新香園 Sun Heung Yuen

Awesome, a local place again! This is also located in Tit Hong Lane in Central, and probably the last restaurant from this alley I will talk about since I have no intentions of visiting Danish Bakery (I can't justify paying over $50 at a local cha tsan tang in an alley).

I believe this place is famous for its Hong Kong style milk tea and the satay beef. Can't remember which day this was but I wasn't feeling particularly hungry so I wanted to get something tasty and soupy. Satay beef on anything is one of my favorite foods so I opted for the satay beef on macaroni that particular day.

If you are the type who doesn't like the thick satay sauce then you might like this place. I was expecting it to be a really thick layer of satay sauce with beef over my macaroni, but it turns out it's the very runny soupy type. Though the taste was on the light side, I quite liked it because I was having a crappy no appetite day. It was good acting as the bit of fuel to keep me going until the end of the day.

I'll probably be back one day to try the milk tea. In the meantime, check this out when you are also having a crappy no appetite day.

Website: NA
Location: Tit Hong Lane

Open Kitchen

There’s been some FB post on people finding cockroaches in their food from Canteen/Maxim lately. I think I’ve been super lucky since I’ve never found anything like this, not even at all the ghetto local places I’ve been to.

Canteen at Prince’s Building used to be one of my favorite spots at my old job since I found the price and quality to be quite fair. Now that I don’t work in that area anymore I don’t really go there anymore. There’s an Open Kitchen near where I work, but I try my best not to go there since I find it pricey and boring. Oh, and Open Kitchen is basically Simply Life, which is part of Maxim Group.

Last Thursday though… was different. I was in a rush to go back to work so I just ran down to Open Kitchen to grab something quick. For $75 you get to choose 3 Asian dishes on top of white rice.

Although I try not to go there, whenever I am there I see the reason why it’s always so packed. Even though $75 is quite a bit, they have a good variety of dishes to choose from (healthy and non-healthy). I like that there are a number of veggie dishes to choose from, so you can make it as healthy as you want your lunch to be.

This day, I chose Chinese cabbage, beef brisket with radish and sweet and sour pork. I really like their sweet and sour pork because it’s so crispy and tasty. The beef was ok but I was more drawn to the radish. Veggies are veggies so not much to say on that. Same goes for the rice.

I wouldn’t recommend this as a go-to lunch spot even if you are in the area, since if you walk an extra 5 minutes you can get something cheaper. But on days when you need every minute you can squeeze out of your day this is a good choice.

Location: IFC
Website: http://www.simplylife.com.hk/open-kitchen/

斗記燒味之家 Dau Ji Roast Expert

Can't remember if this was my second or third visit to this place. Anyway, the first time I was here I was definitely not impressed. Though this was a couple years ago when they first opened in Central, I still remember that the BBQ pork I had was very salty and costs the same if not more than Canteen in Prince's Building (literally 5 minutes away from my old office and tastes much better).

While I still had doubts about this place, their lunch deals appealed to me since it was really cheap. It was $32 for a single dish on rice, and they had my favorite beef briskets with turnip as one of the options. I decided to give it a try and got the veggies as well ($18 - a little pricey in my opinion).

I didn't have to wait for long (since all the dishes are pre-made), and when I got the food I was a little shocked - the box was huge. When I was back in the office at my desk, I opened my lunch box and thought, um, where should I start? In any case, after a little over an hour I finally finished the food. I quite liked the beef briskets as it wasn't too chewy, and the turnip was very tasty. I usually love sauce but didn't enjoy it this time because it was very starchy in a bad way. I saved all my drowning pieces of beef and turnip and put them on my rice, leaving a large pool of sauce behind. The veggies - well it's pretty standard, but then it tasted a bit funky. I'm guessing they cooked it in goose broth or something so there's that... gamey goosey taste to it.

In conclusion I liked my lunch even though it was ginormous (maybe I can be one of those girls who ask for "less rice"). Just kinda funny that I do not recommended their BBQ stuff... Regarding the veggies, I would rather go to Nam Kee to get them if I wasn't in a rush. Cheaper ($12) and tastes better.

Location: No. 15-25 Chiu Lung Street, Central
Website: NA

勝香園 Sing Heung Yuen

I really don't know if this should be considered Central or Sheung Wan, hence it gets 2 labels on the location.

I've always liked tomato soup, so I've always liked Sing Heung Yuen. The reason why I don't visit it much though is because it's outdoors so no AC and it's always packed so you gotta wait in the heat for a seat (basically pre-heating yourself for the actual heat once you start eating the hot food). Anyway, I've been having a very bad appetite lately so I decided to grab some take out from this place last week.

