HK Day 10 (Sai Kung)
Started off the day with fresh-from-the-oven egg tarts from a mall (Grand Century Plaza, somewhat near Prince Edward MTR station) in Kowloon. I watched as they took the egg tarts from the oven and put them in our box. The custard was very soft, not quite set, and very good. I prefer the flakey crusts (so pei) over these ones though.
We then headed up north to the Choi Hung MTR station where we passed by a typical street market before visiting HKUST. Here's a picture of a butcher/restaurant in the market. Having raw meat on tables out in the open is pretty typical here.
A fishmonger's stall. Notice the opened crab in the front right tub meant to show you the freshness or something similar. The fishmonger is making steaks from a fish which is still quivering.
For dinner we went to Sai Kung Town for some fresh seafood along the waterfront. Here's a glimpse of the variety of fresh seafood available at the restaurant we ended up eating at. I don't think I can name more than half of the animals here. So the way it works is that once you've decided to eat at a particular restaurant, you tell them what you want to eat, and negotiate a price for the seafood and for the cooking cost. Often, for a particular dish, the cooking cost will be the same whether you eat one or one hundred (scallops, for example).
This closeup shows the crayfish ("Lai liu har" in Cantonese) which we ate later, peculiarly separated into different bags.
We ended up getting four dishes and some beer for three of us, which cost about 100 bucks Canadian - not exactly cheap, but definitely worth splurging on. First up was lobster in a cream sauce on noodles. The lobster had a somewhat spiny shell, but was really tasty. The seafood taste unfortunately didn't quite permeate the noodles enough, but the sauce did make the noodles tasty too.
We also had spicy squid and steamed fish. The squid was really tender but not that crisp on the outside. I could really taste the freshness in the squid. The fish was pretty standard for steamed fish. Looking back, I'm a little disappointed that we didn't pick something weird that we haven't had before. Still, it was good fish.
Finally, we had a plate of deep fried crayfish (or whatever they are) with spicy salt. Actually, the seasoning was almost Cajun. These were really fun to eat. The little legs were delightfully crunchy, and the meat was sweet and tender. Some of the shell on the back was too thick to eat, however. I also found that there was a bit too much seasoning. This latter problem was mitigated by some beer, which segues into the interesting phenomenon of beer girls, the first live example of which I saw while here. Beer girls are hired by some companies to sell their beers, by hanging around restaurants wearing tight tops and miniskirts and convincing men to drink their brand. After we finished our first bottle of Tsingtao, the resident beer girl came over, gave us a quick spiel about how Heineken was on sale (or something - I had a lot of trouble with mumbled teenager/20-something Cantonese during the trip) and convinced us to switch -- rather easily, mind you. For the rest of our dinner, whenever my cup or my (male) friend's cup got empty, the beer girl would come and refill for us. But anytime my wife's cup ran dry, she had to pour her own. Altogether, a pretty weird experience.
On our way back, we spotted some horseshoe crabs just hanging out near a different restaurant. I suppose they were for eating; as you can tell, the boardwalk at Sai Kung isn't exactly a safe haven for sea creatures. I wonder what these taste like.
To end the evening, we went to a pricey place called Main St. Deli, a restaurant full of expats wanting to satisfy their Reuben fixes for the equivalent of $20 CAD a plate. We shared a smoked meat sandwich and some desserts (cheesecake and chocolate cake) between four of us. I took pictures after the fact, but I don't think anyone wants to see half a french fry or a mushed up piece of cake.
We then headed up north to the Choi Hung MTR station where we passed by a typical street market before visiting HKUST. Here's a picture of a butcher/restaurant in the market. Having raw meat on tables out in the open is pretty typical here.
A fishmonger's stall. Notice the opened crab in the front right tub meant to show you the freshness or something similar. The fishmonger is making steaks from a fish which is still quivering.
For dinner we went to Sai Kung Town for some fresh seafood along the waterfront. Here's a glimpse of the variety of fresh seafood available at the restaurant we ended up eating at. I don't think I can name more than half of the animals here. So the way it works is that once you've decided to eat at a particular restaurant, you tell them what you want to eat, and negotiate a price for the seafood and for the cooking cost. Often, for a particular dish, the cooking cost will be the same whether you eat one or one hundred (scallops, for example).
This closeup shows the crayfish ("Lai liu har" in Cantonese) which we ate later, peculiarly separated into different bags.
We ended up getting four dishes and some beer for three of us, which cost about 100 bucks Canadian - not exactly cheap, but definitely worth splurging on. First up was lobster in a cream sauce on noodles. The lobster had a somewhat spiny shell, but was really tasty. The seafood taste unfortunately didn't quite permeate the noodles enough, but the sauce did make the noodles tasty too.
We also had spicy squid and steamed fish. The squid was really tender but not that crisp on the outside. I could really taste the freshness in the squid. The fish was pretty standard for steamed fish. Looking back, I'm a little disappointed that we didn't pick something weird that we haven't had before. Still, it was good fish.
Finally, we had a plate of deep fried crayfish (or whatever they are) with spicy salt. Actually, the seasoning was almost Cajun. These were really fun to eat. The little legs were delightfully crunchy, and the meat was sweet and tender. Some of the shell on the back was too thick to eat, however. I also found that there was a bit too much seasoning. This latter problem was mitigated by some beer, which segues into the interesting phenomenon of beer girls, the first live example of which I saw while here. Beer girls are hired by some companies to sell their beers, by hanging around restaurants wearing tight tops and miniskirts and convincing men to drink their brand. After we finished our first bottle of Tsingtao, the resident beer girl came over, gave us a quick spiel about how Heineken was on sale (or something - I had a lot of trouble with mumbled teenager/20-something Cantonese during the trip) and convinced us to switch -- rather easily, mind you. For the rest of our dinner, whenever my cup or my (male) friend's cup got empty, the beer girl would come and refill for us. But anytime my wife's cup ran dry, she had to pour her own. Altogether, a pretty weird experience.
On our way back, we spotted some horseshoe crabs just hanging out near a different restaurant. I suppose they were for eating; as you can tell, the boardwalk at Sai Kung isn't exactly a safe haven for sea creatures. I wonder what these taste like.
To end the evening, we went to a pricey place called Main St. Deli, a restaurant full of expats wanting to satisfy their Reuben fixes for the equivalent of $20 CAD a plate. We shared a smoked meat sandwich and some desserts (cheesecake and chocolate cake) between four of us. I took pictures after the fact, but I don't think anyone wants to see half a french fry or a mushed up piece of cake.
posted by Tim @ 11:39 AM
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