[香港 HONG KONG] - Kam Wah Café 金華冰廳

In the last 13 years or so, it seems that Hong Kong Board of Tourism has successfully positioned and marketed the strengths of the best eats of Hong Kong, and thrusted them into the limelight for countries that have a strong Chinese speaking (and reading) population. Thus not just bloggers, but all forms of broadcast medium (internet, magazine, newspaper, TV) are finding ways to capitalize on the trend.

And this is good (and bad) news for many Hong Kong eateries. The places that were once fiercely guarded as local favorites, quickly became the darling destinations of visitors abroad, whether it be China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, or even USA/Canada (let's face it, Chinese people are everywhere in the world). The fight for precious real estate, a seat at your favorite eatery, has suddenly became that much more difficult. We haven't even dived into consistency and quality, which is always a challenge. The popular shops seem to be always operating on scale, something many overseas establishments struggle very much with, yet it seems like childs play to folks like these.

So Kam Wah Café 金華冰廳 I'm sure has been widely mentioned since...oh...I'm so late to the game...2007 or before in all forms of blogs and social media. Every guide book published out there will have a mention of this legendary café. Once you find yourself on Bute street, it's just a matter of finding the storefront. On a weekday even at 2 pm, expect lots of people in line. But you want to make sure you are standing in the right one....there is one for takeout (people buying buns and pastries) and the other is for dine-in.

"People Mountain People Sea" 人山人海

 

 

 

The menu is pretty wide. But if you do a little research ahead of time, there are only a handful of signatures for a quick rest stop (which is the whole idea anyway). One hot bun, and one drink. Because stomach space is so valuable in a region that has so many things to eat, with so little time.

 

One $14 bun and on hot cup of $8 drink, coming right up!

 

 

Hot milk tea 熱奶茶

 

Pineapple bun with butter (contains no pineapple) 菠蘿油

 

Ask a local, and they will tell you different opinions about the pineapple bun with butter 菠蘿油 here.

Some will say it is not their style. The other famous item here, the Mexican bun 墨西哥包 (which has nothing to do with Mexico in any shape or form), only comes out during certain times of the day, and luck was not on my side. Pineapple buns come out of the oven piping hot quite frequently, and these are their best seller without a doubt.

 

Whether it is your style or not, there is something awesome about a super piping hot pineapple bun fresh out of the oven, with a quick slab of cold salted butter in between. If you live overseas like I do, you will come to appreciate this version VERY quickly, as it is vastly superior to anything around. Perfect structural integrity, good texture in and out, and the interplay between salty and sweet, lightly toasty crispy and fluffy and puff pastry/multi layered, and the hotness of the bun with the coldness of the butter. It all comes together quite nicely. And then a sip of hot milk tea which is quite pleasing here despite trusted locals who don't think it is anything great...but it works.  

 

So complain all we want about how there are better buns elsewhere, or the buns are good but the milk tea stinks. Yet there is something quite calming about the controlled chaos in here...cramped space (but not to the point of torture), sharing a table with strangers, loud noises, yet pretty down to earth and simple offerings that hit the spot.

 

In and out within 25 mins or so. Not too shabby.

 

And then onward to the next eating adventure...  

 

 

 Whooops sorry dude, I wasn't trying to violate you with my cel phone cam!

Kam Wah Café 金華冰廳
G/F, 47 Bute Street, Prince Edward
太子弼街47號地下

[香港 HONG KONG] - 澳洲牛奶公司 Australia Dairy Company - a model of efficiency

I have no idea why I decided to check this place out. Perhaps as the years go by, the desire for adventure and trying something at least once finally won over sticking with tried and true never failing places (or attempts for that matter) at anything.

This is one of those you either love it or don't care for it type places. 澳洲牛奶公司  or Australia Dairy Company...and you can even abbreviate it to
澳牛 like the locals do, yet it comes highly recommended by guide books published in Chinese and English for reasons still not fully understood by me (if it were for the food).

Love the bald dude's "WTF" expression when he addresses the employee, look at the line

 

The above picture was taken after I had finished my meal. I think it was around 10 am, maybe my 2nd to last day before departing Hong Kong. If you avoid the rush hour (e.g. lunch) then you might luck out with a much shorter wait. Either way, this is one of the most efficient restaurants in Hong Kong, and perhaps the reason why they can go through multiple rotations of tables and customer volume in one day. It does help once you know how and what to order ahead of time.

                                                                      

They use local whole milk here from Kowloon Dairy

 

The eatery specializes in a few things...mostly milk and egg based type eats, but it's primarily some sort of pasta with chicken soup (canned no doubt), with ham or pork, scrambled egg sandwiches, and steamed egg or milk custard (hot or cold).  There are set meals around those which offer better value than a la carte, but it depends on your fancy.

