Where to eat in Hong Kong: Day 1 Dimdimsum Dim Sum Specialty Store, Good Hope Noodles

We took an incredibly early Jetstar flight at 6:30am to Hong Kong and reached the Hong Kong airport at around 10 plus in the morning. For some reason, autumn started late this year and it was unexpectedly hot in HK when we reached. In fact, the temperature was roughly similar to Singapore's which was hardly a respite.

We took Bus E23 to Jordan where our apartment was. We booked an apartment through Airbnb with Joyce. The apartment was centrally located and near to Kowloon Airport Express, Austin Station, and Jordan Station. The new Elements mall was also within walking distance. The location of the apartment was splendid and we were very pleased with the location. Furthermore, there were numerous food stalls in the neighbourhood serving awesome dimsum and desserts. Temple Street and some famous eateries along Parke Street was also located within the vicinity. I would strongly recommend this apartment if you wish to save some money on accommodation in HK. They also provided towels and someone came in to clean the room on the 3rd day which ensured the cleanliness of the apartment.

We were famished when we arrived so we headed immediately to the neighbourhood dimsum place called Dimdimsum Dim Sum Specialty Store. It was really crowded with people from the area and the dimsum was honestly good! I was especially fond of the cheong fun wrapped around deep-fried crispy prawns and the steamed pork ribs. The steamed pork ribs were so juicy and tender! The pig-shaped custard buns were cute but they weren't exceptionally delicious. The shrimp dumplings were super good too with the thin skin and fresh crunchy prawns.

Jordan: 21-23 Man Ying Street, Jordan, Kowloon (Tel: 27717766)
Mong Kok: 112 Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon (Tel: 23092300)
Wan Chai: 7 Tin Lok Lane, Wan Chai, HK (Tel: 28917677)
Shatin: Shop 108, 1/F, Citylink Plaza, Shatin (Tel: 22858149)

We headed over to the Mongkok area to stroll around and do some cursory shopping. I say cursory because we were really quick about it and we finished the usual Argyle Centre, Fa Yuen Street, and Ladies Market at an astonishing speedy. We did in fact come back with a few purchases so kudos for our efficiency!

We were hungry in the late afternoon so we went into Good Hope Noodles for some food. We heard that their congee and noodles were awesome so we decided to order their tea set which included a big bowl of porridge and a small bowl of wanton. The porridge was pretty good even though I did not eat the pig intestines and liver. The small bowl of wanton was nice! However, I have to say that the wanton noodles which I tried in the next few days definitely triumphed Good Hope's wanton. So you could give Good Hope Noodles a miss if you are in a hurry.

146 Sai Yeung Choi Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

We roamed around the Mongkok area till nightfall and proceeded to Temple Street which was within walking distance to our apartment. We had claypot rice at a tourist trap which was completely not worth mentioning. Temple Street was exactly how I remembered it to be. Bustling area with many small shops selling random items. Temple Street is really long and stretches from Yau Ma Tei all the way to Jordan. Take a nice stroll along Temple Street at night and you might be able to find some goodies in the maze.

Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 coming up next!

Koh Grill and Sushi Bar, Wisma Atria Food Republic

My friend at office strongly recommended Koh Grill and Sushi Bar at Wisma Food Republic. I was curious about the place since I've heard many awesome things about it and I really wanted to try it out. So I decided to drag the boyfriend here on a Saturday for dinner.

I was told I should make a reservation but reservations were full by the time I decided to make the call. So we had to join the long queue in front of Koh Grill and Sushi Bar. We reached shortly after 6pm and the queue was already crazy. It stretched from the door to the escalator and there were about 20 people ahead of us in the queue. It took us 45 minutes to get two counter seats and we were so hungry by then.

I ordered Grilled Salmon with salt. The salmon was well-grilled, crispy and lightly charred on the outside and tender within. I also liked the small portion of greens with sesame dressing at the side.

We ordered pork with enoki mushroom yakitori. The yakitori was indeed good! Very tasty, grilled to perfection and incredibly juicy. The yakitori was grilled for just the right amount of time such that the pork was crispy yet the enoki mushroom wrapped within was still juicy and crunchy.

The salmon sashimi. I was not too impressed by the salmon sashimi at Koh Grill and Sushi Bar. I felt that the slices of salmon sashimi were not as chewy, juicy, and thick as those at Wasabi Tei.

The shiok maki was indeed super shiok!! This was easily one of the best dishes at Koh Grill and Sushi Bar and definitely one of the highlights of the meal. I am craving for it now as I'm typing this post. The maki was just that good. The salmon slices rolled on the outside were lightly seared so they had a distinctive smoky flavour. The side of the salmon slices which was not exposed to the flame remained soft and juicy like how sashimi would taste. When you combine both together, it was just perfect. Topped with the mayonnaise and tobiko on top and yummy avocado and unagi inside, the Shiok Maki is indeed legendary. This dish alone is worth the long wait.

