Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Causeway Bay. Show all posts

It always feels sad when you are on your last day of your travelling. While it may feel good to be back to the familiar setting of daily lifestyle, you have to be ready with the challenges which come with it. Since reality is so hard to live in, I decided to have my favourite food in the world in my last day in Hong Kong, ice cream. Yumz. It is not difficult to find an ice cream shop in Hong Kong because the city embraces dessert cafe culture and every dessert cafe guarantees a long queue in front of its door especially on a weekend. I have heard so many raves on the appearance of many Japanese cafes in Hong Kong but have not had chance until today to try them out. Soe is kindly enough to bring us to a popular Japanese dessert cafe in Hong Kong, Via Tokyo, which happens to be located near to our hotel. Win-win.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Via Tokyo, Causeway Bay

Since the size of the cafe is not too big, there are not many seating available inside the cafe. This means one thing, you have to queue outside. Via Tokyo is pretty strict about rules. For instance, all the diners must have already reached and there is a minimum order imposed (one item per person).

Restaurant rules at Via Tokyo Causeway Bay Hong Kong

However, since Via Tokyo has an abundant selection of desserts to select from, I don't think the regulation is hard to met. Similar to other Japanese dessert cafe, Via Tokyo puts a lot of pride in its matcha ice cream. A lot of parfaits which involve matcha ice cream are displayed on their menu such as Fruit Matcha Soft Cream Shiratama Anmitsu (HKD 56). If you prefer to just have the ice cream without any other toppings, you may want to go for their ice cream cone (HKD 34 for matcha flavor/ HKD 32 for original cream flavor).

Menu from Via Tokyo at Causeway Bay Hong Kong

If you are not a fan of matcha ice cream, Via Tokyo provides other flavour such Houjicha (HKD 34 for cone/ HKD 36 for cup). Japanese cafe is known for their knack to provide limited edition depending on the season. It's kinda make changing of season pretty much interesting though.

Limited edition summer menu from Via Tokyo Causeway Bay

Since we actually have not really recovered from the lunch + coffee + bubble tea that we consumed earlier, we tried to mix and match our orders so that we would not be overwhelmed by let's say overabundant of cakes or ice creams. I could not really explain well on how good the ice cream is as I am not an expert in the ice cream world. But, the black sesame soft serve (HKD 36) is nicely flavoured, not so sweet plus it's so enjoyable to eat soft serve ice cream because of its softer texture compared to normal ice cream sold in the supermarket.

Black sesame ice cream and green tea roll from Via Tokyo

The Green Tea Cream Roll (HKD 40) from Via Tokyo is so fluffy and it literally sent me to matcha heaven. From each bite of the roll I can feel the lightly sweet sponge and the melt-in-your-mouth green tea cream. I love the fact that Via Tokyo uses Uji Matcha for all their matcha products. After all Kyoto is the best matcha-producing area in Japan.

If you have the time, you should pop up to the next door shop, Mammy Pancake for their HK style egg pancakes (egglettes) and waffles. Mammy Pancake's popularity definitely does not lose to its neighbour, Via Tokyo. Soe and R5 have to queue for a while before they came back with a bag of Chocolate Chip Egg Pancakes (HKD 18) and Peanut Butter Waffles (HKD 16).

Hong Kong pancake from Mammy Pancake Causeway Bay

It is better to consume both food while they are hot but since we were hanging out at Via Tokyo, this is not viable because the waiter at Via Tokyo definitely will not allow us to consume outside food at Via Tokyo. While the egg pancake and the waffle are enjoyable and make a nice tidbit to munch on while checking out the city of Hong Kong, I would not say that they are fantastic. Nice to enjoy ut that's pretty much it.

