simplylife

For dinner tonight, a few of us trekked out to Festival Walk, a humongous shopping plaza in Kowloon Tong. I was eager to share with them a wonderful restaurant I myself was introduced to only two days prior called simplylife, a bakery/cafe that dishes out simple, health-conscious, and affordable Western fare. Since being inundated with Chinese food since my arrival (not that I’m complaining), simplylife was a welcome change of pace for my palate. The place is small and has an adorable bistro-like ambience, and Carla Bruni (!) was playing in the background — damn, that girl can sing.

From left to right: strawberry custard tarts, blueberry danish, peach danish, apple danish, and apricot danish. I have never come across a gleaming fruit danish I didn’t like admire.

Bread! A raisin loaf and a standard baguette type, I think. Both were awesome and declared ‘real bread’ by one of our resident food connoiseurs.

In the rear, Erik’s iced apple tea. In the foreground, my iced chrysanthemum tea. One sip of Stephanie’s and I nearly shouted at the waiter to get me one as well.

I was pretty adamant that we split this enormous appetizer: lump crab meat over mesclun salad with a sesame-soy-peanut dressing. I haven’t eaten much salad since getting here, and this one is killer. The dressing was present but not overpowering and the fresh greens did everyone good.

For my main course, I chose the organic tagliatelle with beef and pork sausage. Al dente pasta + grainy, salty, and fresh sheets of parmesan is nothing spectacular, just dependably good food.

Stephanie got the organic linguine with prawns.

George went with the organic fettucine and mushrooms in a truffle sauce. He did a man shriek when he found a coin-sized truffle in his pasta.

Erik’s dish, organic brown rice with peas, spinach, and goat cheese, was delicious. GOAT CHEESE…slobber. I heart goat cheese.

Another compadre got the organic brown rice with oxtail braised in red wine, red onions, and spinach. I ordered it the last time I was here and was very happy with it. Now that I think about it, I do believe that on the whole, simplylife’s rice dishes are better than their pastas. Those glutinous carb-y pearls seem to absorb so much more flavor and I love it when they burst in your mouth.

Before coming over from the States, I generally equated mall food with poor-quality, unhealthy fast food, which generally still holds true in the U.S. But Hong Kongers (and people in other countries, no doubt) have taken the concept of ‘mall food’ and transformed it into a first-rate dining experience. People come to malls expressly to dine, and I don’t blame them when there are restaurants like simplylife available. I’ve noticed that the same phenomenon occurs with instant foods, which are insanely popular here. In the U.S., I tend to think that instant stuff is almost inherently of inferior quality and that people who prepare instant foods sacrifice taste for time (like instant coffee, for example). But I’m not sure that’s true in HK because they seem to take their instant foods very seriously. There is are entire shelves in the supermarket devoted to instant milk tea/coffee and other such food products, and everyone seems to use them religiously. I’m tempted to think that eating and drinking the instant stuff is part of what it means to eat and drink Hong Kong…though I’ll stick with my coffee press

Hong Kong: food, and lots of it

I came to Hong Kong with the mentality that the fewer expectations I had, the better. However, one expectation I was more than willing to maintain, especially at the behest of those familiar with the region, was that I’d be eating a lot of good food. Thus, the time leading up to my departure from the US was replete with daydreams of dim sum bursting with succulence and sophistication, roasted meats that would melt gloriously in my mouth, and pastries — warm, flaky shells decadently teeming with fluffy creams, silky custards, and exciting new flavors — that would stop me dead in my tracks.

While I haven’t yet tasted anything that has rocked my world, the sheer quantity of food I’ve encountered here in my first two weeks has been staggering. All sorts of treats, both savory and sweet, are readily available, and madd CHEAP by American standards. I’ve wondered how Hong Kongers function normally with so much food around them (and don’t gain weight, to boot), and I that think the answer is some combination of these things: the ability to ignore the sight of food, the ability to appreciate food without actually eating it, and tons of walking. It seems like for every one meal or item I indulge in, I’ve denied myself a hundred more. I will know I’ve reached the upper echelons of culinary asceticism when I don’t give in to ordering a baked good or some street food every time I leave my room.

So far, the majority of eats I’ve consumed here fall under the categories of street food and mall food, the product of many a foray into Tai Po’s Old Market District, as well as a number of home-shopping visits to the impressively large shopping plazas. In Hong Kong, trips to the mall seem to be even more popular than mall-ing in Jersey, which truly is something.

A shot of Old Tai Po:

Some squid sun-bathing in the middle of the sidewalk.

I have generally enjoyed spending my time in this part of Tai Po rather than the newer area, which is centered around a multi-plaza behemoth of a commercial district. Though the latter has a wet market with a nice selection of fruits, veggies, and seafood, I feel like my time is better spent, at least food-wise, in Old TP.

A fried food stand next to the dumpling and stuffed bun stand that I’ve visited at least three times already.

The stand next door that provides me with super oily, pan-fried pork dumpling goodness.

The dumplings are in the right corner of the top glass compartment. They’re a bit difficult to make out through the steam…which is a good sign to me, b/c it signifies freshness. On second thought, maybe that’s splattered oil…maybe both. More buns…

The buns with the pink blush are the cutest things ever.

I usually prefer a slightly thinner skin on my dumplings, which is why I prefer mandoo to Chinese dumplings. But when there’s that viscous sweet chili sauce bathing the dumpling skins, the more carbs the better.

I topped that off with something even healthier.

I forget the name of this pastry, but it involved blueberries and chocolate. Unfortunately, it was sorely lacking in the fresh berry department, though the crackling chocolate almost made up for it…it would have if it were dark.

Cafe de Coral is a popular fast food chain, China’s answer to burger-based fast food franchises. On a trip to the mall to pick up some things for the dorm, we decided to stop in for a quick lunch.

My floormate Laurie went with chicken curry.

Looks pretty good to me, and she gave it a thumbs-up. Alice went with the soy sauce chicken, which smelled and looked awesome.

I love how they throw in the obligatory piece of choy. A splash of color, and a nod to the oft-forgotten food group…It’s like the single slice of limp lettuce that you get with a fast food burger. I wanted to try a fast food version of a dish I’ve had a lot back home, ma po dou fu.

I loved the huge chunks of tofu, but it ended up being a little bland for my liking. I much prefer my dad’s home-cooked version, which is hardly surprising.

I am absolutely positive that I have yet to taste the best that Hong Kong has to offer, but am also glad that I’m getting a glimpse of the everyday foods here. In the mean time, I’ll keep an eye out for the meal of my dreams.