The boyfriend ordered Tempura Udon but the udon was rather meh. I gathered that noodle dishes are not exactly their forte and it would be wise to steer clear of them when you are at Koh Grill and Sushi Bar.

The only little grouse I have about Koh Grill and Sushi Bar is the order in which food is served. I usually prefer to have my sashmi and sushi first before my mains. However, due to the large number of people ordering the Shiok Maki, the sushi counter was moving slower than the cooked food counter. Thus my grilled salmon, yakitori, and the boyfriend's udon arrived and we finished them before our sashimi and maki came.

Other than that, this place is really a gem.

#04-21 Wisma Atria Shopping Centre

Platypus Kitchen, Bugis Junction

I was always keen to check out Platypus Kitchen but I did not have the opportunity for a long time. The amusing thing is, when I have the opportunity to check out Platypus Kitchen, I ended up having it twice in one week! Once for dinner with my family and the second time with my friends from office for lunch.

Platypus Kitchen at Bugis Junction takes the place of the previous V8 cafe. I expected it to be relatively crowded but it was rather empty for both lunch and dinner. In fact, there was only another two tables on the night I was there.

The set meals are divided into the $16.90 sets and the $19.90 sets. Both sets come with a salad or soup, a drink, and the main.

The salad which came with the set was very average. The rocket leaves and tomatoes were fresh but the dressing was very bland.

My mum chose the V8 Chicken Roulade. The chicken thigh was very tender and well-marinated. However the sauce was a little too salty. The mash potatoes were pretty good and smooth.

The Angry Chicken Pasta which my Dad ordered was average, nothing much to rave about. It tastes like how average Arrabiata pasta would taste.

My brother's Squid Ink Scallop Ragout. This pasta dish was below average. I felt that the taste of squid ink was really faint and the pasta was quite bland.

My crispy salmon. The waiter asked if I was ok with the salmon being 70% cooked because the crispy salmon would taste better if it were crispy outside and slightly raw and tender within. I agreed but when the salmon arrived, it was definitely thoroughly cooked. That said, the crispy salmon was indeed good. The skin was very crispy and tasty, and the salmon was fresh. The sauce was kind of salty though, but it went pretty well with the salmon.

The bruschetta was very ordinary. I dare say I make better bruschetta with fresher ingredients.

The truffle fries were fantastic! I'm always super fond of truffle fries and the fries at Platypus Kitchen were awesome. The fries were thick and chunky just the way I like it and the fragrance of truffle oil was enticing. The smell of truffle oil was in fact the first thing I noticed when I sat down and the smell lured me to order the truffle fries.

I came back for lunch with some friend from the office and decided to go with the soup this time since the salad was quite meh previously. The mushroom soup was thick and substantial with bits of mushroom inside.

I ordered the Lemon Prawn Parppadelle and this pasta dish was really good. The prawns were fresh and crunchy and I liked the combination of prawns with chewy parppadelle and sweet tomatoes. It was indeed one good dish, I would recommend this if you are heading to Platypus.

Service was decent. My only grouse was the small tables. When I visited Platypus Kitchen with my family and we ordered 4 set meals with a couple of sides, our table ended up being completely cluttered. There was hardly enough space to place everything and we were all just crammed together. It would be good if they purchased larger tables for 4 people. But other than that, Playtpus Kitchen is definitely a place for good value for money set meals.

#03-29 Bugis Junction

Malacca Day 2, Famosa Chicken Rice Balls, Dataran Pahlawan, Mahkota Parade, Tong Sheng Restaurant

We woke up and wanted to check out the buffet breakfast in Hatten Hotel. As usual, we had to wait a really long time for the lift and it was always crowded when it reached the 16th floor which we were on. When we finally reached the buffet breakfast, the place was so crowded! There was a long queue waiting for tables and there was a large crowd milling around the lobby waiting for the lift. There were just so many people around, kids running about, and parents running and screaming after their kids. Just looking at it gave me a headache early in the morning. We decided to forfeit the buffet breakfast and head to Jonker Street for breakfast instead.

Our original plan was to have the famous Chicken Rice Balls at Kopi Chung Wah which is right at the start of Jonker Street, next to San Shu Gong. However, an extremely long queue greeted us at Kopi Chung Wah when we reached. The queue extended way beyond Kopi Chung Wah and stretched out in front of Hard Rock Cafe as well. I'm not much of a morning person and having to join such a long queue early in the morning was not a terribly ideal way to start my morning. So we decided to venture into Jonker Street searching for alternatives.

