Great Late Afternoon Dimsum @ Tim Ho Wan Shamshuipo 添好运on 13Jan2016

timhowan's famous crispy char siew pao

timhowan’s famous crispy char siew pao

we returned from lamma island & rather than went back to hotel we decided to go straight to tim ho wan at shamshuipo at 4.30pm on 13.1.2016. ^^

there was no queue, so everything was perfect.

i was here like 4 times already. a more recent one on 3.4.2015.

for my friends, it was their first. everyone liked the food, and ambience was good. the crowd here was younger & maybe more tourists.

crispy char siew pao here is good as always.

& liver fun cheong

& liver fun cheong

liver fun cheong very smooth, though 1 friend said he did not taste liver (the rest must have gobbled it up!)

mala cake 马拉糕

mala cake 马拉糕

mala cake 马拉糕  good too, not my favoruite. i wouldn’t order myself.

teochew dumplings潮州粉果

teochew dumplings潮州粉果

my friends liked the teochew dumplings潮州粉果.

siew mai

siew mai

but the one who likes siew mai a lot felt that this one here no match for tao heung mongkok  稻香旺角’s siew mai won 烧卖皇. i have to agree! 🙂

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs i think better than most places. the pork ribs at tao heung mongkok  稻香旺角 had too much fat & also yam.

steamed chicken feet

steamed chicken feet

steamed chicken feet good like other places.

minced pork rice

minced pork rice

& we had 2 rice. minced pork on rice &

steamed pork ribs chicken feet rice

steamed pork ribs chicken feet rice

steamed pork ribs chicken feet rice.

later we had another order of steamed chicken feet & pork ribs to add to the rice.

osmanthus jelly

osmanthus jelly 桂花糕

& the usual osmanthus jelly桂花糕.

a jolly good late afternoon dimsum. we ate a bit less i guess, no less satisfaction, & bill was just HK$273=S$8.50pax.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tim Ho Wan Shamshuipo 添好运
G/F, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po
深水埗福榮街9-11號地舖
Branches
Tel:2788 1226
Opening hrs:
Mon-Fri: 10:00-22:00
Sat-Sun: 09:00-22:00

Shau Kei Wan Street Wet Market on 12Jan2016

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

after <2hr walk at dragon’s back, we took the no. 9 back to shau kei wan bus terminus on 12.1.2016.

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market3

shau kei wan market

it was 2pm. we were hungry. but the guys didn’t mind walking one round the street market.

there were dry good stalls (top photo)….

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

all kinds of fishes, include flat fish (turbot?) & sotongs…

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market2

vegetables, hongkong’s the best! freshest!

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

& lobsters, flower crabs, and clams & small geoduck (pronounced “gui” duck).

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

there were la las, manila clams & razor clams 圣子…

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

& the big conchs 海螺. they made great soups, a common dish in hong kong – the conch soup 海螺汤.

shau kei wan market

shau kei wan market

& my favourites, the braised items, 鲁味….

if i were with my sis, we would buy back some & eat at the hotel…haha! 🙂

after the market, we took the mtr to tin hau, where we had a good late lunch at 鱼宝食馆!

c.h.e.f andy

Lunch Daipaidong Discovery @ Yue Bo 鱼宝 on 12jan2016

the best ngau lam 牛腩

the best ngau lam 牛腩

after a 2hr hike at the dragon’s back with magnificient views & fresh air, and a tour of the wet market at shau kei wan bus terminus, we renewed our search for new daipaidongs.

i read about 民声冰室 i thefoodcray & the photos looked great

the bad tai yun 泰源 experience still fresh in our minds but there was no chance we would repeat that,,,haha!

on the way to 民声冰室 from tin hau station

on the way to 民声冰室 from tin hau station

getting out of tin hau station 天后, we took the fire dragon path alongside causeway bay sports ground.

on the way to 民声冰室 from tin hau station

on the way to 民声冰室 from tin hau station

& proceeded to wun sha street 浣纱街.

民声冰室

民声冰室

found 民声冰室no problem..but then it was closed.

it was 3pm. lunch over liao & they open at 6pm.

鱼宝食馆

鱼宝食馆

we were uncertain about the neighbour stall 鱼宝食馆 so we walked around the place but there was only a cha chan ten 茶餐厅 some fishball noodles shop 鱼蛋面, so no choice we ended up back to 鱼宝食馆.

we were seated 6 on a table on the walkway when a policeman appeared. proprietress was quick to get us to stand up. there was no food on the table yet. she said “keng kai” meaning “o..they were just chatting”.

it was illegal to seat on the side street/walkways/alfresco & the proprietress later “吐苦水” to us, that she paid a high rent expecting to do alfresco. the shop itself hardly have place for 1 table, so how to do business?

鱼宝食馆 menu

鱼宝食馆 menu

i was mostly attracted by the ngau lam 牛腩 (top photo) but they do have some items on their menu that we didn’t mind trying.

ginger sauce chicken 姜汁鸡

ginger sauce chicken 姜汁鸡 HK$208

proprietress recommended the ginger sauce chicken 姜汁鸡 HK$208. it was not bad, nothing special or outstanding but a nice tasty chicken (like our samsui chicken, think soup restaurant) for 6 hungry men (3pm!)

dessert shop used by 鱼宝

dessert shop used by 鱼宝

since there was no place to sit at all in the shop, the proprietress managed to get us seated at her neighbour dessert shop which was closing (unfortunately we couldn’t have dessert after lunch).

salted fish minced pork咸鱼饼

salted fish minced pork咸鱼饼

we had the salted fish minced pork咸鱼饼.

salted fish minced pork咸鱼饼

salted fish minced pork咸鱼饼

this was good. we will be having this on wednesday 20.1.2016, my version, 6 of us at my place. ^^

black beans bittergourd with kurobuta

black beans bittergourd with kurobuta

we ordered also the black beans bittergourd with kurobuta 黑猪肉.

nice dish, and kurobuta was tender.

black beans bittergourd with kurobuta

black beans bittergourd with kurobuta

black beans bittergourd a common zi char dish. my cantonese friend claimed it’s common cantonese dish & i claimed it’s teochew. haha! 🙂

i am also going to do this on 20.1.2016, but w/o the black beans & just using sweet beans to stir-fry with a sous vide pork collar, basically a double-cooked pork 回锅肉.

lettuce with fermented beancurd腐乳生菜

lettuce with fermented beancurd腐乳生菜

& we had a lettuce with fermented beancurd腐乳生菜 . it’s good. i am going to use romaine lettuce 油麦菜which is better. 🙂

lotus leaf steamed rice with garlic prawns 荷叶鲜虾蒸饭

lotus leaf steamed rice with garlic prawns 荷叶鲜虾蒸饭

& we had a lotus leaf steamed rice with garlic prawns 荷叶鲜虾蒸饭. i was thinking not much taste right?

but i was wrong. it was very tasty. i tried making this last night, passable not not tasty like theirs. i will adjust a bit. 🙂

the best ngau lam meen 牛腩面

the best ngau lam meen 牛腩面

the ngau lam meen 牛腩面 i think is the best i had in hong kong thus far. ^^

the best ngau lam meen 牛腩面

the best ngau lam meen 牛腩面

the meat was so very flavourful, and the soup very intense & tasty. we shared one at first just to try then we ordered 2 more bowls.

