Cheap Eats

It's been 4 months since I last blogged. Three of those months, I was back in the good ol' U.S. of A. Now that I'm back and though we are coming out of a recession, I think it would be fitting to discuss a few cheap eats in Hong Kong. Being the financial capital of Asia, Hong Kong caters to both international visitors, expats and locals, ranging from 5 star Michelin & Zagat rated restaurants to very basic, affordable local "hole in the wall" diners, where personal space and napkins are non-existent; the use of the table and chair will cost extra sometimes.

Lan Fong Yuen is considered a landmark to everyone who works and lives in the SOHO/Central district. This is the epitome of a hole in the wall spot, one of the best actually. Gaining entry to it requires squeezing through the tiny opening next to the take out window!

The place is famous for three things. Pork chop buns (not pictured), grilled chicken with spring onion oil over instant noodle (yes, it's straight out of a normal instant noodle package you can buy at the supermarket!), and the thirdd item is salted lemon with 7up (pictured above, it's a lemon marinated in salted water for a period of time). Also, everyone likes the milk tea here too but I can't discern the difference w/ other milk tea in HK.

No lie, everyone at my table ordered the same stuff! We had toast spread w/ condense milk (forgot to take a picture but I'm sure you can picture toast w/ condense milk :), two chicken noodle plates, two drinks for a grand total of $12 USD, no tax nor tips.

This is the entire place, 6 round tables with stools. The trick is to eat w/ your elbows tucked into your body so you don't bump into the person next to you. All tables are shared and believe me, there's no open stool during peak hours. If you get a left hander eating next to you, forget about it!

This tiny breakfast stand is on a footbridge next to Cisco's building. Mostly take out since sitting at the table costs extra.

$1.70 USD for rice noodle, sui mai, and a milk tea.

Locals really love pork chop with curry over rice. Very simple but a delicious dish. $5 USD lunch box take out. Napkins not included.

Herbal tea shops are ubiquitous in local neighborhoods. A healthy body has to be a balanced body. After eating fried pork chop for lunch, two cups of tea (24 different herbs and sweet flower ) were perfect to cool my "hot" body down.

60 cents for a cup. Extra dark = extra bitter but more effective.

Starbucks is not exactly cheap eats since a "short" cup (smaller than a "tall") of coffee costs more than my breakfast! About $2 USD for this tiny thing. Too bad we don't have enough kitchen-counter space for a coffee maker. We would have to give up our rice cooker to make room for a coffee maker.

Didn't Starbucks reduce the price of a "tall" coffee to a buck now in the U.S.? Man, I miss my Peet's coffee...