Before my trip, i got to know a friend who was a frequent visitor to Hong Kong and excitedly asked if he has any dim sum recommendation. Admitting he doesn't really seek for food, he did share that he frequented this place known as Dragon Court near Exit E2 of Mong Kok MTR station.
I thought it would be confusing to get to with the limited information but lo and behold; the signboard was prominently displayed outside this building that you would see right after stepping out of Exit E2.
To make it easier for you, you may wish to note that the building housing the restaurant was Yau Shing Commercial Centre. I knew from my friend that Dragon Court was on the second or third floor; so let's continue!
Taking the escalator, we immediately got the restaurant interior but it's not Dragon Court! Instead, it's the premises of Cafe De Coral; a popular fast food restaurant in Hong Kong that offers "both Chinese and Western at budget prices".
One more floor and here we are; Dragon Court (龍閣)! In spite of its obscure location, the restaurant was packed with customers and i couldn't help noticing that many of them are locals and likely belong to my parents' generation.
There was only Alex and me; knowing the former's small tummy, i know i mustn't over-order as there's a tendency i would be the one to clean up the leftovers! Hence, only four items.
Steamed Vegetarian Rice Roll with Shrimp - basically, it's the chee cheong fun (cantonese style) that we are familiar with and it's nice to see that it was already cut up for ease of taking!
It's supposed to be a 'safe' dish for Alex but i guess the sauce was made differently in Hong Kong; there was this strong abalone taste that totally overwhelmed the rest of the ingredients. Needless to say; Alex took one piece, tried his best to swallow it and steered clear of it after that.
Deep Fried Sesame Balls with Sweet Lotus - known as 煎堆 in Singapore, i love this snack and can finish a few at one go even though they are usually very oily with a sweet filling.
The ones at Dragon Court were surprisingly not oily and had a thin, addictive crust that was a bit sticky on the inside. It would have been perfect if the filling was the common bean paste as the ones we had appeared to have been mixed with salted egg. Even though it was pretty good, the traditional filling would still be preferred.
Deep Fried Prawn Wanton - Crunchy just like the way i like it but the overall taste was quite bland and you would definitely need the accompanying sauce which had a sweet, vinegarish tinge to it.
A whole lot of wanton skin before you get to the small prawn hidden within.
Premium Platter - too lazy to decide and eventually went with the recommended premium platter which consisted of steamed mushroom and sea cucumber dumpling, prawn and pork dumpling with crab roe, prawn dumplings and steamed vegetarian fin with pork dumplings!
Personally, i like only the pork dumpling with crab roe (siew mai which had more mushrooms like usual) and prawn dumplings (har gow that was larger than usual). The one with sea cucumber didn't quite appeal to us although my mom would likely enjoy it much better.
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Overall, there were hits and misses but the ingredients were fresh and the pricing wasn't exorbitant for Hong Kong standard. I would love to try more things like baked barbecued pork pastries and crispy prawn beancurd roll but i guess this would have to wait till my next trip, and hopefully with my mom who appreciates food better than Alex.
Address
Yau Shing Commercial Centre,
51 Sai Yeung Choi St S,
Mong Kok, Hong Kong
Map
As above.
Menu
As above.
Pricing
Steamed Vegetarian Rice Roll with Shrimp - HK$36.00
Deep Fried Sesame Balls with Sweet Lotus - HK$24.00
Deep Fried Prawn Wanton - HK$24.00
Premium Platter - HK$78.00
Tea - HK$8.00 per person
(Subject to Service Charge)
For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.
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