Wah Kee food porn

Sometimes I get a big craving for sweet-and-sour pork and only Wah Kee's will do. The chicken with cashew nuts is my concession to Buffalo Wilbur who doesn't like pork.

Lantau Taste opens

Lantau Taste has opened at the site of the short-lived Brazilian restaurant. It had been the target of much speculation before the sign went up.

It specialises in "Hong Kong food," says the owners. Which basically means roasted meats and snacks like curry fishballs.

One-plate meals (meat of your choice, rice, veg and soup) cost about HK$40ish. The roast goose costs more but is super tasty.

 You know the place is good when locals start crowding on the very first day. Spot the ferry crew.

K's chippy opens!

K's has opened at the cooked food centre. Buffalo Wilbur was so excited he made me get there on the dot of 12.30pm, when it opened its doors.

 Chips!!

Cod is HK$158 for a large, HK$98 for a medium. Pollock is HK$80. But the portions are generous. And the side dishes are value for money at HK$18 for mushy peas or coleslaw.

As they were doing takeaways only, we had ours by the beach. It felt just like a beach holiday in Britain, complete with rain.

The cooked food centre is certainly going upmarket, especially after the opening of Como Lake, which is getting lots of rave reviews. Buffalo Wilbur was their first customer and he came back gibbering with delight.

Some days, the bear gets you...

China Bear's refurbished kitchen and toilets look nice.

But...

The food prices have also gone up.

We went there for our usual breakfast and found that most items were about 50 percent more expensive than before. Ouch!

Going by the crowd, I doubt it will matter much to the Discovery Bay exiles and the pilot families.

Not for us poor villagers, though.

I think I'm going to have to persuade Buffalo Wilbur to go for yum cha more often instead.

Go on down to the Mui Wo church fair

The food and snacks are homemade and cheap (HK$30 for rice/noodles with choice of two dishes).

And the jumble is unbelievable. Lot of branded stuff (Le Sportsac duffle bag for HK$80, Burberry shirt for HK$10, agnes b wallet for HK$5).

The fair is until 3.30pm today at the church in Chung Hau village. The money goes to charity. If you get on your bike now, you might just be able to catch the tail end of the fair, when they are sure to slash prices further.

Garden Plus CNY fair

If you are a loose end as to what to do over this weekend and the next, head on over to Garden Plus' Chinese New Year fair at Pui O. Of course, the main attraction are the festive plants.

Entrance is free, by the way. Don't get intimidated by the flyers and basket of decorations by the gate. They're free for customers.

The snacks are pretty good. We tried the Indian murtabak (HK$30) and it tasted surprisingly authentic, given that the the chefs were all Filipinos.

We thought the wine tasting was good value for money. If you book in advance, it's only HK$80 and you'll get to taste 10 varieties of South African wine paired with food such as salads and barbecued skewers.

Nitaya's Thai Kitchen

Our first trip to Nitaya's Thai Kitchen (Tel: 3489-1282) didn't get off to an auspicious start. The welcome was warm enough but when we tried to give our orders, the waitress couldn't seem to get it right (never mind that it was just F2 + D2 from the lunch set). 

After we finally got through (or so we thought), we sat down and waited...

... and waited. I got bored I started taking photos of everything in the place while staring enviously at the table next to us as they were served dish upon mouthwatering dish. I think they had about seven dishes between the two of them.

There was another waiter and waitress there but no one paid us any attention. Finally, after about half an hour, I asked the waiter what was happening to our order.

And, no surprises there, our gormless waitress hadn't put in our order. But strangely, the other two didn't think to check why two people were sitting at an empty table looking hungrier (Buffalo Wilbur) and grumpier (me) by the minute.

So we had to have our orders taken again. And waited some more.

But here's where the restaurant redeemed itself. The food was extremely good. So good we ate ourselves into a food coma.

The bill was extremely modest, even by Mui Wo standards. The lunch set was HK$43 for one dish plus a drink. And though we really shouldn't have, we had the mango and sticky rice (HK$39) for dessert and it was good enough to bring on eye-rolling ecstasies (me). Sorry, I was too busy rolling my eyes to take a photo.

Its location doesn't do it justice, tucked away as it is behind the pizzeria, next to the Bank of East Asia branch. But this is one restaurant that is sure to give the others in Mui Wo a run for their money -- provided it sorts out the service first.

Carnival time!

The schedule is packed from 10am to 4pm...

But here's what everyone comes for:

The char siu was really yummy. Buffalo Wilbur, who doesn't usually take local food, finished his share.

 Not a bad haul.

 The games booths were very popular.

It's not a proper carnival without the fake Silvermine Cave. Although this year, I detected a distinct lack of enthusiasm. There were fewer plastic bats.

Bouncy castles have changed a lot from my days.

December upcoming events

One thing district councillor Rainbow Wong is good at is organising free village events. I like the simple but fun Silvermine Bay Carnival. I especially look forward to the free (yes, free!) local food. The next one is on December 16. See you there!

And don't forget. The Discovery Bay flea market is on Sunday at the Piazza. Hope the rain holds off.

Tap Tap at Pui O

As promised, we tried out the new tapas bar in Pui O, opened on the site of the former Pui O Delicious. 

They're still in the midst of fine-tuning their menu. Here's a look at what's available. It's a pity that they don't have paella for two because that was the one we were most attracted to.

 The quality was good but prices a bit steep.

 The olives and water were free. The bread and homemade tomato sauce was HK$25 a serving.

I wish I could say we tried more of their tapas because lots of things on the menu looked yummy - but that's all we could afford. It's probably the kind of place that's best frequented in a group so you can share more of the nibbles.

The bill came to HK$210. We had to go back to Mui Wo and fill up on bread from Kit's Village Bakery.