As part of my research for any trip I watch travel and food programmes about the destination. My number one Guru for this purpose is the late Anthony Bourdain, who, as I write this blog, sadly closed his own account exactly 8 years ago to the day. In his programmes we can clearly see how much he loved Hong Kong, so I wanted to pay my respects and walk in his mighty footsteps, to taste the World as he had. All quotes in this blog are from the main man, Anthony Bourdain.
Hong Kong means ‘fragrant harbour’, a name that came from the regions history as a main trading hub for incense and aromatic woods. Anthony Bourdain visited Hong Kong in three different episodes:
No Reservations (2007: Season 3, Episode 12).
The Layover (2011: Season 1, Episode 5).
Parts Unknown (2018: Season 11, Episode 5).
He also visited Macau in No Reservations (2011: Season 7, Episode 10).
Tony (may I call you Tony?) visited many restaurants; some are now closed, but others are still there, and you can hear his voice as you tuck into succulent treats washed down with ice cold Tsingtao beers.
Anthony Bourdain“In Hong Kong, you don’t need to take the tour bus to find good food, you just press start.”
Anthony Bourdain (2007)“It’s one of the glories of Hong Kong, the specialist - one chef, one dish, maybe two. A man with a cleaver who spends his whole life roasting and slicing.”
We ate a lot of Char Siu, sucking pig, and roasted goose on our visit to Hong Kong, often in restaurants that had only a handful of dishes on the menu, but boy they were good. There is merit to chefs spending a lifetime perfecting one dish, often rewarded with a queue of customers and a Michelin star on the wall such as Kam’s Roast Goose (goose), Ship Kee (BBQ Pork), Kau Kee (noodles), Kwan Kee Clay Pot Rice, and Yat Lock (duck).
Tony visited Happy Valley Racecourse, and we made a similar pilgrimage to the Sha Tin Races. It sounds like he had the about the same amount of luck as we did on the horses when he remarked, “nothing quite clarifies the mind like beer and failure, except perhaps hunger….the perfect relief of the dopamine crash of the losing gambler”.
Tony talked about the 1983 Typhoon Ellen before heading to the Typhoon Shelter in Causeway Bay where he ate sizzling Typhoon Shelter crab cooked with “over 60 cloves of garlic” (an exaggeration Tony, but we know what you mean). We therefore tried the crab at nearby Sing Kee Typhoon Shelter Seafood and can confirm it was punchy, spicy and very tasty.
Afterwards a friend invited us Hong Kong Yacht Club on Kellet island for a drink. Whilst there started raining and turned into a ‘Black Rain’ event – the highest-level rainstorm warning possible in in Hong Kong. The staff moved us indoors, and we watched the rainstorm against a backdrop of the Symphony of Light show in Victoria Harbour.
Once the storm passed and the skies cleared, we headed back to Kowloon by taxi, fully expecting the underpasses to be submerged, the drains all blocked, and the roads waterlogged. However, impressively none of that was evident – the water had dissipated and the engineering had worked. If this level of rainfall fell in the UK, it would be a national emergency; in Hong Kong, it’s just the weather and they built the city to cope with it.
Anthony Bourdain (2007)“To feel sentimental about the past is unusual for Hong Kong. Hong Kong has always been about changing. It’s always embraced change."
Tony began his visit to Macau by jumping off the Macau Tower on what was then ‘the World’s highest bungy jump’ back in 2011, looking like he was feeling the effects of a booze fueled night in the casinos of Cotai the day before. “Mission successful” he happily reported after descending the 233 meter, 6 second drop, looking very relieved to be on the ground with his stomach contents where they should be.
You can make the same leap of faith by booking a tour on Get Your Guide:
For more information about blog about visiting Macau..
Now back to Tony…
In Macau, Tony headed to Fernado’s in search of ‘a Portuguese meal in a Macanese Way’. He sampled: grilled chorizo (“got gotta have that”), clams steamed in garlic, cilantro (coriander for Uk readers) and white wine with Malagueta pepper for heat (“that sauce is awesome, way to go”), grilled sardines, and the main event – suckling pig marinated in wine and spices (“pork is a lifegiving animal, all of it delicious”).
Anthony Bourdain (2011)“ Ferando’s is Portuguese, Portuguese, Portuguese.”
We ate at Fernandos and totally concur with Tony – it was excellent food, a great atmosphere, with good wine and attentive staff. This episode was filmed 15 years ago, and Tony asked his guests if this part of Macau would still be as Portuguese in 20 years’ time? We are almost at that date, and having been here before, I believe time has stood still…in a good way.
Tony ended the Macau episode at Tai Lei Loi Kei in Taipa with a Macau Pork Chop Bun; he stated, “there is usually a line around the corner from Tai Lei Loi Kei, but it’s worth the wait.” Tony declared it “the product of genius” and a “distinctly Macanese creation, which will live on in history”. In his final cookbook, Appetites (2016), Tony features a ‘Macao-style pork chop sandwich’ and commented “this sandwich, loosely inspired by a pork chop bun served to me for television in Macao, is possibly the most delicious thing in the book. We had a hard time shooting it, because everyone in the room kept eating the models.”.
In terms of my experience, this is the best sandwich I have ever had – it was so good we went back twice, and as Tony says “I think we learnt something today. Pork is good, pork in sandwich is better”. 100% agree.
Anthony Bourdain (2011)“If you can’t enjoy Hong Kong for a few hours, or a few days, then there is no hope for you.”
When he arrives in Hong Kong for his layover, Tony heads straight off the plane to Joy Hing Roasted Meats at 265-267 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai. Joy Hing is a “hole in the wall for some of the best roasted meats in Hong Kong”, although we were disappointed to discover it was shut when we got there.
As an alternative we got a table at Kam’s Roast Goose House further up the road at 226 Hennessy Road, with its Michelin star proudly displayed on the wall as you walk in.
Anthony Bourdain (2011)“I like pork, and I know I talk about it a lot, and how it’s wonderful, and how it’s the best thing ever. In fact, the best thing ever is goose. On top of the heap, the undisputed champion of all roasted meat stuffs, that would be goose."
We started our meal with noodles which had been blanched in goose fat, before enjoying a helping of goose blood pudding, and ending with the star of the show, a whole roast goose. It was rich and juicy with perfectly roasted skin and the fat cooked bursting with flavour – as the main man says, “the undisputed champion”. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
The next day, Tony heads out into Kowloon to Mido Café in Yau Ma Tei, to a vintage Cha Chaan Teng or Hong Kong diner serving its signature milk tea brewed to perfection. This café is pure ‘old Hong Kong’ with wooden booths and stained-glass windows. The café has been used in numerous cult films such as Moonlight Express (Director – Daniel Lee) and the Days of Being Wild (Director – Wong Kar-Wai). I ordered the Hong Kong Egg sandwich, which was scrambled egg between two thick slices of white bread. Being a tea lover, I gave their Yuen Yeung a wide berth, as a fan of Yorkshire Tea, a fusion of coffee and milk tea sounded all wrong to me.
Tony features Aberdeen Fish Market, where “true Hong Kongers shop, just remember to wear your wellies.” We also visited the market and got a glimpse of the traders selling fish caught that morning. No need for wellies as they don’t allow the public in, but it was theatre, a rallying of noise, movement and smell.
After a jam-packed day, rather than head back to his hotel “for a night of reading and contemplation”, Tony headed out to the vibrant and lively nightlife area, Lan Kwai Fong, for a few cocktails. We did go out, but didn’t go wild, ending up a Joe Bananas in Wan Chai on a recommendation – it had a live band playing 1980’s soft rock. The area felt like more of a tourist area which was not our vibe, so hopped on the Star Ferry back over to Kowloon and ended up in Delaney’s Irish Bar on Peking Road putting the world to rights ‘as Tony would have done’.
Anthony Bourdain (2018)“To fall in love with Asia is one thing; to fall in love in Asia is another, both have happened to me. The Star Ferry to Kowloon at night, the lights of Hong Kong behind me, it’s a gift, a dream, a curse. The best thing, the happiest thing, yet also the loneliest thing in the World”
In this episode, a more profound and reflective Anthony Bourdain took us back to Hong Kong, a place that has gone through upheaval both politically and culturally; a place that he felt was changing so quickly that the old Hong Kong he knew so well was slowly being extinguished.
Anthony Bourdain (2018)“The love of money and shiny new things is surely erasing the past, so before it goes, this is reminder of how Hong Kong used to be”
Tony visited Tai O, Lantau Island, a centuries old fishing village with houses built on silts. He is accompanied by his friend, the Australian film director Christopher Doyle, who has filmed Hong Kong for 30 years. Christopher filmed Tony on the front of a boat and managed to get him into a jovial mood (Tony: “I don’t smile a lot in this show by the way, but I’m smiling now”).
They talked about how they felt Hong Kong is disappearing and how Christopher is trying to capture something unique in his films that helps to keep the memories alive. Anthony Bourdain asks the question:
Anthony Bourdain (2018)“We are changing the world by looking at it through a camera, as happens every time you look at real people, the real world, real places - where does that fall in your comfort zone with character, place & changes?”
They questioned whether they were part of the problem, but concluded that in pursuit of their art, they do so with love and integrity:
“If we try to be as true as possible to how we see things, perhaps it transfers? The only function of what we do with art, or anything, is to give voice to the unspoken, to give it a form that it’s never been perceived in before. We can’t change the evolution of history or the gentrification; you can’t stop them, but at least what you can say is look at what you’re losing. That’s what we can do, is give an image to an idea.” (Christopher Doyle)
In the final part of this episode, Anthony Bourdain talked to a range of people in Hong Kong to find out how the changes in the city are affecting people:
First he met refugees held up in Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road. He discussed their hopes for the future with them; the refugees seemed stuck in the system and not able to leave, not able to work and but they exist.
Tony: “5 housing blocks and 17 storeys containing, well, everything and everybody the rest of Hong Kong would like to ignore”.
Tony watched noodles being made in the Kwan Kee Bamboo style, a labour-intensive method of making wheat noodles by working the dough with long bamboo sticks by hand, another art form disappearing.
Anthony Bourdain (2018)“It is one of many things in this City, that are under pressure or disappearing, a lot of traditional crafts, buildings are without remorse or sentiment are being bulldozed”. He ended by saying, “those are beautiful to me, the things that continually fascinate me, those are disappearing"
The final scene of the episode is of Tony writing in his notebook whilst crossing Victoria Harbour on the Star Ferry back to Kowloon. He then cuts a solitary figure walking along the Avenue of Stars, whilst the crowd all videoed the Symphony of Lights on their smart phones.
In closing
Anthony Bourdain visited Hong Kong many times. Whilst the city is always changing, he felt that some of the parts which were special to him were being lost, and it appeared to make him sad. No-one wants to feel that way when they return to a place that they love, so is it best not to return too many times, and to just keep moving? In Tony’s own words:
“If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everyone. Open your mind. Get up off the couch. Move.”
Anthony, you are missed - RIP Tony.
Funnily enough, we have a habit of seeking out places that Anthony Bourdain has reviewed. One big hit was the Trattoria da Romano in the colourful village of Burano, Venice, Italy – see blog below:
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