~Food Around Town~
The Spaghetti House:
Today I’m at the Spaghetti House. They are known as the area experts in pasta so since this is my first meal of the day (I did try cuttle fish as a snack), I opted for something filling. Eating solo I thought my wait would be everlasting but I was seated quickly. I ordered the Moroccan salmon crisp, Squid Ink Risotto with grilled chicken and the white wine cocktail. The Moroccan salmon crisp was the perfect starter. It came out quickly and was tasty. It was not over-filling but helped with my cravings while I waited for the main dish. I choose the
Squid ink chicken dish strictly because it was a black sauce pasta. I had no idea what to expect, and thought if I hated it the salmon crisp alone was enough to give this place a good review. It was wonderful. The chicken was juicy and squid ink had a nice light, peppery spice to it over the risotto. If you are looking for something different that would be my choice. The food and service was excellent. Thanks for a great first meal! BNRR
Manchester United:
This lovely Futbol theme location was exciting for me because I love futbol. This visit was part of a tour package through Shoestring Travel – last stop of the day. The menu was pre set for us but we got to choose between chicken breast or salmon cake for the main course. I choose the latter. They started us with a Caesar salad topped with fresh parmesan. Next they served us tomato soup which way a perfect match to the red theme of the place. Great flavor not bland at all which most tomato soup has a tendency to be in my opinion. The salmon cake was great. Moist inside and crispy outside – riquisimo (delicious). And for the finish a lovely dessert – custard and cake shaped like a soccer ball! It was too cute. Score 1 for Manchester United Restaurant. No other place leaves you with the feeling of Goooooooooooooooooooooooal! BNRR
Macau Dynasty Restaurant:
This restaurant I found while doing a dry run to look for the bar where I was going to for Halloween. Its located on Kimberly Street next to Ben and Jerry’s (so close to dessert). The English is minimal but the staff is very polite and they do have an English language Menu. The food is Excellent and very affordable. There is plenty of seating and they have flatscreen Tv’s thorough out. I ate at this location twice. Both occasions I had the Shrimp Toast appetizer and I tried the Minced Pork without rice and the lunch special Pork Bun Sandwich. The minced pork was delicious and at one point I didn’t think I was going to finish it because the Shrimp Toast was more filling then it looked and it came faster than expected. The Pork Bun Sandwich was good as well but there was more bread then meat. I also tried the Portuguese Egg tart that I keep seeing advertised everywhere. It reminded me of sweet grits with egg, almost like a breakfast dessert. Macau Dynasty is definitely worth a visit if you are in Hong Kong. And once you are done with your food go around the corner to Knutsford Terrace for Happy Hour at one of the many bar/lounges. BNRR
Que Pasa-Mexican/Spanish:
Located on Knutsford Terrace – This little piece of Mexico caught my eye while exploring Knutsford Terrace. I stopped by on Halloween on the way back to my hostel for the nachos! They really hit the spot. I was really hungry and they came out quickly and had everything. It was so good that I wasnt sure if it was just my hunger talking or if this place was really that good. So I went back a few days later for dinner again and a chance to get out of the rain. Because they have Mexican and Spanish inspired dishes I ordered one thing from each menu. I tried the Salmon tostadas and the Chorizo Carmelizada. While waiting on my order they gave me free olives and capers and some long thin bread sticks, its looked almost to artful to eat, almost! They also served bread and cheesy red sauce, YUM. The Salmon Toastada was delightful. The salmon was fresh and tasty served on lightly toasted bread for a slight crunch with a salty caper on top of cream. The Chorizo Carmelizada was chorizo served with carmelized veggies and sweet potato and potato chucks. This was much better than I expected. For those that like Chorizo but don’t like the hot, don’t worry this is Spanish chorizo so it’s not spicy at all. I really like Latin food and it was great to find some quality Latin food in Hong Kong. BNRR
Shakey’s Pizza:
I seen Shakey’s Pizza while going to the Spaghetti House – there are a few locations around the TST area. Here I was seated quickly very similar set up as Spaghetti house. They also have like many of the restaurants around the menu located outside so I had an idea of what I wanted but I did still look over the menu up stairs in the better lighting. They have so many options that looked so good after all the running around that I did it made it hard to pick just one thing. I finally settled on Seafood Bisque and BBQ Chicken Pizza (thin crust) . The seafood bisque was wonderful. It was warm, creamy and lots of crab meat. The BBQ Chicken pizza came out quick and it was truly thin crust. It was thinner than a cracker. I wasnt sure how it was holding up the toppings. It tasted great however. It was sweet and crispy. No leftovers for this meal. BNRR
Dim Sum Place:
I made a mental note of this place my first night in Hong Kong. We passed it on the way home from the night market at the other end of Nathan Road. When I really had the urge for some Pork buns I started to retrace my steps back up Nathans road. That walked seemed to take for every and I thought I might not have remembered the right direction. With heavy legs and sleepy feet I almost turned around and gave up. That is when I saw the sign. Eureka! I got 4 BBQ Pork Buns and started my trek back to Garden Hostel. I stopped in route back had 2 pork buns sitting on the benches in front of the strip mall by Kowloon park. I did go back to this place again as well for a full meal – more BBQ pork buns and Steamed Fish with lemon preserve. The meal also came with a great soup and rice. The Fish was fresh and moist and the lemon preserve and veggies that came with it were so good I could have eaten a whole plate of just that. This place is open 24 hours and is clearly in high demand. It’s very small and because I was alone I did have to share my table a few times. Even thought there was not any talking between me and table mates – we still connected over one of the most basic of all human activities- Eating! BNRR
Serenade:
