1) The Expo Promenade or Golden Bauhinia Square was located outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on the waterfront of Wan Chai. There would be a special flag raising ceremony from 7.45am to 8.03am daily unless it was in bad weather conditions. That was also if I could wake up at 7am or even earlier. Of course I did not make it. :p I visited the Golden Bauhinia Square in the afternoon.
Wan Cai Police Station on the way to Expo Promenade
2) Honululu Coffee Shop star product was their puff pastry egg tart(酥皮蛋撻). Different from cookies crust egg tart from Tai Cheong, puff pastry is light, flaky, unleavened pastry containing several layers of fat which is in solid state at 20°C(Source from Wikipedia). It was said that Honululu egg tart was more flaky with a total of 192 layers of puff pastry(normal pastry had 100 layers).
Honolulu Coffee Shop 檀島咖啡餅店
G/F 176-178 Hennessy Road Wan Cai
灣仔軒尼詩道176-178號地下及閣樓
Tel: 2575 1823
6am-12pm
Honolulu Coffee Shop
I ordered two egg tarts and one cup of Honulolu Coffee. One was never enough.
Closer look to the layers of puff pastry
3) We passed by Kam Fung Restaurant and were attracted by the crowd of people. This restaurant was another good choice for 3.30pm tea break. We joined the crowd and took away a cup of chilled milk tea and an egg tart. Did you notice that I said chilled milk tea and not iced milk tea? Yes, Kam Fung served their chilled milk tea without ice. Therefore, there would be no more diluted milk tea when the ice melts.
Kam Fung Restaurant 金鳳茶餐廳
G/F 41 Spring Garden Lane, Wan Cai 灣仔春園街41號春園大廈地下
Tel: 2572 0526
6am-7pm daily
Kam Fung Cafe
egg tarts fresh from the oven
Chilled milk tea
4) Cart Noodle(车仔麵) was a popular roadside food since 1950s. Street vendors were selling noodles with toppings to low income group using carts. It was also known as "filthy noodle" (嗱喳麵) for its poor hygiene. Later, the street vendors had vanished and the cart noodle was moved into more proper shops. Out of so many cart noodle shops, we have picked Cart Noodle Family(车仔面之家).
Cart Noodle Family 车仔面之家
G/F 1/A Anton St Wan Cai 湾仔晏顿街1号A
Mon-Fri 8am-7pm
Tel: 852-25296313
Cart Noodle Family offered stand-up meal(立食).
There was a bi-language menu on the wall next to the noodles counter.
A bowl of thin noodles with white radish, mushroom, pig intestine and etc. Delicious!
This was a very famous herbal tea stall in Wan Cai. Give it a try if you happen to pass by.
Wan Cai Map
Wan Cai(灣仔), Causeway Bay(銅鑼灣) and North Point(北角) are three places in Hong Kong Island. They could be reached by either MTR or Tram. I am going to dedicate one post for each of them.
I reached Causeway Bay at noon. First stop was the landmark of Causeway bay, Time square. I managed to get myself a few pants here.
This photo was taken at the building behind Time Square. The faded and dirty painting of this building was a big contrast to the new and modern Time Square building.
There were a few villain hitters under the flyover at the intersection of Hennessy Road and Canal Road West. That was the main reason I went to Causeway Bay. Not for Time Square, not for any good food, but to look for this traditional culture. Locals believe that villain hitting(打小人) could help to curse the villains that would be bringing bad luck to them.
Lunch was at Bowrington Hawker Centre. It was located at the busy Bowrington Rd where locals did their wet market shopping.
There were many food stalls in Bowrington Hawker Centre and Wai Kee（惠记）was one of them.
Wai Kee’s best sellers were the roast duck(烧鸭） and curry lamb brisket(咖喱羊腩).
Wai Kee was equipped with air-conditioner and the same was true for many other hawker centres in Hong Kong.
Wai Kee served Halal food and we were sharing table with two Muslim women.
The curry lamb brisket looked inviting. As expected, the lamb brisket was soft and gentle; the curry was thick, aromatic and appetizing. I could easily finish the whole plate of rice with the curry. Curry lamb brisket with rice was sold at HK$26.
Then, we went for our second lunch at Ho Hung Kee Congee and Noodles Specialist (何洪记粥面专家). When it came to wantan noodles, Ho Hung Kee was always on the top list. To maintain their standard and quality, there was no Ho Hung Kee branch in other area. So, how could we miss Ho Hung Kee when we were in Causeway Bay?
Full house
Delicious food did not have to be complicated. Ho Hung Kee has captured the hearts of many with just wantan noodles and wantan in clear prawn broth. Another signature dish was the stir fried flat rice noodles with beef (干炒牛河) which we were too full to try.
A meal would not be complete without dessert. A local in Ho Hung Kee recommended us Honeymoon Dessert (满记甜品) from Saigon(西贡). She told us that Honeymoon Dessert had a branch in Time Square.
No menu was needed as all the desserts were displayed nicely.
My first dessert was mango pancake (芒果班戟), HK$23.
Fresh mango and cream were wrapped with pancake into pillow shape. I liked it being served chilled.
