‘skin’ wasn’t really smooth as i expected but the BBQ filling was yummy. The Yau Tiu in the Cha Leung tasted good but it wasn’t very crispy!

Steamed Rice Rolls with BBQ Pork

Cha Leung

TeoChew Dumplings: I never really liked this particular type of dumpling; it's more to do with the texture of the dumpling skin. Since there were only 3 of them, i didn’t eat it. Here is a photo of it (nonetheless):

Deep fried beancurd parcel: the parcels were crispy and golden and the filling was made nicely. Worth trying if you like deep-fried dim sums.

Baked Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Bun): Although the buns were missing the honey glaze on the outside, they still tasted lovely. The BBQ pork filling was nice and saucy, definitely worth a try! Tip: If you are used to the white steamed BBQ pork buns, give this a try!

Pork Ribs and Chicken Feet Rice: I am not a fan of chicken feet but the pork ribs and the rice were superb! The ribs were very nice and juicy (especially with the small soft bones in it!) and the rice tasted awesome after i drizzled the 'special' soya sauce that came with the dish. I really liked this dish and recommend it as well!

Boiled Choy Sum with Soya Sauce: as usual, i love vegetables! yum~

Egg Shatters (蛋散): what a funny name, this is!
Egg shatters 'is a Cantonese dim sum dessert that is made from a dough of eggs, flour, sugar, and lard. The dough is rolled out flat, cut into strips, then twisted and deep fried. Malt syrup (or sometimes honey) is drizzled over the cooled finished product, which is sometimes also sprinkled with coconut flakes.' – this is an little explanation about egg shatters taken from here. These egg shatters were made well and tasted good – it was light, crunchy yet still soft and sweet with a distinct taste of eggs. The honey and the mixture of crushed peanuts & sesame seeds drizzled on it complimented the egg shatters really well.

The last dish to come was the Malaysian Steamed Cake. It was a medium round cake cut into 6 pieces; the cake was super soft, springy and not too sweet *thumbs up for that! Due to my unprofessionalism, we finished the cake before i could take a photo of it! =P

Overall we had a very satisfying lunch and most dishes are worth trying. The best thing? Most dishes are just around the HK$15-20 mark (~AU$2.20-3) which is also considered inexpensive for Hong Kong yum cha standards. It's definitely worth coming back...maybe after i pay a visit to Tin Ho Wan?