World Foodie Guide

This is the fifth in a series of Postcards from the recent Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing traveleating trip. Rather than writing up each food experience in separate posts, which would have taken me up to Christmas, I thought it would be more fun to outline the trip in diary form, to include travel and sightseeing tips as well as food recommendations.

Day 5 highlights:

• HK ID card renewal
• lunch at Xi Yan in GOD
• Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui
• dinner at Kung Tak Lam

HK ID card renewal:

Today was the day that I had an appointment, booked online 12 days earlier, to renew my Hong Kong ID card. Everything that I’ve read online over the last few months about right of abode was confusing and contradictory, to the point where I thought I would lose it because I hadn’t returned to Hong Kong in over 11 years. However, apart from a comment ‘You haven’t been back in a while’ from the immigration officer (to which I could only reply that I’d been meaning to return every year and now I was finally back!), there were no awkward questions to dodge.

So, I’ve retained my right of abode in HK and will soon be in possession of a new and free Smart card! You can also fill in a form and nominate someone to pick it up for you, as it takes about 2 weeks to process. The husband is also starting the process of becoming a HK resident, so we’ll see what happens with that. As the spouse of someone with HK right of abode, he also has the right to something (probably right to land, which is almost the same, but not quite as good).

To conclude, if you’re in a similar situation as me, don’t believe everything you read online about right of abode and losing it. It really depends on individual circumstances. I was born in the UK to HK-born parents who later became British citizens. I’ve never lived in Hong Kong, but have visited a few times, and have relatives there. In February 1997, I applied for and received an ID card with right of abode, on the basis of my parents’ status (even though they haven’t lived in Hong Kong since the 60s). I missed the deadline to convert the ID card to the new Smart card three years ago, but as long as you go to Immigration on your next trip back to HK, you should be fine.

And if you need nourishment, Honolulu Cafe, 176-178 Hennessey Rd, isn’t too far away. I wish I’d made it there as they supposedly make excellent egg tarts with flaky pastry.

Xi Yan at GOD:

Rather than dim sum at Fu Sing Sharkfin Seafood Restaurant in Wan Chai (perhaps yesterday’s dim sum put me off it) as planned, we explored every corner of a fantastic ‘lifestyle’ shop in Causeway Bay called GOD – Goods of Desire (branches in Tsim Sha Tsui and Central). We came across it purely by chance and spent ages browsing each section – clothes, kitchen and bathroom products, bedlinen, furniture etc. The husband describes the products as ‘kitsch Chinoiserie with a modern twist’.

A late lunch at Xi Yan inside GOD was delicious. The man behind Xi Yan and the other branches is celebrity chef Jacky Yu, whom according to the restaurant website is known as the local Jamie Oliver (what a man to be compared to!). Between lunch and dinner, Xi Yan offers a tea set menu, with a nice selection of smaller sized dishes for HK$68. I had the noodle soup with grandma’s braised beef.

The vegetarian husband had dan dan noodles without pork (HK$52) and bean curd sheet with beansprouts (HK$38). The bean curd was excellent – crisp, fresh and savoury, while the peanutty sauce in the dan dan mian was also highly praised. My noodles lacked the wow factor, but they were perfectly fine. The huge mugs of honey ginger chrysanthemum tea were very comforting!

For an extra HK$10, I couldn’t resist the cashew nut ice cream, which was heavenly and came with a piece of dried mandarin that tasted deliciously tangy and crunchy. Incidentally, GOD is on the same street as Ho Hung Kee, a very basic eaterie that apparently serves excellent dry-fried beef ho fun noodles, according to China board Chowhounders. It’s a classic Cantonese dish that must be tried. I’m not sure if they have a bilingual menu or not, but try saying ‘gohn chow ngau ho’…

Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui:

To reach Tsim Sha Tsui for dinner with my mother and her friends, we took the Star Ferry from Central. It’s a short but classic must-do journey, and my mother always takes it because it reminds her of the old days in HK before she left for Europe in the 60s. It’s not even touristy as many locals use it as a cheap and convenient form of transport across the harbour – HK$2.20 for the upper deck and HK$1.70 for the lower deck. Returning on the lower deck late at night, we concluded that it was better because there are no perspex windows to obscure the view from your seat, you can enjoy the sea breeze and watch the sailors preparing to dock the ferry.

Dinner at Kung Tak Lam:

The dinner destination was popular Shanghai vegetarian restaurant Kung Tak Lam in trendy restaurant building One Peking Road. Hutong, which was originally on my list, is also in the same building. My mother’s HK friends chose this because it was 15th September according to the Chinese calendar, and the 1st and 15th of each Chinese calendar month are the two days when many Buddhists in Hong Kong choose to eat only vegetarian (‘tsai’) food. Really devout believers will eat vegetarian food daily, avoiding eggs, garlic, onion etc. I was really glad that our friends recommended this, as I did want the vegetarian husband to try some proper ‘tsai’ food, but knowing what to order could have been tricky.

As there were ten of us, and we had booked, we had a large table in a small section of the restaurant set away from the rest of the diners, which was perfect. We were also by the window, although I have to say that the view wasn’t as impressive as has been described online. Our friends ordered the 10 person set menu for a very reasonable HK$1380 (total, not per person!). I don’t think this is listed in the bilingual menu, as it came on a separate page, but this is what we had:

• Kung Tak Lam cold platter – shredded bean curd, mock meat bits, mock jellyfish etc
• baby corn with egg white soup – very nice!
• fried okra with lily bulbs and mushrooms
• soya bean fillet with black pepper sauce – particularly delicious
• deep fried vegetarian fish with pine nuts in sweet and sour sauce – which came looking just like a fish!
• stir-fried black mushrooms with broad beans and vegetarian chicken
• sauteed Shanghai pea shoots with egg white and black fungus – incredibly delicate pea shoots, the finest we’ve ever had, which had come all the way from Shanghai
• fried rice with seaweed and pine nuts
• pan-fried vegetarian dumplings
• cold noodles with seven sauces, Shanghai style – you can create your own combination from sauces and condiments including soy sauce, vinegar, ground cashew nuts, fermented red bean curd, chilli oil and vegetarian oyster sauce
• fruit platter

We also ordered extra desserts of tong yuen – glutinous rice balls filled with sesame paste and fried red bean paste dumplings with banana, a great end to a very healthy meal. Kung Tak Lam provides a healthy alternative to all the meat, seafood and dim sum that you’re bound to consume while in Hong Kong. It’s a busy restaurant, so book in advance, especially if you want a window table with a view of Hong Kong island, all lit up at night.

N.B You’ll find all the China Postcards under Restaurant Reviews – China, and the entire set of food photos on Flickr.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Immigration Dept
Hong Kong Office (Wan Chai)
8/F, Immigration Tower
7 Gloucester Road
Wan Chai
Hong Kong (MTR Wan Chai Station – Exit A5)
www.gov.hk/en/residents/immigration/idcard/bookregidcard.htm

Xi Yan – Tastes (they accept reservations)
2/F (inside GOD)
Leighton Centre
Sharp Street East
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2881 6693
www.xiyan.com.hk

Kung Tak Lam (they accept reservations)
7/F, 1 Peking Rd
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
Tel: 852 2312 7800
(from MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Exit C1, walk along Nathan Rd, then turn right onto Peking Rd and walk until you see a ‘tunnel’, go down it & look for the sign for the building ’1 Peking Road’)

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Tags: China, dining out, food, Hong Kong, Kung Tak Lam, restaurant review, restaurants, Shanghai, travel, traveleating, vegetarian, Xi Yan