Second dessert was Mango and Pomelo Sago (楊枝金露), HK$24. This was also a must-try dessert in Hong Kong. You can find it in most of the dessert shop.
Wai Kee 清真惠记
21 Bowrington Rd Wan Cai
灣仔寶靈頓道21號鵝頸街市鵝頸熟食中心1樓5號
Tel: 2574 1131
11.00am-7pm
P/S: Wai Kee addresss is in Wan Cai. But it is very near to Causeway Bay Time Square. Please refer to the map link below.
Ho Hung Kee Congee and Noodles Specialist 何洪记粥面专家
G/F 2, Sharp St. East, Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣霎東街2號
Tel: 2577 6558
11.30am-11.30pm daily
Causeway Bay Map
This is a long waited post. Many asked about the dim sum I had in Hong Kong.
We went to Chao Inn, Tsim Sha Tsui. Chao Inn was located at No1, Peking Road. Can you see the big ‘1’ in the photo below? That tall building was where Chao Inn located. This building received award for its architectural design.
No1, Peking Rd
Chao Inn reception was right outside the 10th floor lift.
Just next to the reception counter, it was the promotion notice board. Click to enlarge if needed. They were having different promotions for different time slots. We were there for the best deal. From Monday to Friday before 12noon or 2-4pm, the dim sum were sold at HK$10, HK$12, HK$14 and HK$16 for small(小点), medium(中点), big(大点) and special(特点) items respectively. If not mistaken, that was 50% off normal price.
We were led to our table. The interior was mostly dark wood furniture and decorated with some bird cages. The restaurant was overlooking the Victoria Harbour. So if you could get a table by the window, you would be rewarded with great view.
At the end of the restaurant was the kitchen where all the dim sum was prepared.
Pan Fried Radish Cake(香煎蘿蔔糕) - Medium
Prawn Dumpling(潮仙蝦餃皇) - Special
Meat Dumpling(蟹籽燒賣皇) - Big
Crab Roe Xiu Long Pao(蟹黄小笼包) was very common in Hong Kong, but that was my first time trying it.
Closer look to the XLB
Steamed Rice Roll (肠粉)
If you are to ask me to describe each dish, I am so sorry that I could not remember the details. But I could still remember that they were all very delicious. Thumbs up! No wonder Hong Kong is so famous for their dim sum. Did I also mention that Chao Inn did not have 10% tax for food and the chinese tea was given free? So even if you are a budget traveller, you can also afford Chao Inn dim sum. When I was waiting for my return flight, I had Chao Inn dim sum again in Hong Kong airport. I will blog about airport food later.
After the sumptuous breakfast, we took Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Hong Kong Island. Star Ferry was in operation for more than 100 years, providing an alternative way to cross the ocean.
Chao Inn 潮樓
10/F, 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀北京道1號10樓
Tel: 2369 8819
9am-12midnight
Tsim Sha Tsui map
Updated 18/11/09:
Chao Inn at Peking Road has been closed down recently. Please refer to this link if you wish to visit other Chao Inn's branches.
We travelled from Sha Tin to Tsim Sha Tsui. It was still early for Symphony of Lights. And shopping was the easiest and most preferred way to kill time.
You are not going home with empty hands.
The Avenue of Stars was located along Victoria Harbour Front, Tsim Sha Tsui, and that was also the best viewpoint for Symphony of Lights. As compared to Hollywood Walk of Fame, I found that I could recognise more Hong Kong stars.
Reserved for Leslie Cheung, but he was not be able make it
Hand print of Hollywood Star from Malaysia, Michelle Yeoh
Symphony of Lights was staged at 8pm. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the soundtrack was in English; on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday it would be in Chinese; and Sunday it would be in Cantonese. I was quite disappointed with the presentation as it had nothing special and was quite boring. Anyway, spending half an hour watching Hong Kong night scenery with breezing winds was not a bad idea.
Symphony of Lights
In Tsim Sha Tsui, we also saw Mister Softee(富豪雪糕) . Mister Softee was originated in United States, was introduced to Hong Kong since 1970s. So, it was childhood memory for many Hong Kong people.
Mister Softee Van
Mister Softee ice-cream at HK$7
The Sweet Dynasty(糖朝) that we did not have a chance to try.
We had not tried any Hong Kong style roast meat until that very day. So we decided to have that for dinner.
Wing Hap Lung(永合隆) was famous for its roast pork. Jacky Chan once ordered one whole roast pig from this restaurant for his father’s birthday.
the counter
photos taken with superstars
You can opt for the rice to be served in bowl or plate. I opted for bowl. A bowl of rice topped with your selection. Did it not give a taste of old style restaurant? The first one was roast duck and boiled chicken with rice(烧鸭和白鸡饭）.
The second bowl was roast pork with rice(烧肉饭). Do not be cheated by the appearance. The roast pork was much better than it looked. And it was definitely better than the roast duck and chicken. If I am to go again, I will go at lunch time. Not many choices were left when we were there because we were late. Or else I would have tried their golden chicken(金钱鸡). It was sold out.
Wing Hap Lung Restaurant 永合隆饭店
G/F 392 Portland St Prince Edward 太子砵蘭街392號
Tel: 2380 8511
11am-10pm
Tsim Sha Tsui map
Prince Edward map
