In a recent trip to Hong Kong I wanted to visit some
dai pai dong 大牌檔 that are not in the tourist beaten paths. I seek out a small cluster in Sham Shui Po. While dai pai dongs used to be ubiquitous in Hong Kong decades ago now there are only few remaining. There is a resurgence of dai pai dongs in recent years due to the rekindled interest of the local people and tourists. These new dai pai has improved sanitation and are constructed with revised modern design and material like stainless steel.
In this trip I made a point to visit the few that have changed very little from the ravage of time. This cluster in Sham Shui Po is the only one I know that is the most original. One dilemma of being a traveling foodie is to manage your gastronomic budget. By this I don't mean monetary, but rather being selective what you want to put into your stomach to maximize the experience.
Generally the food in a dai pai dong considered to be 粗食 in Cantonese, translated as rough eat. Occasionally one finds a diamond in the rough but don't count on it.
I chosen this fish ball noodle joint that night as it has self-made fish balls and fish cake I was not that hungry. Also I plane had just touched down and I barely has time to checked into my hotel near Monkok and this fits the bills within my travel schedule.
noodle soup with fish ball and fish cake 魚蛋麵
and fried fish skin 炸魚皮
The prices here is crazy cheap. As such I didn't have problem ordering more than the limited capacity of my stomach that night. I mainly wanted to revisit the true dai pai dong 風咮 (the unique tastes and the sensory experience).
eyes bigger than the stomach; the vegetable dish is Chinese gai lan 芥蘭 (also known as Chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce
the small hand written sign on the very left says home made fish balls 魚蛋 and cuttlefish balls 墨魚丸
a nearby dai pai dong - they are watching horse racing on TV
you can sense the emotional intensities
another stall that sells Cantonese dishes
another one that sells milk tea, coffee, and toast etc
a seafood restaurant just a few steps away on the same street
one of hundreds of Hong Kong Jockey Club outlets - where you buy legal horse racing (gambling) tickets
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