Hong Kong Travel Tour: Where To Eat

By Angelica Bautista Viloria of Viloria.com (Family travelogue written on June 27, 2001)
Copyright © 2001 by Angelica Bautista Viloria and Manuel Viloria (photos). Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8


Where to Eat. We weren't that adventurous dining-wise. Most of our meals we took around the Pacific Place Mall, which is conveniently located near our hotel. Since we had a kid with us, we couldn't get away from those Golden Arches. We had to eat at McDonald's although I enjoyed their McWings (breaded and slightly spicy chicken wings served with hot sauce) and their sundaes which even had nuts sprinkled on top (which is not the case in the Philippines). We were also quite surprised to see them serving salads (real greens, with your choice of dressing) and even ventured to try their red bean pie (which was too mashed up for my taste).

We got to try a few restaurants though so read on:

THAI BASIL CAFÉ: located at the food court of the Pacific Place Mall. Quite expensive by Manila standards. We liked the Tom Yum Soup. It was not too spicy and had generous servings of shrimps, scallops, and squid rings. We also enjoyed the Chicken in Pandan leaves, very tender and tasty although the three small pieces per order were hardly enough to really savor the dish. As for the other things we tried, the Pumpkin, Carrot, and Ginger Soup was thick but bland. The Lobster Tail Roll was not that great and was also not crispy. The Pad Thai was dry. We likewise couldn't tell the difference between the steamed jasmine rice and the coconut rice. This place is not for heavy eaters and budget-conscious diners. The servings are quite small.

ZEN: Likewise located at the Pacific Place Mall food court. We first ate here in 1995 and have since been thinking about the place. They serve very good dimsum from 11:30am to 3pm. Be prepared though to wait a bit since the place can get really packed. This is not the place to go to if a) you are watching your budget b)you want a quick meal c) you want a quiet meal d)you want to get all of your orders at about the same time. All of the dimsum items (e.g. steamed shrimp dumpling, pork buns, chicken and shimp) we've tried were good. We likewise particularly enjoyed the rice with scallops (lots of them) and yunnan ham (quite salty and tasty) which can be a meal in itself. We also liked the sweetened bean curd, home-made style (warm taho with a sweet/ginger-tasting syrup) for dessert.

CAFÉ DECO: This place was recommended by Fodor's travel guide. It was okay. The view, though, was not as great as we expected, neither was the food, outstanding. We tried the Café Deco Appetizer sampler (made up of spring roll, duck, chicken, and salmon), the spaghetti marinara (which was quite good), and the strawberry milkshake which was quite forgettable. The place was not bad but I would have been as happy if I missed it. Again, you can't believe everything you read so go find out for yourself.

And so there goes another Viloria family trip. I wonder where we'll end up next?

Onward To Shopping-Less Hong Kong
URL - http://www.viloria.com/hong-kong/
Written June 27, 2001
Copyright © 2001 by Angelica Bautista Viloria of http://www.viloria.com
Photos Copyright © 2001 by Adi, Angel and Manuel Viloria.
All Rights Reserved.