We were hungry after the ballet, so we wandered up Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui eager to explore Kowloon side and check out some local eats. I had my eyes peeled for little hole in the wall noodle shops but unfortunately due to the proximity of TST to the waterfront, most of the restaurants were tourist-driven or else expensive or perhaps both. But then, we stumbled upon the Chungking Mansions. I love the name. Once you see these pictures you will understand.
Basically, this is a building very well known for having the cheapest accommodations in Hong Kong. Although the building is supposed to be residential, it has a ton of shops, restaurants, stores - mostly of the ethnic variety. It was also featured in Wong Kar Wai's 1994 movie, "Chungking Express".
From the outside:
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| Rainbow lights! I wonder if this bothers the residents inside |
From the inside:
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| exposed wires and plumbing |
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| graffiti and messages |
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| the condition of the building... |
Our meal at Bombay Curry, a restaurant located in Block A-6. It was a family-run (or mob-run) Pakistani restaurant that was no-frills in all of its tasty, flavorful, fluorescent lit, tile floored glory. When we wandered in, there was just one table of all men sipping tea, smoking cigarettes and doing their best to look naturally sketchy. Then we realized there was a separate room, a private party full of rowdy men, eating baby goat by the whole and ordering round after round of food. We did not see any alcohol on the premises but the men in the room were definitely, definitely drinking. I was the only woman in the entire establishment, the entire time. Our waiter was really friendly and nice though - very patient when I was faced with debilitating indecision at the wide variety of food choices before me. It turns out, we really couldn't have picked wrong. Michael had the chicken masala, and I had the beef queema (spiced minced meat)
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| Remnants of our meal, half-devoured because it was so delicious |
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