Enjoying the food and culture in Central and Sheung Wan

I was pleasantly surprised that lunch at a hotel restaurant could be so casual and friendly. CharK and I happened to be in Central this afternoon and decided to try out Cafe Causette at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Even though it's a cafe they have a pretty large lunch menu of Asian dishes (like Hoi Nan chicken rice, Pad Thai, etc.), pastas, pizzas, burgers, and of course desserts. Since the cafe is located a hotel, I'd originally thought it'd be a stuffy place but the staff was friendly and seating was very open.

In a crowded city like HK, I often find it difficult to get a table at a restaurant without reservations, and usually I'm seated just two or three feet from the next table. So being able to sit back and not be in ear shot of the next table's conversation was a nice change.

A nice treat but this was probably the most expensive lunch we've had in HK (Photo: CathC).

I think the waitress was very surprised with our order: one main and two desserts. But both the apple and blueberry crumble and the passion fruit tart sounded so yummy that I didn't want to pass either one up. In the end the crumble was my favourite. It was gooey but not too sweet, and the vanilla ice cream actually had bits of vanilla bean seeds in it. The passion fruit tart was very fragrant but I didn't really like the strong taste of cream it had. The sherbet on the side was very refreshing though. I tried one of the beef sliders too and it was good--nice combo of pickles of bbq sauce with the meat.

After lunch CharK and I walked over to Sheung Wan to check out the antiques and the western market. The  area seems to be a mix of Chinese antiques, galleries, and cafes. I've never seen so many variety of vases, and metal trinkets/figurines.

Ladder Street really is full of stairs and the antique street market had lots of kitchen hood ranges being hammered out by hand still (Photo: CathC).

We then stopped by the Western Market (西港城) to see the oldest market in HK.The Edwardian style building is pretty interesting to look at from the outside, and has other unique architectural elements including a roof that's covered with Chinese pan and roll tiles.

The Western Market located at 323 Des Voeux Road, Sheung Wan (Photo: CathC).

The coolest part of this market was the whole first floor sells nothing but cloth. Every fabric you could imagine from wools to lace to Chinese silks were being sold here.

There's almost no walking room around these rolls of fabric (Photo: CathC).

Sheung Wan is a pretty interesting neighbourhood to walk around with lots to see. I liked browsing at all the antique shops, even though it was raining for most of the time. I'll have to come back one weekend to try one of the many cafes that are around.

Devil's Peak

The scenic hiking trails are something I don't think I'll ever get tired of in HK. I love hiking during the Spring time. The weather is sunny once again, and it's still cool enough to hiking uphill without working up a sweat.
Today CharK and I trekked up the Wilson Trail to Devil's Peak, in Lei Yue Mun. I was surprised at how step the hike up was, but the trail is nicely paved and maintained.

Hiking up this trail was so much more fun than a stair climber workout (Photo: CathC)

The hike up the peak towards Pau Tai Shan (炮台山) was beautiful. It was a pretty clear day, and I could see the from Lohas Park across Junk Bay to Chai Wan (柴灣). I could even see a number of ships, sailboats, and fishing boats out on the waterway too.

Lohas Park on the left and Chai Wan on the right (Photo: CathC)

What a huge aloe plant growing on the side of the peak (Photo: CathC)

On the way down the Peak, I had a pretty good view of Lei Yue Mun and the fishing boats at the Sam Ka Tsuen Ferry Pier. Lei Yue Mun is also another famous area for seafood in HK, but is apparently more expensive too (compared to Sai Kung).

Nice mix of old fishing boats and yachts (Photos: CathC)

The most impressive part of today's hike was the fortress itself. I believe this was one of the strongholds for HK during WWII. The fortress remains decently intact today, but unfortunately there's quite a bit of graffiti on the fortress walls. Aside from us, there was a handful of tourists and other local residents visiting the fortress today. Most were pretty curious as they walked around the site.

Photos: CathC

Today's hike was pretty easy going and a great exercise for the weekend. The trail was about 1 km long and the whole trip only took about an hour (including all the photo taking). I'm pretty happy to be able to cross off another hiking trail crossed off our list.

Happy St Patrick's Day

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day earlier this weekend in Sai Kung. Even though it was a bit overcast, it was a nice day to enjoy the cool breeze sitting on the patio of the Beach Pub. This pub/karoke bar overlooks the beach and has quite a large seating area (tables with bar stools and booths).

They also serve homemade desserts (Photo: CathC)

I love sitting on bar chairs--these wicker ones were so comfortable (Photo: CathC).

This end of Sai Kung is a lot quieter than the "Seafood Street" (海鮮街) by the pier and restaurants. So there was no trouble finding a table and the staff didn't try to rush us out. We ordered a few rounds of drinks and had a nice time catching up with a friend from Toronto who's in town visiting family.

Not really fit to celebrate St. Patrick's Day without a Guinness, but 1664 is something we don't have in Toronto (Photo: CathC)

A weekend of fruity drinks. I first tried this in Tokyo and had been looking for it ever since I came back to HK. Finally found it at Taste Supermarket (Photo: CathC).

The bar was a great place to people watch too. There were lots of families and couples having fun on the beach with their pets. I didn't get a photo of it, but among the many dogs on the beach there was this one tiny dog with its ears and tail dyed pink.

Such a beautiful view of the Inner Port Shelter (Photo: CathC)

Overall, the Beach Pub is a pretty good place to hang out in Sai Kung. The only sad part of the bar is karoke singer. She sounds all right as a live singer, but unfortunately there`s not nearly enough people to watch her perform. So most of the time she ended up sharing the mic with the few toddlers that walk by with their parents.

Enjoying a dessert sampler

Typically, when people want to have a fancier western (or fusion) meal, they'll head to a buffet restaurant at one of the many hotels in the city. To be honest, I'm not a huge buffet fan because I find that with so many food options, it usually just tastes mediocre. Seafood is a very popular menu item, but I find most buffet options just can`t compete with the freshness you can get from the restaurants in Sai Kung.

So I was actually pleasantly surprised with the food (and more importantly service) at The Market at Hotel Icon in Tsim Sha Tsui.

On the way into Hotel Icon, I noticed a sign that said it is affiliated with Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is meant as a teaching and research hotel. Meaning that students studying hospitality and tourism at the local university (PolyU) get to practice what they learn in the classroom in a real-life environment. I was pretty impressed with the attention the staff paid to their customers. The first they thought of asking when getting our drink orders was if the elder folks in our party wanted something hot to drink (water or tea). This kind of service was completely different from another hotel down the street which told me to call the restaurant myself concerning my lunch reservation at the hotel (after I had walked into the hotel).

In the end the most memorable part of the food was the desserts. I think I'd tried every dessert on the menu (and finishing everything I took...)

Clockwise from the top: sesame dumplings, lychee gelatin cup, matcha sponge cake, lemon tart, chestnut puree, kaya filled puff, blackcurrent cake, apple strudel, chocolate cake, chestnut cream cake--my favourite: the blackcurrent cake (tart and fresh) (Photo: CathC)

Chestnut cream sago (Photo: CathC)

Maple walnut gelato and lemon sherbet--it's been so long since I had ice cream with toppings! (Photo: CathC)

Strawberry gelatin and creme brulee (Photo: CathC)

For a buffet lunch, this had a pretty good selection of desserts as you can see from the photos. Although, I still think the price is a bit steep for lunch. In the end considering the service and food quality I'd come back again but probably to the hotel's lounge cafe--enjoy their desserts in a contemporary environment (they had this 2 storey-tall hanging garden in the lounge).