ladies and gentlemen, the moment has finally arrived for the 57 picture photoblog to emerge!!! today's the first day in two weeks that i don't really have anything to do here in shanghai, so i thought, "what better way to waste an entire afternoon than putting up a massive photoblog and allowing mosquitoes to eat me alive?!"
so here it is, a review of the places we dined at in hong kong. the following pictures are the result of the 6 lb weight gain (5 of which i've lost while in shanghai... what does that say about the food here? hm...) obvious at the end of the blog. hell, it was definitely worth it. 
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Cafe EOS - just outside the Tin Hau MTR (mass transit railway) station
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my first day in hong kong and what do i have for breakfast? a waffle with some fruit and a raisin scone. not exactly a 'HK breakfast', but a delicious one nonetheless. AD and i decided to try the breakfast sets at Cafe EOS since it was right near his place. adey's set consisted of garlic bread, a sausage, bacon, eggs, and grilled tomatoes. i had an excellent waffle with bananas and strawberries, and we shared a plate of raisin scones. the sets also come with fresh OJ and coffee!
the raisin scones are a MUST TRY - they bake them when you order them, so you have to wait a few minutes. but believe me, the experience of tasting these freshly-baked, heavenly scones and letting it melt in your mouth is unbelievable. make sure you eat them when they're served; definitely not for take away.
if you feel like a quality british breakfast, do try Cafe EOS. grade: A.
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XTC Gelato -
Upper G/F, 19 Wing Wah Lane
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the best gelato i've ever tasted. who would've thought that delicious italian ice cream would be found in the heart of lan kwai fong?
we loved it so much, we went back twice. make sure you go during lunch hour to take advantage of their lunch special - buy a 3 flavor bowl for HK$40 and get a 2 flavor bowl for free! best deal EVER.
flavors we tried:
volcanic pistachio - if you love pistachio ice cream, you NEED to try XTC's rendition that's even better than ben and jerry's
clover honey yogurt - a distinct yogurt taste for those hardcore froyo fans
caffe arabica - "quite ze yummy" - AD
chocolate xtc - good compliment to the caffe arabica, not half bad by itself!
rum raisin - not too bad... a little too rummy, but the raisins added a nice touch (AD)
blu - not too blueberry-ey, but good nonetheless. the bits of blueberry (skin?) in it were actually quite nice! (AD)
red raspberry (sorbetto) - also very good, up there with the lemon zinger (AD)
lemon zinger (sorbetto) - probably the most refreshing sorbet of them all (AD)
mango paradiso (sorbetto) - a refreshing, icy real-mango-flavored treat perfect on those blazing HK afternoons
nutcoco (sorbetto) - very creamy, like whipped coconut milk, but sorbet style, & without the artificial coconut flavor that most ice creams have
yarr, gelatoooo --- patriotic adey with his white tee, blue jeans, and red/white/blu treat
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El Cid Caramar - Shop 102, Murray House, Stanley Plaza, Stanley
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located right on the waterfront in stanley, El Cid Caramar is the perfect place for a romantic spanish dinner. try to get a balcony seat if you can - the lights reflecting off of the water in stanley mixed with the serenading music makes me forget i was in hong kong. we shared a few tapas instead of ordering dishes for dinner, and that allowed us to sample two of their desserts - a freshly baked merengue and an apple-mango crumble. the merengue was really good for what it was; you could barely taste the egg (something i don't particularly like in merengues.) the apple-mango crumble was really nice; we kept taking tiny bites to savor it as long as we could.
my favorite part about this restaurant was the group of filipino serenaders that sang all throughout the restaurant. they sing a few songs for every table, and you can request songs too. there was a chinese song that was really pretty, and they also sang a filipino song per AD's request
i recommend this restaurant for anyone who is tired of the city and wants to get away just for the evening.
grade: A-
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Maxim's Chinese Restaurant - 2-3/F, Hennessey Centre, 500 Hennessey Road, Causeway Bay
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best dim sum in hong kong by far. we ate here three times while in HK - we even ate our last meal in HK here, right before we got onto the train to shanghai.
