Hong Kong people are crazy about food. One major reason is because of the range. I can either go for budget street food or dine at a fancy hotel.

Tonight, my friend Danny showed me around the street food scene. Wan chai is the place to be. This seedy neighborhood creates curiosity.

My curry siu miu (pork dumplings-$1USD) featured tender pork meat. Other choices include grilled squid, waffles, curry fish balls. The entire range from savory to sweet.

In general, most restaurants serve Chinese food. Main dishes such as won ton noodle soup can range from $2 USD to $5 and up. Each boutique restaurant serves different quality of noodles, soup base, and won ton.

For late night meal, we ended up eating at a Hong Kong Café which are similar to diner’s in the states. Arriving with a piping hot soup, the chewy noodles and spinach dumpling ($3USD) was good, but not great. The soup base lacked a rich flavor tone such a umami, the 5th sense. This restaurant is known to use sea salt, promoting it as a healthy flavor enhancer.

A lemon coke quenched my thirst.

(won ton with sea salt)

But dining at Hong Kong café is more than just about the food, it is about the ambiance. This includes listening to the chatter. Chatter that includes the worries about the economy and unemployment.

So, late night snacks essentially round out the day.

“I can’t believe I got passed up for the promotion, grab me a large beer.”
“My daughter didn’t get into college.”

Often times, you will glance over and see a Chinese man in his fifties looking intensely at his newspaper attempting to pick the next winning stock, all the while devouring a curry rice.