‘Best meal I’ve had’: Hong Kong’s iconic 2-dish-rice gets rave reviews by Japanese TV crew who discover top-notch, super-cheap eats across city
- TV crew were in city to film a documentary series about Hong Kong culture fronted by 7-member Japanese boy band Johnny’s West
- Social media has been awash with praise about the city’s food after it emerged that the Japanese crew discovered delicious eats at every turn
Hong Kong’s cheap and tasty cuisine – including its iconic two-dish-rice offering – has been lavished with praise by a visiting Japanese television crew making a documentary about the city’s culture and food.
Social media has been abuzz with positive chatter about Hong Kong’s culinary credentials since news of the documentary – which is fronted by one of Japan’s top boy bands, Johnny’s West – emerged.
The seven-member band are making a series of four episodes about the city’s food and culture, visiting areas such as Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon peninsula and Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island.
In the second episode, host Ryusei Fujii first visits Yau Ma Tei and sees dozens of people queuing outside a famous restaurant to buy two-dish-rice, a cheap and cheerful Hong Kong-style meal consisting of two main dishes and a generous portion of rice.
The two dishes the crew plump for are fried prawns with broccoli and sweet and sour pork. The assistant director of the programme describes it as “the best meal I’ve had” during his 10-day stay in Hong Kong.
In the episode, the film crew also visit the city’s Sheung Wan district on Hong Kong Island to see people having breakfast and find customers eating what they think is Japanese-style ramen.
However, on closer inspection they realise it is a famous Japanese instant noodle brand.
There are also visits to Kowloon Park which is described as “an oasis in the city” and the documentary takes a look at the “villain hitting”, a traditional ritual to harm an enemy by beating a cut-out representation of that person, in the Causeway Bay district on Hong Kong Island.
After news of the filming reached the local media, social media observers in the city were quick to pass comment.
One proud person said: “The food in Hong Kong is actually very good!”
“It’s not surprising that foreigners praise meals eaten by ordinary people, such food is often an eye-opener,” said another.
The Japanese production also visits “Goldfish Street” and the city’s “Ladies Market” in subsequent episodes.
