Happy Cafe Kitchen Lai Chi Kok 快樂順景 荔枝角店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Happy Bakery (快樂餅店) is a traditional Hong Kong-style bakery shop which has been serving the Wanchai community with its delicious baked goods since 1995. They offer a variety of items including traditional Hong Kong-style pastries, cakes and buns. Signature items often include egg tarts, pineapple buns, and various types of bread.

Recently, I found that they have opened a small outlet in front of Chill Cafe (潮食地) near Lai Chi Kok station. And lo and behold, Chill Cafe quietly turned into Happy Cafe Kitchen (快樂順景小廚), a modern "bing sutt" this week! 

Presumably, this is a cafe brought to us by the folks behind Happy Bakery.

I woke up early just to experience their breakfast sets and there were a number of interesting options on the menu. Of course, I started things off with a sip of iced milk tea (凍港式奶茶) first. This came with a generous amount of milk, perfectly balanced by just the right amount of tea to support the flavor.

I ended up getting one of the bing sutt classics, instant noodles with luncheon meat and egg (餐肉煎蛋公仔麵), "Chan Dan Min". The broth, I thought was pretty nice and sweet working well with the al dente noodles.

This wasn't much of a test but it's a start. Looking ahead, I'm going to check out their afternoon tea set next featuring three different types of fried chicken legs. Stay tuned.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop B, G/F, Laws Commercial Plaza, 788 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 9:00pm daily

Yin Yue at Panda Hotel 殷悦中菜廳 悦來酒店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It was nice to see some good friends and family members returned to Hong Kong for Christmas this year. A very close teammate of mine was back to see his family and I got the chance to grab a quick dim sum lunch with him for the first time since he took off in 2021. 

We met up at Yin Yue (殷悦中菜廳), the Chinese restaurant at Panda Hotel (悦來酒店) that we used to visit more often about a decade ago. This place certainly brings back memory.

Steamed shrimp dumpling with asparagus (露筍鮮蝦餃) – I was amazed with the size of these shrimp dumplings. Not as big as the ones from Tao Tao Ju (陶陶居) but they were substantial. Love the fact that the asparagus didn't overpower the shrimps.

Steamed pork dumpling with scallop and wolfberry (杞子玉帶燒賣) – Pretty delicate.

Steamed rice rolls with assorted sauces (混醬腸粉) – Who doesn't like steamed rice rolls drizzled in a mix of different sauces?

Steamed rice rolls with barbecued pork (蜜汁叉燒腸) – We always have room for more steamed rice rolls and barbecued pork. Why not both at the same time.

Fried rice wrapped in fragrant lotus leaf (飄香荷葉飯) – One of the more popular dishes around here. The rice was pretty fragrant and there were enough ingredients to add to the bite.

The dim sum was delicious this afternoon but the highlight of the meal was our conversation. It’s always a pleasure to see good friends enjoying life on the other side of the globe. Hopefully, we will cross path again in the future. 

Food Rating: 6.4/10

Price: $$$$

Address: 30/F, Panda Hotel, 3 Tsuen Wah Street, Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsuen Wan

Tel: +852 2409-3182

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm daily

Lung Wah Hotel 龍華酒店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

My sister is leaving Hong Kong in two weeks and I have been trying to think of a special place or two to take her before her departure, with Lung Wah Hotel (龍華酒店) somehow making it to the top of my list (regrettably).

Despite the influx of tourists from around the world, it clearly didn't help the business around here. Way too many empty seats on a weekend. 

Roast pigeon (脆皮燒乳鴿) – As usual, these were the first to arrive. I have heard from the past that Lung Wah has set up a pigeon farm in Mainland China for better control of quality but I guess it just wasn't working. The flesh of these pigeons was so rough that we could hardly taste anything besides the overwhelming saltiness of the soy sauce.

Deep-fried cuttlefish (椒鹽鮮魷) – The cuttlefish was seriously bland and rubbery. Not good.

Stir-fried broccoli (清炒西蘭花) – Finally, something good to go with the steamed rice.

Fried chicken with lemon sauce (西檸軟雞) – One of the few bright spots this afternoon. The chicken was pretty tender and I thought the lemon sauce was spot on.

