Shoot First Eat Later

Dinner at King’s Dumpling

There were so many dining options to choose from at The One but finally we chose King’s Dumpling.

King’s Dumpling is a popular restaurant chain from Shenzhen where they have many branches.

They offer Taiwanese food just like Crytal Jade and many others. It seems Taiwanese food is popping up in Hong Kong and Manila from the ubiquitous milk tea and chicken chops to restaurants serving dumplings and dan dan noodles.

We started the meal with a bowl of beef soup. The soup was lukewarm at best so we had it reheated. The beef was mildly spicy and very tender. The soup was very, very flavorful. It seemed like they boiled the soup for a long time.

braised beef soup HK$46

The noodles were al dente which was a big plus. The soup was medium spicy and it lacked a more peanuty taste.

Taiwan style dan dan noodles HK$27

The fried dumplings were one of the best I’ve tried. The skin was thin and the bottom was super crispy.

pan fried hotbed chives dumplings HK$36

I loved the presentation of the fried pork buns. It came in a hot iron pan with it’s own little turner. But that’s all I liked about it. There was barely any pork filling I could taste. It was mostly bun.

pan fried pork buns HK$36

sauteed eel w/ hotbed chives HK$68

8 treasures rice pudding HK$34

The sweet glutinous rice pudding had a filling of mashed red beans. Yummy and not too sweet.

We didn’t order the xiao long bao anymore since we were getting tired of eating xiao long bao all the time. Overall the food was ok. The prices were pretty decent too. They had an extensive menu with many, many other things I wanted to try.

menu

King’s Dumpling
4/F, L404, The ONE,
100 Nathan Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
telephone: +852-2489-8066

The One, Hong Kong

Last October I discovered a new mall in Tsim Sha Tsui by accident. I was amazed that there was another tall retail building just a couple of blocks away from the relatively new iSquare and K11.

From to their website:

The ONE, the latest all-in-one retail complex developed by Chinese Estates Holdings, is one of the most anticipated developments in Tsim Sha Tsui. With its superb location, The ONE is rejuvenating the district by linking up the traditional shopping zones along Canton Road and TST Central, and create the strongest consumer attraction ever, adding a bright spark to Hong Kong’s retail landscape.

The 29-storey The ONE is the tallest retail complex in Hong Kong. More than 200 shops together and offer all-in-one unique retail experience across over 400,000 square feet of space, featuring an integrated tenant mix from luxury jewelries & watches, fashion & accessories, skincare and cosmetics, the hip & trendy mode, home & lifestyle goods and AV & digital gadgets to entertainment and fine dining.

Check out the changing lights visible when you take the escalator.

Each level had it’s own theme but restaurants and eateries were all over.

There were so many new restaurants to choose from.

The lay-out was a bit confusing though. There are two sets of escalators on each floor. One in front and one at the back. And in the middle of each floor was more stores.

I window shopped at the stores towards the back going up and looked at the stores in the front going down. And I totally skipped the middle portion. That’s how the lay-out made sense to me.

The One is located at the corner of Granville and Nathan roads. It’s very near Miramar Shopping Center.

Tomorrow I will feature the restaurant we ate in.

The ONE
100 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Ay-Sheng Flour-Rice Noodle 阿升麵線

When I went to Crumbs in Mongkok I noticed a stall right next to it that sold all sorts of Taiwanese food. It reminded me of my recent trip to Taipei so I checked it out.

They sold popular Taiwanese snacks like fried chicken cutlets, minced pork on rice and cuttlefish balls.

Their most popular item is the pig intestine flour-rice noodle which I didn’t try because I don’t eat pig intestine and the flour-rice noodles soup looked like our misua which I don’t like either. Yes call me weird.

pig intestine flour-rice noodle HK$14 Small

I did try their caramel pudding milk tea.

