Food Diary - Another Long Weekend in Hong Kong

Last year's Easter weekend, we visited friends in Hong Kong. And this year in September, we took the opportunity of another long weekend to pop by Hong Kong again. Coincidentally, our friends KK and GC also planned to be passing through Hong Kong on their Asia vacation, to meet up with XF, our friend in Hong Kong. So it turned out to be a bit of a mini reunion with us coming in from Singapore, KK from Germany and GC from Brazil.

Yui Jamie at the Edward Youde Aviary, Hong Kong Park (IG)

DAY 1

Late lunch after we landed at The Night Market, a modern Taiwanese eatery at Elements in Kowloon that serves up classic Taipei street food, though in an upscale and modern set-up. I love the tableware they use. And the food is pretty authentic.

The Night Market, Elements, Kowloon, Hong Kong (IG).

The beef noodles soup, i.e. the hong shao beef noodles (紅燒牛肉麵). Can't have Taiwanese food and not eat hong shao beef noodles!

Hong shao beef noodles at The Night Market, Elements, Kowloon, Hong Kong (IG).

Of course, Hubby ordered the popcorn chicken. He just loves his fried chicken.

Popcorn chicken at The Night Market, Elements, Kowloon, Hong Kong (IG).

The lo bak gou 萝卜糕 was unexpected. I was expecting a pan-fried square cake made of rice flour and shredded daikon radish....

Turnip cake (more like turnip puff) at the Night Market, Elements, Kowloon, Hong Kong (IG).

But what appeared looked more like a flaky pastry dish. I was reminded of the beef tenderloin puffs at Man Wah, from a July 2011 trip, with the shredded turnip was encased in layered puff pastry. It was good but call me a traditionalist, because I like it that way best.

View of Hong Kong Island from Hoi Fai Road Garden, Kowloon (IG)

Late night supper at Four Seasons Claypot Rice (四季煲仔飯) in Yau Ma Tei, widely recommended as one of Hong Kong's best claypot rice spots. When we got to the place, there weren't many people, probably because it was pretty late at night. We opted for the chicken and lap cheong claypot.

Chicken and lap cheong claypot rice, Four Seasons Claypot Rice, Hong Kong.

Personally, it was good, an authentic claypot rice done the traditional way, but to be honest, I don't really think it's all that great. The chicken was tender and the aroma was good, but maybe I was somewhat disappointed because it was overall a bit dry, and wasn't smoky, and we would've liked more crunchy charred bits of rice at the bottom of the pot. But it was definitely a very local experience, a great way to experience Hong Kong's older, grittier side. We don't get many old school places like Four Seasons much here in Sg anymore.

DAY 2

Day 2 started with lunch with JC, my Australian friend who's been working in Hong Kong for some years now. We met up for lunch at Les Fils à Maman, a casual French bistro in some quiet alley in Central Hong Kong. It's on Hollywood Road, more like a narrow alley off Hollywood Road. And the 3 of us got a little lost looking for it. Update: Les Fils closed in June 2020 as the founder Stéphane returned to France.

Baked Camembert cheese at Les Fils à Maman, Hong Kong.

Sitting at the table and looking out over this small garden space nearby made it difficult to believe we were in Central. It was a nice, quiet and homely place to kick back and enjoy some simple, classic French dishes. Did I mention it was relatively inexpensive too? Apparently, Les Fils was first founded in Paris by 4 friends who thought to pass down their mothers' recipes, hence the name which is French for "Mama's Boys".

The 3 of us shared the Baked Camembert with smoke salmon and toast. It was really nothing fancy, but was pretty good.

Les Fils à Maman, Hong Kong. What dish this was, for the life of me I can't remember.

JC and I shared the beef bourguignon which, surprise surprise, didn't have pearl onions and mushrooms. It was still a hearty dish though, and came with a little fresh salad and a mound of fries.

Beef bourguignon at Les Fils à Maman, Hong Kong.

The 3 of us spent a lot of time catching up and discussing career moves (well, JC was looking to move to Singapore). After lunch, we hopped over to JC's flat, which was also in Central, to chat more. He was telling us about his shoebox flat and how he would've liked to be living in a bigger place if it weren't so expensive. Being a British-born Aussie, he was pretty used to larger living premises. Can't say I blame him for feeling cooped up as Hong Kong flats really are crazy small and expensive.

Time flew before we knew it, and it was time for us to head off to our next meet-up with friends XF, KK and GC, also in Central. We did tell JC everyone was happy for him to join, but he already had plans. So, this dinner meet was at Mak Mak, a modern Thai restaurant in Landmark. Update: Mak Mak closed in September 2024.

Dinner at Mak Mak, Landmark Hong Kong.

So, apparently Mak Mak opened some time last year, and is another restaurant by JIA Group/HK-based Singaporean restaurateur Yenn Wong. Hubby and XF pretty much decided on what to order, with some input from me, while KK (a German vegetarian) and GC (Brazilian) were happy to go along for the ride.

Mak Mak, Landmark Hong Kong (IG).

We got the yum sum o, which was a pomelo salad with prawns, chicken, roasted coconut dressed with lime and palm sugar. It was fresh and punchy.

A fresh and punchy Yum Sum O at Mak Mak, Landmark Hong Kong (IG).

Vaguely recall we ordered the green mango salad (yum ma muong) too, as KK's vegetarian. We also asked the restaurant if they could do a vegetarian dish just for him, and they came up with a spicy stir-fried tofu dish; I think it was pad krapow tao hoo which is Thai basil stir-fry with tofu instead of minced meat.

The stir-fried vegetarian dish they came up with for KK, Mak Mak, Landmark Hong Kong (IG).

