Kevin thinks that all the restaurants I go to are very “gweilo/expat.” Being the good friend that he is, he appoints himself the task of educating me about Hong Kong local dining scene and brings me to this dai pai dong for our first lesson in The Appreciation of Local Cuisine for Dummies.
My friend here takes his role as a teacher very seriously so I do my best to be a good student. Yes, Professor K, I am taking down notes.
A good local restaurant must have:
1. 100% table occupancy by 7:18pm on any weekday, a very crowded and very noisy dining area filled with sticky tables, plastic stools and hungry customers cramped up against each other. 99% locals, of course.
2. A nice and bright plastic pitcher (compliments of Blue Girl Imported Premium Beer) to serve as wine chiller for your “self-bring” beverage. And a $30 corkage you “must” pay, emphasis on the word must indicated in the menu.
3. A triad-member-by-night-waiter-by-day punk sporting an Asian mohawk to take your order and beat you up if you dare write a bad review about the food he serves. Gulp!
4. A strangely named signature chicken dish called Wind Sand Chicken 風沙雞 that doesn’t really taste windy and sandy, thank God! Medium-crispy skin, fried garlic bits, it tastes just okay. I think I can get better versions at my “expat” restaurants.
5. Anything that has to do with money and wealth and treasures and the number 8. In Tung Po, it’s gold. They claim they cook their shrimps in gold, thus the name Golden Shrimp 黃金蝦. I enjoy sucking on the shrimp heads, but other than that, I find this dish just average, very mild taste, shrimps a bit overcooked. I wonder if the locals know that the so-called “gold” they eat here is actually just salted egg yolk. Hmmm…
6. Some noodles for longevity and some balls for prosperity. Squid Ink Squid Ball Noodles 墨汁墨魚丸意粉 is the most popular dish in Tung Po. I see black on every table. Black squid ink, I see but I do not taste. Except for the balls which are quite tasty, this dish is so boring I almost fall asleep eating it. I think people order this just to get a few laughs.
7. A modern/fusion item in the menu to keep up with the times. Tung Po’s atomic green Fried Durian 炸榴槤 does it in appearance but fails drastically in taste. Extremely hard skin with frightening amount of green food coloring and some kind of pasty, non-durian-tasting goo inside, this is a total disaster!
8. Free sweet soup at the end of the meal. Grass Jelly in Ginger Soup 薑汁涼粉. Very strong ginger taste. I likey. Like how they say the best things in life are free, after this $500 dai pai dong meal, I realize the best thing you get from Tung Po is this dessert soup that is free.
Now I gotta run before that Asian mohawk hoodlum comes and beats me up.
Tung Po 東寶小館: 2/F Java Road Municipal Services Building, 99 Java Road, North Point. 北角渣華道99號渣華道市政大廈2樓. Tel: +852-2880-5224