I liked the texture of the caramel milk pudding. It reminded me of leche flan but less sweet. The milk tea wasn’t very strong though. It was just ok as a whole.

caramel pudding milk tea HK$14

I also bought the plum powdered sweet potato fries for my lunch. I remembered how good the sweet potato fries were in Raohe Market in Taipei and I hoped that these would be as good.

These fries were very crisp, sweet and sprinkled with lots of black pepper and plum powder. The combination of the sweet, tart plum powder with the spicy black pepper and sweet potatoes were amazing! So many contrasting flavors yet it all came together for a yummy snack.

plum powdered sweet potato HK$10 (small)

While taking pictures I saw the fried mushrooms on the menu and had to order it too. Golden and button mushrooms were lightly coated with batter, fried to a crisp and spiced with salt and pepper.

Greasy and sooooo delicious!!

I love fried food but I can’t stand the grease so I always blot the oil to death. I do this to pizza, fried chicken and even dim sum. 🙂

My fried lunch!

I love going to Mongkok for all sorts of bargains, computer stuff, sneakers and all kinds of street food specially on busy Bute Street. So if you’re feeling adventurous try to visit this area and get a feel of local Hong Kong.

Next to Ay-Sheng is another food stall. Look at the lady telling me not to take pictures.

Ay-Sheng Flour-Rice Noodle Menu

click to enlarge

Ay-Sheng Flour-Rice Noodle
60A Bute Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong
telephone: +852-3755-0132

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you!!! I hope all your wishes and dreams for the year were fulfilled. May you all have a blessed and prosperous year ahead.

I’m in Hong Kong right now so I’d like to share some images that represent the Christmas spirit here in Hong Kong.

lobby of Holiday Inn Golden Mile

Hello Kitty Christmas at Langham Place

Crazy shopping queues all over town specially at all the designer brands.

Yes even Coach had a long line!

Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui starting to fill up with people at around 7:00 pm, Dec. 24, 2010.

Peking Rd. and Nathan Rd. and nearby streets all filled up with people just walking around enjoying the cool breeze. This was taken around 10:30 pm. I expect the crowds to be on the streets until 1-2 am. Why do they do this every year? I ask myself that question every year. Any ideas why people in Hong Kong flock to the streets on December 24 and 31?

Holiday Eating Tips

I got this in my inbox and it’s just perfect for the upcoming eating spree we will all be indulging in. Thanks George!

Holiday Eating Tips
1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately.. Go next door, where they’re serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It’s rare.. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It’s not as if you’re going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It’s a treat.. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It’s later than you think. It’sChristmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That’s the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they’re made with skim milk or whole milk. If it’s skim, pass. Why bother? It’s like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people’s food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year’s. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you’ll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don’t budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They’re like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you’re never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don’t like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it’s loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don’t feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven’t been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO HOO what a ride!”

Crumbs Scones and Frozen Yogurt

Last October I was looking at openrice.com trying to find new places in Hong Kong to try when I saw Crumbs on the top ten list of most searched restaurants. Since I loved scones I went to buy some the next day.

I went to their branch in Mongkok since that was the most convenient to me.

There were only 3 flavors of scones to choose from and you had to buy a minimum of 3 pieces of any flavor.

I had my share of samples specially when their backs were turned.

According to their web site the scones are baked fresh every ten minutes.

I loved the scones! The cheese scones contained a generous quantity of Australian parmesan cheese. The texture was very crumbly but not dry. It was incredibly buttery. My only gripe was they were too small for the price. A cheese scone costs HK$7 each. The three scones below were on a typical Corelle 6 3/4 bread plate. I could easily eat a whole scone in two bites. But to prolong my pleasure I took little pinches of the scone and savored all the flavor and butter worth $7.

cheese scones

The chocolate scones, also HK$7, were loaded with chocolate chips. I couldn’t decide which flavor I liked more. Having both cheese and chocolate together was really just perfect. Cheese scones for the main snack and chocolate scones for the dessert snack. I didn’t buy any raisin scones to try.

chocolate scones

Crumbs also sold frozen yogurt but I skipped that since I’ve had my share of frozen yogurt in Manila. There’s also a craze for frozen yogurt in Hong Kong with several brands popping up left and right.

