It's midnight and we're prowling through the dark, chilly alleys of Kowloon, Hong Kong.
As Temple Street's night market quietens down, people flaunting fake Louis Vuittons, triple piercings and shiny leather pants elbow past looking for a late night snack. In true flashy big city style, the neon boards and electronic signage act like disco lights, covering the scene in surreal red-blue-green swathes.
We're looking for Tim Ho Wan, the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant in the world. This tiny eatery, run by the former dim sum chef of the Four Season's hotel is so popular we're warned there's a three-hour wait for tables. Yet, in Mongkok, the locals — busy eating pungent tofu, Siu Mai and a Hong Kong-style fried chicken covered in sesame seeds — don't seem to know its exact location.
By 1 a.m. we stumble upon an alternative: a petite, steamy, bright eatery bursting with teenagers wearing their angst and iPhones as badges of honour. After much gesticulation the owner brings us a warm basket, filled with succulent fish dim sum and a bowl of sharp soya sauce. It's teamed with sticky fried rice studded with disconcertingly sweet, fatty sausage.
Our Hong Kong food adventure's off to an interesting start.
The next day we wake up to delicate stir-fried vermicelli noodle crunchy with peanuts and a stodgy congee. It's time to tick off the two next items on our ‘best of Hong Kong food' list: silk stocking tea and egg tarts.
Hong Kong's Central Business District is chic and busy, bustling with fashionistas in elegant winter coats and edgy hairdos. At the Good Spring Herbal Pharmacy, young bankers in sharp suits and startlingly feminine manbags delicately sip on ginseng tea, dispensed from an ornate, steaming brass pot. Inside, pharmacists read Chinese prescriptions written in graceful calligraphy, rapidly choosing roots and powders from heavy wooden cabinets and wrapping them up in crisp paper.
After a glass of Sweet Flower tea, tasting of honey and gardens, we trip into the Lan Fong Yuen tearoom. This heaving café claims to have invented Hong Kong milk tea, strained through a silk stocking. Serendipity sees us seated with charming ad executive Jacqueline Ho, who logs onto Hong Kong's popular OpenRice website on her iPhone to show us the best places to dine. After cups of the thin, smooth milky tea, served in heavy Lipton cups, she walks us to the Tai Cheong Bakery next door for egg tarts.
Ten minutes in line, and we're rewarded by a warm, wobbly egg tart. Set in a flaky, buttery, golden pastry shell, the deep yellow tart is silky and just sweet enough to be satisfying. The city's last British Governer, Chris Patten agrees. The store front boasts a blown-up picture of him pasted across the window, declaring his allegiance.
Day three's dedicated to noodles. And, hopefully, that elusive Michelin meal. Back in central after a lot of walking, much of it uphill thanks to the city's steep inclines, we find ourselves staring at an unexpected bonus — the Michelin ‘approved' sign outside a random restaurant in the CBD. Inside, it's quiet but for the steady sound of slurping as the family at the next table enjoys their bowl of noodles. Our noodles, however, lack punch — they're watery and tasteless. The sticky rice served with soy and honey glazed pork is delicious, however. The pork's so succulent and well done, it can be taken off the bone with just chopsticks.
Ever since travelling-celebrity Chef Antony Bourdain ‘discovered' Mak's Noodle in Wellington Street, it's been a tourist magnet. However, following Jacquline's advice to pick crowded restaurants, we head to Tsim Chai Kee, opposite Mak's and positively bursting with the local lunch crowd. Inside, it is so narrow and packed I'm a little worried my hungry neighbour will mistake my elbow for his lunch.
Tsim Chai Kee serves just three kinds of noodles: shrimp, fish balls and beef. My bowl of translucent wantons stuffed with king shrimp set on a generous squiggle of wiry, springy noodles arrives quickly. The noodles, wallowing in a fragrant broth, have to be teased out with chopsticks and a soup spoon.
Nobody bothers with small talk. Everyone's here to eat, and eat well. Who needs a pat from Michelin with food so good!
