Hong Kong - Day 5, 6 and 7

The jet lag is slowly subsiding and in the day time I'm dealing with the fattest headache because work hours should be when I'm sleeping in Asia. Food doesn't taste good right now because I'm still a bit disoriented. Boo. Since I can't sleep, I treat you to a recap of days 5, 6, and 7 of Hong Kong.

Dirty but interesting wet market.

Blue and white shrimps!

Apparently our relatives are really in the know about popular food places. We ate at several highly rated restaurants specializing in a single dish.

Like Mak's Noodle, famous for wonton noodle soup in a rice bowl sized bowl. It was so good. MSG goodness of course but still so good. And those gai lan greens were very young and tender. They basically only have about a few menu items all cooked by those two chefs in a small space the size of a closet. The items are: wonton noodle soup, dumpling noodle soup, wonton and dumpling noodle soup, wonton and/or dumpling soup by itself with no noodles, and the gai lan greens.

Yat Lok is famous for their roast goose and noodle dish. This restaurant has one Michelin star and Anthony Bourdain ate here. But then again he ate everywhere in Hong Kong and the people were proud. News articles with his image touting their special dishes were posted on these restaurant windows. The roast goose is ordered separately with either rice or noodles. Their specialty is the noodle dish though. I had to admit, that was one fantastic goose. I haven't had roast goose before this trip except for a few days prior. At that time, goose tasted fatty and gross. It was like all the fat parts of a chicken and none of the meat. However, Yat Lok's goose was leaner with a fatty taste but you don't really feel or see any fat tissue. It went really well with the noodle soup. I can see why Anthony Bourdain would eat here. I'm not a qualified expert to see why it earned the Michelin star though.

Bonus points: You can throw your goose bones right onto the table and they'll clean it up afterwards.

Day 5 ended with a tapas meal at a Western style restaurant. It was tasty enough but overpriced, with small portions, and felt very much like being in America. Here is the rack of lamb entree. Two piddly lamb ribs are considered an entree.

Our cousin took us to a fancy and well known restaurant called Ms B's Cakery for dessert. It is known for the cakes but they also serve food. Ms B's sits atop a high rise and was once the penthouse home of a rich CEO. The night time view of the city was amazing.

Top: Peach sangria with mixed fruit

Left: Lychee cake with Light and airy mousse

Right: Coffee crunch cake (my preference over the two)  

My favorite Asian dessert is tofu pudding with syrup. I've mentioned this a billion times before. On Day 6, we were fortunate to have a house made version, fresh in a wooden and metal container. Craving satisfied! 

Hello to blog reader Kay for meeting up with us and taking us to Crystal Jade, HK's answer to the Taiwanese chain, Din Tai Fung. I've never eaten at Din Tai Fung but I had my guest blogger Sherry post about it. You can read about her experience here. Both Crystal Jade and Din Tai Fung are chains known for the xiao long bao -- the juicy dumpling that eats like a bag of soup. 

Crispy tofu skin rolls with mushrooms inside were a noteworthy favorite for me. 

This assemble-yourself sandwich was a new hit too. You take a flat, square peking duck type of bun (right) and lay in a piece of ham with honey sauce(?), crispy fried tofu skins(?), and pieces of cucumber. It was surprisingly amazing. I was very wary because as you can see, I can't even tell what all the ingredients are, and a sugary glaze on ham sounds strange. It's good though, I tell ya.

 And on to the main event, the xiao long bao. We ordered 2 trays of 4 dumplings each. True to form, they were juicy soup filled fun pockets. That sounds dirty but hey, when in doubt about food writing, always use sexual innuendos to make your point. So good. I should have ordered 2 more trays. Maybe now I will have to go to Din Tai Fung in the US to get my fix.