Over 5 years ago I used to work in London, and would very occasionally walk down to the Golden Gate Cake Shop in Macclesfield Street to purchase a sweet Chinese bun. From all the varieties available, my preference was for one filled with thick, slightly grainy, butter-yellow custard.
Hong Kong is home to a plethora of similar bakery shops, and they are the ideal place to pick up a snack or light breakfast.
You may have thought that after our Hong Kong dessert house excesses it would have been inadvisable for us to eat any more sugary delights.
Not so, my health-conscious chums. Wallets and waistline were damned as we devoured some Western-style treats, and they were so tasty that I wanted to share our shame with you.
H was staring at a Tsim Sha Tsui map when he noticed somewhere called Awfully Chocolate. We needed no more encouragement than that to stop by the next time we were in the vicinity.
I deliberated for a while over whether to write any posts for Penang or Kuala Lumpur that summarised the places we particularly enjoyed eating. There are so many excellent bloggers in these cities writing about the food scene that the ground is well-trodden, and they all know far more about the cuisine than I do.
In the end, I decided against it for Kuala Lumpur as we were there so briefly and anywhere that we liked got a name-check in the various food-specific posts. For Penang, the same is broadly true, but there were a few extra places that I wanted to mention so I thought I may as well (even though it meant making another map which is my least favourite blogging task!).
Continue reading Malaysia Food Exploration: Penang Recommendations
Picture the scene. It is 2008 and H, H Snr and I are gathered together in the Newton Food Court, Melaka, Malaysia. It is a hot and sweaty lunchtime, and I have just eaten a large plate of crispy pork. H and I amble over to a kuih stand (kuih being a term for small snacks, often sweet but not always) and purchase a selection which we take back to the table.
H Snr glances over the plate and his face lights up at the sight of some small, green, coconut-covered balls. “Onde-onde!” he declares with delight, as he eats one with evident enjoyment. Apparently these were a favourite snack from his time working in Malaysia, so we hustled back and bought a load more.
Continue reading Malaysia Food Exploration: The Quest for Kuih
When writing posts within the “food analysis” category, I often talk generally about a specific item rather than focusing upon a single outlet and multiple foodstuffs.
However in the case of Ming Xiang Tai (133 Jalan Burma, Penang), I decided to make an exception as (a) the 4 things I tried were all delicious and (b) individual posts would have quickly become repetitive as I went off into rhapsodies each time about the amazing flaky pastry.
