Fresh Hearts and Egg Tarts: Our Silver Jubilee in Hong Kong & Macau
Dec 11th, 2013 | 04:22 PM
#23
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,626
Likes: 0
Thanks, everyone!
We will try to wrap it up this weekend--the written part that is.
marija--it was a good reminder to make sure you have the right "alert" info in your airline profile/itinerary. When we dropped off our luggage at ORD, there was a woman at the check-in desk who apparently was on the same original itinerary as us...but was just finding out about the delay. Unfortunately for her, at that point there were far fewer options.
I spent part of my morning shoveling snow and thinking about egg tarts the entire time.
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...6ddc#h32f76ddc
We will try to wrap it up this weekend--the written part that is.
marija--it was a good reminder to make sure you have the right "alert" info in your airline profile/itinerary. When we dropped off our luggage at ORD, there was a woman at the check-in desk who apparently was on the same original itinerary as us...but was just finding out about the delay. Unfortunately for her, at that point there were far fewer options.
I spent part of my morning shoveling snow and thinking about egg tarts the entire time.
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...6ddc#h32f76ddc
Dec 11th, 2013 | 05:32 PM
#24
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 13,293
Likes: 0
Fabulous report, mr and ms go! Sounds like you had a great trip! We ate at A Lorcha as well when we were in Macau last year and we also enjoyed the Nan Lian Gardens. I agree that just wandering on foot in Macau was a greatvway to explore. We found an interesting Sun Yat Sen house/museum by accident that way.
Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary!
Dec 12th, 2013 | 06:10 AM
#25
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,076
Likes: 0
Thanks so much to all for your kind words.
I don't want to get ahead of ourselves here...but since Kathie is looking for restaurant recos, I feel I must mention the Hungry Hong Kong blog.
http://hungryhk.blogspot.com/
I stumbled upon this site early in our planning, and quickly became addicted to it. This guy not only knows and loves food, but he's one of the best amateur food photogs I've ever seen.
Scroll down his page and click on any one of the restaurants listed in the column on the right. You'll see what I mean.
I don't want to get ahead of ourselves here...but since Kathie is looking for restaurant recos, I feel I must mention the Hungry Hong Kong blog.
http://hungryhk.blogspot.com/
I stumbled upon this site early in our planning, and quickly became addicted to it. This guy not only knows and loves food, but he's one of the best amateur food photogs I've ever seen.
Scroll down his page and click on any one of the restaurants listed in the column on the right. You'll see what I mean.
Dec 19th, 2013 | 06:18 AM
#30
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,076
Likes: 0
Thanks so much, HT. Both ms_go and I have been very busy at work for the past couple of weeks, so we've been a little slack in completing the report and editing & posting the photos. But...we do have a few days off coming up. So stay tuned!
Dec 22nd, 2013 | 05:20 AM
#32
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,626
Likes: 0
Thanks, HappyTrvlr. We will see Bob the Nav and Ms Bob about week from now. Speaking of Bob, they actually almost moved to Hong Kong about 1990 or so, so we could have had our chance to visit much sooner.
<b>Food</b>
We are not really foodies, nor particularly big eaters—when travelling, we typically have one big meal a day and the others are smaller or snacks, street food, etc. We also aren’t terribly high end diners—more mid-range and fun. Nevertheless, we do put a least some time into deciding where to eat when on vacation.
Finally, our aim here wasn’t to eat only local specialties—some yes, but over 10 days we were going to mix it up.
As noted above, we somehow got hooked on the Hungry Hong Kong blog some weeks in advance of our trip, and it became something of a daily work distraction. We even had a few places scoped out before we ever got there.
http://hungryhk.blogspot.com/
We won’t go into too much detail here—just share a few things we liked or didn’t and some photos just to make everyone a little hungry (but mostly myself while retrieving these from the phone and posting them). All photos are from an iPhone; some, unfortunately, are not completely in focus.
