22/02/2016
中西∙環Centre Street Kitchen
西環[港島太平洋酒店] 西營盤干諾道西152號1樓
[Island Pacific Hotel] 1/F, 152 Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun, Western District
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/a-good-summary-of-chinese-culinary-classics-e2546375
Tourists staying here are lucky because they have almost summarized the Chinese culinary classics here.
There are items available from the a la carte and there are some items which are cooked to order and there is a good buffet selection as well.
On every table, there is a mahjong, a classic game in Hong Kong that is played between four people.
Most people play for money when they play mahjong.
Looking at the buffet selection, there are jars of sweets such as preserved plums, coconut candies, white rabbit sweets and Hawthorn candies which are popular Chinese sweets that they give to children and you can find them in shops in Chinatown.
Then there is the silky tofu which is served with crushed yellow sugar or syrup and here they have so many healthy toppings such as red beans, red dates etc.
They also have freshly made Eggettes, a popular snack that you will see people eating.
I was impressed they had cart noodles as well.
Cart noodles became popular in Hong Kong in the 1950s with vendors operating on roadsides and in public housing estates in low-income districts, using carts.
These are noodles with an assortment of toppings but cart noodles are considered cheap and nasty which is why it is a must try here as it is served in a CLEAN environment and kitchen.
For the toppings they have the famous red sausage, porks skin, beef offal, tofu puffs, fishballs and beef brisket.
We ordered the a la carte dishes:
++++
Wealthy chicken:
This was basically a whole roasted chicken baked in a bread!!
+++++
Stir fried crab with radish pudding:
The crab was sweet and meaty paired with soft radish pudding.
++++++
Porks trotter in sweet vinegar:
My favourite dish because I love soft and gelatinous trotters in sweet vinegar sauce.
++++
Spicy whelks:
These were quite spicy.
1 讚好
++++
Fish maw, ducks feet and Chinese ham:
This was my favourite because it had all my favourites, especially the pomelo skin.
++++
For soup, it was my favourite fish maw again!
A big piece in my soup.
+++
The cucumber juice was also good because it was freshly made without any sweeteners.
+++
For desserts we finished with fish maw pudding, silky tofu and fish maw osmanthus pudding.
They taste the same but the fish maw pieces in it have a chewy texture.
