小月度麵 - 度小月台南擔仔麵，北京王府井新東安廣場

清末年間，民生不好過，大地東南之濟， 有一大島，每遇七至九月颱風天，島上漁民出海作業的日子少了，故稱七至九月為小月。 為謀生計，中南部一姓洪漁民，提著擔挑賣麵，小碗麵上有鮮蝦一隻，肉燥加小蔥，鮮香撲鼻 －就為世人所知的擔仔麵。 日子雖難過，但總也想法子去過。洪老先生，你這小碗麵，度過那些小月，却教人好好面對生活任何難關，寓意深遠。今天小月度麵，回歸大地，好讓十三億小口，一嘗百年前洪老先生這碗擔仔麵。

除了擔仔麵，還有鳳梨苦瓜排骨湯，鹽酥骨，南瓜泡菜，小紅茄，全都不負小月其名。

A warm and hearty noodle soup, in a street stall, Bang Por beach, Koh Samui, Thailand

Seeing this family run street stall noodle shop reminds me of my childhood that I like to visit a noodle street stall run by a family.  It's so warm seeing a father holding his kid in his arms, while his wife is making noodle soup for the customers, or vice versa.  Naturally I would feel this noodle soup is very warm and hearty, regardless of the taste.  

麥兆記雲吞麵 Mak Siu Kee Wonton Noodle shop, Wanchai HK

 Read the article in the shop about its origin - quite a long article but strange that I still couldn't figure out on how it claimed to be related to Mak Um Kee on a some sort of son-in-law with this and that relationship.  Anyway, the noodle is pretty nice - very evenly thin and al-dente.  The wonton is not bad, but the worst part is the soup.  It was quite bitter (probably from the over-burnt of the dai di fish).  The veggie wasn't too fresh.  So half and half, I'd prefer to go back to Mak Um Kee.

Im Thailand Ramen Life Center, Sathorn BKK

 Surprised with the less seasoning of the food from this shop.  If I cook at home, I also prefer cooking  with less seasoning or salt/sugar...etc.  Our body is severely burdened with lots of sodium and chemicals everyday.  Wherever and whenever possible, we really need to give our body's organs a vacation.   After all, the food isn't bad and some pretty fresh ingredients were used.

On Lee noodle shop 安利魚蛋粉, 東大街 Tung Tai Street, Shaukiwan, HK

Tung Tai Street is not a stranger name to those food hunters and has earned Shaukiwan a name for signature local food. The most famous one is certainly On Lee noodle shop. The shop was originally a street stall on a steep side lane beside the temple of photo 1. In the old time there were not only On Lee fish ball noodle stall, but also a lot of congee and trolley stalls selling lots of vivid snacks. Though I am not a big fan for On Lee, I often enjoy checking out this street.

At this recent visit, the noodle I took was so so and the fish ball was soaked in the soup for a long time that the flavour was gone. I was somewhat surprised as it shouldn't be like this when the shop was in a high flow of visitors. It will be another few years that I will give another try at On Lee. After the meal, I showed to my sister where the On Lee street stall was and those old shops all of a sudden showed up in my brain - 新新茶居 Sun Sun tea room and 洞天酒樓....

Ho Hung Kee noodle shop 何洪記, Causeway Bay, HK

This is one of the most established wonton noodle shops in Hong Kong. The shop is now behind Lee Theatre's plaza and convenient for tourists' visit in Causeway Bay. The noodle is very nice and aromatic but the soup base is not as good as before, though it's still not bad. Tried the HK most popular stir fried noodle with shred pork and bean sprout (肉絲炒麵). Quite a classic way that they did it - crispy outside and tangy soft inside with a nice hot shred pork bean sprout sauce on top. I love putting the Cantonese chili sauce (photo 3) to go with the stir fried noodle. Full of memory.