a very good dim sum restaurant considering Maxim's is a huge chain - and very reasonably priced too. once they forgot to stamp one of our dishes, sweet
anywho... we recommend: bo lo char siu bao (pineapple bun * char siu bao, as shown above on the left), the taro pastries pictured (look for the little swirlies in the cart), sponge cake, pai gwut (pork spare ribs), gau choi gao (veg dumplings), and zee mai lo (purple rice coconut milk dessert - oooh yum!).
after eating at several dim sum places in HK, we gave this our (and this will be surprising to some) 'Best Dim Sum in Hong Kong' award.
the service was okay (the carts don't come around too often), but the food & price definitely makes up for the lack of service.
grade: A+
being pheonii at Maxim's --- thumbs up!
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Honeymoon Dessert - all over HK & Kowloon - this one: Shop 1A, Entertainment Building, Central
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this place, along with Maxim's dim sum, gives chain eateries a great name. Honeymoon Desserts are consistently delicious for hong kong style desserts. it was my first time eating bird's nest soup (w/almond tea) and i have to say it wasn't as bad as i thought it was. bird's nest is something like regurgitate from sparrows, so basically i thought i'd puke it up myself once i ate it, but the almond tea make it quite palatable. the sweet ball in ginger soup was really good too (this seems to be a fave of a lot of ppl), if you like peanuts and sweet ginger soup.
*side note* there's a Honeymoon Dessert here in shanghai right by where AD and i are going to live... and i'm already excited to be blowing my money on HK desserts
... assuming i get a job, that is.
anywho, i recommend Honeymoon Desserts for great HK style desserts in clean bowls and plates.
grade: B+
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Baci Pizza - 1/F, 1 Lan Kwai Fong, Central
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Baci Pizza = really great thin crust gourmet styled pizzas. if you're a pizzaholic like i am, you MUST try the lunch special at Baci Pizza (12noon- 2:30pm). minestrone soup/cold cut platter, a good sized personal pizza, and coffee/tea for about the same price as one pizza costs off-lunchtime. we tried four different pizzas here and they were all 'ze excellent'. the bread basket is filled with warm italian bread and thin sheets of crispy dough, almost like the pizza crust. oooh, i'm missing Baci Pizza right now... i hear there's a Baci restaurant in shanghai, but i hear it doesn't live up to the HK Baci.
grade: A+
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i freaking love carbs. that is why i freaking love HK snacks - waffles and little egg treats
i've never tasted anything more satisfying to my palate than a sweet, crispy waffle dripping with peanut butter, condensed milk, butter, and sugar.
the gai daan jai is not too far behind - sweet dough shaped like little balls, crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. how can you not love these treats?!
see my opinions below:
a map of the HK snack food stands in causeway bay --- food stall #3
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1) this stall has THE BEST gaak jai beng (waffle) in all of causeway bay. their gai daan jai (egg-shapes pancake) is more crispy than usual, but that crunch is what separates it from the rest.
2) located on the busiest corner in causeway bay, this stall's gai daan jai is by far THE BEST. perfect texture and taste all for HK$10!
3) here's where AD first introduced me to the sinful waffle treat. i rate their waffle third best because the other two stalls were just too amazing.
4) here the gaak jai beng was a bit more chewy that usual, but it was definitely better than:
5) this stall. this stall only sells waffles and little egg treats because it's their "specialty", but special it is not. their taro gai dan jai was way too chewy (almost like playdough), and the strange taro flavor was masked by the fact that you have to chew for about 5 mins before you can swallow a bite. a workout for your jaw. their waffle was awful ("awful waffle")... don't waste your 10 bucks here.
an 'okay' waffle from food stall #4 & crap waffle from food stall #5 (note the look on AD's face) --- a very happy AD at food stall #3 (he was buying yu darn [fish balls.])
