I've since expanded my Asian cuisine palate to consist of the likes of Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, etc. but there will always be a comfort food soft-spot in my heart for all things Peking Ravioli.
Now, I'm fully aware that 'real' Chinese food is drastically different from what I grew up with. Still, I couldn't wait to get my hands on some pork dumplings and other tasty tidbits.
Hong Kong Highlights:
Cucumbers and Baked Custard Buns at Lei Gardens
According to the www.discoverhongkong.com website, Hong Kong, "the culinary capital of Asia" boasts more than 11000 restaurants. Bearing this in mind it would need to be some damn good food that brought me back to the same place three times in 1 week. Lei Garden did that and more (scurrying the internet to try and find some of their recipes for home replication). Even more than the delectible soupy shanghai dumplings and crispy pork offered on their menu, I fell love at first bite with their marinated cucumbers and dim sum 'baked custard buns'.
Not just any cucumbers, but 'magic cucumbers' with extremely addictive qualities, these babies are marinated in a concoction of (perhaps blanched?) garlic, rice wine vinegar, soy, big chunks of coriander, and other secret ingredients.
Moving on to the custard buns...
Slightly off-putting by the cadbury cream egg orange centre, Lei Garden's baked custard buns are of equally exquisite status. Apparently these custard buns sell out super quick so we had to book early reservations each day - 11:30 / 12. I'm glad we heeded this sage advice (thanks JB). Slightly bread like with a sweet custard center and crispy sugar coating they were a cross between a hot custard doughnut and a crispy sugared crepe. Seriously, I dare you to think of something better.
TBLS
TBLS - short for tablespoon, is a newly opened, slightly 'underground' restaurant serving up a Westernised tasting menu (e.g. Mini crab cake sandwich on home-made brioche and a shot of corn consume). The restaurant serves about 15 people each night and in 007 fashion, requires a secret pass code to get buzzed up to the roof top restaurant. Throughout the night we were fed 7 small delicious bits, from the crab cake, to pork belly, to a 'carrot cake with cream cheese ice cream' finally ending with a grown up peppermint pattie (peppermint macaroon with dark chocolate gelato in-between).
A truly remarkable meal, it was as un-Asiany as one might find in Hong Kong. One of the best meals I've had in the past 12 months, and hands down beating anything I've had in London recently. If anyone is heading to Hong Kong in the near future...definitely go. The views alone are amazing.
Seafood Delights at Sai Kung
Sai Kung in the New Territories east of Kowloon is a Mecca for seafood lovers. Walking the short strip of boardwalk you are surrounded by fresh seafood in every direction. On one side, down in the water are a number of fisher(wo)man selling a vast variety of fishies, each type cordoned off in their own little section. The boats look like little checkerboards with at least 2 dozen different types of seafood on offer. You point down to what you want, it gets weighed and then put in a bucket and pulleyed up to you, ready to be cooked immediately if not sooner! I love efficiency!
On the other side of the boardwalk is restaurant after restaurant with big tanks outside with hundreds of fresh lil' guys swimming around waiting to be picked (or I suppose trying to avoid being picked). Slightly sad if you stop and think about it for too long, ACB and I left it to JB and TH to go pick out lunch. After walking up to the tanks and cherry picking what we were going to eat, we joyously feasted on fresh lobster, scallops, sea bass, and calamari.
