When it comes to Vietnamese food these are all I know:

1) They are healthy
2) They are soupy
3) They are usually cheap

Okay, these are not necessarily true, but for someone who is as novice to Vietnamese cuisine as yours truly, this is as good as it gets. So when I first moved into Sheung Wan and discovered that there is a Pho Tai Vietnamese Restaurant just a few steps from my gym (how apt, work your ass off and then haul it into a healthy joint), I made it into one of my frequent haunts.

Not a favorite, mind you, but a frequent one nonetheless.

One of the things which really attracts me to Pho Tai is the free serving of raw vegetables available at every table. It reminds me on the good ol’ days when I trawled the back streets of Phuket, finding roadside stalls, and tuck into the mountain of fresh greens just like these alongside with the locals. Since then I have been on the lookout for such leafy treats… and no, doing it at home is just not the same.

There are two popular types of set meals here. Set B allows you to have one main dish and one drink (those $18 and below) OR one side dish at HK$38. Set C provides one main dish, one side dish and one drink at HK$49. Both are absolutely good deal, if you ask me, especially when you dine in group, each of you ordering a different combination and then share the dishes across the table.

One of my personal favourite is the shredded grilled chicken with cold vermicelli. I am a sucker for cold noodles mixed with fresh ingredients, so this dish is perfect for my palate. Especially the fresh shallots and crushed peanuts. Usually I will go easy on the cold “sour soup” which goes into the bowl while you toss the whole thing together like a salad. Very refreshing. The portion is usually very big so I would recommend sharing it with a friend.

Yet another dish I will always try, especially if I dine alone, is the raw beef noodle in soup. Few places can do these just to the right degree; the beef is cooked just right, not overly raw, and the herbal-like soup is just what I need on a night when I am usually on a diet but what to go for something just a little heavier than my diet allows.

There is a drink on the menu which is called the coconut juice. Don’t expect it to be the clear coconut juice you get from the shell itself; it is actually coconut milk with ice. I don’t fancy it but for some reasons I ordered it twice so had to endure the diet-busting drinks every time. But whatever float you boat, I would say.

All in all, I would say this place is good for you if you are looking for a no-fuss Vietnamese meal, especially so when you are on a budget. Of course it helps if you live just five minutes away, heh.

Pho Tai Vietnamese Restaurant
49 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan
2127 7564

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Cream Custard Mooncake with Toasted Pine Nuts from Four Seasons’ Lung King Heen

Mooncakes. Ah, the bane of my life. I remember there were times when I consider myself a fan of mooncakes, having sampled a large variety back in Malaysia. Like, I can tell the difference between a double and triple and quadruple yolks (the answer lies in the counting, see?).

But those now are fleeting memories from many years ago. Mooncakes, and mid-autumn festival, are no longer features of my life in recent years because:

1) Do you know that one piece of mooncake can contain almost 1,000 kcal? That’s almost two hours on the treadmill. Since I have been on a diet for the past three years, mooncakes (even the “diet” version) is a no-no to me

2) For importantly, when I was 16 my grandfather passed away on mid-autumn festival. From eating a piece of mooncake. From then on my family has stopped celebrating the occasion, and definitely no more mooncakes.

The family tragedy was from more than ten years ago, and my waistline has been reduced to a satisfactory 30″. Alluring blog posts on mooncakes such as this one on Sparklette.net motivates me to revisit that ancient Chinese tradition… or at least the eating part

But, oh God, where do I start? Hong Kong is not named the Mecca of mooncakes for nothing. Just looking at the phletora of mooncakes available here is mind-boggling.

So I asked around for recommendations from friends and compiled a list of mooncake brands for newbies like me. If you are clueless as yours truly in all things mooncake, probably this will get you started somewhere.

Do you have more recommendations that I should include here?

Popular Brands
Maxim’s (and its offshoot Snowy Mooncakes)
Taipan
Wing Wah
Kee Wah
Tao Heung

Gourment Brands
Four Seasons’ Lung King Heen Mooncakes
Mandarin Oriental
The Mira Hotel
Agnes b (can’t seem to find the info on their website though)
The Peninsula
Shangri-La Kowloon

Novelty Mooncakes
G.O.D. Mooncakes
Godiva

You know mooncake is a big thing here when there is even a Crazy Mooncake Person online!

Enjoyed this list of mooncakes you can try in Hong Kong? Please spread the love by “Like”-ing this page (Facebook icon below), and get more out of You Got Me Blogging by subscribing to our RSS feed, or the weekly email newsletter. Happy Mid Autumn Festival!