Peanut butter waffles from Mammy Pancake at Causeway Bay

Via Tokyo is located at:

Shop 1-A/1-B, G/F Leishun Court

106 - 126 Leighton Road,

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Daily 11AM - 10.30PM

Mammy Pancake is located at:

Shop 17, G/F Leishun Court

1 - 5 Haven Street,

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Daily 12PM - 8.30PM

Our first adventure into Hong Kong's pub scene began with Second Draft, a newly opened pub at Little Tai Hang, a new developed area at Causeway Bay region in Hong Kong. Second Draft is located at a corner of a quiet neighbourhood and we had to take a tram ride to reach the pub from the main bustling area of Causeway Bay.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Second Draft, Causeway Bay

The pub has a retro vibe with a wall of red bricks and both bar seats and tables are available inside the pub. The pub is still bustling with crowds on a Thursday late night despite people has to come to office early the next day.

Second Draft Pub at Causeway Bay Hong Kong

Second Draft offers all kind of drinks from coffee, wines, bottled beers to cocktails and drafts. I was pretty much interested to try out one of their drafts concoctions although the selection of non-alcoholic menu will be a great news to people like YY who does not drink at all. Apparently the first time she tried out drinking (a glass of moscato, she claims), she passed out on the way to her bed up to her husband's shock. I suppose I would have ban my spouse from drinking alcohol after that kind of shocking experience.

Second Draft features a full selection from Young Master Brewery, Hong Kong's latest, highest rated and most awarded craft brewery which has produced a wide range of interesting craft beers. Two of the interesting bottled beer selections are Hak Mo Sheung (Raspberry or Chilli Edition) which is described as bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, chocolate and vanilla - 10.1% (HKD 98 for 330ml) and MIO which is described as barrel aged quadruplel, woody, malty, dark fruit, spiced, umami - 9.5% (HKD 288 for 750ml).

Bottled beer menu from Second Draft Hong Kong

R5 and I are however all about drafts. The drafts at Secnd Draft are classified into category such as hoppy, pale, funky, malty, wheat, and dark. As we are pretty much noob in the beer world, we asked the waiter for suggestion. Turns out the waiter allows us to taste sampler before ordering the beers. After tasting certain beers recommendation, I chose the Hangry Donut - 5.1% (HKD 43), simply because it's sweet fruity beer and I like my beer that way. Girly, I know. Hahaha.

Here comes our beer. It was pretty chillax night with all the girls drinking beers and chatting our lives away. We seldom have the time nor the opportunity to drink beers together because R5 and YY are now married women and they are also career women at the same time so time for friends is rather limited. Sadz, but that how life is.

Do you know what tastes good with beers? Bar snacks, yep. We initially wanted to order Jer Jer Buffalo Wings (HKD 138) but Second Draft is sold out of the wings and the waiter recommends the Tai Hang Fries (HKD 68). The fries is rather interesting. I could not appreciate the taste earlier and yet it goes better with each bite, I just could not explain the phenomena. They are basically fries with chili powder which taste rather interesting. You should give them a try when you are there.

Beers and fries from Second Draft Hong Kong

Second Draft is located at:

G/F, 98 Tung Lo Wan Road

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday 12PM - 1AM

Saturday and Sunday 11PM - 1AM

If you have been to any Hong Kong dessert chains in Singapore, you will notice that mango desserts are always part of the menu. If you are a fan of mango desserts, you should definitely pay a visit to Hong Kong's most famous mango desserts chain, Hui Lau Shan. The dessert chains are everywhere around Hong Kong island but I managed to find one near Hysan Place at Causeway Bay area. Hui Lau Shan offers a variety of mango desserts and drinks such as Mango Drink with Aloe Jelly (HKD 43), Mango Drink with Coconut Milk and Tapioca (HKD 43) and Jumbo Mango Chewy Balls (HKD 109).

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Hui Lau Shan, Causeway Bay

Since the jumbo size seems to be too big for three of us who have just finished a plate of noodles + wantons, we decided to order Mango Chewy Ball in normal size (HKD 53) instead. The mango fruits given are generous and the puree is so refreshing especially when eaten in hot weather. The mango tastes sweet without being overbearingly sweet. A nice dessert to enjoy on a summertime night.