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Ichipan Crepes - Cannon Street next to food stall #4
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a Hong Kong-based Japanese-style crepe shop that should be named ichipan crap. oishii not!
i should've figured it wouldn't have been that great since it's a chain store. the crepes had almost no filling in both the sweet and savory crepes. it was almost like eating air and crepe batter all wrapped up in a cute japanese package. we're only smiling because we thought it would be great, haha. i recommend only eating here if you're dying for a crepe.
grade: D MINUS
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if you can hold your crepe craving, i suggest Le Rendez-vous - G/F, No.5 Staunton Street, Soho, Central
they did a wonderful job with my hazelnut crepe - just the right amount of hazelnut syrup and a nice textured crepe. AD got a savory one - ham and cheese, awesome job.
definitely my recommendation for a crepe.
grade: B
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Light Vegetarian Restaurant - 1/F, New Lucky House, 13 Jordan Road, Jordan, Kowloon
(right behind the exit at the Jordan mtr station)
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even if you're not vegetarian, you should try this place's lunch buffet. they have a good sized spread that includes vegan char siu bao, lots of stir-frys, a variety of noodles, rice dishes, congee, a lot of veggie and veg meat dumplings, and a nice dessert spread - including a make-your-own HK waffle!! mmmm. they also do this thing where they sandwich honey between two soda crackers (see above) that's totally addicting even if you don't like crackers. definitely worth a try if you're exploring Jordan for the day.
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grade: A
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Tsui Wah - all over the place in Hong Kong and Kowloon
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everybody's favorite but mine. eating at Tsui Wah is like watching 'The Princess Bride'; you won't like it if you didn't grow up with it. Tsui Wah is like the hong kong equivalent of Denny's. they both have the comfort foods you crave at 3am when you're done clubbing or just out late, and all the food tastes better elsewhere. the best thing i had there was their fish ball noodle (of course i didn't eat the fish ball, but the broth was tasty). AD, however, swears by their fatty beef ho fun... on which i cannot comment.
grade: C (apologies to all the TW fans out there)
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see how unsatisfied AD is after a Tsui Wah lemon tea and a crispy butter bun (haha, kidding, he loved it.) --- some beer we found at the store next to Tsui Wah in Jordan. the beer reads "kodomo no nomimono" which means, "kiddie drinks". it's non-alcoholic beer for children, haha how's that? oh, those crazy japanese.
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许留山 Hui Lao Shan - all over the place in HK & Kowloon
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mmm, we need hui lao shan's all over the world. offering a variety of fruit smoothies, sago, grass jelly, and ice cream treats all based around mangoes and fresh fruit, hui lao shan does desserts right - the healthy way
) and for only $HK15, you can get a small mango fruit cup w/mango ice cream (pictured above.) the perfect place for a refreshing fruity treat.
grade: A
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Swagat Indian Restaurant - Shop 103, 1/F, ChungKing Mansion, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
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AD and i love our indian food, and Swagat did not disappoint. the navrattan korma (my fave dish) was just the right size to eat with an order of roti. AD's butter chicken had the best butter-chicken-sauce that has ever touched my tongue. he ordered naan that turned out to be quite fluffy. their mango lassi turned out to be more yogurt-y than expected, but i'm a yogurt fan so i loved it. a bit more expensive than i'd liked to have paid, but it was really tasty and well worth it.
pros: good quality indian food, breads, and drinks
cons: didn't have kashmiri naan (my fave naan bread), bad lighting (really dark), and a bit stuffy (bad a/c)
grade: A-
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Dragon Beard Candy Street Stall - just outside the Temple Street Night Market, Yau Ma Tei
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after touring the temple street night market in yau ma tei, we took a stroll along the park and ran into an old man selling interesting candies from his stand. my food curiosity perked up, and i asked AD to get us some. these dragon beard treats are definitely something to try. pop one in your mouth, and the stringy white spun sugar coating melts almost instantly into a sweet, gooey mass. it sounds disgusting, but it's quite tasty. there's a mixture of coconut, peanuts, and sesame inside the spun sugar that gives the candy its exotic flavor. the old man makes the candies right there on his cart - he needs to make it when you buy them because the sugar will melt in the heat, and it should be melting in your mouth, not in the package.
