The second tour we took in Hong Kong was not a food tour but a cultural tour and while we did try little bites of different foods, the goal was to leave with a broader knowledge as opposed to a broader belly.
We had some time to kill before our tour was to begin and because we knew we weren’t going to leave full, we thought a little snack was in order. We discovered nearby the tour starting point was a bar/restaurant called the 2 Soon Cafe. Lo and behold, it was a Spanish Tapas place! We ordered the pimientos de padron (small, mild green peppers cooked in oil and salted), a favorite of ours when we lived in Spain, along with a meat and cheese platter and a couple of white sangria’s, which was the happy hour special. As you can see, I was very pleased with the snack.
Then we went on to the tour. Our guide, Michael, was wonderful and kept us moving through the markets and the streets of Mong-kok. Mong-kok market was hustling and bustling more than usual, in preparation for the Chinese New Year Holiday which was to begin in a few days.
During our time in Hong Kong we saw vendors selling delicious looking fresh fruit. We purchased several different kinds of apples from a vendor near our hotel during our time there, the biggest I have ever seen. Giant pomelos (a citrus fruit), some the size of my head in orange, yellow and green were everywhere as they are a traditional New Year purchase to bring luck. Michael explained that all of the fruit is imported and the markets purchase it fresh, each morning, at the port. It mostly comes from Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
We also saw a lot of durian, the famous stinky fruit (the green spiky one in the photo above). Durian smells so bad that it is banned in many public spaces, hotels, airports, and public transportation. They say the smell is like a cross between rotten eggs, rotten onions, and gym socks, due to it’s sulfur compounds. I have smelled it and think it smells like sweet, rotten onions and feet. Many describe the texture like custard or cheesecake and the taste has been described as sweet custard, vanilla, almonds and even caramelized onions or garlic, depending on the ripeness. I was secretly hoping we might try durian on this tour, but also relieved when we didn’t.
We did, however, try something else a bit funky, visually so, anyway. Century Eggs, also known as alkalized or preserved eggs, are eggs that have been cured in a mix of salt, clay, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months. The process causes the yolk to turn dark grey or brown and the egg white to appear jelly-like and black or brown.
The egg did not smell bad as Michael approached us with it. He said to stab a piece of the egg with a toothpick, then a piece of pickled ginger, pop it all into our mouths and it would taste like a regular, hard-boiled egg. Everyone was a bit hesitant, including me, but I thought, what the hell, we’re here to learn about food culture, right? I grabbed the toothpick, following Michael’s instructions and he was right. It basically tasted like a regular hard-boiled egg. There were some slight textural differences, but all in all, not bad.
We walked past other stalls and stands selling all manner of goods including fresh and dried meats and seafood that has been preserved with salt.
My favorite thing we tried on the tour was yau gok, a Cantonese, deep fried, little dumpling-like pastry stuffed with a mixture of roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut, and sugar. They were really really good and a treat only available around Chinese New Year.
We concluded the tour with some abalone with bitter orange and some traditional dried sausages (that must be cooked before consuming).
After the tour, we stopped for a beer at a nearby bar Michael had recommended to us called The Ale Project. It was a laid back little spot with local, craft beer.
After our beer, we decided to head over to the Harbor. We had dinner, and some more beer at The Dockyard. The Dockyard is attached to The Kerry Hotel and is kind of like a food court. There are multiple restaurants in the large room that also houses a karaoke stage complete with live band accompaniment. One simply scans the bar code on the table and is able to order from any and all of the restaurants and/or the bar. Because tipping isn’t a part of the culture, it works and you don’t have to worry about paying separately etc since it’s all in one simple click and pay app. We enjoyed some tandoori chicken thighs and chicken biryani from the Indian restaurant and washed it down with some Blue Girl beers, a Danish beer that’s very popular in Hong Kong.
