Saturday, May 22, 2010

Lan Fong Yuen - Hong Kong

Birthplace of Pantyhose Milk Tea
We didn't intend to come here but the "racist chinese toast man" was closed due to holiday. More on him in a coming post. So, what's pantyhose milk tea? Well, the tea is strained through a long sock-like netting and mixed with milk. I'm a coffee guy so I didn't order one but I had a sip of Puffin's and it was pretty good. This place supposedly invented this way of brewing the tea, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. Pesky Lil Sis's GF is giving the HK-style peace sign photo pose next to the bo lo yau (buttered pineapple bun.)

Speaking of which, the bo lo yau was the winner, in my opinion. There's actually no pineapple in it, the name refers to the pineapple-like pattern on top made from sweet dough "that resembles sugar cookies" according to Wikipedia. I'm not sure I agree with that but you can definitely tell that it's more delicate and sweet than the rest of the bun. The "yau" in the name refers to that huge slab of butter - something that probably scares the hell out the Americans. Not this American! This is one hell of a breakfast treat - it fell apart as I tried to jam a piece in my mouth. Close your eyes and imagine butter and sugar and heavenly cloud. Ok, now wipe all the crumbs off your face, shirt, pants and try to act like you've been here before!

Next up, a Macao-style pork bun sandwich. Deep-fried pork, a slice of tomato and some mayo inside a soft sesame bun. Quite nice. The pork was very tender and the tomato was surprisingly like the tomatoes we used to have in the States. You know, back when a tomato had taste, do you remember those days?

Now for something primally good. Crustless toast, peanut butter and condensed milk. Their version could have used a little more peanut butter but I'm not complaining. Yes, you could make this yourself at home but for some reason it wouldn't be as good. Not sure how that works, but I've noticed the phenomenon again and again.

Yep, still eating.... HK-style french toast. No crust, two egged slices fried in butter, slathered in butter and finished in butter. No honey which was alright with me though I'm sure that will offend the purists. Didn't care for it much on the first few bites but it really grew on me.

Puffin's egg and luncheon meat sandwich was a fail for me. Very bland, very boring. She seemed alright with it though. I never expected luncheon meat (what we would call spam in the States) could be so tasteless.

The place is supposedly known to be packed with tourists but I didn't see so many. It's elbow to elbow and thankfully air-conditioned.

The chef, however, ain't so lucky. He's out on the sidewalk in the heat. Yep, it's the reverse of an outdoor cafe - eaters inside, chef outside.
You can kind of get the gist of it from this photo. In the background is a red sign which is where the inside begins. That small booth in front is the chef's cubicle.
2 Gage Street, Central
Hong Kong

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4 comments:

  1. Why is mine the worst? Why?

    Ok.. it could have done with more luncheon meat but the softness of the bread made up for it.

    Agree though the bo lo bun was SLAMMING.. so soft with that melting butter oooozzzzzzzzinnggg out.... hmmm... more today?

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  2. @Puffin - yours was the worst, deal with it. Yep, Bolo Bun is something I will miss...

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  3. After the Bolo bun experience in SG on Sun and looking at the pic, I really miss this. I doubt it will ever get better.

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  4. @Piggy - yeah, ummm, why we waste our time ordering bolo yau in SG? That was so lame, who puts a piece of pineapple in the pineapple bun? Who? Dopes!

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