Stir-fried rice noodle with beef (乾炒牛河) – Just look at the color of this and you know something's wrong. There was no trace of any "wok hei" in the noodles; instead it gave off a burnt, acrid smell.

After the meal, we headed to the outdoor area to bask in the warm sunlight.



This was a pretty expensive lunch especially considering the quality of the food that was served. It represented really poor value-for-money and some of us have already signaled that we would be putting them on our black list of restaurants. No complaints from me here! 

Food Rating: 3.8/10
Price: $$$
Address: 22 Ha Wo Che Chuen, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
Closest Train Station: Shatin
Tel: +852 2691-1594
Website: www.lungwahhotel.hk

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:30pm daily

Tartes and Pop (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Tartes and Pop is a charming French pastry shop located in Sheung Wan known for its wonderful selection of artisanal pastries. I first came across their shop in 2017 and was amazed with their beautifully crafted tarts that showcase seasonal ingredients and exquisite flavors.

While I was in the neighborhood, I thought I should pay them a long overdue visit, my first since COVID.

Orange Earl Grey Tarte ($48) – As a sucker for anything with Earl Grey tea in it, this was a no-brainer for me.

The orange compote and Earl Grey mousse blended beautifully on the butter crumble base with the house-made orange marmalade providing the finishing touch on top.

Afterwards I took some time to walk around other landmarks in Sheung Wan including Western Market. I haven't been here for years!

They have such exquisitely made tarts here. It's a shame that they don't have a small dine-in area for pastry enthusiasts like myself who's looking to enjoy a taste of France on the spot.

Food Rating: 6.1/10
Price: $$$
Address: 2 Morrison Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Sheung Wan
Tel: +852 6597-6667
Website: www.tartes-pop.com

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 6:30pm (Mon - Sat)

Shui Kee Coffee 瑞記咖啡 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Located on the second floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building (上環市政大廈), Shui Kee Coffee (瑞記咖啡) is a well-loved local cha chaan teng-style food stall which has been in business since the 1960s. The traditional dai pai dong (大排檔) canteen is best known for offering affordable and delicious Hong Kong-style breakfast and lunch dishes for over 60 years.

I love these kinds of old-school stuff.

It was almost closing time when I arrived at Shui Kee so I didn't order a whole lot. Just an iced milk tea and a toast with scrambled eggs and luncheon meat. 

The fact that it came in a bottle made me feel like it had been prepared in advance rather than freshly made. I found the tea to be reasonably creamy, but its fragrance wasn’t as strong as I had hoped.

My toast arrived shortly after the tea. 

The luncheon meat wasn't as thick as those from other places but this wasn't bad. 

The pervasive smell of bleach signaled it was time for me to pick up the pace.

Shui Kee Coffee's milk tea has frequently been featured in the "10 best pantyhose milk teas" in Hong Kong. It was great to finally check it off my list once and for all.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$

Address: Shop 17, Cooked Food Centre, 2/F, Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, 345 Queen's Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sheung Wan

Tel: +852 2850-8643

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 3:00pm daily

Soul Kitchen Kai Tak Mall 3 四寶食堂 啟德零售館3 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

I don't know who is the wise guy that comes up with the idea of spending our new year's day at Kai Tak Sports Park (啟德體育園) but this is looking better by the minute at least from the cost-saving point of view. We hardly spend any money walking around the park. 

The only time where we decided to drop some cash was when we bumped into Soul Kitchen (四寶食堂) at Kai Tak Mall 3 (啟德零售館3). I wasn't planning to write about my afternoon tea here until I saw the view of the track from the window seat.

You can't get any closer to the track than this!

My stomach wasn't feeling well this morning but there was no way I would pass up the chance for my caffeine fix. The iced milk tea was really creamy and silky smooth. Pretty nice.

I had the pineapple bun with a thick slab of frozen butter. Not bad.

Little one looked as though he hadn't eaten lunch at all when he took on a soy sauce chicken leg all by himself. 

This is a really really big facility that they've got here.

I hope they fill this place up every night. 👍💪

Food Rating: 5.2/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop M3-006, G/F, Kai Tak Mall 3, Kai Tak Sports Park, 38-39 Shing Kai Road, Kai Tak, Kowloon City, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kai Tak

Tel: +852 2342-4344

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