Following on from Eating in Hong Kong Part 1 and Part 2…
We got up early to visit the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. To get there, we had to purchase tickets on the Ngong Ping cable car and I was really thankful that we’d purchased them online from Klook. When we arrived at station, there was already a massive line snaked all the way from the top of the cable car down to the bottom of the hill. With our Klook tickets, we were able to bypass the standard line and reach the top (with a approx 25 minute wait as there was just two of us and we could squeeze in with another group). It genuinely saved us hours of queuing so I’d really recommend it.
After climbing the stairs to visit the Big Buddha and the surrounding village, it was time to head back into the city. We passed by a small cart selling hot chestnuts and sweet potato.
We stopped by Sense Dessert Cafe to try its signature matcha tiramisu served to look like a potted plant. It was a little messy to eat as all the cookie crumbs spilled out onto the table as soon as I dug my spoon in. The matcha cream inside was very light and not too sweet or bitter but didn’t have a strong matcha taste.
We then walked south to do a bit more exploring before settling in to dinner at DimDimSum in Jordan. I had read good reviews about this dim sum specialist and since were already in the area, it was the perfect opportunity to try it out. We were given a page of paper with the menu written in English and columns down the side to mark our selections. I started off with the bolo bao, or pineapple buns, (HK$21). This version had been stuffed with pineapple custard. These were still hot from the oven. The buns looked fantastic with a wonderfully glossy top. The entire bun melted like butter when I bit into it.
The best part was the pineapple custard with pineapple chunks. It tasted AMAZING. Gooey, sweet and not too rich. Why hadn’t I ever tried pineapple custard before? A great comfort food during the colder months. I was so tempted to order a second plate but decided to leave room for some other dishes instead. Though I would go back in a heartbeat for more.
We tried the Cantonese style steamed sponge cake (HK$18), prawn dumplings (HK$31), the xiao long bao with black truffle (HK$23), and the steamed rice flour rolls with truffle and mixed mushrooms (HK$23). I didn’t fancy the steamed sponge cake (it’s sweet and just tasted like brown sugar) but I figured the best place to try it was Hong Kong. The other steamed items were delicious.
We also tried the siu mai, steamed pork and prawn dumplings topped with crab roe (HK$30).
Along with the $3 surcharge per person for tea and water, our total bill came to HK$152 or approximately AUD $25. We were both really happy with the feast and the price. The restaurant was very close to Hong Kong’s highest rooftop bar Ozone, so we dropped by for a nightcap. We took the elevator to level 118 which led us to a rather swanky looking bar.
The outdoor area wasn’t the open-air kind of bar I had envisaged. Instead, it was protected by large windows looking out over the city. I had a pineapple mocktail while Mr FPJ ordered the HK Espresso Martini with rum, cold dripped coffee and earl grey, condensed milk, Kahlua and a toasted marshmallow on top. A small bucket of popcorn was also provided to us to snack on.
The following day, we headed to Ocean Park which locals tell us is better than Hong Kong Disneyland. Ocean Park is a lot bigger with rides divided into two parts (The Summit and The Waterfront) by a mountain where you need to take a cable car for 1.5km or funicular railway to travel between them. As a pre-lunch snack, we tried the spare ribs with chips and a coke (HK$80) at one of the little food carts set up.
There were only two ribs with very minimal meat on the bones so we felt pretty cheated. Luckily there’s a McDonald’s in Ocean Park so we both had burgers and were suitably satisfied.
After Ocean Park, we wandered around Hong Kong Central and found the mid-level escalators, the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. Very handy if you want to go uphill.
I was ready for a snack and, conveniently located near the mid-level escalators, found my way to Tai Cheong Bakery, established in 1954 and famous for its egg tarts.
It cost just HK$7 (just over AUD $1) per tart which is cheap as chips. The egg custard and pastry were still warm when I pulled mine out. If you time it right, you can always wait for a fresh batch straight out of the oven. I found the custard was more velvety smooth and richer than the one I’d had at Maxim’s Palace (see further down). Definitely worth trying.
After I gobbled up my egg tart (and then a second one), we strolled over to nearby Tsim Chai Kee, recognised with a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide for its wonton noodles. It was rather late (around 8.30pm) so we didn’t have to wait long for a table (there’s usually a queue). Prices are decent at HK$29 or AUD $5 for a standard bowl.
We both wanted the same thing – the king prawn wonton noodle. Three wontons were provided with each bowl. It doesn’t look it in the photo but the wontons are golf ball sized – huge and stuffed with real chunky prawns, as well as pork mince. There were plenty of egg noodles to fill us up. Although the broth had some MSG, it also included pork bone and fish. Peeking through the back door, I saw two women handmaking something with sacks of flour on the floor. Must have been the handmade fishballs which are apparently bigger in size than the wontons. Overall, a great cheap meal and a well-deserved Bib Gourmand.
