Foxtail & Broomcorn • 1 comments • After a long day in Mong Kok we didn’t have the energy to venture far from our hotel for dinner, thankfully Foxtail & Broomcorn was just down the block. A single lit up ampersand is the only signage from the street, but the bright color of the interior draws you in. We quickly ordered a cold soba noodle with marinated duck bowl and almond crusted chicken with cold sōmen noodles. They offered a great house-made fruit tea containing passionfruit, grapefruit, apple and lime. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong version of Yelp, Open Rice, notes that the restaurant has since mysteriously closed, but it’s a nice little memory for us and the dishes we had have been an inspiration to make more meals with cold noodles at home.
Chops on Man Wa Lane • 5 comments • Known as Chop Alley to locals, Man Wa Lane is a row of stalls all selling rubber stamps and traditional Chinese "seals". Thinking of a friend of ours who would appreciate one as a gift, we spent some time looking at the overwhelming amount of options. If you want a poorly translated version of your name, there are countless books to help you. On the rainy day that we visited, there wasn't much activity in the alley and the shopkeepers looked tremendously bored. The incredible craftsmanship that goes into making the stone handles by hand is clearly visible. The porcelain ink pads are in stark contrast to the plastic rubber stamps they sell alongside of them. They typically cost around HK$100 (less for a small size and more for a larger one) and apparently, this is the best place to find "chops" in all of Hong Kong. - Mina
Dandan Noodles • 1 comments • I'd never even heard of, or had, Dandan noodles until I moved to San Francisco. There's a Chinese restaurant in the city where it's our favourite menu item, even if we need a gallon of water to get through the meal because of the amount of chili oil in it. I grew up eating exceptionally spicy foods, but somehow my tolerance has subsided over the years. I still have the old mindset though, so when Alex warned me that perhaps medium dandan noodles in Hong Kong might be a bit much, I ignored him. It was one of those "I should have listened" moments and I cursed myself the entire meal for not making my order mild. Traditionally a Chinese Sichuan dish, Dandan noodles are typically a mix of minced meat, preserved vegetables, and a spicy sauce served over noodles. On our first day in Hong Kong, we went to Dandan HK, in Sheung Wan, to get our fix. Owned by a young French-Sichuanese couple, the restaurant’s menu focuses on authentic Dandan noodles with a small but exciting (to us) menu. - Mina
A Visit to a Chinese Medicine Shop • 4 comments • Although Chinese medicine shops can be found all over Hong Kong, the district of Sheung Wan is an epicenter for all things herbed, dried, crushed, ground, and mixed together. While all of this may be considered "alternative" to us, it's very commonplace and co-exists with modern medicine. The language barrier prevented us from learning too much about the ancient practice while there, but the store workers seemed more interested in encouraging us to photograph them anyway. - Alex
A Hong Kong Morning • 3 comments • Although we woke up groggy with jet lag, we immediately got outside to begin experiencing Hong Kong. We meandered through winding alleys of Sheung Wan to the Shun Tak Centre on the waterfront, which hosts the ferry to Macau. The city was just waking up. After briefly looking at the skyscrapers of Tsim Sha Tsui, across the bustling harbor, we continued on. We made our way through a series of connected walkways to the central mid levels escalators which make their way up the hill for over 2 miles, connecting shops, markets, restaurants, and residences. The intriguing character entices you to explore each cross-street while floating by on the escalators. We turned off at a random street to weave our way through fish monger stands, restaurants with duck corpses hanging in the windows, grocers with boxes of unfamiliar produce and dehydrated sea creatures, and market alleys specializing in products like live goldfish, wax stamps, or Chinese medicinal ingredients. It was an eventful morning. - Alex