Crumbs

Shop B, 64 Bute Street, Mong Kok
telephone: +852-2393-5772

Shop 1C, G/F, Central Mansion, 8 Cannon Street, Causeway Bay
telephone: +852-2793-9393

G17, GI Mall, 34 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
(yogurt only)
telephone: +852-2301-2991

Shop P23, MCL Cinemas Telford, Telford Plaza,
33 Wai Yip Street, Kowloon Bay
telephone: +852-9537-9695

Philippine Airlines Food Mnl-Hkg-Mnl Oct. 2010

This was the food on our flight on Philippine Airlines to and from Hong Kong last October 2010. As usual PAL doesn’t fail to deliver one of the best airplane meals in my experience.

My no/low carb diet ended the minute I entered PAL’s lounge and headed straight for the arroz caldo. The downfall continued in the plane where I had a delicious breakfast of soft, juicy and well marinated tenderloin tapa, garlic rice and the softest, creamiest scrambled eggs which I mixed with my rice.

pork tenderloin tapa

They always have my favorite bircher muesli for breakfast. I wish they would skip the mango puree on top because it made the muesli too sweet. No dried figs this time. Just fresh mangoes and sliced almonds.

bircher muesli

This was the first time I encountered ensaymada in their bread basket. Usually they offered an assortment of croissants, muffins and danish pastries which I always skipped. I was curious to how the ensaymada tasted. Oh my, it was wonderful! It wasn’t as soft nor was it too firm. The texture was perfectly in between. The cheese wasn’t salty or soft and there wasn’t a lot of butter or sugar but somehow I loved it! I asked the flight attendant who supplied it, she said the local airline caterer did. Yum!!!

ensaymada

This was the dinner menu for our flight back home.

I skipped the smoke tuna since I didn’t like the red color. I thought it was Chinese pork asado at first.

smoked tuna w/ spinach sesame salad

I had a rule to never order fish on a plane because it was never fresh or tender since it was stuck in a food warmer for a while it had a tendency to become overcooked and rubbery.

Since there was nothing else I liked and I wasn’t that hungry I took a chance and ordered the grilled sea bass. It was amazingly cooked just right. It was still succulent and juicy. Quite a feat for airline food. The sauce was a coconut based mild Thai curry which was so fragrant and delicious but there wasn’t enough. I wanted more sauce! The rice was just ok. I didn’t really taste any crab.

grilled sea bass w/ Thai red curry sauce & crab fried rice

Naturally, the opera cake from Bizu was excellent! I love PAL’s food!!!

Bizu’s opera cake

Dinner at Miso Cool

We discovered this ramen restaurant last October in K11 mall in Tsim Sha Tsui and it’s now one of our favorite places for affordable and delicious ramen.

This is my mom’s favorite ramen. It had different varieties of fresh mushroom and the broth was a little milky. The bowl of ramen was healthy and vegetarian yet filling. The ramen noodles were very al dente.

mushroom w/ assorted organic vegetables ramen w/ soup HK$52

Hokkaido scallops & scrambled eggs on rice HK$52

They really had a good presentation for the shake shake salad. The server gamely paused her shaking of the salad canister so I could take pictures.

Sakura shrimp shake shake salad HK$49

Asides from the usual bacon bits the other topping was dried Sakura shrimp. It really brought a different taste to the rather ordinary salad with soy vinaigrette. The dried shrimps were crisp and a bit salty.

Sakura shrimp shake shake salad

Fast forward December and we ate at Miso Cool again. The ribs were really tender and the red wine sauce was really, really good. I wanted to drink the sauce! Sorry for the iPhone photos. I forgot to bring out my camera.

ribs in red wine sauce

Last October I ordered their house special pan fried Japanese bbq pork ramen noodles but I forgot to upload the picture. Anyway the picture didn’t look as good as it really was. The pork cubes were dark brown and rather unappetizing but the taste was out of this world good. It was so tender and had a natural sweetness to it. No wonder all the servers’ shirts had ‘pan fried Japanese bbq pork ramen noodles‘ printed on it.