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p1047756834
<b>Top favorites</b>
<b>Chôm Chôm</b>
Small-plate style, based on Vietnamese street food. It’s a pretty small place and popular. No reservations taken, but were able to get seats at the bar. We spent most of our time there chatting with the executive chef (who, ironically, lived in the Chicago area at one point) while he was keeping an eye on the kitchen. Five dishes, including spicy tuna rolls, chicken wings, pho rolls, and shaking beef. All VERY tasty, and several rounds of drinks: US$110. We were tempted to go back a second time.
http://www.chomchom.hk/
No. 58-60 Peel Street
<b>Iberico & Co.</b>
Spanish/tapas in Soho along the escalator. We passed it several times and had tried unsuccessfully to get in once before. Dinner consisted of: chicharrón with paprika mayo; chef’s special grilled sardines with olive oil, thyme, lemon and garlic; spicy meatballs; battered deep fried pumpkin with peri-peri sauce; and baked pear marinated in port with ginger sauce and ice cream—washed down with caipirinha, sangria, and a half liter of rose. Everything was terrific! ~US$110 (paid cash, no exact record). No photos from this stop unfortunately—we were too busy eating.
http://www.enoteca.hk/iberico/iberico.html
18 Shelley St.
<b>Honorable mention</b>
<b>Rainbow Seafood</b>, Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island
We had a nice table, almost on the water and rewarded ourselves after miles of walking to get there. Five dishes—deep fried squid in salt/pepper batter (I would go back just for more of this), garlic scallops with noodles, clams in black bean and chili sauce, fried rice and sautéed kale—and three very tall and cold beers: US$62.
<b>Food</b>
We are not really foodies, nor particularly big eaters—when travelling, we typically have one big meal a day and the others are smaller or snacks, street food, etc. We also aren’t terribly high end diners—more mid-range and fun. Nevertheless, we do put a least some time into deciding where to eat when on vacation.
Finally, our aim here wasn’t to eat only local specialties—some yes, but over 10 days we were going to mix it up.
As noted above, we somehow got hooked on the Hungry Hong Kong blog some weeks in advance of our trip, and it became something of a daily work distraction. We even had a few places scoped out before we ever got there.
http://hungryhk.blogspot.com/
We won’t go into too much detail here—just share a few things we liked or didn’t and some photos just to make everyone a little hungry (but mostly myself while retrieving these from the phone and posting them). All photos are from an iPhone; some, unfortunately, are not completely in focus.
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p1047756834
<b>Top favorites</b>
<b>Chôm Chôm</b>
Small-plate style, based on Vietnamese street food. It’s a pretty small place and popular. No reservations taken, but were able to get seats at the bar. We spent most of our time there chatting with the executive chef (who, ironically, lived in the Chicago area at one point) while he was keeping an eye on the kitchen. Five dishes, including spicy tuna rolls, chicken wings, pho rolls, and shaking beef. All VERY tasty, and several rounds of drinks: US$110. We were tempted to go back a second time.
http://www.chomchom.hk/
No. 58-60 Peel Street
<b>Iberico & Co.</b>
Spanish/tapas in Soho along the escalator. We passed it several times and had tried unsuccessfully to get in once before. Dinner consisted of: chicharrón with paprika mayo; chef’s special grilled sardines with olive oil, thyme, lemon and garlic; spicy meatballs; battered deep fried pumpkin with peri-peri sauce; and baked pear marinated in port with ginger sauce and ice cream—washed down with caipirinha, sangria, and a half liter of rose. Everything was terrific! ~US$110 (paid cash, no exact record). No photos from this stop unfortunately—we were too busy eating.
http://www.enoteca.hk/iberico/iberico.html
18 Shelley St.
<b>Honorable mention</b>
<b>Rainbow Seafood</b>, Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island
We had a nice table, almost on the water and rewarded ourselves after miles of walking to get there. Five dishes—deep fried squid in salt/pepper batter (I would go back just for more of this), garlic scallops with noodles, clams in black bean and chili sauce, fried rice and sautéed kale—and three very tall and cold beers: US$62.