Mango sago dessert from Hui Lau Shan Causeway Bay

Another reason of why we are saving space in our tummy is because we saw a very long queue for this particular tea stall called TP Tea in the afternoon. We were pretty much curious on everything which manage to lure so many people to queue so we decided to come back to the stall after we finished our sweet mango moment at Hui Lau Shan to check out the drinks.

TP Tea is basically a bubble tea stall which is similar to Koi and Gong Cha (or now replaced by Liho in Singapore). They do have some interesting flavour like kumquat lemon tea (HKD 24) which I bet is so gonna be sour and TieGuanYin Tea Latte (HKD 23) which I think is now offered by Liho in Singapore as well. Since it's already kinda late, I opted for the less strong Passion Jasmine Green Tea Lattee with Pearls (HKD 25). Oh my gawd, I did not realise my drink costs around SGD 5 when converted. This drink is better be tasty.

The queue was somehow manageable at night but we found out later that it is kinda risky to buy TP Tea at night because the tea that you want may have been sold out by then. O_O.

Since the cup used by TP Tea is not transparent, we cannot really see the color of my Passion Jasmine Green Tea Latte with pearls. It tastes sweet with a hint of sour note from the passionfruit syrup I suppose. The drink is not bad but I still prefer TenRen's rendition of bubble tea.

Jasmine passionfruit jelly from TP Tea Hong Kong

Hui Lau Shan is located at:

Shop 3, G/F, 2 - 6 Yee Wo Street

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Daily 12PM - 12AM

TP Tea is located at:

G/F, 9 Lee Garden Road

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Daily 11AM - 11PM

(but to be on safe side, try to go there before 10PM)

Wanton noodle is a Cantonese dish which is very popular in Hong Kong, you can literally find restaurant selling wanton noodle just at every nook and cranny in the island. I am actually not really a fan of wanton noodle but YY and R5 were already in starvation mode by the time we have finished our short siesta time in the hotel. While we were wandering around in the area near our hotel at Causeway Bay, YY saw the yellow sign of Chee Kei and decided to check out its menu.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Chee Kee Wanton Noodle, Causeway Bay

Chee Kei is a restaurant chain in Hong Kong which specialises in noodles. The restaurant has been around in Causeway Bay area since 1994 and it claims to be the lone "wonton noodle shop survivor" in the prime Causeway Bay area among high-end retail stores. Hmm, their statement may be true because so far I have not seen any other wanton noodle restaurant in Causeway Bay. Chee Kei offers a variety of noodles and most of them are priced at HKD 42 (for soup, except for beef briskets noodle soup at HKD 50) and HKD 57 (for dry, except for beef briskets noodle at HKD 62). Variety of toppings available are ranging from wanton, dumpling, beef briskets, fishball noodles to beef tendons. I wonder why the dry version of the noodles taste more expensive though. Is it because the restaurant in Hong Kong tend to be more generous with ingredients/ portion when it comes to dry noodles?

Menu from Chee Kee Wanton Noodle Hong Kong

Chee Kei is literally full house at 7PM on Saturday night. The restaurant seems to be filled with mostly families. I suppose a lot of families in Hong Kong are eating out on weekend. You cannot really linger around at Chee Kei after you have finished your meal because of the perpetually queuing customers outside the entrance. The waitresses will surely chase you out one way or another.

Chee Kee Restaurant at Causeway Bay Hong Kong

I am not really a fan of noodle soup so I prefer to have the soup to be served separately. If you are like me, you have to order one of the dry noodles selection. There are some dishes which are only available in dry version though, just like my order of Chili Meat Noodles w/ Bowl of Soup (HKD 42). I personally find the thin noodles to be tasteless although that's probably how it's supposed to taste. Without the chili meat, I don't think I can enjoy the noodle alone (despite the fact that the chili meat is kinda oily). Chili sauce is available here at Chee Kee but it's the chili oil kind of chili which is not spicy at all for my tastebud.

