Dessert heaven @ Kei Kee, Yuen Long

I’ve never really had much of a sweet tooth but this month in Hong Kong has seen me going out of my way to indulge in a post-meal snack far too often.

In search for amazing dessert, my relatives took me to a famous dessert place in Yuen Long called Kei Kee B Jai Leung Fun (佳記甜品B仔涼粉). Kei Kee is a dessert shop that specialises in herbal grass jelly but serves up an array of other hot snacks as well.

On a Sunday afternoon, the place was absolutely packed and being a nice day there were plenty of tables and chairs outside. The crowds are so dense that no sooner does a table empties, it is occupied again within seconds.

Dried fried beef hor fun @ Ho Hung Kee

Hong Kong, home to a huge array of cheap local restaurants, some of which, for some reason or another have gained themselves a Michelin star. One Dim Sum, Ho Hung Kee and Tim Ho Wan are a few of these. The question is are they worthy? Surely the fact that the Michelin guide is handing out stars so easily in Hong Kong diminishes the credibility of the guide? Yet the crowds still flock. And I still flock… to see what all the fuss is about.

Today I visited Ho Hung Kee, a local noodle and congee shop awarded a star in 2011 few years ago based on the quality of the Beef Hor Fun (干炒牛河). The place is a no-frills, sharing table joint which has traded in the same location since 1946.

I ordered the Beef Hor fun (at a whopping $82 HKD).

Battle of the beef brisket in Hong Kong

To me, beef brisket noodles (牛腩面) is one of those heart warming dishes that just hits the happy spot. There is something about tender, fatty braised beef brisket in a warming bowl of rice noodles that is just so comforting.

So who makes the best beef brisket in Hong Kong?

I visited two outlets famed for their beef brisket  - Kau Kee (九記牛腩) in Sheung Wan and Kwan Kee (群記清湯腩) in Tai Po. 

HK’s best egg tart @ Tai Cheong Bakery

Is this Hong Kong’s most famous egg tart (蛋撻)?

Look at that smooth silky shine. DROOL!

Favoured by ex-British governor Chris Patten, Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家) makes a unique shortcrust base pastry using almond meal instead of flour.

The egg tarts are served hot which is almost torture as it takes a little bit of time to cool. And when it does cool down. Pure heaven.

Cheap eats at Tim Ho Wan, the dimsum specialists

I won’t lie. I am a sucker for hype.

Yes all that ‘cheapest Michelin star’ in the world kind of hype. Which is why I can’t believe that we have never visited Tim Ho Wan (添好運點心專門店) for a meal before.

After being advised by countless friends to be in line at the crack of dawn, we woke early, skipped breakfast and headed into Mong Kok. Here is where we made our first mistake. Apparently the Mong Kok shop closed down ages ago. Starving and scared about the wait ahead, we hailed a cab which took us to the branch at Sham Shui Po.

On arrival, we were lucky to find a pretty near empty restaurant. We overhead a regular speaking to the waitress who mentioned that due to easter and Qingming holidays, the place had not been anywhere near as busy as it had in the past. Bonus for us as lines are notoriously an hour long, even at 10am in the morning.

Soon after ordering, our char siu bao (叉燒包) arrived. One of Tim Ho Wan’s signatures, they bake their buns with a crumbly almost buttery cookie flakes on top. The topping was slightly sweet and the insides deliciously moist and succulent. Pretty wow.

Sweet tofu dessert @ Kung Wo Dou Bun Chong, Sham Shui Po

Very much inspired by this excellent Sham Shui Po ‘food crawl’ by e*ating, we followed our visit to Lau Sum Kee with a visit to Kung Wo Dou Bun Chong (公和荳品廠). This Hong Kong institution is well known for its soy bean dishes. Over 100 years old, the shop prides itself on using old school manual methods of producing their tofu and other soy bean products. Hidden behind a local street market, the shop is a basic, sharing tables type of place with no English menu (that I could decipher anyway).

The star of the show here sweet tofu (dofu fa 豆腐花) $7HKD/bowl. Served either cold or steaming hot, it is best eaten with a spoonful of brown sugar to sweeten up the dessert. 

No sooner do you yell out an order for a bowl, one is whisked out and presented in front of you. In fact ours promptly arrived no more than 15 seconds after Sam yelled out our order.