All posts tagged: chinese food

Imperial Treasure, Hong Kong: New Go-to Michelin-Quality Chinese Restaurant

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Even though Imperial Treasure was awarded Two Michelin Stars in Shanghai last year, and has been a household brand name in Singapore for many more years, I admittedly had not heard of this restaurant until it opened in One Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui recently. When I mentioned I was coming here to a Singaporean friend visiting town, the familiarity of the name had her burst into excitement. Apparently it’s her go-to Chinese restaurant in Singapore. Over there, they have established many different dining concepts: casual dim sum, hot pot, Peking duck and even congee. Presentable, yet still affordable While Imperial Treasure has a range of different concepts in Singapore, the one in Hong Kong is a higher-end Chinese restaurant – the type you would go to for a nice dim sum lunch or proper extended family dinner or even business meals. In fact, its beautiful views over Victoria Harbour means that it’s also appropriate to treat your colleagues or clients from out of town here. As I inspected the regular a la carte menu, I breathed with relief that it was not …

Lee Lo Mei: Creative Hong Kong Food with Quality Ingredients

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Learning that a plate of rice rolls (cheung fan/腸粉) at Lee Lo Mei would cost HK$138 initially made me roll my eyes at a potentially overpriced gimmicky spot. I was skeptical as to whether foie gras and truffle would actually be a meaningful upgrade to the traditional cheung fan, which is already delicious with simple char siu or minced beef. I mentioned these feelings while having brunch at Mamasita’s Cantina five floors up (same restaurant group) one day, and a friend insisted that the food was genuinely really good, while acknowledging the slightly high prices. So I finally checked it out for myself, and could not agree more with the summary that it’s pricey but it’s good. Charmingly Colourful Dai Pai Dong Decor Lee Lo Mei’s use of the Hong Kong dai pai dong theme is hipster-ish borderline cliche, though perfectly in line with their menu offering. They used better quality foldable tables and stools to recreate that local street vibe, but the consequence of uncomfortable seating is admittedly a questionable compromise for cute decor. That said, half of the tables had better chairs – …

Bing Sheng 炳勝, Guangzhou: Best BBQ Pork You’ll Ever Have

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It was not the first time I was taking the direct two-hour train ride from Hung Hom to Guangzhou. But my previous visits had been pretty uneventful, so it was no surprise that my mother would be in shock when I told her my plans: For what… What is there to do in Guangzhou?  This time I was going there to eat the purportedly best BBQ Pork/Char Siu at Bing Sheng Restaurant – frequently cited to be one of the best restaurants in Guangzhou. Char Siu – High Expectations, No Disappointment You know how it goes, high expectations are bound to lead to disappointment. Despite being told beforehand that “this is not the best char siu I’ve had, it’s the best I’ll ever have” – honestly, it could not have been more hyped up for me – I was still immensely impressed. We ordered the two types of char siu: black/dark and crispy. We were divided on which one we loved more and I say it’s always mandatory to order both. Each piece of the black/dark char siu was a piece of perfection. …

Dragon Noodles Academy: Peking Duck, Lobster Noodles and More

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It’s always been a mission to find good quality Chinese food around Central which offers comfortable seating (to entertain visitors, for example), yet is not extortionately priced, excessively formal or terribly outdated. Dragon Noodles Academy seems to fulfil this particular demand quite perfectly. That said, I actually just came here on a random week night after the gym… so it can be pretty casual too. The Newest Hip Chinese place-to-be The decor of this place makes it a hip spot-to-be, yet the seating wasn’t claustrophobic like many hip restaurants are in Hong Kong these days. It has a good dose of excessive Chinese-y designs: think lion dance heads, wing chun props, golden dragons on the wall etc. At the same time, it still felt casual enough – the overly formal settings at some higher end Chinese restaurants tend to make me feel uncomfortable. They also have two semi-private large round tables, which can accommodate up to 12 people. These spots are perfect for slightly laid back work lunches or dinners. Lobster tail soup noodles (HK$149) They have a whole section of different …

Gourmet food delivered to your door or desk with foodpanda

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Food delivery used to equate to regretfully eating one too many pizzas, KFCs or McNuggets. For the sake of health and my waist, that’s probably why I haven’t ordered delivery in years. But recently foodpanda has caught my attention; it’s an online food delivery service, where you can order restaurant food from a pretty impressively large number of outlets (at least around Central). They deliver it to your door (or office building, in my case). With the weather getting a little more unbearably hot, humid and stuffy by the day, I have increasingly less willingness to sweat 15 minutes in Central to find a good lunch spot. Ordering through foodpanda is one way to address my heat-averse problems. It’s also a great alternative for those who have to often eat at their desks. Ordering from Social Place (L Place) So the other day I ordered dim sum from Social Place and had it delivered to my office. The food quality was surprisingly close to what you’d get at the restaurant. I expected a little bit of sogginess (from the steam) in my bun …

Mak Man Kee: Must try wonton and shrimp roe noodles in Jordan

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I missed my stop to Tsim Sha Tsui one lunch time and randomly ended up in Jordan. There were many restaurants to choose from but for no particular reason, we ended up at Mak Man Kee Noodles. The place got super packed after sitting down for 10-15 mins. When our wonton noodles came, we had a feeling this place was a lot more popular than we had known! Shrimp roe noodles *must order* I always purposely go to one cafe in Macau (皇冠小館) that famously serves delicious shrimp roe noodles, so I was excited to see this on the menu at Mak Man Kee Noodles as I rarely do at my usual go-to wonton places in Hong Kong. Actually, these tasted pretty similar to the one I had in Macau. Shrimp-only wontons On the menu, these are called shrimp-only wontons, but I have a feeling a teeny bit of pork was in it, just to lump the whole thing together. The shrimp in the filling was pretty massive and had a welcomed crunch when bitten into. It was wrapped …

Best local Hong Kong dessert cafes serving durian

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Update: No. 3 Musang Durian is now closed – I guess there aren’t enough durian lovers in Hong Kong after all! Though most commonly found in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Malaysia), durian has amassed a large fan base here in Hong Kong. In fact, bringing home a durian (packed and sealed to contain the stinky smell) on a flight back from vacation is pretty common for the average durian-loving Hong Kong-er. *Durian is a fruit with a spiky green shell (like a pineapple), filled with yellow pieces of gooey creamy fruit. People either love it or absolutely cannot stand it. Why? It has an extremely strong off-putting odour. The taste and texture is a completely different story though. Durian can be expensive to buy, especially when it’s not in season (winter). A pack with two pieces of the top notch “Musang durian” in a supermarket could cost about HK$400! So having durian desserts is definitely a more mainstream way to satisfy such craving. Here are my favourite local Hong Kong dessert cafes, which offer Delicious Durian Desserts (DDD). Check out which stores …