Tim Ho Won - Hong Kong

"You want to WHATTT???" was my first reaction when my partner (who normally does not wake before midday in HK) told me that he wishes to line up at 8am for this dim sim place. I was flabergasted. First, lining up at 8am for a shop which opens at 10am? Second, you want to wake up how early?!?!?!?!

Well, it never happened. Instead, we got to Tim Ho Won at 11am. We took a ticket and although we were warned by relatives that we might not be able to get a spot before 3pm, the lovely ticket lady said that just a half-hour wait was on the agenda.

So what's all the hype about Tim Ho Won that is making my sleepihead partner wanting to wake up early? Tim Ho Won is one of HK's one Michelin Star restaurants. In fact, it is the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. They don't allow takeaway (as they are scared that once you take it away, the quality is less good and will reflect less well on their dim sims), and there's only about 20 odd seats inside.

Tim Ho Wan

Waiting outside, you see two different lots of people. You have the young people and the foreigners who are showing up because it's a world-recognised place to eat, and you have the older generation who eat there because that's what they have always done. Despite recent fame, they have not hyped up the prices, making it just as affordable as it always has been. The decor and the service probably hasn't been improved either though LOL.

At the end of the day, it's all about the food. Yum-cha places are seriously, ALL OVER HK. To beat the rest of the pack and to stand out above all other yum-cha places, you'd probably have to be pretty spectacular. To my amazement, there was just one "special" type of dim sim. The ...cha siu bao... the rest of the dishes were just you're average joe that you can get at all other places except like BETTER. Everything made fresh to order.

The baked BBQ pork bun was something quite special. Like a pineapple bun (Po Lo Bao) coating but uber flaky and fresh. The whole bun was like... "OMG what am I eating? I don't know but it's delicious!" The bbq pork inside was tasty and complemented the flaky softness of the bread perfectly. It was truely something! But I can see how this is one of those dishes that probably taste better when eaten right away (and not taken away).

baked BBQ pork bun - HK$12

The chicken glutinous rice was HUGEness. It looked normal, but inside, it tasted much more yummy than the normal ones. The rice was sticker and chewier and tasted super delicious. Inside, it was stuffed with heaps and heaps of chicken and chinese sausage filling. Mmm.

Chicken glutinous rice - HK$20

A pretty spectacular dumpling was the steamed catfish, celery and turnip dumpling. I love dumplings and I love turnip so the combination of both was excellent. It was subtly sweet, the outside skin was super thin yet held it's shape. Lots of filling and flavours exploding from inside - it was pretty amazing.

steamed catfish, celery and turnip dumpling - HK$12

The deep fried yuba shrimp roll was something my partner was pretty flabaghasted about. The tofu sheet was really deep fried crispiness. Although it was the same stuff as normal yum cha, it was definately on a different level altogether.

deep fried yuba shrimp roll - HK$16

That was the same story for most of the dim sims. Same stuff but on an entirely different calibre. Everything was fresh, ingredients were awesome and everything was steamed to order. Especially the steamed beefball with bean curd skin - it was sooooooooooooo nice. Tender and soft and whilst normal looking, it tasted anything but normal. I think I'm salivating just thinking about how awesomely yummy everything was.

steamed rice roll sutffed with BBQ pork - HK$15

steamed fresh shrimp dumplings - HK$18

steamed chicken feet with black bean sauce - HK$12

pan-fired turnip cake - HK$10

steamed pork and shrimp dumpling - HK$18

steamed spareribs with black bean sauce - HK$12

steamed beefball with bean curd skin - HK$12

In all, this place is amazing. Seemingly a simple, small, packed and cramped yum-cha place but with superbly fresh and delicious dim sims. I strongly recommend lining up early - or taking a ticket early. If you take a ticket and go for a walk and you miss your number when you get back, it's actually OK - you get put on a separate shorter list so as long as you come back before 3pm. Don't expect superb service, but just awesomely cheap and delicious food. All up for the 5 of us, it was around HK$200 (ie. less than AUD$30!!!)

