Part of me believes that the purpose of the trip to Hong Kong was to show the Mrs my hometown, let her experience my culture and feed her my childhood delights...but I know that a majority of my motivation came from my compelling desire to dine at two specific restaurants: Ho Lee Fook and RONIN. For me, this was like a holy pilgrimage that's been two or so years in the making...so, one night, the Mrs, my sister and I headed out to dinner at Ho Lee Fook. It was really, really surprising that we managed to even get a table at all since we were just walk ins but we got our after a very short wait...which was amazing because I couldn't wait to dig in.
A great way to start off any night is with a few delicious cocktails which we all certainly did indulge in. The Mrs wasn't feeling too well so she stuck to a mocktail, but I ordered a yakult gin fizz which was everything I could have wanted: crisp, creamy, foamy and layered with the herbaceous taste of gin and the sweet taste of yakult.
Shortly after our drinks landed, our first dish of the night arrived at the table: Wagyu steak tartare served Yunnan style. The menu described it as hot and sour which was a very apt description: the spicy element was definitely very obvious but it made the dish all the more savoury and delectable. Each bite of meltingly rich and tender beef was followed by a fiery sting and then mellowed out by the aromatic herbs. Pair that with the crunch of the crackers and you get this amazing textural experience. It reminded me quite a bit of the tartare the Mrs and I had at Ms.Gs (which isn't really surprising since Ho Lee Fook's head chef, Jowett Yu is ex-Mr.Wong...he is someone I admire very much and one of my biggest reasons for dining at Ho Lee Fook).
Second to arrive at our table was Ho Lee Fook's Mom’s “mostly cabbage, a little bit of pork” dumplings. The dumpling wrappers were a little softer than I'm normally used to but nothing out of the ordinary for blanched/steamed dumplings as they are quite high in water content. This didn't detriment how simple and beautiful this dish was though as the filling contained in this sophisticated package was light yet juicy with each element layered and pronounced. The sauce accompanying the dumplings bumped up the umami tenfold.
After the dumplings came our order of the fried cauliflower and brussels sprouts with maple bacon chilli jam. By far, this was the most surprisingly delicious dish as we didn't expect all the components of the dish to work so well together. The veggies had a perfect crunch and a really pronounced, clean flavour. In addition to the above, you have that sweet, smokey flavour from the bacon chilli jam...oh so good.
Next came the prawn lo mein with shellfish oil, grilled shallots and crispy garlic. Although good, this was probably the dish that I found...underwhelming. I'm a massive carb fiend and what this means is that I love and appreciate any form of noodles, rice or pasta. While I did find this delicious, it really lacked in impact to me. The prawns were cooked perfectly...plump, juicy and meaty but in Hong Kong, I somewhat doubt the fact that you can find anywhere that doesn't do prawns well with such fresh produce. Personally, these noodles just tasted too simple...like plain XO sauce noodles.
But then, came the piece-de-resistance....the holy grail and the culmination of my visit to Ho Lee Fook...the roast wagyu short ribs served with a jalapeño purée, green shallot kimchi and drizzled with soy glaze. Each piece of beef had a crunchy, smokey exterior which held together the tender, melt in your mouth beef ribs. This is all accentuated by the spice of the jalapeno puree, the sweetness and umami of the soy glaze and the fresh, crunchy shallots...legitimate heaven on earth.
If you (like me) like to live life on the edge, you can single-handedly try to polish off the non-meaty side of the dish which contained all the cut offs and tendony bits. In my opinion, this was the most delicious (yet dangerous) part of the dish...after finishing that whole side, I felt so full that I was gonna burst....but it was so, so worth it.
Although I didn't get to see one of my food heroes in the kitchen that night, I can say with absolute certainty that this was one of the most memorable nights of my honeymoon and certainly worth the visit. In a city that's filled with so many packed with culinary delights, Ho Lee Fook stands out as a beacon of the new-age: fun filled, no boundaries Chinese inspired fare designed to delight the senses. If given the opportunity, I would return again and again without regret.
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