This time they had an additional one page menu with all their new products. I tried the Kurobuta pork ramen noodles which were HK$20 more expensive. I shouldn’t be surprised since in Japan Kurobuta pork is as prized as Kobe beef. Most of the high end restaurants in the US use Kurobuta pork.

If I thought the first pork was good this was even better. It was even more flavorful and tender. I usually don’t eat the fat but it didn’t taste like fat at all. Strange but true. Anyway it was pretty lean. I also enjoyed the crisp corn kernels. The canned corn in Manila doesn’t taste as sweet or crunchy as that.

Kurobuta bbq pork ramen HK$72

They also had Hokkaido frozen yogurt and lots of dessert choices but we’re always too full to try any. Maybe next time! Yes there will definitely be a next time.

Miso Cool menu
(not complete since they forbade me to take pics when I was down to the last few pages)

ramen & udon, more ramen, cold noodles, rice, more rice, small dishes
new dishes, more new dishes

Miso Cool

shop B231-B233, K11, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
telephone: +852-3122-4477

Shop SLG8-9A, Sub-lower G/F, Westlands Gardens, 2-10 Westlands Road, Quarry Bay
telephone: +852-2565-1001

1/F, 11 Stanley Street, Central
telephone: +852-2868-3738

Ikea Almond Cake w/ Dark Chocolate

I’ve always been curious what this cake tasted like so on my last trip to Hong Kong I bought one.

It costs US$4.99 and probably about HK$40. I forgot exactly how much I paid for it.

It was a pretty small and short cake that yielded 6-8 slices.

I kept it in the freezer. It was easy to slice even when frozen. I thought it would taste like our sans rival but it wasn’t buttery at all. It was crunchy from the ground almonds and egg white base. It wasn’t very sweet, just right. Since this cake doesn’t contain flour it was gluten free. Not bad for a store bought frozen dessert but it was not as satisfying as sans rival.

My next goal is to try Ikea’s princess cake.

Dim Sum at Hak Ka Hut

I love dim sum. I think I can eat dim sum in Hong Kong everyday. I’ve eaten at Hak Ka Hut before and I loved their version of Hainanese chicken which they call baked chicken w/ savory sauce. It’s salted chicken and very, very flavorful. The vermicelli or bihon pictured above was quite dry but I liked the unique taste.

Last October we discovered they started offering dim sum at very reasonable prices.

The cold almond milk was free with the noodles I think. Why? I don’t know. I don’t ask if they give me free food.

almond milk

The only dim sum not so great was the super greasy fried beancurd roll. After I blotted all the oil it was pretty decent.

fried beancurd roll

These veggies were so yummy specially with all those fresh mushrooms. Perfect match!

veggies w/ fresh mushrooms

I love bbq pork in traditional white siopao, in baked pastries and now inside a pineapple bun. They call it pineapple bun for the sweet crispy topping on the bun. It’s similar to kopi buns’ topping.

bbq pork pineapple bun

Why would anyone steam pork rinds? That’s sacrilegious! Pork rinds are meant to be oily and crunchy. Where’s the fun in eating them wet and soft? This dish boggles my taste sensibilities.

steamed pork rind w/ chicken & mushrooms

spinach dumplings

I don’t eat white rice. This isn’t white right? It’s brown, sticky, oily and so freakin’ good.

glutinous rice

Imagine all of that food for only HK$100!

They had a promo if you finish eating before 12 noon which we did. For HK$17 you choose two types of dim sum.

If you don’t read Chinese like me then you’re out of luck. I had to rely on others to order. I can’t wait to go back for more cheap and yummy dim sum!

Hak Ka Hut Dim Sum Menu (click to enlarge)

Hak Ka Hut
3/F, Oterprise Square 26 Nathan Rd,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
telephone: 2369 3822