Wan Chai (湾仔)

20th September, Sunday

Had breakfast at a small HK cafe located at Junction 8, opposite Swensen's and Din Tai Fung. My mother and I were the only customers at 830am. I don't rate drinks in this blog, but their coffee was so horrible that I almost wanted to scold them for serving me "black hot water". It was practically tasteless; I have never tasted such thin and bland coffee before in my whole life!

Century egg porridge with pork

This was the only decent dish. Their porridge is the HK kind, so it was brewed thick and tasty. The century egg was average. The pork, however, wasn't that good. It was quite tasteless.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Half-boiled eggs

Not good; the egg yolk was a bit overcooked and the egg white was sticky and translucent.

V's verdict: 5/10

Din Tai Fung

26th August, Wednesday

The outlet at Junction 8, forever with people queuing outside. Reached there at 7pm and had to wait half an hour for a seat.

Steamed pork dumplings (小笼包)

Din Tai Fung's famous trademark dish. This is also the only dish that is consistently good across all its outlets. As usual, it was good; the skin was of the right thickness, the pork was tasty, and the soup inside was sweet.

V's verdict: 8/10


Stir-fried spinach with garlic (蒜炒菠菜)

A simple dish. A bit bland though.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Fried rice with pork strips and egg

The outlet at Wisma was better. This was not bad, but not as good.

V's verdict: 7/10


Steamed chicken soup with noodles

Disappointing. The noodles was average, the soup was not bad, but the chicken had the defrosted taste! And the weird thing was that only some pieces had that taste. Bah!

V's verdict: 5/10


Soup with vegetable dumplings

The soup tasted strongly of vegetables - the filling inside the dumplings. A bit bland, but otherwise quite okay.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Noodles with minced pork in bean sauce (炸酱面）

Another of their well known dishes. I found this average only, though.

V's verdict: 6/10


My conclusion? It wasn't worth the 30 minutes wait for a seat. Perhaps it's the image they project? By utilising a queue system and having people hang around outside the restaurant to wait, they give onlookers the impression that their food was fantastic. Well, the food was only okay. I wouldn't mind going again, but not if I have to queue for another half an hour.

Food Junction (Junction 8)

9th July, Thursday

Sorry for the lousy pictures... the lighting at the food court was poor.

Curry beef pepper rice (Pepper Lunch Express)

The only difference between this and their normal beef pepper rice is the curry powder on top. Not bad, but I still think the normal version is nicer.

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10


Chicken chop (Western Food)

The mushroom soup they gave was horrible. It tasted like... tasteless cream? The garlic bread and coleslaw were decent. The chicken was so-so only. But I must admit, their service was good. Now, if only they can improve on their food...

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 5.5/10

Crystal Jade Kitchen (Junction 8)

12th July, Sunday

Compared to Din Tai Fung, their business isn't really good. At 8pm, there were more than 20 people queueing outside Din Tai Fung, while we got a table immediately at Crystal Jade Kitchen.

Mixed mushrooms with fried beancurd

This was quite good. The fried beancurd was delicious!

V's verdict: 7/10


Vegetables with salted egg and century egg

This was not bad, though I thought the taste of the salted egg didn't really seep into the vegetables and gravy.

V's verdict: 7/10


Minced pork with prawn and salted fish

This was quite all right too. A bit salty of course, so make sure you eat it with something else.

V's verdict: 7/10

Fei Siong (肥雄), Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks

8th July, Wednesday

Fishball noodles (Fei Siong)

I ordered mee kia, dry, takeaway. But they added so much sauces and soup that it seemed almost like fishball noodles soup! I was even doubting myself whether I ordered correctly or not.

But when I reached home and opened it, the noodles had absorbed all the soup. And it was surprisingly good, though the noodles were a bit too soggy. They added some vinegar too, and it did contribute to the overall taste. $3 + $0.20

V's verdict: 7/10


Handmade Oyster Mee Sua (Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks)

The last time I tried it, their shredded chicken tasted so horrible (defrosted taste) that I threw all of it away. This time it was all right, and the mee sua seemed to taste better than the last time I had it! Hmm... let's just give them the benefit of doubt. The oysters were quite good too. Quite expensive though, for just a small bowl. $3.50

V's verdict: 7.5/10

Food Junction (Junction 8)

7th July, Tuesday

Beef noodle (soup)

I ordered this as takeaway, so I didn't bother taking a picture. Anyway it's quite lousy. The beef is tough, the soup is bland and doesn't have the taste of beef. Not gonna try this again. $4 + $0.20

V's verdict: 4/10

Food Junction (Junction 8)

9th June, Tuesday

Pepper steak (Pepper lunch Express)



This was on offer ($7.90 instead of $8.90) so I decided to give it a try. It was not bad, especially since I love bean sprouts. The steak was quite all right, though you have to be careful not to overcook it. But compared to Pepper Lunch, they obviously used lower quality beef (not surprising, since it's around 50% cheaper). Still, I was quite satisfied.

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Cheese roti prata



Prata with cheese. It was prepared very nicely, and the dough was crispy. Cheese prata isn't really my type though; I still prefer it plain (kosong). The gravy could be thicker too.

V's verdict: 5/10
K's verdict: 5/10

Ya Kun Kaya Toast

5th June, Friday

Half boiled eggs

As usual, Ya Kun has the best half boiled eggs around. I have tried half boiled eggs from several places --- Ah Mei, Wang Jiao, normal coffeeshops --- and none can compare to theirs. Their half boiled eggs are just nice and taste good not only to the stomach but to the eye. Just look at how beautifully it is prepared! And their standards are quite consistent too.

V's verdict: 8/10


Kaya toast

Some other factors would determine whether kaya toast suits a person's taste --- thickness of the toast, and amount of butter? I know I like my toast to be thin, but my parents prefer thicker toasts. And obviously some people just love a lot of butter on their toast, but I prefer just a moderate amount (for health reasons as well).

The kaya toast here is the thin kind. The kaya tastes all right, though I think I wouldn't mind them to spread a bit more. The butter is one big chunk, but you can inform them beforehand not to put so much butter.

V's verdict: 7/10

Food Junction (Junction 8)

29th May, Friday

Beef pepper rice (Pepper Lunch Express)



(Didn't have time to take a picture, so I took this from their website)

I have eaten this several times before at other outlets, and they were all quite good. Today's was quite standard too. It tastes especially good if you add their honey sauce or garlic sauce into the rice and mix it well. I ordered an upsize for $2 more.

The service at this stall is a different matter, though. The cashier taking orders was quite friendly, and even held the menu for me to see when it was my turn to order. The auntie serving the customers, however, had a frozen expressionless face and looked quite sullen. And the kitchen took ages to serve one dish! There were only 5 people in front of me, but I waited like 15 minutes for my turn. Totally unacceptable. $5.80 + $2

V's verdict: 7/10