Century Celebration in Sai Kung 百年盛事在西貢

Sai Kung recently celebrated its 100th anniversary of the Tinhau and Guandi temple.

This took place from the 17th-22nd November with the Chinese opera kicking off and booths selling local creative and traditional snacks and products on Yi Chun Street.

 

I was really lucky to tag along and watch the parade on land and at sea followed by the banquet.

Sunday the 21st was the main event with a parade that saw the Tin Hau and Kwan Tai statues being carried along the streets of Sai Kung followed by the parade carried out at sea.

Approximately 50 viewing boats sailed alongside vying for the best view.

After the parade, a Poon choi banquet was held for guests with over 500 tables which took up the whole Sai Kung square and part of the road adjacent to the market and theatre.

https://www.facebook.com/saikungcelebration/
建廟百年 在 西貢 西貢慶典
　天后　關帝　古廟 建廟百週年慶典 廟會 廟會2016　市集　街頭小食 百年盛事在西貢
西貢戲棚

Sunset dinner at Hutong

Hutong is part of the Aqua Restaurant group in Hong Kong.
If you book the Aqua Luna boat ride package you can dine at any of their restaurants after the boat trip.

Aqua Luna experience:
http://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.hk/2016/05/an-unforgettable-experience-on-aqua-luna.html

I think dinner at Hutong is the best after experiencing Aqua Luna because it can't get more Chinese than this!!
The decor, music and everything is just amazing that tourists and expats will love this place.
Every aspect of from the ceiling to the menu was totally oriental.
I know it sounds silly mentioning the washroom but that was worth checking out too.

If you don't go on the boat tour, the Sunset dinner from 6-8pm costs $498 per person.

This is what we had.

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Bamboo clams steeped in Chinese rose wine and chili sauce paired with asparagus:
A great way to begin dinner with appetizing clams and nutty asparagus coated in sesame.

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Northern garden braised fish fillet in Sweet and Sour sauce:
This was the highlight of dinner because I love fish.
It was totally boneless and it was a whole fish with skin and tail attached.
The fish was soft and silky coated in a sweet and sour sauce that was flawless.

I devoured it all except the tail.

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Crispy boneless lamb ribs with Chinese pancakes:
This was crispy chunks of lamb that was soft and tender.

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Stir fried string beans with minced pork:
I loved the beans, they were spicy with a fragrant cumin kick to it.

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Hutong Dan Dan noodles:
The noodles came in this cute ceramic little pot, the broth was quite spicy and thick with a rich peanut taste.

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Ginger creme brulee:
I am not a fan of creme brulee but the ginger makes it more palatable and tones down the sweetness and creaminess.

The mandarin was a crispy mochi ball on top of ovaltine and sugar sand filled with delicious egg custard.

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My friend got me a lovely Chinese jar of Chili sauce which is so Hutong style!
It makes a great souvenir and gift!

 

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Hutong:
28/F, One Peking, One Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
www.hutong.com.hk
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A taste of Taiwan at Tainan Mr. Bean

To be honest, I am not keen on Taiwanese food because the Taiwanese food you get in Hong Kong is probably bastardized.
The decor was quite different from other Taiwanese joints in HK.

I have never been to Taiwan so I don't know how authentic this is but the variety was good with an English menu.

The pricing was quite good and the portions were quite big.
Knowing that I don't like the noodles and rice with marinated meat, I didn't choose them and ordered other stuff.
Here was what I had.
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Bittermelon and pineapple soup:

The soup was clear without oil and it had a nice bittermelon taste but I couldn't taste any pineapple even though there were chunks of it.
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Ribs and herbs soup:

I loved this soup because it had a strong herb flavour and tastes exactly the same as buk kut teh.
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Black fungus in vinegar:

The black fungus had a lovely texture because it was thick but the vinegar was too sweet that I can't classify it as a vinegar.
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Crispy chicken rice:
Compared to other places I have tried, the coating is definitely different and it was so much batter.
The chicken pieces were huge and the batter made it monstrous!
Surprisingly the chicken tasted really soft and tender so I think the batter protected it when it was in the oil but I didn't eat the batter because it was just too thick.
It would be good if they could slice the chicken into smaller pieces.

The rice that came with it was Pearl rice.

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Salted egg bitter melon:

The bitter melon is a must order even though it doesn't look appealing.
It was lovely the way it was thinly sliced coated in starchy salted egg yolk, yet the whole thing was not too salty.
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Hsinchu vermicelli:

The vermicelli was quite al-dente and tasty.
I was expecting the silver thread vermicelli but it wasn't.
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Herbal jelly latte:

Finished off with a herbal tea latte which tasted like Taiwanese style tea with lots of herbal jelly in it.
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Tainan Mr. Bean

G/F, 19 Lan Fong Road, Causeway Bay