Delicious Kitchen

Pisco found himself in Causeway Bay tonight, and thought it was a good opportunity to try some new food.  He recently started using Foursquare, and this was the perfect chance to see if it provided any interesting suggestions via its location-based “Food” list.

The first suggestion was Saboten, a new-ish Japanese tonkatsu joint that someone had mentioned to me a few weeks ago.  It was only a couple blocks away, so I strolled over.  On arrival, though, it looked quite classy – perhaps too classy for this hot, humid evening.

The next suggestion was Tonkichi, in the World Trade Centre.  Again, a great option, but a little bit of a production for a weeknight, and in any case, I didn’t really want to eat in a mall.

Finally I came across Delicious Kitchen, which had several positive reviews, nearly all of which recommended the pork and rice.  I ran over to Cleveland Street to find the restaurant still busy after 10pm.

Brightly lit and quite clean, I sat down in a corner and ran through the menu.  Obviously I was going to order the “pork rib and vegetable rice”; I also ordered something that looked like a sliced cucumber with garlic.

The cucumber (or rather, this particular Asian equivalent) showed up in a light vinegar sauce, sprinkled with garlic.  It was outrageously good; cool and crisp and perfect for this hot night.

The pork rib showed up ten minutes later, the meat sliced into four pieces, sitting in a small bowl of rice, a veritable hand grenade of calories waiting to explode.  It can’t possibly be good for you, eating a whole deep fried pork chop, but my goodness is it delicious.  Slightly sweet, richer than Li Ka-shing, with a crunchy exterior, it will put a smile on your face and a glow in your belly.  There is not much vegetable to speak of in the rice bowl, but you’ll eat it all up anyway as you continue to fool yourself into thinking you are eating a healthy meal.

It’s an amazing dish that you should try at least once in your life; it is now on my list of most memorable Hong Kong foods.  I am sure I’ll be back frequently, even as my arteries quiver in anticipation.

Finally I have a great restaurant suggestion in Causeway Bay besides Mist.  If you have any favorites in CWB, leave a comment please!

The staff speak Cantonese but the menu is in English and you should get by with no problems.

The two dishes ran around 80 HKD.

Delicious Kitchen
G/F, 9-11 Cleveland Street
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
+852 2577 8350
[map]

Review: Cantopop

Cantopop is a new restaurant located in the lobby of The L Place in Central.  It aims to be a modern, healthy cha chaan teng, and it largely succeeds, with a wide selection of Cantonese classics, prepared with fresh, locally-sourced (and often organic) ingredients, with no MSG.

The rear seating area

The ‘pop’ in Cantopop might refer to the Pop Art-style decoration, in addition to the local music playing in the background.  It feels like Roy Lichtenstein himself put the crisp black Ben-Day dots on the wall along with the happy speech bubbles in English and Cantonese.  It’s a very cheery room, muted only by the relatively moderate lighting.  The color scheme is overwhelmingly orange, so if your date is Dutch – it’s your lucky day.

It it a rather large room, perhaps seating in excess of fifty patrons, and it must be an absolute madhouse at lunch (both of my visits were late dinners).  The service is fast, friendly, and quite caring – a refreshing change from typically brusque cha chaan teng staff.

Sous vide cha siu

Pisco went with a large group on the first visit, and with a friend on the second, so he had the opportunity to taste many different dishes.  Here is the sous vide cha siu, which was excellent.  While it was not mind-blowing, it absolutely has the potential to be a life-changing dish, so you should give it a try.  I thought it would be as impressive as the sous vide fried chicken at Green Waffle Diner, but that is an outrageously high standard, and this dish was merely excellent.  Grade: B+

As tasty as it is life-threatening

Next up was the Cantonese scotch egg.  Not having grown up in the UK, this was Pisco’s very first experience with this legendary food item.  Eggs, sausage meat, bread crumbs, and a deep fryer?  Sign me up!  It’s an amazing dish that I promise to eat once a year, until they decide to serve it with a side of Lipitor.  The egg was soft-boiled, and you can see the yolk oozing down the side of the egg… a sight to make a grown man’s knees tremble.  Mine did, anyway.  Grade: A

Amaranth

A brief sojourn to the land of vegetables brought us this gem.  Delicious.  Grade: B+

The “baked chicken” dish is essentially the classic Cantonese dish “bak ji gai” (locals: please let me know the correct spelling), but instead of steaming the chicken, it is baked.  The flavor is richer, the texture is more substantial, and the overall effect is a slightly weightier dish than the original.  It is served with ginger/scallion sauce on the side, along with a few salt crystals.  The dish is little on the salty side, but as that is how the dish is traditionally served, I can’t fault the preparation or presentation.  It is delicious and highly recommended; a simple and modern twist on a classic.  Grade: A-

Lastly, the clams arrived, piled high in a small wok, interspersed with a couple chopped green and bell peppers, with a layer of mung bean threads on the bottom.  The clams were delicious, and the sauce had a slightly spicy kick to it, which added a nice dimension that was not present in our other choices.  Grade: B+

Overall, Cantopop is a welcome addition to the Hong Kong scene.  The food is fresh, locally sourced, and respects the local culture while adding small innovations that are quite successful.  The space feels playful and bright, and the service is solid.  The prices are extremely reasonable and this could easily become an everyday haunt for those that enjoy cha chaan teng fare.

They are also open late (midnight during the week, 2am on weekends), so you now have another option besides Tsui Wah for late night snacks.

Full disclosure: on Pisco’s second visit, he spotted a daan taat on the counter on his way out of the restaurant.  Overcome by a sharp desire for a sweet, happy ending to the meal, he pulled out his wallet and tried to buy it, but the lass at the register would not take his money.  After some confused discussion, it turned out that the manager said it was on the house.  Was it a gesture of appreciation for eating there two days in a row?  Or was it the SLR on the table?  No doubt in my mind that it was Pisco’s grace and charm as a patron that inspired this act of generosity.

And for the record, the daan taat was good, but nowhere near as good as you get at Honolulu on Stanley St.

A full meal runs around 100-200 HKD per person, but you can get away for much less.

Food: B+
Service: A-
Ambiance: A
Value: A-

Cantopop
UG/F, The L Place
139 Queen’s Road Central
Central, Hong Kong
+852 2857 2608