3 pieces for $HK10.
grade: A
devouring these delicious dragon delicacies --- in a sugar & maltose candy coma
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Xiao Nan Guo Shanghai Cuisine - 12/F, Times Square, Causeway Bay
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for some odd reason, AD and i found ourselves eating a lot of shanghainese food in hong kong. funny since we were heading to shanghai in a few weeks time
we stumbled across this restaurant in the times square food forum. we were going to try the vegetarian place directly adjacent to xiao nan guo, but AD ultimately decided on shanghainese. at first i was hesistant to try this restaurant because it looked really nice, and also i was pretty shanghainese-fooded out. after dinner, i was very glad we ate there because the food was really good and reasonably priced for a nice restaurant. we ordered five dishes between us: fatty pork, lion's head (shizi tou), tofu in sweet dark sauce, wa-wa choi, and vegetable buns. all five were excellent! 5/5, very rare.
if you're in the mood for shanghainese cuising in a nice restaurant, i recommend xiao nan guo for your dining experience. their service was excellent - quick, fast, always checking to see how things were at the table.
grade: A
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Scoop ice creamery - B/1, City'super, Times Square, Causeway Bay
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if you thought Coldstone Creamery was deelish, Scoop ice creamery kicks Coldstone's icy ass! with ice cream flavors like tofu, sesame, and green tea alongside vanilla and chocolate, Scoop takes mix-in ice cream to a whole new level. they have an entire range of toppings which include popular mix-ins like twix, oreo, and cookie dough, and not-so-popular cadbury candies as well. the waffle cone is guaranteed to be fresh - you can watch them make your waffle cone and dip it in white or milk chocolate right on the spot!
if you're in hong kong and want good ice cream (and i mean GOOD ice cream, not haagen dazs or other mediocre ice creams), do make your way down to Scoop, located in the basement of Times Square right by the cashiers in City'super's food market. you'll need to place your order, then take the order receipt to the City'super cashiers to pay for your ice cream. HK$25 for a one-scoop cup with 3 toppings and delicious ice cream = not a bad deal at all
grade: A++
there's also a Belgian Waffle place right beside Scoop that offers fresh, chewy, sweet belgian waffles. give that a try too if you have a few extra bucks - HK$15 for one.
grade: A
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City Hall Maxim's Palace - 2/F, The City Hall Low Block, Central
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although it's owned by Maxim's, the City Hall Maxim's Palace dim sum did not meet up to the high standard that Maxim's Chinese Restaurant set. City Hall Maxim's lacked those delicious taro pastries, and you have to order the bo lo char siu bao because they don't come out on the carts. their sponge cake was alright, and the pai gwut was okay too. i had an almond tea/sesame soup that was a lot better than some of the almond/sesame soups i'd tasted elsewhere. basically it was your normal dim sum restaurant - huge hall with tons of tables. one pro was that it's located on the waterfront, so if you get a table near the window, you'll have a nice view to compliment your dim sum meal. unfortunately, our table was not near the window. and we were surrounded by foreigners, which sort of took away from the dim sum atmosphere (very few foreigners at Maxim's in causeway bay.)
grade: B
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New Zealand Natural - G/F, Island Building, 439-445 Hennessey Road, Causeway Bay
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located at the entrance of the New Zealand Focus store in causeway bay is an ice cream stand that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. the best non-italian ice cream i've ever had was from new zealand, and that includes Hokey Pokey ice cream, which this place has! AD and i shared two scoops of hokey pokey and a scoop of ginger honey ice cream - ooooh heavenly. for those of you who have never tasted hokey pokey before and don't want to spend the money flying to NZ to do so, make sure you stop by New Zealand Natural for a scoop or two... or three. there's nothing that screams 'new zealand!' like those golden hokey pokey crunchy bits in hokey pokey ice cream. plus they gave us free world cup 2006 pins for buying ice cream. free crap + fantabulous ice cream = A!
grade: A
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Curry House - 3/F (? maybe 4?), 18 Taikoo Shing Road, Taikoo Shing
(a few floors down from the UA Cityplaza cinemas)
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the Cityplaza mall in Taikoo Shing has the most extensive, classy looking food court i've ever seen. from teppanyaki to BreadTalk to every other asian dish possible and pastas and fruit/juice bars, the food court really does have something for everyone. including lil' ol' indian cuisine loving vegetarian me! i got a set lunch from Curry House for i think HK$25, which included a bowl of curry, some rice, a side salad, soup, and freshly made naan! and i mean, FRESHLY MADE - see the blurry guy in the pic? he was baking naan in a pot for everyone to see. he whipped a huge piece of naan bread out of the pot and served it right on the trays. a V.great deal for an indian fast food lunch set.
