Cafeteria at Narita Airport

Whenever we transit in Tokyo, we love to go to the cafeteria to get the pork cutlet curry rice because the food served in the Tokyo airport is of pretty high quality. This time is no exception.

We placed an order of tempura soba noodles and an order of pork cutlet curry rice. The tempura soba is served hot with two pieces of shrimp tempura. The shrimp tempura is a little bit small, and the bottom of the shrimp is soft because it is put on top of the soup. The pork cutlet curry rice is served with a piece of fried pork which has been cut into five strips. You cannot go wrong with pork cutlet curry rice. The pork cutlet is deep fried and so it is crispy on the outside while the meat is juicy on the inside. It matches with the strong taste of curry extremely well. It is one of the home-style comfort food that is consistently good.



HOKAT Rating:
83/100

美心大酒樓 at Hong Kong Airport

It is a tradition for us to eat dim sum with my mom at 美心大酒樓 inside the Hong Kong airport right before we fly back to the United States. It was pretty early in the morning and we were not very hungry, so we only ordered a few dishes. We ordered the shrimp dumpling (蝦餃), 燒賣 (siu mai), and 蝦腸 (rice noodle wrap with shrimp). The shrimp dumping is of very high quality. The shrimps are bouncy and the wrapping is thin. The siu mai has some kind of crab roe sauce on top. The minced pork and shrimp is mixed well in this dish. However, the crab roe sauce tasted a little strange because it is moist and salty. The rice noodle wrap is very long, with a whole shrimp in each section. The shrimp is bouncy and the rice noodle is very smooth. This restaurant is definitely a nice place to eat brunch before a long flight back to the United States.



HOKAT Rating:
86/100

和幸日本燒肉料理 (Hong Kong)

Towards the end of our 2009 Asia trip, we visited a Japanese BBQ restaurant that we found out about on the internet. This restaurant is known for their A4 to A5 class of Japanese Wagyu beef. We ordered the following dishes:



1) 特價宮崎縣綾牛 A4 (Special Miyazaki beef which is A4 class): This is the special promotion of the night. It is a big platter of beef from the Miyazaki region. The beef is sliced thinly and served with scallions. The waiter recommended us to put the beef on the grill for only one to two minutes. I like the barbequed taste of beef, but I think the texture can be improved if they serve thicker slices of beef.



2) 秘製燒汁黑毛和牛肋骨肉 (Special Kalbi beef): This beef is again served with scallions. The slice of the beef is thicker, but it is not fatty enough.

3) 米沢和牛香蒜五花肉 (Yonezawa beef): This is the best dish of the night, so we placed an additional order of it. The cut of the beef is from the belly region. There is a nice spread of fat within the beef.

Lastly, the restaurant was doing a promotion in which they ask patrons to kiss for at least 20 seconds and let them take a picture. When this is done, they would give out a free order of 愛情豚 (Love Pork). My husband and I did this and scored the free food.

Overall, this is a nice restaurant with decent food and nice ambience. However, the beef served in Hong Kong simply cannot be compared with those served in Japan. The ones served in Japan are so tender and smooth that it is far superior.

HOKAT Rating:
86/100

Address:
銅鑼灣謝斐道496號金利文廣場3樓
2117-4268

鴻星海鮮酒家 (Hong Kong)

Since my husband loves shark fin soup, we visited 鴻星海鮮酒家 for dinner. We ordered a family set dinner, which offers the following dishes:

1) 蟹粉小籠包 (crab roe soup dumplings): The soup dumpling is pretty juicy, and there is a nice aroma from the crab roe. However, the wrapper is a bit too thick. In my opinion, 翡翠 serves the best soup dumplings in Hong Kong.



2) 燒帶子: This is a big piece of scallop that is grilled on a beautiful shell. The scallop is pretty big and thick. However, it is little bit overcooked which made it slightly too chewy.



3) 雞燉翅: This is made from clear chicken soup, with a few clusters of shark fin in it. It is funny that my sister and brother-in-law complained that their serving do not contain much shark fin at all, while I got a bunch of them in my serving. However, since I was still recovering from a cold, I did not want to consume too much chicken soup.



4) 炸子雞 (Fried Chicken): The chicken meat is tender while the skin is slightly crispy. This is a unique variant of the fried chicken because it does not taste like it was fried at all. I guess it was only fried for a very short amount of time, and so it tastes more like 白切雞.



5) 炒飯 (Fried Rice): This is a promotional offer from using a HSBC credit card. We were so full from the other dishes that we did not eat much of it at all.



6) 清蒸石班 (Steamed grouper fish): This dish is made from fresh grouper. In most restaurants in Hong Kong, they serve fresh fish and not frozen fish because Chinese people believe that the most important criteria to tasty food is the freshness. The texture of grouper fish is very firm and chewy. I think the best cooking method is to steam the fish because this preserves all the original flavor of the fish.



7) 雷沙湯丸 (Glutinous Rice Balls with black sesame seed inside and rolled in peanut powder): This is one of my favorite Chinese desserts. The black sesame paste is melted inside of a sweet and gooey rice ball.