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 9/10
Overall - 32/40

Tim Ho Wan
Shop 8, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street
Mong Kok, Kowloon
Tel: +852 2332 2896
open daily 10am - 10pm

Breakfasts in HK

My partner and I have just come back from the most hectic trip to HK to date. Albiet the exhausting nature of the trip, we had still managed to gobble up some good food. We missed a few good places but we tried out best.

One of the most awesomeness things about HK (apart from the awesome exchange rate at the moment) is the fact that you can get food for super cheap. I have a habit of waking up early every morning just to have breakfast with my uncle. Breakfast's I consumed in HK mostly range from around HK$18-27 (ie. around AUD$2-3... ie. dirt cheap). I mainly went to honky-style cafes (e.g. Cafe de Coral, Maxims, and Tsui Wah Restaurant).

My first breakfast in HK (as I got off the plane at 4am) was a delicious bowl of thousand year egg and pork congee, turnip cake and lemon tea (and yes it was all for the price of HK$18). It was sooooo yum! Especially the congee - perfect after a long flight.

cafe de coral : congee + turnip cake + drink

My uncle's favourite breakfast noodle soup was the homemade fish balls and fish paste puff with rice noodles in fish soup served with super yummy milk tea (HK$27). The fish balls were truely yummy but not as awesome as the home made fish paste puff. This was a mix of soggy deep-friedness and fishy-pasty springiness :) The medium-thickness rice noodles were also pretty good.

Tsui Wah: fishball fishpaste rice noodle soup

Yoshinoya in HK (as well as KFC) also serves breakfast. I had a decent ish mixed mushroom udon in beef broth served with Jap green tea one morning. It wasn't overly awesome, but it wasn't bad.

Yoshinoya: mixed mushroom udon

I also had a morning where I just felt like unhealthiness - sausages, spam and turnip cake. Again, served with a coffee/tea or whatever you feel like drinking. It was a rather odd combination, but it hits a few of my favourite things.

Maxims: sausages with spam with turnip cake

Congee served with steamed rice noodles. Pretty good. Rice noodles came with super oily soy, hoisin and peanut butter sauce.

Cafe de Coral: Congee with rice noodles

One of my favourite breakfasts was the satay beef with instant noodles. This was OMG YUM!!! It came served with creamed eggs, buttered muffins AND a drink. All this food for like HK$23. How on earth can I eat something as awesome in Sydney for AU$2-3 ???

Tsui Wah: satay beef instant noodles with creamy eggs and buttered muffins

One of my last brekkies was an abalone and ham shreds with macaroni, 2 fried eggs and buttered bread with a drink. It was pretty damn good - but I still prefer my instant noodles LOL :)

Tsui Wah: ham and abalone macaroni with fried eggs and buttered bread

All in all, breakfasts in HK is simply AWESOME! Sooooo super super cheap and decent quality. There is possibly simply no comparison in Sydney.

Tsui Wah Restaurant : www.tsuiwahrestaurant.com
Cafe de Coral : www.cafedecoralfastfood. com
Maxims : www.maxims.com.hk
Yoshinoya : www.yoshinoya-hk.com

Kobow Korean Restaurant- Sydney

Kobow

After a late night at work I was feeling very hungry and decided that Korean BBQ would be the perfect fix. My friend suggested we go to Kobow. Me, being non-Korean, trusted my friend who is quite acustomed to Korean food. He thinks that Kobow is one of the better Korean restaurants in the Sydney City.

Bean sprouts

Seaweed

Potatoes

Kimchi

Like all Korean Restaurants, we are presented with a selection of side dishes. The side dishes were above average compared to other Korean resturants. Personally, the seaweed salad with chilly dressing was my favourite.

For the korean BBQ we ordered the Pork dish (Bacon) as per below. This is probably the most ordered meat at Korean BBQ.