hong kong’s ngau lam 牛腩 is just so good that we all did not order the tendon & stomach, all 3 bowls were ngau lam meen 牛腩!

i am quite happy to find this place. like my friend said, they depended a lot on take-out 外卖as no seating for customers. and the prices were not expensive but also not cheap, but quality was good so customers would return.

i would not see this as a great find, other zi char dishes like steamed fish (they would not have live fish) & seafood were untested or unlikely to be better than bigger daipaidongs. still i would not mind to try 民声冰室 & also this stall again the next time round. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Best Polo Buns in Hong Kong? @ Kam Wah Cafe 金华冰厅on 12jan2016

polo bun HK$10

polo bun HK$10

after the initial hiccups & light showers on first evening & yesterday morning, the weather favoured us for the remaining time of the trip.

this morning we were going to hike at dragon’s back. decided to drop in at kam wah cafe 金华茶餐厅 on 12.1.2016. ^^

this was supposed to offer the best polo buns 菠萝包 in hong kong. well according to 1 reviewer. 🙂

kam wah cafe 金华茶餐厅

kam wah cafe 金华茶餐厅

cafe was quite full at 915am but we did not have to wait as the server got the guy to move to another table. he just finished up & go, cheerful & very nice about it.

kam wah cafe 金华茶餐厅

kam wah cafe 金华茶餐厅

this was a much better example of sensible customer management c/w yat lok which made us (6pax) wait 15mins while seating the rest (2s & 3s) queued behind us…didn’t make sense.

polo bun with char siew HK$21

polo bun with char siew HK$21

don’t know what the fuss about polo bun?

a buttered slightly sweetened bun with an added slice of butter?

polo bun with char siew HK$21

polo bun with char siew HK$21

none too expensive at HK$10. and for the char siew version (to me a waste of time…especially when hong kong makes such poor char siew!) it;s HK$21.

i ok with it meaning can eat it, but it’s not my kind of food la..i think macdonald better & i don’t eat mac also, usually…

so i am a poor contributor to this kind of food reviews…

coffee tea 鸳鸯

coffee tea 鸳鸯

鸳鸯 ? could taste both coffee & tea yes! why is that special? i rather have coffee or tea (mostly coffee).

cheese toast

cheese toast

cheese toast…ok also la…

instant noodles

instant noodles

instant noodles with cheap ham & sausage…this one for sure i made lots better at home.

it was good though we had something to eat before some exercise climbing the 282m (only!) dragon’s back.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kam Wah Cafe 金华冰厅

G/F, 47 Bute Street, Prince Edward
太子弼街47號地下
Tel: 2392 6830
Opening hrs: Mon.-Sun.:06:30am-12:00am
MTR: Prince Edward B2 exit

Victoria Harbour & Hong Kong Island Skyline by Night on 11Jan2016

central + chinese junk5

hong kong skyline & victoria harbour at night

after a fun late afternoon hike at cheung chau, we returned to central pier about 750pm.

we could walk to central station & take the mtr to mongkok, or take star ferry cross harbour to tsimshatsui.

we decided on the later.

a pleasant surprise that cross harbour ferry was free this evening. only later we learned that stephen chow 周星驰 was promoting his new “mermaid” movie & offering free star ferry ride on 11.1.2016. ^^

central night scene2

star ferry cross harbour from central pie to star ferry terminal

night scenery was beautiful. we could see the central skyline & lit buildings with the IFC (international financial centre) standing tall.

central night scene

star ferry cross harbour from central pie to star ferry terminal

central pier receding.

on the other side there was a beautiful running advertisements of lights on ICC building at kowloon station in west kowloon.

central + chinese jumk3

hong kong skyline & victoria harbour at night

people were crowding the promenade along the public pier on tsimshatsui waiting for the light display.

we watched about 10mins? when the music came on, but there was nothing to see, nothing much, a bit of laser but no display.

central + chinese junk4

hong kong skyline & victoria harbour at night

the red lit chinese junk, a regular item in hong kong’s tourist promotion.

central + chinese junk2

hong kong skyline & victoria harbour at night

we walked over to avenue of the stars, but it was closed.

time for dinner. we decided to go to tao heung tsimshatsui. all our i-sim free 160Mb data were used up so i had to find a wifi place & managed to get in to isquare’s free wifi.

but dinner was more hussle. it was past 9pm before we settle down at tao heung tsimshatsui, recently moved from carnavon plaza to 3 Minden Row.

c.h.e.f andy

Super BB Suckling Pig & Roast Goose Dinner @ Tao Heung 稻香Tsimshatsui on 11jan2016

1/2 roast BB suckling pig HK$148

1/2 roast BB suckling pig HK$148

after a good day’s walk at cheung chau island + free star ferry ride, and (before that) a very nice stroll at the peak circle walk, we were ready to settle down to a sumptuous dinner on 11.1.2016. ^^

it was not to be such a simple task though.

since we were already at tsimshatsui, we decided to go to tao heung at tsimshatsui rather than take mtr to mongkok.

all our i-sim free 160Mb data were used up & not topped up yet so. we got tao heung google-mapped when i got into isquare wifi network & was happily reaching the carnavon plaza in good time to enjoy the before 9pm promotion. 🙂

but we did not expect that tao heung had moved to 3 minden row. & w/o 3G it was quite difficult to locate just by verbal directions. after quite a long search & about to throw up our hands & go back to mongkok, we found tao heung at 3 minden row & sat down to find that our order had passed the 9pm timesheet log-in. 😦

anyhow, the 1/2 roast goose & 1/2 roast BB suckling pig were priced very reasonably here so i ordered both.

pig head-1/2 roast BB suckling pig HK$148

pig head-1/2 roast BB suckling pig HK$148

BB suckling was small & it was very good. at HK$148, it was even cheaper than the already cheap roast goose.

& really nice too. i loved it, as good as ah yat grandstand & hung kang restaurants in singapore.

glutinous rice stuffed chicken soup HK$188 2-in-1 special

glutinous rice stuffed chicken soup HK$188 2-in-1 special

there were like 6 different 2-in-1 combo special. one was a dungenese crab combo.

i decided to take the glutinous rice stuffed chicken soup. 🙂

glutinous rice stuffed chicken soup HK$188 2-in-1 special

glutinous rice stuffed chicken soup HK$188 2-in-1 special

& the soup was wonderful! ^^

glutinous rice stuffed chicken soup HK$188 2-in-1 special

glutinous rice stuffed chicken soup HK$188 2-in-1 special

very intense & tasty, & the chicken & glutinous rice were very good too & i the soup was so intense & flavourful. fantastic!

it’s a bit like the korean samgyaetang 参鸡汤 but no ginseng i think. tasted a whole lot better also.

sliced abalone with sweet beans-part of 2-in-1 special

sliced abalone with sweet beans-part of 2-in-1 special

the HK$188 2-in-1 combo included a sliced abalone with sweet beans which was good too. a pretty good deal!

1/2 roast goose 烧鹅

1/2 roast goose 烧鹅 HK$180

the 1/2 roast goose 烧鹅 HK$180 in this restaurant was just HK$180, cheaper than yat lok (HK$250) & cheaper than fu kee (HK$220)!