Food with a view! This place is located on the Avenue of Stars/Promenade. This super-fancy place is a great place to get some quality seafood. The prices to reflect the look of this place. But the views of the harbor are priceless. I came at lunch time right at the Dim Sum lunch period was ending. I would love to be seated here during the Symphony of lights show to see everything all lit up. I had the Spicy Shrimp soup and it lived up to its name. I did not eat the chile pepper that was added to the soup but it did give the rest of the soup a nice – manageable heat and the large prawn was sweet and a cooling last bite. The Crab meat and Roe pasta was my favorite. The soft noodles and creamy crab meat was smooth and the crisp roe was a nice texture. There was so much I was able to take it with me to eat for later. Note to folks eating here – CHECK YOUR BILL. I did the math on my phone before I ordered – I did have enough cash on me but just in case I needed to know if I needed to use my bank card I wanted to know before hand. When the bill came with about 15HKD more than I expected I had them go over the bill with me. I found they were charging me for pickles (one of those extras that some establishments come out with right away before you even finish looking over the menu some places its free – most places it shows up on the bill). I wouldn’t have minded if I actually was served pickles and had the option to say yes or no. Since I never received them and I didn’t have time to wait around for them to bring them out to me I had them remove it from the bill. This place has the tip/service charge already added on the bill total so that took care of that and it was resolved quickly. BNRR
~ Pre Planed Meals~
Po Lin Vegetarian Restaurant:
This lunch was part of my Lantau Tour that took us to the Monistary and vegetarian Restaurant by the Big Buddha. We had a soup, a few different options for the main courses and dessert. This was my least favorite meal but there were some highlights. Mostly the flavor of the soup was appealing but the texture of the veggies I personally could not get over. I did try some of the other dishes at the main course. They did a great job on the vegetables on many of the plates and the noodles were good too. I did try the tofu dish but the texture was even softer them blubber and I don’t do things that feel like fat in my mouth. The dessert custard was great finish to the meal. In the end I am a meat eater, but I was a great change of pace to see how the other half eats. Out of respect for all the hard work the monks do to prepare the meals – It was suggested to not take photos. I didn’t even cheat this time so no photos will be included at this time. I really do recommend this place especially if you are not a meat-eater or our allergic to seafood, try this place you just might love it.
Jumbo Kingdom Floating Restaurant:
I had dinner here part of our Evening Tour that took us to Sky Terrace and Madame Tussaud’s’ . So if you are going to hang out with the (wax) Stars, you should eat like a star. This Floating restaurant has had a very star-studded guest list. As soon as you step off your little boat on this one you know right away why Kingdom is in the title. It’s like a Giant Floating Palace. From the gilded Dragons to the wall murals and the many crystal chandeliers everywhere, Jumbo Kingdom truly lives up to its reputation. The menu was already chosen for us as part of the tour but if you are a vegetarian or had other religious issues with the menu as part of the tour they were able to call ahead and have a vegetarian meal ready instead. The tables were being prepared for us which gave us a few moments to take photos before we sat down to eat. We started out with Corn and Crab soup. It was very warm and smooth and the corn and crabmeat were a very nice match. Also we had a variety of options for the main courses from a seafood dish with Shrimp and Squid, Noodles with peanut sauce , Beef and Broccoli and Chicken and cashews. Every thing I tried was great - Dessert was a mango custard with mango pieces that melted in your mouth. If you get a chance you must have dinner here. The experience is not to be missed. I was glad I took this tour and got a chance to eat like a star! BNRR
~ Delivery/Room Service~
There used to be a communal Kitchen in our Hostel but recently they had to stop using it and there is still a big note up in the hostel about them no longer offering that service. But not to worry they still have a communal refrigerator and there is always delivery. Apparently even McDonald’s delivers in Hong Kong. Mickey, my lovely new friend that works the night shift for the Garden Hostel Desk told me they can order in for us. The prices are very low but the food was great. She told me they had chicken wings and rice for a very small amount, so small I was sure it would be almost no food so I order 4 wings– which ended up being closer to like for Chicken halves! It was very good and I was sold on that place and a future option. They used to have a Microwave oven when they had a kitchen and they don’t have on at this time so I ended up just eating the left overs at room temp later and it was still really tasty. The next time she suggested I try the chicken filet( cut in to chunks) and Choi sum- a vegetable native to Hong Kong. I took her suggestion and it was a great one . The chicken was juicy and the choi sum was like a leafy asparagus. I don’t know the name of the place that they ordered from but when I email Mickey I will ask her and update this Blog. But if you are at the Garden hostel ask them what is good and they will order it for you and its usually not a long wait at all. Kitchen closes at 10:30 pm though to keep that in mind if you are running around to have the order placed by then. BNRR
~Snacks and Such~
Snacks can be found everywhere! Vending machines, 7-11, corner shops. No matter what you are in the mood for, junk food can be found. Its great for if you are between meals, tours or you didn’t make it back in time before the Kitchen closed for Delivery service. Many places like KFC and McDonalds are open 24hours. If you just got the munchies you will not go hungry in Hong Kong. Grab some Mr. Juicy and a bag of Chips or snatch up some meatballs on a stick . Not sure if you would like the food- do as our tour guide Richard Gee reminded me – find the place with the longest line. Usually if there are alot of locals there the food is really good and in many cases much cheaper then most tourist traps.
No espero nada, no tengo miedo de nada, soy libre!
