One Dim Sum (一點心) - Quality Dim Sum Near Prince Edward MTR Station @ Mong Kok [Hong Kong] #onedimsumhk

One need-to-do activity in Hong Kong is to partake in the dim sum culture and it seems that everyone has their favourite! For Singaporeans who had visited the Pearl of the Orient, there are a few clear winners and one of them is One Dim Sum (一點心).

Contrary to typical dim sum outfits in Hong Kong, One Dim Sum concept was a lot more modernised with cafe-like setting and an impressive, eye-catching wall mural! 

Whatever the case, i was surprised there's only one couple in front of us when we reached at about 6.30 pm; not a common scenario when the rating on Google Map was 4.3 with over 3,400 reviews.

The menu came with translations for a few languages and i can only recognise Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Thai! In addition, they even indicated common allergens like chicken, peanut, pork, shellfish and whether a dish is vegetarian; helpful for those with restricted diet.

Order made! As there were just Alex and i, i am afraid we didn't manage to order as much. Furthermore, we were quite full from the food we had in Shenzhen and knowing Alex; his tummy capacity is just not as deep as mine.

Tea - i assumed it's complimentary as they were served without us asking but it turned out the charge of HKD $6 for one person was added to the bill. 

Steamed Custard Buns - this must register in my mind; there's a huge difference between custard buns and lava custard buns and i ordered this thinking it's the same thing! 

The custard cream is nice but my love has always been the hot and flowy salted egg custard Singaporeans are relatively accustomed to in our little red dot! p.s. dough (skin) was a tad too thick,

Pork Congee with Preserved Egg - Cantonese style porridge is noted for its smooth consistency and to be in Hong Kong without trying their congee would be such a pity! 

One word; flavourful, despite its simplicity.

Siew Mai (Pork Dumplings) - the strong pork taste would have put off some of my friends but it was balanced out by the Chinese mushroom; resulting in a flavour i very much enjoyed. 

Har Gow (Prawn Dumplings) - nowadays, eateries were generous to use only prawns for prawn dumplings but i have had cases where the skin was thick and the prawns were dry and mushy.

Not the ones here at One Dim Sum! Thin skinned with at least two crunchy prawns; they were delightful! My first dim sum experience in Hong Kong was, in my opinion, good so far! 

Mango Custard Rolls - with two thumbs up on the menu placemat, i think i had to give it a try even though my mouth was inching towards deep fried sesame balls. 

It was a nice conclusion to our dim sum meal! The mochi like roll didn't stick to our teeth and the mango filling was bursts of sweetness enhanced by a touch of coconut aftertaste. Yummy!  

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Address

G/F 209A-209B Tung Choi Street Prince Edward, 

Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Location Map

As above.

Operating Hours

Mondays to Fridays - 10.00 am to Midnight

Saturdays to Sundays - 9.00 am to Midnight

Menu

As above. 

Pricing

Tea - HKD $6.00

Steamed Custard Buns - HKD $18.00

Pork Congee with Preserved Egg - HKD $22.00

Siew Mai (Pork Dumplings) - HKD $29.00

Har Gow (Prawn Dumplings) - HKD $30.00

Mango Custard Rolls - HKD $29.00

(Subject to Service Charge before 9.00 pm on Weekends / Public Holidays)

For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.

Gala Cafe (嘉樂冰廳) - Sandwich with Generous Filling @ Tsuen Wan [Hong Kong] #galacafehk

Google Map is a godsend for travellers as i would have totally missed out the Gala Cafe if i were to rely on traditional guidebooks or even blog reviews! Nowadays, i would just scroll through the surroundings of where i stay so that it's more convenient to find food, especially in the morning.

Review was then above 4.0 (it has since dropped to 3.8 with over 500 reviews) but it did appear to be quite popular with a notice asking customers to queue across the road, behind the railing! Thankfully, i was there at about 9.20 am and there's no queue! 

Aside from the apparent popularity, there's another reason for the supposed queue; the air-conditioned eatery was incredibly tiny! What you see is what you get and don't bother if you are going with a big group; chances are you would have to split up.

Order time! It's hard as the menu was rather extensive and without chef recommended / popular logos; i had to check online reviews to determine what i should order!

Ice Milk Tea - not a huge fan of coffee in other countries, i went with milk tea and wasn't disappointed with both the milkiness and strong infusion of tea! Best of all, it's not too sweet! 

Prawn Wanton Noodle - i was watching an episode of Running Man where a group of members went to Hong Kong to complete a food challenge; however, they kept going for wanton noodles! Hence, it would be a terrible injustice if i didn't manage to have any wanton noodles.

There's goodness in plain simplicity and i guess that pretty summed up what i felt about the soup. Noodles were the iconic rubber band type that's thin; the kind that doesn't quite appeal to me even though i don't mind eating it. 

The prawn wanton was nothing like the type we commonly have in Singapore! The one from One Mouth Noodle @ Yishun Park Food Centre came close even though it's not as big. For a price of about S$5.20, we got about 7 large prawn wantons; absolutely worth it, i feel! 

