We Didn't Jump on the Tai Bo Cafe Bandwagon

Steamed pork patty at Sang Kee in Wan Chai

After I came back from Hong Kong, a Vancouver friend told me about Tai Bo Cafe in Yuen Long, which has become a viral hit. Someone on social media raved about the cafe's pork patty rice, and now there are 2-hour queues for it.

Seriously? 

Legit prawn toasts covered in sesame seeds

Apparently it started back in March when someone asked for a restaurant recommendation and one of the comments replied, Tai Bo Bing Sutt.

Then a few months later, that same commenter would mention the cafe when others posted about things not even related to food, from complaining about academic stress, asking for job vacancies, or raving about their favourite music artist.

People saw Tai Bo Bing Sutt mentioned so many times that they had to check it out themselves, hence the super long queues.

Apparently the person suggesting the bing sutt is a friend of the owner's daughter.

True or not, it has helped this eatery become super popular with the term "tastebud nuke", where the flavour of the patties explode in your mouth, overwhelming your oral senses.

Lovely steamed threadfin fish with chicken oil

I obviously didn't go to this place as I hadn't heard of it until I returned home.

But I did have a pretty good steamed pork patty at Sang Kee, a restaurant known for Hong Kong specialties. Opened in 1976, the place is now located in a non-descript office building on Lockhart Road in Wan Chai.

On the third floor you can hear the hustle and bustle of the place, the small dining room packed with mostly large tables. The one next to us was celebrating a birthday, and there was even a table filled with Europeans enjoying the food with red wine.

Not long after we ordered the food arrived fast and furious. We started with braised duck tongues, nicely balanced, not too salty, and we munched on those until our plate of prawn toasts came. 

Cold starter of braised duck tongues

These beauties were perfectly deep-fried and generously covered in sesame seeds. Another dish was a half portion of a roast piglet, the skin was very crispy, and a thin layer of tender meat underneath. 

Then came our steamed pork meat patty. It was a large portion for the five of us, drizzled with diluted soy sauce and spring onions. You could easily tell it had been hand chopped from the mouthfeel having a bit of a bite to it. 

Another outstanding dish was the steamed threadfin seasoned with chicken oil and Chinese ham. The fish looked so plain, but its taste was so flavourful -- we couldn't stop eating the tender delicate white meat that was perfectly seasoned until we were left with a plate of bones.

The pork patty would have been good with white rice, but we had ordered congee with meatballs and a fish called mottled spinefoot. The congee had been simmering for hours, the grains totally broken down and had chunks of the fish and meatballs.

Simple steamed rice cakes for dessert

Finally for dessert, steamed rice cakes that weren't too sweet, and had a honeycomb-like texture.

The dining experience was not "tastebud nuke", but definitely memorable! 

Sang Kee

3/F, Sunshine Plaza

353 Lockhart Road

Wan Chai

+852 2575 2239

Next Level Cantonese Dining

Whole roasted piglet presented before it was chopped up

Last night we had dinner at Congee Noodle House on Broadway and Main Street. It's a Cantonese-style institution that has been open for over 20 years, though it was temporarily shut for three years from the end of January 2020, when the retaining wall at a nearby construction site collapsed during a heavy rainfall, which caused a sinkhole. As a result part of the parking lot in the back caved in and fell into the excavation pit.

Braised goose webs, fish maw and pea shoots

At the time people worried this restaurant, which mostly serves piping hot tureens of congee, fried noodles and fried rice, and other family-style dishes was closed for good.

But in May 2023 Congee Noodle House was back open, complete with renovations inside and since then has had a steady stream of business despite construction of the subway on the road right in front.

The restaurant doesn't just serve basic dishes; at the back, groups of diners in private rooms can eat classic Cantonese dishes, like whole roast piglet, stir-fried lobster with vermicelli, deep-fried shrimp meat on crab claws, steamed fish, and salt-baked chicken.

We had some of the aforementioned menu items, as well as braised goose webs with collagen-rich fish maw artfully decorated on a bed of dau miu or pea shoots, and plump sui gao or dumplings filled with shrimp, pork and vegetables with egg noodles in soup.

Caramelised eggplant is next level culinary skill

However one dish stood out -- an off-menu item -- caramelised eggplant. Much in the same vein as caramelised banana, the eggplant chunks were probably steamed and then pan-fried in sugar that was starting to turn into a caramel colour.

The end result is a slightly crunchy exterior, and soft, tender interior. Not easy to make, but boy the result was amazing.

Congee Noodle House

141 East Broadway

Vancouver, BC

604 879 8221

Chinese-Canadian Christmas Dinner

Our roasted pig about to be chopped into pieces...

First -- Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing everyone all the best this holiday season.

This year we decided to forego roast turkey and have roast pig instead!

We had ordered one last year from Neptune BBQ House in Vancouver and it was around C$200 or so, but this year we were shocked to find out it was C$300, and another C$20 to chop it.

Airy meringue with whipped cream and fruit

So we asked around other places, but they too were around C$300... talk about inflation. But, with almost 20 people over for Christmas Eve dinner, we bit the bullet and ordered the roast pig at the said shop.

The pick-up time was 4pm and came five minutes early, only to find they were only halfway through roasting it!

One of the staff was good enough to give us paper cups of tea while we waited.., for half an hour.

It finally emerged from the kitchen and the sifu chopped it cleanly into numerous pieces that were carefully placed in the aluminium platter. Bits including the legs and spine were saved for congee tomorrow.

Following the maxim, "good things come to those who wait", the roast pig really was delicious, the skin a glowing russet colour, and very crispy, while the meat underneath was very tender.

Everyone enjoyed it, along with the baked salmon, Brussels sprouts with apple and bacon, braised beef with turnip, Chinese vegetarian, pickled chayote, roast goose, asparagus, and spare ribs. 

For dessert, a vanilla and strawberry mousse cake and homemade meringue topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.