Mom's HK Michelin tour day 3: noodles and congee

I received text messages just before midnight last night, informing me that the PCR tests for the Parental Units returned negative results. So just after 9 a.m. this morning, their vaccine pass turned blue. This meant they could now enter all premises in town and are able to dine in at restaurants.

Our first stop today was Ho Hung Kee (何洪記), as I figured dad would like to have some congee and other local goodies. We managed to get dad to successfully use the Leave Home Safe (安心出行) app and get mom checked in, too.

Deep-fried yam puff (蜂巢炸芋角) - I was surprised to see a waitstaff walking around with a tray of these while trying to find takers. This reminds me of the old school restaurants with carts loaded with dim sum as the "dim sum ladies" pushed them around trying to get people to order them. I had never seen it done here before today.

In any case this was pretty decent, and I didn't taste any baking soda.

Barbecue pork bun with saucy filling (流汁叉燒包) - this has been one of my favorite char siu bao (叉燒包) in town for many years, and I love the runny sauce as well as the quality of barbecued pork inside.

Stir-fried noodles with soy sauce (豉油皇炒麵) - I remember the Parental Units raving about a simple version of this noodle when they visited me more than 20 years ago. Obviously this version cost a lot more than what they got at a traditional wet market stall, but I bet this was a lot tastier and came with more wok hei (鑊氣).

Rice noodle rolls filled with twisted cruller (香脆油條腸粉) - this is a dish they also love, but sadly the fried crullers inside were still not as crispy as they used to be. I think the execution has certainly deteriorated, which is a pity.

Assorted meat congee with sliced fish (羊城荔灣艇仔粥) - after poring over the selection of congees, dad chose this classic. Besides slices of fish, squid tentacles and peanuts, there were also salty shredded chicken and jellyfish.

Shrimp and baby shoots dumpling (翡翠菜苗餃) - always a good choice as the greens lend their flavors. Reasonably bouncy wrappers.

Coconut cream and red bean pudding (椰汁紅豆糕)

This was a pretty good meal, and offered the Parental Units a good mix of everything.

We went around the corner to shop for supplies at Old San Yang (老三陽). It's been years since mom last came to look for goodies from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region, and she took her time checking out the different vegetables and dried goods. Many of these are no longer being imported into Taiwan over the last few years, thanks to deteriorating cross-straits relations as well as Covid.

We had earlier passed by the Causeway Bay branch of Bakehouse and mom had asked about their sourdough egg tarts while peering in from the outside. As it was time to have their afternoon coffee, anyway, I took them to the Wanchai branch so that we could sit down for a proper cup. We took a couple of egg tarts as well as their apple cinnamon raisin scone for mom to satisfy her cinnamon craving. It was good to tick off something else as I try to make sure mom gets to have more new experiences.

Michelin stars this meal: 1

Total Michelin stars so far this trip: 1