We found Famosa Chicken Rice Ball along Jonker Street and decided to give it a try. We ordered the chicken rice balls, roasted meat (char siew) and half a white chicken. It was my first time eating chicken rice balls so I cannot really comment whether the Famosa rice balls were good but they tasted decent. The char siew was fabulous! A good mix of lean and fatty parts, slightly charred on the outside and tender inside. The white chicken was not that good though. It was really tough and hardly juicy at all. The chicken was probably overcooked which resulted in the loss of moisture and tenderness. 

We decided to walk around and explore the two malls near Hatten Hotel - Dataran Pahlawan and Mahkota Parade. They were pretty regular malls with the same stuff that you see in our local malls so nothing really exciting. The most exciting part came when I found the Iron Man cap which I had been researching for a long time! I found it in a small shop in Dataran Pahlawan and it was quite amusing how I stumbled upon it. I really just caught a glimpse of something shiny and decided to go in and take a closer look. And there you have it, the Iron Map cap which resembles the one Haha wore in Running Man! I'm such a Running Man addict.

We went back to the hotel to watch some movies and rest in the afternoon before heading out for dinner at Tong Sheng Restaurant. Steph recommended the cheese beehon at Tong Sheng Restaurant and I wanted to try it since it was near Hatten Hotel. From Hatten Hotel simply exit from the main entrance, turn right and then turn right again into the small lane adjacent to Hatten Hotel. Walk down the small lane till it reaches the main road and turn left. Continue walking till you see Tong Sheng Restaurant with its colourful green sign board.

On our way to Tong Sheng Restaurant, we saw the sun setting in the horizon behind the Holiday Inn Hotel. It was a really beautiful sunset with hues of deep orange and red.

It is quite tricky trying to get a table here because there is no obvious queue and people just stand around waiting. Nobody comes forward to ask you if you need a table and it is not immediately apparent what you are supposed to do. This problem is exacerbated with the large crowd that throngs this place during dinner. In the confusion, we decided to head to the counter and ask for a table for 2. The lady asked if we would like to order first and told us that we were allocated a table outside. She recommended the cheese prawn bee hoon, sweet vinegar fish and stir-fried vegetables which we subsequently ordered. 

Thereafter, we proceeded to linger around the allocated table, waiting for them to finish. Whilst we were waiting for the table, people started streaming in and began to stand around the table which we were allocated as well. They were obviously under the impression that it was a case of Fastest Butt First and whoever managed to plonk themselves on the chair first would get the table. Fortunately, the lady managed to secure the table for us the moment it was available and the crowd waiting for the table dispersed quickly to target the next table. 

The cheese prawn beehoon was really good! I like the soft beehoon in the yummy cheese sauce and the super fresh tiger prawns. The prawns were really fresh and juicy and the cheese bee hoon had sufficient wok hei. 

The sweet vinegar fish was so good! The fish was cut into nice chunks and arranged in a roll. It was crispy on the outside and super soft and tender within. The sauce had a tangy sweet and sour taste and went very well with the fried fish.

We took a nice stroll around the area and returned to check out the hotel pool. Night view from the pool of Hatten Hotel was pretty nice.

Check out Day 1 of our Melacca Trip!

Malacca Day 1, Bei Zhan Restaurant, Hatten Hotel, Jonker Street, Geographer Cafe

The boyfriend and I decided to take a short break before he started work so we booked a 3D2N trip to nearby Malacca (Melaka/Melacca). It's my first holiday with him that does not involve a carefree beach retreat and I was curious as to how that would pan out. We are both really lazy people so our usual definition of a good holiday is one whereby we laze around on the beach enjoying the sun, sand, and sea, watching movies in our beach resort, sitting around in a beach club drinking something cold and alcoholic numerous times a day, and finally enjoying the glorious sunset. 

Anyway we chose Malacca because it is the closest Malaysian town (excluding Johor Bahru). We booked a coach ride with Grassland since Grassland is always prompt, efficient, and responsible. I took Grassland coach rides to KL a couple of times previously and they were all good experiences so we decided to go with Grassland again. The ride took 6 hours (!) because of a massive jam at the Malaysian customs so we reached around 2pm. This caused us to bust our reservation at 12:30pm at Bei Zhan as we thought that the ride would only be 4 hours at most. We decided to try our luck and entered sheepishly at 2:15pm. Even though their last order is 2:30pm, the staff graciously allowed us to enter and took our orders quickly. Thank goodness for that!

I have to say that the architecture in Malacca is exceedingly quaint and beautiful. Bei Zhan is not an exception and this massive restaurant is housed in a large colonial bungalow.

We ordered braised pork, Seaweed and Seafood Soup, and fried eggplant. The braised pork was excellent. The meat was very soft and tender which could only mean that it was likely to be braised for a very long time. The fatty parts were soft and melted in my mouth immediately. It was a fantastic dish.

