dim sum @victoria harbour seafood

Went with a couple of friends to ‘Victoria Harbour Seafood Restaurant, Citic Tower, Central”, the other day. I am a regular to their other branch in “Sung Hung Kai Center, Wanchai”, and tried this outlet for the first time. Very easy to find. Just go through the entrance of Citic Tower (the one facing the waterfront) and take the elevator to fifth floor.

Food is above average maybeasevenoutoften and they have some nice signature dishes. Try their version of Shanghainese soup dumplings, a.k.a. “Xia Long Bao”. They come with a juicy a crab filling, instead of the standard minced pork. Another nice dish is the beef with Wasabi – well worth trying! Juicy, tender beef cut into small bite size pieces, with just the right touch of hot Japanese raddish. Other places sometimes get too excited with the Wasabi – here it is served in a way, that you still can enjoy the nice beef flavour. “Victoria Harbour Seafood” seems to be famous for their “beef brisket” station and other Chiu Chow cuisine delicacies, being cooked up in an open area. You cannot miss it… you will pass by, when being taken to your table. The congee was not so good. We had the “salty chicken” version – stay away.

Upside: One of the few Dim Sum spots with a nice harbour view from Central to Kowloon side. A very good place to go, if you have visitors in town. All fellow ‘DimSummers’, locals as well as gweilos, agreed that we shall come back to try some more.

Mai Dan!

kau kee – want beef?

First of all: Nice! Your are back for more! A friend of mine introduced me to this hidden little gem in “21 Gough Street, Sheung Wan” – noodle shop “Kau Kee”. You can either walk down the steps from Hollywood Road to Gough Street, or make your way up from Queens Road. The area is pretty cool – you can find some nice restaurants, furniture/home deco shops and other interesting things. It is worth to go browsing, once you are there. I believe most of you know “ypmaps”. If not… here you go: Very useful tool with nice search functions – easy and convenient.

There are several Hong Kong style restaurants in the area, so you gotta make sure you find the right one. If you are coming during peak hours, just look for the place with the longest cue. If you go on a weekend, around lunch time, expect a minimum time of 10 minutes, before being seated. Regulars keep up with standing in line up to half an hour, just to get their bowls of noodles.

Kau Kee entrance

Once you are in, it is an easy deal. They mainly serve two dishes, only. Beef noodles in a clear broth, or curry beef noodles. I prefer the clear broth version with flat white rice noodles: “Au Lam Ho Fan”. The curry goes better with the yellow Chinese style vermicelli. You can never go wrong ordering some veggies (eat your greens, la!), so I like to order a portion on the side. Add a cold Yuanyang (milk-tea and coffee mixed) and you are ready to have a perfect HK style lunch.

Beef noodles in clear broth with veggies on the side

Curry beef noodle

The combination of mouth-watering beef, delicious soup and scrumptious noodles is close to perfection. The vegetables, I had “Sam Choi”, had a very nice texture and were dipped in the broth. A solid nine on a scale from zero to ten. Their broth is so outstanding, that they can afford to charge six Honks Hong Kong Dollars for it. Really something unusual in HK to my experience. In other noodle shops you just ask for more soup and that’s it. Bowls are rather small, but if you have your veggies and drink on the side, it shall be enough to get you full. Another nice treat is their homemade chili sauce. If you like to add a little spicy twist to your meal, try some with a piece of beef or just put a small spoonful in your bowl and mix it with the soup. I went there for lunch with some colleagues. I believe it is always a good idea to ask locals about their opinion on local food. They agreed to the fact that those are some exceptionally good noodles. Kind of surprised them, how a Gweilo could find and like such a shop…

…told them that I should be ready to surprise them again, soon!