1/2 roast goose 烧鹅

1/2 roast goose 烧鹅 HK$180

the roast goose looked great & tasted pretty good too! but it was really NOT as good as flavourful than both yat lok & fu kee. it was pretty good, a dish i would take in this restuarant.

pork ribs mustard leaves soup HK$78

pork ribs mustard leaves soup HK$78

my friends loved the pork ribs mustard leaves soup 芥菜锅. very tasty clear 清 soup.

this a dish i intend to make, together with the samgyaetang 参鸡汤!

stirfried spinach HK$58

stirfried spinach HK$58

the greens was done well here, very nicely garlic fried with wok hae, unlike the “damp squid” tasteless vegetable at tai yun 泰源 last evening!

fried rice

fried rice

they placed the wrong dish on our table, a fried rice, maybe yangzhou fried rice. it looked good & we decided to order it as well. nice!

blue girl "lam mui"

blue girl “lam mui”

& the lads decided we should round off dinner with 2bottles of blue girl “lam mui” beer.

i took a small sip. it was pretty flavourful, not bad la..

dinner was HK$931 all in for 6pax = S$29pax, not toforget we had roast goose & roast suckling pig, a very good dinner at a super good price!

& the service in this new restaurant with great ambience was good too!

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tao Heung 稻香 (Tsimshatsui)

G/F, Star Mansion, 3 Minden Row, Tsim Sha Tsui
尖沙咀緬甸臺3號恆星樓地下
Tel: 8300 8084
Opening hrs: open daily till 1am

Cheung Chau Island Hike 长洲岛一游 on 11jan2016

horizon from cheung chau island

horizon from cheung chau island

after late lunch @ yat lok 一乐stanley street, we walked along the mid-level escalators to central pier 5 & caught the 3.45pm fast ferry to cheung chau island 长洲岛 on 11.1.2016. ^^

it’s a 35mins ferry (the normal ferry takes 1hr), so we were at cheung chau island 长洲岛 at 4.15pm. 🙂

later at i took a photo of the horizon (top photo). ^^

cheung chau pier side street

cheung chau pier side street

the last few times i came in the morning or noon time.

there’s some attractions coming in the late afternoon, the stalls along the pier side street just open up for business.

cheung chau pier side

cheung chau pier side

weather was perfect. last evening medium drizzle & this morning’s wet start were past.

it was cool 16degC maybe.

cheung chau pier side

cheung chau pier side

many small crafts anchored here.

cheung chau pier side

cheung chau pier side

some for fishing i guess.

cheung chau pier side

cheung chau pier side

a nice setting.

temple 北帝庙

pak tai temple 北帝庙

we walked to the pak tai temple 北帝庙. didn’t go in just took some group pictures.

tung wan (东湾) beach

tung wan (东湾) beach

this was near the narrowest part of the island.

we walked across to the other side, nice tung wan (东湾) beach. great for water sports. there is a surfing centre & canoe/kayaking further at kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach.

historic relics stone carvings frombronze age

historic relics stone carvings from bronze age

just past wawrick hotel, there’s the historic relics stone carvings from bronze age.

horizon - kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach

horizon – kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach

i took a photo of the horizon from kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach.

& cropped it to get the horizon photo at the top of the page.

looking back at kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach & tung wan (东湾) beach

looking back at kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach & tung wan (东湾) beach

we turned up the path after kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach. the kwun yam temple (观音古庙) was closed.

looking back at kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach & tung wan (东湾) beach

looking back at kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach & tung wan (东湾) beach

we walked on to the mini greatwall. looking back was a nice aerial view of kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach & tung wan (东湾) beach.

叮当石 at mini greatwall

叮当石 at mini greatwall

after we past the vista lookout, moving on we came to the 花瓶石 & 叮当石.

花瓶石at mini greatwall

花瓶石at mini greatwall

花瓶石 is the bigger rock.

花瓶石at mini greatwall

花瓶石at mini greatwall

we took some photos including group shots.

花瓶石 & 叮当石 at mini greatwall

花瓶石 & 叮当石 at mini greatwall

叮当石 is the smaller rock at the end.

玉玺石

玉玺石

further we came to the 玉玺石.

craggy coastline

craggy coastline

we could see lamma island’s power station 南丫岛发电厂over the horizon. in the horizon photo (top photo) but did not take another photo this time. 🙂

craggy coastline

craggy coastline

there were very short stretch of nice craggy coastline. a bit like cornwall & devon, in a tiny tiny way la.. 🙂

tortoise rock

tortoise rock

the chequered cut patterned rock is the tortoise rock.

looking back at kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach & tung wan (东湾) beach at dusk on way back

looking back at kwun yam wan(观音湾) beach & tung wan (东湾) beach at dusk on way back

we walked back. it stared getting dark by 530pm. this photo about 615pm.

we returned to the jetty & took the 7.15pm ferry back to central pier, then took the cross harbour star ferry across to tsimshatsui star ferry pier 天星码头.

a pleasant surprise that cross harbour ferry was free this evening. only later we learned that stephen chow 周星驰 was promoting his new “mermaid” movie & offering free star ferry ride on 11.1.2016. ^^

a fun day & a very nice dinner at tao heung tsim sha tsui to follow. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

A Very Pleasant Peak Circle Walk on 11Jan2016

peak tower

peak tower

after a most satisfying breakfast at tao heung mongkok  稻香旺角, fair weather returned so we made our way to central station & took 2 taxis (we had 6pax) to the peak 山顶.

taxi fare was about HK$60 to HK$62. this c/w HK$28 one way/HK$40 return by tram. more importantly, there’s usually a long queue at the peak tram going up & some distance to walk from central mtr exit. 🙂

of course it’s cheaper by bus, but taxi up is still the most convenient, & we had the option of tram down which we did.

view from peak tgalleria rooftop

view from peak galleria rooftop

taxi took us to peak galleria 山顶广场.

we got to the rooftop. sky little overcast. weather was perfect like 17degC.  this direction seems to be looking out to aberdeen & deep water bay.

view from peak tgalleria rooftop

view from peak galleria rooftop

& stanley?

edvard munch the scream =trickeye museum peak galleria

edvard munch the scream =trickeye museum peak galleria

there was a trickeye museum for optical illusions. 🙂

& a replica of edvard munch the scream at the entrance to the museum.

1 level down there was tai cheong 泰昌饼家, a brand of tao heung group. this the one where the stall at lyndhurst terrace the last british governor chris patten claimed had the best egg tarts in hong kong. trust the guy to know what is a good egg tart? we tried the egg tart. i have done this more than once at tai cheong 泰昌饼家 including the one at lyndhurst terrace but it was still so-so for me, a little too sweet & nothing c/w the burnt portugese egg tart.

victoria harbour & kowloon bay, IFC & ICC

victoria harbour & kowloon bay, IFC & ICC

we took the lesiurely 1 hr peak circle walk. 🙂

nice view of victoria harbour & kowloon bay, & the 2 tallest buildings, ICC on kowloon side & IFC on HK island side. 🙂

victoria harbour & kowloon bay, IFC & ICC

victoria harbour & kowloon bay, IFC & ICC

i did not take so many scenery shots like my last walk here on 4.4.2015.

