Bo Dao Tea House: Taiwanese Cuisine

On my fourth and last full day (flight home was noon the next day) in Hong Kong, Kim and I went to Ocean Park. We tried to get on almost all the rides, checked out all the exhibits, and walked most of the entire park. With the weather, it was a sweat-a-thon from 10AM to 5:30PM! We were really tired afterwards, and we slept almost the entire way back on the bus. As soon as we got back to Admiralty, we hopped on an MTR to Mong Kok. Even though we were tired, we wanted to get some shopping done and get some dinner of course.

We walked around while trying to shop and looking for a place to eat also. We came upon this Taiwanese eatery called Bo Dao. We were attracted by the deep fried goodies they had on their big display outside, and from the fragrant smell coming from inside. But first, I bought an 888ml pet bottle of coke from the neighboring 7-Eleven. I can't finish a whole liter of coke in one seating, but this 888ml bottle is just perfect. Haha.

The place had a similar setup to Butao King, airconditioned but open at the same time, if that makes sense. There were more than a handful of diners inside occupying the small wooden chairs and tables, so the food must be great. Let's find out!

Kim ordered the Beef strips with Bean Curd Sauce and Mushroom (49 HKD).

It tasted like Yoshinoya's Beef Bowl only sweeter and more saucey with bits of mushroom. With those said, it was an excellent dish especially for the Pinoy taste!

I ordered the Fried Pork Chop Rice (46 HKD).

Not the prettiest pork chop to look at, but it was greasy and tasty! It came with a bowl of tomato sauce which I was really apprehensive to put on it at first. But oh my, it really went well together!

We also ordered the Deep Fried Supreme to share (85 HKD).

This platter consisted of deep fried goodies! There were porkchop (again!), tofu, samosa, and spring rolls. We were hungry and really didn't care about the cholesterol on this very oily plate, we gobbled almost everything up! Again, everything went surprisingly well with the tomato sauce. Since it was a handful, we had a a piece each of porkchop, samosa and spring roll that we took back to the flat.

This meal was probably really unhealthy with the amount of oil we had, but it was really good. Plus, it seemed like one of the cleaner restaurants in the street at the end of Ladies' Market. If you're ever in the area, and would want a sure thing for dinner or lunch, Bo Dao is a decent enough place to eat at. Plus, they have a proper english menu :)

Bo Dao Tea House: Taiwanese Cuisine
50 Soy St., Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Din Tai Fung

Our attempt at eating at Tim Ho Wan was a complete fail since they already moved out of their Mong Kok location, and we only found out once we got there. Their other branch was at Sham Shui Po which was a little out of the way from our planned itinerary. Not wanting to miss out on eating at a Michelin starred restaurant while in Hong Kong, we made our way to Din Tai Fung in Tsim Sha Tsui.

 

Din Tai Fung in Tsim Sha Tsui is located inside Silvercord Mall, which is just adjacent the very upscale Harbour City (there's actually a walkway between then). We went there for dinner, but arrived early at 6PM after reading that the lines get ridiculously long at times during peak hours. As expected there was already a line, but the lady at the front asked if it was just the 2 of us and quickly ushered us in. I would assume then that it's easier to get a table if you're dining alone or just as a couple rather than being in big groups.

 

The inside of the place was nice, clean, well lit and spacious, but nothing really fancy or special. But I guess that's not why they got a Michelin star for. The service was really great! They're attentive to your questions and they're very efficient and courteous. And of course, the quality of the food. We knew coming in that it would be a great dinner from all the reviews, but it still exceeded our expectations.

We ordered the following:

Xiao Long Bao (56 HKD)

This is their specialty. People from different parts of the world come to Din Tai Fung just to sample this. For those who doesn't know, XLB is a steamed dumpling that has pork inside together with some soupy broth encased in a very delicate wrapper. They even have instruction cards on every table on how to eat it!

The steps were:

1. 1. Prepare your sauce by combining soy sauce, vinegar and ginger. The suggested ration is 1:3 soy sauce to vinegar.
2. Take the Xiao Long Bao and dip in the sauce. But it's also suggested that you try it out first without any sauce.



3. After dipping, place the XLB in a spoon and poke a hole to release the soupy broth.



4. Try to add some ginger to the spoon. Enjoy!

Now, we haven't really tried a whole lot of XLB. But compared to those others that we have had before, this was bar none the best we've had. We loved that the wrapper no matter how thin (you can even almost see the broth inside) doesn't break easily! The soup inside was heavenly and really went well with the dipping sauce.

Shrimp Dumplings (78 HKD)

We know this more popularly as Siomai, but in different parts of HK they go by shrimp dumplings, Shao Mai, etc. But yeah, this is something that we all know and love. The ones from Din Tai Fung have got to be the most plump siomai we have ever had. And you know it's freshly made and steamed when it takes more than 10 minutes for them to serve your siomai.

Pork Chop Fried Rice (75 HKD)

We don't know why but this seemingly normal and run of the mill dish was the highlight of our dinner. It's just fried porkchop on top of some yang chow. But the combination of both was really great and delicious. The porkchop really stood out, it was slightly sweet and salty, crunchy outside but tender inside.

