Dessert!

After those delicious dumplings we finished off the evening with dessert at Honeymoon Desserts, again in the mall in Sha Tin.


Black tapioca with green tea ice cream and vanilla sauce. It’s an iced vanilla cream, covered with small flavorless gelatinous seeds and green tea matcha ice cream. A great way to cool down.


Durian and black Thai glutenous rice. The same vanilla ice sauce with a heap of black rice that tasted somewhat like red beans. The durian was stinky as always (though my wife loves it).

14 hour flight to save a 30 minute drive

The New Town Plaza in Sha Tin has a treasure trove of western style restaurants. The waft of fresh baked pizza from the Italian place was especially tempting. Instead, we migrated to a place famous in Los Angeles, Din Tai Fung. Originally from Taiwan, this chain has earned a Michelin star, and has opened locations around the globe, including two in Southern California that we’ve been too lazy to drive to. So instead we braved the 14 hour flight to try the famous Shanghai soup dumplings in the Hong Kong location. Let’s see if we agree with Jonathan Gold’s review.


Green beans grilled and tossed with pork – chilled, but not greasy, and a perfect texture.    Crispy cucumber in a spicy garlic chile sauce, just the right amount of heat.


Glass noodles tossed with tofu and bean sprouts. Also lightly spicy, and chilled which was pleasant on a hot evening.


The main event, Shanghai soup dumplings. The pork was fall apart tender, the broth rich and savory, the dumpling wrapper perfect and unbroken, and the vinegar and ginger a perfect compliment. The overall sense of freshness was astounding.


The mushroom and vegetable dumpling was surprising flavorful considering how much green stuff was minced in, but not my favorite.


The fried rice was exceptional, but again, how could it compare to the rest of the meal?


Ok, so I’m sold. While we’ve had good soup dumplings on Sawtelle, I’m more than willing to make the hike to Glendale. Or perhaps stop by Irvine on one of our treks to San Digeo.

Too Hot for School

Upon recommendation of a local cousin, we tried School Food on a leisurely rainy afternoon. The nearest location of this modern Korean fusion restaurant was just steps from our Hong Kong hotel.

  
The menu was overwhelming. Not a single dish was familiar, and those could identify had a distinct twist. Eager to see how hey would interpret LA’s street truck mashups, I selected the Bulgolgi Quesadilla. It was decidedly different and I’m not sure if I liked it. Ground bulgogi with a little bit of jack cheese in a crispy tortilla and drizzled with a sweet teriyaki sauce. It needed something more, something spicy or tangy like sirracha or kimchi.

  
Always a sucker for soup, my wife went for the fried chicken ramen. The sauce was very thick, really a Japanese curry, but spicier. The fried chicken was tender, but didn’t add much to the dish.  


To drink on such a hot day, we had a pitcher of Mango Athie (portmanteau of icee?), an iced mango juice and soda mixture that was very refreshing.

Was it great? No, but definitely a place we would try again to explore more of the bizarre menu! If only schools actually served food like this!

…. Update…. There’s a location on Western and Wishire in LA. We must visit after returning home.

360 views of spaghetti

When visiting Hong Kong a must see is Victoria Peak. A funicular carries you up the insanely steep slope to a tower with a rooftop viewing platform. The lines for the tram can be quite long, so we broke for dinner at the mall next door as we waited to return back down the mountain.

Before food came… We desperately needed something cold and refreshing.

   

  

   
We found Spaghetti 360, a chain I had seen elsewhere of Japanese-Italian fusion. My fish was spaghetti in a roasted bell pepper sauce with onions, bell peppers, ham, and a couple of barbecue spare ribs – American style, but a savory tarragon sauce instead of the typical Kansas City sweet sauce.

  

  
The Mrs had squid ink spaghetti. With the tentacles present, she “felt like I am eating Ursula”. Very garlicky, but light on the squid ink flavor.

Neither was great, but hey, it was something new to try!

Desperately Seeking Veggies…

After the Chi Lin nunnery, we decided to visit the Hong Kong Museum of History.  Google maps lied to us so we walked the (really) long way around to the entrance.
Side note: We highly recommend you visit if you have the time.  It is a very comprehensive history of Hong Kong from geography and geology to the return of Hong Kong and all this for $10hkd!

By the time we were done with the museum, about 4 hours later, we were starving!! We walked to the nearest shopping center and found a Korean place called Go Koong.

   
         Since I was tired of meat (and Chinese food) at this point, I was completely satisfied with the japchae and typical banchan – blanched spinach and bean sprouts with sesame oil, marinated cucumber, kim chi, green salad and potatoes.

  
Anthony ordered the braised beef soup.  I thought it was soon tofu at first because of the vessel but it was actually the soon tofu broth base with tender beef and scrambled eggs, very tasty.

I asked Anthony if he was tired of Asian food yet, and he said no as long as there’s a variety.  And variety this was.

So while the food wasn’t out-of-this-world spectacular, it sure was a change in cuisine!