Cracking the Chungking Mansion for the Delhi Club

The Delhi Club

Room 3, 3/F, Block C, Chung king Mansion,

38-44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

+852 2368 1682

Price: 80-90 HKD per person (for 3 main dishes and 2 naan breads)

Rating: 4.0/5

As my planned departure date approached and I began making a list of places that i should visit before i leave Hong Kong, visiting Chung King Mansions began to seem inevitable. Despite hearing countless accounts of amazing and cheap indian food hidden within the myriad shops and hotels within the building.... whether it was the over-zealous indian vendors selling fake watches or curries or the dark, foreboding appearance of the buildings, I never quite made it inside.

However with the recent renovation and my growing love for Indian food (and rapidly emptying wallet) I gathered forces to venture into this unknown and rather 'exotic' place for hidden indian food.

see the look of TERROR!

The restaurant was a little tricky to locate, but after walking up and down the alleyway avoiding eye-contact with anyone, we finally located the elevator to take us up to the third floor (for you future visitors: it's the inner-most elevator, so just walk in and go straight until the last elevator) 

The lighting inside the restaurant was one of the most bizarre blue lights I remember seeing in movies. I mean who has blue neon lighting for a restaurant! It wouldn't have worked in any other place, but somehow it all came together with the overall atmosphere!

We ordered Garlic Naan and Delhi Club Specialty Naan (Naan with Egg) and I've gotta say i've loved them both equally. I've never tried Naan with Egg, and the egg flavor is actually not that strong (i would've never realized it was Egg Naan if I hadn't read the menu)

For the Main Dishes we firstly ordered Saag Paneer (cottage cheese with Spinach), Chicken Tikka Masala and a Lamb Dish (I forget the name but it was with coconut milk) 

 I wish they had given more pieces of lamb, but given the price I guess it is reasonable! The meat is definitely better at Bombay Dreams but the curry was top-notch and we began clearing our dishes as soon as we started eating. 

Despite my slight anxiety and fear of going within the Chung King Mansion, the whole experience was actually pretty fun and the food was as promised great for its value! It's definitely not a romantic, or a nice place to take a date on but if you're ever in a mood for down-to-earth and cheap indian food in TST, then think no further than the Delhi Club!

Malaysian Noodles for a Rainy Day at Katong Laksa Prawn Mee

Katong Laksa Prawn Mee

155 Jaffe Rd, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

+852 3168 2478 ‎

RATING: 7.5/10

PRICE: 50-80 HKD per noodle

Hong Kong's weather has been rather terrible lately. It seems to be an everlasting repetition of fog, humidity, rain and split second of sunshine that just mocks you in the morning. So after trying to beat the weather at Expresso Alchemy on a gloomy saturday day.... we thought we just had to, yes HAD to, end the day with some 'asian-style soul food' to literally warm our spirits.

By the time we left Quarry Bay, the morning-drizzle had turned into a full-on-rainstorm that completely rendered our tiny umbrellas useless. Anyone else in their right mind would have called it a day, but we took a cab all the way to Wanchai for what people had written in Openrice and numerous other forums and blogs as the most 'authentic' laksa and prawn mee in Hong Kong.

Thankfully it was relatively easy to find, and we arrived quickly enough to find the place totally deserted except for one other customer... Apparently not many people are eager enough to venture out through rain-storms for a bowl of laksa. 

Anyhow after quickly gazing at the photos of the dishes shown along the wall, we settled on shared bowl of Supreme Prawn Mee Noodle and Laksa with Squid Ball. They did have english menu and quite a few choices of Laksa and Prawn Mee Noodles as well as other Malay dishes! They seem to be quite popular too (judging by open-rice) and maybe one day if I can beat my love for Laksa, I'll get to try it before I leave Hong Kong.

Althouh I can't remember the LAST time I had Laksa, as a novice (and almost a fresh) laksa-taster, I could tell that this was one amazing bowl of laksa. I know, I know the ones in Malaysia are oh-so-much better, but still! I can't travel all the way to Malaysia for a bowl of Laksa on every rainy day! Plus, the soup was so rich and thick and full of flavours that it seemed genuine and authentic enough to warm and 'dry' my drenched physical and mental state.