The next day, we explored Victoria Park, a nice, large green space in the city with lovely Banyan trees. While walking around, enjoying the day, we happened upon a New Year market with all kinds of food and flowers for sale. Luckily, we were in need of a snack. I bought a banana, chocolate crepe-like treat and another treat that ended up basically being a sweet, corn, cheesy omelette. Both were pretty tasty. I also purchased some more of the New Year peanut pastry treats we’d had the day before. I didn’t like them as much as the ones on the tour, but they were still quite good.
The next day for dinner, we had one of my favorite meals we ate in Hong Kong. Soup dumplings! Din Tai Fung had amazing little pork soup dumplings. The mini pillows of heaven contain a delicious meat filling along with a burst of hot (not too hot) soup in each bite. They were so good we got two orders along with some other, pot sticker-like dumplings, scallion pancake, and some green beans, because you need a little veg.
The following day, we made an impromptu trip to Cheung Chau, one of the islands off of Hong Kong. Michael, our tour guide for the cultural tour, lives there and suggested that, because we had so many days in Hong Kong, we should explore the islands a bit so we decided to take an overnight trip. The 45-minute ferry ride was well worth the mild motion sickness to get away from the busyness of the city for a night and to fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves.
For dinner, we ate at a restaurant Michael had recommended called Wang Kitchen. He had a couple of specific dishes he recommended, one of them being the sizzling steak and the other the baked pork chop, which he was kind enough to provide us the names in Chinese, so all we had to do was show the names to the waitress and she brought us both.
The steak was delicious and served with some veg and mashed potatoes and smothered in a black pepper sauce. The baked pork chop was unique and very good as well, baked in a small cast iron over rice, with tomatoes, pineapple, and cheese. Phil and I agreed it tasted like a Hawaiian pizza.
The next day we slept in (waves crashing, remember?) and decided to go for a walk before checking out of the hotel, which was noon. We tried to eat at a couple of restaurants Michael had recommended, but they were closed, so we popped into a little (it felt like a dinner to me) spot that had an open table, but still full of people, so we know the food had to be decent. We enjoyed simple, but good meals. Phil had a noodle soup with a sidecar of pork cutlet and I had a chicken cutlet over rice with a gravy that I am pretty certain was just creamed corn. It was tasty, so no complaints. I quite like creamed corn.
We spent the afternoon walking around the island, stopping for a little treat before we needed to make our way back to the ferry. Michael had recommended the coffee and desert spot, Heima Heima, named after a song by the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós.
Phil enjoyed a lime tonic espresso (fizzy and limy and espresso-y) and I had a honey Americano (you guessed it, an Americano with honey). I ordered Phil the Japanese strawberry roll cake, but I apparently ordered it incorrectly because he got a citrus roll cake instead, but it was still super tasty. I ordered the matcha-yuzu cheesecake that I really enjoyed. Sometimes matcha can be overpowering for my taste, but the yuzu was the star and it was very good.
Welllll, I have covered most of what we ate in Hong Kong that’s worth mentioning. I do have a couple of more photos/places I want to briefly mention. Phil and I visited a smaller island, Peng Chau the day before the New Year holiday. Everything was closed or closing early and we happened upon the only place open, a cafe and coffee shop called The Edible Projects which supports and employs young adults with autism. We had a pineapple fizzy and a yuzu soda which were delicious along side a frittata, spring rolls, and dumplings. All were good and really hit the spot. Our visit was brief, but the island was beautiful.
Another honorable mention is Sourdough in the Wan Chai area of Hong Kong. We stopped in for a coffee and snack and enjoyed two amazing, croissant-like buttery, custard-filled pastries. Phil enjoyed the hazelnut chocolate and I had the pistachio. They were super good.
A huge part of why I loved to travel is eating. It’s a deeper way to connect to the culture and people you’re exploring. Even if it’s eating at KFC or McDonalds, because that does happen on occasion, especially travel days when we are exhausted and want something easy that doesn’t involve translator apps and pointing. Because even those are different in every country, based on the taste of the people. One need not eat durian or black eggs to be a bit adventurous with travel eating. Even departing slightly from what you’re used to can be very rewarding and open you up to flavors and foods you never would have otherwise known about.
Happy eating! Next stop, mainland China!
Jess Barrington Travels 