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Hon Dim

David Sutton

Hon Dim
128-138 Leighton Road
Causeway Bay
Tel: 3489 2024

Grub: Korean street food

Vibe: This small place is primarily a fast food counter for takeaway. It can seat only six people at any one time, and those seated near the counter will have little room to swing a chopstick. Local pop music plays loudly, and pictures from the menu decorate the walls. The staff are friendly and helpful.

Who to take: No more than five of your friends if you want to eat in. If it's not too cold outside, get a takeaway and eat in Victoria Park.

What's hot: The colourful menu has descriptions of 10 dishes in Chinese and English. Stapled to this is another sheet that lists 14 more. Of course, there are more snacks on Korean streets than can be represented here, but Hon Dim does an admirable job of offering some of the most popular ones.

Chief among these are the spicy rice cakes: chewy glutinous rice sticks in a thick, sweet and spicy sauce. Try using toothpicks to pick them up because they will challenge your chopstick skills.

Another popular dish is fishcakes on a stick. You might think this is some kind of omelette satay, but it's actually thinly rolled fishcake folded onto a skewer. Be careful when you're deciding how many to order, as they are far more filling then they look. They are served in a piping hot fish broth with turnip.

Noodle dishes include stir-fried glassy noodles with vegetables, and cold noodles with vegetables. Rice can be ordered with pan-fried pork or mixed vegetables.

Hon Dim's bargain of a lunch box includes rice with vegetables, kimchi and a choice of fried pork, chicken or beef. Other items include Korean-style sushi rolls with vegetables, and kimchi and seafood pancakes. The kimchi pancakes are especially delicious.

All of the dishes are great for sharing, but the pancakes are not so big so you might like to consider one each.

What's not: Shortage of seating is the main problem here. They will also need to update the menu before long: all of these dishes are great on cold days, but some lighter fare will be welcome as summer approaches.

Cost: Most dishes are HK$25 or HK$33. The fishcake is HK$12 per stick; the lunch box is HK$45. You'd have to be very hungry to spend more than HK$60.

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