Non-stop Eating in Central, Hong Kong

On the first day in Hong Kong, which is a Sunday. My HK cousin Elaine don't have to work, so she'll be my tour guide of the day to search for the eateries that I've printed out. She too has a few recommendation on her mind. Hey, she's a local, when she's says something is good then you gotta trust her. From my list, she saw Yung Kee (鏞記) and one of her favourite noodle place is near the area too. So off we go to Central, Hong Kong. Our plan is to eat a bit in Yung Kee and then off to Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園).

We took the MTR to Central. I forgot which exit we took but I know that we came out in Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中). You'll be able to find which exit to go from the map inside the MTR station. You can click here for the map to Yung Kee. From there I see that the exit from the MTR station is D2.

Central is another place with branded shops besides Tsim Sha Tsui.

Just a short distance walk turning into Wellington Street (威靈頓街) and you'll be able to see Yung Kee. You won't be able to miss it because it has such a big sign outside the restaurant.



As expected on a Sunday afternoon, crowds. So we have to take a queuing number and wait to be seated.

We don't really have to wait very long. About 5 minutes, there's a table vacant and we were to go to the 2nd floor for our table. Once we seated, the waitress put a plate of century egg on our table and of course we said yes when she asked whether we wanted the century egg or not. I think the century egg in Yung Kee is like the bread & olive oil/vinegar in an Italian restaurant, it came as a default appetizer lol. Of course, one can always say no to it but who can resists such a nice looking century egg. The pickled ginger is especially good, there's also Chinese mustard and sour plum sauce to go with the century egg.

Rating: 5/5

When I am in Hong Kong, I always order Shou Mei (寿眉) tea. It's kind of hard to find in Malaysian Chinese restaurant. Maybe from Purple Cane one can find it.

Me, before I start to enjoy the century egg.

Since we're not eating much here, so we ordered just two of their specialties. Goose liver sausage bun and BBQ pork & roasted goose rice (even though in the menu there's no combination of meat rice but you can order it with any combination of your choice).

Goose Liver Sausage Bun

The goose liver sausage is a bit like the pork liver sausage except that it tasted much better. Not too much of the bitter taste that you'll find in the pork liver sausage. Liver sausage is an acquired taste not everyone will like it but I like it very much.

Rating: 4/5

Next came the BBQ pork & roasted goose rice. The BBQ pork here is unlike the one I've eaten in Malaysia, it's more to the salty version rather than the sweet caramelized version. I prefer the latter. The roasted goose here is of course very popular but it still lose to the one I had in Sham Tseng.

Rating: 4/5

Elaine also ordered a steamed fish lips. It's very smooth. Not too bad at all.

Rating: 4/5

Address:

Yung Kee Restaurant (鏞記)
32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong/香港中環威靈頓街32-40號
Tel: (852) 2522 1624
Fax: (852) 2840 0888
Website: http://www.yungkee.com.hk/


After the conquering Yung Kee, it's time to walk to Lan Fong Yuen, which is located uphill but not that up lol. Located in Gage Street, Lan Fong Yuen is your typical local Hong Kong restaurant (茶餐庭). So what's so special about this local HK restaurant. Well, according to Elaine her favourite is there "G dum dao low ding" (which means pork neck meat with dry Nissin Noodle)

There are actually two Lan Fong Yuen in Gage Street. The stall one is run by the father while the one in the shop is run by the son. So, if you want to try the father's one then come on weekdays because he closed on Sunday.

The father's stall.

The son's restaurant.

On the wall of the shop you'll be able to see photos of a lot of Hong Kong celebrities. You'll know that this restaurant is really popular.

Winner (the band where Alan Tam and Kenny B started from)

For drink, I of course try their pantyhose milk tea, which is voted top 10 best milk tea in Hong Kong.

Food is non other than the popular "low ding" (dry Nissn noodle). You can choose what sides to go with the noodle. Elaine recommended "G dum dao" lol, which is actually 猪颈肉 (pork neck meat). One bite and oh my god, I didn't know that instant noodle can taste this good. The noodle is cooked al dente, not too soggy and not too hard. It's like eating hand made noodle. The sauce is so good and mixed it up with the blended ginger and spring onion. The "G dum dao" is very good too. The texture of the meat is real good, even though the fat park is not that much but still it is pleasing. Be warn, this can be very addictive.

Rating: 5/5

Look closer at the "G dum dao"

The Macao Pork Chop bun here is also very different. It uses sesame bun instead of the harder bun that is normally use.

In Hong Kong, sharing table is a norm in the local restaurant because of the population and the space constraint. We shared a table with Kate from Guang Zhou that brought her friend Grace from Shanghai to try out Hong Kong restaurant culture. The Macao pork chop bun actually is their order, I just borrowed to take the picture. They are very generous to offer us the pork chop bun but we were too full already.

Address:
Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園)
4A-6?, 2 / 4A-6, Gage Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2544 3895 / 2850 8683

Well, almost full that is. LOL. Next up, it's time to eat something exotic. We passed by Ser Wong Fun (蛇王芬) when we were walking up to Lan Fong Yuen. Since, I never eaten snake stew before so we back track and go here to have snake. ^^

This restaurant is recommended by Chua Lam (蔡瀾). So many nice eateries in Central and I only tasted like 5% of it?



Elaine says that the snake stew here is authentic because she remembered when she was small there's also some shredded leaves put on the stew. I can taste dried mandarin orange peel in there too. Chicken slices also there. The snake meat is a bit too little. Snake meat is a bit reddish in colour, so don't mistaken the chicken slices with it. Nevertheless, it's quite good amid the funny taste.

Rating: 3.5/5

There's ear fungi (木耳) too.

Address:
Ser Wong Fun (蛇王芬)
30 Cochrane Street, Central, Hong Kong

After a exotic quick meal of snake meat. We walked around Central to look at the old buildings there.

I took this opportunity to try out the famous escalator going up hill here in Central. I think the movie Lavender was shot somewhere around here. I took a short video of the escalator ride.



This is also where I went to Goods of Desire (GOD) to buy the "fuk doi" (副袋). There's a lot of interesting stuff that you can buy from GOD, oh my God. (lame pun, I know)

As we were walking down to take the tram to Causeway Bay, we passed by the HQ of Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家). Elaine says that the egg tart and sha yung here is very good. Since there's always room for dessert, we bought two egg tarts. The sha yung (沙) sold out and the next batch has to wait.




I leave the queuing to Elaine while I took pictures. LOL.

Operation Hours: Mon - Sat 7:30 am till 9 pm, Sunday & Public Holiday 8.30 am till 9 pm.



Sha Yung only available after 11 am, so don't go too early if you want to buy sha yung.

The egg tart from Tai Cheong is very different from our Malaysia's Tong Kee. The skin of the tart is the buttery cookie version, and it's very buttery. The egg custard is more like egg custard lol. It's nice that it's freshly out from the oven where the egg custard is still warm and in a semi liquid form. I like both version former and latter.

Rating: 4.5/5

Address:

Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家)
35 Lydhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong / 中環擺花街35號地下
Tel: (852) 2544 3475

An egg tart ending to the eating spree in Central but the Central eating spree doesn't end here because next Sunday we came back for more. Next, we took the tram to Sogo, Causeway Bay. Time to "exercise" after so many food.