if you're ever out in Taikoo Shing, catch a matinee movie at the UA Cityplaza cinemas (cheaper than elsewhere and don't forget a sweater or two - it's freeeezing in the theater) and a lunch special at the Cityplaza food court. you'll leave v.satisfied from getting two bargains in one day!
grade: A+
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Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill - 114 Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty
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you can't find better american food even in the U.S.! we went to Dan Ryan's twice - once on July 4th and once later - because of their delicious food. i must say that they are very consistent and reliable - we were more than satisfied with everything we ordered! we began with their nachos for an appetizer, and we received a heaping plate full of non-oily, non-soggy tortilla chips topped with just the right amount of cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and olives (fresh salsa on the side.) i had a papaya salad (so fresh! freshest salad in hong kong hands down!) and adey had cheeseburger with fries... mmm goood fries. not soggy, very crisp, and not too oily. for dessert we had an american sized carrot cake (pictured above) which was a lot better than all the carrot cakes i've eaten in U.S. restaurants.
did i mention that their bread basket consists of fresh baguette, whole wheat bread, and amazing muffins?! DROOL
we went back the second time because the muffins were to drool over. the second time we shared two appetizers - potato skins and nachos. two hefty american-sized appetizers really filled us up, but we still had room to try their molten chocolate cake with ice cream. i don't even like chocolate cake, but this dessert just may have changed my mind about choccake. once you cut the cake open, a flow of melted chocolate pours out onto the place. okay, i need to stop writing about this before i buy a ticket back to hong kong just to eat at Dan Ryan's.
Dan Ryan's is also reasonably priced - a little cheaper than what you would pay at, say, Cheesecake Factory.
the next time i go back to hong kong, i'm definitely making my way over to Dan Ryan's for their nachos and muffins.
grade: A++
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Luk Yu Tea House - 24-26 Stanley Street, Central
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dining in here is like having dim sum in the 1930s - old ceiling fans, art deco style lamps and booths, and stained glass art all over the walls. make sure you know your chinese when you go here because there are no carts here - you order by ticking off what you want on a pad of paper. you could be adventurous and just order random dishes, but i suggest having a look at the english menu too (even though they don't always have everything on the english menu, haha.) if you're looking for a unique dim sum experience, i suggest this place. but if you're looking for great food with quick service, look elsewhere.
grade: B-
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Cafe Deco Bar and Grill - Level 1-2, Peak Galleria, 118 Peak Road, The Peak
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our order: Sweet Almond, Butternut Squash, and Basil Soup, Roast Duck in Red Thai Curry, Lentil/Wheat Cakes with Asparagus, and Flaming Creme Brulee.
our verdict: a little pricey, but you definitely get your money's worth. all very great dishes, including the creme brulee that was served while still flaming.
if you get a window seat, you'll get a great view of HK from the peak while you enjoy your fusion food. definitely worth a visit if you have a few extra bucks to spend.
grade: A- ("meh" service, but maybe it was just that night..?)
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Sher-E Punjab - Shop 65, 1/F, ChungKing Mansion, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
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HOLY BEJEEZUS IF YOU WANT GOOD INDIAN FOOD, EAT HERE!
located right next to Swagat in the ChungKing Mansion is some greeeeat eats. for HK$25, you can get a complete vegetarian thali set that includes 1 lentil dish, 1 veg dish, some salad, and your choice of naan or roti. for HK$10 more, you can get the same thing but with a meat curry dish instead of the bread. a flippin' excellent deal indeed! the mango lassi here was really great the first time, but the second time we had it wasn't quite as up to par. the first time i ate here, i had their navrattan korma, which turned out to be really great - a lot of veggies and nuts with ample, creamy sauce. OH - they also had kashmiri naan!!! i'm drooling just thinking about it...
they won't let you substitute the naan in the lunch set for butter naan, so if you want butter naan, be prepared to pay for an extra set of bread. delicious, buttery, fluffy bread. oooooh...