 

Steamed milk custard, cold or reheated/steamed hot

 

And you can kind of see the steamed egg custards from the outside window while waiting in line

 

So once you sit down, it doesn't take much time for an employee to come take your order. If you need a little more time, just polite say you need another minute, and you can flag them down again.

 

Never a dull moment in here. No waitstaff stands or sits idle. Worker bees in white

 

A few choices for set menus, prices circa January 2013, might be higher now

 

 

Wanted to save some stomach space, and didn't care for pasta with canned chicken soup and ham....so ended up ordering a la carte.

 



Scrambled egg sandwich with ham on toasted white bread

 

 





The order came fairly quickly, but not as immediate as some described. But I have to say it was way quicker than many HK cafes even in California! Good simple comfort food, although having had runny scrambled egg with cha siu rice plate at Shun Hing Dai Pai Dong in Tai Hang a few days ago, I did not think this was that great. Australia Dairy Company is worshipped for having one of the best HK style scrambled eggs in town, but I found it just ok.

 

 

The iced coffee was just plain bad. Overly sweet, and way too much ice. Should have ordered it hot.

 

Still had a little room for dessert

 

Redemption with steamed milk custard (double skin)

 

Luckily much better than Yee Shun. A great standard.

 

I was in and out, from the moment I sat down to the moment I paid the bill and stood up...I'd say within 15 ish mins or less.

 

The location is very convenient and close to the Jordan MTR station. While the food does not quite live up to the hype, I believe this place should serve as a business model or prototype (case study) for others to learn about efficiency and dealing with scale. Now if only some of those slow pokes in California can visit this eatery just to learn management and efficiency from them, the restaurant world might just be a better place.

 

 

澳洲牛奶公司 Australia Dairy Company

G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan

佐敦白加士街47-49號地下

[香港 HONG KONG] - 強記美食 Keung Kee - a taste of the streets through carbs

One cold evening right into the New Year, circa January 2013, the weather went from the late teens the day before, and plummeted to about 7 to 8 degrees C with a bit of a wind chill factor at night. Despite having two layers underneath and a Uniqlo jacket, there was something about that evening around 11 pm that warranted some immediate comfort and warmth. While not facing the waterfront directly like the Immigration Towers area, the wind blast penetrated into the Johnston Road area. Suddenly it seemed like all hope was lost....until I inadvertently stumbled upon an eatery I've been wanting to try for a while now.

As fate would have it, that eatery was indeed 強記美食 Keung Kee. It's quite legendary amongst lovers of true Hong Kong local food. They started off as a push cart vendor, and eventually moved to this indoor location. They keep slightly odd hours and reportedly can close at random without advanced warning. A very simple menu, with perhaps a bit more variety than they really need, but it works for them and everyone else.

強記美食 Keung Kee is also a prime example of just sticking with a set of basics, and doing them really well. No need to muck around or get complicated....their formula works, and the locals know it.

One glance and you know this is a must order. 腊味糯米飯 Chinese sausage stir fried glutinous rice.

Also don't walk away without trying pan fried cheung fun 煎腸粉

 



There's fish balls, pork rinds too if you need it.

 

The menu. Hot carbs, more carbs, odds & ends, and dessert soups.

 

 

Right off the bat, those two carbs were definitely in order. Hot sausage, hot glutinous rice, some pork fat, soy sauce flavor to combat the chill in the air.

 

It's hard to go wrong with 腊味糯米飯. Some customers have had the whole sausage (uncut) on top, but that night it looks like I had slices and some odds and ends. No matter....this was freakin toasty and delicious. There's something about eating off a nitty gritty green bowl, in a street environment facing a dirty alleyway, that was just back to basics. Sure the glutinous rice was not stir fried and not in a claypot (but steamed) and definitely not cooked to order, but this was done on such a high level that it was not funny.

The pan fried cheung fun 煎腸粉 is a prime example of taking something simple, even if not made from scratch in house (the cheung fun is outsourced), but the vendor takes care of grilling/pan frying it to create a crispy toasty effect (you can even smell the rice milk flavor)....and of course no plain cheung fun is complete without the right sauces. Here you have very basic sauces and condiments....soy sauce (seasoned), chili sauce, a little sesame oil, and a sweet sauce, with some sesame seeds. Not the sexiest looking thing in the world, but it was nothing but simple warmth and comfort. Something simple, yet there is nothing like it in California :-(.

This is one of those definitive Hong Kong experiences that sometimes cannot be easily explained to outsiders. It's not just the food, but also the attitude, the atmosphere, and the circumstances that lead you here.