& though we had quite many people shots, i do not post these on my public post.

victoria harbour & ICC

victoria harbour & ICC

great view of victoria harbour,

anchorage, tsing yi bridge

anchorage, tsing yi bridge

the anchorage & the bridge linking to tsing yi island.

tsing ma & lantau bridges

tsing ma & lantau bridges

& further the bridges from tsing yi to mawan island & from mawan island to lantau island.

a very relaxing & refreshing walk. nice air…good cheer…

we finished 2-ish. there was no queue for the tram down. so we took the tram & walked to yat lok 一乐stanley street to have our roast goose 烧鹅 fix!

c.h.e.f andy

Great Roast Goose 烧鹅 but Expensive, Squeezy, Uncomfortable @ Yat Lok一乐 Stanley Street on 11jan2016

roast goose 烧鹅

HK$250 for 1/2 roast goose 烧鹅

after peak circle walk, we took the peak tram funicular to gardens road & walk to yat lok 一乐stanley street on 11.1.2016.

3pm at yat lok stanley street central

3pm at yat lok stanley street central

the place was crowded, packed at 3pm. we had to wait like 15mins.

partly because of the very bad queueing system.

we were a party of 6. the servers kept giving tables to parties of 2 & 3 behind us, and we had to wait till a table with 6 vacated. this was unlike at kam wah cafe the next morning where the server ushered us in & got others on a table that could seat 6 to move to other tables to free up 6 seats for us!

3pm at yat lok stanley street central

3pm at yat lok stanley street central

we were seated at a tiny table very crammed for 6, and the floor was wet at the ends so a few of us myself included had to seat with my feet tiptoed, extremely uncomfortable.

roast goose 烧鹅

HK$250 for 1/2 roast goose 烧鹅

yat lok 一乐 has been my favourite roast goose 烧鹅 the last few times i was here.

the roast goose is consistently crispy skin & flavourful.

roast goose 烧鹅

HK$250 for 1/2 roast goose 烧鹅

the waiting, crammed table, wet floor & the overall poor experience aside, the roast goose was still very good.

in fact most of my friends still voted  yat lok 一乐 the best roast goose (we had roast goose twice at fu kee congee 富记粥品, once at tao heung tsimshatsui, and once at yat lok).

for me, my first try at i felt it was as good as yat lok, after the second try, i decided for myself that i now prefer the more flavourful roast goose at fu kee congee 富记粥品 to yat lok.

char siew + siew yoke

HK$ 145 char siew + siew yoke

the HK$145 char siew + siew yoke was a complete waste of time.

char siew was more moist than the even worse one at fu kee congee 富记粥品, but equally tasteless. & the roast meat had rubbery skin.

any, i meant any, coffeeshop, hawkerstall char siew & siew yoke in Singapore are better than these.

char siew + siew yoke

HK$ char siew + siew yoke

totally convinced me never to order char siew in hong kong.

dry egg noodles

dry egg noodles

dry egg noodles was HK$25 – steep!

we ordered 2 soup flat noodles also.

lettuce

lettuce

lettuce was such a tiny portion enough for 1pax.

the whole lunch came to about HK$650, expensive for the food we had & also a very poor overall dining experience.

i think yat lok 一乐 roast goose is still one to try if you are 2-3pax party & order only roast goose & some dumplings like we did last time.

stanley street pottinger street junction

stanley street pottinger street junction

after lunch, we walked to the mid-level escalators to go to central ferry to go cheung chau for a very next late afternoon island hike.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HK$380 Dimsum Feast @ Tao Heung Mongkok 稻香旺角 on 11Jan2016

siew mai won 烧卖皇

siew mai won 烧卖皇

on 10.1.2016 the day we arrived, it started to rain in the late evening just when we kena abducted & fed a forgettable dinner at tai yun 泰源.

how can we be so unlucky? the lowest rainfall in the whole year in january & we ran smacked with a north east monsoon blowing over.

the next day we had planned to meet 830am at central to go up to victoria peak太平山, but it was again raining so we had to switch to wet weather program & met at our hotel royal plaza instead.

fortunately for the remaining time, it was fine weather all the way, & we managed our hike at peak circle walk, cheung chau island, dragonback & then a short stroll at lamma island. ^^

tao heung mongkok 稻香旺角

tao heung mongkok 稻香旺角

best wet weather program = breakfast dimsum at tao heung mongkok  稻香旺角 on 11.1.2016. ^^

tao heung mongkok 稻香旺角

tao heung mongkok 稻香旺角

hong kong is well connected with covered walkways, so we walked from royal plaza hotel to nathan road mongkok mtr under cover then walked along nathan road to hollywood plaza & to tao heung on level 3. 🙂

tao heung mongkok 稻香旺角

tao heung mongkok 稻香旺角

there was no queue but still a good crowd at 9.30am.

dimsum galore

dimsum galore

we liked have a dimsum feast! maybe 25 items or more? forgot count but many items we ordered double.

anyway we ordered mostly from the before 11am specials priced at HK$8 & HK$9.

dimsum was very good standard. 🙂

spicy chives dumpling

spicy chives dumpling

spicy chives dumplings were good.

some rolls

some rolls

not were name of the rolls..not my favourite.

潮州粉果 teochew dumplings

潮州粉果 teochew dumplings

the combination 潮州粉果 teochew dumplings was good, great skin, great tasty ingredients! 🙂

炸两

炸两

炸两 was perfect. not my favourite fun cheung 粉肠but the 油条were great not like the hard like stone ones in singapore for this dish.

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs were good. lots of yam, less pork.. tim ho wan’s much better!

steamed chicken feet

steamed chicken feet

steamed chicken feet also competent.

fried eggplant with minced meat

fried eggplant with minced meat

fried eggplant was tasty.

fried eggplant with minced meat

fried eggplant with minced meat

not particularly my dish.

fried fupeikuin腐皮卷

fried fupeikuin腐皮卷

i don’t fancy fried fupeikuin腐皮卷, prefer the steamed version. this was good though.

fried carrot cake

fried carrot cake

fried crrot cake was good, & came with 2 guotie 锅贴very good too… 🙂

char siew fun cheung叉烧粉肠

char siew fun cheung叉烧粉肠

char siew fun cheung叉烧粉肠 was good, very smooth, but maybe not standout. got good ones in singapore these days.

char siew pao

char siew pao

char siew pao was very good.

char siew pao

char siew pao

so nice! so tasty! meat not too sweet, overal excellent. i hardly ever take char siew pao in singapore..lol..this one i took!

 

century egg congee皮蛋瘦肉粥

century egg congee皮蛋瘦肉粥

congee was just passable.

after the truly superb congee at fu kee congee 富记粥品 at fa yun street 花园街, nothing ever comes close la…

egg with pork & rice

egg with pork & rice

the pork over rice with braised egg, again one of the HK$9 items…抵食到极 tie sek dor kek….

糯米鸡 lomeigai

糯米鸡 lomeigai

糯米鸡 lomeigai i think normal pricing so should be like HKS24 or more….it’s good! so hoot ah!

mala cake马拉糕

mala cake马拉糕

& we had mala cake马拉糕 . this like lots of hong kong people like.

i guess it’s quite tasty ka..but not a “dessert” i need.

ginger cake

ginger cake

ginger cake was good too. seldom see this so had some uniqueness value.

overall the humongous breakfast cost us HK$380 for 6pax=S$12 each.

in hong kong they say “先要好食,然后抵食“ ie cheap is one thing, but must be good first la…same same my idea.^^

great thing was as we left the restaurant, rain had stopped & weather was fine throughout the days.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tao Heung Mongkok 稻香旺角

Shop A&B, 2/F, Hollywood Plaza, 610 Nathan Road, Mong Kok
旺角彌敦道610號荷里活商業中心2樓A及B號舖

Tel: 8300 8142
Mon-Sun&PH: 09:00-16:30; 18:00-02:00

Worst Ever Dinner in Hong Kong @ Tai Yun 泰源 on 10Jan2016

roast pigeon

roast pigeon

one of our eating targets in hong kong was to try out the dai pai tongs 大排档.

i had been to keung kee shatin chicken porridge 强记鸡粥 at tai wai a few times.

during the last trip i went to-

  1. chan kun kee 陈根记大排档 at shatin on 4.6.2015. &
  2. 富记大排档 at tai wai on 5.6.2015.

so this time i wanted to try new dai pai tongs 大排档. & i read that tai yun 泰源大排档 is not bad & saw photos of the chicken congee & razor clams etc.