anywho, AD had the masala tea and was very satisfied. we also shared a gulab jamun dessert which was quite sweet but light and heck, for HK$8 it was great.
if you want indian, i suggest here instead of swagat. you'll have to sit on the cheap tables and chairs, and you'll be in the presence of fans instead of an a/c, but i highly recommend this place for good indian eats.
grade: A++
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Dim Sum - 63 Sing Woo Road, Happy Valley
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if you feel like experiencing 'the Art of Chinese Tit-Bits', do visit Dim Sum in Happy Valley
the dishes here are a little more 'gourmet' than the usual dim sum dishes, which is reflected in the prices. it looked like it was 95% foreigners in the tiny restaurant, probably because this place is listed on every travel guide of HK ever made. we had a few dishes, not too bad but not excellent. you'll also probably have to share your table with someone unless you go with a group of 4+, so that was a slight bummer - we waited a bit until we had our own table. eating while facing random people kinda creeps me out. anywho, slightly overpriced + super busy = mediocre dim sum restaurant.
grade: B-
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The Flying Pan - 3/F, 81-85 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
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after being up all night, we were craving some IHOP reminiscent breakfast foods. good thing The Flying Pan exists in HK or we would have never had our palates satisfied. we visited the wan chai eatery (there's another one in central) and were greeted by some lazy staff and run down, dirty seats. do stay away from the couches if you decide to eat here. i had a veggie omelet (it was HUGE!) which came with a choice of bread, baked beans or spiced baked apples, and fresh juice (your choice between several.) AD had eggs florentine with the same choices. both dishes were really great! the only bad thing was that they would not let me take the tomatoes out of the omelette, and the spinach in AD's dish were of the frozen variety... tough and chewy, not all that tasty. i've noticed that restaurants in hong kong and china don't let you custom order your dish - very inconvenient for health-conscious eaters like me. i also ordered a pancake on the side that turned out to be really delicious. it was the picture perfect pancake - great spongy texture, perfectly round, pretty huge too.
aside from the kinda icky atmosphere and the stubbornness of the waiters and chefs to leave tomatoes out of my omelette, The Flying Pan turned out to be a really great place for reasonably priced, american diner-style breakfast foods.
grade: A-
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Froyo Fruit Stand - 2 or 3/F, Island Beverly, Causeway Bay
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oh my goodness gracious - i want one of these froyo machines at home! basically these fruit froyo stands work like this: you tell them what fruits/fillings you want in your yogurt, then they scoops up your fruit and pop a cup of frozen yogurt into this machine. after the machine mixes it all up well, it squeezes the yogurt back into the cup, and you have an amazing froyo delight in your hands. really cheap too, ~HK$20. we mixed mango and coconut together - it turned out so great, we were tempted to go back for one more. it seemed really popular - there was a bit of a wait to get our order in, but it was worth it. if i remember correctly, you pay for the number of different toppings you put in, but it's not pocket breaking at all.
if you're ever in island beverly, be sure to stop by this little shop for an intense, icy treat.
grade: A+
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The China Club - old Bank of China building, Central
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eating in this place is like eating in shanghai in the 1930s and 40s. it's almost gaudily decorated with pro-china pieces of art and shanghai tang-esque stained glass pieces. this might have to do with the fact that one of the guys who started shanghai tang also started The China Club. the food was okay - the dishes we had were things you can find elsewhere, but i think people eat here more for the atmosphere than the food. in the evening, there's a live jazz band that plays throughout the night, and after a few hours, a noodle maker came out and did his thing. don't get dessert at this place - a little overpriced for the normal desserts you can find elsewhere. the night we went turned out to be the first night they served their fortune cookies, and we were the first to receive them - neat ey? the fortunes were printed in chinese and english for the retards like me who can't read chinese and for the foreign businessmen who frequent this place.
definitely an atmospheric experience, but it's membership only.
grade: B+
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Cafe on Staunton Street (sorry! forgot the name) - across of Staunton Bar & Grill, Soho
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after a long night of wandering through soho looking for a dessert eatery, we decided to eat at a small cafe just across of the Staunton Bar & Grill. we ordered two specialty coffees (cinnamon and oreo) and a carrot cake slice and toffee banoffee slice. the coffees were okay - the rum in the cinnamon coffee was a little strong, and the baileys in the oreo coffee was a little weak. they were both also served luke-warm. the carrot cake was mediocre (i've tasted better), but the banoffee pie was great! excellent crust, ample cream filling, and just the right amount of banana to save the entire night.
