What's a trip to Hong Kong without dim sum? So the first stop was at this very instagrammable dim sum restaurant called Yum Cha. Most of the food on their menu is really meant to feed the camera first then the human. A quick introduction of what I ate in clockwise order, siew mai, prawn cheong fun, a combination shot, mango sago with blue cotton candy, piggy char siew bao, salted egg bao who can make vomiting and pooping expressions, spicy dumplings and pineapple bird tarts. I was pretty surprised that the food was surprisingly decent for this kind of novelty cafe. In fact, I'm of the view that Singapore Dim Sum tastes better but this is surprisingly close to our shopping mall establishments. If you love to take photos of food like me, then you can't miss visiting this place! Expect to shell out about $50-80 sgd for 3 pax.
Yum Cha
2/F Nan Fung Place, 173 Des Voeux Road Central
Another standard fixture of ALL my Hong Kong trips is a trip to Maxim Palace for this E-Fu Noodles that one can die for. Yes, plain looking, ordinary E-Fu noodles with mushrooms... yet, you can't find a dish that taste similar in Singapore. This E-Fu noodles doesn't have a strong oily taste unlike the ones back home and they have this addictive wok-hei tastiness that goes very well with the mushrooms that doesn't make me sick of having it.
To be fair, Maxim Palace serves up excellent Cantonese dishes. All the dishes at Maxim Palace was impeccably executed. For my mom who hates Cantonese food especially those in Hong Kong because they don't have chilli, she's full of praises of this place. This is also a must visit place for me and in my previous entry last year, I raved about the soups. I'll definitely be back again when I make my 6th trip to Hong Kong and I encourage everyone else to eat here at least once. At the very least, you should know how top quality Cantonese dishes should taste like. Expect a damage of $100-$150 SGD for 3 pax.
Maxim Palace
168-200 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan
Australian Dairy Company is also a repeat feature from my 2016 post. I love the milk puddings there. I think it's an acquired taste because my mom and brother didn't like it. Yet, Vain Pot and I vouch that it's heavenly and just have it along with the macaroni and scrambled eggs set. We have milk puddings at Ah Chew's Dessert in Singapore but if you tried it before, you will realise how far apart the standard is from the one at Australian Dairy Company. This is the best I've ever eaten! They have a custard version but I like the milk pudding a lot better. Expect a damage of $16 SGD for a set meal with custard pudding and milk pudding.
Australian Dairy Company
47 Parkes Street, Jordan
Another thing that have always been on my to-try list is rainbow cheese toast. In this case, I always thought that Kala Toast was a cafe-like establishment. I was quite surprised by the hole in the wall shopfront and being a hobbyist food blogger unlike the pros, taking the rainbow toast photo standing proved to be a hassle. The other highlight at Kala Toast is their galaxy drink which they placed luminous ice cubes inside the drink and it changes colour when you stir it. The rainbow cheese toast taste like an excellently prepared grilled cheese. The rainbow cheese makes it a little gimmicky but it's definitely a good representation of a good cheese toast. This is a snack rather than a full meal, you might wanna give it a try if you happen to be in Tsuen Wan for shopping. The shopping malls there are less crowded, making it a more pleasant shopping experience.
4 Tsuen Hing Path
Before the trip, my mom who hates ramen actually said she will bring us to try a famous ramen place in Hong Kong. Wow! I was intrigued. Turns out that it was Ichiran which I personally haven't tried before but have heard loads of rave reviews on it. So we went to queue for it! When you first step into the place and see this long sneaking queue that extends past 2 corridors it's quite frightening. How long do we need to wait?! Thankfully it's only a 30min wait and we were seated with our food. The ramen lives up to its fame with a very rich and flavourful broth with a spiciness level that gives it its added kick. I very much enjoyed the noodles with the broth but didn't like the char siew which was hard and a little too dry. The egg was awesome, running yolk on the inside and the sturdy egg white to match. Would I queue to eat this again? Not really, I feel I can find equivalents in Singapore without the queue. It's still a good experience especially if you haven't tried the one in Japan before. Expect to pay around $50-80 SGD for 3 pax.
Ichiran
G/F & Shop B, Basement Floor, 8 Minden Avenue, Tsim Tsa Shui
The visit to Lin Heung was honestly unexpected because I originally wanted to have tomato noodles for breakfast. Hong Kong's Independence Day along with Xi Jinping's visit caused a lot of shops to close on that day. Lin Heung is a traditional dim sum cha chan teng which requires visitors to share their seats and order their dim sum from pushcarts. While the food isn't fantastic, I enjoyed the old school way of having dim sum and the wider variety that I don't find in restaurants. It's also a more affordable way to feast on a lot of dim sum. Expect a damage of $23 for 2 pax.
Lin Heung
162 Wellington Street, Sheung Wan
If you don't like the chaos of ordering dim sum, here's an alternative typical Hong Kong breakfast set which you can get at another Cha Chan Teng at Honolulu Coffee Shop. In Singapore, Honolulu Cafe is famed for their egg tarts which apparently has a wider variety than their original outlet in Hong Kong. Talk about innovation... However, the breakfast set, ordinary as it looks is really comfort food and I love it. I'm craving for it at the moment and wondering where I can get an equivalent in Singapore. If you want to know how ordinary food like good scrambled eggs, buttered buns and kong zai instant noodles should taste like, give Honolulu Coffee Shop a try! Then you will know the difference back home. Expect to pay about $15 for 2 pax.
Honolulu Coffee Shop
176-178 Hennessey Road, Wan Chai
You know I was quite upset throughout the trip because I didn't have any good authentic Cantonese soup and porridge this time round. So at the airport, I dragged my family to have lunch at Ho Hung Kee, Michelin Star for their Wonton Mee but serves up the best Cantonese Porridge I have eaten. This is a restaurant that I gladly agree deserves their Michelin Star. On the day that Xi Jinping was in Hong Kong, I happen to chance upon a Bib Gourmand restaurant which also served porridge and soup and seriously, that was an epic 'how did they get the Michelin recognition?'. You got to try their sliced fish porridge at least once. Then you will know how far it differs from the porridge in all the expensive restaurants in Singapore and this one is way way way better! I paid about $60 for 3 pax.
Ho Hung Kee
Hong Kong Airport