Zai Qianmen New Beijing Cuisine Panyu Tee Mall 在前門新京菜 番禺天河城店 (Panyu, CHINA) ★★★★☆

After our visit to Chimelong International Circus in Panyu (番禺長隆馬戲團), we returned to Panyu Tee Mall (番禺天河城) looking for a place to have dinner. It was refreshing to see a variety of unfamiliar restaurant names on the upper level of the mall, which meant we could try something new.

When I first stumbled upon Zai Qianmen New Beijing Cuisine (在前門新京菜), I thought we might finally get our hands on some Peking duck. 



It's been a while since we last had one.

However, once we got settled down, I was told by little nugget that he didn’t want Peking duck tonight. Too much meat he said. Okay, there are many more dishes beyond Peking duck in Beijing cuisine!

Traditional Zhajiangmian Beijing-style (老北京炸醬麵) (¥23) — It's been some time since I last had traditional zhajiangmian, and I remember the sauce being a bit sweeter than this.

Stir-fried pig’s kidney with chili oil (火爆腰花) (¥46) — I found the extra kick from the chili oil to be more subtle than I first thought, which was nice. The pig’s kidney was complemented well by the garlic purée, green onion, bamboo shoots, and black fungus, but its texture could have been crunchier. Right now, it was a bit too soft.

Scrambled eggs with mantis shrimp (土雞蛋炒瀨尿蝦肉) (¥46) — The scrambled eggs had a lovely runny texture that paired well with the fresh chives and mantis shrimp. Love this! 👍🏻

Yellow croaker in sweet and sour sauce (糖醋東海大黃魚) (¥98) — Little nugget insisted on having this instead of the Peking duck. Apparently, he was craving something sweet and sour to whet his appetite. It was pretty nicely done.

We got about an hour left for some gaming time, so it was time to hassle over to the arcade center before it gets too late.

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: ¥¥

Address: Shop 501-503, Level 5 Panyu Tee Mall, Wanbo 2nd Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou, China

广州市番禺区万博二路番禺天河城F5 501-503号铺

Closest Metro Station: Nancun Wanbo (南村万博)

Tel: +86 (020) 8582-7986

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/f1/pWYk

Honolulu Coffee Shop Wanchai 檀島咖啡餅店 灣仔總店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I was having my routine visit to Honolulu Coffee Shop (檀島咖啡餅店) in Wanchai and didn't realize that it could very well be my last chance to bid farewell to this 80-year-old café (News on their closure only broke a couple of days after my meal).

They still serve one of my favorite iced milk teas (凍奶茶) in Hong Kong — creamy with robust tea flavors yet not overly rich.

Most lunch sets were already sold out, except for the stir-fried rice noodles with smooth eggs and shrimp (滑蛋蝦仁炒河), which was pretty decent.

This should be my last meal here before they officially close down in March. It's such a pity that our kids won't be able to experience some of these old institutions anymore.

Food Rating: 5.2/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 176-178 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 2575-1823

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 10:00pm daily

Ladies Street Sik Fan Co. Mong Kok 女人街食飯公司 旺角店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Aniram’s back from the UK for Chinese New Year. It’s been four years since she left, and every year, I've told her I might come to visit, but it never materialized. I guess it’s much easier for her to come back.

Prior to our gathering, I sent her three dinner places to choose from, and not surprisingly, she picked Ladies Street Sik Fan Co. (女人街食飯公司). Many of my overseas guests seem to like this place.

Stir-fried pea shoots with garlic (蒜蓉豆苗) ($80) – Surprisingly, our vegetable dish was the first to arrive. This wasn’t bad.

Prawn toast with black truffle (黑松露鮮蝦多士) ($96) – I liked the minced prawn mousse on top of the crispy toast, but the toast itself was a tad too hard for my ailing teeth, which have given me problems all year. Decent but could be better.

Deep-fried squid with salted egg paste (金沙脆鮮魷) ($138) – A meal here always comes with some drama. Before our squid dish arrived, a plate of crispy fish skin (炸魚皮) unexpectedly showed up instead. When we told the server that we didn't order it and that he had mistakenly written down a completely different dish, he tried to sell us on taking this one as well. Too bad my friend and I don’t like fish skin.

So, the real dish did arrive after all. I must admit, nobody I know won't enjoy having deep-fried squid. The salted egg paste was a little more subtle than I initially thought, which wasn’t a bad idea. Sometimes, less is more.

Steamed scallops with garlic (金銀蒜蒸大元貝) ($136) – The big scallops were indeed pretty big. I loved the fact that they came with enough chopped garlic and chives (I won’t mind more of it!), which worked well with my steamed rice.

As usual, we had a nice chat updating each other on what’s happening in our lives. Sometimes, I felt like she never really left Hong Kong at all. We also joked about the past and got a glimpse of our respective futures in the planning. Of course, I wish her all the best in the UK and reiterated my promise that one day, I would really choose to visit the UK rather than the rest of Europe, which is always more appealing considering the number of Michelin restaurants there.😁😁

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Room B, 1/F, Witty Commercial Building, 1A-1L Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Mong Kok

Tel: +852 2685-1618

Opening Hours: 6:00pm - 11:30pm daily