Minced meat dry noodle from Chee Kee Hong Kong

We ordered a separate wonton soup as the noodle does not come with it. The wonton soup served in Hong Kong is definitely different from the one served in Singapore. The wontons are stuffed fuller than most, folded into the little round wrap, and filled with juicy pork and shrimp. The broth is just nice, not too salty and not too heavily loaded on MSG. I probably could eat this wonton soup on its own without the noodles.

Since we seem to have vegetables deficiency, this is the chance for us to redeem ourselves and try to include something green on our plate. The oyster sauce kailan from Chee Kei taste ok and they are nice to eat together with the noodles. Perfect accompaniment to our wonton/meat noodle meal for that lovely evening. R5 did make a comment that we did not go all the way to Hong Kong to eat some veggies though. LOL.

Oyster sauce kailan from Chee Kee Hong Kong

Chee Kei is located at:

84 Percival Street,

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Daily 11AM - 11.30PM

My visit to Hong Kong is usually filled with visitation to local teahouses which are also known as cha chaan teng. While local milk tea and coffee in Hong Kong taste pretty good, I am curious at how the Western coffee houses fare in Hong Kong. A lot of online reviews rave on the local cafehopping scene and since there is one quite well-known cafe called 18 Grams Specialty Coffee ("18 Grams") near our hotel, we decided to pop by on Saturday morning. The cafe was full house when we reached around 9.30ish in the morning and hence, we went for a quick breakfast at the opposite Tsui Wah to wait for the morning crowd to dissipate. We only managed to get seats around 10AM.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: 18 Grams Specialty Coffee, Causeway Bay

The reason of why the cafe is so easily full house is because the cafe is quite small, like at-the-corner kind of cafe. I actually kinda like this kind of cozy small cafe and we don't have such cafes in Singapore. I don't know why but it kinda gives you a comfortable chillax feeling in the neighborhood. But I don't really chill at cafe by myself in Singapore despite I'm being unemployed at the moment. Ah it's probably because paying for coffee at the price of at least SGD 5 is kinda too much for someone who does not earn any income at the moment. Oops why did I ramble on my current life situation? Sorry. Hehe.

18 Grams Specialty Coffee at Causeway Bay

There are only three staffs behind the counter but I guess that's pretty much enough manpower because after all, 18 Grams specialises in coffee although they do have some breakfast items like toast and muffins. The non-caffeinated drinks are also available at 18 Grams if you can't take caffeine. The price for the coffee ranges from HKD 30 to HKD 50 while the price for other selection like chocolate and tea ranges from HKD 45 to HKD 55.

Coffee menu from 18 Grams Specialty Coffee at Causeway Bay

It seems to be such a waste not to try out their coffee especially after a lot of media such as OpenRice and Oriental Daily gave 18 Grams positive feedback on their coffees. I was quite curious on shakerato and it is apparently a drink prepared using espresso and ice cubes. An iced espresso I suppose?

Notice board at 18 Grams Specialty Coffee Causeway Bay

Despite the fancy name, I don't think my noob stomach and tastebud can take the wonder of shakerato so I stick to my usual drink, hazelnut latte (or mocha, which seems to be on the sweeter side compared to the other type of coffee). My hazelnut drink has the most amazing latte art I've ever seen so far in my coffee drinking history. I wonder if I should take this opportunity of being unemployed to brush my skill in latte art. But then again, taking up new skill needs money and money is really not on my side at this moment. Sigh. #emoagain

Since I am not really a coffee connoisseur, I can't really review how good a cup of coffee is in detail (for example, by examining its acidity, aroma, body, flavor and aftertaste). My noob review on my hazelnut latte will be well, this is a safest (and pretty enjoyable) coffee to drink when you are not really a coffee drinker. It is easier to enjoy hazelnut latte because the hazelnut syrup creates sweet flavour of the otherwise, bitter coffee. And I, for one, can't really enjoy bitter coffee. Why would I pay so much for something taste bitter, really? My life is already bitter enough as it is. Oops, here we go again.

