- Oh that is a,
oh that piece keeps on going.
(upbeat music)
- Good morning everyone it's Mark Wiens
with migrationology.com in Hong Kong.
I just took the metro to Sham Shui Po
and on our way to have a quick breakfast this morning.
(upbeat music)
(customers chatting)
- Only one.
- [Mark] Scrambled egg beef sandwich for one
and then lemon tea and coffee.
This is a classic and they serve a number
of my tea has just arrived.
It was just about a five minute walk
from the metro station and this place is famous
for their breakfast especially their sandwiches.
So we came here to have a tea and a sandwich
and it's kind of right within a market area
and luckily there was a table right in the back
with available seats.
My tea and sandwich came out literally seconds
after ordering and this is one of my beverages
of choice in Hong Kong which is a lemon tea.
I love how they just slice up,
that's at least half a lemon just sliced up
and put into a cup of dark black tea,
and what you do, if you really squish down
that lemon, release all of that lemon juice
and that lemon peel, get all of that goodness out of there
into the tea and then I think a lot
of people would add sugar to this,
but I like it just black tea, no sugar,
and just that strong lemon.
(gasps)
Oh that'll wake you up in the morning.
Oh that's sour, really really sour!
It will almost make you squint
and then it's really strong black tea that,
yeah, it's delicious and it's so soothing
on the throat.
The main thing I came to eat here though is the toasted beef
and egg sandwich and again, this came out
literally in like seconds.
Let's take a look inside.
I think it's like a oh, oh it looks awesome on the inside.
I wasn't expecting it to look that good on the inside.
There's minced meat, there's egg in here,
and then just toasted bread.
Oh that looks fantastic.
The beef is so tender and then just coat it in egg
and then with that white bread toast,
it has maybe a sesame oil flavor to it.
That is a very good delicious breakfast sandwich.
And I think it goes fantastic with lemon tea.
For my next half, I think I'm gonna bump up the taste level
by adding some of the chili oil to it,
but it is really good.
It's remarkably simple and good.
This is the chili oil that's used
for the noodles that they serve here,
but I'm gonna take advantage of it.
All right, I'll add maybe a bit more.
The dried chili oil maybe
and some kind of sesame oil or something.
Mm!
That steps up the level of flavor one more notch.
I don't need too much oil
but that dried chili is just stunning.
You just add it to that bite there.
I'm gonna put away the chili
before I consume the entire bottle.
This is like a five star omelet sandwich.
Thank you, thank you.
(people speaking in a foreign language)
The tea was good, but that beef egg sandwich
was the real reason that it was well worth coming here
so simple but so good, perfect amount of butter
and he whips up all the sandwiches
and cups out the tee
and the drinks from just a little tiny like kitchen
within the cafe and they have been doing it since 1968
and, yeah, just a classic little cafe in Hong Kong
and by the way they do also have bowls of noodles
and they have a pretty good selection
of different dishes on their menu but I just came
for that toasted beef and egg sandwich,
and I wasn't disappointed.
We are just walking around this market area.
There is a lot going on around here
and a lot of fruits and vegetables.
Ying is about to buy some more cherries.
(women speaking in foreign language)
We are coming in here to the fresh wet market now.
That is a lot of meat
and we're gonna just walk around here for a little while.
Oh there's seafood there's meat
and visiting fresh wet markets along with eating
is one of my favorite things to do when I travel.
(upbeat music)
You can get any type of food at this market
and we just passed through the meat and fish section,
seafood section, and now moving on.
Well lot's of tofu and preserved vegetables
and moving on into more of the fresh vegetable section.
There's some stalls that are so busy it's hard
to even get a glimpse of what they're selling.
So many people are fighting to get the fish and the meat.
(upbeat music)
It's starting to drizzle again this morning.
It's been very rainy so far this trip to Hong Kong
but it doesn't look like it's gonna rain too much today.
We are walking over to a place now to eat noodles.
I don't know a whole lot about this restaurant
but when I was doing research
for where to eat won ton noodles,
I came across this place and what I like about it
is that they still made the noodles using a bamboo pole
to press the dough, and so I'm hoping
that I'm gonna get a chance to see them making the noodles,
not fully sure but gonna go check it out and see.
(men speaking in foreign language)
We made it to the restaurant just as they opened
and this restaurant has an interesting story.
