Chow meet in HK anyone? Looking for HK food fun!

[doctorj]

Hello fellow 'hounds!

My name is Jay. I'm bringing my best buddy (a Chinese American dude) from culinary school to Hong Kong - it's his first time there. We'll be there from July 14-18.

The purpose our trip is simple: to make him try some really excellent, special Chinese food.

Off of my short list (some of which I've been to, others that I've just researched), we're tentatively going to hit:

Fu Sing - for some dimsum
Yung Kee - for some roast goose
Mak Noodles - for wonton noodles
Tau Heung - for hotpot
Sang Kee - for congee
Bo Innovation - for.. well.. the demon chef's grub!
Mum Chau's or Da Ping Huo - for a Hong Kong private kitchen experience

Any other places you think we should seek? I speak a *little* Mandarin.. so preferably where a bit of English is spoken.

A place with killer roasts, maybe? Good wonton noodles? Dry noodles? A good overall Cantonese meal (Superstar? or maybe Victoria Seafood?)

and for that matter.. Any 'hounds want to come? Should be fun! ;)

Looking forward to reading your replies! THANKS!

[rubyyao]

please forget about Bo Innovation!!! otherwise your list sounds quite good. west villa for dim sum.

[Charles Yu]

Bo Innovation must be the most controversial Michelin 2* on the Chowhound site! How can genuine foodies have such diverse views and taste about the same restaurant?! The other one is Babbo of NYC!!

[FourSeasons]

Hi Charles:

You are absolutely right. The review on Bo is either "like it" or "hate it", and nothing in between. Maybe we should try Bo to determine which camp we belong to. As to Babbo, which we were both disappointed despite the hype, I was really surprised to read on the NYC Board that many voted Babbo on their lists as one of the "Top 5 Most overrated in Manhattan". I guess many finally agree!!!

[Charles Yu]

Good morning Fourseasons!
If you are game, thats fine with me! So thats one chowmeet destination settled?! No?!
Wonder which camp klyeoh belongs to? Actually, it would be most ideal and interesting if kobetobiko will be in HK as well! Bet we'll have lots to talk about. Hope it won't turn out to be a fight?! Ha!

[HKTraveler]

Not a big fan of Yung Kee. If you want good roast goose, you are better off at Wai Kee. Much more local, better duck and 1/3 the price. http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=10049

For hotpot, what specifically are you looking for? Good beef? Good sauce/condiments? Interesting meat balls? For beef, try
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=25311

I liked Bo Innovation food and inventiveness. It is not for everyone though. I think those who are familiar with Cantonese food would enjoy it much more since many of its innovations center around playing with traditional Cantonese dishes.

Between mum chau and da ping huo, i prefer da ping huo.

Best char siu for me is at either joy hing http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=1491

or west villa http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr...

[big_apple_ken]

I'm not 100% sure Bo Innovation should be on your list. It's definitely 'different' but I find the food there rather 'blah' for the price even though I know it got 2 Michelin stars. I've been to a handful of similar restaurants in NYC (L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, WD-50 to name a few) and it pales in comparison. HK$1060 (about US$130) for a tasting menu (HK$1600 if you do the tasting menu w/ wine) I thought was overpriced for the type of food they put out. Still, the place (at least the old location) looked pretty cool on Bourdain's show.

How about you try a good egg tart place? Egg tart to Hong Kong is like cheesecake is to NYC. You can't leave HK without having a good egg tart. The most famous place is Tai Cheong Bakery in Central but Kam Fung Restaurant in Wanchai is also a decent choice.

[doctorj]

hmm.. i was actually thinking the same thing.. bo might be overrated. or i could go there for the lunch set. much cheaper.

more importantly, though - i'm trying to seek out local food to make me cry tears of joy. haha! i go to hong kong fairly often, but i already have a set of excellent stand by joints that i hit because i know i like the food there.

this trip, since i'll be with my buddy who kinda wants to get in touch with his cantonese roots, i'd like to stray away from anything too familiar to me.. hence my looking at local noodle joints and such (i don't get to these places mainly because i can't speak cantonese and only a little basic mandarin.)

having said that.. egg tart is always good. hehe! in hk i've only ever had the one in macau restaurant in TST. tai cheong it is! will stop there for a snack. ;)

thanks for the tips! come join us if you have time.. the more the merrier!

[big_apple_ken]

I'm not 100% sure what my schedule is like from 7/14-7/18 but if I have some free time I'd be happy to help out and play foodie guide (since I speak Cantonese). Mind you, I just came back to HK after 11 years in the US (although I grew up in HK) so I'm having to rediscover a lot of places in HK myself.

[doctorj]

Whenever you're up to it and if you have free time.. ;) I'm taking my friend to some usual things like go up to the Peak and all that. Maybe Temple St. at night. Other than that, I'm open to anything.

Let me give you my other contact details:

mobile: [phone]
email: [e-mail] or [e-mail]
twitter: nekkidchef
yahoo msg: jjyulo

hope to meet up and thanks for the tips!

[big_apple_ken]

Just added you on Facebook. I'm on that a lot so it's easier to communicate that way.