Bacon

Beef Tongue

We also ordered the beef tongue which is another favourite of mine. At Korean BBQ, the meat is presented to you raw. You are then provided with a stove (BBQ) in which to cook you meat. These stoves came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Often, the stove is built into the table other times they bring a portable stove from the kitchen. Sometimes the stoves use gas, other times they may be fueled by charcoal. On this occasion, we were presented with a portable stove with a metal cooking plate. (I would love to acquire one of these hot plates, if anyone knows where I can buy one, please leave a comment). This stove was actually quite powerful and cooked our meat really quickly.

The pork here was indeed quite nice, better than most other Korean BBQs we have visited. The beef tongue on the other hand was quite average. Typically, at other Korean BBQs, you would wrap your cooked meat and some side dishes (usually kimchi) and eat it together. But surprisingly, his place was going to charge us for the lettuce. After negotiation between my friend and the waiter, this charge was waived (not quite sure how the conversation went).

Overall, the meal was quite adequate to feed two hungry guys and I would return to try out the other food that is available here.

Ratings:

Food - 8/10

Service - 7.5/10

Ambiance - 7/10

Value for money - 8/10

Overall - 30.5/40

Kobow Korean Restaurant

68 Liverpool St

Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9283 8077

Minto Korean Restaurant - Eastwood

Minto

We felt like a bit of Korean and so my partner and I headed down to Eastwood. We scouted out the restaurants and decided on one that neither of us had been to before and had bbq and non-bbq options, and was okayly populated so we know that it's decent.

Sitting down, we were met with a decent sized menu of entrees, mains, bbq-grill, soups, hotpots, things to share and things for one. I opted for my favourite - the Japchae ($14). This was absolutely deliciousness! The noodles were soft and chewy. The vegetables weren't abundantful but enough. And a really stand-outish sesame oil flavour penetrated through and through. Slightly oily, but truely yum.

Japchae - $14

Another entree that my partner ordered just incase my "entree" japchae and his main beef rib soup was not enough was the Kimchi pancake ($13). I've never eaten Kimchi pancake before. I usually order the seafood one. Hence, I was pleasantly surprised at how orange it all was. It was tasty, bit too floury for me - but my partner thought it was perfect, and as it came out on a sizzling hot plate, the outsides were nicely chargrilled and crispy. The Kimchi flavour was also good - not too spicy either! The Kimchi pancake came with a full aromatic sauce... smelt soooo nice - not sure what's in it though :)

kimchi pancake - $13

My partner's main was the Galbe Tang - beef rib soup ($12). This was clear but beefy flavoursome. The beef ribs were super super tender. The egg and clear potato starch noodles were abundantful. To tell you the truth, the soup is not "hearty" but it is but brings that warm fulfilling filling to your stomach. Not bad at all.

Galbe Tang - $12

The variety of side dishes for the night was good. I really liked the vinegary kelp, the potatos were nice, the sprouts average, and my partner didn't stop eating the apple pasta salad.

side dishes

So, was there too much food? Yeh - a bit. But definately a satisfying feed. Not a bad choice of restaurant. Love Korean food :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 30/40

Minto Korean Restaurant
112 Rowe Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9874 1822

Pho Pasteur - Parramatta

My friends and I were eating on a time limit. We had less than an hour before we had to be somewhere and so we were tossing up between Pho and Chinese takeaway. Pho won.


We ordered spring rolls to share. My partner said that they were crunchy and tasty. Served with lettuce and bean sprouts and fish sauce to enhance the flavour - and to give an illusion of healthiness.

spring rolls

My usual - the beef ball beef tripe noodle soup - was wonderfully deliciousness! Beef tripe was tender and the beef balls were tasty. The soup base was "clean" tasting - not murky or overpowering but tastefully aromatic. Noodle smooth and slurp-worthy and the condiments round off my noodles perfectly.

beef ball beef tripe pho

My partner ordered with crispy chicken egg noodle soup. My partner has been going on and on and on and on about the crispy chicken he has had in Cabramatta - and this chicken just didn't match in terms of crispiness. However, a more unbiased comment by my friend was that the chicken was super tender and tasty. Noodle-wise, I think it was normal.

