Racha Moo Yang

I discovered this tiny street stall restaurant a few years ago in Wan Chai and have been a regular ever since. Had some lunch here today and thought I would share the goodness. Racha Moo Yang is really just simple honest Thai food. Sitting by the street with those fold-able tables and plastic chairs really brings back memories of my childhood, so this place really hits home for me. If you've been searching for a place in Hong Kong for authentic Thai food, search no more! Every single dish I have ordered here is packed with a punch. If your tummy can't take the spice make sure to let them know before you order! There have been occasions where the spice almost knocked a few people out.

If you know me, you have most likely already eaten here (I have raved about it to almost everyone I know). I would definitely recommend their Stir fried noodles with chilli and Thai hot basil (Pad Khi Mao). You can have it with beef, pork or chicken, but I usually just have it with veg. The portion doesn't look too big below but you could share it between the two.

Their girlled pork neck (Kho Moo Yang) is THE BEST, and they actually grill the pork and not pan fry it, like most places here. It is soft, succulent with a bit of crispy char on the outside. Their homemade dipping sauce really complements the pork, it's salty, spicy, sour and sweet. Just typing about this is making me want to go there and eat it again

 

The seafood here really well made too. I've had it a few times but didn't order any today, BUT, I did take a few pictures of the menu to share if anybody reading were ever to visit. Their glassy shrimp with chilli, lime and garlic sauce is mouthwatering (have this 99% of the time when I go for dinner). This plate is not for the faint-hearted, if you have a good spice tolerance you'll love it. If not, you'll need a few glasses of milk to help you get through the night. It is great value for money too $99 for 10 shrimps! Not bad eh?

If it's a special occasion I order one of the two dishes below with a bowl of rice. Their Tom Yum Kung is one of the best I have had in Hong Kong, very authentic. Spicy, sour goodness (with a hint of sweet)! The Prawns in chilli garlic gravy is a great dish to share, I've ordered it three times now and they cook it perfectly and plate looks how it does in the picture when they serve it.

If you are ever in Wan Chai, Racha Moo Yang is open all day and most of the night. So if you have some late night munchies after a few drinks or just wandering around, keep this place in mind! There's always two Thai women running the place regardless of the time.

Racha Moo Yang

Shop AB, 87 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai

22 Ships

I visited this place on the 4 of Jan, it was another restaurant on my bucket list :) I had come in for an early lunch date with a friend because I heard it gets really busy at night. The restaurant was quite resourceful with how the placed the tables, they had a large rectangular communal table placed right where the bottom of a window would be. One person would be sitting on the "inside" of the restaurant while the other would be facing inwards but sat "outside". I'll have to take a picture of the exterior so you get an idea of what I mean.

Some of the dishes we ordered were just little pieces of delicate art. It was so hard for me to eat but I was salivating at the same time.

This was the scallop ceviche with apple, walnut and yuzu dressing. If you had a bite full of each ingredient it was a great contrast in textures and flavors. My friend really enjoyed this one. 

This was their beef tartare with egg yolk puree, pickled mushrooms and hazelnut. Doesn't the dish look so beautiful! There was more beef on the plate but I ate it before taking the picture (sigh..). The crostini was wafer thin with some garlic and the egg yolk puree was really interesting, almost gel like. If you want to maximize your flavor intake on this you need take the beef, mushroom, egg yolk puree and place it all on the crostini and have a mouth full of goodness. 

Now this dish is an absolute WINNER! Oberico pork and foie gras burger with avocado and cucumber pickles. Yes, they maybe small, but boy do they make up in flavor. Each serving comes with two and the burger patty is just so juicy and tender, I was ready to eat another serving! Make sure to put the avocado spread to maximize on flavor!

Coconut sorbet, mango & lime. This was the perfect end to our meal. Cleanses the palate and so refreshing. Dishes like this truly excite me. The sorbet had a strong coconut flavor but still light, then they had little pulps of lime that were bursts of of tangy citrus and the creamy sweet mango to balance. This dessert was perfect, it was like flavors dancing around in my mouth. 