The seaweed soup was normal but they were very generous with the seafood in the soup.

Oh the fried eggplants! I still think about it till today. The slices of eggplant were crunchy and tasty, completely soaking up the extremely tasty sauce that they were tossed in. I cannot tell what sauce it was but the sauce was incredible. I was also very fond of the yummy minced meat and slices of mushroom that came with the eggplant.

The meal was very affordable and definitely a fraction of the price of what we would pay in Singapore. Service was impeccable and the lunch was great!

We had a hard time trying to get a cab at Bei Zhan. Not exactly the most accessible area in Malacca definitely. We managed to flag down a cab finally and it took us to Hatten Hotel. Cabs are exorbitant in Melacca. They do not run by the meter and the short 10 minute ride from the Grassland stop to Bei Zhan cost us RM 20. I tried bargaining but it was absolutely useless. The next short ride from Bei Zhan to Hatten Hotel was supposed to be RM 12 but we lacked small notes and the taxi uncle kindly collected only RM 11 from us. In any case, we stopped taking cabs after that and resorted to walking everywhere because I hate being ripped off. 

The location of Hatten Hotel was awesome. It is a 15 minute walk to Jonker Street and right beside the two large shopping malls Datara Pahlawan and Makota Paradis. In fact, Hatten Hotel has two link bridges leading to the two shopping malls.

The lobby was nice and grand but the crowds at the check-in counter was really oh my goodness. There was a snaking queue to check-in even though we came really late at around 4pm. It took us awhile to check in and get our keys and another long wait for the lift. The lifts are really the biggest bleah-point about Hatten Hotel (even though the crowd in general and the amazingly crowded breakfast buffet also top the list of whine factors regarding Hatten). We had to wait about 10 minutes for a lift only to find it completely packed with people from the higher or lower levels. Even taking the lift from the lobby was a difficult affair. There were so many people around and the lifts were always full. I don't even know why the lifts were full on the ground level!

 

We had a deluxe room since Agoda was having a sale and it was the same price for both the normal and deluxe rooms so we chose the deluxe room. We had two television sets, one right in front of the couch in the small living room area and one in front of the bed. We only used one television though and hardly sat on the couch. So much for a deluxe room.

We asked for a room with a seaview and indeed we had one! The view from our room was awesome. We could see all the shop houses nearby, the sea in the distance, Holiday Inn hotel on the other side, and it was such a clear unobstructed view.

We put our stuff down and decided to take the short walk to Jonker Street. To walk from Hatten Hotel to Jonker Street, simply take the link bridge on the third floor of the hotel to Hatten Square/Dataran Pahlawan. Exit from the shopping malls at Jalan Kota and continue walking. You will see a large monument, a whole string of museums and a train parked in the middle of the pedestrian pathway. Continue walking and you will see the iconic red church. Turn left and you will reach the start of Jonker Street where Kopi Chung Wah and San Shu Gong are.

San Shu Gong is the popular shop selling local delights and the shop is packed all times of the day. There are so many people buying local delights! I was truly shocked to see so many people milling around, grabbing boxes of crisps, biscuits and snacks and tossing them into baskets.

There is a bubble tea shop opposite San Shu Gong. It's Ochado and I tried it for the first time in Kuala Lumpur. I am not sure whether they have an outlet in Singapore but I did not have the opportunity to try Ochado's bubble tea in Singapore thus far. I love Ochado's Roasted Milk Tea! It's truly marvelous, so marvelous that I would make a special trip to the shop in KL whenever I am there to grab a cup. The taste of roasted tea makes the drink exceptionally tasty. The pearls are not fantastic though. Damn happy with Ochado's Roasted Milk Tea!

The walk down Jonker Street was very interesting. I was honestly amazed by the preservation of these historical buildings, the intricate designs of the buildings, and the wide variety of items on sale there. There were the usual shops selling gifts, clothes and food items. There were also makeshift stores that started appearing in the evening for the night market. It was truly bustling!

We settled at Geographer Cafe for dinner. We both ordered fish dishes, fish and chips for him, and a grilled lemon fish for me. Both were average. But the truly amazing things about Geographer Cafe are the alcohol and the incredibly awesome live singing. I had the apple strawberry mojito which was strong yet sweet at the same time. It was delicious. The live singing started at around 830pm and the lady's voice was deep, mellow and so soulful. It started to rain during our dinner and it was very enjoyable sitting there in the little cafe, sipping a cold delicious drink, and listening to her deliver numerous love songs that belonged to a long forgotten era.

After the rain stopped, we walked back to Hatten Hotel in the strong chilly wind. It was really hot in the day, but the weather cooled rapidly after the evening rain and the night was cold and chilly. 

Check out Day 2 of our Malacca trip here!