Dec 22nd, 2013 | 05:29 AM
#33
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,626
Likes: 0
<b>An interesting concept</b>
<b>SML</b>, in the Food Forum at Times Square, Causeway Bay
Broad menu with Asian, Mediterranean and other dishes. Everything comes in three sizes: small, medium, or large—you pick. There are good happy hour specials, and it’s convenient when going to Happy Valley (actually, the Food Forum in general, which has about 3-4 floors of restaurants, is convenient for Happy Valley). We didn’t take any photos here, but we had various things like green papaya salad, smoked salmon rolls, and Singapore noodles. Desserts were probably the best. And there was wine from Innocent Bystander, whose winery/restaurant we adopted as a sort of hang-out spot while in the Yarra Valley near Melbourne a few years back!
<b>Dim sum</b>
We didn’t end up at any of the more popular or traditional restaurants with carts. One we liked close to BOW was Dim Sum Square on Jervois St. We ordered off placemat menus with photos. This is more of a neighborhood spot than a tourist spot. All was quite good—and it was very inexpensive!
<b>A few other notable things</b>
<b>Chinese and Thailand Seafood Restaurant</b> in Shek O
Possibly the largest menu ever and fairly reasonable prices (sorry, paid cash so don’t recall exactly how much we spent here). Our notes indicate that after spending considerable time reviewing the menu, we enjoyed squid in garlic sauce with chili peppers and pork with lemongrass.
<b>WTF</b> on Elgin in Soho
We stumbled in here one evening after getting a late start and finding most of the places on our “list” full. Ostensibly, the name stands for “wine, tapas and fun.” We had a pretty decent light meal of sautéed mushrooms with garlic and peppers, meatballs in tomato, and melon with Iberico ham, along with a bottle of wine. US$92; maybe a little pricier than some (or maybe that was just because of the wine?).
Finally, as noted earlier in the report, the “champagne pork” dish at the <b>Ngong Ping Garden</b> restaurant was unexpectedly tasty and memorable.
The <b>Pool Bar at the Intercontinental</b> was a nice place to hang out in the afternoon, and the appetizer platter was good—if not inexpensive.
And those egg tarts from <b>Tai Cheong Bakery</b>—I’d be on the next plane back just to get those, too!
35 Lyndhurst Terrace
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...32e3#h32f76ddc
<b>Regrets</b>
<b>Spice</b> in Tsim Sha Tsui
This was the actual night of our anniversary. We weren’t necessarily looking for a special occasion restaurant, but we did want something decent. We picked between several Indian restaurants. This was one of the few dinners for which we made a reservation. On a whim, I replicated e-mail on my phone using the hotel wi-fi before we left for the evening (no data roaming!). We arrived at the restaurant at the time of our reservation and the hostess immediately informed us that they didn’t have a reservation for us. I showed her the e-mail on my phone. Her cold and unsmiling reply: “Okay, well, we can seat you now, but you’ll need to be out by 9 pm. Is that okay?” That should have been our cue to leave, but we didn’t have a Plan B, places around this were starting to look full, and it was raining. So we took it. Appetizers were forgettable. The entrees actually weren’t too bad. Service as about as welcoming as the hostess. The restaurant wasn’t all that full. We should have gone elsewhere.
Also, we had several enthusiastic recommendations for Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons, which unfortunately never just seemed to fit well into our plans. We should have picked that for our anniversary dinner or lunch.
<b>Macau</b>
The Sofitel club floor kept us well fed while in Macau. Our only meal out was:
<b>A Lorcha</b>, Portuguese/Macanese
This was a nice dinner. The star was the octopus salad, and the piri-piri chicken and Macanese seafood rice dish were pretty good too. With a bottle of Portuguese wine, US$69. Not an epic meal, but solid.
Concluding thoughts to come soon!