It's actually a newly opened restaurant in 2010,
but the owner got his recipe for making the noodles
from his grandfather who had a restaurant
or a shop in Macau and made the traditional style noodles
and kneaded the dough with a bamboo pole
and so they still make the noodles the traditional way here
and unfortunately, I don't think I'm gonna have a chance
to see them making the noodles,
but they have a room in the front
you can see the bamboo poles.
So when they still need to make noodles,
they still make them that way,
and so I'll have a chance to try the noodles
but maybe not see them being made.
Ying and I got two different dishes to share
and they have come out.
They look fantastic and these are bamboo kneaded noodles.
This is the classic bowl of won ton on noodles with soup
and shrimp dumpling.
Let me just taste the broth first.
(slurps)
Mm!
Oh that is a richly flavorful broth.
I think it's fish based broth
and then you can taste kind of like the flower
of the noodles within there are well.
Grab chop sticks and before doing any seasoning,
I just gotta taste those noodles.
And this is very light and you can just see the beauty
of these noodles.
Yeah, look at that individual-ness of the...
(laughs)
Okay, I don't know if that made any sense,
but they do look good.
Mm!
It has like a little bit of a rubbery texture to them
but then at the same time they chew very easily
and just sort of like almost dissolve in your mouth.
Mm!
It's awesome, like a slight rubbery al dente,
not really al dente more of like a very tiny elasticity
like almost like your chewing on a rubber band,
but then it just breaks.
Probably go for one of the won ton.
Mm!
Filled with shrimp!
Oh that's delicious.
The owner said he used the dry chili oil for the soup
and then there's a different chili sauce
for the other noodle.
Okay let me add some of this chili.
This is the dry chili oil.
Oh this looks fantastic.
Oh and that smells just so good.
I'll just add a little bit to start with.
(customers speaking in foreign language)
Mix this around, oh oh yes.
Follow that with some soup.
Mm!
That adds some nice heat to it
and then I can feel that chili oil down my throat.
Oh that's a wonderful burn.
The texture of those noodles is amazing.
It really has a little like rubbery factor to it,
but it's fantastic.
They're bouncy, that's what they are, they're bouncy
and this has probably gotten a little bit dried out.
These are like tossed noodles
so I'm gonna re-toss them a little bit
and this is with beef brisket.
Oh, you can immediately smell that like braised aroma
to that brisket.
Now let me just taste a few strands of noodle
before adding anything again.
There's just a very light sauce to it.
The bounciness and they don't really have a strong
like starchy taste to them,
and then he gave me some of this chili sauce
to add to these noodles he said.
I'm gonna scoop it on, or maybe wipe it all out.
I didn't want any of it to go to waste.
All right, toss them up a bit
and on the noodles, it's just a very light glaze
but I think it's some of the broth from
that beef brisket has a beefy,
a very light beefy taste to it.
That chili sauce is a little bit sour
and it has like an amazing like almost nutty flavor to it.
And it's a little bit spicy.
Oh yeah, that is tender indeed,
and it has that wonderful like star anise flavor to it.
It is, that's good.
I'm really enjoying these noodles,
but I really love this soup.
Oh man it is so good.
(slurping)
(man speaking in foreign language)
But normally it's every day.
- Uh, not every day, maybe three or four times a week.
- Oh okay, but all of the noodles
are made with the bamboo pole?
- Yes.
- All right, thank you.
Those were some serious good quality noodles.
I enjoyed that and I was just talking with the owner,
he said that all of the noodles that you'll eat at the shop
are all made with the traditional way, using the bamboo
to knead the dough, but if you come,
he said about three or four times per week
they make the noodles and sometime in the afternoon.
So if you are lucky not only will you get to eat the noodles
but also see them being made.
And also I should just quickly mention that the bamboo pole
kneading method for noodles is becoming very very rare.
It is a traditional way to make noodles
and it's very very hard to find these days in Hong Kong.
We're heading to the subway station
and going down a couple stops to Mong Kok.
(carefree music)
This is one of the busiest areas of Hong Kong,
a big shopping area.
The streets are just clogged with signs and stores
and lots and lots of people.
One of the things that's just crazy about this area
of Hong Kong is the signage.
There are so many billboards and so many signs
and so many colorful bright lights
and this is always a busy area, you can shop
for just about anything you want around this area
and also there are quite a few markets.
