Gourmet Garden

We have heard and read of the dining experience of many that have visited Hong Kong. Finally our prayers have been answered, and we were in Hong Kong for 5 long days.  This trip, our major intention was to experience ourselves the delicacies and cuisine that Hong Kong is famous for.

This Hong Kong post would be a series of posts that will focus on the experience that we have gain through the 5 days touring in Hong Kong, and later to be followed with some posts on the various delicacies, business concepts and point of interest that we have ‘walk through’ in Hong Kong.

In preparation for our trip to Hong Kong, we did some research on the net by reading other blogs and also visiting http://www.discoverhongkong.com/login.html for some pointers and tips.

As the trip was all the way free and easy, we had in our disposal maps, GPS, and their trusty public transport. It was very convenient to connect from one place to the other with their public transportation. Most of our time, our travelling to and from places of our interest was by their MTR and public buses. Payment for their usage was also very convenient with their ‘Octopus’ card (HKD 50 for deposit, HKD 100 for initial credit, HKD 7 for service fee upon returning the card) that is available upon arrival at the airport, 7-Eleven stores, the MTR office, etc. The ‘Octopus is similar to our local ‘Touch n’ Go’(Tn’G) card but with more usage or acceptance as compared to our Tn’G in Malaysia. In addition to the high tech gadgets, one would also need some low tech equipments to move around in Hong Kong; a good pair of seasoned walking or running shoes and a strong legs.

Our journey began at 8:45am on a MAS flight from KLIA.

The flight, MH72, was a 4 hour flight, thus I got to try out the notorious airline food which I have not had for quite some time. The mornings’ choice was either ‘Nasi Lemak’ or ‘Salmon Omelet’ on that faithful morning. As I was traveling with my wife, we got try east & west in one flight. To my surprise both servings did not disappoint and tasted quite standard.

After the flight touch down and taxied to the sky bridge in ‘Chek Lap Kok’ airport, we were greeted by a faithful ‘Black Labrador’ and his handler from the Hong Kong Customs (I guess). This actually reminded me on my maiden voyage to Singapore by train when I was a todd. On the Singapore side we had to walk through a line where it station German Shepherds to sniff out contrabands, very intimidating. A short walk later, we were at the Hong Kong Immigration counters. The efficiency of the HK Immigration was similar to that portrayed by a recent Hong Kong TVB serial, but it lack the warmth and friendliness that was seen in the soap. May be it is because they had to work on a Sunday! hahaha…  The CLK airport was well organised with directional sign at every corner to direct this first time visitor so that I won’t get anxious or lost.

The first thing that we had upon arrival to Hong Kong was the Famous Portuguese Tart that was brought over fresh from Macau. From the first look, we ask ourselves whether it could be good. Looks can really be deceiving. The paler coloured tart was made of egg whites. It was light tasting in flavor with mild sweetness, which is why Gill preferred this over the yolk tart. The yellowish egg yolk tart was stronger in flavor and sweetness, which had a prominent flavor and aroma of egg. Both tarts were equally rich in dairy cream taste. It would be best to have a cup of milk tea to go with the arts. After the real thing, I guess I won’t be able to savour Portuguese tarts in Malaysia the way I used to.

We were put up at Langhem Hotel in Mongkok which is on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong Special Administrative Area. Langhem Hotel is actually an old building refurbished into a 4 star hotel that is conveniently connected to Langhem place. We managed to get a very special rate off their usual publish rates for the 4 nights stay because of the travel business that my sister owns. More would come on the hotel that we stayed in. Back to Mongkok, it was a wise choice as the location is very near to their ‘electronic street’, ‘women’s street’ and ‘sport shoe Street’. I got my new ‘Lowepro Fast pack 350’ at around RM 335 or HKD 750. It is about RM 200 cheaper compared to price I got in Penang.

After arriving at the hotel we decided to grab a quick meal, before we move on to ‘Tai Po’ for dinner. ‘Tai Po’ is about 1 hour away with public transport.

The short search took us to a shop which had quite a lot of news paper clips published on their roast goose, which was one of the delicacies that is in our list of must tries, thus the decision was made to have a go at ‘Chan Kee’.

The rental cost per square feet is very high in Hong Kong, every inch of space is literally like gold. Which is also one of the reasons that we see many Hong Kong investors in our local property market. To maximise the income per square inch of the shop, 4 seaters are meant for 4 persons only and no less.  Even tables double up as storage space for cutleries.

Our maiden meal in Hong Kong was also our first encounter with real roast goose. Anxious we are, we ordered our first sample of roast goose with other meats and noodles at ‘Chan Kee’.

烧味拼盘 (烧肉, 烧鹅) / Roast meat platter of goose & pork HK$90. The anxiety or excitement attached to the first time savoring roast goose had built up every since we knew that we are going to Hong Kong. And it was at ‘Chan Kee’ that we gave our first to them. The goose meat is slightly whiter, taste sweeter and had a more tender texture as compared to roast duck. It did not have that unique tasting flavor of the duck which cause many to shy away from duck.  The roast goose at ‘Chan Kee’ had thin skin (not crisp) and quite a volume of fats. The roast goose did not quite appeal to us and it was somewhat a disappointment.

In the roast platter, we also asked for their roast pork a-la-Hong Kong. The roast pork is different in texture and taste compared to the ones we have in Malaysia. We were told that the standard of Hong Kong roast pork should consist of 5 layers, skin, fats and meat. The taste should be light, aromatically pork , lightly salted with a hint of sweetness. The skin should be crisp and smooth. It is a big contrast to the roast pork found in Malaysia.  The sample that we had in ‘Chan Kee’ was slightly an over dosage, the pork was cut into big chunks that was too big and fatty to consume much.  We are not accustomed to such big chunks.

佛山熏蹄 / ‘Foh Shan’ Pork Trotter HK$60. It is dish which is not commonly found back in Penang. This dish is a type of cold dish which is normally served as an appetizer. It may be we do not know how to appreciate this dish, we found that the slices of cold pork meat wrap in a layer of fats and skin did not have much taste. It was pretty blend to start with a very little hint of smoke flavor and sweetness.

明火例汤 / Soup of the Day HK$10. It was Water Crest soup with pig bones for the day. The soup was sweet taste and smooth in texture. Not very distinctive but average.

干炒牛河 / Stir Fry Beef and Rice Noodles HK$34. Tempted, we order the flat rice noodles stir fried with beef slices. The portion was quite good enough for  2 although it was an individual a-la-carte order. The serving came with lots of bean sprouts and slices beef (more than the usual finds available locally). And the rice noodles had a light hint of wok sear flavor and egg aroma, but the noodles were too smooth for our liking.

焉鸯 / Ying Yang  or ‘Cham‘. The ‘Yin Yang’ is similar to our teh+kopi, but it had a more tea fragrant than coffee taste. I heard that the tea leaves used in each individual cafes or restaurant varies from one to the other and unique to its customers’ palate. Many of the Malaysian owned Hong Kong style café like ‘Kim Gary’, ‘Wong Kok’, etc tries to imitate this famous beverage, but they can’t beat the real thing.  Although so, the one at ‘Chan Kee’ was not really a stand out as the taste was slightly bland to my taste buds.

May be I was  hoping for more than that can be delivered by ‘Chan Kee’ with all the paper clippings, but from our experience I could only give a 3.1 out of a max of 5.

After the fast meal, me and Gill took a short discovery walk at near by wet market which we found very appealing to us as a person who cooks and enjoy food. That will come in our next Hong Kong post………

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