Sandwich with Minced Beef and Egg - the sandwiches were the stars for the cafe and at first glance; i couldn't quite understand what the big deal was as there's nothing amazing about it.

Until i turned the plate; oh my god, there's like so much egg! The layer of minced beef was negligible and i am not looking forward to it due to its similarity to those canned corned beef which i dislike.

So shiok to just grab the sandwich with both hands and chomped it down! 

Verdict - bread was soft (i believed it was steamed prior to serving) and the omelette was of the perfect slight runny consistency! Much of the taste actually came from the minced beef as the egg was just lightly salted. I am not absolutely impressed but strangely, it was comfort food for me. 

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Address

40B San Tsuen St, 

Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

Map

As above.

Menu (in Chinese)

As above.

Pricing

Ice Milk Tea - HKD $22

Prawn Wanton Noodle - HKD $30

Sandwich with Minced Beef and Egg -HKD $29

For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.

One Mouth Noodle - Handmade Wanton Mee with Char Siew @ Yishun Park Food Centre #wantonnoodle #yishunparkhawkercentre

Frankly, i am glad i only saw the words "港式手工面" as the actual name of the shop, "one mouth noodle" that's indicated in small print on the left side of the signboard, would have inferred a portion unable to satisfy my ravenous tummy that day!

手工面 means handmade noodles and you can occasionally see the chef working on making a fresh batch of noodles, in full view of everyone! Luck was on my side, i guess, as he was making the noodles on both occasions i was there.

There are four types of noodle dishes; hongkong style wanton noodle, char siew wanton noodle, hongkong style dumpling noodle and hongkong style beef brisket noodles. It's a no brainer that i would go for char siew wanton noodle!

I must talk about the wantons as many a time, i would give them a miss as the meat inside is usually pathetically minuscule. However, the ones here contained prawns and they tasted definitely a notch better than the usual minced pork.

Plated generously with vegetables and thin slices of char siew, my initial thought was that the char siew appeared overly white and too meaty for my liking. Surprise, surprise; the texture was tender and i loved the layers of yummy fat! I would have thought they would not be sweet given the lack of burnt caramelisation but truth was; they were a bit too sweet even for me.

The handmade noodles were incredibly good; al-dente and light without the alkaline taste that some of my friends dislike! I can't finish it in one mouth as i would like to take my time to slowly savour it!

Cleaned up in no time! 

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Location

51 Yishun Avenue 11,

Yishun Park Hawker Centre,

#01-12, Singapore 768867

Map

As above.

Website

https://yishunparkhc.sg/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Char Siew Wanton Noodle - S$4.50

Day Two in Hong Kong

<<< Day One

I love a good sleep and my renewed energy, after almost 12 hours of sleep at Panda Hotel, was visibly obvious in the morning of day two in Hong Kong! 

Let's complement the energy with an authentic Hong Kong style breakfast at 漢都茶餐廳; located in one of the shophouses in the above photo, its clientele appeared to be largely local. 

First downpour in Hong Kong; thankfully, it lasted just a while. The period we visited was the start of the notorious typhoon season and we had, in fact, expected to get wet on some days.

Taking the MTR train to our first tourist attraction and enjoying the cityscape. Singapore is increasingly becoming like Hong Kong due to the many high-rise buildings built but there's one thing that set us apart; we do not have that many hills! 

The windows would need a good washing. 

Many people alighted at Sunny Bay station along Tung Chung MTR Line and it's for a reason you can guess from the train's mouse-shaped windows on the other track; yes, the dedicated line to Disneyland, apparently the happiest place on earth. 

Appearance of planes at low altitude signified our close proximity to Chek Lap Kok International Airport. Maybe we should have booked our first night near the airport so that time is not spent on traversing to and fro! 

Taking Exit B of Tung Chung station and right in front of us was the building housing Citygate Outlets! Shopping shall be later as i wouldn't want to hold on to my bags of purchases throughout the day.

The tourist attraction in sight; Ngong Ping 360 cable car! I am not obsessed with cable car systems but you can't deny that they have benefits; the bird's eye view, the silence (provided you are lucky), the convenience of traversing across mountains to get to another landmark etc. 

Oh yes, how could i also forget the beauty of nature with rolling hills and the tons of greenery surrounding us!? Do check out Ngong Ping 360 for more photographs!

Landmark, i mentioned two paragraphs above, looming ahead of us; the imposing Tian Tan Buddha (天壇大佛) that has been appearing on my social newsfeed ever so often.

Getting up close to the Buddha at Ngong Ping Village; a purpose built retail and dining entertaining arena where you can literally spend your whole day there! 

Connecting Ngong Ping Village and Tian Tan Buddha is the spacious Ngong Ping Piazza! You can find some shops offering the famous spring water beancurd pudding and if you are lucky (like we were); you can bump into Lantau Island's free-roaming cattle and buffalo! To find out more, click on the hyperlinks! 

Starting the climb up 268 steps to be closer to Tian Tan Buddha! I am not religious actually and hence, was looking forward more to the scenery on top. 

The photos! With so many photos taken, i need a separate posting and you can find more of Tian Tan Buddha here. There's also an exhibition hall which is ticketed that i didn't want to pay money to enter but you can step in for some air-conditioning at its outer yet air-conditioned corridor.