The rest of our photos—well, maybe not so soon…
<b>SML</b>, in the Food Forum at Times Square, Causeway Bay
Broad menu with Asian, Mediterranean and other dishes. Everything comes in three sizes: small, medium, or large—you pick. There are good happy hour specials, and it’s convenient when going to Happy Valley (actually, the Food Forum in general, which has about 3-4 floors of restaurants, is convenient for Happy Valley). We didn’t take any photos here, but we had various things like green papaya salad, smoked salmon rolls, and Singapore noodles. Desserts were probably the best. And there was wine from Innocent Bystander, whose winery/restaurant we adopted as a sort of hang-out spot while in the Yarra Valley near Melbourne a few years back!
<b>Dim sum</b>
We didn’t end up at any of the more popular or traditional restaurants with carts. One we liked close to BOW was Dim Sum Square on Jervois St. We ordered off placemat menus with photos. This is more of a neighborhood spot than a tourist spot. All was quite good—and it was very inexpensive!
<b>A few other notable things</b>
<b>Chinese and Thailand Seafood Restaurant</b> in Shek O
Possibly the largest menu ever and fairly reasonable prices (sorry, paid cash so don’t recall exactly how much we spent here). Our notes indicate that after spending considerable time reviewing the menu, we enjoyed squid in garlic sauce with chili peppers and pork with lemongrass.
<b>WTF</b> on Elgin in Soho
We stumbled in here one evening after getting a late start and finding most of the places on our “list” full. Ostensibly, the name stands for “wine, tapas and fun.” We had a pretty decent light meal of sautéed mushrooms with garlic and peppers, meatballs in tomato, and melon with Iberico ham, along with a bottle of wine. US$92; maybe a little pricier than some (or maybe that was just because of the wine?).
Finally, as noted earlier in the report, the “champagne pork” dish at the <b>Ngong Ping Garden</b> restaurant was unexpectedly tasty and memorable.
The <b>Pool Bar at the Intercontinental</b> was a nice place to hang out in the afternoon, and the appetizer platter was good—if not inexpensive.
And those egg tarts from <b>Tai Cheong Bakery</b>—I’d be on the next plane back just to get those, too!
35 Lyndhurst Terrace
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...32e3#h32f76ddc
<b>Regrets</b>
<b>Spice</b> in Tsim Sha Tsui
This was the actual night of our anniversary. We weren’t necessarily looking for a special occasion restaurant, but we did want something decent. We picked between several Indian restaurants. This was one of the few dinners for which we made a reservation. On a whim, I replicated e-mail on my phone using the hotel wi-fi before we left for the evening (no data roaming!). We arrived at the restaurant at the time of our reservation and the hostess immediately informed us that they didn’t have a reservation for us. I showed her the e-mail on my phone. Her cold and unsmiling reply: “Okay, well, we can seat you now, but you’ll need to be out by 9 pm. Is that okay?” That should have been our cue to leave, but we didn’t have a Plan B, places around this were starting to look full, and it was raining. So we took it. Appetizers were forgettable. The entrees actually weren’t too bad. Service as about as welcoming as the hostess. The restaurant wasn’t all that full. We should have gone elsewhere.
Also, we had several enthusiastic recommendations for Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons, which unfortunately never just seemed to fit well into our plans. We should have picked that for our anniversary dinner or lunch.
<b>Macau</b>
The Sofitel club floor kept us well fed while in Macau. Our only meal out was:
<b>A Lorcha</b>, Portuguese/Macanese
This was a nice dinner. The star was the octopus salad, and the piri-piri chicken and Macanese seafood rice dish were pretty good too. With a bottle of Portuguese wine, US$69. Not an epic meal, but solid.
Concluding thoughts to come soon!
The rest of our photos—well, maybe not so soon…
Jan 3rd, 2014 | 05:05 PM
#39
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,626
Likes: 0
Inching along here...we've finally been through most of our photos and have posted some here. We didn't really put our typical effort into taking/editing/posting photos for this trip--partly because of the weather and partly because we just felt compelled to put away the cameras and enjoy the experience most of the time. Anyway, hopefully this will be helpful/interesting to anyone planning a trip:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/f428229641
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/f428229641
