Beef boat noodle for under US$10 at Hong Kong’s Thaipei is value for money, but Taiwanese dishes disappoint
- The impressive beef boat soup came with fresh, firm Thai noodles and prime beef slices that were tender and flavourful
- But the popcorn chicken was only average, and had little resemblance to the Taiwanese style
Just next to Wan Chai’s Lee Tung Street, which until its garish gentrification was once famous for its small printing shops, is a small block that is quickly becoming a mini Thai food area.
One of the restaurants is the interestingly named Thaipei, which is amusingly decorated with refrigerator magnets of Thailand and Taiwan.
A Mandarin-speaking staff member came up to introduce the menu, before another server, speaking English with a Thai accent, took our orders.
We picked the two recommended lunch sets, both of which were Thai: the USDA prime beef boat noodle (HK$88), and the Hainanese chicken rice (HK$68). For an extra HK$30, we added a small papaya salad with salted egg.
With our food, we had Thai milk tea (HK$15) which was sweet, strong and cold. The star fruit juice turned out to be an interesting canned drink by an old Taiwanese brand Hei Mien Tsai. The drink has only 10 per cent of star fruit juice and tasted more like plum juice.
The boat soup with fresh Thai noodles came with meatballs, prime beef, beef brisket, bean sprouts and water spinach. The dark brown broth was slightly sour with a rich beef flavour and hints of coriander and basil. The Thai noodles were firm, and the prime beef slices were tender and flavourful, although the brisket pieces were slightly tougher. The soup was not spicy but chilli flakes are available to add in.