Seriously though, the soup is amaaaazing! Plus the owner was really nice in that he allowed us to have 2-3 refills of the soup!! I can't remember the rest of the dish that well... (the noodle, the squid balls etc.) because all i really can remember IS the soup. Despite the colour, the soup wasn't spicy at all probably due to the coconut milk that made the whole dish become slightly sweeter and smoother in comparison to the chinese spicy noodles.

The Deluxe Prawn Mee Noodle (3.3/5)
After falling in love with the Laksa above, I guess I had an unreasonably high expectation for the Prawn Mee Noodle.. (especially.. since the restaurant's name includes the dish). It's not that it wasn't good! The noodles were thicker and chewier than the Laksa, and because we ordered the 'deluxe' version, we got lots of toppings which are always delicious to eat...

However, although I don't know if its meant to be, the soup was a little too fishy for my liking. Plus, in comparison to the 'heart-warming' laksa soup, it was rather bland and too ordinary to shine. We kept on refilling our bowl of Laksa for fresh soup rather than eating/drinking the prawn-mee one...

Maybe it's just that I'm much more of a Katong Laksa person than a Prawn Mee Noodle.. or maybe i'll just try it at another place once more! :)

Discovering Gallette at Fleur de Sel

Fleur De Sel

G/F, 51 Graham Street,

Central Hong Kong

Price: 100-150HKD for Gallette, and 60HKD for Glass of Red Wine

Rating: 8/10

Although I've walked pass this restaurant so many times, I never even looked at the menu until the other day.... and what a find! I've always been fan of Crepes, especially with Nutella... I mean who isn't with their paper thin-crispiness with spoonful of nutella or powdered sugar literally flowing on top.

However, It is only now did I discover that there's a savory version of my favorite dessert, that is basially: replace nutella with melted cheese and some other delectable additions such as poached eggs, black truffle, spinach and whatever you desire... and VOILA! Here's a lovely dish of Galette.

The inside of the restaurant is actually really cute (and rather small), and the house red wine is actually much better than some of the wine I've tasted in SOHO (and this was when we had gotten wine for the SAKE of getting wine). There were also a handful of house ciders and organic ciders!!! I seemed to be the only one who absolutely adored ciders... so we went with wine instead but next time (even ALONE) ill sample that lovely (and rather big!) bottle of cider!

Ach, I always forget to note down or at least photograph the menu for later reference so that I can exactly know how much things were.. (or at least keep the receipt)! 
The only one I remember clearly is my heavenly one:

 La Truffe: Ham Emmental Cheese, Egg, Black Truffle Paste,  Camembert Cheese

 I mean just LOOK at it... writing this post even after a rather heavy dinner still makes me hungry.

THis one was with Smoked Salmon with Egg, although he argues that it was too breakfast y for his taste, it tasted perfectly fine (although slightly less delicious than mine) to me. :)

Pictured on the top is with spinach and goat-cheese which was also an excellent choice. I kept on snacking on other people's gallettes before mine.. so I can say for sure mine was the best! 

Oh but the last one that my friend ordered with Roast Vegetables was for some reason triangular and more ornately arranged.. I couln't quite figure out the reason for this.. so I decided it was because he thought my friend was cute. heh. makes a better story anyways :) This one didn't have so much cheese on top, so if you're trying to look for a dish that isn't so heavy.. this would be the one to go for! :)

Hidden Coffee Gem: Cafe Golden

Cafe Golden

Room 05, 1/F, Jockey Creative Arts Centre, 30 Pak Tin Street, Shek Kip Mei

2408 8255 ‎

(Shek Kip Mei MTR)

Cafe Golden

Hidden and tucked away in Jockey Art Centre in  Shek Kip Mei, Cafe Golden is one of my favorite places in Hong Kong that I don't get to visit enough. Plus, every time I do visit, maybe due to its rather random location and modest and simple decor, the cafe was never packed full and always had an relaxed and tranquil atmosphere.

                                         
Although the location is rather strange, it's perfect if you need to get away from the city for a while without having to completely disappear into the wilderness. Plus, although you have to walk a little from Shek Kip Mei MTR, it's easy enough to find the place (walk STRAIGHT) and stay there undisturbed for a endless hours of caffeine rushes and re-rushes.

