When we arrived in Hong Kong, we were very keen to try some of the local food. After an early morning wake up of 4am for our flight from Seoul, our eating schedule was way off and we were a bit discombobulated when we sat out in search of a local power converter and food.
Google maps does not work well in China or Hong Kong, so it took Phil, our navigator, a bit to get used to the local map app that kept readjusting our location. We walked in circles a couple of times and ended up eating at Mother of Pizzas which was located near to our hotel. We ordered a half pineapple and sausage (the house specialty) and half rocket (what many other English speaking countries call arugula) caprese which had arugula, tomato, and burrata with a balsamic glaze. While the pizza wasn’t bad (I mean, it’s pizza, even when it is bad, it’s still pretty good), it ended up being one of our most expensive meals in Hong Kong and was definitely overpriced for the experience.
One of my favorite things we did in Hong Kong was a street food tour with local guide, Steven. We were joined by several other travelers who all had good energy, which made it extra fun. There was the newly retired couple from Nashville, the mother and daughter from Northern California, a single gal from New York on a 14-hour layover, a British couple, retirees from San Diego, a Swiss Latina, and a German lady.
First spot: dim sum!
Steven lined us up single-file across from a dim sum stand and handed out chop sticks and napkins to us. You could tell he was a pro and had done it many times to maximize the enjoyment and minimize the blockage of the sidewalk for others as Hong Kong is a busy place.
Boo Dim Lui Lee has a couple of locations in Hong Kong and is known for offering authentic and affordable grab-and-go dim sum. We tried a few different offerings including pork shu mai and shrimp dumplings. Delicious!
We next stopped in front of the Sheung Wan Municipal Services building. Steven explained that Hong Kong had a long history of street vendors called “hawkers” and in the 60’s and 70’s the government began outlawing hawking. To promote hygiene standards and to help those vendors who could not afford to rent a store front, the government built many Municipal Services buildings. The first floor typically houses raw vegetable vendors, the second meat and seafood, and the third floor is referred to as a “Cooked Food Center” which is like a big food court. The whole building feels like a giant, multi-level farmers market. Phil and I had actually stumbled into one of the municipal services buildings the day before when we were looking for the power converter. It was cool to learn that there are many such spaces for vendors and consumers in Hong Kong.
We stopped briefly near one of the seafood vendors. Steven said that because people in Hong Kong want the freshest seafood possible, they usually buy it live, and kill it right before preparing it to ensure the purest flavor. We observed many tanks of all manner of live seafood. He said many times, people will purchase their seafood on the second floor, then walk up to the third and give it to a food stall who will prepare it for a fee, which ensures a very fresh and delicious meal.
We took the escalator to the 3rd floor where we first enjoyed Hong Kong-style French toast, which is basically a peanut butter sandwich that has been dipped in egg, fried, and covered in syrup. What’s not to love about that? Then we had sliced roast goose and pig! In walking around, we saw many restaurants with Cantonese-style roast goose hanging in the windows and I really, really wanted to try it. I am always down for pork, so of course I enjoyed that as well.
We left the municipal building and walked to a medicinal tea shop. We passed several in walking the city. They sell prepared tea you can drink there, take home, or tea you can take home and prepare. Additionally they sell something called turtle jelly which is apparently good for folks suffering from acne. Originally made from the bottom shell of the golden coin turtle, most modern day versions are entirely herbal. We did not try the jelly, but did try a brew called 24-flavors tea. It is good for “clearing heat from the body” caused by stress or unhealthy diets. It also fights the heat of inflammation in the body. It looked like black coffee and Steven told us it would be quite bitter, but to me, it tasted like liquid smoke (the cooking additive/flavoring). The majority of our tour companions chose not to finish their cups but Phil and I and a couple of other folks did. I did not particularly like any of the 24 flavors, but figured after all of the walking and eating of different foods over the last couple of weeks, I was inflamed, so might as well take the free medicine.
After the tea, we walked to a pastry shop selling traditional egg custard tarts. I was very excited as I really like Portuguese egg tarts and the ones in Hong Kong looked very similar. The Hong Kong tarts have a more cookie-like crust whereas the Portuguese ones have a traditional, pastry/pie crust. The Portuguese tarts are also sweeter and have a caramelized, almost bruleed, crispy top to the tart. The Hong Kong tart is very egg-y, less sweet, and no crusty top.
After our tart time, we stopped by a tea shop, this one selling only dried, loose leaf tea at all manner of price points. The little pressed discs of tea in the shop were very impressive. Like wine, some are quite old and valuable, like tens of thousands of dollars or more. I had no idea there was such expensive tea!
We tasted a bit of green tea the shop owner had prepared for us. If we were going home after Hong Kong, we probably would have purchased some (not the thousands of dollars one), but as our type of travel doesn’t really allow for souvenirs, we did not.
We walked on to enjoy more dumplings. This time in soup broth. We each had three shrimp and pork dumplings in a tasty broth. A little pot of potent chili oil was on the table so one could customize their preferred level of spice.
We walked on to our last stop, a Hong Kong bubble waffle (or pancake) stand located in Central Market, a small, modern mall. I’d read about the waffles as well and was keen to try them. As a group, we voted on the flavors we wanted to try. We went with 1 traditional, which has a mild, vanilla custard flavor,and 3 other flavors: chocolate banana, matcha with red bean, and earl grey. Traditional was darn tasty with mild sweetness. The chocolate banana (Phil’s choice) was very good and not too sweet, the matcha red bean was very matcha-y, and the Earl Grey was actually quite nice. Not quite as strong as the matcha, with a complimenting, subtle sweetness.
We thanked Steven and bid farewell to our companions who were off to all sorts of destinations and ports of call. We explored a bit more of the city before heading back to our hotel, including taking the longest escalator in the world (it was more gradual than you’d think), which ended at the former colonial jail turned into a museum and art space.
Be on the look out for part 2, coming soon!
Jess Barrington Travels 