HUNGRY FOR HONG KONG
From ‘dai pai dongs’ to trendy restaurants, it’s a seafood lover’s delight
My mouth still waters thinking about the delicate pillow of dough hiding a scrumptious cluster of tender prawn inside. And the sweet golden bun filled with melt-in-your-mouth barbecued pork coated in a gooey, dark sauce.
Those delicious flavours take me back to Tim Ho Wan, a popular dim sum eatery in Central Hong Kong. The busy, unpretentious hive of a restaurant has earned one Michelin star, defined as “very good food in its category.”
Diners come in droves, not for the ambience or service, because those are secondary when the food is this delicious.
No tablecloth, napkins or fine china here. Paper menus and pencils are handed out when you sit at a plain wooden table, mere inches from your fellow diners to accommodate the crowds — some will wait up to two hours to snag a spot.
Our dishes are ready for the steady stream of baskets coddling dim-sum-filled delicacies — made as soon as you order in the steamy kitchen teeming with busy cooks.
The dumplings are papery, translucent and light, the fillings tender and delicious. The sui mai — pork and prawn dumplings — are my favourite, but I eat everything that comes to the table until I’m beyond full.
The food landscape in this city can sate any appetite. It can be overwhelming to figure out where to go because of the sheer breadth of dining or grab-and-go meals around every corner. Choices range from the slowly disappearing hole-in-the-wall mom-and-pop outdoor food stalls called dai pai dongs to chi-chi molecular gastronomy restaurants run by cutting-edge chefs such as Alvin Leung at Bo Innovations. Then there’s Ship Street in Wanchai, Hong Kong, known for attracting the trendiest dining digs around. You can get anything you dream of eating at about any time of night or day.
CHINESE COMFORT FOOD
Very early one morning, I left my hotel to beat the heat of the day and stopped into a bakery. I’d read that the bolo bao — also known as a pineapple bun for its golden colour — is a simple go-to staple for any time of day. I chose a savoury one filled with moist shredded chicken and onion inside the soft bun with a slightly crunchy top. I sat in the shade of a tree on a park bench to savour it with my milk tea and watch a group of elderly men and women practice tai chi. I tucked the second one away for an afternoon snack.
Another morning, I popped into a simple diner-style restaurant — known as a cha chaan teng — that serves budget-friendly Chinese comfort food. After feasting on a rich meal the night before, I wanted something simple for breakfast. I looked around at the diners and decided to dig in like the locals and order the congee soup — which tastes a little like cream of wheat cereal — and a ham-and-egg sandwich on white bread.
It’s the perfect way to start a day of exploring and one that ended at another one-star Michelin restaurant, Sing Kee, in the charming seaside fishing community of Sai Kung, in what is called Hong Kong’s back garden.
We are led out behind the restaurant to select our seafood. Grouper, crab, lobster, abalone and dozens of other types of sea creatures I’ve never heard of swim in tanks stacked along a wall. I defer to my guide to select our main dish. Thirty minutes later, a grouper fish sits before us on a platter, steamed to perfection in an aromatic broth of ginger and scallions.
Fresh catch-of-the-day seafood — grilled, poached, battered or stuffed — is why people flock here. Dozens of aquariums filled with fish and sea creatures of every stripe, colour and size stand outside the many restaurants along the boardwalk. The fishing boats laden with the hauls of the day are mere steps from the chefs’ kitchens.
No surprise then to learn that Hong Kong is the second-largest consumer of seafood in Asia, at nearly 72 kilograms per capita a year, according to Business Insider magazine.
The idyllic location of Sai Kung is perfectly situated so that after stuffing yourself with the riches of the sea, you can catch a ferry that will take you to a beach for swimming, kayaking or windsurfing.
You’ll feel the need to work off those extra pounds you’ve no doubt packed on in this food-centric city.
Links: Hong Kong Tourism Board: A great website for all kinds of travel information.
Tim Ho Wan: One of more than a dozen very reasonably priced onestar Michelin restaurants in Hong Kong.
Sing Kee: One-star Michelin Star seafood restaurant in Sai Kung, about a half-hour from Hong Kong.
PRACTICALITIES
Getting around: There are numerous options for getting around Hong Kong, including MTR (subway), bus, ferry and tram. The Octopus Card helps visitors access all of these after activating them at a local 7-Eleven or Circle K convenience stores.
Airport: Getting to the Island of Hong Kong from Hong Kong International Airport is fast and efficient. There’s an MTR Airport Express which runs every 12 minutes and takes under 30 minutes to get to the Central business hub. Taxis and hired limos are also an option, but will cost more.
Language: Cantonese is the Chinese dialect spoken, but English is spoken widely, too. At the very least everyone can say hi, hello, goodbye and thank you.