I was greedy so I tried the beef, pork chop and egg on macaroni in tomato soup this time. I don't usually get pork chop but was glad I gave it a try this time because it actually turned out to be quite tasty. The tomato soup was still quite good, but it tasted more Campbell this time. I wonder if my taste buds changed or if they changed... or if I just don't remember the taste of it anymore since it's been so long since my last visit.

In conclusion, I think this is still a pretty cool place to try out if you are looking for a more local and sweating your face off experience. Of course if you don't want a heat stroke mid meal you can always get it to go (add an extra fiddy cent to get the soup in a separate bowl for less sogginess) and eat it in your office. If pork chop, beef, eggs, macaroni isn't your thing, don't worry because they have many other weird things you can choose instead on the menu. The soup though I think is pretty much fixed since it's their signature... so... if you don't like tomatoes... I guess don't come here.

Location: No. 2 Mee Lun Street (across from Kau Kee Beef Briskets)
Website: NA

新興美食 Sun Hing Fast Food

This is a very very local place that I quite like going to because it's fast (food is mostly pre-made), cheap (under $40 for their lunch deals), and has a big menu (they even have a separate Thai menu).

My favorite Thai chicken feet salad

Every day, they usually have around 10 or so lunch deals which ranges from baked spaghetti to beef curry on rice or random Chinese dishes on rice, and includes a hot drink or their daily Chinese soup. If you can't find anything you like on the lunch deals, you can also check out their other menu which includes fried noodles, fried rice, soup noodles, baked rice, and a small but interesting Thai menu.

Given that I'm quite local and that the there's a wide variety to choose from for the lunch deals (keep in mind I usually go for lunch early), I can usually find something I like on that menu (by the way, it's right outside so you don't even need to walk in to decide). My personal favorites are their sweet and sour pork on rice or the beef curry on rice. On the a la cart menu, my favorite has got to be their Thai chicken feet salad. it's only $30 and they give you a freaking full box of it. It tastes so good and makes me so happy. I introduced it to my friend and she sometimes brings it home for her husband too (yes I am talking about you, S), as he too is a Thai chicken feet salad fan.


One of my ex-colleagues commented on this place before and said that it wasn't that hygienic, but I personally haven't found any issues with it. Their kitchen is basically open, so you can see everything that goes on in there while you are waiting for your food. So far I haven't seen anything crazy that turned my appetite off . I've also seen expats coming into this place (though rare like unicorns) before too so I really don't think it can be that bad.

In summary, I really think this is a great place to get takeout food (I wouldn't want to eat there since the place is so small, I don't know how people do it) for those days where you just want to eat alone at your desk and read Yahoo news (which is most days for me).

Location: No. 9 Chiu Lung Street
Website: NA



I like this dish even though it looks kinda gross

福祿壽健康素食 Fook Luk Sau Vegetarian Restaurant

Disclaimer: I did not get vegetarian today because of green Monday. Just stumbled upon this spot when I was on my way to my Crab dinner (post on that later) last Friday. Also, please do not mistaken this as the trendier, more hipster, more baller 福祿壽. That one is Fu Lu Shou (Mandarin pronunciation) and this one is Fook Luk Sau (Cantonese pronunciation).

Master Liu Yut 了一法師 once talked about just aiming to have a vegetarian meal once a day (not breakfast) would already be a good deed versus not trying to have any vegetarian meals at all. Anyway, it's also a good way to switch up your lunch options every now and then. Is it a healthy option? I know I have that as a label, but I don't really know how healthy this is just because there is no meat. I mean... other things such as salt, sugar, carbs, starch etc etc also contribute to an unhealthy diet. Anyway, your call whether or not you find this healthy!

This place reminds me of another vegetarian place that I only had the pleasure of trying once as it shut down days after I went there. It was called 开心素食 Happy Vegetarian, and was also in Central near Pottinger Street. The style is pretty much exactly the same, you get rice and a choice of 2-3 dishes on top of it ($22 for 2 dishes, no soup or $26 for 3 dishes plus soup). If you dine in it's around $30 since you'd be taking up space and I hear you would get unlimited rice.

Today I went with the following, 

• Brown and white rice as the base: given the price, please do not expect a load of brown rice in the mix. Also unlike regular local lunch boxes, the rice only takes up about a quarter of the box.
• "Duck" w/ plum sauce: got 2 pieces, quite tasty and perhaps a little too spicy.
• "Lamb" with tofu curd and turnip/radish: creepy, the lamb really did taste a bit... lamb-ish. Tofu curd was standard, turnip/radish was standard and would have been a little bit more cooked.
• Bitter melon and "beef" scrambled eggs: probably my favorite out of the 3 since I finished it last. Not a fan of the imitation beef but can't really taste it if you eat it with the eggs so it's alright. The egg is scrambled the very Chinese way where it's slightly uncooked (err but what about avian flu...). The melon wasn't too bitter so it's right up my alley.
• Some Chinese melon soup (the daily): UGH! I was expecting some tasty MSG soup but no! it really is vegetarian!! Absolutely tasteless so I'm sorry but you've got to go... down the drain. I won't waste food next time and just let them know that I will skip the soup.