(This blog post is a reflection of events happened in the same week but of past years. What was I up to at this time of the year, every year, since 2005? You and I are about to find out)

In 2009
The Day I Left Singapore… for Good – How my heart break when I put to a close the Singapore chapter of my life. Watching your ten years of possession into nondescript boxes can be heartbreaking.
Hong Kong Funeral – My first time attending a Hong Kong funeral. Very elaborate but a tad commercialised to my feel. Have never attended another since then (which is definitely a good thing, no?)
A Tsuen Wan Experience – Tsuen Wan was my home for the first three months when I moved to Hong Kong. During my entire time here I didn’t explore the various attractions this Cantonese district has to offer. Armed with my faithful Lonely Planet, I set out for a day out around the area. This turned out to be a delightful albeit exhausting adventure.

In 2008
New Balance Real Run – In 2008, in a moment of insanity, I signed up for two marathons; the Standard Chartered Marathon and New Balance Real Run. The results? Well, I never did find out coz I never turn up for either

In 2007
No blog posts.

In 2006
No blog posts.

In 2005
No blog posts.

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You know how the say – “You are what you eat” – which of course refers to your physical appearance? I found another saying which goes:

You are what you read.

Which is true. Especially so when you make it into a daily habit. What you read most of the time, if not every day, will most definitely change your habits.

Take me for example.

I read The Simple Dollar every day; mostly not out of choice but the blogger writes two posts daily on how to live your life the frugal way to achieve financial stability. I am subscribed to his email updates hence his advices, thoughts and musings are part of my daily reads. Whether this is too much or not, I find myself to be more frugal nowadays, thinking twice before splurging on stuff I would have bought impulsively in the past.

Another example: On my Twitter account @razlan79, I follow a list of food bloggers who tweet very often about their gastronomical adventure and with each other. Their lively conversation on my Twitter feed grew my interest in food blogging, and encourages me to go out of my routine to explore new places and try different cuisine. In the past, I viewed eating as something as insignificant as breathing and sleeping. Nowadays, every meal is an adventure; to be immersed in, enjoyed and remembered.

(It also must be noted that due to these two reading habits, I also eat out much less – that’s frugality – but for the occasional meals I eat out, I will make sure it is blogworthy – that’s the foodie talking)

Also on a daily basis I read chick lits (on the way to work, during lunch, before I sleep). You know… those fictions that depict women’s legs, or cartoon drawings of handbags, all in shocking shades of pastel and pink. I have quite a collection, and because of the authors’ writing styles my blogging voice is very much influenced by them. Think Mimi Smartypants and Karyn Bosnak.

Anyway, I rambled on far too much. The point is, if you want to change your daily habits, change the stuff you read every day.

And no, I don’t think reading comics counts. Unless if you want to be a fat cat who thinks diet soda is bad news.

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Hong Kong is a dessert heaven. Even if you do not have a sweet tooth, like yours truly, it is hard not to be impressed by the array of desserts available here. Honeymoon Dessert is arguably the most famous homegrown brand of a chain of dessert house.

With one outlet located right below my building at Western Market, who am I to say no to the lure of all the things sweet thing which is just the right indulgence to pamper myself after a long hard week?

Much has been said about the dessert. Just take it from someone who has seen so many Singaporean friends making a beeline for these sweet stuff; they are good. And delicious. And absolutely a diet-buster.

But with stuff this good, you ought to make an exception. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Grass jelly in vanilla sauce. The least diet-busting dessert which I enjoy.

Mango pomelo & sago sweet soup, more commonly known as “xei mei lou”. By far the most popular dessert among all my Singapore friends, though I myself prefer…

… this one! Grass jelly & sliced strawberries in vanilla sauce with green tea and durian ice creams. Absolutely delicious, though one of the priciest among all dessert, but oh so worth it (including the extra minutes I needed to put in on my treadmill).

A popular type of dessert in Honeymoon which makes it famous is of the durian variety. These are durian puffs; you can also order all sorts of imaginable combination of durian with other things. One word of warning: you will feel absolutely stuffed after just one portion, and your breathe will smell for hours afterwards.

And according to some folklore you cannot consume beer after eating durian. Between the two, I choose the lesser of two evils, of course…

… and I do mean the beer!

