Old Hong Kong

Our featured restaurant this week is Old Hong Kong tucked comfortably away at a corner of Raffles City. I suppose that the name is suggesting that what is served at this place is traditional, hence, good. In order to satisfy my curiosity, I decided to check out this place. 

How's that for tradition? So flipping through the menu, I decided to order some dim sum items. Just for those who are not familiar with how these restaurants work, let me share with you. For ordering of dim sum, you will typically be provided with a sheet of paper indicating all the food items that the restaurant serves. So after killing some of your brain cells deciding what to eat, you pass these order chits to the service staff who will  go get the stuff you ordered, and you simply just tuck in. This is like a standard procedure or perhaps even a universal workflow for ordering dim sum? It's the same when I had my dim sum in Hong Kong. Well, let me know if there is like a different method. First up...

Char Siew Pau

Yes. Char Siew Pau is a popular steamed dim sum item. Made of flour or specifically pau flour, it is soft and a little springy in texture. Tear it into half and you will be able to see the rich and thick char siew filling spilling out of it. Char Siew is actually Chinese-styled barbecued pork, which is rich in flavor. Next up...

Shrimp Siew Mai

This is another item that I always order when I have a dim sum meal. I simply love this little dumpling that is filled with pork, shrimp and topped with roe. This is one of the traditional items that you will find on the menu at all restaurants serving dim sum though they vary in quality. For me, the dim sum here is not bad though I thought that it was a little lacking in flavor. For those who prefer something not too rich, you should try it.

Har Kau

Yet another popular item that you should order when you eat dim sum. Har Kau, typically means shrimp dumplings. Generous portion of shrimp enveloped in smooth, translucent and thin skin. Though I have always preferred Siew Mai to Har Kau, this was good enough for me to want to pop another one of this into my mouth. So it has been good so far and I am still waiting for my favorite dim sum item to come.

Chang fen

Finally, my wait is over. My favorite item is finally placed in from of me. This is similar to the normal Chang Fen that we have always had but this is slightly different. How so? The typical ones are usually stuffed with either char siew or prawns. This one, however, is stuffed with You Tiao, or fried dough fritters. Simply irresistible. I have come across Chang Fen stuffed with other interesting fillings such as squid paste, pork intestine, etc but I really can't recall where.

Traditional Baked Chicken with Rock Salt

Well, as this name suggests, this dish is assumed to be a simple one.. just chicken and some salt. Oh no, it is a difficult dish to prepare as this dish is really Simplicity at its best. Oh well.. I should just leave it at this to keep you wondering what the taste is like. In any case, my pick is... DO TRY IT.

Steamed Chicken Feet and Pork Rib Rice

The final dish to end the meal came. I was actually worried about how I was going to finish the rice since I thought it would be quite a large portion. No worries, it is not that big and so obviously, I did not have any problem gobbling it down rather quickly. Well well, actually I think that the picture looks better than it actually tasted. There was not much sauce on the rice, hence it was a little too dry for my liking. The portion if meats used to topped the rice was quite generous though personally, I thought it was a bit bland. Overall, my pick for this dish is average, do try out other main dishes instead.

So to sum up my dining experience at this restaurant, I thought that it was quite an enjoyable one and I would surely revisit it. A good place for family dinners over the weekends. It was quite crowded when I visited this place for lunch so I suppose you have better make a reservation if you are planning to dine over the weekend. Cheers!

Info:

Old Hong Kong Legend (http://www.oldhongkong.com.sg)
252 North Bridge Road #02-18
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: 6336 3038
Business Hour: Opens daily from 10.30am to 10.30pm