Well, KK wasn't so strict that he wouldn't taste some of the other dishes, so he had a taste of a bit of everything (just not the meat). He thoroughly enjoyed everything, though he also lamented how he loves spicy food but can't take spice.

Phad Thai, Mak Mak, Landmark Hong Kong (IG).

We ordered quite a lot of dishes to share. Frankly, it was a feast...tom yum goong, the kheaw wan po nim (soft shell crab green curry), gaeng phed ped yang (roast duck red curry), nuer phad cha (spicy stir-fried beef)... I couldn't remember every dish we got.

It was an eclectic, kind of topsy-turvy day in terms of food. We kind of went from rustic inexpensive classic French to upscale modern Thai. In comparison to Les Fils, Mak Mak was not expensive, but not inexpensive either.

DAY 3

Yumcha at Maxim's Palace, City Hall, Hong Kong (IG).

This time, we did traditional style yumcha at Maxim's Palace 美心皇宮 at Central City Hall, a Hong Kong institution. A little like Lin Heung (back in 2011), another Hong Kong yumcha institution, but also different.

Yumcha at Maxim's Palace, City Hall, Hong Kong (IG).

Totally different yumcha experience from Man Mo Cafe (here) and Social Place (here), which we went to last Easter. Social Place was also with XF. Everything here is very traditional Cantonese. Push carts loaded with steaming bamboo long of dimsum, and that aroma that every traditional dimsum place has.

Yumcha at Maxim's Palace, City Hall (IG).

Nothing fancy or prettily plated here but everything is just a classic and tasty too. Plus I'm normally not a big fan of dan taat but the ones here had very flaky pastry, niiiiiice.

Super flaky egg tarts at Maxim's Palace, City Hall (IG).

After yumcha, we popped by St John's Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral that is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Hong Kong. It was founded in 1847, consecrated as St John's Cathedral in 1852, and declared a monument of Hong Kong in 1996. Built in plain 13th century English Gothic Revival style, it is Hong Kong's oldest surviving Western ecclesiastical building, and is supposedly the oldest Anglican church in East Asia.

St. John's Cathedral, Hong Kong

St. John's Cathedral, Hong Kong

The beautiful stained glass windows, St. John's Cathedral, Hong Kong

Afterwards, we went for a stroll in Hong Kong Park, specifically the Edward Youde Aviary, a 3,000 sqm aviary. I'm not sure whose idea it was; it might've been mine since I'm always looking for green spaces.

Yui Jamie at the Edward Youde Aviary, Hong Kong Park (IG)

The aviary's namesake is Sir Edward Youde (尤德, Yau Tak in Cantonese), a British administrator and diplomat who was Governor of Hong Kong from 1982 to 1986. The aviary has a collection of some 530 birds of 60 different species from the Malay peninsula, the Sunda islands, Indonesia, New Guinea and the Bismarck archipelago.

A bold and curious Bali mynah perched on the walkway rails, Hong Kong Park

Honestly, it was a little difficult to believe such a vast green space was located smack within central Hong Kong. But I guess every city has always had that calm, peaceful green space of some sort. And in truth, outside of the urban jungle of Hong Kong lies vast natural spaces too.

View from Hong Kong Park Vantage Point

View from Hong Kong Park Vantage Point

We also popped in the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. This one hits my soft spot for ceramics and porcelain. But I think while my interest was in the ceramics and teaware, my companions were probably focused only on escaping the muggy heat.

Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, Hong Kong Park

The museum's exhibits spanned a wide history of Chinese tea ware, from the Zhou dynasty to present-day, and included both clay and porcelain pieces. There were lovely pieces from the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. Quality pieces too, with pieces from celebrated kilns - Song's Five Great Kilns (Ru, Ding, Guan, Jun, Ge), Longquan, Cizhou and Jingdezhen.

Of the contemporary pieces, I was impressed with how some were made to resemble natural items (e.g. bamboo or tree branches), right down to the fine details. But in the end, my favourite of all the present-day pieces was "A Cup of Tea, Two Pieces of Dimsum" by Wong Kam Fung (above). Other than the play on the Hong Kong tea-drinking vernacular in its title, the teacups looked like bao (包 bao = steam buns). Love it!!!

I don't remember when but at some point Hubby insisted on fitting in a bowl of Mak's wonton mee. Because one can't go to Hong Kong and not eat Mak's wonton mee, according to Hubby.

Wonton mee at Mak's Noodles, Hong Kong

Did the touristy thing and went up the Peak. Specifically speaking, the Peak Galleria rooftop terrace. It was super crowded, probably because blue hour is a really popular time.

View from the Peak Galleria rooftop observation deck - part of the Islands District, the South China Sea (sunset pic on IG)

View from the Peak Tower - the Hong Kong cityscape and Victoria Harbour (IG)

Sure the sweeping view of Victoria Harbour, central Hong Kong and Kowloon was pretty stunning but I think I won't be going up a second time.

The final stop for the day was dinner at Braza Churrascaria at Lan Kwai Fong, a popular expat spot in central Hong Kong. I think XF was thinking of GC here, GC being Brazilian.

Braza Churrascaria, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

Really good service, with loads of meat cuts, e.g. spit-roasted beef, lamb, pork, seafood. There was a generous salad bar too, which kept KK happy and well fed. We all had a bit of the signature cuts, like the flank. Most of the meats were good, but some were a little overcooked and dry. Overall, I do feel the experience is a little wasted on me because I'm not a huge meat eater, and after a while, it was a huge blur, and all of us felt like our bellies were going to explode.

Last meet up at Braza Churrascaria, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong