Hong Kong food diary

Visited Hong Kong for the first time with Jon back in November. I wanted to catch Clockenflap (a music festival) and since Jon was coming down to Kuala Lumpur for a visit, it was most opportune that we explored HK together. We flew coach on Malaysia Airlines and while not mind-blowing, the inflight meals were adequate. Ok maybe just my nasi lemak; Jon's sweet and sour fish noodle was terrible.

Malaysia Airlines' new design and colour scheme for their dinnerware/tableware looks appalling; grey toned and very hospital-like. I also felt that the cost-cutting was made very apparent judging from the meals alone. 

We arrived late afternoon and after checking in, it was dinnertime. Not wanting to walk too far, we settled on Genki Sushi. We had it in Malaysia for a brief period in time until they ceased operating; possibly due to the lack of patrons or just a really poor menu. The one in HK was a small location tucked in the upper floors of an office building right off Nathan Road, one of the main thoroughfares in Kowloon. 

The restaurant was packed and we had to take a number. There was a nifty little machine (that I didn't take a pic of) where patrons could enter their names and phone number so that when it was their turn to be seated, they'd get a message sent to their phone. Pity that it was entirely in chinese script so we did it the manual way of taking a ticket (we really wanted to have a go at it!).

When it was finally our turn, a waitress (or presumably the host) brought us to our table and had the most plastic smile plastered on as we were seated, which vanished as quickly as it appeared, as she went away. All the waitstaff were moody and whenever serving us, would just slide our dishes over in a flurry on to their next table (some landed with a thump). Not to be discontented, I attributed the treatment to them just being typical Hong Kongers perhaps and that the service wasn't at all personal (we had mixed treatment from Hong Kongers and generally find most to be a little rude and insensitive towards patrons but some were really friendly). 

The prices were on the steep side for a sushi chain (after conversion to Canadian dollars and Malaysian ringgit) but everything tasted amazing and was of good quality. Our bill came up to over MYR150/CA$50 for just these few dishes (plus some sushi and another plate of sashimi not pictured).

Poor Jon. Maybe just hungry Jon.

No picture-taking was allowed but I managed to sneak in a few shots of the menu :)

The music festival was on day two and we headed over later in the afternoon. The start of the day was spent exploring and I bought a pack of a dozen or so Vitasoys (soybean milk) from the local supermarket as I had never tried them before and know they're to HK what Yeo's soymilk is to Malaysia. 

There was a good variety of food at the festival and we had to buy HK100 sheets of vouchers as currency. Needless to say, all food was overpriced but it was really fun buying piping hot food in the cold outdoor weather. Some tasted ok but we made a grave mistake buying overpriced siew mai (pork dumplings) that, after tasting, were so obviously the mass-produced frozen kind sans any trace of pork (they were probably flour-laden fish paste siew mai). They'd do that in HK; motherland of dim sum? Eeeugh. Okay the vendors were obviously expats but it was sacrilege.  

A sheet of HK100 vouchers in hand each, we scouted the festival grounds for what was to be the prelude to our dining experience there. It's always preferable to start off with something that wouldn't kill your appetite the rest of the evening, right? That's were I jinxed myself. Jian bing. Long has this Chinese breakfast staple eluded me— I was in China and spotted a vendor but before I could get to the stall, it had rained and he had to pack up— so I decided on jian bing as my starter. They had the original, peking duck and char siew on the menu that night and I went with the original: 

...upon first bite I cringed. Spicy. Second bite. Oh so very spicy. My mouth was on fire and I guess it was my fault for saying I wanted the spicy sauce but I didn't know it was going to be that spicy and I usually love spicy (fact: I eat birds eye chilies in soy sauce with rice & noodles no problem). Also having seen a jian bing feature in a documentary, I really thought it was going to be mind-blowingly good just like how a savoury crepe is. Sadly the filling at this particular jian bing seller just wasn't all that special; it was missing something, a certain umami that simply did not exist amid the blandness of it all. It was mostly a folded pancake slathered in chili sauce and bean paste; the stingy portion of just one small egg haphazardly strewn across the cooking batter was lost; and the fried cracker was plain and unseasoned. 

Having finished the entire jian bing when the smarter albeit more wasteful approach would've been to just toss it, I needed to dull my senses a little and the cheapest solution was a Kronenbourg 1664 blanc. None of that diluted cranberry-vodka mixer crap most of the ladies seemed to be into that night. 

Walking along the festival grounds, we spotted a cool german wiener. He was cool alright, manning the grill like he downright owned the thing. Well, he did but...yeah never mind. Mr. Wolfgang's stall had a great buzz of activity and we joined the queue. Though full on jian bing, and now beer, it was hard to resist so we shared one. It was amazing. The crusty buns were piping hot and so fluffy inside and the frankfurters were a mile long and tasted rich of herbs and spices. Sauces were self-serve and were in gigantic german bottles (well, they were german sauces): ketchup & curry mustard. 

After the festival we headed to the after-party where Kevin Baird of TDCC was supposed to have a DJ set but as they cancelled their entire Asia tour, I did not see them at Urbanscapes KL, Clockenflap HK & their DJ set at Socialito (a club in Central HK). We went there anyway since I had paid for tickets which included a drink each, and it was probably the most miserable experience during the entire trip. 

On our way back to the hotel we spotted a 7-11 right across the road and I bought a bowl of Sze Chuan sour and spicy noodles. They were incredible for what was technically a TV-dinner (asian style!). All you had to do was peel back a plastic sheet and empty the soup onto the meat and noodles, then microwave as per the instructions on the label (7-11 food in HK is the bomb). We then trotted back to the hotel, piping hot bowl of noodles in hand (cleverly insulated by my scarf). 

The next morning we slept in and skipped the complimentary breakfast spread. The beds at Eaton are seriously the comfiest ever! We were held prisoners in bed over the next two days and gave up catching the breakfast buffet altogether. But with food everywhere, a meal was only a short walk away. This time we explored Kowloon for a famous wan tan noodle shop called Mak's and giving in to hunger, we settled for noodles at a random stall first. I had the wan tan noodles and Jon had fishball & fishcake noodles. It was only HK$25–28 a bowl which was pretty cheap by HK standards. The fish paste items Jon had were amazing in both taste and texture; probably one of the best I've had anywhere. 

 

After more walking and a trip to a telco provider, now armed with a tourist sim-card & google maps, we finally found Mak's. Good thing the portions were TINY as we were still full from the noodles beforehand. I think they were around HK$30 a bowl. Despite it's popularity and them catering to tourists (having an english menu available), service was rather cold. 

After this we caught the light show by the harbour and visited one of the many malls in that area. It was there that I chanced upon Ladurée and decided once and for all to buy into the hype and get myself an assortment of macarons.

We chose a box for eight (around HK$240) and proceeded to select from an array of flavours. I think we had: rose, vanilla, pistachio, salted caramel, praline, raspberry, coffee and one other seasonal flavour. Upon first bite, I found them to be immensely sweet. Granted I do not have a sweet tooth or a liking for macarons, I began to question this impulse purchase. I am glad though, to have finally tasted the hype and am lucky to see that I am not one of the many people out there with such an affinity for this overly sweet (and overpriced) French confection. 

On the walk back to the hotel, we spotted a food stand selling these egg-like pancake things. They resemble kaya balls but are just without filling and made of a chewier dough. We initially bought one from a different stall and after spotting this apparently famous one, we bought another to taste the difference. This blew our minds. We wanted to toss the former stale one we had bought earlier but being me, I ate the remaining few "lumps" (I don't know how to describe these).

I do not know the name of the stall but they're along Nathan Road, in between shop lots with pictures of local celeb-customers advertised on its walls. Usually seen in the evening with a queue on the sidewalk.

We made a second stop at 7-11 to sample more of the TV-dinners and this time I chose a rice bowl with a patty of squid and minced pork. I was given a packet of sweet soy by the friendly aunty at the counter to compliment the dish and everything was soooooo yummy. Not as whole a dish as the noodles but if you brought this home and added a fried egg or a veggie stir-fry to this, it'll be as complete as any zhap fan meal gets. 

On our last day, we checked in our bags at the train station and ventured off in search of a famous dim sum chain located at a certain corner of Hong Kong station. Seeing a crowd of people was a huge help in spotting the place. I think it reads as Tim Ho Wan and they have been regarded as one of HK's best dim sum places for years now. There was a mix of locals and tourists in the crowd, though less of the latter, but the menu came in english and getting seats wasn't a problem. We had to walk up to the host and be issued a paper menu on which we would choose what we want while waiting for our number to be called. While waiting a friendly local talked to me in english and we had a good chat about the dim sum place. She says she hardly ever eats in and prefers takeaways as they're much faster; definitely not kidding there. 

