Mobile Softee ( U )

We were strolling along sports shoe street when this van pulled up

Busybody time again. Camera goes a snooping.

Hong Lin Restaurant ( NH )

I want to rave on and on about this restaurant

The staff here is quite friendly especially once they find out that you are Malaysian .

Lok Yuen Beef Ball King (NH)

We came here because it was still open past midnight. Packed to the brim even. Barely any place to sit.

By right should be good right ? I mean they even have the balls to say they are king of exploding beef balls. Take a look at the extensive menu. Impressive.

Dai Pai Tong Treasures ( NH )

I intially approached this street food sold on almost every corner,with much scepticism but was immediately blown away by the very addictive, eardrum busting, extremely spicy sauce . Yum ! Can't put it down once you start.

Since it was love at first bite, I got adventurous and decided to try out this threesome together.

Curry fishballs, Curry Offal and a variety of fishpaste items without the curry

Lucullus Gourmet Shop , Langham Place

Possibly the cutest , daintiest , most fascinatingly imaginative and beautiful array of chocolates you will ever come across are sold by Lucullus .

It's just a small shop on the way to the MTR but boy, the display is so attractive, it just stops you in your tracks.

The upside down glass mini chandeliers are so pretty.

Minimum order here is two pieces. 

Took the last mango rose. Eek ! Cute mice.

 Spot the shy rabbits .

Couldn't bear to bite one.

Too sweet to look at.

Treated myself to one chocolate bomb.

Top shelf.

Bought two pieces only yet they still wrapped it up for me in this lilac paper bag.

Feel very pai seh.

Bill.

$9 per piece.

Verdict : mango rose was ok ,couldn't really taste the mango flavour . chocolate bomb was nicer with small pop pops exploding in your mouth .

Website : http://www.lucullus.com.hk/

Shui Wah Restaurant, Fa Yuen Street

We decided to have breakfast at Shui Wah restaurant today.

The locals here seem to love eating instant noodles and ham the whole day. Paired with eggs ,toast and ham as well as other combinations later in the day.

As we were not keen on the noodles we requested for a set without it.

I got this after much difficulty getting my message across to the extremely patient and helpful waiter.

Looks like an stingray omelette in flight with two small bra cones on top .

Some swift surgery to expell the contents.....ham..ham..ham...and more ham.

Aiya, I only like french ham nothing else.

Didn't I hear him say this was a Ham Sandwich ?

Don't really like this as the bread roll is too hard, the butter or margarine is not fragrant and the egg ordinary like a flat piece of fried plastic with not much flavouring while the ham tastes like what we can get back home from supermarket delis that sell the lowest priced ham cuts.

He gets something that is not on the menu. Breaded fish fillet.
Damnit. This is really tasty and nice although very thin. Didn't try the bacon nor the tartar sauce. Stole lots of this off his plate.

Till he had to call for a second plate. This time a slight variation from the first. Eggs scrambled (that look scrambled to you ?) and with a sausage instead.

Look at the fish. Split into 2. Perhaps not enough to go around yet they obliged us anyway.

Bill time . Say what ?

Sampan Porridge

This is my first attempt at this dish and probably after today it will be my last.

It's supper, past 11.40 pm and we find ourselves at Fa Yuen Street inside this little shop.

Keep your eyes on the road outside, don't look at the floor.

Prices are extremely reasonable but the crowd consists of a motley of tough characters too.

I decided on this shop against a dim sum palace as I wanted a more authentic version as opposed to a more refined recipe of this humble dish.

But nothing prepared me for the things I found inside the congee.

Floured minced pieces of what tasted like some kind of meat which I have no intention of finding out, together with brown squid tentacles and gasp ! is that urchin ? complete with spikes ? then more sea cucumber like strings together with fried peanuts.

Lost my appetite because I find some of these ingredients a little hard to stomach. I think it was the shock of seeing the little spikes on the urchin that made it revolting .

The dumpling on the other hand was much better. There was a thick layer of mashed black eyed beans at the bottom layer, much better than our version.

However when we got to the centre, it was only a small piece of fat from the pork belly minus any meat.

Served on top of a saucer of light soya sauce. Quite nice. If only the plate didn't look so greasy .

