we walked over to the shop 楼上(level 22 at the block opposite metropark hotel) which sells dried goods like scallops, mushrooms, sea cucumber, chinese sausage etc & also some chilled & frozen stuff. i bought some flower mushrooms & expensive pine nuts for wife.
after that we went back hotel for rest, drink some kungfu tea 功夫茶 (i brought my traveling 功夫茶kit which sis bought for me), internet, chitchat etc..
6pm+ we went out for dinner.
i at first suggested a place in mongkok where they have promotions like some HK$178 lobster dish & HK$128 garoupa dish.
my friends suggested to go to a teochew restaurant. they were just being nice to me.
anyhow after googling i decided to try Pak Loh Chiu Chow restaurant 百樂潮洲酒家. it is at MOKO Mall next to royal plaza hotel. i thought it may not be too expensive, being located in a mall.
of course, upon entering, it was quite obvious that this place was on the posh side.
it was quite full though, so no lacking people with lots of money to throw….
a look at the menu confirmed it-
- braised goose 鲁鹅 was like HK$588 for one, HK$298 for 1/2 or the like. i ordered just a regular portion, & that was HK$198.
- just recap 1/2 roast goose at tao heung was HK$118 promo price, without promo it would have been HK$188.
- & likewise all the other dishes.
i didn’t want to walk out, afterall we are focused on having a fun, relaxed holiday & not be bothered with these stuff. so 既来之则安之 & enjoy the place & food & evening la.
but i also didn’t want to pay ridiculous prices when there are so many cheap & good alternatives in hong kong, so has to be strategic in my orders.
so i ordered-
- braised goose (regular portion) 鲁鹅例 = HK$198
- claypot bittergourd pork ribs 苦瓜炆排骨 = HK$108
- prawn paste claypot lettuce = HK$98
- olive vegetable fried rice – 橄榄菜肉碎芥兰粒炒饭 = HK$98
luckily – the dishes were all nice, so to the restaurant’s credit, the food was good restaurant standard.
the braised goose 鲁鹅was good – tender, nice flavour. it was good, but not like fantastic, and for such a portion, maybe HK$98 – HK$128max is what i would pay.
the claypot bittergourd pork ribs 苦瓜炆排骨 was also good & tasty.
i love this dish.
at first i thought it was the black bean sauce bittergourd fried pork ribs preparation. it didn’t say black beans in the menu.
and of course, the soupy claypot bittergourd pork ribs 苦瓜炆排骨is a standard teochew dish very popular in hong kong restaurants & daipaidong.
i enjoyed this dish very much, and my friends did too. one even said the bittergourd not bitter, but actually the slight distinct bitter taste was what made it so tasty.
the prawn paste claypot lettuce i was not familiar, but it was very good too.
and i absolutely loved the rice. great wok hae, tasty, singular grains, not mushy.
& that is something i can make at home too, quite easily. i have the 橄榄菜.
so nice, i definitely making this la!
so the bill was like HK$634, say about S$120 for 4pax. overall price not that ex, but that was also what i meant by strategic ordering.
so i ordered a carb (fried rice), a veg, a soup cum veg cum meat, and a braised goose (the defining teochew dish), and that was actually quite enough to fill up 4 of us. even though we could have eaten more, it was quite enough.
so in perspective, the overall dining experience at Pak Loh Chiu Chow restaurant 百樂潮洲酒家 actually not bad, but then we could have easily spent double that, & then probably not so fun. whereas spending HK$634 for this dinner was quite enjoyable, i would feel constrained if i come again. on balance, probably not come again!
don’t like the feeling of paying just for paying sake!
c.h.e.f andy
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