I've gone here couple of times, sometimes alone and sometimes with a friend but I think this is more of a place to go if you want to catch up properly on a lazy afternoon or read/work in solitude. Plus there's no wifi here, so that always leaves me no choice to be either social with my friend or focus on work completely.

Everytime I came here I ended up trying either the Latte, Piccolo Latte, Doppio Espresso Doppio or the Cappucino depending on my mood (and amount of sleep). They are all excellent coffee that I always have to spend such a long time assessing myself before ordering that I feel so silly and sorry for the waiters who patiently wait for me to make up my mind.

The Latte here is not as strong and intense as the ones in Barista Jam but they are much smoother and silkier. It's not that they lack flavor or taste but it's just a different experience all together, and I can't quite put my finger on which one I prefer more. 

 Espresso Doppio

I am actually not much of an espresso drinker. It's gone too quickly and usually I find the bitterness and the acidity too over-powering and long lasting. But this espresso was surprisingly smooth and silky lingering around my mouth for what seemed like hours... It was actually one of the first espresso I truly enjoyed and have been coming back for ever since!

Piccolo Latte

Gone So Quickly!! :(

 And then was my Piccolo Latte. 

 Piccolo Latte is a variation from Caffe Macchiato. Caffe Macchiato, literally meaning 'espresso stained/marked with milk'. Although traditionally it had been espresso with small amount of milk, the 'stain' came to indicate the foamed milk on top of the espresso. Piccolo Latte apparently deviated slightly from the 'staining with foam' instead increasing the ratio of foam to espresso to 1:1!  

It had always been a good trade-off between espresso (which is usually too strong for me) and a simple Latte! It is my mini-latte with a stronger velvety aroma and taste!

    

Blueberry Cheese Caake

Sometimes, I even indulge a little more on small treats such as this blueberry cheese cake pictured above. The portions are actually quite small, so it's a nice accompaniment to a strong cup of espresso or any other coffee. 

And sometimes... I even steal my fiend's cup of coffee because when is one cup simply enough for a lazy lethargic afternoon. 

Tibetan Noodles at North Point (and Dessert at Fook Yuen)

Noodles 青藏牛肉麵

  

Kam Ping Street, 27A, North Point, Hong Kong

Rating: 7.2/10

Price: 50 HKD per person (30-40 HKD for noodle)

There's a vicious cycle you often fall into if you live on campus (like I do) in Asia. You always have to eat similar-tasting chinese dishes that are often not that great that once you get to leave the campus and eat out, you only ever go for the most western food available.

It's not that the western food in Hong Kong is not good, it's just that there's so much authentic and awesome food that you miss out that are frankly speaking so god damn CHEAP and close too! 

So, eager to convince others of this perfect opportunity to quickly and cheaply escape the monotonous campus food... I took two of my friends to this Tibetan Noodle place in North Point.

I mean... who has ever tried Tibetan Food outside of Tibet? Really? Isn't that enough of a reason to go try this place out?!?!

AND unlike the other noodle-joints in Hong Kong where the food may be good, but the staff are so snarky and scary, this restaurant was one of the friendliest 'local' restaurant I've been to!
They had a great English Menu that wasn't hurriedly written down with poor english but a proper menu with cute little chilli to denote spicy dishes!

Plus the woman taking orders were very patient and even suggested us the dishes to try without even being asked! 

We decided to try couple of the dishes (as recommended and approved by the staff):
    -Beef Noodles with Home Made Garlic Sauce (39HKD)
    -Stir Fry Noodles with Leek & Mutton (45HKD) 
    -Poached Egg with Home-Made Sauce (12 HKD)
    -Cucumber with Home Made Garlic Sauce (28 HKD)
    -Cumin Grilled Eggplant with Garlic (25HKD)

To give a grand-total of: 50 HKD per person for 3 of us! :)

The restaurant is relatively clean too, and we had went rather early (around 6PM) and the place only started really filling up as we were leaving! It had a very relaxed atmosphere with no one pushing or shoving us around.