強記美食 Keung Kee
G/F, Chuang's Enterprises Building, 382 Lockhart Road, Wanchai                                                     
灣仔駱克道382號莊士企業大廈地下

[香港 HONG KONG] - Ringing in the New Year at Sushi Ta-Ke 竹壽司 Causeway Bay

Almost 10 months later and I am trying to recall this ridiculous New Year's Eve meal at Sushi Ta-Ke 竹壽司. Shame on me for being a lazy ass and putting this off. So please bear with me.

In doing research for this past trip to Hong Kong, there were only about a handful of really good nigiri sushi restaurants. Sushi Yoshitake had just opened for about 2 to 3 months when I arrived in Hong Kong, immediately received 2 Michelin stars, and of course priced out of reach (although I wouldn't mind actually spending the money and eating in Ginza Tokyo, but not have to pay silly import prices). Sushi Rozan in Wanchai was also newly opened, but had little to no press at the time, and Sushi Sase of course being the more affordable high end option. Sase closed for vacation about a week to two between late December and early January (I believe Sase-san actually went back to Hokkaido to spend with his family) to coincide with Tsukiji Fish Market holiday closures. Thus the only other option was Ta-Ke, and fortunately they were open.

Ta-Ke, like other sushi options in town, find other means to source seafood as needed. While Tsukiji shut down for the holiday, they and other restaurants were still able to get fresh seafood from Hokkaido and Kyushu, and as a result I was able to try quite a few interesting things I had not before (or have not had in a long long time).

Slabs of deliciousness, within plain view at the counter.

 

The sushi counter was not made of wood, but the semi darkened interior and lighting created a nice mood and atmosphere, that was upscale and I suppose "romantic". Naturally in prime real estate, the prices are a lot higher than usual.

 

Since I was on vacation, I decided to kick it up a notch and in some ways daringly (and some might say stupidly) ordered the marked up "New Year's Eve (set) Menu". It is not cheap at all, and came to less than HK$2000 after 10% service charge. But for what I received, I would say it easily outperformed 99% of Japanese restaurants in Northern California.

 



Really beautiful looking Japanese wild prawns, next to the pen shell clam

The head Japanese chef was busy entertaining advanced reservation regulars on the left side, who were Japanese expats. I ended up with a Hong Kong local sous chef who served me, pretty well trained and knowledgeable (and friendly), and sat near the middle section of the counter.

"Ah Do" the chef on the right, who is now at Kishoku in Causeway Bay

 

One of the pleasures of ordering a set menu is that you don't have to worry about what to order. The restaurant simply takes care of everything else. That is, provided that you like the healthy balance (or imbalance) of certain dishes, and don't mind the progressions. Ah Do, who was the sous chef there (now I read that he has moved on and is now a head chef at Kishoku), was very pleasant and quite a fun character, and seemingly had a few loyal followers who are locals. Local Cantonese speaking chefs like him provided the necessary experience and bridging the gap between locals who don't speak Japanese and fear eating with a strict traditional Japanese speaking chef, as I learned from speaking with my neighbors at the counter.  

 

 Black bean appetizer

 

The meal started off with a beautiful dish of "kuromame", large chunks of simmered black beans that is very typical New Year celebration food. The menu listed this originally as "Japanese New Year Salad: Marinated Radish and Carrot with Black Beans", but somehow just evolved into this. No matter...these were delicious, sweet, and perfectly done.

 

Next up was sea urchin with sweet shrimp and caviar. Quite a decadent combination to say the least, and my first time having this combo. If this doesn't impress the spendy raw seafood lover, I'm not sure the rest of the meal will!

 



 

Another first for me, Hokkaido hairy crab (ke-gani). The upper leg meat still in its shell (but fairly easy to extract) with the rest of the meat already de-shelled and arranged in the bowl. At this rate, the high price of the set menu didn't seem so bad after all.



Prepping the sashimi plate

 

 

Next up were some sashimi mini courses



Hokkaido shrimp

 Geoduck with yuzu zest

 

 Originally kinmedai was on the menu, but the chef swapped it out with kawahagi. This is the liver

 

 Kawahagi

 

Quite enjoyable to have kawahagi as it has been a long long time, but the mushy liquidy liver was rather unusual (shouldn't it be a bit more solid?) Unfortunately the liver was served first, and when I was almost done with it, did the body of the kawahagi sashimi came. Should have waited for both, so the liver sauce could be used as dip.

Amberjack (Kanpachi)

 

 

 

 

Chu toro

 

I believe the chu toro came from a farmed Bluefin tuna via Kyushu. The trapezoidal cut seemed a bit odd.