crispy chicken noodles

I might be bias (because this was the original), but although the decor is old and kind of icky at this Pho Pasteur, taste-wise, I believe that the noodles and the pho at this place beats it's sister store (vamped up decor wise) which is situated at the piazza level of Westfield.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28/40

Pho Pasteur
137 Church St
Parramatta
NSW 2150
tel: (02) 9635 0782

Little Italy (2) - Blacktown

Meeting up with a friend in Blacktown and decided on Italian. My friend's favourite Italian local was - Little Italy - and hence, there we dined.

Greeted by friendly smiling staff, we were quickly whisked to out table. We scanned through and ordered our selection of drinks and food. My friend's pick for the night was the Veal Boscaiola ($22.90). This was a nice stack of lean veal steaks, topped with plenty of ham and mushrooms and surrounded by a unhealthy pool of cream. Healthy or not, it was thoroughly enjoyed.

Veal Boscaiola - $22.90

My friend is normally the chicken enthusiast and has chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As he opted for veal today, I felt obligated to order chicken to fill in the void. Hence, my choice for the night was the Chicken Valdostana ($21.90). This was a HUGE serving of chicken (I couldn't tell if it was 2 or 3 thick slabs of chicken), nicely cooked and tender enough, flamed in brandy and swimming in a pool of cream. Accompanying my chicken was ham, mushrooms and cheese. Definately not a healthy meal, but it suited me well after a huge and hectic week at work. To make it slightly healthier, a bed of vegetables (potato, carrot and beans) were beneath the meat tower.

Chicken Valdostana - $21.90

And for dessert, yet another unhealthy option - the Nutella pizza ($14.90). Nutella super filled the two middle slices of folded pizza to the point where it was just thick and oozing out. The two side pieces had slightly less Nutella - it really would have been nice if it could be evened out a bit. Served with a scoop of vanilla gelato and strawberries, it was a yummy sweet finish to our meal.

nutella pizza - $14.90

In all, Little Italy is a good place for a chill out and a quick catch up. It's quiet, spacious, and the staff are generally friendly. Food wise, big portions abound. Might not be the best tasting Italian food, but it's not bad.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

CBD Tower- Level 1

28 Patrick Street

(opposite Blacktown Westfield)

Blacktown, NSW 2148

Tel: (02) 9831 4000

Chatime - Eastwood

Time for a yummy ice-cold (or hot) drink? For months now, Chatimes have been popping up everywhere... like, EVERYWHERE ... or atleast, everywhere where Asians abound. So when my partner said he wanted some Chatime and asked where he could get one, the first suburb I though of was Eastwood.

Chatime - Eastwood

I ordered my favourite drink - milk tea with grass jelly. The thing I love about Chatime is that my drink is actually not only a standard menu drink, it is also a "popular" drink. I remember going to HK Cafe in Chatswood a good 2-3 years ago asking for this combination just to be met by super weird looks from the store people. Can't help but be a trend-setter ! LOL . Anyway, the tea at Chatime is really good. It's strong. You can taste the tea flavour (not like some other bubble tea places), and it's not too sweet. Just right almost!

milk tea with grass jelly

On this particular day, my partner opted for the pearl milk tea with azuki red beans. He said that his drink wasn't tea flavoured enough - I think this was because of the red beans. We also saw on the board that there was also a "premium" pearl milk tea available (for 20c extra). My partner ordered this the next day and claimed that it was super super more tea flavoured... psychological effect thought I. Anyway, the pearl milk tea here is damn good. The pearls are just the right chewy consistency and complements the yummy milk tea well.

Pearl milk tea with azuki red bean

All in all, Chatime is SOOOO much better than Easyway (I think). It is slightly expensive but almost worth it... sometimes :)

Ratings:
Drink- 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Chatime (Eastwood Store)
145-149 Rowe St
Eastwood
NSW 2122