Market Fresh

Despite its ridiculously dull name (thanks to our dear ol’ government), Hong Kong’s cooked food centers are the city’s culinary gems. These ugly concrete market buildings were built in the past two decades as a sanctuary for many of our beloved dai pai dongs as a result of the government’s determination to eliminate outdoor dining. Today, these centers have become dining hotspots, combining kick-ass food with dirt-cheap prices in one location. Some of them are old classics full of history; while some are opened by first-time restaurateurs who have made use of the relatively cheap space to open their dream restaurant. To celebrate this culinary tradition, here are our picks for the best of the best­—so what’s for dinner tonight?

Lok Yuen

With a computerized slideshow menu by the cashier and an online Facebook page, Lok Yuen’s managed to keep up with the times since opening up as a street stall over 40 years ago. These newfangled innovations are due, in no small part, to Lok Yuen’s third-generation owner, Mr. Chan, who runs the now-indoor place alongside his parents. In fact, it was also Chan who came up with the eatery’s two currently most popular items—satay beef French toast and milk tea red bean ice.

“My classmate challenged me to come up with other fillings for French toast,” says Chan, explaining the initial inspiration for his signature dish. On paper, it reads like a bizarre combination—a heaping mound of thinly sliced satay beef is tightly sealed between two pieces of egg-soaked, deep-fried bread and coated with a drizzling of treacle-sweet condensed milk and a small knob of butter. On tasting though, it’s an absolutely winning formula that hits all the right balances of texture and flavor. Needless to say, word soon spread about the deliciously novel dish. Same goes for the red bean milk tea, which sells like water every day at Lok Yuen. “I just combined two items that were already popular on our menu,” Chan says, offhandedly. The logic is simple enough. But it takes a little bit of creativity to think of it first.
Must-try dishes: Satay beef French toast ($19); milk tea red bean ice ($16); deep-fried pork chop.
Unit CF6, 3/F, Kowloon City Municipal Services Building, Nga Tsin Wai Rd., Kowloon City, 2382-3367.

Tung Po

“We don’t serve stir-fried rice noodles with beef,” says Tung Po’s owner, Robby Cheung. “Why not?” we ask, to which he furrows his brow and quickly points to a short sentence on the menu: “do not ask why.” His expression quickly breaks into a sort of you-fell-for-it chuckle before he explains the serious logistics behind the decision. It makes so much sense that you start to wonder why you didn’t think of it first.

Essentially, Tung Po’s claim to fame is that it’s not afraid to be different. Though Cheung admits that while the restaurant does have its gimmicky aspects, each gimmick serves a carefully thought-out practical purpose. “No one on our team had any experience in cooking Chinese food prior to opening this restaurant,” says Cheung, who came from a hotel industry background, where Italian cuisine was his area of expertise. But when his father-in-law offered him the chance of managing Tung Po, he took the gamble. With some creativity and experimentation, his team eventually came up with a pioneering brand of Hong Kong dai pai dong-style fusion that put them on the dining map. While other dai pai dongs were plating up stir-fried rice noodles, Cheung was busy figuring out the best way to make black ink squid with spaghetti, or the best way to keep beer cold (tip: serve them in chilled, Chinese-style soup bowls).

“We didn’t have any business the first nine months we were open,” Cheung says, remembering how he had to sell his apartment 18 years ago to raise money for the restaurant. Nowadays, his humble seafood joint has expanded to five stall spaces in the Java Road market and boasts a menu of over 100 items (written in Chinese, English and Japanese). At 8pm on a Tuesday evening, the space is already close to being fully packed. Still, Cheung shrugs it off with a casual, “business is OK tonight, I guess,” before excusing himself politely to greet another crowd of regulars, or to pull out an extra stool for a couple to set their bag on, or to have a quick drink on a customer’s invitation… and you can tell he’s enjoying every second of what he does.

Actually, everyone at Tung Po looks like they’re having fun. After all, the food is stellar and the beer is cold and plentiful. And with the loud chattering and the plates clattering, and the general, crazy-awesome energy, why wouldn’t people be having a good time?
Must-try dishes: Black ink squid with spaghetti ($70); minced pork with broccoli and cheese ($75); fried pig’s trotters with marinated beancurd ($78).
2/F, Java Road Cooked Food Center, 99 Java Rd., North Point, 2880-9399.

Siu Kee