For dessert, we walked to Oddies Foodies which makes eggettes / egg waffles / puffles, whatever you want to call them. The more unique flavours included Chinese sausage, Chinese doughnut and pork floss and vanilla rice pudding.
I stuck with a more modern flavour and chose the ‘Kido’ eggette parfait (HK$68) with milk gelato, Nutella sauce, Nutella custard eggette, cookie dough chunks, cookies and cream gelato and caramelised croutons. The eggette itself was soft and chewy. I probably could have simply ordered the plain eggette and would have been satisfied.
The next morning, we tried out Leo’s Espresso for its 3D latte art. The person that makes these didn’t start until 11am, so we wandered around the area before coming back. We ordered two 3D drinks (HK$50 each). The only two choices for 3D latte art are capuccino and chococcino so we ordered one of each. The type of art is left up to the artist. My mocha arrived first with a cute yellow bear winking at me.
The flat white arrived with a small koala bear sleeping on its side. We were really only there for the cuteness of 3D latte art. The coffees themselves weren’t that great, but we are used to our Australian coffees.
For lunch that day, we headed to Maxim’s Palace, another dim sum restaurant. It’s notorious for its long lines and we ended up getting there in the thick of the lunch time rush. There’s a touch screen for you to pick the number of people at your table before it prints out your number in the queue and displays the approximate wait time. Ours was about 40 minutes from memory but we actually got in a little sooner than that. The rules are you must be there when your number is called otherwise you only have 10 minutes to present your number before your table is given to someone else in which case you must re-take a ticket and rejoin the queue. Compared to the dim sum establishments I had dined in, this was by far the biggest and nicest looking with white table cloths, comfy chairs and a massive chandelier in the middle of the room.
Maxim’s Palace has a mixture of trolleys and people coming by with trays to entice diners. It must be a touristy spot as each trolley had the dishes written in both Chinese and English.
We started with tea, prawn dumplings and prawns wrapped in tofu skin. The prawn dumplings were okay but we’ve definitely had better elsewhere.
I had read that roast goose was a must try in Hong Kong but since there were only two of us, we could never order a full goose or even half goose to enjoy. I was happy when one of the wait staff told me they do a goose leg with rice here, so we ordered that to try, as well as some glutinous rice with pork and chicken. The goose leg tasted richer than duck, was a lot fattier and a bit gamier.
We ordered pork dumplings (siu mai) and pork and mushroom dumplings. The mushroom dumplings were my favourite.
For dessert, I couldn’t resist trying the egg tarts which were still warm encased in a wonderful buttery pastry. Service at Maxim’s Palace is quick and many trolleys and staff walk past to tempt you with goodies (unlike Lin Heung Teahouse in Eating in Hong Kong Part 1). It was a satisfying meal but we didn’t find the dishes to be overly special.
We spent our last night in Hong Kong at Dumpling Yuan, after we spotted it just a few doors down from Tsim Chai Kee. Mr FPJ ordered a bottle of Tsing Tao, which actually ended up being a 1 litre bottle. There was a small table at the back next to a larger table of what do you know Australian school/university aged volleyball players. The menu was in both Chinese and English, with several dumpling choices available.
We ordered the pan fried pork and chives dumplings (HK$65 for 8 pieces), wonton soup (unknown price), and the Shanghai style fried thick noodles (HK$50). It was all delicious. I loved the crispiness of the pan fried dumplings which were juicy inside, and we both really enjoyed the noodles too.
We ended up ordering another serve of steamed pork and cabbage dumplings (HK$55 for 10 pieces, roughly AUD $9) which came out nice and hot. The staff are super friendly and happy to explain the menu to you. Even though it was rather late and they were getting ready to close, they let another couple in who were hungry and looking for food. Though not as cheap as Tsim Chai Kee, we thought it was a nice little gem of a place.
And that’s it for our trip in Hong Kong! We were lucky enough to fly business class to Taipei the next day, so more on that soon…
Restaurants/Cafes visited in Hong Kong:
- Sense Dessert Cafe – 267 Temple St, Yau Ma Tei, Jordan
- DimDimSum – 26-28 Man Wui St, Jordan, Kowloon
- Ozone – International Commerce Centre (ICC), 1 Austin Rd W, West Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Tai Cheong Bakery – 35 Lydhurst Terrace, Central
- Tsim Chai Kee – 98 Wellington St, Central
- Oddies Foodies – 45 Gough St, Central
- Leo’s Espresso – 10號號 Hutchison House, Harcourt Rd, Central
- Maxim’s Palace City Hall – 2/F, Low Block, City Hall, Central
- Dumpling Yuan – 69 Wellington St, Central
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