Checking out the HK Food Landscape: My foodie trail in HongKong! (Part 2)
To continue with my Hong Kong foodie adventures, friend K brought me to the neighborhood IKEA store. We were quite hungry when we got there and the first thing that greeted us before we went in for the furniture was the friendly IKEA cafeteria. I had heard many things about the IKEA food but I think it’s just hype. They were good but nothing that I would describe as spectacular. They were just “bang for buck” eats.
We had their famed meatballs and they’re really nice and filling. We also had some of the sausages and of course they were showcasing cream puffs and they happen to be one of my “happy food” items so I bought a whole tray to take home. They staved off our hunger pangs before we went furniture window shopping.
The very next day and right before my take-off, we had to have the HK “Crystal Jade” for lunch. We went with friend K’s officemate and buddy, P.
We went straight to ordering the Xiao Long Baos, which are their specialty and a slew of other dishes as well. The Xiao Long Bao experience was great. I loved the soupy broth and they did this very right I think. Compared to all other XLB’s I have eaten here in PH, I think theirs is just super! The broth was tasty and very savory that I think I had quite a couple of XLB’s during that lunch. The XLB wrapping was very delicate and the whole piece of dumpling was just cooked right. It was so flavorful and I really enjoyed every bite.
Aside from their bestseller the XLB, we also had some French green beans with minced meat. This dish really reminds me of sautéed green beans with ground pork that my ma cooks. Not really stellar but good.
Then I saw from their menu that they had some steamed white chicken in Chinese wine. We ordered this and the chicken was steamed beautifully. The chicken meat was so tender and juicy. This was a real treat.
We also ordered some of the more basic ones – the sweet and sour chicken fried to a crisp and cooked with pineapples and peppers. We also ordered some gyoza that they had. The Japanese version is better in Japanese restaurants so maybe we will just leave the gyoza’s to them but again they say that the gyoza was something that came from China. How true that is, I do not know.
Lastly, I ordered some chicken soup and I did not expect to get a really hearty and delicious chicken soup. The chefs can really make the chicken soups. To sum it all up, I had a more than pleasant lunch at Crystal Jade and I look forward to eating there again.
I have eaten at the Crystal Jade’s here but there is just really something about the Crystal Jade in HK.
I love you HK, I will be back that is for sure. I still have to discover more food secrets from your quaint and busy streets.
XOXO
EV