HOKAT Rating:
85/100

Address:
中環蘭桂坊雲咸街19-27號威信大廈地庫
2628-0826

Doraya (Hong Kong)

Craving for more Japanese food, we stopped by Doraya in Causeway Bay. We heard about them from a Hong Kong Cable TV show called “Find eats throughout the heavens and the earth”. The host, Michelle Lo, has tried their Toro Don and recommends it.

This restaurant is very small with about eight tables served by two waitresses. We ordered a Toro Don which is the expensive item in the menu, costing about $35 USD. We also ordered a Uni Don. Toro and Uni are two of our favorites.

The Toro Don is served with a generous portion of 9 thick pieces of toro which is pink in color. After the first bite, however, we were quite disappointed. The toro is served too cold. It almost felt like the fish has not had enough time to be defrosted yet. This greatly affected both the taste and the texture of the fish. In contrast, any raw fish that you get in Japan is served in room temperature.



The Uni Don is served with a portion that is equal to what you can get from five pieces of uni sushi. The uni is quite fresh but there is a bit of a saltwater taste. I prefer uni that is sweet in flavor.




After finishing the meal, we felt quite disappointed. Maybe our expectation was set too high after watching the interview in the TV show.

HOKAT Rating:
78/100

Address:
銅鑼灣駱克道451地下
2834-8851

板長壽司 (Hong Kong)

Last time when we were in Hong Kong, we went to 板前壽司 (Itamae Sushi). This time, we want to try the sister restaurant which is opened by the same owner called 板長壽司 (Itacho Sushi). Just like Itamae, Itacho is also a chain sushi restaurant. We went to the branch in Causeway Bay.

The five of us ordered the following for dinner:

1) 小型海膽井 (Small Uni Don): This is my first course for the night. The uni is served on top of rice in a small container. Uni has a strong unique taste to it.

2) 海膽壽司 (Uni Sushi): We asked for the uni from Canada. The uni has a very sweet flavor and is of very high quality.

3) 三文魚子壽司 (Salmon Fish Roe Sushi): I did not try this because I don’t like the strong flavor of salmon fish roe which has a fishy taste in most places.

4) 鵝肝壽司 (Foie Gras Sushi): The foie gras is too small and has a mild taste. It would be tastier if it is pan fried for a longer period of time. I like the foie gras sushi served at峰壽司 much more because it has a richer aroma.

5) 板長蝦 (Itacho Shrimp Sushi): I don’t like raw shrimp at all. Even the sight of it makes me lose my appetite :p

6) 三文魚腩 (Salmon Belly Sushi): The salmon is very fresh. The belly is the best cut of the fish because of it is very fatty.

7) 秋刀魚壽司 (Saury Sushi): This is one of my husband’s favorites. It is only available in the autumn when it is in season. It has a strong distinctive taste to it, a little bit like Mackerel but milder.

8) 魚背壽司 (Fish Porch Sushi): My sister ordered this. The texture of the fish porch is firm and crunchy.

9) 特長海鰻壽司 (Super Long Sea Eel Sushi): This is a huge piece of sea eel sushi which is torched and served warm. I like the eel sauce which is sweet and the slight burned taste of the sea eel from being torched. However, it is not as good as the one served at 峰壽司 because it is not soft enough.

10) 油甘魚腩壽司 (Hamachi Belly Sushi): Hamachi Belly is one of my favorite sushi. The fish has a soft texture and it is filled with a rich taste of fish oil.

11) 天使蝦 (Angel Shrimp Sushi): I just don’t prefer raw shrimp.

12) 平目魚壽司 (Flounder Sushi): This is another kind of white fish. It is similar to hamachi but it is more bland.

13) 肥美少筋吞拿魚腩 (Toro Sushi): Toro is the fattiest part of tuna. However, the slice of fish is too thin. I would rather get a more generous portion and pay more.

My husband and I also visited a branch of 板長壽司 in the Hong Kong airport. During that visit, we tried the salmon sushi, scallop sushi, hamachi belly sushi, saury sushi, 醋鯖魚壽司 (mackerel sushi), and the super long sea eel sushi. The mackerel sushi has a strong vinegar marinated taste to it. The quality of the fish at this branch in the airport exceeds our expectations. However, the size of the rice is way too big, which overpowers the taste of the fish.

HOKAT Rating:
90/100

Address:
銅鑼灣東角道24-26號東角Laforet2樓281-282號店
2890-2461

黃枝記粥麵店 (Hong Kong)

After a few heavy meals, my family and I want something lighter for dinner. We went to 黃枝記粥麵店 in Central to eat some noodles. This noodle shop is famous for their 竹升麵 (bamboo rise noodles). These noodles are special because they are all hand-made by the master chef sitting on top of a bamboo stick to keep pounding on the dough. The dough is repeatedly pounded upon to increase the elasticity of the dough. I can tell that the noodles are more bouncy and chewy. The noodles are served with 鮮蝦雲吞 (shrimp wontons) and big chunks of 牛腩 (braised beef brisket).