Pork Bun (16 HKD)

I love eating siopao and I just had to try some from Din Tai Fung. I don't know what to make of this one though, since we are used to asking for asado or bola- bola and this looked neither of those 2. But at least it tasted great! They didn't have any sauce to go with it, though. Pinoy na Pinoy, naghahanap ng siopao sauce at hot sauce.

The menu at Din Tai Fung isn't exactly cheap, but it's not really that expensive either. With the quality of the food and service, it was definitely worth it. Those Michelin starred restaurants really do deserve the honor after all. So next time you're in HK, don't always cheap out and just eat at those seemingly cheaper little restaurants. You'd be surprised at how Din Tai Fung isn't that expensive :)

Din Tai Fung
Shop 130, 3/F, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kog

Butao King and Ikea Food - Hong Kong

On my second day in Hong Kong, Kim and I woke up a little late since we were really tired from that whirlwind of a first day. We decided to just have brunch at Butao King which was a quick 5min walk from Kim's flat. We missed out eating there during my first night as the line was really long, but this time we were their first customers for the day.

 

Butao King is the same as Ramen Nagi in the Philippines. The food and the ordering system is the same. But in Hong Kong, Butao is just a small spot in a sidestreet (read: eskinita) flanked by a laundry shop and apartment complex and fronted by a hardware store, accessible and affordable for most. But in the Philippines, Ramen Nagi is a geared a little more for the upscale. The quality of the food and service is the same though -- great. It is also nice to note that Butao King is has been voted Best Restaurant in Causeway Bay, as proudly displayed in the storefront.

The place was really small, there were about 5 round tables which sat about 5-6 people. So if you come during peak hours and in a group, be prepared to eat separately as it is almost impossible to wait for a whole table to clear out at the same time. The place might seem like an open air restaurant from the outside because it is lacking any door, but surprisingly it had A/C inside and was really cold! Like in Ramen Nagi, they give you a piece of paper where you could select and fill out your order.

We ordered the original Butao since I didn't try that out in Ramen Nagi, and just played it safe for the selecting 'Normal' for most of the choices on the order slip. Usually, you can choose between Pork Belly or Pork Butt, but the former wasn't available that day so we had no choice but to settle for the latter.

We love how rich it was in flavor even though we only put out 'Normal.' Everything just went well together, and we were really full at the end of our meal. The serving was really big and more than enough to satisfy a hungry person's appetite. Kim as usual had a hard time finishing her bowl, so I gladly ate what she couldn't finish.

After eating at Butao King, we went around Ikea which was really tiring! So we needed a snack after shopping. Good thing, Ikea had a little snack bar/ cafe.

We ordered their famous meatballs, a hotdog sandwich and a glass of refillable Pepsi.

With a full stomach, we were ready for the next adventure for that day... more walking and eating! Wait for our next post to find out where we went to next and where we ate!

Butao King
G/F, 40 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

IKEA
Upper Basement, Parklane Hotel, 310 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Main Street Corner Cafe and Lucky Nugget Saloon - Disneyland

To celebrate Kim's birthday, we went to Hong Kong Disneyland. Once the park gates were opened, we were caught in a beeline just to have pictures with Mickey and Minnie. So after an hour of queueing,  we headed straight to the first restaurant we saw,  Main Street Corner Cafe.

The Main Street Corner Cafe is the first restaurant you will see coming into the park. There are a few food stalls and a bakery before it, but it's the only sit down restaurant in Main Street, USA which is the first section of Disneyland Hong Kong. It's presented by Coca- Cola, so while the setting was undoubtedly Victorian, they found ways to put Coca Cola design cues throughout the restaurant.

The menu is an eclectic mix to say the least. It's in Main Street, USA so of course they serve American staples like burgers, fries, and buffalo wings. But the menu also contains noodle soups and congee for the mixed Asian market that goes to Disneyland here.

Theme park food isn't cheap, and even then, this was probably one of the most expensive in the whole park as it is a full service restaurant. But we were really hungry, and the menu looked good so we didn't care if we had to shell out an extra hundred dollars (HKD) for lunch.

We ordered the following to share:

Cheeseburger (168HKD)

Maybe we were just hungry, but this was a really great tasting burger! The patty was moist and juicy, and full of flavor. It had the cheese melted on top with some lettuce and tomatoes with it. The burger came with a side of fries and some greens too.

Main Street Signature Platter (166HKD)

The platter had chicken wings, deep fried potato shrimp, onion rings, fries and served with chili sauce, sour cream and ketchup. The wings were plump and had a little zing to them. The shrimp was wrapped with a sort of shoestring potato and was really juicy inside. The onion rings and fries were just okay.

Coke Float (48HKD)

Since this is a Coca Cola sponsored restaurant, we just had to order a couple of Coke Floats!

We probably won't tell everyone to eat here when going to Disneyland Hong Kong as it's really expensive for park food. But if you want a nice meal without falling in line with a lot of kids running around, and are willing to spend a little more than necessary, then this place is for you. The place had a really nice ambiance that made you feel like you were in the 1800's complete. Plus, the food was great too!

We got hungry again in the afternoon and decided we'd just grab a snack. We were already at the Grizzly Gulch portion of the park and it had the Lucky Nugget Saloon. We got some chicken nuggets and fries, together with a weird fruity drink! (75HKD)

Main Street Corner Cafe and Lucky Nugget Saloon
Hong Kong Disneyland