if i could, i would have ordered the entire pie! this place had late night sets for about HK$90 which included a slice of cake/pie and a specialty coffee or glass of wine. a good deal that you usually wouldn't find that late in the evening (10pm or so.) AD also ordered a long island iced tea that turned out to be almost non-alcoholic, so i suggest going to a real bar for your mixed drinks.
alcoholic drinks: B
carrot cake: B
toffee banoffee: A
long island iced tea: C
overall grade: B
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新記美食 - Sun Kee Mei Sik - __ Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay (next to Wellcome)
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i'm a little bummed that AD didn't introduce me to this place sooner! at this noodle house, you check off what kind of noodle you want (ho fun, mai fun, yao meen [oil noodle], etc.) and what kind of meats and veggies you want in your bowl. HK$5 for each item (incl. noodles), with a HK$20 minimum. what a steal! i had ho fun in clear broth with water spinach, choy sum, and bean curd, and AD had yao meen in spicy broth with fish ball, water spinach, and braised egg. both bowls turned out to be an excellent deal (taste and amount) for the price we paid.
if you're in causeway bay and feel like noodles, do check out this small hole in the wall shop. they start selling skewers in the front of their store at around 2/3pm, so if you feel like eating more than just a bowl of noodles, try eating there in the late afternoon.
if i could go back to HK right now to eat there, i totally would. therefore, you should eat there. how's that for great logic?
grade: A
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人和荳品廠 - Yun Wo Dau Bun Cheung - 38 Jardine Crescent, Causeway Bay
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AD's dad told us the best 豆腐花 (soft tofu) came from this place, and it actually wasn't too bad. the tofu's texture was probably the softest and silkiest i've ever tasted, but the soups they came in weren't that great. their almond tea doufu fa left me with a numbed tongue - odd. the flavor was okay, but the feeling my tongue had after finishing the bowl was a little strange. AD said his coconut doufu tasted a little artificial. i also tried the sesame soup doufu, and the sesame was too grainy, almost like eating doufu with little bits of sesame-flavored charcoal. AD got the plain doufu the second time, and i think if i were to go there again, i'd order it plain too. but since i've gotten in the habit of making my own doufu fa at home, i probably wouldn't go back again.
it's definitely worth a try if you're looking for soft tofu with silky texture. the shop also has some tofu dishes and meals, but we opted not to try those since the place is more well-known for its doufu fa.
grade: B+
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Macau Restaurant - G-1/F, Shining Bldg., 477-481 Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay
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EAT HERE IF YOU ARE EVER IN HONG KONG!!! we tried so many different things on their menu, and everything was delicious!
their healthy fried rice = soooo tasty, you won't even realize there's no meat in it.
condensed milk & peanut butter crispy (macanese) bun = fresh, crispy, peanut buttery condensed milk heaven.
pork chop crispy bun = their signature snack which always lives up to everyone's expectations.
spiced potato wedges = soooo delicious, almost like the wedges from new zealand! <-- you'll need to ask for these, as they're not on the menu.
plus, they're open really late and offer late night food sets that actually turn out to be a great deal. a huge bowl of noodles, an egg, a macanese bun, and a drink all for less than HK$35.
the only downside was that the entire upper level is a smoking area, so try to get a seat on the ground floor if you're a non-smoker. if not, you'll be enjoying an excellent meal through a thick tobacco cloud.
grade: A++
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there were many, many more places, but i can't be bothered to write about them after writing all of this. i hope this blog is of use to someone out there (maybe michelle since you're studying in HK this sem.?), and if not, i hope you all enjoyed the pics! i promise to write a real blog soon )
ciao~ 
the salary is okay - i can afford rent, but i also get paid commission for every case i work on. it's only the second week, but i love it. my supervisor has been really great too... okay, i'll stop blabbing about this 'oh-so-interesting' topic now.
--- 26 m high and 268 steps closer to the sky
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