There were sauces on the table and adding some to the rice made it insanely good. The oil and juices from steaming the lap cheong (waxed sausage) and chicken permeated the rice below making everything really tasty despite the lack of seasoning or sauce in the rice.

The siew mai was beyond this world.

The mango and shrimp spring rolls were a pass for me. Nothing really special about them and I'd recommend sticking to the steamed dim sum...like har gau (prawn dumplings)! The prawns were nicely marinated and had a crunch/ spring to each bite. One gripe I have with the place is that tea is charged on a per head basis so even if you're having a drink on the side, you will still be charged for tea (it is self-serve from a communal pot on the table). 

Oh and regarding seating, we were packed in with other diners sharing the same table so Jon was sat beside me while I faced two other diners. The tables in the centre are long and connected so you will be dining in a canteen fashion. Seating at these tables don't bother me but it may be inconvenient for families and larger groups; so you may have to wait longer for individual tables by the walls to free-up. 

Right by Tim Ho Wan was a sushi place that seemed nice so we gave it a try after dim sum. We had time to kill and this would be our last chance for meals in Hong Kong so we figured why not. The menu was impressive and we just ticked our orders on a paper menu but flipped through the digital version just for fun. The prices here were slightly higher than Genki Sushi and the taste and quality of the food was slightly lower for some dishes. While the seafood was fresh, I found the anago sushi lacking in flavour and a tad dry. Coming here was a mistake and we would've been better off stuffing ourselves full of dim sum. 

This was supposed to be a cucumber and crab salad but was mostly cucumber (how anyone could skimp on shredded simulated crab is beyond me). The miserable mound of mango did nothing and the dressing was tasteless.

I was so excited to see this on the menu and ordered it without hesitation. While it looked impressive, it didn't taste anything like how anagozushi should; the eel was cold despite being torched, the eel was chewy and would you just look at the tiny amount of sauce they gave me? Ideally anago wouldn't need sauce as anago used in sushi would be simmered in something flavourful but this anago was tasteless and desperately needed some kabayaki sauce. 

So yeah that's about it with the pictures. We had much more to eat but I don't know why I didn't take pictures of everything. Jon contributed only one picture here (the waffle balls) and I guess we were just being very lazy travellers and would've been even worse food bloggers if we were indeed serious food bloggers. 

Superstar-Sashimi

Clockwise from top right: Scallop (hotate); Pacific saury (sanma); Yellowtail/ Japanese amberjack (hamachi); Olive flounder/ bastard halibut--LOL (hirame); Tuna (maguro); Salmon (shake/ sake) 

It's preeetty obvious that I like sashimi. The genius in me figured a filler-post of sashimi pictures would be a nice intermission between the lengthy, wordy ones. I scavenged a couple of pictures taken on my phone and I do apologise for the ones defaced by the Instagram border. 

The usual suspects. Clockwise from top: Scallop (hotate); Tuna (maguro); Salmon belly (sake/ shake harasu); Yellowtail (hamachi); Escolar ("shiro maguro"/ real Japanese name: aburasokomutsu; being called "white tuna" in japanese is a common misnomer; escolar consumption is actually banned in Japan due to associated health risks with its high wax content BUT consuming less than 6oz in a sitting shouldn't cause any harm--according to some info found online). When ordering assorted sashimi I tend to have escolar switched with something else. All you buffet-sashimi vultures now know to stay away from this fish. 

Most of the sashimi are from my neighbourhood Japanese restaurant Ishin and they serve the freshest sashimi in town, priced very reasonably too considering that most of the fish are flown in from Japan bi-weekly. I've sampled a fair share of sashimi around town and have yet to find a place with fresher and more value-for-money sashimi. They aren't by all means that cheap but for the quality you get, the prices are warranted. If you find yourself at Ishin, the scallop sashimi is amazing.

