capetownfolk

On the advice of this forum our family of 5 are staying at the YMCA Salisbury for our Hong Kong visit in December.

Can anyone recommend a good place for breakfast - sorry will probably have to be Western style, though we will eat all our other meals as per local - near the Salisbury, and quick and easy so we can get on with our exploring.

Many thanks in advance

rhkkmk

some say the food ight in the Y is decent and cheap

capetownfolk

Good evening Raymond - or is that good morning for you?
OK I will try the Y - if the grandmother doesn't get tea and the husband doesn't get coffee and the children don't eat the day will be off to a very bad start - so the more convenient and easier the better - catching a bus or taxi somewhere is a non option first thing in their mornings!

rkkwan

rhkkmk is Bob.

I've also heard good things about the breakfast buffet at the Y. I've not tried it. They should have a la carte too.

rkkwan

There's also good old McD, and the local favorite Cafe de Coral at the Star Mansion in front of the Star Ferry.

lcuy

We ate breakfast at the Salisbury, for the same reasons you mention...quick, good selection of western breakfast items and some of our family gets very cranky if they don't eat bf.

It is more or less a cafeteria but certainly an easy way to start your day.

capetownfolk

Thank you all and Bob forgive the Raymond - can't figure out where I got that from - have read your postings and checked out your pictures for a long time now - forgive me.

I will stick to the Y - its just easy and then I can get everyone out the door quickly and pleasantly.

I am currently finalising the details of the itinerary - should be done today - have had to stop reading this forum - getting info overload!

Cicerone

While the Y certainly makes sense in terms of ease, there is also a Starbucks basically next door to the Y in the Star House bulding, which is accross from the Star Ferry Pier. They don't do eggs, but have muffins and coffee and sometimes quiches. There is also a Starbucks accross the street in the Culture Centre, a little better ambience and you can have have your coffee and watch the harbour and the people doing tai chi. For all Starbucks locations, go to http://www.starbucks.com.hk.

Stabucks
Star House
Ground Floor
3 Salisbury Road

There is also a McDonalds in the basement of the same building which does have eggs, pancakes, etc which would be very quick, and which someone above has mentioned is dirt cheap in Hong Kong (although prices have gone up in recent years).

Also, over on the Hong Kong side, the Flying Pan is excellent for breakfast (served all day, bagels, waffles, French toast, baked beans, the works), and they have a location in the Hollywood Road area which is convenient if you are touring around the escalator and that area and also one in Wan Chai:

Flying Pan
Ground Floor
9 Old Bailey Street
Central (Hollywood Road area)
Tel: 2140-6333

3rd Floor
81-85 Lockhart Road (Wan Chai)
Tel: 2528-9997

Sheygetz

(I hope the folks from Capetown won't mind me barging in on this.)
As I don't need to have a Western style bf, is there anything more local than fast food chains in that area? We'll be at the Langham - and I'm looking forward to the Tai Chi actually, so wave when you spot me over your triple chocmoc vanillacchino ;-)

Hendrik

TracyB

When we stay at the Salisbury, we either eat right at the hotel (it is very good) or at McDonalds (which is cheap and good also) or go to Dim Sum at Serenade(across the street on the harbour), very good Dim Sum!!

rkkwan

Fast food chains can be local. Cafe de Carol has both Chinese and western style breakfast. If you want something quick and cheap, few places beat them. HK$17-19 for a bowl of congee/porridge, some noodles or "sticky rice chicken" or something else, and drink.

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p183022758/?photo=218828288

For someone like me who grew up in Hong Kong, and don't mind saving a few bucks and precious time, that's a very decent breakfast.

Sheygetz

"sticky rice chicken" sounds/ looks yummy to me I'll try that!

Hendrik

Cicerone

capetownfolk, I had previously posted to you sometime earlier this year that you could rent windsurfers at various places here. However, I had an unfortunate experience the weekend before last with a friend from Singapore who tried to rent a board with us. He did not have a certificate issued by the Hong Kong country parks watersports dept, and was not allowed to rent a board. (I had taken lessons in Hong Kong 10 years ago and am on their list). I did not realize you needed this to rent a board. This appears to be the rule at all the water sports centers run by the Hong Kong public parks dept. You may try to see if your hotel can arrange something with the parks dept, OR ask the Hong Kong Tourist Board, OR ask a local person who is also renting that day if they will rent for you. (We ended up renting two boards and my Singapore friend just used one of ours; once we were out on the water, no one cared or even noticed).

It could also be that if you show up with a passport and just play the dumb tourist, they may rent to you. We showed up with our watersport certificates for ID and nothing for my friend (who did not have his passport with him either). So, maybe the dumb tourist route is the way to go...

You can also take a lesson and get a certificate, the lesson takes two days, probably more than you want. But you could just sign up for the lessons and that would be one way to get out there. See http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/watersport/en/index.php for info.

Sorry for the miss-information. I have actually now checked all my guidebooks, and they all mention the ability to rent but NONE of them mentions this requirement.

If you want to rent from a non-public source, to the best of my knowledge you have to go to Cheng Chau Island, which is quite nice and has a nice little beach, but won't have the Stanley shopping you want. (Perhaps you could split up.) I mentioned this in my other post. This is about 20 minutes by ferry and is a cute island with a little town and a temple, some walks and a "pirate cave". There are some good casual and inexpensive seafood restaurants on the waterfront as well. It's a nice little place to go in any event, albeit there is not any shopping, on a weekday you would have the place virtually to yourselves. . Some info on the island can be found at http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...lk_walk5.jhtml. You can rent windsurfers here at

Cheung Chau Windsurfing Centre
Hak Pai Road, Cheung Chau
Tel: 2981 8316
(next to Warwick Hotel and the Helicopter pier). This is operated by the uncle of Lee Lai Shan, our windsurfing Gold Medalist. They rents kayaks as well. I have not rented there, but I did just speak to the lady there at the office, and although her English is not great, she confirmed that no certificate is necessary.

tinlizzy2

We stayed at the Y but only ate there the last morning and could have kicked ourselves that we didn't eat there every morning.

Food was good, convenient and easy. It was the most pleasant morning we had.

BTW- there is a Starbucks down the block and a convenience/drug store across the street.

capetownfolk

Cicerone - this is very interesting. My husband says he would only windsurf if the conditions are right - maybe he can flash his passport and jump on and show them some of his moves - he competed internationally for years on the windsurfing circuit - so I guess he's quite good! Glad you told us about this as I do think he rather liked the idea of wind surfing whilst we wandered round Stanley market

Tin Lizzy - I think you are right and we will eat at the Y first thing - much easier than dealing with grumpy children