Coffee time at 18 Grams Specialty Coffee Causeway Bay

18 Grams Specialty Coffee is located at:

Unit C, G/F, 15 Cannon St.

Causeway Bay

Opening hours:

Daily 8AM - 8PM

Morning in Hong Kong may not always be filled with sunshine of hope but I am a fan of foggy and gloomy day as long as it does not rain. After all I would not be tanned if I am not exposed to sunshine (but what about vit D? Uhm). So yeah, despite the gloomy outlook of the day from our hotel's window at Butterfly at Morrison, we are looking forward to second day of our foodie adventure in Hong Kong. The best thing about girls' trip is that you tend to chat all the way till you can't hold your eyes open anymore about the past, the present and your expectation that you and your girl friends have in life. While I heard from some people that travelling together may be a make-it-or-break-it event, I hope our friendship lasts till the last day of the trip. Hehe.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Breakfast at Tsui Wah, Causeway Bay

Saturday morning in Hong Kong is filled with bustling activity as the locals are busy shopping in the wet market. The wet market in Hong Kong is located right under a lot of run-down-buildings which seem to be residence buildings of Hong Kong people. Sometimes these buildings look run-down from outside because after all Hong Kong is one of those countries which is always visited by typhoon every year. I stayed in this kind of building before in Taiwan (another country which is also always visited by typhoon yearly) and despite the outward run-down look, the inside of my studio looks neat and clean. So I suppose these buildings should be more or less in the same situation although there are articles which I read about how small an accommodation in Hong Kong can be.

Roasted meats seem to be a way of living here because there are roasted meat stalls here and there and oh gosh, the smell of the roasted meats is so good.

But since we already had our share of roasted meat from Joy Hing's the night before, we are more interested to start the day by trying out local breakfast scene. I actually included 18 Grams as our breakfast venue and it is located right opposite this Tsui Wah Restaurant. But we ended up having breakfast at Tsui Wah first because 18 Grams was full-house at 9AM+ on Saturday. Since we were pretty much reluctant in drinking coffee while standing up, so we decided to chill and eat breakfast at Tsui Wah first while waiting for the crowd at 18 Grams to disperse.

Tsui Wah Restaurant at Causeway Bay Hong Kong

Tsui Wah has always been my favourite cha chaan teng in Hong Kong and I've at least visited this restaurant at least once everytime I visit this country. The reason of why I like Tsui Wah amongst the other cha chaan teng is because they have so many chains in Hong Kong and most of the chains have a lot of seats so I never need to queue whenever I want to dine in Tsui Wah. In addition, I find that the service staff at Tsui Wah is generally friendlier compared to let's say Lan Fong Yuen or Australia Dairy Company (not sure if I score a winning streat at Tsui Wah for never encountering bad service staff before). Last but not least, the food and drink menu from Tsui Wah is so extensive, you will need more than 5 minutes to decide what to eat and what to drink.

Since we come for breakfast, breakfast set is available and we decided to share 1 breakfast set + 2 additional drinks. We chose a cup of hot Hong Kong milk tea (left cup) and yuan yang (right cup). Hong Kong is famous for its unique taste of milk tea so you should really give it a try when you are in Hong Kong. I like the fact that Tsui Wah let you add your own sugar, if you desire to. My milk tea is nice enough as it is and I did not add anything to it. Meanwhile YY needs her yuan yang fix very bad as she will not be able to function without caffeine in her blood. Yuan yang is another popular beverage in Hong Kong and it is made with a composition of 3 parts coffee and 7 parts HK milk tea. I initially have reservation of how good a mixture of coffee and milk tea can taste but it is actually quite a working combination. YY seems to enjoy her drink pretty much.