850m walk to tai yuan泰源

850m walk to tai yun泰源

it was a long walk from fo tan station, according to googlemap 850m & 12mins. it was a reasonably nice walk on a lit but quite deserted riverside. great that we had 3G from the free i-sim & the googlemap. 🙂

only that the sky threatens to open up.

tai yuan dai pai dong泰源大排档

tai yun dai pai dong泰源大排档

as we reached shan mei street山尾街, we saw tuk kee 德 记across the street.

the first shop after tuk kee 德 记 with the same plastic sheets cover was tai yun 泰源. the proprietor literally bundled us in. i saw the menu it said tai yun 泰源. i was a bit uncertain so i asked whether this was 泰源大排档 . the reply was like yes 大排档 .

tai yuan dai pai dong泰源大排档

tai yuan dai pai dong泰源大排档

it was just a moment’s decision making, a bad one it turned out to be, like those soccer players in front of goals…haha!

we saw there was a good local crowd & the menu had similar items, and if this was not the 泰源大排档, maybe it was ok since we didn’t know both stalls.

another mistake we made was to order a set (i saw in some reviews they ordered a set but now my view is never order sets la..).

& to trust your instinct (get out!) & to trust other reviewers (better go to one with review than one w/o since we didn’t know both stalls).

chicken congee沙田鸡粥

chicken congee沙田鸡粥

the chicken congee was bad, worse than any i can concoct on a very bad day la…bad…bad..bad!

terrible c/w with either the fu kee congee 富记粥品 earlier today or keung kee shatin chicken porridge 强记鸡粥.

deep-fried sotong beaks

deep-fried sotong beaks

the deep-fried sotong beaks were actually quite ok. it was a huge helping, so many sotongs! but most of my friends not into this dish. we took maybe 1/4 or 1/3.

fried clams “la a"

fried clams “la a”

the clams were hopeless, overcooked, not tasty!

frid beancurd

frid beancurd

fried beancurd just to add to the numbers.

deep-fried fis

deep-fried fish

& clueless what was this fish. looked totally like a turbot (flatfish) to me but we turned over it was not the white underbelly.

i thought it was a garoupa on the menu but perhaps it was my poor understanding of the hongkish words & names.

fried nai bai

fried nai bai

fried nai bai, about as hopeless as the clams, maybe it was poached & not fried??

“free” black sauce noodles 豆油炒面

“free” black sauce noodles 豆油炒面

the “free” black sauce noodles 豆油炒面, mediocre, i guess edible but nothing like the 豆油炒面 at keung kee shatin chicken porridge 强记鸡粥.

one saving grace was the roast pigeon (top photo). one friend liked it especially. skin was crispy & meat was moist. for me though, after roast goose, roast pigeon only so-so to me la..

so this was the worst quite horrendous dinner we had in hong kong. luckily there was no worse & every other meal we had were very good or excellent.

so this was just one to forget la…can’t be bulleye everytime…self-consolation better than no consolation…

anyway just to put a good word in for the stall, not about their food certainly. during our dinner, the rain came, so we were stranded after our dinner, and 2 friends who were not staying at the same hotel as us were quite anxious to get back. luckily the proprietor came to our rescue. he gave us a plastic table cloth each…it was the very thin plastic like the S$2 raincoat kind. we used it to cover our heads & we were mostly dry walking back to fo tan station…would have been drenched without it though it was just a moderate drizzle, no thunderstorm.

i don’t know what more to say. rain cover or not, food-wise i will never go there!

c.h.e.f andy

 

 

Best Dessert in Hong Kong for me @ Hoe Kee dessert 浩记甜品馆 on Fa Yun Street 花园街 on 10Jan2016

mango cheng chow with lotus 芒果凉粉加莲子

mango cheng chow with lotus 芒果凉粉加莲子

after our very “shiok” roast goose late lunch at fu kee congee 富记粥品, we walked along the opposite side on fa yun street 花园街 back to our hotel.

hao kee dessert 浩记甜品馆

hoe kee dessert 浩记甜品馆

passed by hoe kee dessert 浩记甜品馆, just what we wanted after lunch! ^^

hao kee dessert 浩记甜品馆

hoe kee dessert 浩记甜品馆

long while agp, used to remember only 许留山, & just like my other friends my way of remembering it is “楚留香”, but these days 许留山 expanded to chain stalls, it seems to become expensive & mediocre leh..

i once heard in the streets in hong kong someone saying “guai chor chow ng ho sek” which translated to once it gets expensive the standard deteriorates..which regrettably is often the case…street wisdom is often right…it’s not just the price, but the food quality actually gets worse.,,

mango cheng chow with lotus 芒果凉粉加莲子

mango cheng chow with lotus 芒果凉粉加莲子

well, dessert at hoe kee dessert 浩记甜品馆 were very nice! ^^

the mango cheng chow with lotus 芒果凉粉加莲子  was simply wonderful. i didn’t take it the first evening on 10.1.2016 but we went back on 13.1.2016 & i had this.

the cheng chow is not sweet, the mango is sweet, some parts a bit sour, one piece quite sour, but the lotus was caramelised with sugar so nicely sweetened, & the whole thing blended perfectly. for me, i would think if you don’t add lotus, the dish may not be so nice. 🙂

walnut paste + sesame dumplings核桃糊加芝麻汤圆

walnut paste + sesame dumplings核桃糊加芝麻汤圆

all the paste here were very nice. i tried all of them my friends ordered – walnot, almond & also sesame.

walnut paste + sesame dumplings核桃糊加芝麻汤圆

walnut paste + sesame dumplings核桃糊加芝麻汤圆

they were just so perfectly smooth & not too sweet. super!

杏仁糊加汤圆

杏仁糊加汤圆

& the sesame dumplings gave a great combination of texture & taste.

