Hong Kong - Day 2 - Food Highlights

Our first full day in Hong Kong was filled with food (well, what did you expect given our family's foodie tendencies?). There wasn't much to post about though, we had some good food but nothing really too memorable. Perhaps we ate at the wrong places? Granted, we have fairly high expectations of the food in Hong Kong, but not every restaurant can be a winner. Here are some highlights...

We had dim sum at a restaurant inside the Hong Kong Times Square Mall. The food was pretty good, if not exactly memorable. The highlight for me was the hot sauce. I think I will have to try to make this at home - dried red chili flakes, dried baby shrimp, garlic, shallot...and maybe I'll add some dried scallops to the mix.

Another highlight of the day was jelly tea. I've personally never heard or had this before. The bottom third of the cup was filled with a flavored jelly (similar to those asian jellies that were choking hazards for small children - maybe slightly softer in texture.) The rest of the cup is filled with a flavored juice slushy. The one on the left was Mango Strawberry (that one was the best) and the one on the right is Aloe and Pomelo. The aloe jelly was surprisingly tasty, but the pomelo slushy was actually a little bitter.

For dinner, we celebrated my youngest brother's birthday at the Grand Hyatt Cafe's buffet. It was reputed to be the best buffet in town per my dad's co-workers. It really wasn't worth the money that we paid. I don't know if you already know this, but my sibs and I are really competitive. My sister's boyfriend learned early when traveling with us, he needed to train his stomach for our travel eats. We determined that we needed to eat 4-5 plates to make the cost of the buffet worth it. I'm ashamed to admit that I ate 4 plates. UGH...it really wasn't worth the calories, but my competitive nature got the better of me. Thank goodness we walked about a mile and a half home back to the hotel.

Plate #1 - chinese beef tendon stew with daikon radish & noodles, white mushroom & abalone stew, baked oyster with bechamel and spinach, sushi and lobster.

Plate #2 - spicy pomelo salad (yum), pate and flatbread, smoked meats (coppa ham, parma ham, salami and air dried beef), olives, ox tongue and smoked salmon.

Plate #3 - more pomelo salad, pate, smoked meats, salad and lobster.

Plate #4 - dessert. More ham, various cheeses (swiss, brie, gouda and a really nice blue), horn pastry filled with coffee cream and a bowl of sugo (mango cream with bits of pomelo, clear tapioca balls and fresh bits of young coconut and mango.)

Lastly...a rose apple, which I pocketed to eat at the hotel. It's actually a fruit that comes across as crunchy with the texture of rhubarb and the flavor of an apple crossed with a sweet rhubarb.

For traveling photo highlights not sooooooo food specific, feel free to check out the travel blog. I usually split the two up because not everyone is big on food, although travel and food do tend to go hand in hand. =) Especially when you're traveling with the my family.