Condensed milk tea and yuan yang from Tsui Wah

R5's drink of iced yuan yang came with the rest of the breakfast set, a bowl of macaroni soup, a plate of crispy buns with condensed milk, and a plate of buns and two fried eggs with a fried sausage. Crispy buns with condensed milk is one of the top 10 dishes which are usually ordered by its customers (oh yes, the menu did indicate which dishes are popular with the customers) and I do agree with them as I love the combination of crispiness and sweetness from the buns and the condensed milk.

Breakfast set from Tsui Wah Restaurant at Causeway Bay

I find the macaroni soup somewhat ordinary although it gives you comfort if consumed on a rainy day. The soup is actually made from chicken stock. So it is made by boiling chicken stock in the water and then, add the cooked macaroni and other ingredients such as sliced ham and mushroom. If you'd like to, you can add a bit of milk to the soup to make it richer.

Macaroni from Tsui Wah Restaurant Hong Kong

This kinda looks like a Western breakfast than Hong Kong. Nothing too special about it as everyone should know how fried eggs and fried sausage taste with Anchor butter. Hahaha.

Bread, fried egg and sausage from Tsui Wah Restaurant HK

Tsui Wah has so many outlets all across Hong Kong, you don't even have to use Google Map to find one. The outlet that we visited is located at:

G/F, 20 - 22 Cannon Street

Causeway Bay

Opening hours:

Daily 24 Hours

It seems that the land of Hong Kong has been invaded by the wonderful invader, Japanese desserts. I have read somewhere online about Via Tokyo (which I have included in the itinerary for the last day) but upon one of our random explorations in Hong Kong, we stumbled upon I Cremeria, another ice cream parlour which seems to originate from Japan. Since Hong Kong's weather is so hot on summer days and we got pretty tired from exploring the shopping scene of Causeway Bay area, we decided to stop by and check out I Cremeria.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: I Cremeria, Causeway Bay

I Cremeria specialises itself in soft cream parfait (i.e. smooth texture milky ice cream). Its menu is divided into a few section from Frutta Crema (the pairing of soft cream parfait with premium Japanese fruit in season, did I see melon?), Giapoponese Crema (the pairing of Japanese Cha-Ya sweets with Kyoto's Uji Matcha and Kochi's Sawatari tea Daifuku), Classico Crema (premium soft cream blended with Japanese Hokkaido fresh milk and cream), Cremadoro (soft cream covered with 99% finest edible gold leaf), and Affogato (pairing of hot coffee or chocolate with soft cream). The menu is rather extensive and that's why YY and R5 spent a few minutes in silence to study the menu while I'm keeping our table safe.

Ice cream menu from I Cremeria Causeway Bay

After their careful deliberation (which seems to take forever to be honest with you), both ladies come back with two kind of parfaits in their hands. R5 came back with the green parfait on the left, the Exclusive Sawatari Tea Daifuku Parfait from Kochi (HKD 56). The parfait basically combines green tea soft cream with toppings such as red beans and tea mochi. I love Japanese green tea so green tea soft cream is definitely on my favourite food list. The taste of green tea soft cream from I Cremeria is not bitter and yet not so sweet either, it's just nice. Meanwhile, YY brought back Affogato of Monbana Hot Chocolate (HKD 53). I thought affogato always refer to caffeinated drink like coffee but I Cremeria offers a combination of hot chocolate with soft cream instead so that people like YY and I, who have weak tolerance for caffeine, can enjoy affogato without having to suffer insomnia at night. Soft cream and hot chocolate pairing is one of the pairing in the world which cannot go wrong but since it's chocolate, it can be rather sweet.

Matcha and vanilla soft serve from I Cremeria Causeway Bay

After finishing our desserts, it's just right for us to continue our exploration of Causeway Bay. The area is actually one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong besides Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui. There are so many shopping malls which are located within close distance from one to another like Times Square, Hysan Place and Fashion Walk (where I Cremeria is located). I wonder if watches are so popular here in Hong Kong because I keep seeing watches store from the normal brand to the high class one. YY entered one of the high class branded watches store to check out a watch for her beloved husband but apparently the kind of watch that her husband wants is not yet available at that store. She breathed a sigh of relief since that means more money for her to spend for herself. Tsk tsk tsk.