P.S.: And to my Singapore friends, the real thing in HK cannot be compared to the knockoffs lesser alternatives you can find at Vivocity. Hop on over to try these babies yourself. You won’t regret it!

Honeymoon Dessert Western Market
Shop 4-8, G/F, Western Market
No. 323 Des Voeux Rd Central, Sheung Wan
2851 2606

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It was late one night after a surprisingly productive evening. A reunion with an old friend over bowls of fat-laden-but-oh-so-delicious desserts in a historical building. The joy of friendship rejuvenated, of great food devoured, of grand atmosphere soaked in.

You know, only the drama-mama me can make a simple night out sounded so glamourous.

Anyway, I digressed. We talked about how lives had been for us for the past year. How certain things which seem so obvious to us but not so to other. How even the biggest amount of planning and faith could not overturn what fate has in store for us.

When you encountered an obstacle in life and nothing seems to work, it is worth it to take a step back and look at the constants and variables in that particular obstacles, no matter how insignificant it appeared to you.

Tried ten different diets to lose weight but still stay the old tubby you? The variable is the diet, the constant is you.

Have a friend whom everyone seem to be losing touch with through no one’s fault? The variable is everyone, the constant is that friend.

Working on a project based on company’s best practices but achieving different results every time? The variable is the result, the constant, the best practices.

You get the picture. More often than not, in these obstacles the problem usually lies in the constant.

It is probably your own fault not being able to lose weight, not the different diets.

It is probably your friend’s fault that everyone is slipping away.

It is probably the not-so-aptly-named best practice which resulted in fluctuating outcomes.

When you see the constant, the problem becomes clear. Resolve it. Improve it. Enhance it. Change it.

Suddenly the obstacle is no longer an obstacle. It is a constant that should be turned into a variable.

It suddenly occurred to me that I can do three sets of sixty sit ups within ten minutes.

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That, and also I owe my friend a dinner, heh.

The whole wait staff was sitting around the shop, eyes glued to the television when we walked in. It is quite unnerving when the number of staff outnumber the customers’, but then again it was merely past six in the evening, so by HK standard it’s practically still tea time.

We perused the menu which was thankfully in a mixture of English and Chinese. My dining partner was a regular to this place so he knew exactly what he wanted… but not its name. So with a mixture of languages both bodily and spoken, we ordered a number of dishes and settled in for a rather boisterous conversation for the night.

The set meals we ordered came with what I could best described as “house soup” – some sort of Chinese soup cooked with random herbs and leftover (chicken? pork?) and bowls of white rice. Rather tasty if you ask me (the soup, not the rice), but a tad too oily for me. Then again I have rather low tolerance for oily food, so perhaps that layer of oil I can see was probably healthy.

The best dish for the night was easily the tender beef stir fried with mushrooms on a bed of steamed vegetables (set meal at HK$58). This was the dish that my friend saw before but didn’t know the name of, so we had to describe to the waiter and try our luck of hitting it right.

And we were in luck. The beef slices were perfectly tender to the bite, just to the right mixture of garlic and oyster sauce aroma, helped with a healthy serving of sliced mushrooms. The combination probably made the dish tasted healthier than it really was, but I wasn’t complaining.

I mean, how many times have you come across distasteful, overcooked beef? Too many times. Exactly.

The sweet and sour fried pork (set meal at HK$58) was my friend’s recommendation for the night. The pork slices were still crispy to the bite, and the sauce were, well, sweet and sour just to the right degree. Rather delicious and reminded me of a similar dish I had in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Though it must be said that after a few pieces of this, I was thirsty and started to feel a headache coming. That was a first to me. It must have been the heavy MSG used in frying the pork.

An add-on we had for the night was a simple stir fried broccoli with garlic (HK$35). This method of cooking almost every kind of vegetable imaginable must be a Chinese thing; therefore such dishes are extremely common and hence very difficult to make it right and to impress. Here, it was very well done. The broccoli was fresh and the sauce was not too overly salty. The amount of garlic used was also just about right.

Juicy to the bite, though I was told the serving amount tonight was lesser than usual.

All in all, it was a dinner experience that was just about right. Tastefully done, just the right amount, doesn’t overwhelm you, and at a reasonable price. It does give you the feel of being in a char-chan-teng, but few are able to main that level of consistency with their offerings.

The total bill was HK$167 for two person. For this price I really think this must be one of the hidden gems that only those staying in the area would know of. Though I did find that the level of conversation between the wait staff was a bit too loud for me to eat in comfort.