Poached Egg (3/5):
It's not that the egg was not well-cooked! It was actually rather excellent but there was nothing too special about it, and it was quickly forgotten as soon as the other dishes began arriving. Especially given that the flavors of the other dishes was rather distinct and strong, it was rather bland.

Cumin Grilled Eggplant (4.5/5):
  This dish was excellent! THe egg-plant had a crispy outer-layer whilst not being dry! Plus the over-abundance of garlic was such a great match with the cumin-spiced eggplant. It was actually not spicy at all, but if you don't really like garlic this is DEFINITELY not the dish for you! Otherwise, this is one of the best eggplant dish I've had in Hong Kong

Beef Noodles with Home Made Garlic Sauce (4/5):
Despite it being 'Tibetan', I guess I had expected it to taste similar to the noodles I've had some-point in my life. However the flavor was refreshingly and shockingly new, I could not relate it to anything I've tried before, and there's something so tantalizing about trying something completly new. 

Plus, the hand-pulled noodles were delightfully cooked to al-dente, which meant it was chewy-and firm just the way it should be!

Spicy Leek and Mutton Stir-Fried Noodles (3.5/5):
I preferred the beef-noodles, but by no means was this a average dish! Despite it being rather oily, the strong mutton and cumin flavor from the sauce made the whole dish come-together without it being too  heavy. The Noodles were thicker, and firmer too!

It wasn't as spicy as I hoped it would be, and anyone who doesn't have a severe problem with spicy food should be able to enjoy all the dishes without any difficulty.

Cucumber with Home Made Garlic Sauce (4/5):

   Apparently this is a staple side-dish in China, and I can understand why! It's so yummy! :) It's like an oriental salad with cucumbers! They were so refreshing and lightly seasoned that it paired nicely with the heavier flavors of the main-dishes. The slightly sour vinegar taste also boosts your appetite and cleans up the meaty-flavor from the other dishes! 

Ha, as you can see from the photo above it was a successful (and cheap) dinner! Now i get to boast about having had the chance to try Tibetan style food and that it tasted delicious! I hope one day I can go to Tibet to try out the local cuisine there because despite my original doubts, it tastes very different from other Chinese dishes! 

Fook Yuen     福元湯圓  

Shop I-1, G/F, Lei Do Building, 7 Fuk Yuen Street, North Point

北角炮台山福元街7號利都樓地下I-1舖

note: FORTRESS HILL MTR exit A

After dinner, we decided to walk a little to Fortress Hill to a corner-dessert place that had a rather high reputation on Open Rice. Following our trend of 'all things local', we decided to try some local treats for dessert! There's no English menu at this place, but you can point on the photos to order (like we did). But after trying the dessert above and their specialty which are the glutinous rice balls, next time I'll just go straight for these amazing little balls filled with black sesame!

The desserts are so cheap with most of them under 20 HKD, and if you do order the glutinous rice-balls you get total of 5, which should fill you up rather well! 

Look how happy she looks! 

See the sesame oozing out?! It's simply divine! It's much much better (and less sweet) than mochii in my opinion! They're just so chewy and soft and... and...just try them! 

There's different flavors you can choose from, we tried both peanut filling and black sesame and we loved them both! I think there's couple of other ones such as red-bean but i highly recommend the black sesame!!

A Bar with View: Cocky Bar

Cocky Bar

18/F, The ONE, 100 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

As much as I love food, I love alcohol. Whether it is a pint of draught beer, glass of whiskey, or girly cocktails... I love bars and their (if done right) amazing drinks.

That being said, over the years I have slowly drifted away from LKF and away to quieter bars with views and atmosphere and a well-respected bartender who makes drinks for the sake of making drinks and not to serve silly asian girls watered down garbage.

Although I initially thought that this 'move' would more likely cost me more money, I ended up spending less each night-out as we happily sipped on mostly one or two cocktails for the night and going home usually by MTR rather than the taxi. So, all in all a successful switch!

I wasn't so sure about the name 'cocky bar', but being reassured by a friend that its balcony was one of the best in Hong Kong, I decided to check it out one day when I happened to be around TST for dinner.  The cocktail wasn't anything special, but the view from the balcony as well as the bar-itself was definitely worth the minimum charge to marvel at the spectacular city I live in. 

