Our last full day in Hong Kong! After going to Macau the day before, today was decidedly more low-key.
Since my parents wake up pretty early every morning, we had to have pre-breakfast as the dim sum restaurant wouldn't be open until 10:30am. My mom and I walked about a block to a nearby bakery to pick up some buns. It was difficult to choose as they had quite a selection but I always default to my childhood favourite -- the hot dog bun. Spam and scrambled egg bun for my dad and chicken salad bun for my mom. She also picked up some lou po beng (ie. wife cakes) to try.
The dim sum restaurant in question was One Dim Sum, located just north of Mong Kok in Prince Edward. It's a small restaurant, but popular among tourists and locals, having earned a Michelin star back in 2011 and 2012.
We arrived just as the restaurant opened. There was a small line out front but we were able to make the first seating. We shared our table with another group of three, which is pretty common in Hong Kong. Sharing a table with strangers isn't as awkward as you think; for the most part, people just mind their own business.
We always seem to over-order at dim sum restaurants. We got eight dishes, including:
- steamed shrimp dumplings ($27 HKD)
- steamed sui mai ($26 HKD)
- turnip cake ($17 HKD)
- steamed vermicelli roll w/ shrimp and leek sprouts ($26 HKD)
- steamed vermicelli roll w/ deep fried flour roll ($21 HKD)
- dried squids w/ curry sauce ($24 HKD)
- steamed chicken paws w/ chili ($17 HKD)
- steamed dumpling in chiu chow style ($16 HKD)
Couldn't pass on dessert! Deep fried sesame balls ($17 HKD) filled with black sesame paste. I loveeeee black sesame so these were a treat.
Overall, One Dim Sum was tasty, simple and cheap. I think I preferred it over our previous dim sum experience at Tim Ho Wan. The food isn't going to blow your mind, but if you're looking for a casual dim sum experience in Hong Kong, this is the one.
More street market hopping in Mong Kok.
I always get confused about which direction to look when crossing the streets since Hong Kong drives on the opposite side. Glad they have these small reminders for you on the road!
First bubble tea of the trip, courtesy of BaBo the Drink Shop! BaBo originated in Taiwan, and now has three locations in Hong Kong and one location in Tokyo. I got their brown sugar BaBo latte ($29 HKD). Brown sugar drinks seem to the biggest trend in the bubble tea world right now. The drink is a combination of fresh milk, brown sugar syrup, and tapioca pearls. After mixing, the brown sugar syrup supposedly gives the milk a sweet caramel flavour, but all I could taste was straight up milk.
My parents also wanted something sweet (or an excuse to find air-con) so we went into a Hui Lau Shan outlet. Hui Lau Shan could be found everywhere in Hong Kong. It's a dessert shop all about mangoes. This was mango sago with a layer of red bean on the bottom.
Fast forward a few hours later, we decided on Peking duck for our last dinner in Hong Kong. After some on-the-fly research, I found Empire City Roast Duck in the K11 mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. We got there a bit early before it opened so we browsed through the mall.
We ordered the tasting dinner meant for two people, but it was enough food to fill up the three of us.
A small dish of fruit (cherries and canteloupe) to start.
A couple bowls of hot and sour soup. I let my parents have them since I'm not a fan.
Cold appetizers including veggies and marinated dried gluten.
The steamed pork dumplings with supreme soup was surprisingly good for a restaurant that doesn't specialize in XLB. Wrapper was thin and soup was plenty.
Stir fried celery and dried beancurd (back) and stir-fried shrimp with black garlic (front). These weren't particularly memorable.
But this was! A half Peking duck. Condiments included purple radish, melon, cucumber, leeks, BBQ sauce, and sugar.
Dipping the Peking duck skin into sugar is new to me, but apparently it's pretty traditional. All I know is that it tasted good!
One last dessert (you know me). Paul Lafayet is a French patisserie with many locations in Hong Kong, including one in the K11 mall. I heard good things about their creme brulee ($50 HKD) and knew I had to try it. The bakery only had four stools to eat in, and they were all occupied so we ended up taking it back to the hotel. That was a mistake since the caramelized layer ended up just melting into a sugar puddle. Sad times. It was cool to take the ramekin home as a souvenir though.
Can't miss a night time view of the Hong Kong skyline (even if it means almost missing your bus)!
- CT
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