Gourmet Garden

The meals that we had on Day 3 during our Hong Kong trip was focus on food hunting through the information gathered from blogs and other Medias. The first place that we hunt down was the much talked about old style dim sum place called Lin Heung (莲香楼). Much was expected from them especially reading about it and also seeing the article by 蔡澜 recommending this place which boasts old people serving good oldskool dim sum, what we actually got was poor and rude service from the waiters and food that had loads of MSG. The dim sum dishes were very much a letdown in terms of taste and texture, except for the ‘char siew pao’ which had some standard.

The ‘char siew pao’ is actually the world’s first dim sum. Both the dough and filling is equivalently important to deliver the soft fluffy texture and flavourful bites.

As we did not feel satisfied with what we had at Lin Heung, we continue our breakfast at ‘Mak Wai’ (麥记）wantan noodles. Their noodles were crunchier and thinner compared to those we have found in Malaysia so far. The wantan itself only consist of just prawn and prawn roe which was already sufficient to deliver satisfaction to what would be a disappointed morning. The wantan dumplings were fresh and crunchy and the taste delivered was sweet and savoury. The wantan noodle is actually one of my favourite noodle dish that I don’t mind having every morning.

Other than noodles and dumplings, we also sampled their ‘牛腩‘or stewed beef belly. It was not what we expected but just looking at the serving it was already enough to make me drool. The tendons and meat chunks were tender and full of flavour, the best thing were that the herbs and spice used did not overwhelm the beefy taste. The only thing that bugged me in this dish was the heavy usage of ‘Mandarin Orange Peel’.

After breakfasts, we set out to walk about and found this ‘泰昌饼家’ or Tai Cheung Bakery. They are famous for their egg tarts which even the last British Governor of Hong Kong enjoyed very much.

The tart shell was soft but not too flaky, and it does not stick to the grooves of our teeth. The egg custard filling was fragrantly eggy with a rich taste minus the overwhelming sugary sweetness. If you are in Hong Kong it may be one of the pit stops that would not want to miss.

In the evening and part of our hunting list, we headed to ‘蘭芳園‘ or Lan Fong Yuen to sample their famous pork chop buns and ‘奶茶‘ or milk tea. The milk tea was smooth as in subtle on the throat or in another words like downing a smooth full body wine, full of flavours but yet does not stress the throat too much.

The pork chop bun was also not a letdown, it was fried till golden brown and yet retained its tenderness and juices. Paired with soft mayo and nicely toasted sesame bun, it was the best that I have so far. In the past, we only found something of similar at Wongkok restaurant at  OUG in Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur, but the place has since closed down.

In the evening we went to shop for some items in the Mongkok area which is famous for its ‘电子街‘，’女人街’ and ‘球鞋街’, and to find some street food that may entice our taste buds. We found a street side shop that sells a variety of snack foods like stinky tofu,  curry fish balls, stewed cow innards and so on at the end of ’女人街’. The snack food sold here did not had as much MSG as compared to the shop fronting the hotel that we were staying in, Langham.

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