鳳城美食, 灣仔汕頭街 Fung Shing restaurant, Shantou Street, Wanchai HK

This shop is one my regular visited shop for a big full meal for a bowl of soup, a big bowl of rice and a drink. 12 years ago, this set big meal set was about HK$32. Last week when I tried it, it is surprisingly kept at HK$37. Their signature fish patty slices soup is still pretty good. Then the pork chop with over-easy egg on rice with sweet soy sauce is highly recommended. They only pan fry the pork chop and egg to the order. My top priority is still their stewed beef brisket with turnip. They often put 3 big chunks of sweet soft turnip in it with lots of brisket cuts. Their house brisket sauce is excellent too. See the dry grown morning glory (photo 4). The preserved bean curd sauce is very nice. It's at a right balance of sweet and salty flavour with a bit chili in it.

Rip off dinner at Wing Wah won ton noodle shop 永華雲吞麵家, Wanchai, Hong Kong

This shop used to be my regular visit when I was around in Wanchai years ago. Their won ton and red bean sweet were superb. Back then their prices were at the same level as the other won ton shop.

Unfortunately, after Michelin rated this shop as a recommended visited one, their prices became rocket high. The bill for the below is HK$235. Won ton noodle at HK$34 (market average price at around $20-25 for famous shop, common one at $14-18), pig knuckle's tossed noodle HK$53 (vs. $28-35), Kai Lan with dried shrimp roe HK$35 (vs. HK$20-25, but not in such a small portion), deep fried fish skin HK$22 (vs. HK$7-12), shrimp veggie dumpling HK$34 (vs. HK$18-25), Chinese herbal tea 桑寄生茶 HK$18 (vs. HK$10-12), red bean sweet HK$22 (vs. HK$6-12). First, the noodle isn't tangy as before though it claimed to be a "bamboo rod pressed" noodle. Then the noodle wasn't tossed well. It came as a "bag" of noodle. Won ton and dumplings were already made and the wrap is too mashy. Soup base isn't aromatic at all. Pig's knuckle wasn't shimmered well. Then the herbal tea is so so. The red bean sweet is too thin. Really not the same as before. I gotta put a foot stop to this shop. My loving memory is completely washed away...

*Please check the photo no. 9. Their pomelo skin is charged crazily at HK$110. Jade Garden or similar restaurant charged only HK$72. So their bottled coke/sprite is even at HK$13 (vs. HK$5-7 for won ton shop). Crazy! Even something not made by them, but just sold at this hop can be double high. Reward and rating can make them a business but also destroy them on their ecstasy of ego. Sigh but a good mirror education for us.

2012 Spring review: 八方雲集 (Altogether), Quarry Bay, HK

This shop may not be the best in making dumpling but it's the best to me in terms of price and food freshness and cooking in Taiwanese style. I found out a set of pig's intestine soup, 5 dumplings and a soy bean drink at just HK$30. Need to update our overseas friends that right now the food price has been at around 20-30% increase due to the minimum wage implementation. So taking a lunch at a local restaurant cost about HK$40-50 (was HK$25-35). Besides, most waiters and waitresses are always having a black face. Why? Their bosses can't afford so many minimum wage staff and so need to ask 1 staff to work for 2 staffs' job.

So I really get amazed at this shop for keeping the $30 set and yet the quality and service aren't bad, and much beyond my expectation. The pig intestine's noodle soup is my favourite but almost none of my friends would take it. So it's good for me to have this set by myself. Another remark is on their food freshness and freshly made on order. Their beef noodle is also very nice with quite 1 big carrot cut and turnip and a big veggie, as well as 1 big tendon (very well cooked), big brisket and beef chunk. Note that the soup is very authentic Taiwanese in a "hot burnt red oil" soup. Though I don't like it too oily (I would take that out carefully), it's very aromatic in the soup. So it's just HK$39 for such a big bowl of renowned Taiwanese "hot burnt" beef noodle soup (and with some healthy veggie fiber). Highly recommended to get some low cost nice food during this tough time of super jump inflation.