 





 

 

 

Next up, a signature of Chef Do's (that he took over with him to Kishoku). A piece of otoro

(fairly odd shaped cut) with shiso, some rock salt, on a piece of crispy nori. At this rate I'm feeling a little too much gluttony, and a bit of an imbalance (there is yet a little more toro later). But definitely

getting bang for the buck!

 

 

 Shirako

 

Ridiculously creamy and nice cod milt (sperm sac). This is the way it should be! This was not part of the NY eve menu, so it may have been substituted for another dish. I had this before the meal at Sushi Mori, where the shirako was a lot drier (not my style).

 

 

 Simmered spiny lobster (ise-ebi) with spikenard

 

This appears to have been fried first then simmered in dashi. Another first time for me eating spiny lobster/ise ebi, although I wasn't sure about the frying part.

 

 Ankimo (monkfish liver)

 

I can honestly say that Ino Sushi in San Francisco, as well as Maruya, do not have anything to fear. I did not enjoy this as much, although perhaps by local standards this was decent.

 

 

Grilled sliced Japanese Wagyu A5 Kagoshima beef with spring onion and crispy garlic

 

This was hands down one of the best items of the evening. Although I was a bit wary of the gold flake decoration. I have no idea what was in the dip sauce but that too was just extremely delicious. Restaurants in America really need to learn how to take Japanese beef and cook it like this, instead of a USA style steak on a broiler which totally ruins the flavor (or by searing it on a broiler for that matter). Minimal handling the right way preserves the original flavor and taste!

 

 

A little salad prior to the nigiri course, and the myriad of crunchy vegetable textures and delicate seasoning were a pleasure.

 

 Tsukemono

 

 

Oh yes, pickles! But not the kosher kind. On the left we have takuan and the imbedding of katsuobushi (bonito flakes) was a very nice touch. On the right, simmered burdock (still very crunchy) with sesame seeds. Sushi Mori in Causeway Bay had a similar pickle course, but without the katsuobushi in the takuan. I liked this better.

 

So after the pickles, it was nigiri time.

 

Budo ebi (grape shrimp)

 

 Budo ebi (grape shrimp)

 

 Unfortunately can't remember what this was. Chef Do said "saba" but it's a bit too pink on the inside.

 

 Hon maguro akami (Bluefin dorsal cut)

 

Uni

 

Chef Do holding up a slab of toro

 

More toro

 

This was either barracuda or mutsu/aka mutsu

 

Seared toro sinew, needless to say, incredibly rich

 

The set menu nigiri course was supposed to be Toro, Akami Tuna, Halfbeak (Sayori), Grape Shrimp, Torigai, and Anago....but they didn't have some of them for some reason, and I got different and perhaps extra cuts, and was not charged additional. Guess it pays to get on the chef's good side ;-)

 

 

Toshikoshi soba (hot)

 



 

 End of meal miso shiru

 

 A rich bowl of miso shiru indeed (shrimp, mushroom, tai, clam, yuzu zest)

 

 Dessert: Strawberry Daifuku Mochi

 

 Haha, it looks like a dim sum BBQ pork bun!

 

Yes I actually did crack a joke to my neighbors and Chef Do, that I thought I was getting a dim sum BBQ pork bun for dessert, and they agreed that it did look like it under the dimmer lighting of the restaurant. That would have been funny if it were true!

 

So a few comments:

 

The quality of the seafood is top notch....unfortunately during the nigiri progression the seafood overpowered the rice, where I couldn't taste it much. Not sure who was behind the sushi rice seasoning, but it was lacking, and did not appear to have red vinegar in it, like Sushi Mori and other high end places.

 

Having more toro than usual for an expensive meal is nice, but I would have preferred a bit more of a balance, perhaps more of something I did not have. It is easy for local chefs to stereotype and assume that the customer base prefers toro, uni, maybe salmon, or that their palettes are limited to just that...but no sir, there are a few of us out there who want a broader spectrum of flavors :-)

 

The vegetable mini course perhaps could have been placed nearer the front (the thin julienne cut salad).

 

This was otherwise a very memorable meal, as I had litte to nothing to compare the experience with locally, and then went to Sushi Mori 5 days later.

 

Is it the best in town? My pulse says "no" to this day, but provides a nice option to those who want to dine in the area, want something with a semi exclusive feel, laid back, yet elegant. And obviously, for those who don't want to pay $5000+ at Yoshitake, or $3000+ at Rozan per person. Given the fact they were open on New Year's Eve, this could yet be an option for visitors and locals who want high end sushi and set courses, when some of the competition around town may be closed on vacation or break during this timeframe.

 

 

Sushi Ta-Ke 竹壽司

12/F, Cubus, 1 Hoi Ping Road, Causeway Bay

銅鑼灣開平道一號Cubus 12樓

 

Tel (852)-2577 0611