This place is very close to where I work, I was able to get there and back within 20 minutes (fast service since they are just scooping premade food into a lunch box). I would definitely go back since this adds to my lunch options, but I got to make sure I collect enough hot sauce packets to my stash since it makes a huge difference when added to the dishes.

I'm not sure how comfortable you are going there without a Cantonese speaker, but you may be able to figure out what to get without speaking Chinese as they show the dishes behind a glass case with numbers beside it, so you just order by telling the lady what number you want and whether you want noodles or rice (go with the rice. I don't think the noodles will be that good).

Random Chinese blurb that doesn't have anything to do with the restaurant that I can only say in Chinese: 偶爾不殺生去吃素當然是好的，但是如果你心腸不好，或者不吃素的時候瘋狂的吃肉，又或者你經常的浪費食物，我覺得你吃多少素都很難抵消你的罪業。每個人不多不少都會有罪過的時候，但是希望你吃素或做善事的時候是誠心地去做，而不是為了某種回報。

Location: No. 8 Tit Hong Lane (enter through Jubilee Street)
Website: NA

Sohofama

Is Sohofama trendy? I guess somewhat since it's co-opened with G.O.D., the store that sells trendy local  nick nacks. Their main selling point is that they do organic, no MSG, healthy Chinese food.
I've never given a crap about organic food (though I hear it's less fattening), but the no MSG appeals to me since it would mean I won't die of thirst by the evening. This is basically my go-to restaurant now for dinners so I can go on and on about it. I also apologize for this pictureless post as there is really no time for me to whip out my phone for pictures once the food lands on the table. In any case, let's point form it shall we?

Lunch or dinner: both but I would recommend lunch for your first time and then dinner for second if you liked the lunch so you can try more other dishes and the cocktails with a larger group. Since it's Chinese food served family style, I suggest going in at least a party of 3.

Price point: dinner is around $250-300 / head with no drinks. Lunch is around $140 with a soup, choice of side dish and choice of a main.

Alcohol: I believe they do do regular standard drinks but one of the reasons why I love this place so much is because the head bartender (is that a real term?) makes delicious cocktails with Chinese alcohol as the base. Keep in mind I am not a cocktails person, but I always order their warm 花雕 cocktail that is off menu (I think). Drinks can be $168 so it is by no means cheap (I mean, that's almost the same price as Blue Bar), but I think it's worth it if I cannot get it elsewhere.

Dishes I really liked there...

• xiao long bao 小籠包 (I've tried with truffle (when boss was paying ;)) and without, and to be honest it's perfectly fine without)
• sheng jian bao 生煎包 (sorry dad, they make it better than you.... Though yours are special in their own way)
• drunken shrimps 醉蝦 (they tasted super fresh and totally got all our appetites going)
• ma po tofu 麻婆豆腐 (ask for less spicy if spice ain't your thang)
• sweet and sour pork 咕嚕肉 (not a big fan of the kiwis but the meat is great)
• Warm hua diao cocktail (no idea what the real name of this cocktail is)

Below dishes were aight so not on my must try list:

• Crab meat with egg whites 賽螃蟹 (nothing special, tasted just like the ones at Crystal Jade which is probably a cheaper)
• Drunken chicken 醉雞 (the chicken was a bit too drunk to be tasty I guess)
• Chinese cabbage with iberico ham 黑毛豬奶油津白 (I think regular veggies without the blingin ham would be fine already)
• Stir fried organic beef 沖爆有機牛肉 (the most regular dish I had there)

I would definitely not get the fen pei (clear noodle sheets)  because it tasted a bit funky and not in a good way.

In general I think one of the main reasons why I like this place is because I find their dishes to be quite down to earth with surprising flavours compared to all the other hip new Chinese restaurants I have been too. Fu Lu Shou for instance has a great warm cocktail called the Dai Leng Lok, but their dishes are just too MSG and salt heavy which left me dying of thirst for the rest of the night. Ho Lee Fook was aight but there isn't really anything there that would lure me back except maybe for their lu rou fan 滷肉飯 which I can just get in Taiwan on my next visit. Plus they don't take reservations for small parties which is extremely irritating for someone OCD like me.

Location: Right next to G.O.D. in PMQ on the Staunton Street side, kind of across from Little Bao
Website: http://www.sohofama.com/

Edit: I found photos! of the cocktails :)