Sunday, April 17, 2016

Street Eats in Mongkok

This weekend I went with a couple of friends to Mongkok to try out some street food and renowned local eats.

Our first stop was at a cha chan teng famous for its roast goose.





 We ordered a roast goose and soya chicken platter with tossed noodles:
 and a roast goose atop a bed of "Portuguese" rice.


 Then we went to a little street stand where we ordered Taiwanese style lemon iced teas.
Then we bumped into a long queue of people waiting to eat strange looking animal intestines on a stick, so we decided to join the crowd and see what it was all about.
 Turns out this is a very famous shop that Anthony Bourdain has previously visited.
 We opted for the octopus, turkey kidney, and pig offal (which I believe is just intestine).  Their marinade is delicious and they smother it with mustard and plum sauce.
 Mmmm, octopus tentacle.
 We then went to sneaker alley on Fa Yuen Street where we looked for the newest Nikes.
Mongkok provides a pretty authentic glimpse into Hong Kong: crazy buildings, tight spaces, overcrowding, and just… a lot going on in general.
 We walked through a lot of streets that were themed - one street was all pet shops, another was all fish shops, another all ladies' clothing.
 After we "exercised" away our morning snacks, we went to try out a restaurant famous for its pineapple buns.



 They sell a lot of things, but their pineapple bun might be the best I've ever sampled.
We also ordered an egg tart, a "yuen yang" beverage (iced milk tea mixed with coffee), and a french toast.
 The slab of butter scared me a bit.  We quickly scraped it off.
We didn't even finish the desserts, splitting everything into three and sharing amongst ourselves.  The pineapple bun really was divine - soft and pillowy on the inside, crispy and flaky on the outside, and not too sweet.
 After that, we ended our food adventure by stopping at Delicious Food, a stand famous for its broiled large intestine and smoky tofu.  We split one tofu among the three of us for HK$10.  I didn't think I could eat more intestines, so opted to just take a picture of it.  Clearly this is a heavily favored delicacy around these parts!
The tofu was really tasty, and not even that stinky.
And there you have it.  It was pretty fun and if I go again I would probably stick exclusively to the street carts as I think those were some of the most standout items…except I'd be willing to make an exception for that pineapple bun.  Ooooh yum.

No comments:

Post a Comment