Besides the famous bamboo rise noodles, we also got an order of 水蟹粥 (water crab congee). The crab congee contains half a crab. However, there is not much taste in the crab and the congee is not soft enough. In comparison, the congee from 正斗粥麵專家 is of much better quality.

Another dish that we got is the 沙嗲肥牛河 (satay fatty beef chow fun). The satay sauce is very rich in flavor and it matches well with the chow fun. There are slices of pineapple which adds a sweet taste to the dish to provide some contrast. However, this dish is a big rip-off because it only contains a few slices of fatty beef.

HOKAT Rating:
82/100

Address:
中環蘭桂坊威靈頓街15號B地下
2869-1331

五代同糖 (Hong Kong)

There is a popular dessert place in Causeway Bay called 五代同糖. It is known for its high quality desserts and its head chef who has previously worked in a five-star hotel restaurant. We went there two nights in a row. On the first night, I went there with my husband and my mom. My mom ordered 楊技甘露 (mango delight). It is made from sweet mango that is just ripe. Besides dominated by mango, the dessert also contains some grapefruit, tapioca, and agar agar.



My husband ordered a coconut tapioca dessert. It has a rich coconut taste to it. To me, it is a common dessert that is served in many places, and I would rather get something more unique like the Mango Soufflé.



Each soufflé is made to order and takes about 15-20 minutes to bake. Since we had to share a table with another couple, the waiter messed up our orders and gave my Mango Soufflé to the couple who ordered the original flavored soufflé. Since the waiter gave away my soufflé, I had to wait another 15-20 minutes for the chef to re-make my order. In total, I waited more than half an hour to get my Mango Soufflé! Although the service is quite terrible, the desserts themselves are excellent. When I took the first bite of the soufflé, I knew that it was worth the wait. The soufflé is extremely moist and soft, with a slight mango taste to it. The quality of the soufflé is comparable to those at high class french restaurants.



The couple who shared a table with us also ordered a snowflake ice, but they waited more than 20 minutes for it. By the time we left, they were still waiting for it. We think the waiter messed up again and forgot about the rest of their order.

When we went there again on the next night, I ordered the chocolate soufflé and shared an order of 芒果雪花冰 (mango snowflake ice) with my family. The chocolate soufflé is not as tasty as the mango one because it is not as moist and is a little overcooked. The mango snowflake ice does not taste like slush or ice at all. It tastes like soft ice-cream that has many layers. It is a perfect dessert for the summertime.

HOKAT Rating:
87/100

Address:
銅鑼灣告士打道250-254號伊利莎伯大廈G11舖
3486-8528

永祥燒臘飯店 (Hong Kong)

This is another local favorite eatery. The place is very tiny and most of their business is from takeout orders. They are only famous for one thing, which is their 燒臘 (roasted meats). We ordered the 义鵝飯 (rice with roast pork and roast duck) and 义雞飯 (rice with roast pork and garlic scallion chicken). We also got a side order of roast duck leg.




The roast pork is marinated in a strong barbeque sauce but it is not fatty enough so it is a little rough. The roast duck is very delicious; the meat is moist and the skin is crispy. The roast duck leg is huge, with so much meat that it is a meal by itself. I also like the rice which is topped with a special sweet soy sauce.



HOKAT Rating:
86/100

Address:
跑馬地景光街2號地下
2573-9082

翡翠拉麵小籠包 (Hong Kong)

To celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday, my family and I went to the famous chain restaurant 翡翠拉麵小籠包 for dinner because my mom loves to eat 小籠包 (soup dumplings). Although it is a chain restaurant, 翡翠 serves one of the best soup dumplings that I have ever had.



Since crabs are in season, we placed four orders of the 蟹粉小籠包 (crab roe soup dumplings) to share among the five of us. Each order has four soup dumplings, which means we ordered 20 of them. The waiter was surprised that we ordered so many soup dumplings and asked us if we are sure we want to order so many. The wrappers of the dumplings are so thin that we have to be super careful when picking them up. The meat inside of the dumplings is so moist and juicy. There is so much juice inside of the dumplings that they can fill half a bowl. The crab roe adds a rich aroma to the soup dumplings.

Besides the famous crab roe soup dumplings, we also ordered the following dishes:

1) 醉雞: This is a cold dish. The chicken is cooked in a clear wine sauce. I don’t really like eating cold meat.

2) 手抓餅: This is very thin bread that is pan fried. It is very much like Indian style naan.

3) 糖醋排骨: This is sweet vinegar spareribs. This dish is extremely sweet. The spareribs are not tender enough.

4) 津白: This is my favorite vegetables dish. The cabbage is pretty soft. It is cooked in a milky cream sauce.

5) 排骨麵: This dish has Chinese style noodles that are white in color. There is not much taste to the noodles. The spareribs are deep fried and served separately.

6) 鍋貼: The pan fried dumplings are very crispy. The meat inside are very juicy, just like the meat inside of the soup dumplings.

We all felt extremely satisfied after the meal. We can keep eating more of the crab roe soup dumplings. This is a restaurant that we will keep coming to.

HOKAT Rating:
93/100

Address:
中環港景街1號國際金融中心商場2期2樓2018-2020號舖
2295-3811