HK: Two Local Breakfasts - Macau Restaurant and Tsui Wah Restaurant

Why did we eat two breakfasts in one day?

Well, it was the day for us to go to the Dragonboat Carnival! Something that requires epic effort and great fueling up prior to the event, obviously!



OK, fine, we're not in the actual race proper, except for a "Bathtub Race" for four bloggers. But some of us just woke up early, and decided to start the day right - with FOOD. Never mind that the digital weighing machine told me I was already 1.5kg heavier from yesterday's multiple meals. We ventured out of the hotel and explored the surroundings.

We walked into Macau Restaurant (25-27 Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; tel: +852 2366-8148), in a rather random fashion, but maybe our troop leader Alvin knew a thing or two. The food turned out to be pretty good.



Macanese crispy roll with pork chop and scrambled eggs (HK$25, comes with coffee/tea). I never knew how tasty the Macau rolls were until now. The pork chop is thin but tender, juicy and well-marinated. A worthy challenger to the SME (Sausage McMuffin with Egg).





Instant noodles topped with spicy pork mince and fishballs.



The instant noodle sets come with thick toast with peanut butter and butter; or kaya, butter and sugar.



An ice cold Yuen-Yang coffee-tea mixture guaranteed to wake you up! They do it well here.



Breakfast is served from 6.30am til 11am. There are various sets to choose from. There were also some nice-looking Macau Portuguese egg tarts at the entrance, but we didn't try any.



Chee Kei opposite Macau Restaurant apparently has good congee and noodles too. But it clearly doesn't open for breakfast.

After that, it was time to meet back at the hotel to go for our breakfast proper. The Hong Kong Tourism Board felt it would be good to show us a local breakfast.



We headed down to Tsui Wah Restaurant, not too far away at 2 Carnarvon Road. This is a fairly ubiquitous chain of "cha chaan teng" restaurants which serve a lot of things from noodles to sandwiches, curries to congee. Mostly comfort food for locals here.



Pork cartilage noodles. Stewed pork ribs with soft bones (cartilage) and noodles. I can't resist cartilage! So I had to have this.



Darren made a good choice in the grilled cubed beef fillet, Japanese style.



Sizzling fried noodles with king prawns (Sichuan and Peking style). The crunchy noodles and sauce were addictive.



I notice that macaroni is crazily popular in Hong Kong. Here's a soupy version with ham and something that could be abalone strips.



One of the better dishes was also the simplest. Dry-tossed noodles with shrimp roe. Very "QQ" noodles!



Others made healthy choices. Fishball kway teow (rice noodle) soup!



Even with its casual dining atmosphere, Tsui Wah still seems like a large restaurant to me than a Hong Kong cafe. Even its neon signboard is quite over-the-top! Prices are pretty friendly though.



OK, now we're ready for Dragonboat anything! Here's Darren, looking really pro with those UV-protector sleeves (until you see the cute Mashimaro logo near the watch). Four of the bloggers are going to participate in a "Bathtub Race" - with some funny results!

I'll show you the festive Carnival in the next post!