腐竹糖水加汤圆

腐竹糖水加汤圆 beancurd skin with sesame dumplings

on the first evening on 10.1.2016 i had the 腐竹糖水加汤圆 beancurd skin with sesame dumplings. i think that was the poorest of the lot.

momo馍馍??

momo馍馍??

our usual cheeky friend asked for bo bo cha cha with coconut, 1/2 in jest? or maybe he was serious?

to my surprise, they actually had some kind of momo馍馍?? dish…like a mixture of items + coconut milk…a bit similar to pulut hitam…not my kind of dessert..haha!

we liked it a lot & went back on 11.1.2016 & 12.1.2016. both days they were closed. when we managed to find them open on 13.1.2016, the proprietress told us the 师傅 chef was on home leave, so basically they are at the mercy of the 师傅 but i guess it is a symbiosis as long as the 师傅sticks with them.

after dinner on 13.1.2016, we went back again at 10pm+ (they opened till 1am) but the tiny shop was full so we skipped it since we already had it before dinner.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hoe Kee Dessert 浩记甜品馆 

Bean Sauce Pork Cubes – 2nd Teban Gardens Community Meal on 15Jan2016

last week, i started bringing some dishes t0 teban gardens community service centre (CSC). ^^

they do free friday breakfast & a halal monday lunch every week for the residents.

last week i brought some char siew & also miso belly pork. they all liked it as it is always good to add some new dishes & variety.

actually the CSC is very well run & they already have a very good breakfast going.

for this week, i decided on black bean sauce pork cubes. i was away with my RI buddies (6 of us) in hong kong & only back home last evening, so i asked my helper to help me prepare. my friends love the usual spicy version using pork ribs.

for today, i used 2kg pork cubes (boneless) and asked my helper not to add any chilli. i tasted the sauce – still very nice & not spicy.

recipe is simple, just the pork cubes & the lkk (lee kum kee) black bean sauce. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

The Best Roast Goose 烧鹅 @ Fu Kee Congee Mongkok 富记粥品旺角 on 10Jan2016

hong kong roast goose 烧鹅 (excellent!)

hong kong roast goose 烧鹅 (excellent!)

travelled with this fun RI group (6 of us) to hong kong to eat & hike 10-14jan2016. ^^

i guess that was representative of our priority – eat to hike to eat…lol. ^^

roast meat 烧腊station

roast meat 烧腊station

we were staying at royal plaza at mongkok, checked in by 3pm+ & found fu kee congee 富记粥品 at fa yun street 花园街quite easily.

fuk kee congee 富记粥面

fu kee congee 富记粥品

place was quite crowded. the servers were efficient & polite enough. 🙂

hong kong roast goose 烧鹅 (excellent!)

hong kong roast goose 烧鹅 (excellent!)

we ordered 1/2 roast goose 烧鹅. it was excellent!

after that we had roast goose at yat lok and tao hueng, & then at fu kee 富记again 2days later.

for now, this is the best roast goose in hong kong for me, though most of my friends still line up behind yat lok. 🙂

hong kong roast goose 烧鹅 (excellent!)

hong kong roast goose 烧鹅 (excellent!)

the goose was so flavourful & tender. it was a bit oilier than the others, but i liked that also, i think it was the most flavourful.

char siew (bad)

char siew (bad)

the char siew i would think was a disaster!

char siew (bad)

char siew (bad)

didn’t think you could have a bad char siew in hong kong, especially when the 烧腊chef produced such excellent roast goose.

but we had char siew again at yat lok & it was almost as bad.

this one here was tasteless & dry. the one at yat lok was more moist but equally tasteless!

my conclusion unfortunately – don’t take char siew in hong kong…Singapore hawker stall char siew just so good! 🙂

beef + liver congee

beef + liver congee

the congee were just excellent here! the best but where congee is concerned, there are endless supplies of good congee in hong kong.

mixed innards congee

mixed innards congee

it was so smooth & sweet,

mixed innards congee

mixed innards congee

both the mixed innards congee 及第粥 & the liver + sliced beef congee were excellent too!

dry beef horfun干炒牛河

dry beef horfun干炒牛河

the dry beef horfun干炒牛河 had good wok hae, otherwise nothing special – a dish i can do without.

chicken rice

chicken rice

it’s not easy to find chicken better than singapore’s hainanese chicken rice, yet recently i had very good com ga (chicken rice) in hoi an, vietnam; and now again here in hong kong! just perfect!

chicken rice

chicken rice

it was beautiful going with the ginger spring onion sauce. 🙂

fish belly veg soup

fish belly veg soup

we had a fish belly vegetable soup. very good & enjoyable too.

quite super that we were treated to such outstanding hong kong fares on the first day of our arrival. couldn’t have asked for more la… ^^

after the “late lunch”, 1 friend who was staying at the different hotel, found that his hotel was just directly opposite 富记粥品. how very convenient! 🙂

the meal was HK$553 for 6 hungry guys. 1/2roast goose 烧鹅 was HK$220. we could have done away with the char siew & added couple more cooked dishes. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fu Kee Congee Mongkok 富记粥品旺角
104-106 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok
旺角花園街104-106號
How to get there?
Tel:2385 1230
Opening hrs:
Mon.-Sun. 07:30-23:30

 

A Joyful Friday Breakfast @ Teban Gardens Community Service Centre on 8Jan2016

about 60-70pax came for free friday breakfast

about 60-70pax came for free friday breakfast

a close friend, my weekly running kaki (mate), and i wanted to see where we can help out a bit.

we had a practice session of cooking & bringing food over for 28pax RI friends at this friend’s residence recently on 3.12.2015.

idea, apart from having fun eat-together ourselves, was: 🙂

  1. when we get together again in the new year 2016, maybe many joining future eat-togethers will be in the mood to make some small donations to a beneficiary charity.
  2. some of us who loves cooking (& there are many among us) may offer to cook community meals for some groups of residents…

we did not have to look far as many of our good friends are already doing community meals for groups of residents for many years.

we went to take a look at teban gardens community service centre (CSC), which was started in 2002 after much effort & challenge by our RI friend who is a pastor of pasir panjang hill brethren church (pphbc) which owns & runs the CSC. they have a weekly free friday morning breakfast & another monday halal lunch which cater to between 60 & 80 people. of course the CSC does a host of other important family & community services like tuition centre etc (which 1 of our RI friends may be volunteering) & also projects.

the food is already catered for from the hawker centre next to the CSC, and the centre executive director R is herself a very good cook & we had opportunity to enjoy her excellent fish maw soup on more than one occasions we were invited to pphbc events etc.

R thought that the residents would enjoy having 1 or 2 homecooked dishes added to the meal at times.

+++++++++++

so today on 8.1.2016 i did 2 dishes, a char siew & miso belly pork, packed them in alumium foils & tranported over to teban gardens at 8.40am.

my friend was already there. the food, including fried beehoon & hum chee pen were on the table. the friendly centre staff helped to transfer the char siew & miso belly pork to serving aluminium trays & served the residents as they queued for the food.

today i made a very tender, moist, tasty char siew. ^^

the key thing with char siew & miso belly pork (well with any food!) is taste & texture.

i had a simple excellent char siew marinade (recipe on my blog). i use pork collar for the more marbled texture & flavourful meat when it is slow braised.

since i was having the miso belly pork in the oven at 90degC for 6hrs, i added the char siew during the last hour (at 90degC) & left it in the oven in residual low heat.

the char siew was then roasted in 250degC preheated oven for 20mis, turning & basting just once to coat the sauce.

& many of the residents especially loved the miso belly pork.

90degC is the optimum temperature to convert connective issues to flavourful gelatine.

the result of the low temperature (90degC) gentle braise was a very tender belly pork that was not overbraised & still holding the shape & bite.

& it was so easy to do – just scald to remove scum, marinate, put in a oven dish with tight cover so no liquid loss & drying out.

& 6 hrs later, voila!

i placed the belly pork in the fridge overnight after it cooled down, so that it is easy to cut cleanly.

the next morning, sliced & wrapped the sliced pork in aluminium foil & placed in 40degC oven for 1/2hr or more, then transport. and it came out nice & slightly warm.

fried beehoon

fried beehoon

the fried beehoon looked good.