Oh and perilla leaves--from the mint family--(shiso) are edible. They're the green leaves served with sashimi and I love them. These leaves are not just decorative in nature but also serve as a bactericide--perfect when paired with raw fish. It is unfortunate that most Malaysians wouldn't know they're edible and would choose not to eat the leaves or bother looking them up. Because of this most restaurants have either stopped serving perilla leaves or have provided less in a sashimi assortment (to my disappointment of course). Perilla leaves when snipped (cut into thin strips), make a great garnish for pastas and rice. You will find them used that way in Japan; on top of Japanese pastas, pizzas and contemporary rice dishes. They also taste great as tenpura or wrapped around a protein for kushiyaki/ yakitori. 

So yeah, edumacate yourselves!

Yes, I did type e-du-ma-cate. For no particular reason. *shrug*

The salmon belly sashimi above was at Sushi Zanmai.

I can't believe I've done this to myself at three in the morning.

Ishin Japanese Dining, Jalan Klang Lama: Haru Bento

Visit date: March, 2012

Being just 5 minutes from where I live, Ishin has been my most frequented japanese restaurant in the Taman Desa & Old Klang Road area since it opened for business in late 2009. The restaurant claims to be a Japanese "fine dining" establishment but I will only use that term loosely if not at all. The normal menu features a selection of normal Japanese fare while the "fine dining" aspect applies to dining Kaiseki-style (similar to a tasting menu where the menu items are left to the chef to decide). Most patrons will opt to order from the regular menu and the decor of the restaurant, albeit very tastefully done, does not appear to be of haute-cuisine standard. So if you intend to visit Ishin for its finer offerings, you may communicate with their head chef in advance to book a kaiseki meal instead of ordering from their standard menu. 

Ishin has some great offerings and it is my go-to restaurant for whenever I crave sashimi (raw fish). Ishin's sashimi is by far the freshest and cheapest when compared to other Japanese restaurants in Kuala Lumpur with the Sashimi Moriawase (Assorted sashimi, 5 types of seafood, 3 pieces each, sliced thick) priced at a very reasonable RM62++. There are some places that will charge an exorbitant rate of over RM160 for the same amount of sashimi but not at such a quality. The raw salmon, yellowtail and scallop are my personal favourites. 

During this visit however, I sampled an item from their Spring 2012 seasonal menu- the Haru Bento (lit. Spring lunch box).

I chose to have the Haru Bento because it was to be served in a multiple tier bento, complete with the many compartments that pull out like drawers. I am a sucker for interesting presentation when it comes to food and this unique tiered lacquer box did not cease to amaze. 

First off...

Every diner will be given a small serving of amuse-bouche (something like an appetizer but not ordered from the menu and is selected by the chef). Common in Japanese restaurants, patrons will be served something small to nibble on after placing an order. We were given a dish of tsukemono (pickles: radish, cucumber, carrot) with flaked salmon, seasoned with a kimuchi (Korean kimchi) base. Very delicious and gets your appetite going. 

When it arrived, the waiter removed the compartments from the box and placed everything neatly on the serving tray before me. Below is a picture of the entire Haru Bento meal. 

According to the menu, this would be the "2nd Compartment". The topmost section has: Umaki (Egg omelette with eel in the middle), Ebi shibani (boiled grey prawn), Aka kamaboko (pink fishcake), Edamame (boiled green soybeans), Takenoko tosani (boiled bamboo shoots, next to the egg but covered with bonito flakes). The section on the right has: Japanese potato salad, Idako (marinated baby octopus). The left section has: Ayu shioyaki (Sweet fish grilled with salt), Salmon belly teriyaki (grilled salmon with sweet soy-based sauce).

Review: Being lucky enough to know Japanese, I crosschecked the items listed on the menu with what I was actually served. There was an item missing: Nasu dengaku (grilled eggplant with a miso sauce). No translations were provided on the menu so if I couldn't read what was to be served, I wouldn't have realised there was a missing dish. I checked with the waitstaff and she had to check with the kitchen before finally affirming that I was not given one dish. It's not like they forgot to place it in the bento but they did not prepare the dish entirely. I knew this because it took a while before it was served. When it arrived, it was a small bite-sized eggplant. Grilled with miso, it was juicy, sweet and delicious. 

Nasu dengaku: The forgotten dish

The fishcake was disappointing as it tasted hard and raw like it was cut straight out of the kamaboko pack. It is still edible but would have been better steamed. The eel omelette tasted typical of any japanese tamagoyaki but the eel was almost nonexistent. Edamame beans tasted as they should while the bamboo shoots were bland. The prawn was boiled and overcooked resulting in a very rubbery texture. 