Oh and what's coming up here?
Some kind of a procession.
(clanging)
This stretch of market is often referred
to as Ladies Market and you can find a lot
of souvenirs within this lane
and then a lot of pretty budget clothes and what else?
Oh just rows and strips of backpacks and handbags,
t-shirts, some kids toys, lots of random stuff,
but this is a huge market area.
What I love most about this market is
that it's almost like you're in a slot canyon
because there are sky rise buildings are huge
like towering condos on either side
and then just this like sprawling flea market
within the center of the alley.
(upbeat music)
We didn't really have any shopping to do
so we just wondered around for a little bit
and now we are heading,
well we're walking along Nathan Road to the bus stop
and gonna take the bus a little ways down the road
towards Tsim Sha Tsui.
We are heading towards Tsim Sha Tsui
and I'm not sure if I got that pronunciation quite right,
it's pretty tough to pronounce,
but it's also a shortened abbreviated as TST,
so I'm gonna call it TST,
but it's the area of Kowloon which is right at the harbor
of right across from Hong Kong island.
We just drove past the Chungking Mansions
and we're not gonna stop there today
but it is a huge international building
and you can find people from all walks
of life in that building and it's an amazing building
and I have good memories
because on my first trip to Hong Kong,
that must have been about eight years ago,
maybe back in 2009 or 2010 or something like that,
I stayed at the Chungking Mansions
at a hostel within the Chungking Mansions
so I have some great memories there,
it's a very interesting place.
We just got off the bus at the promenade
which is right on the harbor
and overlooking Hong Kong island.
This is the view of one of the most recognizable skylines
in the world and maybe one of the ultimate skylines
of the world.
Unfortunately it is pretty hazy today, though.
(uplifting music)
The view of Hong Kong skyline is always nice
and we actually might come back tonight
cause they have a famous light show in the evening.
Still not sure if we'll make it or not,
but we may but we are now heading to the star ferry
and we're gonna take the ferry across back
to Hong Kong island.
(upbeat music)
Just going from Kowloon to Hong Kong island,
it's just a really short trip, but enjoying some great views
of Hong Kong island and also the harbor
and giant cruise ships.
We are gonna take the metro now to North Point
and on our way to go eat dinner.
We arrived to North Point station and the restaurant
should just be a very short walk up the street from here.
The restaurant is within the Java Road Market
and I think it's on the second floor.
(restaurant patrons speaking in a foreign language)
Made it to the restaurant, it is on the second floor
of the Java Road Market,
and this restaurant is called Tung Po,
and this is a huge dai pai dong,
it is a local Hong Kong restaurant.
Right now it actually just opened,
so I wanted to come early because I think it can be hard
to get a table if you come here right around dinner time
so it's 5:30.
There are only a couple tables occupied
but you can tell how they are prepared
for the masses to come in here
and just chow down and hang out.
This is truly an amazing menu.
There are so many different dishes on the menu
and there's also some really interesting mixes of dishes.
A lot of things have a Thai influence.
It says Thai style and then also Ying and I can hear some
of the chefs speaking Thai
so they have some Thai influence here
and then also some of the dishes have, you know,
Western influence, there's pasta dishes
and also it's definitely worth mentioning
that on the mention it says all dishes do not use any MSG
or chicken powder.
Before the food comes I'm gonna get started
by rinsing off our dishes.
You rinse your little bowls and spoons
and chopsticks with hot tea.
All right I think that's good,
and just kind of make sure everything gets rinsed off
with the hot tea.
And then also the chopsticks,
and by the way this is our order, this is what we ordered.
He wrote it down and then stuck it in the chopstick tin.
(clanging)
We got a table very close
to the kitchen where they're cooking all of the food
and you can just continuously hear those woks roaring.
It sounds almost like a jet engine
they keep those fires so hot.
Cooking, cooking the food here,
these are gigantic razor clams
and I think that they have taken them in half
and split them length wise and then stir fried
with bell peppers, there's onions in here,
there are black beans and garlic.
And it almost looks like squid.
Wow, okay, I'm just gonna taste a piece
of that razor clam oh that piece keeps on going.
(laughs)
Oh that is amazing.
Oh that sauce, you can really taste the onions
and the bell pepper in there!