R was busy serving it & some water to a few residents who were infirm, so i helped out a bit.

about 60 to 70pax came for free friday breakfast2

about 60 to 70pax came for free friday breakfast

the quite old chappie in red helmet came in battery motorised “scooter”. R was chiding him to be careful! haha! 🙂

centre staff serving the residents

centre staff serving the residents

my pastor friend was talking to me about some of the centre staff. quite a few including a young lady, want to be missionary.

about 60pax came for free friday breakfast2

centre ED R getting the residents to share monthly birthdays & cake

i think A, R’s assistant want to go cambodia or laos.

there is another lady not present today who bakes a cake every month for the folks. R has the residents celebrate monthly birthdays for those whose birthdays fall on that month. i guess she does that on the first week of each month. 🙂

the cake i took, & it was an excellent cake, not one i can make at the moment. fluffy sponge cake with cherries compote. nice! 🙂

we really enjoyed this opportunity! as i told my other good friend afterwards, felt like everything runs like clockwork we only there to “ka chiao” (disturb or burden). but it was fun all round for the residents & for us! for me! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Thit Nuong – Vietnamese Satay on 22Dec2015

thit nuong at road side skewer stall

thit nuong at road side skewer stall

when we strolled along the banks of song thu bong & the streets last evening before on the way to morning glory for a great dinner, we saw several street stalls selling thit nuong – the vietnamese satay where local people gathered.

the food looked exciting & enticing!

thit nuong at road side skewer stall

thit nuong at road side skewer stall

today, after the best pho bo @ pho lien & the best banh mi in the world @ banh mi phuong, we entered the ancient city & walked along the streets on the banks of song thu bon.

we were attracted to the thit nuong satay stall.

road side skewer stall

road side skewer stall

we asked if there was a table & the teenage helper pointed to an empty space. before we could do a doubletake, he brought like 7 low stools. 2 doubled as table support for the tray, the other 5 for us to sit on. life is simple & solutions to life’s problems also simple! 🙂

thit nuong at road side skewer stall

thit nuong at road side skewer stall

the teenage helper (stallholder’s son) speaks good english. he showed us how to wrap the satay meat. there’s actually a twine loop hook at the end of the twin skewers. removed that, pulled out the meat, wrapped in the thin rice paper & put it the veg & herbs!

roasside skewer stall thit nuong3

thit nuong at road side skewer stall

the satay was good, nice aroma & tasty with the rice paper, aromatics & sauce.

road side skewer stall

road side skewer stall

taste was great just as the experience was fun.

hoi an is a nostalgic ancient city. the former port city is a mishmash of different eras & architectural styles from wooden chinese buildings & temples to french colonial buildings to japanese covered bridge & pagoda.

it has the the riverside on both sides of song thu bon are fun to walk along, & shops & eats dotted the streets.

wife is already talking about going back! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

 

Still My Favourite Big Prawn Noodles @ Why Eat Har on 7Jan 2016

big prawn noodles with bakut dry

S$7 big prawn noodles with bakut dry

6 of us were meeting for coffee to discuss our upcoming hong kong trip 10-14.1.2016.

our chief co-ordinator organised it at tian kee at 12 dakota crescent at 2.30pm. he asked me whether i liked to join him for makan at our close friend’s brother’s prawn noodle stall- 

“why eat har” located at Thye Hwa Heng Canteen, Blk 29 Eunos Avenue 6. ?

why of course! ^^

my good friend & another friend joined us for lunch. so 4pax. 🙂

big prawn noodles with bakut dry

S$7 big prawn noodles with bakut dry

i have been here 3 times previously & liked it every time. today was no exception.

my last here at “why eat har” was on 10.9.2015, after our pulau ubin nature walk on uniquely singapore’s cooling-off day, the day before general elections! 🙂

everything is quite consistent now. noodles were qq, just the right portion, bakut or pork ribs were very tender & “jib bee” 入味well infused,  chilli always good, tasty & today packed a punch, maybe chilli padi was spicier. i loved it. & the soup was very tasty & smooth, “XO” i said.

it’s not as intense as wah kee (which i still prefers, but just that wah kee has (for me) priced itself out of contention with days where a bowl of prawn noodles selling at S$20…really NOT the idea for me!)

big prawn noodles with bakut dry

big prawn noodles with bakut dry

it was a noodles that i actually harboured the idea of having or sharing a second bowl! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Best Banh Mi in the World?? @ Banh Mi Phuong on 22Dec2015

banh mi - vietnamese baguette sandwich

banh mi – vietnamese baguette sandwich

my youngest daughter has craving for banh mi. it’s a vietnamese baguette sandwich. ^^

we had an excellent vietnamese baguette at bricklane market in shoreditch london with son last may 2015.

only other time i heard the baguette association was at saigon baguette recently with my god-sis on 17.11.2015.

didn’t catch on the name banh mi then. haha! 🙂

banh mi phuong

banh mi phuong

eldest daughter did the research & led us to banh mi phuong just a short walk away, after we had the best pho bo at pho lien, . 🙂

well, according to anthony bourdain, banh mi phuong has the best vietnamese banh mi in the world! ^^

daughter did her research well. 🙂

banh mi phuong

banh mi phuong

there was a long queue for take away.

shop was quite full but we found a table to sit down and make orders.

banh mi phuong menu

banh mi phuong menu

& of course the menu boasts banh mi phuong is the best vietnamese banh mi place in the world according to anthony bourdain (in green words top of menu).

and why not indeed! 🙂

banh mi - vietnamese baguette sandwich

banh mi – vietnamese baguette sandwich

my eldest daughter not taking any, so we ordered 3 banh mi sandwich (no. 3, no.5, no.9) to share among remaining 4pax. 🙂

banh mi - vietnamese baguette sandwich

banh mi – vietnamese baguette sandwich

for me & my youngest daughter, no. 9 with some liver pate was the best! ^^

we went back the next day, our last day in hoi an.

guess what! this time we ordered 4 banh mi, no more sharing, haha! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

Best Pho Bo (Beef Noodles Soup) @ Pho Lien Hoi An on 22Dec2015

best pho bo at pho lien

best pho bo at pho lien 

it’s the second morning after our arrival in hoi an.

the night before we had very good dinner at morning glory, where we also had pho. 🙂

that was good but hardly the best.

this morning we had pho too at hotel buffet breakfast. passable not morning glory standard.

pho lien

pho lien 

the night before, i googled the nice places to eat pho in hoi an & saw pho lien, pho tung, pho xua & hoi an market.

we took the free hotel shuttle bus to tran hung dao outside the ancient city & walked down le loi past phan  chau trinh. found pho lien easily.

pho bo at pho lien

pho bo at pho lien

pho lien2it was off hours & we were the only customers. place was clean but looked a bit squalor, i guess most local stalls looked that.

we ordered 2 bowls 40k dong each to try.

pho bo at pho lien2

pho bo at pho lien 

it was very good. so we ordered 2 more.

soup was light & clear yet sweet & well scented with the herbs.

pho bo at pho lien

pho bo at pho lien

it was much better than morning glory & the pho in singapore. beef were fresh & tasty.

we ate many other things afterwards, including com ga, cao lau, banh mi & later the grilled meat (like satay) on the streets.

pho xua

pho xua

so though we passed pho xua we were not able to try it. but it should be same as pho lien. thus far pho lien remains the best pho we have tried in vietnam.

c.h.e.f andy

A 9-course All-Vietnamese New Year Eve Dinner on 31Dec2015

all vietnamese dinner spread-serving table2

all vietnamese dinner spread-serving table

had a wonderful family homecooked Vietnamese dinner on 31.12.2015 to round out 2015 & welcome the new year 2016! ^^

getting ready for dinner

getting ready for dinner

we were in hoi an, hanoi & halong bay last week 21-27dec2015, having lots of tasty Vietnamese bites in local restaurants, in the streets & also jolly good fare on board indochina junk luxury cruise dragon legends 1.

all vietnamese dinner spread

all vietnamese dinner spread

so i did a 10-course dinner with 9 vietnamese dishes + tiramisu to relish the vietnamese fare & family moments we enjoyed together. we had 9pax including our helper, 3 children & their friends. 🙂

everyone enjoyed the food very much….we had a great evening…after dinner we watched star wars episodes 1 & 3, in my view both episodes were much better than episode 7 – the force awakens. 🙂

bun cha - vietnamese chargrilled pork on beehoon

#1 bun cha – vietnamese chargrilled pork on beehoon

one defining vietnamese cuisine to be found anywhere is the streets, local eats & restaurants is bun cha, or vietnamese chargrilled pork (or meatballs) served with beehoon.

bun cha - vietnamese chargrilled pork on beehoon

#1 bun cha – vietnamese chargrilled pork on beehoon

i did this very well this evening.

vietnamese chargrilled pork for bun cha

#1 vietnamese chargrilled pork for bun cha

my vietnamese chargrilled pork was exquisite this evening! ^^

grilled prawns for bun cha

#1 grilled prawns for bun cha

my daughter don’t like porky taste, so i did a grilled prawns for her. 🙂

aromatics - basil, mint, coriander & lime leaves

aromatics – basil, mint, coriander & lime leaves

a very important ingredient for bun cha & many vietnamese dishes (like pho) is aromatics. for this evening i had basil, mint, coriander & lime leaves. 🙂

bun cha - vietnamese chargrilled pork on beehoon

#1 bun cha – vietnamese chargrilled pork on beehoon

everyone loved the bun cha! 🙂

it’s as good as the bun cha we had at morning glory hoi an & at siagon baguette central mall singapore but we prefer grilled pork collar to meat balls.

about same as the bun cha at mrs pho.

sotong salad

#2 sotong salad

& i made a nice salad, using julienned carrots, daikon (radish), japanese cucumber.

for both bun cha & the sotong salad, a key ingredient is the mixing sauce, which i made with chicken stock, fish sauce, vinegar, a little sugar.

other than commonplace bun cha which is outright vietnamese, many of the “vietnamese” dishes we had were on the luxury cruise.

quite a few were actually chinese dishes & not particularly impressive.

several though had nice lemongrass & herb seasoning & aroma, plus the refreshing salads & very good egg spinach soup. don’t know how vietnamese they were, but i was aiming to reproduce these to relish our vietnam moments. ^^

lemongrass BBQ snapper

#3 lemongrass BBQ snapper

my lemongrass BBQ snapper turned out beautifully, lightly yet distinctly lemongrass scented. quite exquisite. 🙂

lemongrass BBQ chicken wings

#4 lemongrass BBQ chicken wings

the lemongrass BBQ chicken wing likewise was very tasty & different because of the lemongrass. & very tender inside the charred skin. 🙂

flamed 1 hr 70degC sous vide flat squid

#5 flamed 1 hr 70degC sous vide flat squid

same with the squid. i only do slow braising for 1 hr in a 70degC oven & flamed it afterwards, and the taste & texture were both perfect. my children love this dish. 🙂

thai yellow curry for flat squid

#5 thai yellow curry for flat squid

especially when served with the thai yellow curry, a variation of my grilled chicken thighs with thai yellow curry dip.

i created that after having a very nice grilled chicken green curry fried rice at busaba shoreditch london.

my dry wok prawns has been consistently excellent. this time though it was not so successful.

reason is that lemongrass marinate in the chiller does not work. prawns needed to be ultra fresh so i should have just fried in lemongrass & ginger instead of marinating in the chiller.

grilled pork ribs

#7 grilled pork ribs

grilled pork ribs was perfect in texture but seasoning a bit off today.

the best egg spinach soup

#8 the best egg spinach soup

my egg spinach soup was pure perfection. i used mixed chicken stock & fish stock becos they were there & need to be used. it was better than the very good soup we had on the dragon legend cruise.

com chien - vietnamese fried rice

#9 com chien – vietnamese fried rice

my com chien – vietnamese fried rice was passable. still tasty & rice not mushy & separate grains but somehow it was quite different from the excellent com chien we had on dragon legend cruise.

not sure why? their rice felt like baked rice & very tasty.

tiramisu was good but the usual.

all vietnamese dinner spread

all vietnamese dinner spread

we had a marvellous dinner. great family time.

beehoon, chragrilled pork & grilled prawns

#1 beehoon, chragrilled pork & grilled prawns

for bun cha, i cooked beehoon al dente.

chargrilled pork collar was marinated in chiller for 2 days, then fried in butter on high heat.

grilled prawns for bun cha

#1 grilled prawns for bun cha

i had grilled prawns in place of pork for eldest daughter. 🙂

aromatics - basil, mint, coriander & lime leaves

#1 aromatics – basil, mint, coriander & lime leaves

& lots of aromatics  – basil, mint, coriander &amp; lime leaves. 🙂

aromatics - basil, mint, coriander & lime leaves

#1 aromatics – basil, mint, coriander & lime leaves

lots!

browned shallots

#1 & #8 browned shallots

& browned shallots which was also good for the soup. 🙂

steamed squid for salad

#2 steamed squid for salad

sotong salad

#2 sotong salad

sotong salad

#2 sotong salad

sotong was steamed & cut in rings & carrots, daikon (radish) & japanese cucumbers were julienned. plus sliced yellow onions.

lemongrass BBQ snapper

#4 lemongrass BBQ snapper

i tried the lemongrass dry marinade on snapper as i wanted a fish with firmer meat. came out beautifully! 🙂

lemongrass BBQ snapper+flamed sous vide squid

#5 & #6 lemongrass BBQ snapper+flamed sous vide squid

i used a flat squid which is thicker as i wanted that feel.

flamed 1 hr 70degC sous vide flat squid

#5 flamed 1 hr 70degC sous vide flat squid

i “sous vide” it at 70degC for 1 hr in oven in lemongrass marinade in a sealed oven dish so it won’t dry out.

then i flamed with a kitchen torche & the result was simply perfect! excellent taste & texture! 🙂

grilled pork ribs

#6 grilled pork ribs

i did my slow oven braising 90degC for 6hrs. texture was perfect but today the marinade was not that great!

lemongrass BBQ chicken wings

#3 lemongrass BBQ chicken wings

lemongrass BBQ chicken wings

#3 lemongrass BBQ chicken wings

chicken wings were great!

com chien - vietnamese fried rice

#9 com chien – vietnamese fried rice

com chien much to be improved la. 🙂

the simplest dish is the hardest to make, as always an universal truth! 🙂

it’s a memorable evening with family, with the excitement of replicating some dishes we enjoyed in vietnam.

c.h.e.f andy