Yat Tung Heen - Wanchai, Hong Kong

Yat Tung Heen's famous Sweet & Sour Pork

-> I know, I know, it's really an overseas Asian dish and I felt like such a whitewashed Asian ordering this dish, but according to my friend, Yat Tung Heen's sweet & sour pork is the BEST in Hong Kong. And I totally believe it. It's just so exquisite, so delicate, so perfect, and although in all honesty, it's frickin pricey for something that you can get for 6 bucks in Sydney, but it's definitely worth it. Certainly the best sweet & sour pork I've ever tasted.

Calamari in five-spice crumb & Kung Pao Chicken

-> Yet another whitewashed Asian dish, the Kung Pao Chicken. HOWEVER...this one kicks ass. It's spicy, succulent, but...still, the BEST Kung Pao Chicken I've ever tasted is from a takeout at Alhambra, Los Angeles!

So, I went to Wanchai with my friend to check out an exhibition at Hong Kong Arts Centre. When we started to get hungry, we initially wanted to go to an Italian restaurant near Jaffe Rd, but we didn't have a reservation, and there's like, 20 people queuing in front of the restaurant. So, we decided to have some chinese food instead (I haven't been to a proper Chinese restaurant for months at this stage, so the decision was very much welcomed). Yat Tung Heen is quite posh, even for Hong Kong. It's been around for ages, and during its heyday, it is said to be one of the most famous in Hong Kong. It is, of course, outshone by many others today, but it's surprising to see so many young people who dined there. I kind of felt intimidated because I'd like to consider myself as having an 'old people taste' (i.e. REAL food, real gourmet - none of those fusion craps for youngsters) even though I'm not exactly OLD. Heehee. I guess I got most of my 'food education' from my dad and two grandpas, whoose tastes are (were) very old-school. My mom's father, for example, was an excellent, if not brilliant chef. His taste in food was so traditional and conservative, there's almost no Chinese restaurant in Jakarta that could satisfy his palate. He only dined in specific restaurants only, i.e., restaurants that uphold the utmost traditional way of cooking things. I learned a lot from him. That's probably why my friends (and my brother) nicknamed me, "grandpa taste". LOL