And then that saltiness from the black bean sauce
and then that razor clam,
it almost tastes like a combination between squid
and a scallop with a sweet tinge to it.
Yeah, it's like a clam in different shape.
It is wonderful.
The rest of the food has all arrived now.
For rice I had to go for
this is their specialty rice
which is I think there's some kind
of duck flavoring in the rice
and then also with mushrooms
and then steamed in a lotus sleeve.
Let's take a look at it.
Lift the lid, oh, lift the lid to this.
Oh that looks awesome!
Oh it's packed full of I think it's chicken as well.
Chicken and lots and lots of mushrooms in here as well.
Oh and that aroma.
Put some of this into my bowl.
Oh this smells fantastic.
Again, it's just embedded with
that essence of the lotus leaf.
It's really really hot, and really fluffy
and it's not too salty you can taste the fragrance
of the lotus leaf and also the mushrooms in there.
And I think it does have a little bit
of a duck fragrance as well.
This a fried fish and I actually meant
to order a steamed fish.
So I think I ordered the wrong thing,
but anyway, this is what it came,
it's a fried fish little like nuggets
of fish deep fried, there's ginger in here,
there's green onions and sauteed in some kind
of a glaze sauce.
Yeah these are like deep fried pieces of fish
there's kind of a garlicky tasting oyster sauce
and also you can taste the fragrance
of ginger on it as well.
And then finally for a vegetable,
I've got a plate of bok choy with garlic.
I think it has both garlic sauce
and then fried garlic on top.
Let me set this into my bowl.
That's just very light, sauteed full of garlic
and then yes it has both fresh garlic
and then fried garlic sprinkled on top.
So you've got double garlic on there.
As I'm sitting here eating the restaurant is starting
to really fill up now and even people are coming
and they're having to turn away and wait
because some of these tables I think all
of the tables are reserved, but now you've got more
of a dai pai dong Hong Kong atmosphere
and the razor clams is by far the best dish
and not only the actual razor clams themselves
but the sauce, the black beans and these onions.
These onions are jut incredibly good.
Let me get a good chopstick full of them.
The onions are like half caramelized
but they're still crisp and then just coated in all
of that black bean sauce, chilis in there,
that sauce is amazing.
And this is that type of restaurant
that would be really good to go to
with a big group of people.
If you come with 10 people you can order 10 or 15 things
off the menu and share all the different dishes
because the plates are really big
and there's such a variety of different dishes.
I would've loved to try many more
of those dishes on the menu,
but just coming with two people couldn't order too much
but the food was good.
On some previous visits to Kong Hong,
I've been to some restaurants like this as well
where the service is pretty bad,
or there's just zero service.
But this restaurant they actually have quite good service,
very good service, the waiters are friendly
and the staff are nice
and so this is like the perfect Hong Kong atmosphere
and also with good service.
(carefree music)
From here we're going back to the subway
and I think we're gonna head over to Kowloon
because it is perfect time to go see the light show.
Made it back to Tsim Sha Tsui,
and we are walking to the Harbor.
I think we arrived here just in time
but every night they have a lights show
that's coordinated with music
and the lights shine across on all of the buildings
and so it is a major attraction in Hong Kong.
The skyline of Hong Kong island is spectacular
throughout the day but at night it really comes alive
with all the lights.
When you come to Hong Kong you definitely need
to come here at night and see the skyline
of Hong Kong all lit up with the lights,
but honestly the actual show, the like symphony of show
wich is coordinated with music,
it's a little bit underwhelming.
It's actually not really that much different
from the actual skyline how it looks,
except it involves music coordinated
with like some spot lights coming from the top,
but I think the real beauty is just the actual skyline
at night anytime so that was a good way
to end the day.
Thank you all very much for watching today's video
please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it
and also make sure you click subscribe
for lots more food and travel videos
and I will see you on the next video,
thank you for watching.
Just wanted to quickly let you know
that I wrote an entire Hong Kong travel guide
for food lovers over on my blog, migrationology.com.
Within that blog post you'll find all of the details
from our Hong Kong trip including
where we stayed and transportation,
all the attractions that we visited
and especially all of the food and restaurants
plus details about how you can go there yourself.
So the link is in the description box below
and I'll try to link it somewhere on this video as well,
but go check that out for all the details
about visiting Hong Kong.