大少爺茶餐廳 will be perfect for a simple night out if you are in Happy Valley, when you are in the company of someone you are comfortable with, and you know you don’t need to impress.

大少爺茶餐廳 (Dai Xiu Ye)
12 Yuen Yuen Street, Happy Valley
2690 1111

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That’s how I discovered Dim Sum Square, a small, probably family-run outlet located at 88 Jervois Street. There are a couple of reasons why I love this place:

1) It is very near to my home
2) The price is insanely cheap
3) The service is usually good, depends on the time of the day
4) I always, always manage to get seats, whether on my own or with friends

Most importantly, the menu is offered in both English and Chinese! That is very important for “banana” like me; yellow on the outside, white on the inside. Ordering dim sum has always been a challenge for me wherever I go in Hong Kong. At Dim Sum Square, getting my favorite dishes is a breeze; just check the box and pass it to the passing wait staff. They will first present you with the bill (that’s rather common here) and then the dishes will start to arrive.

Here are my favorites.

Beef meat ball (HK$10) is a must at Dim Sum Square. There are three in a basket (see how crazy the prices are?), each a big ball of minced beef and other ingredients unknown, which only makes me wonder how they it so tasty. Just to the right degree of chewiness (read: you don’t feel like chewing rubber!) and spices in the whole chunk of meat. It is difficult to stop at just one.

When I first come across the crispy BBQ pork bun (HK$12), I was delightfully surprised. It is like… char siew bao only deep fried. Friends later told me that this is actually something common in Hong Kong (see how rather uninformed this novice food blogger is). The buns were piping on, with that layer of somewhat sweet crust on the top, and delicious BBQ pork within. Though sometimes the amount of BBQ pork inside differ, which goes to show they prepared the dish in house and not bought from some manufacturer.

Glutinous rice with assorted meat in lotus leaf (HK$18) is not for those of you who are watching your calories. The glutinous rice was cooked just to the right degree of stickiness, when the chunks of rice seems to melt, rather than crumble, when you put them in your mouth. The marinated meat (I suspect it’s chicken rather than pork) was not too salty in itself, but with the whole combination wrapped and cooked in lotus leaf, this dish does feel rather… medicinal, for the lack of a better word. Probably not a good idea to eat this entirely on your own. Shared fat is shared joy, and all that.

Another dish which I do not have a photo of but a must-try is the chicken & Chinese mushrooms in bean curd wrapping. On the various occasions when I visited with friends, this the unanimous favorite dish voted by every single one of them. Tender chicken, lovingly cooked with mushroom and the random pieces of (fake?) abalone, with firm bean curd wrapping. I couldn’t emphasise the last point enough. Nothing irritates me more than flimsy wrapping where everything tumbles out before you even lift your chopsticks.

Other dishes worthy of mention include minced beef with fried egg rice pot (HK$18, pictured above, not exactly dim sum but delicious nonetheless), spareribs in black bean sauce (HK$12) and shrimp crystal dumplings (HK$14).

With unlimited Chinese tea refill at HK$2 per pax and no service charge, a meal here invariably cost less than HK$50 per person. My only gripe about this place is the erratic pace dishes are served; sometime fast, sometime slow, sometime overlooked. Otherwise, it is highly recommended.

Dim Sum Square
G/F, 88 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan
2851 8088

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Shared laughter and murmured conversation. Folded knees beneath you, a glass of chilled Pinot in your hand. Sands in between your toes, the smell of the salty sea in your hair. Music in the air… just there but you almost barely notice.

Suddenly you look up when a somewhat-familiar tune came on, a favorite line belted from the speakers. You smiled, hummed along, and get back to the pleasantness that was the day.

Sounds familiar? Each of us have that favorite type of music which soothe our nerves and calm the soul. And it was exactly how I felt when I listened, in mild surprise, to the music of Danny Katz.

I liken his music to the modern day Kenny Rogers. He liken his to 80s flavored folk-pop. Danny Katz’s work are almost country music, but with a touch of easy listening that makes you just want to sit back, sink onto a bean bag and be carried away. His music wouldn’t be totally out of place as the soundtrack of Smallville (and those who know me well will know the show is sacred to me, so it’s totally high praise).

Some of my personal favorites are Bushwick, Revival and Yearning (you can listen to his songs on his website). The songs are easy to carry… not exactly catchy but it makes you feel like, hey, I heard and liked this before, when in fact you never did. The lyrics are a little eccentric and wacky at some places, but that’s what make Danny’s work so different and refreshing.

