玉葉粉麵甜品

Before I begin, I should really explain a little bit about dai pai dongs (大排檔). They're basically outdoor cooked food stalls like the one in Fotan. They have a really interesting history that you can read about on their Wikipedia page here.

I have a particular fondness for dai pai dongs because it has something to do with the reason I moved to Hong Kong in the first place. I came here because of Wong Kar Wai, and I stayed because of Johnnie To. These two film directors, I feel, really capture everything about Hong Kong that I love, including dai pai dongs. (In fact, I'm wondering if I should do a bunch of entries on Wong Kar Wai and Johnnie To movies and their set locations. Would this interest anyone at all?)

The film that really prompted me to decide to live in Hong Kong was Chungking Express. It's not actually my favourite film from Wong Kar Wai, but it was the one where I could imagine living the same life as the characters. In fact, I ended up moving to Soho, close to the escalator and huge dai pai dong where part of the film was shot. Of course, Soho is ruined now because of the bars and restaurants for expats, which is really sad.

Anyway, when I lived in Soho, I used to frequent the 玉葉粉麵甜品 dai pai dong. The meals there are cheap, delicious and filling, and they are usually open quite late, often till 1 in the morning on Friday and Saturday nights. They also have desserts like tapioca in coconut milk and sesame syrup.

Since I had to go to Central to do some errands, I thought I'd stop by 玉葉粉麵甜品 since I hadn't been in a while. I guess I was also feeling a bit sentimental because it was raining, and I didn't bother taking an umbrella and just put on my security guard cap, and it made me think of Tony Leung's character in Chungking Express, Cop 633, eating at a dai pai dong. I love Tony Leung, especially after what he said about Tiananmen. His momma didn't raise no fool.

Taken from here

玉葉粉麵甜品 has been around for more than 80 years. In fact, it originated on Stanley Street (where the dai pai dong scenes for Chungking Express were filmed. However, the two brothers who ran the dai pai dong had a disagreement, and so one of them moved to Elgin Street and opened up 玉葉粉麵甜品.

The selections include fish/pork/beef balls, trotters, brisket and dumplings in noodle soup (HKD18) or dry noodles (HKD22). A plate of vegetables and brisket with dry noodles will set you back HKD45, and the desserts are usually between HKD5 to HKD10 each. For takeaways, add HKD1.

I once tripped so badly here, I ripped my knee open.

I guess if you don't like to use these chopsticks, you can bring your own. I don't really care, though.

Even though the beef brisket is really famous here (it's under the entry "Stewed beef" -- in other restaurants, you'll see it referred to as beef flank), I decided to get a bowl of beef ball noodles. You get six beef balls, three of which are normal and three have lots of pepper. The meatballs are all handmade, you can tell because of the texture, which is quite rough and chewy.

My homage to Cop 633. Er...that's a septum ring, not a silver booger.

See the pepper bits?

During nice days, they set up the chairs on the street itself. Once, when I was having dinner here with my ex-husband, I sat with my back to the bottom of the hill, and for some reason, I ended up tipping over and sliding partway down. It was pretty funny.

So, how to find this place? It's kind of messed up because it's on Elgin Street, except that there are 2 Elgin Streets in Soho. If you're coming from Soho, then walk down Staunton Street away from the escalator, and then on your right, you'll see a bunch of little fruit stalls. That's the Elgin Street where 玉葉粉麵甜品 is on.

Alternatively, if you're walking on Hollywood Road towards Sheung Wan (ie. away from the escalator), keep walking until you see this 7-11 on your left. 玉葉粉麵甜品 is right across from it.

And of course, no mention of Chungking Express should go by without a couple of photographs of possibly the most beautiful man in the world, Takeshi Kaneshiro, who was in the film, as well.

Taken from here

I think the difference between these two pictures is close to 10 years, but he's aging beautifully. I can imagine him as one of those elegant older gentlemen. I just like how he seems so calm and remote, like an unopened book.

Taken from here

I wish guys would grow their hair long and wear hanfu again.

Fotan Dai Pai Dong

Now for what we ate in Fotan!

But first, I did remember to take a picture of the dai pai dong. This dai pai dong is really famous for its roast pigeons. Actually, I'm not sure if "roast" is the right word. As far as I know, the pigeons are boiled until they're half-cooked and then tied up together and then splashed with hot oil until they get crispy. I don't know if this is just an urban legend, though. My mother used to make me bring back sixty pigeons at a time for her to give to her friends. Can you imagine going through customs with sixty half-cooked pigeons?

Anyway, one of the reasons this dai pai dong is famous is that it's at a bus depot and right next to a public toilet. Convenient!

We're sitting underneath a makeshift tent. It was either this or at the bus stop, and we didn't want to eat among vehicle fumes. The place was packed, as you can see.

See? Bus stop.

The typical dai pai dong table: tea that you use to wash your bowls and utensils in. See the green bowl on the lower left? That's where you rinse them out. The ever-present toilet paper roll, and because this is a classy joint, free peanuts!

The famous roast pigeon! It was really delicious and savoury. It almost didn't need the dipping salt. Do you like pigeon heads? I love them, I love the brains.

We got a free order of spicy fried tofu! We were supposed to get free rice, too, but it didn't appear. We were too full to eat them, anyway.

Another specialty of the place: clams. They were really good, I must say. The Fotan dai pai dong is also famous for its chicken congee, but we really didn't have room for it. I was filled up on cheese and wine, and DL ate buns before dinner.

If you have the chance, I really suggest visiting this place. It's really famous, back when I first discovered it in 2000, there would almost always been a camera crew from Japan or Taiwan doing food reviews. To get to the Fotan dai pai dong, simply take the MTR to Fotan Station, exit A and you'll see it. It's about five minutes away from the MTR station.

Oh, by the way, they only serve beer and pop there.