of mojitos and other madness: all things locally hongkong!

to be really honest, this girl was secretly dreaming of days of thick peanut toasts and beef brisket noodles before we arrived in hongkong...but with the larger group and kids in tow, we realized upon reaching the islands that some of the recommended places to eat were really holes in the wall, making it a tad difficult for us to maneuver ourselves into. but i was quite set on getting at least one thick toast into my tummy so the plan was to check those must eat local stuff on our trip down to causeway bay.

armed with a screenshot of recommended cha chaan teng places by hungrygowhere and another by cnngo.com, i decided to go with the macau restaurant as shortlisted by hungrygowhere just because i figured an asian based review might be a safer bet than that of an expat one off cnngo! the place had quite an old school diner feel to it and featured quite a variety of dishes ranging from the usual toasts, macaroni and instant noodle sets to several claypot creations. while this isn't your typical cha chaan teng, i was happy and we had a blast squeezing into a booth and haggling with the slightly impatient service staff. the macanese toasted bun with peanut butter and condensed milk hit the spot for me while the macanese toasted bun with corn beef had my sis grinning from ear to ear. the instant noodle set with pork chop was a bit of a let down but the pork chop was at least tender.

kor kor tucked into the macanese baked pork chop rice and between all of us we had the claypot chicken and claypot crab vermicelli. the claypot dishes turned out pretty flavorful as they were cooked with a lot of ginger and garlic so it was quite yummy...although pak law found it overall too salty. i could tell pak law wasn't too impressed but to me, its canteen style food so for the price, i think its decent enough.

being a macanese joint, we had to give the portuguese egg tarts a go and found them so-so. a little too rich and creamy for me but it did help conclude the lunch on a sweet note. i'm sure there are better cha chaan teng joints around, but i'm not complaining about the experience at macau restaurant...if anything else, it was a bit of hongkong (or macanese) fast food fun!

macau restaurant

481 jaffe road
shop c, g/f shining building

causeway bay

(852) 2572 3113

located right next door to the macau restaurant was a beef joint....i snapped the above shot post lunch without the knowledge that we would in fact return for dinner later day! pak law, as part of his afternoon recce, while the rest of us explored the beautiful boutiques and shops of causeway bay, decided that this joint appeared to serve some mean beef noodles so vetoed us from dining at the jardin house in central to having father's day dinner here. i apologise that i don't have the name of the place but it's right next to the macau restaurant so you can't miss it.

pak law's senses definitely did not fail and we had a fabulous (and probably the cheapest!) father's day dinner. the beef was extremely tasty and perfectly cooked...it didn't matter if it was the sirloin steak, beef slices or beef brisket...every single version was cooked to tender perfection. served in hot yummy stock, it was no wonder the place was kept full with locals streaming in and out throughout the time we were there...many eating alone for i can understand it is all about you and the beef noodles! we had a serving of the crispy fish skin, which apparently is a must have side dish to beef noodles (it was served also at the food republic food court), and it turned out to complement the beef dish quite well. i was afraid of the fishy smell and saltier then usual taste, but the skins were very well done. not overly fried, not at all salty nor oily, these were a refreshing change to the salmon skin variety i am used to. the servings here are huge so do be warned....i can imagine this place packed in winter for what better way to warm up but with a huge bowl of beef noodle soup!

beef joint (next to macau restaurant)

481 jaffe road
wither shop a or b, g/f shining building

causeway bay

finally - yum cha. my sis and i did suggest celebrating father's day at lung king heen' as that was the only michelin star rated chinese restaurant in the world. but pak law declined citing possible over rated reviews, and suggested just dining simply instead. again, i expected us to yum cha a bit more but it ended that we only had yum cha once when we explored the stanley market. little did we know that stanley has become truly touristy and that food here is likewise extremely tourist influenced and served at tourist prices! the dim sum at shu zai turned out so-so. ..and while it was quite refined, at seven bucks a bamboo tray, i'd say the dim sum in singapore is way better. the mental note has definitely be made to stick with the maxim-like yum cha joints in future!

shu zai