Causeway Bay Shopping Area at Night in Hong Kong

If you want to visit the largest Apple store in Hong Kong, you should make your way to Hysan Place at Causeway Bay. I personally like the shopping mall because it has many overseas brands which are catered more for younger people and even, Eslite bookstore from Taiwan, has set up its stores here. There is one waffle/ pancake restaurant at one of the higher level at Hysan Place which is perpetually full house during our visit to Hong Kong. Is the country currently suffering from waffle/ pancake craze? I suppose we can only find out how good the restaurant is when we make another trip to Hong Kong since it's way impossible for us to pick a ticket at 10.30 AM to dine at night at Hysan Place. Hmm, okay it's technically possible but we were too lazy to do it. Hahaha.

Oh right, if you love LINE Friends, there is one LINE Friends store in Hysan Place. The fun thing about visiting LINE Friends store is that there will a lot of photo prop that you can take picture with just like this cool friend of mine, Choco, who looks so edgy with her yellow scooter.

Line Friends Store at Hysan Place Causeway Bay

I just love looking at cute stuff and LINE Friends store basically is full of cute range of items from stationeries, clothes, bags, gadgets, phone casing, and even kitchen utensils. But I just damaged my wallet back in Seoul when I visited another LINE Friends store there so I managed to control myself this time by not buying any. Until next time, my cute little Brown, Cony and Sally.

Cute figurines from Line Friends store at Hysan Place

I Cremeria is located at:

Shop F-9, 1/F

11- 19 Great George Street

Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay

Opening hours:

Daily 12PM - 11PM

Line Friends store is located at:

2/F, 500 Hennessy Road

Hysan Place, Causeway Bay

Opening hours:

Daily 10AM - 10PM

Do you know that other dim sum, Hong Kong is very famous for its delicious roasted meat? The meat used for cooking is usually pork, goose and chicken. This Cantonese style of cooking meat is so popular in Hong Kong you can basically find a Cantonese roasted meat restaurant at every corner of the island. I had visited Hong Kong for three times before and yet, I have never purposely done any research to find out where to have roasted meat rice in this country. However, this time around, I want to try out one of the popular roasted meat restaurants in Hong Kong, Joy Hing's Roasted Meat in Wan Chai. The location is so good as it is located within walking distance from our hotel, Butterfly on Morrison.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Joy Hing's Roasted Meat, Wan Chai

The restaurant was quite packed when we reached the place on Friday evening. Do you know that sometimes waiting for a table in restaurant in Hong Kong can be a bit daunting? Personally speaking, I find that Hong Kong is not really a friendly country in terms of services (especially if you compare them to its neighbouring country, Japan). Most of the times tourists are being scolded here and there especially when they are kinda lost. For example, on my 2nd visit to Hong Kong, my friends and I were scolded by a taxi driver because we did not know the way from the ferry terminal to our hotel. Uhh, excuse me, we are tourists after all, how do you expect us to know the way to our hotel? Geez. Same with dining at local restaurant (especially cha chaan teng), tourists are occasionally getting scolded for (1) don't know what to order or (2) sitting at the table for too long (usually if you are done with your food). So yeah, it was kinda daunting when I found out that Joy Hing's Roasted meat does not provide English menu. Our Mandarin is kinda nor-here-nor-there too. Oh no, are we about to get scolded?

Joy Hing's Roasted Meat at Wan Chai Hong Kong

Thankfully, the restaurant boss knows a bit of broken English. He asked us where do we come from and offers us to order a mix roasted meat platter. Since it's way easier to just agree to whatever he offer us (to be honest, mixed meat sounds good too), we accepted his offer and just patiently wait for our order at our table.