The potato salad was very small in serving and tasted delicious like the usual Japanese potato salad: potato, hardboiled egg, slivered cucumber, onions and carrot and a lot of Japanese mayo. The idako (baby octopus) was a little disappointing. In my experience of eating these seasoned octopi, I have come across two varieties: 1) octopi seasoned with a very gloopy, starchy red sauce with barely a hint of that chuka flavour; and 2) octopi without much of a sauce but packed with flavour, seasoned with sugar, vinegar, sesame sauce, chillies (in other words, more authentic). The first kind is usually the cheaper kind that isn't made on-site, pre-ordered from elsewhere, found in the Japanese sushi sections of your neighbourhood Jusco supermarket. The latter kind may not be prepared in the restaurant but usually tastes better and isn't an insult to your average Japanese food enthusiast's tastebuds (can be found at Sushi Zanmai of all places).  

The grilled salmon belly was delicious. Very fatty (in a good way), rich with the salmon's natural oils, skin was crispy and portion was generous for one person. The grilled sweet fish had a good flakey texture and was not overly salted. Was my first time having ayu and the portion was right seeing that it is typically a small fish. 

Above were the offerings from the 1st compartment: akagai sashimi (red shellfish, similar in texture to hokkigai), salmon sashimi, hiramasa sashimi (kingfish/ yellowtail amberjack), botan ebi sashimi (sweet shrimp/ spot prawn). 

Review: I LOVE having sashimi at Ishin. It is their forte and they have some of the freshest sashimi I've ever come to taste. The salmon was buttery, fresh, and tasted wonderfully of the fish. The kingfish was very firm in texture, fresh and resembles the ambiguous "hamachi" (people will usually call all fish that looks like hamachi, hamachi) but tastes exactly like kingfish. The first time I had this was in a different preparation at Sage. The shrimp was alright but raw shrimp is never really my thing. The red shellfish had a good springy texture, very fresh, not much of its own taste but was nice to chew. Ishin keeps these akagai alive and prepares them for sashimi either before the order or on the same day. 

The 3rd compartment featured Salmon and kingcrab hasamiage (salmon fillets stuffed with crab and then deepfried with panko breadcrumbs). These were hearty and very filling. The entire dish was generous with the seafood but turned out a little dry in the mouth. Tasted better when dipped into the sauce provided (not in picture). This bento can actually fill up two people thanks to all the generous portions of fish, fish and more fish. 

The final 4th compartment made me smile. Just a serving (more than enough for one person) of unagi kabayaki (grilled seawater eel, kabayaki style) with soramame (broad beans) on rice. The pickles provided were generous and this is one of my favourite dished in the Haru bento. Simple, authentic and hearty. The eel was fresh, grilled so that the flesh is flakey and the skin on the underside, soft.

The usual miso (fermented soy bean paste) soup. Large bowl, very refreshing when most of the bento consists of grilled and fried items. 

Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard). Filled with mushroom, ginko nut, chicken and prawn. 

A scoop of green tea ice-cream was served as the dessert. Not overly sweet and rich in a strong matcha (green tea) flavour. Excellent way to end the meal. 

Verdict: Was the Haru bento worth its RM88++ price tag (RM102)? I would say yes (but on the pricey side) because the sashimi was fresh and just a few items from the bento alone would easily cost as much as the entire bento. Some offerings were common and not as impressive but those were mainly the appetizer-type foods like the: marinated baby octopi, red fishcake, and the overcooked prawn. None of which were significant enough to ruin the dining experience for me but are worthy of a note that they were the weaker dishes in the bento. The sashimi was worth it and the generous portion of eel on rice was nice. The grilled fish dishes were good and on the money but the fried component made the meal heavy and was difficult to eat towards the end (there were two large pieces).

It was worth a try but I will not order such a huge bento the second time because I was beyond full. Maybe a much smaller bento the next time round. If as a first time, then this was a very interesting experience for me and if you love having bento or teishoku (set meals), definitely give Ishin's unique seasonal bento a try.

Ishin Japanese Dining

No. 202, Persiaran Klang Batu 3 3/4 Off Jalan Kelang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +603 7980 8228 | Fax: +603 7981 0011 For reservations, please call +603-7980 8228. Free valet services available.

Operating hours: Lunch 12pm – 3pm | Dinner 6pm – 10.30pm.

Website: http://ishin.my