When I travel, I love nosing into the little alleyways and byways, especially when I see steam rising from a street vendor’s stall. When I see lots of people sitting around little makeshift tables, I know there’s bound to be good (and cheap) food to be had!
I found one such alleyway on my most recent trip to Hong Kong. Nestled between two buildings in the busy shopping district of Mongkok was a little shop/stall and lots of people sitting down and slurping down bowls of hot noodles. When every table is full, and more and more people were stopping by for food, its a sign that I had to sit myself right down and have a go!
So there I was, sitting elbow to elbow, sharing a table with total strangers, sweat dripping from my forehead as I too slurped down my noodles. Service was impressively quick and portions were good sized and very substantial. Quite perfect after a long day’s walk around the city.
(1) Braised beef brisket and tendon with ho fun rice noodles (2) Fishball noodles with egg noodles (3) Wantan (pork and shrimp dumplings) in soup
Each dish was just HKD22 (approx RM5.50 RM9) which was a lot cheaper than eating in a shop, and it was delicious! I am pretty adventurous when it comes to street food, so this was nothing too squeamish for me :D
Do you scout out street food when you travel? Or does it make you squeamish?
Paris B
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i missed the food in HK its lovely & charming esp with its crammed space n its amazing how the service is very quick even though not all may be friendly.Its is through the crammed space that we get to take a closer look of their culture, they way they talk etc..i don’t get tired of HK. Alongside with South Korea, its a place i can go over & over again
I enjoy HK too :) I didn’t enjoy Korea as much but it might have been my experience there :)
Oh yes! Street food are always the most authentic.
It’s just like how I think people who visit Singapore must go to coffee shops and hawker centres. hahaha.
I love street food, but other than a few hawker centers I haven’t been to any good coffee shops in Singapore. Any recs? ;)
Tried Old Airport Road at Dakota MRT? Handmade chee cheong fun there, and goreng pisang. But it’s actually not coffee shop. haha. But still good.
Hmmm, some others are really out of the way.
Hmm… nope! Next time I go down to Singapore, I’ll be sure to hunt around the hawker centres (anyone I should visit?) and coffee shops :)
I would eat street food in developed countries like HK or even BKK but I’ll be quite scared in places like Vietnam and Cambodia. Though the type of food is also a factor. If it is fried or grilled I would but not with loads of soup – had a nasty incident in Nepal and I’ve been on Paranoid Street since then. However, those fishball noodles make me yearn to slurp that soup right up!
I haven’t been to Cambodia so I can’t vouch for their street food, but I’ve had some of the best food ever in the streets of Vietnam – steaming hot beef pho and beef salad :) sorry to hear about your experience in Nepal. It must have been horrible! Getting sick on holiday is one of the worst experiences ever.
these soups look yummy! I got hungry reading your post :)
That was a tummy rumble I heard! ;)
Thanks for another delicious food recommendation! If I’m not mistaken, the cost in ringgit appears to be under-stated. At HKD100=RM41, it should convert closer to RM9 per bowl.
Yikes! I have terrible math skills. Thanks for the correction ;)
I ate at this shop as well when I was in HK last December! :) Wanton was awesome and I had to finish the noodle quite fast as there were quite a few customers waiting for their seats.
Oooh! It’s so good right? I don’t know how I never noticed this shop before when I was there before but was so happy to discover it and how delicious it was :)
Oooh…I lovee Hong Kong! It’s so cosmo and there have delicious inexpensive hawkers food and exquisite restaurants. Of course shopping is a must. The only thing that drives me up the wall is their language..though we speak the same mother language however they have kinda slang and often I find it ‘deep’ to understand .. but interesting :)
Paris..do share with us what you got yourself this trip.. and share with us more photos ya.. can’t wait ;p
I’ll try to Jasmine :) I didn’t record much of this trip except for Disneyland which I will be sharing later. Oh and I don’t speak Cantonese very well but I can do the rudimentary bits after living in KL and I love the way people in Hong Kong speak. It’s so musical!
I see where you went! This one you went to is actually VERY famous! ;-) Did you follow a guide book or something?
Wow I didn’t know it was famous! No, I didn’t use a guidebook, just wandered around till I chanced upon it :)
So you were really lucky then! ;-)
HK – the best place to eat & shop! I never miss the “kai daan chai” on Nathan Rd. Street in HK is not cheap at all! I paid hkd28 for 2 pcs of kai daan chai!!!
Would you believe that I have been to HK quite a few times but have never had kai daan chai! Somehow, every time I saw it, I knew that I’d never finish it up myself so I never bought it. I should next time!
Oh the food!!! I’m missing HK already! ^^ Doesn’t help that I’ve to fast today for my Body Check-Up. =(
Oh dear, I hope it was a regular check up and all went well :)
Yup yup! Just a yearly thing so no worries. ^^
Absolutely! Eating street food, especially in Southeast Asia (where they do it best!) is a must. Although I am probably missing out on lots of fun by only eating fish, seafood, and veggies (I don’t eat meat), I’ve so far never gotten sick traveling around Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, etc. Just look for the crowded stalls/hawkers – their food is probably the best bet for cleanliness and tastiness. :) One of the many reasons I love Malaysia is for the AMAZING street food!!! Now I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
I don’t think you’re really missing anything by not eating meat ;) the seafood in this part of the world is quite something! It’s great to know that you enjoyed your trip here :D