Menu from Joy Hing's Roasted Meat, Wan Chai

All the meats at Joy Hing's Roasted Meat have been pre-cooked (or in this case, pre-roasted) so you don't have to wait for a long time to enjoy a plate of roasted meat on white rice. Don't they look so good?

Dinner at Joy Hing's Roasted Meat Wan Chai HK

In Hong Kong, the roasted meat is commonly served with a plate of warm rice. The garlic and onions goes well with the chili sauce provided on the table. However, do note that the chili sauce in Hong Kong can be a tad oily. The boss gives us a plate of mixed roasted meat consist of char siew (BBQ pork), roasted chicken and roasted goose. I love char siew the most and Joy Hing's rendition of roasted meat does not disappoint. The seasoning given on the roasted meat is just right too without it's being too salty or too plain. The whole meal costs 120 HKD for three of us. Hmm, not exactly cheap I suppose.

Mixed roasted meat rice from Joy Hing's Roasted Meat

Oh right, since we are now full from the yummy roasted meat rice, it's time for some travelling tips. If you don't want to lug your luggage all the way to hotel from Hong Kong International Airport, you should try taking the Airprot Hotelink Limousine. At the price of HKD 150, the airport bus will take you to the nearest stop possible to your hotel. Sometimes it is really not possible for the bus to stop right at the door step of your hotel, which happened in our case. The bus could not stop in front of the lobby entrance of Butterfly on Morrison so we have to stop at the nearby hotel, South Pacific. I am not sure if the price is the same for any location in Hong Kong, but I suppose if you stay at Disneyland Resort, the price may be different since it's supposedly located nearer to the airport. The airport hotelink limousine departs every 30 minutes and you will be ushered from the waiting area to the bus by the staff, so you don't have to worry about getting lost/ cannot find where the bus is at Hong Kong International Airport.

Airport Shuttle to Butterfly on Morrison

I am not a new guest of Butterfly hotel chains in Hong Kong. In fact, I have stayed at their chains at Tsim Sha Tsui (Butterfly on Prat) and Sheung Wan (Butterfly on Hollywood). Both stays have been rather enjoyable and affordable so I don't mind staying for the third time (this time at Butterly on Morrison) for my foodie trip with YY and R5. They don't mind the hotel selection as well because the rate for one night at Butterfly on Morrison is really good (less than SGD 100 per pax for a triple room).

Butterly on Morrison at Causeway Bay Hong Kong

At first I was having a reservation about how big the triple bedroom would be. After all, hotels in Hong Kong are notorious for its small size (well, Japan is not any better in this aspect). Turns out, the triple bedroom is quite spacious enough for the three of us. We even managed to open all our luggages on the floor although I suppose that's partly because R5 only brought her cabin-size baggage to Hong Kong. She was totally shocked at the fact that I don't own any cabin-size baggage. Hahaha oh well, you don't have to have it all in life, right? If you are wondering how the bedroom fits three single beds, this is how the arrangement is. Two single beds on this side of the room with the wall beside the bed on the left side is actually where the shower room is.

Triple bedroom at Butterfly on Morrison at Causeway Bay

The other single bed is placed directly opposite the bed on the right side. As the air-conditioner is located right on top of the wardrobe, this single bed can be a bit on the cooler side. So if you can't really stand cold wind, you should sleep on one of the beds at the other side. Complimentary water is provided and there is basic amenities such as toothbrush, hairdryer, etc. The bedroom is clean and wifi is available in the room. So yeah, we are happy with our stay at Butterfly on Morrison. :)

Triple bedroom at Butterly at Morrison Hong Kong

Joy Hing's Roasted Meat is located at:

Chong Hing Building, G/F

265 - 267 Hennessy Road

Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Monday to Saturday 9.30AM - 10PM

Closed on Sunday

Butterfly on Morrison is located at:

39 Morrison Hill Road, Causeway Bay

Nearest MTR Station:

Causeway Bay (around 10 minutes walk from Times Square exit)

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Wandering Fel

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