The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Food, that is. There is so much of each in Hong Kong. I've tried to be brave although I disappoint myself sometimes. Some things you just know will be bad. Now that we are nearing the end of our stint in Hong Kong, here are some that I have tried and my reviews (in order from best to worst):

The Good
These foods are good, and some are even better than good. All are worth having at least twice.

Szechuan double chili beef. This is for sure my favorite dish I've tried. The quality of sirloin was excellent and the spicy sauce was amazing. I would definitely eat this one over and over again.




Dim Sum: Shrimp and chicken spring rolls, baozi (meat bun), pork pastry, xiao long bao (soup dumpling). I LOVE dim sum. It is not all about the food; it is about the atmosphere and experience. I thought it was so fun. Even though I had it explained to me, I didn't really understand what dim sum was until I tried it. I think the best way to describe it is Tapas for the Chinese. The items shown here were my favorites. They were so good... we even went back last weekend for more!




Mantou (plain bun), egg tart, coconut loaf. You don't have to walk very far before you come across a bakery. All the breads and pastries I have tried have been pretty good--the ones pictured I really like. Just keep in mind there are a lot that I have not tried--some look kind of scary (like the bun with dried, shaved meat on it--we call it hairy meat because that is what it looks like).





Shanghainese pork, beef, and green beans. All of this is really good. I especially like the beans--you see that brown stuff--it tastes like the filling for P.F. Chiang's lettuce wraps. Yum! This even gets Cody to eat his vegetables!


Chiu Chow prawns. When Cody said we should order prawns, I was a little scared because a few nights before I had seen them moving around on the tables in the market (click here for an idea of what we saw). He assured me they are just big shrimp. Well, I love shrimp, so I decided to man up and give them a try. They ended up being my favorite part of the meal. (Side note: I still had to make Cody tear/cut off the heads, but I did finally get accustomed to peeling off the shells and legs myself.)

Peking duck. Although I may be borderline on being disowned by my husband for putting this clear down at #6, the duck was okay. It was fun to try, and the crispy skin and plum sauce were pretty good, but overall, not my favorite (I think it would be better if the sauce was sweeter and less bitter). I would eat it again, but it probably wouldn't be my first choice (like it would be for Cody). For those who have not tried it, you put the plum sauce on the pancake (tortilla thing), then the cucumber and/or onion, then the duck, fold like a burrito/taco, and eat. Kind of cool and different.



The Bad
I love to eat and though I term these bad, they are edible. Just not enjoyable like I believe food should be.

Szechuan crispy beef. I thought this was decent--worth trying once and I didn't have to gag it down. Cody really didn't like it though; it was probably a texture thing. I ended up finishing them, which I really didn't mind. Nonetheless, I probably wouldn't order them again.




Roast duck and barbecue pork. It took me awhile to get the courage to try this one. This is the stuff you see hanging in the window walking down the street. I am still not sure how sanitary this is. I told Cody as long as I didn't have to see it in the window before I ate it, I would try it. He brought it home for me one day, and you know, it tasted okay. I was still just a tad grossed out because I knew where it came from. I would probably try it again if I knew it was from a nice, sanitary restaurant (and if it hadn't been hanging in the window all day). P.S. it didn't make me sick. :)

Mooncake. Doesn't this look so beautiful? The hotel gave us a mooncake during Mid-Autumn Festival. I was so excited to try one, because we saw ads for them all over. I thought they were so exquisite looking. Well, that is not how they taste! This one is lotus paste and egg yolk. Yes, egg yolk! Blah. The lotus paste is sweet and tastes okay, but I'd rather "grab a snickers" to waste my calories on. By the way, some of the other flavors (which I don't want to try) are green bean, red bean, and sesame seed.





Dim sum: xiao mai (shrimp and pork dumpling with shark fin) and hargao (shrimp dumpling). These are actually more items on the dim sum menu--those that I didn't prefer. Cody told me we had to get them for me to try because they are a standard for dim sum. By the titles they sound delicious, but they really aren't. Both are merely a big ball of shrimp that tastes fishy and salty. Well, I will just say when we went back, we didn't order them again.






The Ugly
These should not be consumed by humans; I don't think I will be eating any of these any time soon, or more likely, ever again.

Peking noodles. We ordered these when we ate the Peking Duck. They were disgusting. Cody and I agreed that the noodles themselves were good, but the sauce was just bad, bad, bad. We actually told the waiter not to bag up the noodles with the rest of the food to take home.




Chiu Chow pork. I felt really daring when I ate this stuff. Apparently the pork stews in a pot of Chiu Chow broth all day. It really doesn't taste very good. The good news is I know what I am smelling when I walk around the streets, because it is everywhere. It kind of grosses me out every time though.




Dried seafood. Okay, okay, I haven't tried this and I will not try it. I wish I could send the smell of this stuff through the computer because it makes me gag. It is so bad; it just smells like something rotting--oh, I know--rotting seafood! We come across it in pretty much every market, so apparently people actually eat it. Wow, I honestly don't know how anyone would want to try it, let alone eat it often, after smelling it. It IS that bad.