Temperature was 30 degree celcius; not much of a problem for Singaporeans who are well accustomed to such climate. 

We bused over to Tai O Fishing Village (大澳); known as Venice of the East, it's well worth a visit if you want something other than just shopping centre after shopping centre! 

What else did we do at the Fishing Village? Lunch at Fook Moon Lam Restaurant (福滿林酒家) where we had dishes cooked with their local prawn paste and learning more about the village history via the small Tai O Rural Committee Historic and Cultural Showroom! 

You can literally spend the whole day at Lantau Island and it's a pity we didn't have much time on our hands; therefore, we didn't even trek towards the Wisdom Path or step into Po Lin Monastery. 

Back in Ngong Ping Village to take our crystal car cable car ride back to the main area! Maybe i can consider staying a night or two near the airport in my next visit to Hong Kong so that i can fully explore Lantau Island.

Tung Chung Swimming Pool which is near to the cable car station of Ngong Ping 360. Out of curiousity, i went to check their admission fee and it's more than doubled our little red dot; HKD $17 (about S$2.95) on weekdays versus S$1.30.

Use of bamboo scaffolding continued to be prevalent in Hong Kong; don't play play okay as you need to be highly qualified in order to build it. 

Outlet shopping at Citygate Outlets; one word; disappointing as i think i could get a better deal back in Singapore's Changi City Point or IMM. To be fair, i am not into branded goods so take my judgment with a pinch of salt. 

Taking the MTR train! I find the train transportation system to be similar to Singapore and it's my favourite mode of transport in Hong Kong. The bus system is another story altogether as the one attempt we made resulted in a detour that lasted more than an hour.

Back to Panda Hotel as we seriously needed some freshening up! 

Sights photographed along the way on our free shuttle from Panda Hotel which will bring us to the more happening part of Hong Kong; the downtown Tsim Sha Tsui! 

Area was filled with shops offering branded goods that i couldn't afford and don't see the point of buying! Anyway, that's not my purpose of going to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Ice cream truck; while we don't have such vehicles traversing the streets anymore, Singapore has its very own ice cream man! 

Green letter boxes; it's a matter of time that you would see lesser and lesser of them around as people prefer to email rather than mail and many companies do accept scanned copies nowadays. 

Opened in 1969, the Marco Polo HongKong Hotel is an iconic five-star hotel although it paled in comparison to another grand dame that's nearby. Singapore used to have a Marco Polo but it was torn down in 1999. Click here to read more about the Marco Polo Hotel in Singapore.

Hong Kong Clock Tower; a national monument, the 44-meter tower was completed in 1915 and is an easily recognisable landmark if you wish to meet friends before catching the World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show! 

Aside from the show, i was equally in awe of the Hong Kong skyline! There were so much light pollution but you can't deny its grandeur and beauty. 

Random photo on one of the busy intersections near the Avenue of Stars. Busy because it's right after the "A Symphony of Lights" show and everyone was walking towards the subway station. 

The other grand dame; The Peninsula Hong Kong! While Marco Polo HongKong Hotel was built in 1969; the Peninsular was even older as it was opened in 1928! 

Chungking Mansions; made famous internationally by director Wong Kar-Wai, it is said to have an atmosphere similar to the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City.

Before my trip, i was so looking forward to having the gigantic souffle from Tai Ping Koon restaurant. However, i didn't get a chance to have any! :(

Finally got to relive my memories of digging into the egg waffle from my last trip in 1997! Back then, it was from a mobile stall. The one above is from 么么DA雞蛋仔.

I didn't manage to check out Avenue of Stars as it was so crowded! However, i did manage to explore the quieter Avenue of Comic Stars (香港漫畫星光大道)! 

Walking along the stretch of Nathan Road without any objective as i thought it was still relatively early at 9.30pm. The same can't be said of Alex as he doesn't walk as much as i do and his favourite activity, when overseas, is to stay in the hotel room.

No choice then; trying to train from Jordan MTR station. Don't you just love the coloured mosaic tiles in the MTR stations of Hong Kong? 

Weather must be hot that day as i was red! 

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Detailed Postings for the Day

1. Authentic Hong Kong Breakfast @ 漢都茶餐廳
2. Taking the Crystal Cabin @ Ngong Ping 360
3. Ngong Ping Village 
4. Ngong Ping Piazza
5. Free Roaming Cattle and Buffalo @ Lantau Island
6. Ngong Ping's Famous Beancurd Pudding at 德記山水豆腐花
7. Tian Tan Buddha (天壇大佛)
8. The Exhibition Hall at Tian Tan Buddha Statue
9. Tai O Fishing Village (大澳)
10. Prawn Paste Dishes at Tai O's Fook Moon Lam Restaurant (福滿林酒家)
11. Tai O Rural Committee Historic and Cultural Showroom
12. Citygate Outlets
13. A Symphony of Lights - World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show
14. Egg Waffle from 么么DA雞蛋仔
15. Avenue of Comic Stars (香港漫畫星光大道)

For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.