22/06/2013
百樂潮州酒樓 Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant
旺角太子道西193號MOKO新世紀廣場5樓523號舖
Shop 523, 5/F, MOKO, 193 Prince Edward Road, Mong Kok
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/healthy-and-light-chiuchow-cuisine-e2302718
I have always loved Chiuchow style food and there are so many variations.
At Pak Lok they specialise in Top Notch Chiuchow food and the restaurant is wheelchair friendly, but saying that there may be difficulty getting the wheelchair in the mall and getting to that floor because HK is a small place.
The tasting was interesting because I found some elements of Western cuisine in it.
The meal was paired with two sakes, a strong sake with a hint of melon (Kubota Suiju Daiginjyo Nama zake $680) and Yuzu sake (Fukucho Junmai Yuzushu $190).
For photos refer to the earlier review by Mjqueen7e.
Heres what we tried
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soyed Goose liver:
This was my favourite, I love Soyed goose liver, the liver was done just right, it was silky and moist.
It paired nicely with both sakes, with the Kubota Suiju Daiginjyo Nama it reminded me of duck liver with wine while the other sake reminded me of Duck and orange.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Jellied Golden chicken bells 金鐘雞:
The appearance reminded me of the Xiamen jellied worms which I have always wanted to try because of the jelly.
The ones here are made with pieces of chicken set in chicken soup and cooled in the fridge.
It is golden in colour and shaped like a bell, hence the Chinese name golden chicken bell.
I really liked this because of the savoury jelly and pieces of chicken and wolfberries which were cooling when you ate them (great for summer).
It would be good if there was some sake infused in it, but sipping the sake when you eat this has the same effect.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soyed assortment:
There was an assortment of goose intestines, goose wings, goose meat which were delicious, the best thing about it was the sauce because there is no msg and the sauce is much lighter which is healthier.
My favourite pieces were the mid joint wings because it is the most delicate part that has absorbed most of the sauce.
When they were cooked, it was also cooked with pig tendons which gives it a lovely gelatinous texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soyed Pig Tendons:
These were the pig tendons which could also be ordered too, they were soft and gelatinous.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Smoked Holland Eel:
I was surprised to see this because I tried it at Dot Cod before and I thought it was a Western dish.
It doesn taste bad and there are no bones but I was not keen on its fatty texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Blood cockles:
These have always been my favourite but they are considered risky because they may cause food poisoning.
There is a Chiu Chow shop at Kowloon City which sells them but they were sold out when I tried to get them, luckily I was able to try them here.
The photo is a close up so you can see how clean they were.
After opening the shell, there was a juicy cockle inside with lots of orange liquid hence its name blood cockles.
It tasted really delicious as it was soaked with chilis and garlics, and the best thing was I did not get food poisoning.
Next time I will definately be back for them.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chilled Chiu Chow Crab:
(Mjqueen7e's photo)
because I deleted mine by accident.
The crab was really expensive but it was really delicious.
The restaurant cracked it well, so it did not need further cracking.
It was sweet and fresh.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Braised Chicken in Chiuchow style fermented soy bean sauce in pot:
If you've had the Chiuchow style fish, it comes with a side of fermented soy bean sauce.
The gravy for this is made from that, the beans are crushed which is why you can't see them in the sauce.
It is not as salty as the sauce because the sauce is mixed with fish sauce.
To me it tasted like delicious gravy but the bean taste was not strong enough, and it was slightly sweet too.
I think adding some sake (strong one) into the gravy would taste nice.
The chicken itself was surprisingly tender and soft for the white meat part.
From the photo you can just see how much gravy there was which was perfect to go with rice.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Fried Crispy "E-Fu" Noodle Served with Sugar & Vinegar
I tried the noodles without sugar and vinegar and it tasted nice because there was some chicken stock taste to it.
It was partially crispy and partially soft on the other side but when you picked it up it was not too hard which was good.
After trying sugar and vinegar I felt that vinegar tastes better as it makes it not so greasy.
It tastes better than other restaurants because it is not that oily.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Omelette with Baby Oysters
The omelette was lovely and soft loaded with lots of juicy plump oysters with nice crisp edges.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep Fried Crab Meat Balls & Shrimp Balls:
There was crab meat and shrimp which visually look different by the shape.
Personally I liked the crab because you can taste real crab and not surimi.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chilled fish skin:
This is a MUST try, they were springy and slightly spicy infused with delicious sesame oil.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed milk and egg white pudding with taro puree on top:
I don't usually like ANY type of Chinese dessert but this was perfect because it was not too sweet.
The pudding was mixed with egg white and milk which was light and silky paired nicely with taro puree on top which is Chiuchow style.
It would be good if they could make it with the taro puree in the centre so it flows out when you break into the pudding.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway I will definitely be back!!
