why yuk ho is broke for the month: Part 2- STREETZ of MONG KOK

FML!

I can't BELIEVE I spent $300 for dinner, and I am STILL HUNGRY

After only a few hours after the wallet rapage in Azure, and a few drinks in Lan Kwai Fong, my inner beast of stomach is already growling for more food. Argh, what can I get thats open in freaking 3 in the morning?

'What about 潮州打冷?'
'Errrr.....you mean the shit that gangstas eat at night?'
'Yeah! In 砵蘭街/Portland Street....'

So after taking the mini bus with Herman to MK, we walked to the once infamous 砵蘭街, an aging red light district of the Kowloon side. Once the dragon's nest of the Hong Kong Triads, now it is slowing withering in the rising rents from the newly built Langham Hotel nearby. The place is STILL full of gangsters at night, and lots of old aging prostitutes, but the once common street knife fights are long gone. Plus we werent looking for troubles.

Anyways, 潮州打冷 is the midnight munchies for the old HK population. It usually only opens late at night for people getting off night work, so it always has an interesting mix of crowd. From the Formula One qualified Mini-Bus drivers grabbing dinner/breakfast, Prostitutes before a night of work, or shady Triads kicking back before drug deal. It serves solely food from Chiu Chow; a proud group of people from Southern China famous for loud business man, good seafood and self proclaimed culinary experts. Their cuisines tastes distinctively different from the rest of Cantonese cooking, which makes them extra special. Herman led me to 新泉發潮州飯店 Sun Chuen Fat Restaurant, and we grabbed a table sitting outside on the street side walks for some extra authenticity. It also makes its more convenient to run if a fight breaks out inside ahaha

As we waited for Kelvin to join us for munchies, we ordered a bottle of Tsing Tao and 蠔餅/Oyster Cake as appetizers.
Basically a chinese omelet, it is mini oysters mixed with battered goose eggs and then freshly deep fried. As you can see by the old man standing behind me.
The result is a ery vcrispy omelet, filled with the fresh taste of seafood from the oysters. Really good dish to sober up from a night of drinking.

Next we ordered 鹵水墨魚拼鵝腸/ Marinated Goose Intestines and Squid. Kind of not very friendly to the Western Tongue. The goose intestine has a very chewy texture like rubber bands, but it absorbs the taste of 鹵水. 鹵水 is a old chinese sauce that Chiu Chow people like to cook meat and tofu with, its a mixture of different types of herbs. It is regularly kept after every meal as the sauce slowly absorbs more and more fragrance and flavor from the ingredients. Therefore the older the restaurant is, the more flavour the 鹵水 gets, and the better tasting the food gets. The 鹵水 here is very strong, making both the squid and goose intestine extra tasty.
We also ordered a platter 鹵水鵝/ Marinated Goose and 蠔仔粥/Oyster Congee. Sorry, we were too hungry and ate half the plate before taking photos.鹵水鵝 was very tender, the meat wasn't exceptionally tough. It also smelled very fresh and surprising didn't have a horrible poultry smell to it. 蠔仔粥 is my favorite! It a very watered down congee cooked in chiu chow style, a good source of carbohydrates for treating hangovers! The oysters inside makes the soup based extra sweet.

The highlight of the meal is really the environment around us. The fast moving taxis squeezing through the narrow street, the dodgy character walking past the table, the bright neon signs. I guess it gives the food extra flavour. Plus a sense of masculinity for us since we had the guts to eat at Portland Street at freaking 3am in the morning. We felt like real MEN.
Final Verdict: Honestly, if you are girl. You should probably skip this joint. Unless you are fine with people constantly asking you '......How Much for a Night?' Just avoid wearing any hotpants, skirts or heels as much as possible hahaha

Dude, you need to try it at least once. Separate the Boys from the Men! Real Gangsta Dining Foolz. Plus its really good authentic Chiu Chow food thats hard to get unless you are in Kowloon City.

After spending $120 with a couple bottles of beer and a full satisfied stomach, I looked back on the $300 I lost in Azure...wow.....what am I gonna to do now that I wasted all my allowance on food? this is why yuk ho is broke for the month -_-

http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=16567