Lastly we had the red bean dessert. Pretty much home made and ordinary tasting. Just like what we would cook back home.

Lok Yeun Chiu Chau, Soy Street

I had such high hopes. 3 years back, every restaurant on this street churned out exceptionally good food.

Today however, many have changed hands and this area where there is a junction is a huge tourist trap, mostly known for Teo Chew cuisine and typhoon shelter style clams . Still I was not dettered and went ahead into this restaurant.

We sat right in the middle of the restaurant, ignored by the surly, unfriendly, worn out staff. 

All the empty seats are soon filled up because there is some kind of happy hour promotion which we cannot make out as it is all in chinese.

We don't know that yet and proceed to happily order because we think that we have found a nice place where locals come to for good food.

As I remembered, the beef noodles on this row were excellent. Wrong !

Either, I do not know how to appreciate Teo Chew food or this is crap.

The soup is clear, the noodles tastes like boric acid, the meat is hard and the fat is capital yuck !

While the meatballs are slightly better and quite tasty , the noodles are certainly no better. Like shitty threads floating in a toilet bowl .

Red bean iced drink is also crappy. Tastes rawish, smells " chow zhang ". Yuck yuck yuck. Not nice at all.

Regret is starting to fill my head at this point .

Milk Tea.

Something I want to forget.

Then, a guy joins our table. This is acceptable. He places an order and soon kicks up a fuss. Apparently he made Happy Hour on time but the staff have listed him as arriving later than that on the bill.

They change his bill for him but not before demonstrating their displeasure by throwing cutlery into the bins in a very loud manner.

I quickly turn to face this greasy,oily cluster of condiments.

This is Mongkok after all. Who knows if you are dining amongst a fraternity of gangsters.

When it comes to our turn to pay the bill and we point out that the server has forgotten one order, the cashier gets cross with us.

Que sera sera. I don't care if I get hacked by some parang wielding Ah Fei Chai, your food sucks. No. I didn't tell her that. What ? You want me to die ?

The place and cuisine I want to avoid at all costs.

Hui Lau Shan, Sai Yeong Choi Street South

Hong Kong people seem to have a love for everything mango and where better to start than at Hui Lau Shan.

The mango variety that they use is extremely fragrant. Reminds me of the apple mangoes that we have back home growing in our gardens . But I am sure they do not source it from us. I think they use either Philippines or Thai mangoes for this purpose.

This is one of the more popular outlets . Have seen other branches with bigger seating spaces, yet somehow they don't do so well nor attract or pack in the crowds like this one does.

If  you cannot read chinese, the mock ups right at the entrance would prove to be most helpful .

Get yourself a table first.

It's elbow room in this very cramped, tiny shoplot yet nobody seems to mind.

Go through the menu and see what you would like to try.

Signal to the waiter for assistance once you have a rough indication on what you want.

You will not regret ordering the gorgeous looking dish called Mango Fiesta.

There is a heavenly mango ice cream sitting on top of a bed of spiced caramalised cooked fresh fibrous fruit (either a pear or apple I think), hinged by a wall of chocolate wafer.

In the centre is a creamy cake sandwiched by layers of silky smooth mango slices with texture similar to canned peaches.

While the last combines large balls of sago,with cubed fruit and 2 different types of puree .

Goes so well with each other.

This drink, whatever the combination you choose, is to die for.

Inside are dollops of a melt in your mouth kind of jelly, meant to cool you down during the hot summer months.

Behind this is a plastic container where you can get your spoons. It's on every table

Lastly we ordered this too because we noticed all the locals having one on their table.

Only after ordering did we realise we should have told the waiter that we wanted the one with mango ice cream inside. But no worries, this mango overdose was good too !

Again, it consists of the awesomely fragrant puree and delicious mango cubes but the only difference this time is , it has small sago seeds like what we get in our bubur cha cha.

When you're done, take the order slip to the counter.

All these desserts cost us around RM$50 in total.

Worth every cent.

I heard that they have opened up a shop here in One Utama and Berjaya Times Square, but I haven't tried it yet.

Anyway, it is always best to try at the source so you know what the fuss is all about.