Minimum Charge: 150 HKD

Average Cocktail price: 70-80 HKD 

I mean just look at this view!

Early Bird Tapas Dinner at Tapeo

Tapeo

Au's Bldg, 15-19 Hollywood Rd, Central, Hong Kong 

+852 3171 1989 ‎

http://conceptcreations.hk

Rating: 7.5/10 

Price: Early Bird Dinner (150HKD + 10% charge)
Although I had originally wanted to try out Les Fils a Maman, after skipping lunch I could not bear to wait till 7PM for their opening time! So, after a little research on the internet I came across the Early Dinner Special at Tapeo, which is basically:
         From 5-7PM: for 150 HKD (+ 10% service charge), you can have 2 Tapas (except the Jambon) and a glass of sangria, house red, house white or beer! We came in around 6PM wihout reservation which didn't seem to be a problem but they seemed to be booked after 7PM so we couldn't stay for too long :(

And continuing our little game of not repeating any type of cuisine before trying ALL types (haha) of food available in this culinary institute of a city, we gladly went to try their Tapas Menu.

The portions are actually not that big! Luckily we picked tapas that were quite big-poritioned but I can imagine needing to order 3-4 more on top of the Early Bird Dinner to be completely full...

Their Tapas Menu is as shown below!:

I got a glass of Sangria to start, and it was actually pretty decent! Not the best Sangria I've had but still it had been a while since I got to have one so it was a nice break from the usual wine or beer!

We decided to try 4 different Tapas to be shared between us... and after a quick glance, we happily settled on these four!

Manchego Cheese with Honey (4/5)

We ordered this without the slightest clue as to what Manchego Cheese was, and although we were enthusiastic about getting to know a little more about it.. the manager in charge was not very helpful in explaining it. He simply said "You know...it's cheese from Manchego". Thanks.

Anyways, being more resourceful than our unhelful staff, here's what Wikipedia explained it to be as:

Manchego (officially Queso Manchego) is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed. Official Manchego cheese is to be aged for between 60 days and two years.
Manchego has a firm and compact consistency and a buttery texture, and often contains small, unevenly-distributed air pockets. The colour of the cheese varies from white to ivory-yellow, and the inedible rind from yellow to brownish beige. The cheese has a distinctive flavour, well developed but not too strong, creamy with a slight piquancy, and leaves an aftertaste that is characteristic of sheep’s milk.

AND it was AMAZING!!!! It really did taste great, with the crispy toast and the sweetness of the honey went well with the strong flavor and firm-texture of the cheese! The flavor was quite strong, but quite different from the rather 'smelly' ones that I was used to.

Tomato, Red Onion and Goat Cheese Salad (3/5)

Although I loved this dish because it had three of my favorite things in it, it wasn't anything spectacular. Unless you're really into tomatoes or goat-cheese go ahead and try something else! :D 

Classic Tortilla-Tortilla Espanola(4/5)

Okay...apparently Tortilla has more than one form..because this was the last thing I was expecting when we had ordered Tortilla! Apprently the Spansih Tortilla (Spanish Omelete) is not the flour tortilla that we all know and LOVE but instead is this lovely dish of thick egg-omelete with potatoes fried in pan!

The dish was rustic and simple-flavored and was a delight to eat, (and thankfully rather filling after the two previous ones). Although next time I would be interested to try one with extra flavors such as the one with Chorizo and Spinach!

Albondigas- Spanish Meatballs (4/5)

These looked and tasted great! The tomato sauce paired perfectly with the seasoned meat-balls that were juicy and great fun to chew on. I even ate all the sauce after I ate the meatballs. And just look at it, it's just to pretty and delectable to be eaten without enjoyment!

In addition to our food! I also (still being hungry) looked around to check up on what other people ate and judging by their reactions and the appearance of the food, these ones are the note-worhty ones to be tried later on:

        -Crispy Pork Belly

        -Stuffed Peppers 

and Ham Croquettes! and although I refused to admit it out of jealousy... the ladies to the left of me seemed to be loving their champagne and their cold cuts of jambon :)