If you ever are going I would definitely recommend the foie gras burger and coconut sorbet. You won't be disappointed!

22 Ship

22 Ship St., Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Zafran

I've been contemplating for a while to start a food blog, after eating at Zafran I just had to share my experience; it was THAT GOOD! This place has been on my "Restaurant Bucket List" for a while now and I finally, FINALLY, had a chance go there yesterday. For those who haven't heard of this place yet, I would say it's modern/contemporary Spanish tapas. I'd heard quite a few people rave about the food so I was looking forward to some good tapas, but to my surprise, the whole dining experience was absolutely wonderful. I was so glad I chose to go on a Monday night instead of the weekend. I got in about 7:30pm and there were only two other people in by the bar (me and my partner pretty much had a whole section to of the restaurant to ourselves!). I read up on all the OpenRice reviews (Hong Kong's version of Yelp, only for food) before coming and went with the recommendation of eating by the food bar. Since it was an open kitchen and you were right-up, front and center watching all the action. I LOVED IT. It was like watching Hell's Kitchen, but not so "hell-ish", I don't know if that makes sense but it's the only way I can describe it. While we were at the bar the chef, Marc Lores, took the time to explain a few of the dishes and deserts and we got to try a new "special" which wasn't up on their board yet! His sous chef was so nice too, we got to sit and chat with the both of them after our meal was over.

The view from my seat :) was so exciting watching everything in action. I didn't think I would be coming anytime soon so we pretty much ordered half of the tapas on the menu. Here are a few of the tapas we had

We started off with the Patatas Bravas. Don't be fooled by its simplicity, the homemade garlic and tomato (maybe event a hint of red bell pepper?) sauces are nothing like I ever tasted, I pretty much finished half of it on my own!

 This was the dish that wasn't on the specials menu yet. It was a super large scallop with carrots 2 ways and artichoke. I really enjoyed this, scallops were super plump and juicy (it was so big they had to cut it into three pieces). Very nice textures in this one :)

This was my second favorite dish of the night! The lamb was to DIE FOR. You can only truely enjoy this dish if you take a piece of the lamb with the mash below and the brown sauce (what was in that brown sauce I have no idea, but it pretty much made that dish)

Creamy paella with red shrimp. Doesn't this look like the prettiest dish ever? Very rich in flavor, big thumbs up. Paella lovers should definitely try this while it is on the specials board.

This dish is what everyone raved about, their suckling pig. We got the "small tapa" and it was cooked to perfection, the meat just fell off the bone. I'm not sure what was in the mash, it tasted like a bit of apple and squash, maybe both? I liked it anyway. 

My favorite dish of the night, Huevo Frito! Looks like fried egg, chips with ketchup with black pudding, but its nothing close! The yolk was squash ice cream, the egg white was (I think) vanilla/white chocolate foam. the chips were compressed pineapple with strawberry and cherry sauce as the ketchup and the black pudding were small little brownies. This was so much fun to eat, the chef told us to figure out the flavors on our own. It may look heavy but it was super light. Kudos to the chef for making such an innovative dessert! 

Because one dessert just wasn't enough, we had the brioche which had bit of a bread pudding texture with pine nuts and vanilla ice cream. It had a touch of spice as well, and not heavy at all. 

Really a great end to a Monday, I left Zafran with a big smile on my face. More restaurants in Hong Kong need to have an open kitchen where guests can interact with the chefs, it just brings the whole dinning experience to a whole another level. I will definitely be back again.

Zafran

Tapas Y Musica

Basement, 43-55 Wyndham St., Central, Hong Kong

Hello World :)

Food makes me happy, well happy might be an understatement.

People eat to live, but I live to eat. I'm sure there are loads of other people out there to share this mutual unconditional love for food. So here I am, finally sharing my food adventures. 

Maggie Sauce