Hong Kong Food Trip: Delicious Kitchen

Tweet

Impulse Hong Kong trip with friends from marketing with two things in mind - SHOP and EAT! :) It was tagged as Project Independence Day among us since we were flying back on June 12 which is the Philippine Independence Day!

Whenever in HK, I just ate wherever my feet would stop when my tummy starts growling (but with a rule of no fastfood... whenever we can!). But this time we all had to eat at the best culinary destinations in HK based on reviews by friends, friends of friends, and online resources. We even devoted a pre-production meeting to map out the optimal itinerary to bridge food, shopping and night out in the 3 days we were going to be there. Well, except for Criselle who was a HK virgin who was looking forward to the touristy destinations (which you will later find out in my other posts, had an Epiphany of sorts).

Upon landing in HK last Friday, July 9, we were all hungry after checking in the hotel. First stop was Delicious Kitchen which our friend Ivy was super raving about. She told us that one of our suppliers and friend, Stephen first ate there when he was 16 years old (decades ago... hihihi).

Of course Delicious Kitchen is now more modern but still a quaint little unassuming place. After a quick 10 minute walk from the hotel, we have reached the resto and we're very happy that it's air conditioned. Contrary to what reviews say, no line on Friday lunch time so double yay for us!

Nifty place with the pictures of their best sellers posted outside.

And it has English translations. No second guessing. Chili prawns was also tagged as a must try.

They now even accept credit cards - Citibank Promo: Free Mashed Red Bean Pancake for every HK$ 1,000 (hindi umabot ang bill namin haha)

People said one should get their famous Pork Rib Vegetable Rice, Beef Tendon and Hainan Chicken. But still we browsed through the menu to see what else they had to offer.

Teejae, Jo, Criselle, me and Tish - ready to fight!

Jing, Jena and Allie - and of course Coke to complete the meal!

You may need to call for reservations.

Individual bowls at reasonable prices. Platters for sharing also available. More pictures and other selection found in the menu.

Everyone had something different so that everyone can sample something from the Delicious Kitchen.


Tish had Nanking Beef Vegetable Rice. Beef was tender but a bit fatty (most probably they used Oyster Blade or Brisket cut which has fat layers in between the meat. Slightly sweet with the flavors of soy and anise. Something familiar which everyone will enjoy.

Jing ordered the Delicious Chicken - golden fried chicken which had very juicy and tasty meat and a crispy skin. Imagine your Max's chicken with crisper skin! Yum.

It's served with a 5-spice salt (salt with 5-spice powder which gives it Chinese notes of clove, cinnamon, star anise). Found it too salty though when sprinkled, so it's just delicious as it is.

Jo had the famous Pork Rib Vegetable Rice. Seemed like ordinary  fried pork chop when it arrived but the reddish brown glaze is what gave it it's distinct flavor. Jo found it a bit overpowering but over-all definitely a must-try in the restaurant.



Sweet and salty, it was the perfect complement to the tender slightly fatty pork chop (boneless and skinless though). The flavors reminded me of pork asado or char siu (Chinese Barbecue). There is Double Pork Rib available which I feel is good for sharing.

 

Teejae had the Chicken Vegetable Rice. It does not really say Hainan Chicken in the menu but we figured that was it. Hahaha what we did not expect is that the chicken is served cold with the hot bowl of rice. If you decide to try it, just be ready for that temperature difference.

Highlight the contrast in temperature in flavor with chili sauce.

The chicken is succulent with delicate flavors of ginger and spring onion. Despite being poached in wine and cooled down, it has retained its tenderness and created a gelatinous texture on the skin (which I love).

Speaking of gelatinous textures, I ordered the Beef Tendon which came in a sweet soy-anise sauce similar to the Nanking Beef. I love eating jelly and grizzly weird things from animals so I was sooo excited! Tendon is litid in Tagalog which are the connective ligaments in the cow.

And the steaming vegetable rice is also something special. It's cooked in flavorful broth (Chicken I presume) and has this wonderful aroma. The fat from the cooking broth also kept each grain separated. Wom boc (Chinese pechay) was also cooked into it.

Each piece of tendon was like savory jello which just melts in your mouth. I can just imagine how many hours these were cooked to reach this state of tenderness. Let us not count cholesterol now! :)

Burp!

That was a good opening lunch to a wonderful food escapade in Hong Kong!

Delicious Kitchen has many branches in HK but this one is found near Causeway Bay (streets behind Sogo Department Store).

Food:        4/5 - Really interesting flavors. Just plan out your orders so that you do not pile up rich dishes on top of each other
Service:     4/5 - Fast service. One English speaking person in the staff, but over-all manageable.
Ambiance: 4/5 - No frills. Good airconditioning (clothes may smell like pork rib though) and not too cramped.
Price:        4/5 - Single rice bowl is at HK$40 average. Not bad and it will leave you stuffed and charged for walking all day in the streets of HongKong.

Delicious Kitchen lives up to its long standing history and it's name.

Watch out for the continuation of this food trip in the next posts. Xie xie! :)

*some photos courtesy of Allie and Teejae