The prodigal son of The Postal Service and Ben Folds, Danny just released “Japanese Satellites,” his seventh studio album. Proficient in guitar, piano and jiuta-shamisen, Danny entertains audiences throughout the U.S. with unique covers, such as a folk version of Missy Elliot’s “Work It,” and his originals, which cover topics from the quirky to the hopelessly romantic. While he recorded a comedy album, “More Than Meets the Ear: Sections from Transformers the Musical,” in 2007, “Japanese Satellites” is his first major project since 2006’s “Strangely Beautiful.”

Now, a little background. I knew Danny for ages, always knew he is a musician who lived in New York and moved to Tokyo sometime early this year. And you might know that I never, ever did review of music. I recognise tune, but I always almost ignore the lyrics. One fine day Danny tweeted me asking me to give his songs a go.

I am glad I did. There is something very Carrie Underwood about Danny’s music. Instantly likable and very easy on the ears. How would I know? Considering I have been streaming his songs for eight hours now, I guess you could say I am a convert.

Visit Danny on his homepage.

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“I am craving for steamboat”, I quipped.

“Oh no, Raz… not steamboat. Not in summer. Maybe sushi?”

“Okay,” I pouted. “Sushi will do fine. But I know nothing about sushi in Hong Kong unless it’s prepacked at Park ‘n Shop”.

“There is this place at Causeway Bay, which is pretty good. I think it is called… Sushi First? First Sushi?”

I snorted. “A culinary offshoot of Fitness First?”

We quibbled more, and I fired up the mobile version of Open Rice to discover the place she was referring to was actually Sushi One, located at Leighton Road nearby my office.

Making reservation was a breeze, as long as it is before 8 p.m. Knowing how fashionably late we all can be, I made the reservation for a table of six on the dot.

I arrived at Sushi One later that night to find myself allocated a large table right at the back of the restaurant. Every other table was filled with customers. The din was rather disconcerting… not so loud that you have to shout to be heard, but not discreet enough for you to have murmuring conversations.

And as expected, everyone else was late, so my friend and I sat in slight embarrassment, pretending to be extremely interested in the menu while playing for time waiting for the rest of the dinner party to arrive.

After a few SMS-es it was obvious they won’t be arriving anytime soon (a case of too many crossed lines, all schedule went haywire, but not totally unexpected given the day we had), my friend and I decided to have an appetizer first to put an end to the (probably imagined) evil eye the wait staff was giving us.

And our main shield of choice was a premium platter sashimi, which was presented on a wooden tray like any other respectable sushi outlets. Despite how ordinary they look, the sashimis were surprisingly fresh and succulent to the bite. I am not one who can tell the differences from one sashimi to another, but the whole thing was pretty good, especially the prawns.

A pity that the wasabi wasn’t spicy enough, no matter how much I piled it on.

The handrolls were surprisingly cheap (HK$18 on the average) and they have an extensive list on the menu. We had the California roll (actually, didn’t you ever wonder why is it Californian?) and soft-shelled crab & avocado roll. Not too remarkable, if you ask me, but they were reasonable for that affordable price tag.

By the end of our rolls (that sounded mildly interesting), the remaining of our dinner party arrived and we heaped on the food. Platters of sushis of names which I couldn’t even begin to pronounce, more sashimis to go around (I had to recommend the same goodness to my friends, hadn’t I?) and some other dishes like the vegetable tempura (which was very disappointing, I must say, totally tasteless, and I am not even a fussy eater).

It was close to 10 p.m. by the time we were done and paid the bill (about HK$750 for a table of five, very reasonable I must say). As we left the restaurant, to my amazement there was a long queue outside the restaurant. My friend told me that they were waiting for the all-you-can-eat buffet starting at 10 p.m.

Here’s a snatch of conversation I overheard between a Chinese girl and her Caucasian friend, in English:

Caucasian Girl A: Oh god, such a long queue
Chinese Girl B: Ah, but it’s worth the wait. The food is really good and you can eat all you want. I always come here whenever I come back to Hong Kong
Girl A: No longer on your diet?
Girl B: Well, I can always diet again when we go back to LA.

Hmmm… you can take a girl out of Hong Kong, but never the Hong Kong out of a girl. They always know a good bargain when they see one

Sushi One 一壽司
G/F, Chinachem Leighton Plaza, 29 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay
3188 0083

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