Slim Taste

Slim Taste
9/F 11 Stanley Street, Central
Hong Kong

A friend recommended this restaurant and, two weeks later, I visited the venue, discreetly placed in an innocuous building near Lan Kwai Fong in Central.  Nestled between larger, more prominent restaurants, the restaurant is certainly a hidden gem and worth a visit if only to take refuge from the hustle and bustle of Central life.

The selling point of the restaurant is the cardboard decor.  From the furniture, including cup holders, seats, stools and tables, to the bathroom signs, everything is made of cardboard.  The scene is incredible at first blush; I certainly couldn't believe that cardboard and lots and lots of masking tape could support such an enterprise, but the impossibility is the restaurant's appeal, isn't it?  Besides, I'm sure this model has been tried in Japan (Maybe, the products were made in Japan.) and what kitsch appeals in Japan may also appeal in Hong Kong.

The food is but an afterthought when dining at the restaurant.  My friends and I marveled not at the assortment of noodles, meats and buns, steamed, fried, salty, sour, spicy, but at the tables and chairs that could support our weight and which, at that time, remained untarnished by spills, drops and other natural foodie disasters.  Nevertheless, the food was delicious and reasonably priced. (My group of six split a check of $309.)  I tried the purple rice buns, that come steamed or fried, and they were quite filling.  Next time, I will try the purple rice noodles, which also came highly recommended.  I don't think eating here will break your budget; then again, it certainly won't leave you feeling slim!

The Price of Pho(od)

Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, is a pretty popular dish around my neighborhood due the diverse population. My boyfriend and I stick to two places, Pho Clement II and Pho Garden, with the latter being the trendier and more expensive of the two. In this post I provide some ratings on the two places. It wouldn't be fare to compare two different dishes, so here I compare both shop's offering of the type of pho with everything. I like to just call it the number one, because usually the first item on the menu includes the style of pho that I like: rare steak, flank, brisket, tendon, beef balls, tripe, etc...

Your typical x-large order of everything (flank, rare steak, tripe, tendon, etc), called the Pho Garden or Xe Lua

Place: Pho Garden
Dish: the "#1", called Xe Lua here
Broth: translucent and fragrant
Meat to noodle ration: slightly lower than Pho Clement II
Quality of sides: High -- Thai basil is fresh, bean sprouts are crisp, limes are juicy
Atmosphere: 5 stars due to their eating contest called the Pho Challenge, the place is always packed and festive feeling full of families sitting at huge tables, it is painted bright green and it smells awesome
Aesthetic Rating: 5 stars, you gotta love their beautiful bowls
Price: 8.50 USD

The x-large at Pho Clement II is packed full of meat, but I feel their broth lacks the pearly translucence that makes Pho Garden's so appetizing

Place: Pho Clement II
Dish: the "#1", known as phở đặc biệt
Broth: foggy
Meat to noodle ration: tons of meat, sometimes I can't even finish the noodles
Quality of sides: Medium -- Thai basil is occasionally brown at edges, bean sprouts are crisp, limes are often lemons
Atmosphere: 3 stars, the place is often empty, the fluorescent lights are jarring, sometimes it smells a little off, the Russians love this place though, and sometimes Jackie Chan is on the TV
Aesthetic Rating: 2 stars, bowls are just white
Price: 7.50 USD

So with these ratings, you would think Adam and I would stick to Pho Garden, considering that for 1 USD more, we get higher quality. The problem with Pho Garden is that it is packed all the time, and sometimes the wait can be longer than an hour. These long waits stem from families coming in hoping that their best nephew can complete the Pho Challenge, or, eat an enormous 20 dollar bowl of Pho in under one hour and thus get the bowl of Pho for free. When we see tons of kids waiting outside, we assume the worst and run, fast, to Pho Clement II.

Ajisen Ramen - Japanese noodles in Thailand

Ajisen Ramen proves that chain stores can still make decent noodles at a good price.

Tenderloin beef ramen: 135 baht (4.08 USD)
Bottle of water: 15 baht (0.45 USD)
Ice: 5 baht a glass (0.15 USD)

Ajisen Ramen is a Japanese fast food chain selling Japanese noodles with chains across the globe, which actually makes decent noodles.

I’ve often found that noodle chains tend to taste more artificial than your traditional local family run stores, as they take shortcuts to make the same bowl of noodle over and over again, but Ajisen Ramen was a rather pleasant surprise.

I ordered the beef tenderloin ramen, which came in miso soup-based broth accompanies by cabbage, bean sprouts and other vegetables, along with half a boiled egg.

The broth was delicious and the taste didn’t burn your tongue or throat when eating it. The beef tenderloin had been broiled for so long it was soft and crumbled in the mouth. It had obviously been marinated well, for the taste of the beef itself was excellent, slightly sweet and savory.

At first, I was afraid that the noodles themselves would taste industrial. Here, they were slightly chewy and absorbed some of the broth flavour into it. The texture was good while it didn’t taste pre-processed.

It was a very good meal, and I intend to go back. The prices are reasonable, and a decent bowl of ramen starts at 79 baht (2.39 USD). For that quality, it’s a good deal, although more quantity would have been helpful as well.

There are several branches of Ajisen in Thailand, and the one we went to was on the 6th floor of the MBK shopping complex.

Thai Noodles in Tom Yum Goong Soup

Making Tom Yum Goong Noodles from David Woo on Vimeo.
Thai Noodles in Tom Yum Goong Soup
Free (courtesy of the English department at Chiang Mai University)
Chiang Mai University, Thailand

After the GloCall 2009 conference, the English department of Chiang Mai university treated conference participants to some delicious Thai noodles; in this video, I order some Thai noodles in tom yum goong soup.

Chiang Mai is a great place to visit; and Chiang Mai university seems to be an excellent institution in which to work and to study.