Come lunch time, Tak Kee became a favorite amongst the blue collar workers from nearby with plenty of casual swearing overheard. Solid tasty chiu chou fare at a budget friendly price point. Used to be a little remote near the end of the tram line in the Western District. With the construction of the MTR extension, it is now right next to one of the entrance to the Hong Kong University station. Time will tell whether MTR will bring good fortunes to the eatery with potential rent inflation and gentrification.
I enjoyed my meal at Tak Kee very much.
The oyster congee, chiu chow style, I came for this. It did not disappoint. Yummy broth with contribution from the bivalves, the meat, and the shitakes, with the rice soaking up all these goodness. I wish I can find this dish more regularly back home, and with some resemblance of quality.
The signature pickled cabbage pepper pork tripe soup. Full of peppery taste for fans of peppers (which I am). Perfect for summer (the pickled cabbage) and winter alike (the pepper).
The chiu-chou marinated goose meat- 1/2 meat pieces and 1/2 meat. meat pieces on top was more tender. Should probably just gotten that. The marinade was pretty nice. Obviously not the top in the city but made for a very pleasurable neighborhood dish.
Could the sliced fish cake also be known as fish noodles? We had two renditions of fish noodles last week, unfortunately, neither matched my aunt’s fond memory of the dish she had in Boston (of all places).
That goose looks sweet! I love me some goose feet with sea cucumber also.
The restaurant is actually Cantonese and Sichuan, and is in Maryland. Picture of the fish noodle dish (from their website) attached. We chased this around in Hong Kong, but couldn’t find the right stuff to satisfy my aunt’s craving. She’ll just have to go back east to get her fix.
If I recall correctly, my aunt says the noodles are a mixture of fish and some kind of starch. I had thought the noodles start off as a paste and is extruded somehow. Looking at the picture, looks like the noodles are hand cut from a flat sheet. Pretty looking though, looks like fish fillets cut to size.
Definitely looks different than the two samples we tried in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong ones were more like fish cakes cut to noodle size.
I actually talked to a couple store owners (not restaurants) about any good Chiu Chow restaurants. They said that there used to be a few good ones, but not enough customer base to support them. Now, there are still the mid-low range Chiu Chow restaurants, but nothing on the higher end.
This place in HK is not high end either. Just good execution on the classics. Of course, its easier to find the customer base in HK to support such a restaurant.
The vegetable shop owner told me to give “波記潮州小食 (Bo Ky)” in Manhattan, NY a try. He said that it has been there for decades and quiet well known. So maybe I will give it a try. I am a novice at Chiu Chow, so it is good for me to narrow down a few dishes to try (which is why I asked you earlier about signature dishes).
There is Bo Ky, and there is Grand Bo Ky. Are they related, family feud kinda thing?
For more info on the cuisine, you should check out this post and the Chiu Chow wiki. You should ask them what they are good at. After all, the cuisine is wide and most places are particularly good at just one or two or a few things…
Had some fish noodles this morning in Tainan. These looked and taste like fish paste extruded to noodle shape. Interesting to sample, no hurry to repeat.
